Zahi Hawass has been selected by Time magazine as one of the world's most influential people, reports Nevine El-Aref.

The world's 100 most influential people will gather on Monday at Lincoln Centre, in the scintillating new Time Warner Centre in New York. Among them will be an Egyptian, Egyptologist Zahi Hawass.

Described by Time as "The Guardian of Egypt's Antiquities" and "The perfect image of a modern-day archaeologists with his jeans and trademark Indian Jones hat" Hawass, the secretary-general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, has to be -- and is -- a master of multi-tasking. He tours the world lecturing, making TV appearances and churning out a steady stream of books and articles. He has been described as theatrical, passionate about Egypt and archaeology, as well as controversial. He makes news by demanding the return of artefacts stolen and smuggled out of Egypt and his recent edicts restricting new excavations, particularly in such popular sites as Saqqara and the Valley of the Kings, have aroused the ire of some foreign archaeologists...

He made it in Time, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 793, May 04 - 10, 2006.

By Zahi Hawass.

When I arrived in the Valley of the Kings to see the newly-discovered tomb KV-63, I found there hundreds of people from the media from all over the world. Otto Schaden and I gave interviews about the discovery, but we could not say anything definite. Was it a royal tomb? Or was it a cache of mummies? Many questions were raised on the day of the opening because, in the royal valley, the king or his cook could be buried.

It was immediately clear to all of us that the tomb was probably not royal. We could see no sign of a uraeus (royal cobra), no cartouches, nothing that would suggest the presence of a king or queen. When I got back to my hotel I began to reflect that if this were a mummy cache, which is what it most looked like, it could be the fourth such cache to be discovered in the valley (not including the royal cache found at Deir Al-Bahari in the late 1800s).

The first cache in the Valley of the Kings was found in 1898 by Victor Loret inside the tomb of Amenhotep II (KV-35). The mummy of the Pharaoh was still inside his sarcophagus, and there were other mummies in the tomb. One, already damaged by ancient tomb robbers and later, in 1901, destroyed by modern vandals, was lying on top of a large model boat in the first columned hall..

Dig days: Treasure without end, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 793, May 04 - 10, 2006.

Last evening in the Egyptian Museum garden, Egypt celebrated World Heritage Day for the third consecutive year.

It was a beautiful evening as the Cairo Opera Symphony Orchestra played classical melodies in front of French archaeologist Auguste Mariette's mausoleum. Culture Minister Farouk Hosni, Supreme Council of Antiquities Secretary-General Zahi Hawass, and renowned actor Omar Sharif were seated along with Egyptian actresses Nadia Lutfi and Layla Elwi. Archaeologists, restorers and curators, prominent cultural figures, foreign and Egyptian journalists and television presenters also attended.

The idea of holding an "International Day for Monuments and Sites" to be celebrated simultaneously throughout the world was first mooted on 18 April 1982 at a symposium organised by the International Council of Monuments and Sites in Tunisia. The project was approved by the executive committee, who provided practical suggestions to the various national committees on how to organise the day. The idea was also approved by the UNESCO General Conference, which passed a resolution at its 22nd session in November 1983 recommending that member states examine the possibility of declaring 18 April each year "International Monuments and Sites Day". This is now traditionally called World Heritage Day, and is celebrated worldwide...

World Heritage Day, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 793, May 04 - 10, 2006.

A number of remarkable archaeological sites on Luxor's east and west banks are undergoing a facelift, says Sherine Nasr.

Over the past few years, Luxor has seen elaborate conservation projects led and financed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The first 10 sites are now restored and open to the public.

"USAID is financing conservation of Egyptian antiquities through four grants, two of which have been completed while the other two are still ongoing, in addition to two endowments," Francis Ricciardone, US ambassador to Egypt, said during a two-day visit to Luxor early this month.

One of the most significant projects has been the reconstruction of the sarcophagus of Ramses VI, which is displayed in the burial chamber of the tomb where Ramses was originally buried in the Valley of the Kings on the West Bank. The project reflects the successful partnership between the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) and the American Research Centre in Egypt (ARCE), which received a grant from the USAID to conclude the project...

Smoothing the gaps, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 793, May 04 - 10, 2006.

As archaeological research in Egypt is an ongoing process to enhance understanding of Pharaonic culture, new discoveries are made on a regular basis. Nevine El-Aref tracks the most recent finds in Fayoum and Luxor.

Fayoum and Luxor are two magnificent Upper Egyptian regions with rich and interesting histories. Last week, as Egyptologists were busy digging across Egypt's various archaeological sites searching for more hidden treasures, the Egyptian mission working at Medinet Madi in Fayoum and the French-Egyptian mission at Karnak Temple in Luxor both came across interesting discoveries.

Archaeologists have discovered a yard at the back of the Medinet Madi Temple structure thought to have been used by ancient Egyptians for administrative work and as a residential area for the temple priests. With it was found a number of related artefacts.

Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) Secretary-General Zahi Hawass said this was a very important discovery and claimed it shed more light on how the Pharaohs of the Middle Kingdom built the temples that played such a major role in the people's ordinary lives...

What's old is new, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 793, May 04 - 10, 2006.