A life dedicated to antiquity

It’s never a good idea to keep Zahi Hawass waiting.

“You’re three minutes late,” the celebrated Egyptian archaeologist told a group of San Francisco visitors one very warm April morning at Saqqara, an ancient burial city site dominated by the world’s oldest pyramid (circa 2700 B.C.).

Hawass was standing in full Egyptian sunlight, shielded only by one of the battered, sweat-stained leather hats that have become his trademark costume pieces in public and on numerous History Channel, Discovery Channel and National Geographic TV special appearances. Hawass didn’t smile as he led his guests to the opening of a nearby cave. He rarely does.

Inside the cave, Hawass pointed out a touchingly beautiful wall carving that he believes represents a young Tutankhamun with his wet nurse, Maya, their faces close together and arms intertwined.

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Forensic artists put different faces on 2,800-year-old mummy

When the 2,800-year-old mummy of an Egyptian court singer went on display at the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute in February, Emily Teeter, the curator, wished she had a way for visitors to see the young woman's face so they could better understand her.

It didn't take long for that face to reappear after nearly three millennia. Two artists stepped forward, offering to do portraits of the performer using separate police forensic methods normally employed to recreate the faces of unidentified, cold-case homicide victims.

The artists, Joshua Harker of Chicago and Mike Brassell of Baltimore, worked independently and unaware of the other's efforts, each using highly detailed CT-scan images of the skull of Meresamun, a singer who died roughly 800 years before the birth of Christ.

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New Tombs Found on Luxor's West Bank

Minister of Culture, Farouk Hosni, announced today that an Egyptian archaeological mission led by Dr. Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), has discovered an 18th Dynasty tomb (1570-1315 BC) in the necropolis of Dra Abu el-Naga, on Luxor's west bank.

Dr. Hawass stated that the newly discovered tomb belongs to the Supervisor of Hunters, Amun-em-Opet, and that it dates to shortly before the reign of King Akhenaten (1372-1355 BC).

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