NO-ONE keeps Zahi Hawass, the controversial archaeologist described as Egypt’s Indiana Jones, waiting. Not even Beyoncé.
Dr Hawass, Egypt’s former head of antiquities and gatekeeper of the Pyramids, banished Beyoncé from the ancient site after he was sickened by what he described as the star’s rudeness.
“Most people I take on tours are very nice and we become friends. But this lady…,” begins Hawass, the former Minister of State for Antiquities, who lost his post during the 2011 protests and is at the centre of corruption allegations over his work for National Geographic.
“She said she would come at 3pm but she came late. I said ‘You have to say I’m sorry I’m late’. But she didn’t open her mouth,” continued Dr Hawass, credited with modernising the management of Egypt’s ancient sites and who claims to have repatriated 6,000 artefacts “stolen” by Western powers.
“I brought a photographer and she also had a photographer and a guard. When my photographer started to shoot, he said ‘No, Stop! I am the one who says yes or no, not you.’ I said ‘In that case since you almost hit my photographer and you are not polite – out! I am not giving you the privilege of having you on my tour.’ I said Beyoncé was stupid and I left.”
Dr Hawass, 66, visiting London to present his latest DNA examination of the pharaohs in a book, Discovering Tutankhamun, admits he has made enemies. “People attack me because I am famous. When I took President Obama to Giza, the camel driver recognised me and he asked ‘But who is the friend of Hawass?’ When I gave a lecture at your Dome of the Millennium 1,700 came to hear me. Bill Clinton got 700.”
Protesters denounced Dr Hawass as “the Mubarak of Antiquities” and accused him of corruption. The US Justice Department reportedly launched an investigation into his $200,000 role as National Geographic’s Explorer-in-Residence, which helped secure the Washington-based organisation favourable access to the pyramids and Tutankhamun treasures.
“There were 20 accusations made against me but they were all dropped,” the Egyptologist said. “They accused me of sleeping with prostitutes which I have never done. No-one can ever bribe me because I am a man of dignity and honour. Every contract was legal. National Geographic benefited more than me.”