The egotistical Hawass is baaaack! Less than a month after leaving his post as Egypt’s Minister of Antiquities due to certain political instability in the area, Zahi Hawass has returned to the job. The New York Times notes that he was “reappointed” to his duties overseeing Egypt’s artifacts, though by what government we can’t really say.
The minister’s departure “left a power vacuum at the antiquities ministry,” according to Christian Manhart, the chief of the museums and cultural objects section of Unesco. Hawass seems happy to be back. In a characteristic quote, Hawass explains that Egypt’s antiquities just wouldn’t be the same without him:
Mr. Hawass… said on Wednesday that he did not ask to come back, but that there was no one else who could do the job. “I cannot live without antiquities, and antiquities cannot live without me,” he said.
For more information see: AFP, New York Times Artsbeat, The Voice of Russia, Jerusalem Post
