“In Egypt you need a project that everyone can believe in, a national project. We have to learn from ancient Egypt.”


By MICHAEL SLACKMAN

CAIRO - More than 2,500 years ago the mummified corpse of a wealthy man was carefully lowered into a handcarved tomb 20 meters beneath the surface of the desert. His remains were placed inside a limestone coffin and sealed for eternity.

Well, that was the idea.

Then one day in March 2009 workers inside the death chamber cracked the coffin lid in the middle, pushed aside one half and for the first time in two and a half millennia exposed the man’s remains. And who was there to greet this mummy?

Why even ask? This is Egypt, so it had to be Zahi Hawass.

“I think this guy was important,”Dr.Hawass said with a theatrical flourish, as he brushed some dust from the mummy for the cameras.

In the seven years since he was named general secretary of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Dr.Hawass has been in perpetual motion. He personally announces every new discovery, was the force behind plans to construct 19 new museums, approved the restoration of nine synagogues in Cairo and has contributed to countless books, documentaries, magazine and newspaper articles all promoting Egyptian antiquities - and, of course, himself.

Naturally, this does not always win him friends. He has been chastised for his critical statements about Jews. He insists that he is not anti-Semitic and that his remarks were aimed only at Israeli Jews and their treatment of the Palestinians.

There are scientists who say he is too concerned with self-promotion and does not always get the facts right. But his penchant for drama and his virtual monopoly over Egypt’s unrivaled ancient riches have earned him an international following.

Dr.Hawass was born in the village of Al Ubaydiyah, near the city of Damietta northeast of Cairo in the Nile Delta region. He joined the nation’s antiquities service as an inspector in 1969, about two years after receiving a bachelor’s degree in Greek and Roman archaeology from Alexandria University. In 1987, he received his Ph.
D. after studying as a Fulbright fellow at the University of Pennsylvania. On January 1, 2002, he was named general secretary of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.

Dr.Hawass was standing inside an unearthed death chamber that had been carved out of the ground about 4,300 years ago for a pharaoh’s mother. At least, that was what he theorized. When the ruins do not reveal a detail, Dr.Hawass often tries to fill in the blanks, spinning stories based on his vast knowledge of Egyptian history .

Dr.Hawass says he sees a way to salvage Egypt’s troubled present and its uncertain future. He thinks Egypt could benefit from uniting behind a“national project,”the way ancient Egyptians did when they built the pyramids and tombs.

“In Egypt you need a project that everyone can believe in, a national project,”Dr.Hawass said.“We have to learn from ancient Egypt.”