On the day I arrived in London, I went to the British Museum, where there was a very nice reception in the ancient Egyptian sculpture gallery. Neil MacGregor, the director of the museum, and Vivian Davies, the Keeper of Egyptian Antiquities, were present along with many other Egyptologists and many people who love Egyptology and Egypt. I was pleased also that the Egyptian Ambassador to England, Hatem Saiful Nasr, attended with his wife and gave a speech. Mr. MacGregor also gave a speech during the reception, as well as the President of the British Egyptian Society.

 

After the speeches, I presented my great new book “A Secret Voyage,” which tells the story of my incredible journey in Egyptology. It includes beautiful photographs and sections about aspects of ancient Egypt as well as tales of my adventures. I presented a copy to the British Museum and I was pleased that this book captured the hearts of everyone.

 

After the reception, I gave my lecture at the Museum. The whole lecture hall was filled, and there was another room filled with people watching it on TV. Afterwards, I signed copies of my books.

 

The second day I met with the press- radio, newspapers and television- from 6 am until the evening. Outside on the street, all the people were interested to know what I think about returning the Rosetta Stone to Egypt. I could see that the English press was on my side in asking for the return of the stone. The only thing that I could say is that I am concentrating now on the bust of Nefertiti, and then I will focus on the Rosetta Stone after we have resolved that issue.

 

Next door to the hotel where I was staying, there is a famous club called the Liberal Club. In the evening, there was a dinner held there with 120 people who came to meet me and hear the speech I gave about the work that we are doing now in Egypt. I spoke about how we are building new museums and focusing on site management and conservation and other things.

 

The next day in the afternoon I went to the offices of the “Asharq Al-Awsat” Newspaper and met with Tariq Alhomayed, the editor in chief, Ali Ibrahim, the managing editor, and Mohammad El-Shafey, a journalist. The reason I met with them is because every Thursday for the past four years, I have been writing a column for their newspaper. I also recently collected my articles and put them together in a book in Arabic, which is appearing next week. It was very nice finally meeting these people that I am in touch with so frequently. I was so happy to hear that my articles in this paper are widely accepted by Arabs who live all over the world.

 

 

I also had a book signing at Harrod’s department store, which was very nice. The store was beautifully decorated for Christmas and many people came to see me and support my work. I celebrated the release of my two new books: “A Secret Voyage,” and “Inside the Egyptian Museum.” 

 

Another night, the Egyptian Ambassador, Hatem Saiful Nasr, held a dinner in my honor. It was a very interesting dinner, he invited many nice people. One of them was the actor Christopher Lee, who is most famous for playing Dracula in several movies. I was very happy to speak with him, since I enjoy his films, and I was also happy to see that he follows my adventures in archaeology. Many other interesting people attended as well, including a nice Italian lady who loves Cleopatra.

 

My last night in London, I had another nice black tie dinner at the Reform Club, with about 120 dignitaries, it was also attended by the Egyptian Ambassador. I gave another speech about my work in Egypt, and my new books and everyone enjoyed it very much.