Zahi Hawass: Egypt's Avenger of the Pharaohs

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"For small farmers, the world used to revolve around Muhammad and the Koran," says Egyptologist Christian Loeben, from the northern German city of Hannover. "But then Hawass came along and managed to convince every fellah that the pharaohs are his heritage. I admire him for that."

It is precisely these successes that are causing so much trouble for museums in Paris, London, New York and Berlin. They are rattled by the tenacious revenge campaign of the self-proclaimed "guardian" of the Pyramids.

The dispute reached a new climax last month, when Hawass hosted the "Conference on International Cooperation for the Protection and Repatriation of Cultural Heritage." Representatives of 25 nations traveled to Cairo to form a united front against the old exploiting countries across the Mediterranean.

At the end of the conference, the host presented a list of demands. It included six objects, all of them masterpieces.

Hawass wants the magnificent bust of the vizier Ankhaf from Boston's Museum of Fine Arts. The British Museum in London is being asked to hand over the Rosetta Stone, which was used to decipher hieroglyphs. The heaviest piece, an astrological relief with a depiction of the zodiac, is in the Louvre.

He has two demands for the Germans. In addition to the bust of Nefertiti in Berlin's New Museum, Hawass is claiming a 4,500-year-old limestone statue on display in Hildesheim near Hanover. It depicts Hemiunu, the architect of the tomb of Cheops.

The last item on his list, currently in Turin, Italy, is an image of Ramses II, carved by an unknown Nile Michelangelo.

Hawass reports that he spent "90 minutes" standing in silence, enchanted, in front of this work of art. This is probably an exaggeration, given his fidgety nature.

He is truly a sight to see, when he opens his eyes wide, dramatically rolls his r's and waves his hands in the air as if, like Moses, he could part the Red Sea. "God gave me the gift to speak in a way that appeals to audiences," he says.

But when it comes to the six masterworks, his magic tongue is not having the desired effect. On the contrary, the MFA in Boston is irritated, while the Louvre and Turin are refusing to give in.

Last December, Berlin's New Museum sent a representative to the Nile with old contract documents. They indicate that "everything was done legally" when the Nefertiti bust was found and sold in 1913. The Berlin museum has been silent on the issue since then.

In fact, the Egyptians' stunning indictment stands on weak ground. Egypt has no legal leverage. Some of the pieces Hawass is claiming arrived in Europe some 200 years ago, at a time when there was no such thing as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Convention.

Cleopatra Fever in France and Britain

The Mamluks, a dynasty descended from Turkish slaves, controlled Egypt at the time, and the Sultan of Istanbul also had a hand in governing the country.

When the French arrived with their enormous army, they promptly humiliated their opponents with a victory directly on the field of pyramids at Giza. The occupiers found the Rosetta Stone near a fortress.

The British arrived soon afterwards and snatched away the 760-kilogram treasure from the French. A series of secret coach journeys and chases in bazaars ensued, the details of which are still not entirely clear today.

The locals were somewhat mystified by all the wrangling. Why, they asked themselves, are the foreigners scrambling for an old piece of junk from the days of the pharaohs. They had no interest in their country's glorious past.

Muhammad Ali Pasha, who became vice king of Egypt in 1805, preferred smoking his water pipe in his harem. Meanwhile, his subjects were using mummies as fuel in their ovens.

The British and the French, on the other hand, were already consumed with Cleopatra fever at the time.

Two diplomats, the Frenchman Bernadino Drovetti and the Englishman Henry Salt, used their private fortunes to buy up tremendous treasures. They dispatched agents around the country, convinced village elders to open old cemeteries and funded excavations from Thebes to Giza.

Later on, they sold their spoils to the highest bidders, which included kings, princes and museums in Europe.

It was not illegal. In fact, the principle "nulla poena sine lege" -- no penalty without a law -- applied. Hawass is also familiar with this legal principle.

This explains why the general of antiquities tends to use somewhat vague language to justify his claims. He says that what is at stake is a moral appeal and general redress. His message to the Western museums is clear: Hand over the six masterworks, and your crimes of the past will be forgiven.

But now that the new owners are turning a deaf ear to his demands, Hawass feels compelled to vent his rage and relate his notorious anecdotes.

For instance, this is what he recently had to say about the people at the British Museum in London: "They kept the Rosetta Stone in a dark, poorly lit room, until I showed up and asked for it back. Only then did they suddenly find the piece important."

The accuser from Cairo also adopted the wrong tone when discussing the Nefertiti bust. The German archeologists who found the work, he said, had deliberately smeared mud onto the bust of the beautiful pharaoh to mislead the Egyptian antiquities office.

Not a word of it is true. All records were properly signed.

Is the antiquities director taking things too far? Is he pursuing real claims, or is he merely interested in bullying his opponents? Who exactly is this man who, referring to his adversaries, says: "I will destroy anyone who attacks me?"

Hawass is reticent about his origins. He was born in a village in the Nile valley. His father died at an early age. Zahi had to help support the family.

He has nothing whatsoever to say about toiling in the fields, the filth in the streets and the poverty. He does recall, however, that he was a "famous football player" as a boy. And, he adds: "All the women loved me and wanted to marry me."

At 21, the young man took a job with the antiquities administration, which at the time was an enormous, sleepy government agency with no scientific competency.

His work there, he says, consisted of little more than working as a guard once in a while, locking warehouses and looking over the shoulders of the Western scientists.

In 1978, the inspector attended a Grateful Dead concert in front of the Sphinx. Many American dope-smoking hippies had traveled to Egypt to attend the concert.

The big step was next: America. Hawass attended the University of Pennsylvania for seven years, eventually earning his doctorate there.

When he returned to Egypt, he came armed with a new skill: the ability to chatter away in English. Egyptians saw him as a world traveler who had enjoyed the blessings of a higher form of existence in the United States.

Thus anointed, he quickly rose through the ranks. First he was appointed "General Director of Antiquities," then "Undersecretary of State" and, finally, "Secretary General."

He kept his old office, a corrugated sheet metal container with musty carpets and three telephones on the table. It was directly in the shadow of the pyramids.

This office became Hawass' gateway to power. Over the years, billionaires, actors and politicians came to visit him there. From former US President George Bush to Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi -- they all had the Sherpa give them a guided tour through the gigantic tomb.

Hawass realized at the time that the West was willing to stand in line and pay hard currency to share in the luster of the pharaohs.

The television crews soon began knocking on his door, drawn by the gifted speaker's ability to extract exciting stories from even the most wretched heap of shards.

A New Museum by the Pyramids

The magician gave his most astonishing appearance in 2002. In a live broadcast for the National Geographic Channel, he sent a remote-controlled robot through a light shaft into the Pyramid of Cheops. The event was broadcast to TV audiences in 142 nations.

There was little to be seen other than wobbly, black-and-white endoscope images, but Hawass, undaunted, indulged himself: "What we have seen in this night is completely unique in the world of Egyptology." This is the man's true gift: the ability to weave together dreams and history. Omar Sharif calls his friend an "amazing actor."

Nevertheless, he has tremendous achievements under his belt. The country has moved forwarded as a result of his determination. He provided the antiquities agency with clout, kick-started important mummy analyses and brought millions of tourists to the country.

Now Hawass wants to have 19 museums built, the largest of which is already under construction directly adjacent to the pyramids. In 2013, when it is finished, it is expected to house the world's largest Egyptian collection.

The master is working towards this triumph. He is also determined to exhibit the six disputed masterworks at the new museum, which would represent a crowning conclusion to his career.

But will he succeed? The Western museums have remained intractable until now. The curators in Hildesheim also see no reason to comply with his wishes. "The Hemiunu is the pride of our collections," they say.

The splendid statue was discovered in 1913. Wilhelm Pelizaeus, a wealthy businessman who sold railroad parts in Egypt for the German steelmaker Krupp paid for the excavations. Pelizaeus was painstakingly exact in adhering to the agreed division of the excavated objects "in equal parts." There can be no talk of theft and plundering.

The curator responsible for the Hemiunu in Hildesheim explains that it was taken to Germany because it was in such poor condition when it was discovered. "The head was completely fragmented, and the Egyptians didn't want the statue."

The circumstances of the Boston case are similar. In fact, the MFA even has a 1927 document stating that the Ankhaf bust was given to the new owner in the United States as an express act of gratitude on the part of Egypt.

Shortly after finding the Ankhaf, the US archeologist also found the famous shaft tomb of Hetepheres, the mother of the pharaoh. It was filled with furniture that had crumbled into dust, leaving only the gold plating and fittings. Nevertheless, the archeologists managed to reconstruct chairs, cushions and a bed.

Like Bargaining at a Bazaar

After that, the Americans turned over the sparkling household goods to Cairo. Because they had paid for everything out of their own pockets, the Egyptians gave them the bust as a reward.

In light of such facts, Hawass' protests suddenly fall apart.

So why all the fuss?

Some experts speculate that the man is pursuing a "long-term strategy" and, in doing so, is bargaining as if he were at a bazaar. "First he makes the biggest possible demands, to intimidate the museums," says Loeben, "hoping that he will at least receive the masterworks on loan for the dedication of his big new museum."

But will the plan work? A huge tug-of-war is currently underway behind the scenes. "Without a bilateral national treaty," says a spokeswoman from Hildesheim, "we won't lend him anything. We don't trust the man."

In return, he says sharply: "We are not the Pirates of the Caribbean." This tone will likely characterize the debate into the future, and an agreement is not in sight.

But even if he fails, Hawass will probably get over it. He has already achieved his main objective: fame.

Nowadays, when the gray-haired antiquities director drives up the dusty road to the pyramids, where he began his career almost 40 years ago, his employees stand at attention and salute.

At such moments, the heart of this farmer's son is filled with joy. He smiles, in the knowledge that he has made it.

"No one in Egypt who comes from an ordinary family is revered as much as I am."

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• Part 1: Egypt's Avenger of the Pharaohs
• Part 2: Demanding the Return of Six Masterpieces