Nubia Sudan

The tranquil Nubian villages along this Nile River stretch are best known for the brightly painted gates that adorn many of the simple mud-brick homes. With geometric shapes and hieroglyphic-like pictures, the oversized gates hark back to the stone-carved doorways the villagers' ancestors once built on pyramids that rivaled Egypt's. These days, however, the elaborate entryways are shadowed by black flags.

The tranquil Nubian villages along this Nile River stretch are best known for the brightly painted gates that adorn many of the simple mud-brick homes. With geometric shapes and hieroglyphic-like pictures, the oversized gates hark back to the stone-carved doorways the villagers' ancestors once built on pyramids that rivaled Egypt's. These days, however, the elaborate entryways are shadowed by black flags.

Indiana Jones notwithstanding, when the subject of ancient Egypt comes to mind, whether it is the opening of King Tut's tomb or the deciphering of hieroglyphics, Europeans have most often been in the spotlight. But during the 20th Century, Americans have had more than their share of the action. That is the subject of "The American Discovery of Ancient Egypt," opening today at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.