I announced this discovery while I was teaching at UCLA in 1999, and when I made the announcement in Los Angeles, it was immediately published in all the major US newspapers such as the New York Times, and all the TV channels, including National Geographic. From there the excitement and importance of the discovery attracted media attention from all over the world. Many magazines and newspapers from Europe and the Middle East came and wrote articles about this discovery, which could be the most important after the tomb of King Tutankhamun.

 

When I went to Bahariya Oasis for the first time there were only two hotels, one that had been there for a while, and one that had just been completed.  While I was excavating in the Valley of the Golden Mummies, I would always stay in the new hotel in Bahariya, and it became very popular because of this. Many people wanted to stay in the place where the team excavating the Valley of the Golden Mummies was staying. This hotel was very nice for a while. But when the owner saw that he was making lots of money from my discovery, he began to not take as good care of his hotel and was not as friendly to his customers. Therefore I decided to leave this hotel and move to another beautiful hotel called the Palm Valley Hotel.

 

Since that time, I have come back to Bahariya often to work at my excavations, and now I stay at the Palm Valley Hotel every time. The hotel is very nice, beautifully clean, with a beautiful courtyard full of palm trees and a roof terrace with a view of the oasis and surrounding desert. The owner, Hany Sharabi, is a very nice man, and he knows how to make all the visitors happy. This hotel treats everyone very well. They serve an amazing breakfast, and they even made a room for me, called the Zahi Hawass suite. Many people who come to visit Bahariya request this room. I would like everyone who comes to Bahariya Oasis to stay at this wonderful hotel, the Palm Valley Hotel. Rooms range from 20-60 US Dollars. To make reservations, call (02) 37711117, or email: palmavillage@hotmail.com.

 

I am happy to announce that in the next few weeks we are arranging a new wall display with text and photographs describing the discovery of the Valley of the Golden Mummies, and also the new tombs we found recently at Sheikh Sobey.