As a young inspector for the Egyptian Antiquities Organization, Hawass worked with the Italian expedition to the important Greco-Roman site of Sheik 'Ibada near Minya. Sheikh 'Ibada was known in ancient times as Antinopolis, said to have been named for a favorite of Emperor Hadrian, Antinous, who drowned at the site. It was while he worked at Sheikh 'Ibada that Hawass became acquainted with the noted Italian archaeologists Sergio Donadoni and Guido Bastianini.