# What is Zahi Hawass doing now? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 31, 2013, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-zahi-hawass-doing-now/654444 "2013-03-31T17:36:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2013, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-zahi-hawass-doing-now/654444/1 "2013-03-31T17:36:31Z")
The question is in the title. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2013, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-zahi-hawass-doing-now/654444/2 "2013-03-31T17:38:39Z")
Who? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2013, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-zahi-hawass-doing-now/654444/3 "2013-03-31T17:47:24Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Who? That was my question too, so to at least answer that much he is an Egyptian archeologist. As soon as I saw his face I recognized him from various TV shows that he has been in (on those rare occasions when the history channel actually has some history on it). He was the Minister of State for Antiquities Affairs in Egypt, but had a bit of a falling out, apparently over ties with Mubarak. Here is his wikipedia page: > **[Zahi Hawass](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zahi_Hawass)** > > Zahi Abass Hawass (Egyptian Arabic: زاهي حواس; born May 28, 1947) is an Egyptian archaeologist, Egyptologist, and former Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, a position he held twice. He has worked at archaeological sites in the Nile Delta, the Western Desert and the Upper Nile Valley. > Hawass was born in a small village near Damietta, Egypt. Although he originally dreamed of becoming an attorney, he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Greek and Roman Archaeology from Alexandria University in... This Smithsonian article describes his fall: [http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/The-Fall-of-Zahi-Hawass.html](http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/The-Fall-of-Zahi-Hawass.html) Neither answers the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2013, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-zahi-hawass-doing-now/654444/4 "2013-03-31T17:49:45Z")
Something other than heading up Egyptian archaeology, one would hope. Ramesses II had a smaller ego and less wish to get his fingerprints on everything in Egyptian history. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2013, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-zahi-hawass-doing-now/654444/5 "2013-03-31T18:02:03Z")
This article from last summer is interesting. Hawass did a lot to promote tourism and interest in the pyramids. That’s big money for the country. They may need Hawass again to reassure tourists that travel to the pyramids is safe. Someone better step up soon and get the pyramid promotion going again. Make sure those Nat Geo specials get made. Thats what gets the tourists in the hotels spending money. > **[What Happened To The Indiana Jones Of Egypt?](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/golden-mummies-what-happe_n_1677919)** > > What Happened To The Indiana Jones Of Egypt? > [@](#): > > Though he was briefly restored to power last year, Hawass, 64, has yet to find much support among the Freedom and Justice Party of President-Elect Mohamed Morsi. He may yet be vindicated, however, if Morsi’s new government finds it can’t replace his golden touch. The stability of the fledgling democracy may even depend on it. > > Before Mubarak’s fall in February, 2011, Hawass had spent more than two decades helping Egypt promote its antiquities to a foreign audience. He is credited as the man behind the traveling King Tut exhibit, the discovery of the Valley of the Golden Mummies and a wide range of other projects during his nine years as Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities. He provided an agreeable face for the Western world. > > Hawass’ aggressive promotion often came on the heels of tragedy, in what appeared to be a deft strumming of public sentiment toward his homeland. In 1998, following the murder of 63 tourists in Luxor, he reopened the Sphinx to the public after its 10-year closure. From then on, he organized a near-constant parade of blockbuster museum shows around the world designed to advertise Egypt as both an idea and destination.