by Zahi Hawass

In 1976, I became an inspector of the Pyramids of Giza. I was working at Abu Simbel, the Nubian site of the temples of Ramses II, when I read that thieves had broken into the storage house at Giza and had taken dozens of artifacts. Dr Gamal Mokhtar, head of the Department of Antiquities, knew of my administrative abilities and believed I could make sure this would never happen again. One month later, we caught the thieves and all the artifacts were returned. They are still in jail today.

In 1977, Bahariya Oasis was put under the same jurisdiction as the Giza monuments and I went to visit the site. It is funny to think back that I was standing on one of the most exciting archaeological sites of the millennium and was not even aware of it. I realised this was virgin site but I never thought that I would excavate there. I was concerned with the protection and conservation of this site with only six guards and no Antiquities Inspector. No one from Cairo was willing to live in this remote site. So, in 1980, I returned to Bahariya to see about renting an office but I was granted no funds to support it. I recommended a young man from Bahariya, Ashry Shakr, a first-year student in archaeology to the Antiquities Department to open an office for us. I then accepted a Fulbright Scholarship to obtain my doctorate in Egyptology at the University of Pennsylvania and travelled to the United States.

In 1987, I returned to Egypt. The Antiquities Department had appointed Ashry Shakr as Antiquities Inspector of Bahariya. I was promoted to Director General of Giza, Saqqara, and Bahariya Oasis. I began work immediately and plunged into the thick of things, dealing with many problems.

How I found my true love – archaeology (Part 2), The Egyptian Gazette, Egypt, October 10, 2005.

Egypt will send a robot up narrow shafts in the Great Pyramid to try to solve one of the mysteries of the 4,500-year-old pharaonic mausoleum, Egypt's top archaeologist said on Monday.

Zahi Hawass told Reuters he would this week inspect a robot designed to climb the two narrow shafts which might lead to an undiscovered burial chamber in the pyramid of Cheops at Giza, on the outskirts of Cairo.

Hawass said the shafts and stone panels which block them could mark the location of the burial chamber of Cheops, also known as Khufu. That would mean none of the chambers already discovered in the pyramid were the pharaoh's real tomb...

Egypt prepares new probe of mystery pyramid shafts, Reuters, UK, October 10, 12005.

cf. Egypt prepares new probe of pyramid mystery, reuters via MSNBC, USA, October 10, 2005.

cf. Egypt to examine ancient shafts, Television New Zealand, New Zealand, October 11, 2005.

The disappearance of three ancient artefacts from the bowels of the Egyptian Museum has made it clear that the notoriously disorganized antiquities warehouse needs excavation as much as any pharaonic tomb.

Last week, Zahi Hawass, head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities and the archaeologist who excavated the artefacts in Giza, launched an investigation to find the missing pieces. But the national treasure is not stolen, he says; it’s “simply lost” somewhere in the museum’s vast and poorly organized basement...

Found and lost, Cairo Magazine, Egypt, October 06, 2005.

More on Egyptian-Sudanese cooperation.

The start of a giant Egyptian-Sudanese project in the field of antiquities was announced by Regine Schulz, Chairperson of the International Committee of Egyptology at the International Council of Museums (ICOM).

At a news conference recently held on the sidelines of a conference of museums at Alexandria Library HQ, Schulz told reporters the project would be held under the umbrella of ICOM and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

She said that Cooperation will involve the establishment of a museum for Nubian antiquities in Sudan's Wadi Halfa near the borders with Egypt...

Egypt, Sudan to promote cooperation in antiquity field, State Information Service, Egypt, October 08, 2005.

107,450 tourists from different nationalities visited the valley of kings in Luxor during September 2005, compared to 3,797 Egyptians visited the site during the same month.

Revenues from tourists hit LE 5.832 million [*] compared to LE 7,594 from Egyptians.

107 thousand tourists visited Luxor Valley of Kings, State Information Service, Egypt, October 08, 2005.