Dig days: King Tut and the American tourist By Zahi Hawass We always say that we do not have many American tourists in Egypt because they think it is dangerous to travel here. Whenever there is a terrorist incident it receives a good deal of coverage in the American media, making Americans more and more afraid. They believe that Egypt is not safe. Once, during the question and answer session at the end of my lecture at the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles, a man stood up and asked why he should travel to Egypt, because he was always hearing about Egyptians killing tourists. I explained that terrorists do bad things everywhere -- in the main squares of famous European cities, in the streets of Los Angeles, and in New York. People are killed all the time. I told him that last New Year's Eve I had invited my friend Betsy Bryan from Johns Hopkins University to a party at the Capital Club in downtown Cairo. When Betsy wanted to leave and go back to her hotel, which was about a mile away from the club, I told her to wait and said I would take her, but she insisted on going alone. She told me that she often walked through the streets of Cairo after midnight, and felt absolutely safe. But in the end I told the questioner at the lecture that when he died and went to heaven, he would never go to paradise because he hadn't visited Egypt. Everyone in the audience laughed a lot. I always tell people that the best thing in Egypt is not the Pyramids or the Valley of the Kings or the famous temples, or even the magic of the sunrise and sunset over the River Nile, but the Egyptians. They are very kind and honest, and always protect and respect foreigners. Here is a story to prove my point: Edward Brovarski, one of the most important scholars of the Old Kingdom and an expert on tombs and titles, came to visit Egypt with a tour. A family from Nazlet Al-Samman, the suburb of Cairo that lies in the shadow of the Pyramids at Giza, invited him to dinner. They did not know him, but this is the generosity of the Egyptians. They love to welcome strangers into their homes. Ed left the house at about 8.00pm, but when he arrived back at his hotel he found that he was missing his wallet, which had all his credit cards and about $2,000 in cash. He thought that it might have been stolen, perhaps by a pickpocket. He stayed in his room and felt very concerned. But the head of the family at Nazlet El-Samman found the wallet in the courtyard, because it had fallen out of Ed's pocket. The sheikh did not know where Ed was staying, or even his last name. Since he did not have a car or enough money for a taxi, he took a bus downtown. Ed's name was on the credit cards, so he went to every hotel in downtown Cairo and asked for Ed. At midnight, he finally found the right hotel. The receptionist called Ed to tell him that there was a man downstairs to see him. When he came down, he was amazed to get his wallet back with everything in it. The man would not even accept a reward. The Ministry of Tourism used to do a road show and go to many states in the United States to promote tourism, but we have never had the number of Americans that we would like. Last year we sent King Tutankhamun to the US, and when the golden king arrived in the first city, Los Angeles, the media went crazy. There were stories every day about the discovery and the curse and the treasures of the young Pharaoh. Even Good Morning America did a segment on the exhibition, and a famous comedy show did something about Tut. Jon Stewart imitated me, with my hat and my accent. In Fort Lauderdale, the whole city became Egypt. And now, all of a sudden, we have a flood of American tourists! They have found out that Egypt is safe, thanks to King Tut.
