Zahi Hawass	Indiana Jones

  
Here is Egypt's own Indiana Jones – antiquities chief Zahi Hawass – describing his role in the revolution:

We entered the Egyptian Museum – along with a group of commandos – through the museum's back door; the door through which the tourists exit past the newly-established gift shop. In a previous article I explained how this gift shop was one of the reasons why the Egyptian Museum remained intact; because when the thieves entered the gift shop they saw all of this "gold" right in front of them, and so they stole these replica artifacts in the belief that they were real, and that the gift shop was the Egyptian Museum.

Once I found myself inside the museum, I rushed ahead, with journalists and correspondents behind me, checking the halls and display cases to reassure myself that Egypt's priceless artifacts and treasures were all present. 

It was at this moment that Egyptian Museum Director Tarek al-Awadi appeared to inform me that the office of the [then] President [Hosni Mubarak] was on the phone. I answered the phone and was told that I must immediately report to the presidential headquarters in order to take the constitutional oath of office as Egypt's first ever Minister of Antiquities ...

Although I was convinced that it would be a mistake to accept this post during such a difficult time in Egyptian history, I had no other choice but to accept, because this represented a national duty ...

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 2 April 2011.