We all know that photography is prohibited in the Egyptian museum , we all know that you have to get a permission from the ministry of antiquities and that permission must be granted for good reason like of for instance a report in the National geographic magazine not for a fashion report in Vogue for instance !!
We also know that using your official position especially in time of Mubarak for your own profit is against the law and that the public prosecutor must interrogate you now because of this.
I had to start with these facts to make it clear for everybody. Now Dr. Zahi Hawas turned to have a little project which he is going to launch this spring in cooperation with Art Zulu company , this little project is menswear line called “Zahi Hawass”. We should have seen this coming when he started selling his own Fedora. “Actually it is not his fedora , it is Indiana Jones’ anyhow !!”
Now I have got no problem with what Dr. Hawas does or did in his spare time as long as it is not illegal or contradicts “contradicted” with his official responsibilities. This is why I have got a huge problem with what we have discovered online by accident
It seems that the the first photo shoot for this uncreative menswear “nothing new in it to be fair from style of anything” took place at King Tut exhibit at New York last year !!! We know this from the photographer’s blog , of course it is worth to mention that the photographer has removed the post today for some unknown reason !! If there is nothing wrong , I would suppose that he would have left the post !! Anyhow thank God for the caching services online , here is the website in Google’s cache and also Webcite. Here is also screencap I took for the blog post.
First of all even if it was not at the Egyptian museum in Cairo it is still a disaster because King Tut’s treasures were being used as accessories for some silly photo shoot !!! Who gave Dr. Zahi the right to use our artifacts for his own profit in this way !!?
For God sake one of the models seated on what it seems a real golden chair from King Tut’s collection !! I wish that this would be fake replica not the original one !!" Updated : It is replica according to James Weber the photographer who took this photo shoot at the comment section"
Dr. Zahi is back in his position as minister after promising that he would not accept the ministry again. Egyptian archeologists and intellectuals were astonished with that appointment again with all the criticism and accusation surrounding him starting from big ego to neglect to the dangerous accusation of smuggling artifacts whether from the ancient Egyptian era to the Mohamed Ali Family era outside the country !!!
Of course this besides the dangerous accusations of Dr. Nour Abdel Samad that Suzanne Mubarak , Zakaria Azmi and him were accomplices in selling our monuments. Forget about his accusation to the National geographic society but the thing is that I have always heard from different sources that Alaa Mubarak “not his mom” was involved in selling our monuments and that assassination attempt he survived in 2003 at the North coast was because of this. “Oh Yes I remember this attempt in 2003”
Back to Dr. Hawas , the man is insisting of provoking the public as far as I see , last week I found him saying that the horn of King Tut was the one that ignited the revolution !!!!!!!!! Oh yes he claimed that archeologists believe that King Tut’s horn has a special power as one archeologist blew it before one week of the six days war “we were defeated in this war” and another archeologist blew it before the Gulf war 2 “it was not our war !!”. Now before the revolution by one an archeologist blew it and voila we got a revolution !!!!!!!!! Ok I have one question “Why the hell do archeologists blow God damn 2000 BC horn in the first place !!? “
For those interested here is a database for the archeological areas that were looted since the early days of the revolution.
Photos by James Weber whom really I envy for taking such opportunity , I am an Egyptian and I know that I will not have the opportunity to take photos for such treasures.
We also know that using your official position especially in time of Mubarak for your own profit is against the law and that the public prosecutor must interrogate you now because of this.
I had to start with these facts to make it clear for everybody. Now Dr. Zahi Hawas turned to have a little project which he is going to launch this spring in cooperation with Art Zulu company , this little project is menswear line called “Zahi Hawass”. We should have seen this coming when he started selling his own Fedora. “Actually it is not his fedora , it is Indiana Jones’ anyhow !!”
Now I have got no problem with what Dr. Hawas does or did in his spare time as long as it is not illegal or contradicts “contradicted” with his official responsibilities. This is why I have got a huge problem with what we have discovered online by accident
It seems that the the first photo shoot for this uncreative menswear “nothing new in it to be fair from style of anything” took place at King Tut exhibit at New York last year !!! We know this from the photographer’s blog , of course it is worth to mention that the photographer has removed the post today for some unknown reason !! If there is nothing wrong , I would suppose that he would have left the post !! Anyhow thank God for the caching services online , here is the website in Google’s cache and also Webcite. Here is also screencap I took for the blog post.
First of all even if it was not at the Egyptian museum in Cairo it is still a disaster because King Tut’s treasures were being used as accessories for some silly photo shoot !!! Who gave Dr. Zahi the right to use our artifacts for his own profit in this way !!?
For God sake one of the models seated on what it seems a real golden chair from King Tut’s collection !! I wish that this would be fake replica not the original one !!" Updated : It is replica according to James Weber the photographer who took this photo shoot at the comment section"
Dr. Zahi is back in his position as minister after promising that he would not accept the ministry again. Egyptian archeologists and intellectuals were astonished with that appointment again with all the criticism and accusation surrounding him starting from big ego to neglect to the dangerous accusation of smuggling artifacts whether from the ancient Egyptian era to the Mohamed Ali Family era outside the country !!!
Of course this besides the dangerous accusations of Dr. Nour Abdel Samad that Suzanne Mubarak , Zakaria Azmi and him were accomplices in selling our monuments. Forget about his accusation to the National geographic society but the thing is that I have always heard from different sources that Alaa Mubarak “not his mom” was involved in selling our monuments and that assassination attempt he survived in 2003 at the North coast was because of this. “Oh Yes I remember this attempt in 2003”
Back to Dr. Hawas , the man is insisting of provoking the public as far as I see , last week I found him saying that the horn of King Tut was the one that ignited the revolution !!!!!!!!! Oh yes he claimed that archeologists believe that King Tut’s horn has a special power as one archeologist blew it before one week of the six days war “we were defeated in this war” and another archeologist blew it before the Gulf war 2 “it was not our war !!”. Now before the revolution by one an archeologist blew it and voila we got a revolution !!!!!!!!! Ok I have one question “Why the hell do archeologists blow God damn 2000 BC horn in the first place !!? “
For those interested here is a database for the archeological areas that were looted since the early days of the revolution.
Photos by James Weber whom really I envy for taking such opportunity , I am an Egyptian and I know that I will not have the opportunity to take photos for such treasures.
“Why the hell do archeologists blow God damn 2000 BC horn in the first place !!?“
ReplyDeleteHaha, good question.
I'm not too happy to say this -- but with all the fuzz going inside and around Egypt's museum makes me wonder if these artifacts were safer in British museum. Museum as torture & prison center? You'd think such task could be done elsewhere.
If I get to visit Cairo one day I remember to checkout the museum too, mostly because it was such pivotal place in revolution ... though I would check few artifacts too :)
Maybe one day Egypt gets competent minister of Archaeology, which respects the national treasures.
So you think we are not capable of protecting OUR OWN treasures and it is better to send our treasure to Western British Museums that originally stole our treasures !!?
ReplyDeletethe museum is not a prison nor a torture center my dear , tourists visit it on a daily basis
I prefer that you visit it because it is the Egyptian museum not because it played a role in the revolution , unfortunately it has not got a big role in the revolution.
yqxo You should be sorry to say that, yes. The first time I heard such an idea suggested was when the Curator of the British Museum was being interviewed a few years ago - can't remember if it was by Pilger or on Hard Talk, or whatever..
ReplyDeleteHis reply amounted to absolute racism. Oh, but WE can take care of these things better, after all they're worth something to the whole WORLD.
Er. Right, why don't you capture our oil while you're at it? That's certainly worth something to the whole world.
It's a downright STEEP slope, and it's more than slippery, it's downright unacceptable.
Art is art, and it's mortal and it won't last forever, and people will always make more, and 10,000 years from now somebody will be oggling something made 5,000 from now, cause it's History.
And sure, it is - but it's -
Let's see if I can put this plainly for everybody to get it -
OURS.
Not yours, not the British Museum's, and they certainly don't belong to Zahi Hawass, and he better get fired over this.
Oh, and while we're at it - let's confiscate all antiques they have in Japan cause hey, you never know - what with Tsunami's and Earthquakes! All those ancient Japanese treasures just aren't SAFE there.
Seriously.
Drop that White Man's Burden. We all think you need a break.
كنوزك إيه ياجربناه يامقمله يابدويه يابتاعة قال الله قال الرسول؟!!!!! قال كنوزنا قال جاتكم نيله ماتروحوا تعملوا حاجه مفيده مادام معرورين اوي من أصلكم كده
ReplyDeleteNot too happy, right.
ReplyDeleteAnybody should be sorry to say that, yes. The first time I heard such an idea suggested was when the Curator of the British Museum was being interviewed a few years ago - can't remember if it was by Pilger or on Hard Talk, or whatever..
His reply amounted to absolute racism. Oh, but WE can take care of these things better, after all they're worth something to the whole WORLD.
Er. Right, why don't you capture our oil while you're at it? That's certainly worth something to the whole world.
It's a downright STEEP slope, and it's more than slippery, it's downright unacceptable.
Art is art, and it's mortal and it won't last forever, and people will always make more, and 10,000 years from now somebody will be oggling something made 5,000 from now, cause it's History.
And sure, it is - but it's -
Let's see if I can put this plainly for everybody to get it -
OURS.
Not yours, not the British Museum's, and they certainly don't belong to Zahi Hawass, and he better get fired over this.
Oh, and while we're at it - let's confiscate all antiques they have in Japan cause hey, you never know - what with Tsunami's and Earthquakes! All those ancient Japanese treasures just aren't SAFE there.
Seriously.
Drop that White Man's Burden. We all think you need a break.
I have to say that Anonymous's comment really made me laugh. WHAT THE HELL IS THAT ABOUT? If you're trying to criticize something specific that please be clear but attacking and insulting people for no apparent reason is just pathetic and degrading to YOU not the person they're directed at..
ReplyDeleteOther than that, what Zahi Hawass is doing is unacceptable. Don't you love how he has his logo placed on the wall of the temple? As though the entire Egyptian civilization belongs to him. I think he might have read too many books about pharaohs for his own good. Looks like they turned him into one..
On another note, he's just one of the symbols of Mubarak's regime: people who have accumulated so much arrogance that they believe that they are entitled to not only public poverty but international heritage! I'm just hoping our Revolution will continue to cleanse our country and culture from people like that..
LONG LIVE EGYPT
Thank you for doing this story. I am writing about antiquities, have taken my own photos, and in many cases what I have to go through to reprint them is ridiculous--for an academic book with negligible royalties. The organization S.A.F.E. (http://www.savingantiquities.org/) has an AP story citing Hawass. The story does suggest that Cairo's museum antiquities are vulnerable. A shame they aren't covering Hawass's plundering of images.
ReplyDeleteI was very upset when I saw this blog about the artifacts being used as props for Zahi Hawas clothes line and this is already against the law since it is protected properties! Cant believe Zahi Hawas not only used his expertise to made video and actor of himself but now making profit on clothes line too!!! Is this the image of a Minister of Antiquities? am sure Egypt have so many caliber archaeologist, and Egyptologist to take over the post of Minister! I hope Mr. Essam Sharaf will do something about this since he should know people dont like Zahi Hawas and everyone knows he is corrupted man just like other mubarak regime!
ReplyDeleteThe chair must be a prop. No museum would let you sit in a real one.
ReplyDeleteHi, this is the photographer, James Weber who did the shoot in your post above. I just wanted to make you aware that we were very careful and not to touch any artifact in the museum. The chair the model is sitting on in two photos is a replica. We never touched or harmed any artifact in the museum. Flash photography was not used as well, we were not permitted. As you can see in the photos, I used an Arri light and kept it at a good distance. The reason for the temperature controls inside the glass was for safety reasons for the artifacts. We abided by the rules of the Museum and I have a great respect for The artifacts and the opportunity I got to to be there.
ReplyDeleteI can't speak to the right of Zahi to do this shoot. At the time, he was the curator of the museum. It was his call. Did he overstep his bounds? As I can see from my blog stats(about 6,000 hits today) and all that has been written about it, it seems he did not have the right to do this. All I can tell you was that this was prior to the revolution and there were no questions as to whether or not this shoot could or should have happened. It seems many of the Eqyptian people have come out and are speaking up after the revolution and I think this is a wonderful thing. I'm really happy that the Real Egyptian People are getting control of their country again. All I can tell you is that I am a huge fan of Egypt and Egyptian history. It was an honor to spend the time I did in the museum and I really hope to visit the country one day.
- James Weber
Aside from Anonymous (who clearly has some problems with the translation process), the article and the follow-up comments are wonderful. I don't think the British museum thing was meant as an insult, they believe our artifacts are milestones in human history and aren't entirely owned by us, then they hear about the continuing attempts to rob or damage them, and the conclusion comes naturally!!
ReplyDeleteHowever, England in particular shouldn't be talking about protecting Human History,,god knows you did a pretty job destroying most of it anyway,,what's with the "empire on which the sun never sets" and all.
as for the Doc b2a,,we need to dig this guy up!! have heard about his buildings in Los Angeles and stuff like that, but nothing solid. He more or less lived there,, was -and probably still is- considered as another Indiana Jones by many impressed non-suspecting Americans. guess it's easier to zoom in on his fortune in US first, and start from there.
Have already found a new enemy of the people! Excellent! Or search dirt on the Attorney General and how the dragons, a bunch of rushes at people! "Now everyone save his own skin and willing to say anything, just to show the" revolutionaries "that he was with them! And actors are not need to check? Same probably a lot of money from them! Welcome to hell!
ReplyDelete@ James Weber
ReplyDeleteCorporate capitalism is eradicating morals and substituting it with punctured laws. Your post can be used as an example.
If what you say is true, then yes LEGALLY you have no liability and you did nothing wrong. The thing is you feel good about yourself not breaking the law, but you completely fail to notice the FACT that you are an immoral litigator. You say that Hawass was probably didn't have the rights to use Egypt's rich history for his own personal gains. What about you? Did you even thing about this in any way other than the legality of it? Don't you have any running thoughts of conscience that tell you, "well, maybe you should have asked that question before the shoot and before getting paid for it!?"
I despise those who rely on small-type legal footnotes to defend themselves. You are no different!
You guys are just jelly because no one can rock the fedora like Zahi does
ReplyDeleteI'm terribly sorry, and regret my naïve words. Without justifying my bad remarks, I mainly meant them as a reminder what has been going on there lately, besides tourism.
ReplyDeleteWe saw that some thugs were throwing Molotovs from the top of the building, right?
Also there was break in to the museum area during protests.
In the end army protected State TV more than for instance the museum?
I watched again the video tape about Al Jazeera's Ayman Mohyeldin detention during protests, now that I listened again trying to back my allegations, he said the torture & prison center was near national museum, not inside it... I was in illusion that it was inside ever since I that first time.
@James Weber , thank you so much for your comment and for your clarification. James our issue is not with you in anyway , our issue is with Dr.Zahi Hawas and the abuse of power. He was not authorized to do this , you must know that King Tut's treasures do not leave the Egyptian museum except with any authorization from the President himself
ReplyDeleteIt has nothing to do with the revolution , believe me even before the revolution this would have caused a lot of anger in a way you can't imagine
It is true, Hawas used his position and the huge interest in Egyptian antiquities to create a cult in the west for his own benefit. He is a frequent lecturer to sold-out crowds in major US cities. The new Egypt should find another presentable and articulate spokes person, who puts the interest of the country first.
ReplyDeleteEgyptian antiquities are badly preserved and presented in Egypt. A few of Tut artifacts is a bonanza for special exhibit in any western museum. Attendees pay 40 bucks ticket several weeks in advance, stand in long lines, enter into dark gallery with background music. Egyptian museum in Cairo is dump and ugly. This problem will not be solved by preventing the treasures from traveling.
Dealing with Egypt treasures is major investment and should be a priority.
@Ahmed "You guys are just jelly because no one can rock the fedora like Zahi does" Hahahaha, I like your style, Ahmed.
ReplyDelete@Jan15Egy "Corporate capitalism is eradicating morals yada yada yada" Cool story bro.
@James Weber. You didn't do anything wrong. Don't apologize. In fact you did Egypt a favor by popularizing her artifacts in your advertising free of charge. Win-win.
@Omar Kamel "racism... yada yada... White Man's Burden..." Fact: As a result of the January 25 revolution, hundreds of ancient artifacts have been stolen by Egyptian thieves. They would have been safe in the British Museum. You are the one obsessing about race, disqualifying the British Museum for your own hateful racist reasons. Neither I nor I suspect Pilger believes the rest of the world has the right to take Egypt's antiquities by force for safe keeping. No, indeed. Egypt has the right to smash every ancient sarcophagus to smithereens and piss on the splinters. Which is about what you're doing. Congratulations.
yqxo
ReplyDeleteI think you were right.
The museum WAS used to hold prisoners and so were a few other places around Tahrir including the Metro.
The now infamous 'virginity tests' were allegedly done on the museum property it was said.
@Jason -
ReplyDeleteThank you. Yes, you're absolutely right - we DO have the right to smash every ancient sarcophagus to smithereens and piss on the splinters if we so desire. If this is your attempt at a reductio ad absurdum, it's very week, and lacks any actual logic.
We disqualify the British Museum because, as hard as this may be for you to understand - most of it's contents are STOLEN.
Clearly you seem to think that anything you can get your hands on belongs to you. There's a name for that; robbery.
And trying to get Pilger on your 'side' by implying that his objections (if indeed it was him in that interview, I said I wasn't sure) are based on whether the pieces are taken by 'force' or not is just disingenuous. You clearly have no sense of where Pilger would stand on this.
And it's really cool how your main response/critique to everything is 'yada yada' - makes me think all I need to say in reply to your comment is 'yabba dabba do' - I was wondering what stake you might have in this conversation, turns out you're practically pre-historic yourself. Cool.
And you have absolutely no right to try to 'take back' Weber's apology on his behalf, and I'm sure he'll step right in to say so - and I have to admit, you gave me a HUGE laugh (and I suspect to Weber as well) when you claim that his photos are providing 'free' advertising to the artifacts! Cause really, Egyptian History just needed a clothing line for people to realize how valuable it is.
You are ONE smart cookie. Man, I'm bedazzled by the sheer brilliance of your every utterance.
Truly, your words are wasted on the living.
@Omar Kamel
ReplyDelete"we DO have the right to smash every ancient sarcophagus to smithereens and piss on the splinters if we so desire." Yes. My opinion is that it would be preferable to let the British Museum mind the items, but that it's your right to grind your mummies into medicinal powder as you have traditionally done. They're your mummies to do with what you please. You may also fashion the lapis lazuli scarabs into butt-plugs and stick them up your asses if that's your whim. Your coreligionist Sunni brethren the Afghan Taliban needed no excuse but non-Islamicness to blow up the Bamiyan Buddhas, so your poor guardianship of your patrimony is the rule, not the exception.
"We disqualify the British Museum because, as hard as this may be for you to understand - most of it's contents are STOLEN." The British Museum may be full of stolen artifacts, but at least the thieving British curators keep their ill-gotten booty safe. Unlike your home-grown Egyptian robbers, who sell to private collectors what they can and throw the rest in Cairo dumpsters.
@Jason: while Egyptians were grinding up mummies for medicine in the 12th century, Europeans were massacring, looting and destroying their way across the Arab world, leaving mounds of corpses, ash and rubble in their wake.
ReplyDeleteAlso, you should read your own source: it clearly states that use of mummy powder had become commonplace in EUROPEAN medicine as well, not just in the Middle East. Why do you blame today's Egyptians for what their 12th century ancestors did, but let Europeans off scot free? If you insist on using such blatant double standards, don't be surprised if you're accused of racism and bias.
As for your racist lumping together of the Taliban and Egyptians in order to ascribe collective guilt for the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas, two points:
1) Are all Jews responsible for the actions of Baruch Goldstein or Ariel Sharon or their followers? Are all Christians responsible for the actions of Blackwater militiamen recruited and trained and armed at US taxpayer expense by Erik Prince who, "views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe”?
http://islam-west.com/2009/08/blackwater-iraq-christian-crusaders-killing-christ.html
Of course not! That would be stupid and ignorant and racist! Then why are you holding Egyptians responsible for what the Taliban did?
2) You ignore the nearly 12 centuries after the Islamic conquest of Afghanistan in the 9th century during which the statues were preserved, only to be destroyed 2 decades after the US began interfering in Afghan affairs and deliberately importing and propagating a form of Islam there that was foreign to the local population.
http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/TPV3/Voices.php/2010/03/24/america-s-islamists-go-where-oilmen-fear
To repeat: the statues were preserved during 12 centuries of Islamic hegemony but were destroyed (along with much of Afghanistan) after only 2 decades of American hegemony. But you have the gall to blame Islam, and even tar Egyptians with the guilt for their destruction?
Finally, I'd like to call to your attention all the lovely preservation work that was done to several thousands years' worth of priceless Iraqi artifacts, within days of the American invasion. Donald Rumsfeld expressed the Western concern for Iraq's ancient heritage perfectly:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RY9l73Yo9Pw
Those artifacts survived more than 7000 years under Iraqi protection, but only a few days under the Western Coalition. Hmmm.
@Jason
ReplyDeleteBritish Empire much?
And thank you for the lapis lazuli butt-plug scarabs idea, we'll certainly take that into consideration. It appear you have experience with such matters, please provide us with your contact information in case we need to consult with you on technical issues relating to insertion.
And I really like how you leap about with assumptions, like when you decide that I am both Muslim and Sunni and somehow that the Taliban are my 'co-religionists' - very astute, considering you know jack-shit about MY religious beliefs.
And it's really great to see that you're such a HUGE supporter of theft, can I have your home address please?
Hawass sentenced to one year in prison, stripped of ministry
ReplyDeleteMinister of State for Antiquities Zahi Hawass has been sentenced to one year of hard labor and a LE1000 fine for failing to fulfill a court ruling over a land dispute. He has also been relieved of his duties as minister.
The sentence was issued by Councilor Abdel Hakim Abdel Hafiz of the Giza Criminal Court.
The plaintiff had filed a lawsuit against Hawass -- prior to his appointment as minister -- in which he accused Hawass of failing to adhere to a court ruling in favor of his opponent over a land dispute when he was in charge of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.
http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/404271
Hear British soldier James Tappern play the Tutankhamun's trumpets, it seems like British got to act idiotically first. Btw if that is the only known recording it should be part of exhibit.
ReplyDeleteApology or not, Weber is morally corrupt.
ReplyDeleteSo why is weber morally corrupt? Cause he took an opportunity for a great job in his profession? Bullshit. He did nothing wrong, every other photographer would have done the same.
ReplyDeleteThe only morally corrupt here is Hahwass. Period.