The Builders of the Pyramids

Dr. Zahi Hawass is an Egyptian archaeologist, Egyptologist, and former Minister of State for Antiquities Affairs, widely regarded as the most publicly recognizable Egyptologist of his generation and a central figure in the work to reclaim ancient Egyptian heritage as a discipline led by Egyptians. Born on 28 May 1947 in the village of Abeedya near Damietta in the Nile Delta, he originally intended to study law before discovering his vocation in archaeology. He earned his BA in Greek and Roman Archaeology from Alexandria University in 1967, a diploma in Egyptology from Cairo University in 1979, and as a Fulbright Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania completed an MA in Egyptology and Syro-Palestinian Archaeology (1983) and a PhD in Egyptology (1987), with a dissertation on the funerary establishments of Khufu, Khafra, and Menkaura.

Hawass rose through the Egyptian Antiquities Service from Inspector of Antiquities to Director General of the Giza Monuments, Saqqara, and Bahariya Oasis, then Undersecretary of State for the Giza Monuments in 1998, and eventually Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities and Minister of State for Antiquities Affairs (twice, in 2011). His major excavations include the Tombs of the Pyramid Builders at Giza, the Valley of the Golden Mummies at Bahariya Oasis, and two previously unknown Old Kingdom pyramids. He led the Egyptian Mummy Project, which used CT scanning and DNA analysis on royal mummies to identify Queen Hatshepsut, reconstruct the family of Tutankhamun, and reinvestigate the death of Ramesses III. He has authored more than forty popular and academic books, including Secrets from the Sand, Valley of the Golden Mummies, Discovering Tutankhamun: From Howard Carter to DNA, Giza and the Pyramids, The Great Book of Ancient Egypt, and Cleopatra: The Search for the Last Queen of Egypt.

Hawass has been awarded an Emmy by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (2006), the American Academy of Achievement's Golden Plate (2002), and seven honorary doctorates. Under his leadership, twenty-two new museums were established in Egypt, including the Grand Egyptian Museum and the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, alongside the repatriation of thousands of stolen artifacts. A practicing Muslim, Hawass has stated publicly that his work as a scientist is to follow material evidence wherever it leads, while affirming his personal faith in the Qur'anic narratives concerning Egypt and the prophets.