For me, archaeology is not a just a job. It combines everything that I could want - imagination, intellect, action, and adventure.

— Zahi Hawass

Publications by Dr. Zahi Hawass

Here you can find an overview of the most recent publications by Dr. Zahi Hawass. Click the publication title to get further information. To see older publications, browse the publications by using the page overview below, or use the search function.

  • Dig Days-The Golden King in San Francisco
    October 29, 2009 12:00pm - November 4, 2009 12:00pm

    The highly anticipated exhibition "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs" has arrived at last in the city of San Francisco, California, where the Pharaoh was welcomed as a living king. This was not the first time that Tutankhamun has visited San Francisco, since the Golden Boy made an appearance there more than 30 years ago. 

  • Dig Days - What Can I Do?
    May 21, 2009

    I do not understand what else I can do. All my life I have worked very hard and have always tried to do good things for my country and for antiquities. Before I became secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, archaeology in Egypt was a bit like Raiders of the Lost Ark: there were no rules.

  • Dig Days - The Mummy of the Pharaoh of Moses
    April 23, 2009

    I recently read on the Internet the story of Ramses II's mummy. We know that during the late 1970s the French president, Giscard d'Estaing, asked President Anwar El-Sadat if the mummy of Ramses II could be sent to Paris for conservation and preservation. Being that this mummy did not require any treatment, the real reason behind their request lay in their search for the Pharaoh of the biblical Exodus whom they believed to be Ramses II, also known as Ramses the Great, third ruler of the New Kingdom's 19th Dynasty.

  • Dig Days - Binz of Tahoe
    February 26, 2009

    Over 12 years ago, I had the honour of receiving a phone call from Mrs Jihan El-Sadat. Mrs Sadat wanted to tell me about a lady named Nancy Binz, who had heard about my discovery of the Valley of the Golden Mummies and dreamt of seeing it for herself.

  • Dig Days - Bastet: The Cat
    February 5, 2009

    Tel Basta is an archaeological site in the city of Zagazig, in Sharqiya governorate. It was very important in ancient times because it was sacred to a goddess called Bastet, who took the form of a cat. Beginning in the Old Kingdom, several kings built temples there dedicated to Bastet. A large cemetery for cats was also found at the site...We say in Egypt that cats have seven souls, and it seems that we have learnt this from the Pharaohs.

  • Dig Days - King Tut was the Son of Akhenaton
    January 8, 2009

    I had an exceptional adventure recently in Middle Egypt at a site known as El Ashmunein. In Greek the site was known as Hermopolis after the Greek god Hermes – the ancient Egyptian god Thoth, the god of wisdom. The site contained a temple dedicated to Thoth and a large statue of Thoth in the form of a baboon still can be seen today.

  • Dig Days - Adventures in the Valley of the Kings, Part II
    October 30, 2008

    Many years ago, when I was working as an inspector of antiquities in Luxor, I went one night by the light of the full moon with Sheikh Nagdi, head of the guards in the Valley of the Kings, to climb Al-Qurn, the pyramid-shaped mountain that rises above the valley.

  • Dig Days - Hallucinations: Poorly Researched Reporting only Adds to the Confusion
    September 25, 2008

    These days it would seem that most of my time is spent denying rumours about the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) and Egypt's Pharaonic, Coptic, and Islamic monuments. I do not know why some people create this misinformation and give it to newspaper reporters to publish without them even trying to find out the veracity of the statement.

  • Tutankhamun: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs
    September 16, 2008

    edited by Zahi Hawass

    Published by National Geographic

  • Lost Tombs of Thebes: A Newly Finished Manuscript
    August 16, 2008 3:00am

    I am very happy to say that I have just finished writing my latest book, Lost Tombs of Thebes: Life in Paradise, which will be published by Thames and Hudson. Beautifully illustrated with photographs by Sandro Vannini, the book tells the story of the private tombs in the Theban area at such sites as Sheikh Abd el-Qurna, Dra Abu el-Naga, El-Assasif, and many others.

Dr. Hawass Examines the KV55 Mummy
Seti I Tunnel
Ramesseum at Night
Dr. Hawass Examines Mummies at Saqqara
Yuya and Thuya Canopic Jars
Theban Tomb 1
Dr. Rainer Stadelmann in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo
Tomb of Zed-Amun-efankh