Early in the morning I visited Saqqara and viewed the restoration work that is taking place at the Step Pyramid. At 11 AM I met a group of tourists at the feet of the Sphinx. The tour was led by Fadal Gad, an old school friend of mine. We graduated together in 1979, and after that he moved to the United States and began a tour company. When he brings tours I give lectures for them. This group was from all over the United States, and I told them about my recent work. They were very interested in the Egyptian Mummies project that I am heading and my search for the tomb of Mark Antony and Cleopatra. I also told them about my excavations in the Valley of the Kings.

 

After the group had continued to their next destination, I met Rahul Ghandi, who is a member of Parliament in India. Mr. Ghandi is from New Dehli, and is the son and grandson of former Prime Ministers of India. I met him between the paws of the Sphinx, and I found that he is a very nice man, who is very well-educated. His intelligent questions showed his interest in Egyptology. I told him about the pyramids and their purpose, as well as my recent work with DNA testing the royal mummies, and he seemed very interested that we will soon hopefully know the family relationships between the royal mummies in the Egyptian Museum. After we talked, I gave him a copy of my book, “King Tutankhamun: the Treasures of the Tomb,” which I had signed for him. He gave me a gift as well, some very nice Indian tea, which made me very happy. Mr. Ghandi also invited me to come to India and visit him, and I would be very pleased to visit him there.

 

Over lunch, I met the Rotary Club of Cairo at La Pacha, a very nice restaurant on the Nile, and gave a talk about my recent work. They were a very good crowd, and gave me a nice lunch. Later, I met Mahmoud Mohieldin,the Minister of Investments of Egypt, to discuss the new marina in Luxor. They are planning to take all of the boats that currently tie up in front of Luxor Temple and move them to a new marina south of the bridge over the Nile. He needed to know what I thought about this idea, and how it would affect the monuments. We agreed that the marina should be simple and not very large, in order to preserve the safety of Luxor and its ancient sites.