The Egypt of today is a surreal dichotomy. It’s once profoundly rich and powerful
civilization led by virile pharaohs contrasts mightily with the economic and
political- breakdown of the leaderless Egypt of today.
Today, Egypt’s unemployment is at over 13% (locals
say it’s much higher) and where much of the population live at 3rd world
poverty level, save for tiny pockets of lux havens for the elite few in Cairo,
Alexandria, Hurghada and Sharm El Sheikh. Income inequality and corruption is
equal, if not worse than in most other third world countries across the globe.
On our way to visit the pyramids at Giza, kids suddenly
surround the taxi driving us down the old Pyramids Road no more than 13 years
of age, tapping on the car’s windows in an attempt to get money or “baksheesh”
from us. Our driver exclaims apologetically, “They are starving!” in a spurt of
honesty that was so heart felt, it rang in my ears, creating an instant empathy
for their condition. Being Cuban and having visited my country several times,
parallels were instantly drawn in my mind of how far a failed government can
drag down it’s own people, forcing them to be capable of anything in an effort
to survive.
Even though Egypt’s people are in dire need, the country is
very safe to visit. Tourists are always treated with kindness and appreciation.
It’s an unspoken rule to treat tourist’s well but every now and then you will
get a character that won’t take “no, thank you” for an answer and a “baksheesh”
of about 10 Egyptian pounds ($1.44 US) usually satisfies them. Egypt’s economy
is heavily reliant on tourism and the revolution has taken a toll on the
tourism industry, which has slowed down since 2011 to a complete halt.
However, since the revolution erupted in 2011, tourism has
come to a virtual standstill, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that
at many of the sites we visited, we were the only American tourists around.
Whenever we were asked the mandatory question: “Where are you from?” our
response was always greeted with “Ah, America…good people!” Thankfully, Tourism Minister Hisham Zaazou,
announced on Oct 2, that 13 countries have now lifted travel bans to Egypt. The
latest two countries, Austria and Ireland, lifted bans to holiday destinations
in the Red Sea and South Sinai more recently.
I am visiting Egypt to interview the recently removed Dr. Zahi
Hawass from his beloved post as Secretary General of the SCA (Supreme Council
of Antiquities). Mr. Hawass agreed to
the interview since the request came from his longtime friend and trusted gal-pal,
Mary Lomando, whom he met in Cairo over 20 years ago while she was completing
her degree as an Egyptologist in Cairo. Mary is a seasoned tour leader and owner
of Pacha Terra Travel. Zahi has
learned to be discerning with regards to whom he will grant interviews these
days, and for good reason. He has grown weary of being maligned by the media
and his fellow countrymen due to his past cabinet ministry appointment by
deposed President, Hosni Mubarak.
The people of Egypt found Zahi an easy target, and he inevitably
became a scapegoat for their frustration with anything to do with Mubarak’s
regime. Even though all the trumped up charges of corruption against Hawass
have since been dropped due to lack of evidence to support the claims, some
still try to malign his good work. Love him, or hate him, Dr. Hawass has done
more for restoring the sites of Egypt, preserving its antiquities and
announcing new discoveries than any other archaeologist in recent history.
In Zahi’s words, “If anyone were to ask what my religion
was, I would answer my religion is to train other archaeologists to be better
archaeologists than I was!” He has written or co-written over 60 books on Egyptian
archaeology, chock full of new insights and discoveries recently documented.
These books have been published worldwide, and his wish of training
archaeologists to be better than him has already come to fruition. Many people
don’t even know he started off as a teacher. Before he became an inspector for
the SCA, Mr. Hawass taught Egyptian archaeology, history and culture at the
American University in Cairo and the University of California, Los Angeles in
1988. Through his books and his public speaking events, he has educated and
informed armies of closet archaeologists and archaeologists in training alike
to appreciate humanity’s fascinating past, reinforcing the notion that it is
not about the gold but more the treasure of the information gleaned from these
artifacts that tell the “story of us”.
Zahi’s top projects completed
during his tenure as Minister:
*Starting 24 new museums across the country. Of the 24, six
have been completed. The rest are still under construction.
*The complete restoration of the Serapeum and reinforcing
the Step pyramid at Saqqara.
*SETI I tomb- tunnel excavation.
*Renovation of the conservation lab at the Egyptian Museum.
*Stabilization of the stepped pyramid at Saqqara.
*Luxor Museum extension.
*Restoration of the Sphinx and enclosure.
The Archaeological sites of Egypt are unbelievably empty of
tourists where they were almost always full with rows of buses. These monuments
that symbolize the patrimony of humanity’s greatest achievements are barely
guarded and in some sites, no guards at all. They are in a shamefully neglected
condition, littered with animal dung, graffiti and trash. In contrast, the
ancient sites at Luxor are all still well maintained. It seems as if there is
more national pride for these sites there. The wave of Islamic extremist incidents
throughout the country, fueled by the Muslim Brotherhood haven’t helped matters
either. There have even been recent threats by one cleric to dismantle the
Pyramids and ancient temples as Islamic fundamentalism isn’t friendly at all to
secular archaeology, which highlights the accomplishments of another belief
system, even though it is no longer worshipped by Egyptians today. The current
Minister of the SCA- Mohamed Abdel
Fattah, was appointed by recently ousted President Morsi, so it remains
to be seen if he will protect and restore Egypt’s heritage as fervently as Dr.
Hawass.
This is the sad state of an Egypt stuck in the grips of a
slow-boil revolution. The reports of looting have leaked out from independent
sources but there isn’t much actual data or an official account yet of what has
gone missing. Egypt’s National Museum in Malawi, was looted and vandalized in August
of this year by local Muslim extremists and many artifacts, even wooden
sarcophagi were hacked to pieces with axes. A public auction of 126 recently looted
antiquities was stopped in Jerusalem, so there is evidence that many
antiquities are being smuggled out through Egypt’s porous borders.
Mary and I visited
Saqqara and the Abu Sir pyramids area the day before meeting with Dr. Hawass
and reported to him that the replica, full-size statue of King Djoser sitting
inside his serdab enclosure was moved out of line in a failed looting attempt.
Most looters are not educated enough to know it is a replica. The representation
for the ancient king now sits in wait, no longer aligned and blocked from his
line of sight to the stars.
Sarah Parcak, a space archaeologist has used satellite
imagery to calculate the extent of the looting epidemic since the revolution
and she estimates it has increased 500%.
* Has the
situation with looting since the revolution, been secured?
Zahi - “The current
situation is a disaster for Egypt and particularly in Abu Sir there are illegal
excavations everywhere!” The holes that Sarah Parcak is talking about are what
looters leave behind and are not always accurate indicators of looting. These looters
dig hundreds of exploratory holes and are mostly failed attempts. They dig for
two things; gold and the myth of the healing red mercury that supposedly exists
in the throats of the mummies, which sometimes fetch high prices on the
medicinal black market. There is no such liquid. I have never seen it. It
doesn’t exist!”
Zahi is one of the few things about Egypt that wasn’t
broken. Since he was removed from his enamored post, the country has revolted
again and removed another leader deemed useless to improve the country’s
paralysis. Zahi sees himself not as a media personality but as a guardian of
Egypt’s rich heritage. So much so, his older, original website was http://www.guardians.net. At the start of the
revolution in January 2011, Zahi took a big risk by forming a human chain with
other Egyptians in the streets in front of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo to prevent
protesters from storming the museum. This brave act was not reported by any
media source.
While in his post he was responsible for the repatriation of
over 5000 artifacts from museums all over the world. The New York Metropolitan
Museum cooperated with Zahi in returning 19 artifacts from King Tut’s tomb. His
controversial move to block France from digging at Saqqara for the first time
in history until the Louvre returned the five fragments of the Tetiky frescoes
stolen from the West Bank in Luxor was his boldest move. “A bomb dropped at the
Louvre when I stopped the French from digging at Saqqara,” His bravado worked
and all the frescoes were returned.
* We watched
a documentary on our flight here on an Air France plane and it was reporting on
your successful negotiations for the return of the Tetiky frescoes and the
Ramses mummy. Is there any progress or updates to your efforts to have Egyptian
artifacts returned to their homeland, such as the famed bust of Nefertiti or
the Dendera zodiac?
Zahi – “There is no
progress after years of stalled negotiations and the new Minister of the SCA
has sadly and unbelievably publicly declared he does not want Nefertiti returned
to Egypt!”
* What are the top most
important artifacts you feel should be returned to their home in Egypt?
Zahi-
·
Statue of
Ramses II in Turin, Italy.
·
Statue of
the architect, Hemiunu of the Great Pyramid at the Hildesheim's Pelizaeus
Museum.
·
Bust of Prince Ankhhaf at the
Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
·
Dendera
Zodiac from the Louvre.
·
Rosetta
stone from the British Museum.
·
Bust of
Nefertiti in the Berlin Neues Museum.
*What is the status
of the accusations and charges on your contracts with National Geographic and
Discovery Channel?
Zahi - “All the
charges have been dropped from lack of evidence of wrongdoing. I negotiated
those projects based on what best offer of help they would provide for the
benefit of Egypt. The National Geographic video was very successful for them
and in return, the Egyptian Museum in Cairo received a 3 million dollar CT scan
machine that is in use to this day and bringing to light many more insights and
discoveries about the Pharaohs and their families. All the funds paid by the
Discovery Channel went straight to the Egyptian antiquities department. The Tut
exhibit earned 125 million dollars for a new room inside the Grand Egyptian
Museum in Giza, now under construction. These contracts were all approved beforehand
by the Mubarak regime and were totally transparent.”
Egypt’s mega-project of its new Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza promises to be
Egypt’s crown jewel just a mile away from the pyramids. Giza’s skyline is
dotted with so many cranes; it looks as if they were constructing a new
pyramid. A large sign with red LED numbers in front of the site show a
countdown of 622 days. This is a running joke for locals who claim the
countdown is in years, not days.
*Do you have
any information or updates on the new Cairo museum that was supposed to be
completed within the next two years (625 days)?
Zahi – “Construction work
is ongoing but very slow, as they need about 700 million dollars to complete
the construction of this massive museum. With the current instability, who
knows when that will be completed.”
Zahi’s dream to do the work that still needs to be done to
complete his vision for the antiquities department has been blocked but that
won’t stop him from making new discoveries and continuing to be an Egyptologist.
He is resigned to fill his days organizing speaking tours in the US and book signings
in Geneva, Poland and London beginning November 5th, to promote his
latest book, Discovering Tutankhamen: From Howard Carter to DNA.
He is also currently completing another book on the DNA research findings with
the royal mummies at the Cairo museum.
*If it were
offered to you again, would you want your old job back?
Zahi - “No! Not in the
current state Egypt is in. If there is no stability and Egypt is not brought
back to a normal working condition, I would be useless and unable to perform my
job well!”
Zahi’s passion seems to rest not in carrying a title but in
being able to effect change and fulfill his personal mission as a guardian of
Egypt’s heritage.
*What are the
discoveries you'd like to make or witness on your bucket list? Has the
departure from your post diminished your desire to uncover more history
changing discoveries?
He replies, without missing a beat, rattling off all the
discoveries he would like to still make.
Zahi - “The tomb of
Nefertiti, the tomb of the great Imhotep and finally find the answer to what is
behind Gantenbrink’s door inside the Great Pyramid. I believe Imhotep may be
buried in an unexcavated area on the west side of the Step Pyramid at Saqqara. They
have already found a 2nd dynasty tomb underneath the Step Pyramid. Senenmut,
the architect of Queen Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari was buried near her mortuary
temple there. This leads me to believe that Imhotep mirrored this same act of
reverence near King Djoser’s Step Pyramid at Saqqara since he was architect of
that pyramid.”
* Any updates on the search for Cleopatra
in Alexandria?
Zahi – “Dr. Kathleen Martinez unearthed a marble bust of
Cleopatra and 22 coins with her image at a small cemetery inside the Ptolemaic
temple at Taposiris Magna in Alexandria, some time ago. Unfortunately, that
mystery still remains unsolved after more than 5 years of digging and the
excavations at the site are ongoing with Dr. Martinez.”
* Are you opposed to using new technologies
to make new discoveries easier? (LIDAR satellite imaging, Ground penetrating
radar, etc).
“These technologies are
all wonderful but first of all, Egypt is filled with ancient sites, there are
sites everywhere! The problem is these new technologies are incompatible with
the current state of Egypt today. You find a site and it is reported but then
who can we assign to protect it from looting and excavate it properly? There aren’t
enough resources for the discovery of so many sites when the existing ones
haven’t been properly secured and restored yet. You need a good and stable
government for that!”
* Zahi sympathizes
with the condition of his country and when asked who he would like to see as
next president he replied,
Zahi - “Whoever the
people elect, that leader must be very strong and determined to make changes
quickly. There are so many people that haven’t worked in three years. The
situation is terrible!”
In a country where a smaller-than-America’s-1% are
successful and nothing works, Zahi’s effectiveness and public persona was an
obvious, yet ironic target for criticism. He essentially gained too much
notoriety for doing too much and being too good at his job. Such is the
revolutionary mob mentality in a country where so few have and the vast
majority has not. If the income inequality gap in America continues to widen at
the pace it has since the recession, we might not be too far behind the
Egyptian example.
The statue of King Djoser’s sight to the stars being blocked
by looters is a sobering metaphor for the people of Egypt who also seem to be currently
blocked from seeing their way out of their current predicament. No one we have
talked to even knows when the next election will take place. Some say possibly next
summer, and others fear a third revolution if it doesn’t happen soon. The
potential for peace and a new Egypt is within the country’s grasp, the
Egyptians just don’t know how to do it without an effective leader strong
enough to right all the wrongs of the past. These are a people that haven’t had
a democratically elected president for 5000 years. The process will take time.
If they can achieve this is anyone’s guess. In the meantime, the Sphinx and her
three brothers stand as timeless sentinels
waiting for Egypt’s glory to return.
The published post of this blog can be viewed here on AnthroJournal site.
