By Zahi Hawass In the past Egyptians have not been visible on the surface of Egyptology, but this is finally changing. For the first time Egyptology has begun to be a science performed by and for Egyptians, and for the benefit of Egypt. Egyptians are now in charge of their own antiquities and are making more of their important discoveries. Of course this situation makes many foreign Egyptologists happy, because they are now dealing with people in Egypt who are chosen for their qualifications and are competent to do this work. However, others are not happy, and criticise many of the important things we are trying to do. I believe that many of these critics are just hungry for fame for themselves. One in particular believes that I do not know him, but I am aware of everything he says. In the past, there were few regulations and people thought they could do anything. If they sent an invitation to the head of antiquities to an important event, or bought him a gift, he would allow them to do anything they wanted. For example, I found out that at one time there were 35 foreign expeditions working in Egypt without proper credentials. There were also missions allowed to do work which damaged rather than protected our monuments, such as the team who was permitted to drill in the Pyramids with no good reason. I have made many rules that upset people. For example, there was an Englishman who attacked me in writing in The New Yorker magazine because I stopped him from working with radar in Bahariya Oasis. In fact, I actually saved this man from being arrested and placed in jail for using radar equipment at an antiquities site without the approval of security and the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA). There is another anonymous person who has said that my work is just opening holes here and there in the Valley of the Kings. I know who this person is and I think he should go to see our excavations in the Valley of the Kings or Saqqara to see the difference between our work and his, which people actually do refer to as holes. We have made a rule that there will be no new foreign excavations in Upper Egypt. Instead we encourage foreign archaeologists to begin new excavations in the Delta and the deserts, which have received less attention over the years and need more archaeological work to save them from rapidly increasing population and environmental pressures. We also have implemented new rules about publication and restoration, and have regulations mandating the inclusion of Egyptian inspectors as part of each mission. For the first time, we have qualified scholars on the Permanent Committee who can make decisions about the renewal of applications and the approval of permits. These rules are not only for foreigners but also for Egyptians who are working in the field. Some people, the ones who do not care about the long-term safety of our shared heritage, do not like the rules when they come to Egypt. But in this country anyone who does not follow the rules will get in trouble. Therefore, this man who attacked me was mistaken because he only cared about his own work and did not bother to find out the rules he needed to follow. There are people who think that I take credit for the work of others. I do not need to take credit away from anyone else -- I have my own work and my own discoveries. In fact, some of my archaeological projects have become the most important in Egypt. I am actually very careful to give proper credit to the archaeologists who make discoveries here in Egypt, and have a good system set up to do this. Information about all discoveries must be reviewed by the SCA, and all announcements must be made through the SCA press office -- if we let everyone make their own announcements, without the SCA knowing about them, things would be too chaotic. One remembers an announcement made by a particular scholar who claimed to have identified the mummy of Nefertiti. Therefore, when someone makes a discovery, they inform the SCA, and then we make the announcement in the archaeologist's name -- we always make sure that proper credit is given to the discoverer. After that they can disseminate information about their discovery in any way they want. Other people say that when I announce something about my own work I do not give them the chance to review the discovery. This is also wrong, because after we announce our discovery, we publish it so that anyone can read about it. For example, we published our work on the CT-scans of the mummies of Tutankhamun and Hatshepsut and we sent our publication about the DNA work on the family of Tutankhamun to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). I have always stressed the importance of professionalism at the SCA among my employees. The SCA is working hard to train our young inspectors and museum personnel well and to pay them proper salaries.
