Zahi Hawass

AnnieJones

New member
A while ago I remember watching a movie called,Legend of the Lost Tomb,with Zahi Hawass(he wasn't a main character) he played himself as a tour guide.The movie was kind of corny,but years went by that I didn't watch it,and when my family got cable,Zahi Hawass was on an educational channel and then I remembered back,when I was watching that movie and I thought,"Hey,I remember seeing him in that movie!"That movie was the first time that I saw him.
 

Le Saboteur

Active member
The Al Jazeera interview from '07.

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And a more recent addition to the topic.

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Le Saboteur

Active member
Dr. Hawass is coming to the History Channel in July! Starting on 14 July Dr. Hawass and "his cadre of fellows unearth astonishing finds and tackle some of the world's greatest archaeological riddles, from who built the pyramids to the location of Cleopatra's tomb. It's a whirlwind tour, led by the man who holds the keys to Egypt's greatest antiquities and rules his world like a modern-day pharaoh."

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Once you're finished with the video, drop in on the site! You can also see a higher quality version of the trailer, and read up on the unfortunate souls who signed on for this trip!

And if you browse through Youtube, some of the audition tapes are fairly amusing.
 

Goodeknight

New member
Sweet!!

Wish I was one of the "volunteers."

And this answers the original question that started the thread. Zahi Hawass ROCKS!

It'll be a great show, even if it is completely cheesy, over the top, and has zero intellectual value. Can't wait to see it. (y)
 

Goodeknight

New member
After all, TV archaeology is the search for adventure, not facts. If you want facts, the library is right down the road.
 

teampunk

Member
i do love the show. it's not really true archaeology, but it's what every indiana jones fan wants archaeology to be. and while he might be an attention hound, he does get people interested in preserving the past. and that is a good thing. zahi hawass rocks in my book!
 

Yure

Well-known member
I've been reading a lot of (and about) Hawass in preparation to a trip to Cairo I took in April (managed to get into the Great Pyramid too:whip: ). He's rated as one of the two or three best egyptologysts in the world according to... well... him. I do admire his passion and I do believe he's quite educated on the matter, but Egypt as far as I could see (been there twice, I'll be back to Cairo in a couple of weeks on my way to Thailand) is still quite undeveloped in many, many ways. I'm talking about welfare, quality of life, urban and social development. When you're Secretary General of archeology in a country like Egypt you can't, for the sake of knowledge, research and history, afford to keep a nationalist profile and be a media hog for your personal gain. It affects archeology and culture. He should oppose the conservative bias of Egyptian government and open to true international funding and peer research instead of monopolizing the field and deniying European and American researches that could unveil much more than we actually know.
 

Matt deMille

New member
Yure said:
I've been reading a lot of (and about) Hawass in preparation to a trip to Cairo I took in April (managed to get into the Great Pyramid too:whip: ). He's rated as one of the two or three best egyptologysts in the world according to... well... him. I do admire his passion and I do believe he's quite educated on the matter, but Egypt as far as I could see (been there twice, I'll be back to Cairo in a couple of weeks on my way to Thailand) is still quite undeveloped in many, many ways. I'm talking about welfare, quality of life, urban and social development. When you're Secretary General of archeology in a country like Egypt you can't, for the sake of knowledge, research and history, afford to keep a nationalist profile and be a media hog for your personal gain. It affects archeology and culture. He should oppose the conservative bias of Egyptian government and open to true international funding and peer research instead of monopolizing the field and deniying European and American researches that could unveil much more than we actually know.

I couldn't agree with you more. But Hawass owes his position, his money and "fame", to the party line, so he'll never challenge it. He even makes a fool of himself often when doggedly defending long disproven beliefs (the Great Pyramid being a tomb, for example). He's a tourist attraction, plain and simple. I think Hawass needs to get a sandwhich board that reads "System cog. Will lie for money" and stand outside the Sphinx.

There's a great deal to be learned from the Giza site. Hawass is the front man in a systematic repression of any unorthodox views. The real problem is the government behind him, but as the public figure he is, Hawass should really be using that position to open doors, not keep them closed.
 

Perhilion

New member
I love watching this guy, he flips out so much! And his show shows that archaeology is actually exciting, not all toothbrushes and dust.
 
Matt deMille said:
He even makes a fool of himself often when doggedly defending long disproven beliefs (the Great Pyramid being a tomb, for example).


facepalm.jpg
 

Attila the Professor

Moderator
Staff member
Now, to be fair, RA...that was posted a few weeks ago, before Matt admitted that he may have been wrong about the fact that pyramids were built to be tombs.

As for Hawass...I still say he's an arrogant self-promoter, whether that's what the position requires or not. It's certainly refreshing to see that the television series doesn't seem to be white-washing him, at least in what I've seen of it.
 
Attila the Professor said:
Now, to be fair, RA...that was posted a few weeks ago, before Matt admitted that he may have been wrong about the fact that pyramids were built to be tombs.


Oops-- right, right. Didn't see the date.
 

Matt deMille

New member
Perhilion said:
I love watching this guy, he flips out so much! And his show shows that archaeology is actually exciting, not all toothbrushes and dust.

He does indeed flip out alot. I used to hate him for that (he'd go especially berserk when someone like Hancock would ask him about alternative history), but I've come to think he's not as bad as all that. Too much of a self-promoter, certainly. Sometimes I thought his true calling would have been as a heel-manager for some big Egyptian pro-wrestler. Imagine him with a digital WWF logo (I stopped watching it so it's still WWF to me) behind him, flailing his arms and barking into the camera about how his Pharaoh is going to crush and destroy his opponent. He's so well practiced at his interviews and promos that I think he could easily dance between overzealous-silliness and venomous-spite (he does this anyway when anyone presents evidence contrary to his party-line). Then he could finish glaring into the camera.

ResidentAlien said:
Oops-- right, right. Didn't see the date.

One would think that, when you insult another poster and are then corrected by a Moderator, you might apologize. Oddly, I don't see that here. Something I'd like folks to keep in mind when reading anything this guy says about me.
 
Last edited:
Matt deMille said:
One would think that, when you insult another poster and are then corrected by a Moderator, you might apologize. Oddly, I don't see that here. Something I'd like folks to keep in mind when reading anything this guy says about me.


Jesus Christ, you are such a tool. No, seriously. A tool. You expect an apology for that?

No, you just want to make a scene.


Shove it.
 

Goodeknight

New member
Yure said:
I've been reading a lot of (and about) Hawass in preparation to a trip to Cairo I took in April (managed to get into the Great Pyramid too:whip: ). He's rated as one of the two or three best egyptologysts in the world according to... well... him. I do admire his passion and I do believe he's quite educated on the matter, but Egypt as far as I could see (been there twice, I'll be back to Cairo in a couple of weeks on my way to Thailand) is still quite undeveloped in many, many ways. I'm talking about welfare, quality of life, urban and social development. When you're Secretary General of archeology in a country like Egypt you can't, for the sake of knowledge, research and history, afford to keep a nationalist profile and be a media hog for your personal gain. It affects archeology and culture. He should oppose the conservative bias of Egyptian government and open to true international funding and peer research instead of monopolizing the field and deniying European and American researches that could unveil much more than we actually know.

Here's the problem, Yure: In Egypt, "International funding" for archaeological research is nothing compared to tourist dollars. Hawass is a great promoter not just of himself (whether you can stand him or not, you have to admit he's very watchable), but of Egypt and Egyptian history. So he's keeping interest (and tourism) alive. As for unveiling much more than we actually know, there are plenty of Egyptian antiquities and mummies gathering dust in the storerooms of dozens of universities and museums around the world. There are research opportunities right there, and Hawass doesn't oppose international teams coming in to do their research. He just doesn't want to see all the "goodies" going to other countries.

I lived in Egypt for two years and studied at the American University in Cairo. There are international research teams all over the country, but they're lost in a sea of tourists, and those tourists are spending big bucks to see the sites Hawass is so passionate about.
 
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