Scoperta la camera del tesoro del faraone Sethi I?

Miei cari, la ricerca perpetuata non è stata vana, anzi direi che ha offerto ottimi riscontri ;)

Ecco a voi, qui di seguito, il testo integrale dell'intervista che Zahi Hawass ha rilasciato l'11 gennaio scorso, pubblicata sul sito dell'emittente canadese TravelVideo:
(la parte in neretto corrisponde al contenuto dell'articolo di Ariste Malnati)


Egypt’s ancient treasures expanding, luring more tourists and intrigues
Jan 11, 06 | 9:34 am



Dr. Zahi Hawass, secretary general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities and director of the Giza and Sakkara Pyramids, recently inaugurated the much-awaited King Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs exhibit being held here. The displays of 180 artifacts will remain at the Museum of Arts in Las Olas until April 2006. The below interview is part two of a two-part interview.



eTN: Have you made any new announcement on finds in the Valley of the Kings and King Tut’s burial site?

Dr. Zahi Hawass: The Valley of the Kings yielded 62 tombs. The mummy of King Tutankhamun lay there; I wanted to be the first to see it, before any one else did. However, the Japanese TV beat me to it. Of course, when it rained, which really never happens in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, the Japanese crew were crying ‘Curse. The curse of Tutankhamun is upon us.’ When I took the king’s mask off, I was finally standing face-to-face with the king of kings, King Tut. It was the best moment of my life looking into his face, seeing up close his buckteeth. Two people, an Englishman and an American came saying Tut was murdered and died at 25. These men took some photos of Tut, and said the penis was missing. Erection in ancient Egypt was important. Erection to them was resurrection. When in January 2005 I lifted the mummy and put it inside the CT scanner the machine turned off for an hour but later went back on again. When I realized that Carter placed the mummy on the sand, there on the same spot I found the penis of Tutankhamun. Delighted about this discovery, I learned that the ancient Egyptians mummified his penis over a piece of wood tucked under his body.

Forensic techniques were used to reconstruct from the CT scan images we took. American, Egyptian, French teams reconstructed the face of King Tut but did not agree about the way he wore his hair. About 8 mummies in the Valley of the Kings were never identified by any excavation team. Three from Amenhotep II’s tomb – a young boy’s, an old lady’s and one presumably of Queen Nefertiti’s, according to an English excavator who dug there lately.

Nefertiti was announced recently in a documentary by Discovery Channel. The last mummy found in the Valley of the Kings is believed to be the mummy of Queen Hatchepsut. The CT scanner will be vital in giving evidence and support for our research on the life and death of the royal mummies in the Valley of the Kings.

Heyer: Is there anything more you hope to find in the Valley?
Hawass: In the Valley of the Kings some 35 years ago, I met a young man from the Abdul Rasul family who told me he knew about the secrets of the valley.

The man in his 70s took me to a secret path and led me to the mouth of a secret tunnel. He said if I take this route further into the tomb of Seti, the tunnel will go down to another 300 feet where you will find a second chamber with the tomb of Seti. I did not believe him until a few months ago when I entered the shaft with only a flashlight, a rope and a meter. It was dangerous to go inside that shaft for more than 216 feet. Beyond that I could not go any further because the rubble was blocking my path and falling on my head.

Next month, I will go again and restore this shaft piece by piece and go deeper to 300 feet Abdul Rasul told me. There I think I will find the tomb of Seti I – perhaps the most important discovery yet again. No artefacts from his tomb are out there. Therefore Seti’s tomb is still very much intact.

Heyer: Which tells you that you are about to open a tomb that can be as wealthy as King Tutankhamun’s?
Hawass: Of course, yes.

Controversy over Giza
In an article on the Al Maydan, August last year, Hawass contested a few ideas on the Jews building the pyramids in Giza. Since 1997, Hawass believes that some have waged a cultural war against Egyptian civilization and in particular, the pyramids. Stories were spread through the media that the carving in the Sphinx was caused by water, believed to have run it down thousands of years ago, and not by the wind; an implication that the Sphinx does not belong to Egyptian civilization. Hawass wrote others claimed that the three pyramids were built in a way that resembles the stars in the Orion belt. Some Jews claim that they built the pyramids, while others claim the pyramids were built by aliens or by the people of Atlantis. This Egyptologist claims to have been accused, several times, of deliberately hiding evidence proving that the Jews built the pyramids.

According to him, Jews have also demanded that the statue of Ramses the Second be removed from Ramses Square in downtown Cairo claiming that he was the pharaoh of “torture.” He argues that he is not attacking the Jews or Judaism, but simply opposes certain organizations that deliberately fight against Egyptian achievements, even those that were accomplished 5000 years ago.

Later again on the Al-Maydân September 1, 2005 issue translated by Dina Hassan, Hawass wrote one of the possible reasons for the speculations about the Jews building the pyramids could be the similarities between Herodotus and the Torah, concerning claims that the pharaoh used slaves to build the pyramids and other structures. Hawass claims to have concluded the following from the verses of the Torah and from other evidences: Firstly, he claims that if Jews did participate in the construction of some royal buildings like the pyramids, then they were no more than ordinary workers, and were not the creators of Pharaonic civilization.

Secondly, he argues that the pyramids were built under the Old Kingdom, an epoch during which no traces of any foreigners or slaves has ever been found.

Thirdly, he suggests that the building of the pyramids was a national project in which the ancient Egyptians participated out of respect and love for the ancient Egyptian pharaohs, whom they considered holy. Families throughout Egypt sent workers to alternate shifts with the builders of the pyramids. They also sent grains of wheat and barley, dried fish, garlic, onions, bread and beer, and plates of the type then used by the inhabitants of the opposite side of the Nile, were found in the barracks of the workers in Giza.


Ebbene, al momento quindi quanto dichiarato dal Malnati è CONFERMATO!!! Non ci sono ulteriori aggiornamenti, ma il fatto che Hawass, sempre molto reticente, si sia espresso fino a questo punto, illustrando questi particolari alla stampa, lascia ben supporre che la notizia possa essere fondata