# Fuck Zahi Hawass sideways **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 19, 2011, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-zahi-hawass-sideways/578980 "2011-04-19T18:28:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-zahi-hawass-sideways/578980/61 "2011-04-23T20:38:36Z")
Archeology treasure ownership drives me nuts. If you spend a lot of money and find a treasure laden vessel that has sat on the bottom of the ocean for 300 years, it is claimed by the nearest country. It would still be rotting in the bottom of th ocean if the treasure hunter did not go find it. The US claimed a huge percentage of the Otosha when Fisher made finding it his lifes work.He spent decades scouring the ocean for it. With zero help from the government. The original Egyptologists made Hawas possible. He feels he owes them nothing, that they actually are ripping Egypt off. If they want the treasures back, they should be willing to pay the hunters for their time. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-zahi-hawass-sideways/578980/62 "2011-04-23T20:45:38Z")
Maybe the treasure hunters should all go on strike just to show the rest of us how much we need them. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2011, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-zahi-hawass-sideways/578980/63 "2011-04-24T12:34:10Z")
> [@Capitaine\_Zombie](#): > > It is a sad truth that the knowledge of Ancient Egypt we got is dominated by Westerners (mostly Euros), but nothing, absolutely nothing prevented Egypt from pionering the field. They didnt. Nothing? The Egyptians were subjugated to colonial powers. Script deciphering is a bit of a luxury good when you are barely scraping by, dominated by outsiders. Even museums do not dispute that so many of their treasures are of uncertain provenance, purchased on the black market, effectively looted by treasure-hunters in the 19th century. These objects were not acquired by legitimate archaeology but by force and deception. There were no site reports, and we certainly don’t know anything about the contexts in which the objects were found. The objects just turned up in some wealthy person’s house, and in fortunate cases, found their ways to museums where at least the rest of the world can see them. Whether we give the items back is another and very fraught question. We don’t give our country back to the Native Americans whom we looted it from. But on the other hand, we can’t simply extract oil from Saudi Arabia without paying for it, even if the Saudi Arabians never would have dug the wells by themselves. So Zahi is definitely an asshole, as anyone who has done archaeology in Egypt can tell you. But what’s your excuse, **aruvgan**? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2011, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-zahi-hawass-sideways/578980/64 "2011-04-24T13:27:17Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Maybe the treasure hunters should all go on strike just to show the rest of us how much we need them. _Hawass Shrugged._ ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2011, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-zahi-hawass-sideways/578980/65 "2011-04-24T18:09:37Z")
> [@Maeglin](#): > > Nothing? The Egyptians were subjugated to colonial powers. Script deciphering is a bit of a luxury good when you are barely scraping by, dominated by outsiders. > > Even museums do not dispute that so many of their treasures are of uncertain provenance, purchased on the black market, effectively looted by treasure-hunters in the 19th century. These objects were not acquired by legitimate archaeology but by force and deception. There were no site reports, and we certainly don’t know anything about the contexts in which the objects were found. The objects just turned up in some wealthy person’s house, and in fortunate cases, found their ways to museums where at least the rest of the world can see them. > > Whether we give the items back is another and very fraught question. We don’t give our country back to the Native Americans whom we looted it from. But on the other hand, we can’t simply extract oil from Saudi Arabia without paying for it, even if the Saudi Arabians never would have dug the wells by themselves. The Egyptians were in full control fo their country for centuries. Matter of fact they were dominant players in that area for centuries as well. Apparently they only began having an interest for archeological sites and their value when Europeans started showing up and digging. No, correct that, when Europeans started to make major discoveries in the field. Moreover, ever since its independance, Egypt has not produced much in terms of value for Egyptology, even though they’re in full control of their country. Again. It aint the fault of Westerners that Egyptians didnt give a toss about their ancient history for such a looooong time. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-zahi-hawass-sideways/578980/66 "2011-07-13T19:38:36Z")
Interesting story from today’s New York Times: **Revolution Dims Star Power of Egypt’s Antiquities Chief** > [@](#): > > Now demonstrators in Cairo are calling for his resignation as the interim government faces disaffected crowds in Tahrir Square. > > Their primary complaint is his association with the Mubaraks, whom he defended in the early days of the revolution. But the upheaval has also drawn attention to the ways he has increased his profile over the years, often with the help of organizations and companies with which he has done business as a government official. > > He receives, for example, an honorarium each year of as much as $200,000 from National Geographic to be an explorer-in-residence even as he controls access to the ancient sites it often features in its reports. > > He has relationships — albeit ones he says he does not profit from — with two American companies that do business in Egypt. > > One, Arts and Exhibitions International, secured Mr. Hawass’s permission several years ago to take some of the country’s most precious treasures, the artifacts of King Tut, on a world tour; its top executives recently started a separate venture to market a Zahi Hawass line of clothing. [http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/13/world/middleeast/13hawass.html?pagewanted=1&\_r=1](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/13/world/middleeast/13hawass.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1) ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-zahi-hawass-sideways/578980/67 "2011-07-13T21:07:48Z")
From the above article: > [@](#): > > He receives, for example, an honorarium each year of as much as $200,000 from National Geographic to be an explorer-in-residence even as he controls access to the ancient sites it often features in its reports. He’s prominently featured in their [current cover story on Cleopatra](http://www.nationalgeographic.com/events/cleopatra/zahi-hawass/)in fact. Hard to consider 20+ times the salary of an average Egyptian an honorarium, especially when it’s far from his only means of income. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2011, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-zahi-hawass-sideways/578980/68 "2011-07-15T02:36:44Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > I’m not [joking]. I get that you _are_ joking, but if you flat-out say you’re not, I’ve found all this does is undermine your credibility in future discussions when you’re actually not joking. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2011, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-zahi-hawass-sideways/578980/69 "2011-07-15T03:33:55Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > I think Hawass keeps forgetting that these ancient relics are for \*all \*of humanity to ponder and study, not for a few Egypt-centric elite archaeologists. > > And his anti-Jewish rants are lame, especially coming from someone that should have a very keen and broad historical perspective. They belong to Hawass and should be under his watch. He is the only one who understands Egyptian archaeology and Seth Rogan. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2011, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-zahi-hawass-sideways/578980/70 "2011-07-15T13:04:14Z")
Bwa-ha-ha. I used to work with Zahi Hawass, when he wrote regular columns for EgyptAir’s inflight magazine Horus and I was part of the editorial staff. I never spoke with the man personally - he always delivered his pronouncements/orders to us through his long-suffering assistant, whose devotion to him was puzzling (or maybe he was just standing over her shoulder every time she called or wrote an e-mail - that wouldn’t surprise me, as on top of all his other behaviors he was a real control freak). His aggressive self-promotion was a thing to behold - I always wondered why he couldn’t see that he was embarrassing himself through his childish demands. We met most of his demands - we had to - but one that we managed to slither out of was his insistence that his photo be on the cover of every issue of Horus. Yep, you read that right. He told us that it would be good for the magazine if his face was on the cover of every single edition. I’m sure he believed it, too. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2011, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-zahi-hawass-sideways/578980/71 "2011-07-15T17:10:54Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > Bwa-ha-ha. I used to work with Zahi Hawass, when he wrote regular columns for EgyptAir’s inflight magazine Horus and I was part of the editorial staff. I never spoke with the man personally - he always delivered his pronouncements/orders to us through his long-suffering assistant, whose devotion to him was puzzling (or maybe he was just standing over her shoulder every time she called or wrote an e-mail - that wouldn’t surprise me, as on top of all his other behaviors he was a real control freak). His aggressive self-promotion was a thing to behold - I always wondered why he couldn’t see that he was embarrassing himself through his childish demands. > > We met most of his demands - we had to - but one that we managed to slither out of was his insistence that his photo be on the cover of every issue of Horus. Yep, you read that right. He told us that it would be good for the magazine if his face was on the cover of every single edition. > > I’m sure he believed it, too. LOL I can believe that. That is why I jokingly say that I can never work in Egyptian Archeology if I ever had to email him because of my posting about his jackassery … as I am more than certain he vanity googles … and my tag is on some pretty nasty mudslinging. Is it mudslinging when it is the truth?:dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2011, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-zahi-hawass-sideways/578980/72 "2011-07-15T18:39:20Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > … Is it mudslinging when it is the truth?:dubious: Absolutely. Only when there is no mud to sling and you have to import dirt and water is it untrue mudslinging. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2011, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-zahi-hawass-sideways/578980/73 "2011-07-15T22:45:57Z")
I think the man should be mummified alive and buried in one of those tombs. A fitting “tribute” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-zahi-hawass-sideways/578980.md?page=3)