Tourism is the enemy of archaeology. Therefore, we need to accommodate the need for tourism to support the economy of the country and also the need to preserve and conserve archaeological sites.
I believe that one of my roles as an ambassador for (...)
The pyramids of ancient Egypt are perhaps the most famous man-made structures in the world. They captivate mankind on two distinct levels, the material and the spiritual. The material level inspires awe when viewing the pyramids. How could our (...)
It is time to move on, because we will need to make a brief stop at Abydos, the most sacred city throughout antiquity.
The whole area is scattered with tombs and temples going back to the earliest ancient Egyptian dynasties. From the remaining (...)
To continue the magic of the Pharaohs, let us go to the popular mastaba (tomb) of Ti of the Fifth Dynasty at the site of Saqqara. Ti was a nobleman who was the overseer of the sun temples of the Pharaoh. The entry to his tomb is down a sloping area (...)
I have always been astonished at the absence of archaeological evidence showing relations between Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula during the Pharaonic era, and one reason for this is that when I travelled to Yemen on a trip to record some (...)
The great discoveries currently being made in Saudi Arabia demonstrate the cooperation between the Saudi Heritage Organisation, under the direction of Jaser Al-Harbish, and scientific institutions and universities all over the world. There are now (...)
Many important archaeological discoveries have taken place at sites adjacent to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, including at the site of Halit in the governorate of Dawadmi in the Riyadh region. This site is located in the northwest of the governorate, and (...)
Interest in the antiquities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has not been in the antiquities of the pre-Islamic era or the era of early Islam, but has also been the result of many foreign and Saudi missions to the country's prehistoric (...)
About 450 years before Christ, a restless Greek traveller sailed from his home at Halicarnarssus on the Anatolian coast. He was off to see the civilised lands he had heard so much about throughout his boyhood.
This inquisitive traveller, Herodotus, (...)
The discovery of the ancient Egyptian priest Iufaa's tomb by a Czech archaeological mission working at Abusir in 1998 made the headlines in every country.
It is very rare to find an intact tomb such as this one. The head of the Czech expedition, (...)
The intact tomb of the ancient Egyptian priest and palace controller Iufaa was found on the site of the “forgotten kings of the Fifth Dynasty” of the Old Kingdom (c 2450-2321 BCE) at Abusir, since despite the size of their monuments these kings do (...)
Ancient Egyptian kings and queens have magic for all of us, and this includes queen Hatshepsut who ruled as a Pharaoh during the golden age of ancient Egyptian history when Egypt ruled the east.
After a few years as regent, Hatshepsut ascended to (...)
There is a group of 25 foreign ambassadors in Egypt that I consider to be the “ambassadors of queen Cleopatra”. Members of the group meet once or twice a month, and they choose, on the basis of rotation, one of their number to be president and one (...)
Cairo is an amazing city. It has magic — I myself cannot be away from this city for a long time. It is not because I am an Egyptian. In Cairo there are great things that I miss when I am away.
I want those who are keen on discovering this amazing (...)
According to the popular ancient Egyptian belief, the god of the underworld in ancient Egypt was Osiris, who had been saved by his wife Isis from his evil brother Seth, who took on a “devil” role everywhere, even when the world was created.
In the (...)
A very important project I did when I was the head of antiquities in Egypt was a master plan or site-management plan for the Valley of the Kings on the west bank of the Nile at Luxor.
I was assisting the Ministry of Tourism with a new (...)
The auctioneers Christie's and Sotheby's are famous institutions where antiquities are auctioned almost every month. We see the sales of stelae, statues, ushabtis, pottery and furniture there, but little is done to stop them. We also see museums (...)
I recently went with my dear friend Khaled El-Enany, the minister of antiquities, to open the exhibition on the ancient Egyptian golden boy-king Tutankhamun in London entitled Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh.
I told him on the way to (...)
Egyptians have always had a reputation for their light and witty sense of humour. Even today, it doesn't take much to see that the Egyptians like to make jokes and see humour in any situation or event. As Egyptians, we believe that this (...)
This was one of my great adventures — searching for the mummies of the boy-king Tutankhamun's family.
We did not know who the father of the boy-king was. Was it Akhenaten? Or was it Amenhotep III? After all, there is an inscription that says that (...)
This article recounts the last of my adventures in the beautiful country of Brazil. I stopped by the city of Rio de Janeiro, which is a marvellous city surrounded by six mountains with buildings settled below them. The buildings are all in white and (...)
After I had left the city of São Paulo and travelled to another city for my third lecture in Brazil, I landed in Curitiba, the capital of Paraná State. About 11 million people live in this state, and as is commonly known the country of Brazil is (...)
Luxor has witnessed the announcement of many great discoveries recently, as well as of the restoration of great monuments that will be the subject of this column. Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli even attended one of these gripping events.
I was (...)
When I met our Ambassador to Brazil Alaa Roushdi, he reminded me that we import about $2.8 billion worth of produce from Brazil. The private sector is the most active, bringing to Egypt an array of produce including chickens, sugar, meat and (...)
I have visited Brazil twice in the past but have never truly had the opportunity to understand its land and identity during those visits. The first time was in 2009 to attend the UNESCO World Heritage Conference in Brasilia. I stayed one week and (...)