GOLDEN MUMMIES
healthy. As the protests spread, the
economy sank. The Tourism Ministry
announced that revenue dropped by a
third to $8.8 billion in 2011, but industry observers say the damage has been
much worse. In addition to months
of violence and instability, Tourism
Ministry officials believe a rise in antiwestern political posturing and extremist Islamic attitudes has contributed to
leeriness among would-be visitors.
Hawass’s ubiquity, and his gift for
gab, bred resentment among his fellow Egyptians, but the money he delivered quieted critics. Some 14.5 million visitors arrived in Egypt in 2010,
many to tour the country’s historical
sites. The billions they spent were vital to shoring up the country’s foreign
reserves, which helped provide for
such basic needs as wheat imports.
In essence, Hawass was putting
bread on the table. Of course, that
also involved painting a picture of
Egypt that was tourist-friendly and
glossed over some of the country’s
brutal realities. Hawass’ Egypt was
the pyramids and the pharoahs, not
social, political and economic inequities on the streets of Cairo. Recruiting
Western enthusiasts like assistants on
his great dig, Hawass steered some of
those same Westerners away from a
deeper understanding of the tectonic
shifts in Egyptian society that ultimately surfaced in Tahrir.
He also was never focused only on
branding Egypt — he was busy brand-
HUFFINGTON
07.22.12
ing himself as well. He mandated that
the King Tut exhibition sell copies of
his fedora and planned to launch an
eponymous clothing line marketing
shirts that his catalogue claimed, “Recall the rugged experience of excavating the ancient tombs in Egypt.”
Mubarak’s wife strongly supported
Hawass, and he took the opportunity
“HE WAS BUSY BRANDING
HIMSELF AS WELL.”
for financial gain. Hawass received
$200,000 a year for serving as an
Explorer-In-Residence for The National Geographic Society, which also
helped arrange speaking engagements
that earned him $15,000 apiece. In
addition, he made an undisclosed
sum from the sale of his books (each
copy of “Secret Voyage: Love, Magic
and Mysteries in the Realm of the
Pharoah’s” sold for $4,400), as well
as a reality TV show that he starred
in, and his government salary.
Though speculation about Hawass’s
personal wealth became something of
a sport among Egyptians frustrated
by the Mubarak government’s lack
of transparency, even those who saw
him as the ultimate opportunist may
be forced to accept him back into the
fold if he can again funnel billions of