The aim of the new installation, jointly sponsored by the Bioanthropology Foundation Ltd and the British Museum Society, was to present the material in a more logical and complete way, as burial groups taking the visitor from the great age of Pyramid building to Graeco-Roman times and the wonderful Fayum portraits. Many of the British Museum’s exceptionally fine mummies are now seen in the context of their discovery, with accompanying funerary artefacts such as ushabtis, amulets and magical papyri. Some of the items went on display for the first time last year.

Additionally, the galleries contain information about modern mummy investigations using computer aided tomography to produce 3-d images of these long-time inhabitants of the British Museum.

They are now seen to greater effect in their well-lit modern cases as the funerary equipment of Lady Henutmehyt, with its beautiful gilded coffin, shows.

The Petrie Museum is known by all serious students of Egyptology as one of the most important teaching collections in the UK. Its significance is less well-known to the general public. Amongst the exhibits of world class importance are encaustic mummy portraits. These will play a prominent role in the art installation of Mark Karasick, along with a modern portrait of William Flinders Petrie, founder not only of modern Egyptology, but also of the science of archaeological investigation.

While sand is both a blessing and a curse to the Egyptologist – it covers, preserves and dries things beautifully which can be a benefit, but fills up excavations quickly – the absent Pyramids have not simply been swallowed up in the sands of time. The construction techniques of the three pyramids at Giza were awe-inspiring indeed, but they were also expensive and time-consuming. They were succeeded by much simpler techniques that were just as effective but meant that the constructions could be more susceptible to damage.

Some of the later pyramids had cores of rubble rather than stone blocks, which meant that if the outer facing of stone was taken by later kings to be reused – the ancient Egyptians were great recyclers – the whole of the pyramid simply collapsed. Where once a pyramid stood proudly, nothing remains but a demolition site. Others may never have been completed.

Records of kings from ancient Egypt give a clue as to which pyramids are missing and where they might be located, and now satellite technology is helping to pinpoint these sites.

The Japanese team uses internationally provided satellite data of underground images produced when radio waves are beamed down at possible locations. Of course, it is not just missing pyramids that can be discovered in this way and so far the team has discovered a tomb belonging to a court official and royal tutor of the New Kingdom. On top of this tomb was a mini pyramid, or pyramidion.

The idea of "eyes in the sky" is not a new one. The Egyptian hawk god Horus, symbol of royalty and now of EgyptAir, would surely approve of these highflying new means of discovery.

The day opened with a presentation by Barbara Watterson which outlined clearly that the roots of Egyptian religion were in the natural world, with the Nile inevitably taking a central role in the discourse. Angela Thomas followed with a lecture on "Sun Worship" which led inexorably to Amarna. The Amarna "phenomenon" was given its overall place in the scheme of Egyptian sun worship.

Afternoon sessions included a tour of the House of Horus at Edfu, the most impressive of the Ptolemaic temples of Egypt - and the most complete – which was as enthusiastic and detailed as one would expect from Barbara Watterson, author of a book on the subject. "The role of the temple", not just as a place of worship by priests but as a centre of knowledge, teaching and healing, was outlined in the final session by Angela Thomas.

The Bradford Egyptology Day Schools are organised by the short course unit of Bradford University in conjunction with the North Yorkshire Ancient Egypt Group. The next NYAEG day school is in June and, with the promise of "Good and Bad Neighbours" and "Girl Power!" under the title of "Life and Death in Ancient Egypt", it’s one not to miss! Contact Anne Murray on 01423 861604 for details.