Egypt’s mummy king speaks out about unrest, solution, tourism and King Tut

Dr. Zahi Hawass is known the world over as the Egyptian archeologist who was the subject of a National Geographic television show called Chasing Mummies, King Tut’s Final Secrets.

Dr. Zahi Hawass is known the world over as the Egyptian archeologist who was the subject of a National Geographic television show called Chasing Mummies, King Tut’s Final Secrets. Those in the tourism world know him as the former secretary general of Egyptโ€™s Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) and former minister of Egyptโ€™s State of Antiquities Affairs. And, Egyptiansโ€™ view of him is likely influenced by their respective political alliances, but thereโ€™s no denying he is widely recognized on the streets as the media savvy archeologist who has been on their television sets one too many times.

The political situation is Egypt has put Hawass out of work and away from the job he is clearly very passionate about. But, this has not stopped the man from pursuing anything and everything related to Egyptian mummies, discovering and retrieving artifacts and talking about them through lectures all over the world or committing them on paper through books. His latest book explores the life of King Tut, the boy king whose life and death has been some kind of an unsolved mystery since his tomb was found in 1922.

eTN 2.0 sat down with Hawass for an exclusive interview last Saturday, November 16, to give us his take on what is going on in Egypt as well as give us an update on what has been keeping him busy. Ever the controversial man, he likens the current situation in Egypt to that of a revolution some thousands of years ago when Upper and Lower Egypt were united by King Menes. Describing the similarities, Hawass is convinced he knows the solution to the ongoing political debacle Egypt is inโ€”a strong leader.

The first in a three-part series, the above eTN 2.0 presentation shows Hawass addressing the questions pertaining to his time as the secretary general of the SCA and Egyptian Minister of State for Antiquities Affairs. What does he make of these experiences? If given the chance, would he go back?

Next up in part two, Hawass will explore Egypt Tourism and answer what everyone has been wondering about: Did Egypt mess up because of the 2011 Revolution? Then, the final part, scheduled for Friday, November 23, Hawass will reveal for the first time who King Tutโ€™s parents were, how he died, etcetera.

Do you have a strong opinion about todayโ€™s travel and tourism affairs? Whether you want to Rant And/Or Roar (ROAR), eTN 2.0 would like to hear from you. Contact Nelson Alcantara via email at [email protected] for more details.

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Nell Alcantara

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