Jul 17, 6:08 PM EDT
Egypt's iconic
antiquities chief fired
By SARAH EL DEEB
Associated Press
CAIRO (AP) -- Egypt's
antiquities minister, whose trademark Indiana
Jones hat made him one the country's best known figures around the world, was fired Sunday after months of pressure from critics who attacked
his credibility and accused him of having been too close to the regime of ousted President Hosni Mubarak.
Zahi Hawass, long chided as publicity loving and short on scientific knowledge, lost
his job along with about a dozen other ministers in a Cabinet reshuffle meant to ease pressure from protesters seeking to purge remnants of Mubarak's regime.
"He was the Mubarak of
antiquities," said Nora Shalaby, an activist and archaeologist. "He acted as if he owned Egypt's
antiquities, and not that they belonged to the people of
Egypt."
Despite the criticism, he was credited with helping boost interest in archaeology in
Egypt and tourism, a pillar of the country's economy.
But after Mubarak's ouster on Feb. 11 in a popular uprising, pressure began to build for him to step down.
Hawass was among a list of Cabinet ministers protesters wanted to see gone because they were associated with the former regime.
And archaeology students and professors blasted him for what they saw as
his lack of serious research.
Shalaby said Hawass didn't tolerate criticism. She said most
his finds were about self-promotion, with many "rediscoveries" in
search of the limelight.
Hawass prided himself in being the "keeper and guardian" of Egypt's heritage. He told an
Egyptian lifestyle magazine, Enigma, in 2009 that George
Lucas, the maker of the "Indian
Jones" films,
had come to visit him in
Egypt "to meet the real Indiana
Jones."
Hawass, 64, started out as an inspector of
antiquities in 1969 and rose to become one of the most recognizable names in Egyptology. He became the general director of
antiquities at the Giza plateau in the late 1980s, before being named Egypt's top archaeologist in 2002.
In one of Mubarak's final official acts as president, Hawass' position was elevated to that of a Cabinet minister. After Mubarak's ouster, Hawass submitted
his resignation but he was reinstated before finally being removed Sunday.
His name has been associated with most new archaeological digs in
Egypt, with grand discoveries such as the excavation of the Valley of the Golden Mummies in Bahariya Oasis in 1999 and the discovery of the mummy of Egypt's Queen Hatshepsut almost a decade later.
He was also a staple on the Discovery Channel, which accompanied him on the find of Hatshepsut's mummy. He started
his own reality show on the
History Channel called "Chasing the Mummies." The channel introduces him as "the
man behind the mummies."
Hawass has long campaigned to bring
home ancient artifacts spirited out of the country during colonial times. He said since he became top archaeologist, he managed to recover 5,000 artifacts.
In January, just before anti-government protests erupted, he formally requested the return of the 3,300-year-old
bust of Queen Nefertiti that has been in a
Berlin museum for decades.
Hawass also
had a fashion line, including
his hat, for which he organized a photo-shoot in the
Egyptian Museum, something that drew the ire of many archeologists.
"He was a personality created by the media," said Abdel-Halim Abdel-Nour, the president of the Association of
Egyptian Archeologists.
He said many campaigned for Hawass's removal, including on Facebook and in Tahrir Square, the center of Egypt's protests.
Just before news of
his departure, Hawass was heckled near
his office Sunday as he left on foot. Protesters tried to block
his way, until he jumped into a taxi to get away from the melee, the taxi driver, Mohammed Abdu, said.
Hawass was replaced by Abdel-Fattah el-Banna, an associate professor in restoration. He was frequently present in Tahrir Square during the protests.
© 2011 The Associated Press
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