Will he be missed?

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.telegraph....-Egypts-heritage.html

Anyone who is interested in Egyptian sites and antiquities, must remember the face of Zahi Hawass on our screens.

/// Social networking sites like Twitter were flooded with inevitable jokes, from "the Curse of the Mummy strikes" to comments such as "Zahi Hawass to no longer appear in every single TV special on Egypt". Some were simpler, saying, "Please take your hat with you."///

Was it fair for him to receive such comments after all what he has done to promote a world wide interest in Egypt's past?

[boxtops]

He'll be missed by me - I have always enjoyed his presentations, but there was a recent show where an American woman had found a new way of scanning under the desert sand, and (IMO) because he hadn't made the discoveries, she had a really difficult time getting permission to dig. He always seemed to know his stuff.

[jno]

he promoted himself. He has his own clothing line and his own reality TV show. There was an interesting TV programme by Alan Yentob on the Cairo museum after the uprising a couple of weeks ago. Hawass was in it, as he is in all programmes about Egypt. But there was some suggestion (which I believe is quite widespread in Egypt) that the break-in at the museum during the uprising, in which many antiquities were damaged, was an inside job, staged by the government to frame the rebels, and that Hawass, with links to the Mubarak regime, was involved.

I have no idea whether this is true or not. And Egyptian archaeology does seem to need a firm hand to stop all the looting and illegal exporting. I hope his replacement is up to the task, though without the sidelines

http://www.drhawass.c...-hawass-clothing-line

[Ankou]

world wide interest in egypts past, existed long before hawass.

i have seen several programmes with him in, and also the yentob one referred to above. he always came across as knowledgeable but arrogant and crafty to me.

[jno]

his claim that Egypt needs pharaohs may not have gone down all that well in a popular revolution. By all accounts he was very autocratic, though spiffingly well dressed.

[albaqwerty]

It was my impression that he was starting to believe his own publicity.

[Whickerman]

he stifled debate and ruled over antiquities like his own little fiefdom.

But he brought a complete revival in the tourist industry by making a lot of sites tourist friendly - I'm not sure if that's a good thing by the way.

[birdie1971]

Hawass was a publicity hungry despot who has repeatedly rejected calls for valid archaeological and geological studies from some of the world's most eminent scientists. He seemed to regard the the entire Giza complex as his own personal possession and has stifled much research. His approach seemed to be – does the research being suggested support the orthodox view of Egyptian history? If yes, proceed. If no, go away.

Some very eminent geologists dispute the age of some of the structures at Giza. Almost all of their on-site research has been blocked by Hawass on the grounds that it would 'harm' the Egyptian legacy. He seems far more interested in the image of Egypt and of the Giza complex in particular than he is in the actual facts of this amazing and breathtakingly ancient site.

An example of this can be found in the refusal from Hawass to allow the German researcher, Rudolf Gantenbrink, to open the infamous 'door' in one of the southern air-shafts of the Great Pyramid using his robot, Upuaut-2. It wasn't until (several years later) Hawass had secured a TV deal with the National Geographic Channel that he allowed Gantenbrink's robot to open the door on live TV.

In my opinion, Hawass is an objectionable character who did much for the Egyptian tourist board but did little for any actual research of the Giza site. I can only hope that his successor is more interested in facts and data than he is in column inches.

[Ankou]

there is much of that i agree with birdie.

[anotheoldgit]

I am often accused of posting anti-Muslim posts, well this time I post supporting one, and surprise, surprise, many others are now castigating one.

Some are so fickle.

[jackthehat]

Was his religion a fundamental part of this discussion?!?

I agree with everything birdie has said about Hawass; it is to be hoped that his successor will be a little less self-obsessed and more open to acknowledging the technology and input from less rigidly 'orthodox' Egyptologists.

[Whickerman]

where was religion mentioned?

[anotheoldgit]

/// where was religion mentioned? ///

It doesn't have to be, I was merely making an observation of the attitude of some ABers, to some of my threads.

EG. If I post a question regarding some Gang rape convictions, and the perpetrators happen to be black, and although I have not mentioned their skin colour, then I am classed as racist.

Likewise, if I had criticised Zahi Hawass in any way, I would have most likely been accused of being Anti-Muslim.