welshman, that is a really great connection you made.. i really think that that there are many similarities between the losties island and Atlantis. Your theory also explains why Richard doesnt seem to age which has always boggled my mind! Tonight's episode is said to be Richard-centric so maybe we can get more answers...

Has anyone considered that these are not actually Egyptian hieroglyphs, but rather an older form of writing borrowed by the Egyptians from an even older 'antediluvian' civilization, i.e. that of Atlantis - another 'lost' island. In this light, the supposed mistakes some people have pointed out in the hieroglyphs/statues might be construed as the originals of what the later Egyptian hieroglyphs became. Viewing the island in this way might also explain why Richard does not seem to age as Antediluvian people were said to live for up to a thousand years and Richard may be one of the last of these people to have survived, guarding the original island. Some also say that the island of Atlantis was made up of two islands, one larger than the other.

And what about Taweret for the statue?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taweret

Egyptians believed in an after life and resecurrection. Osiris is what comes to mind and the story of his death. To paraphrase the story his brother being jealous builds a coffin or box to Osiris measurements and presents it at a party giving it to anyone who can fit in it. Osiris not knowing the box is fit to his measurements gets in his brother Seth throws it in the Nile. Osiris's wife Isis looks for this box finds it and by this time Osiris is in pieces and wraps up the pieces she can find (1st mummy). He then is resecurrected and is the God of the afterlife. He does have help in seeing who is qualified by other Gods who are Horus, Thoth and Anubis.

Also in Dead is Dead I liked the play of having to get from the Hydra island to the main island for Ben to be judged similar to crossing the river Styx to the afterworld to be judged.

I am beginning to see an alien/egyptian theme a la Giza complex brewing. Any comments from the big brains here on the board?

The Freeman, could the structure you're referring to perhaps be the cave under Ben's house that leads Smokey's toilet?

Perhaps the Dharma Initiative is trying to figure out who the hostiles are, where they came from, and what they are all about. Maybe they found a building, wall, or other such structure that has the hieroglyphics on it and found that it was connected to the hostiles and are now trying to find out how, why, and what it means.
Or perhaps they are learning about the hostiles in order to find their weakness... Keep your friends close and your enemies closer (that is to say, throw yourself into understanding them). In order to defeat your enemy you have to think like the enemy, maybe they are trying to get in their heads so to speak.
Maybe...

I would like to know the tie in with the Egyptian mythology of the Others and why the Dharma people are using it. But Horace is their leader, Horace comes to Locke in a dream and tells him where the cabin is, do we have double agents ? I already think Amy is one .Hence Ethan becoming an Other. And she is married to Horace..........

Great job with pasting together the unfocused elements of the board and having this ready for viewing the next day (actually at 4:50 a.m.)

No other show could ever inspire such diligence.

You da bomb. No I didn't notice what the board said on my own...

The right image is blurry because Jack the Janitor had already erased it.

why is the image like that? I'd like to see the blurry parts, they may be important.