By Zahi Hawass When we announced our discoveries at the temple site of Taposiris Magna near Alexandria four weeks ago, an Egyptologist who chose to remain anonymous began to criticise our work. He said that I was always making sensationalised announcements of my discoveries. I do not understand the reasoning behind his statement, but I suspect that he might be envious. Martinez and I simply stated that we were currently searching for the tomb of Cleopatra and Mark Antony. We never claimed to have discovered the royal tomb. We informed the media of the results of our ongoing work of the past three years, such as finding an alabaster head of Cleopatra, the headless statue of a king, coins stamped with the face of a queen, a stone mask that could possibly represent the Roman leader, Mark Antony, and a temple foundation deposit proving that the temple was constructed during the reign of Ptolemy IV. We also announced the discoveries that we made as we began excavating tombs outside the temple. Critics like this anonymous Egyptologist have implied that the repeated media announcements lack any significant new information, making it difficult for the academic community to take the excavation seriously. I believe that in their resentment, these critics are blinded as to what is old and what is new information. Perhaps it is difficult for them to know the difference. The new media information about our work relates to the cemetery that we discovered in front of the temple, which contains about 20 tombs, each cut in the rock in the shape of a sarcophagus. Some of the tombs are fitted with stairs that lead to a burial chamber, in which numerous niches store human skeletal remains. In one tomb, for example, we discovered a hidden shaft that held 10 mummies, two of them covered with gold. All the tombs within this new cemetery are oriented towards the temple. The temple at Taposiris Magna was believed, in ancient times, to have held a piece of the body of Osiris. At sunset, the sun disk sets between the pylons of the eastern entrance, thus creating a landscape like the hieroglyphic sign for the horizon. My team and I have determined that this new cemetery extends for about half a kilometre on both the east and west sides of the temple. This is a very large Graeco- Roman Period cemetery and could demonstrate that important individuals were buried inside the temple. I laughed when I read this anonymous Egyptologist's statement about the "silly things" discussed by the media such as my stylish hat. His claims demonstrate this man's personality to me -- he is someone that I would rather not know. I have an idea as to who this anonymous Egyptologist is. If my suspicions are correct, then this man has excavated in Egypt before, and is responsible for damaging an old church. The Supreme Council of Antiquities' Permanent Committee retracted his rights to excavate in Egypt after that event. I can understand that some foreigners do not like our methods. They are not used to seeing Egyptian missions making new discoveries, or directing their own excavations. I do not believe that I need to prove to these people the quality and worth of my scholarship -- my publications speak for themselves. In our field -- Egyptology -- there is much jealousy. Many scholars do not like the fact that I make television appearances. They themselves, however, run after the television stations asking them to write stories about their work and their life stories. I am very proud that for the first time, the face of Egypt is being explained by an Egyptian and not by foreigners as we used to see in the past. I am also proud to state that I never pay any attention to these internal jealous feuds. If I were to reveal the identity of this anonymous Egyptologist, you might just feel sorry for him.
