GOLDEN MUMMIES
HUFFINGTON
07.22.12
AMEL PAIN/EPA/CORBIS
Hawass stands outside the tomb of priest Rudj-Ka shortly after it was discovered near the Giza Pyramids.
Excavators discovered the tomb months before the uprising forced Hawass from his position as Secretary
General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.
Egypt where small businesses as well
as large hotels — many of which are
foreign owned — will be able to compete for the tourist dollars and where
visitors will engage with the culture
instead of simply stopping off at major landmarks and resorts. Yet the
new government may not be able to
afford them if it doesn’t demonstrate
an ability to pay back the billions in
loans Egypt owes.
Though many Egyptologists are
reluctant to go on the record — access being necessary to their continued work — many complain privately that the sites around Egypt
are now being mismanaged.
Whether or not its new democratic rulers call Hawass out of the
bullpen will tell the world a great
deal about the new Egypt. The regime will have to decide whether
economic expediency warrants compromising the egalitarian ideals of
Tahrir or if the ideals of the revolution trumps all.
Zahi Hawass — excavator, salesman, Mubarak acolyte, disgrace — is
unswayed and still confident of his
place in this new order.
“The magic of antiquities in
Egypt will never fade,” he says.
“Because I am clean and
honest, I will return.”