Black Genesis: The Prehistoric Origins of Ancient Egypt

At any rate, suffice it to say that the evidence presented by Diop overwhelmingly supported a Black African origin
for the ancient Egyptians. As we have said earlier, Diop’s crowning moment was at the UNESCO Symposium in January
1974 in Cairo, where he and a colleague, Professor Obenga, carefully presented their scientific findings to a large
audience of Egyptologists and anthropologists from all parts of the world. It was nevertheless stated in the conclusion of
the report of the symposium: “Although the preparatory working paper sent out by UNESCO gave particulars of what
was desired, not all participants had prepared communications comparable with the painstakingly researched
contributions of Professors Cheikh Anta Diop and Obenga. There was consequently a real lack of balance in the
discussions.” 35
The attending Egyptologists had not even bothered to prepare for a proper and balanced debate. Their biased
conviction was so entrenched that they merely listened politely and then ignored the issue at hand. The UNESCO
organizers, however, were clearly impressed by Diop and commissioned him to write the entry on the origins of the
pharaohs in their General History of Africa published a few years later, in 1981. Yet the archaeologist Ahmed Mokhtar,
who, ironically, was the editor of this UNESCO publication, could not prevent himself from adding a note in the
introduction of the report: “The opinions expressed by Cheikh Anta Diop in this chapter are those which he developed
and presented at the UNESCO symposium of ‘The People of Ancient Egypt,’ which was held in Cairo in 1974. The
arguments put forward in this chapter have not been accepted by all the experts interested in this problem.”
Notwithstanding Ahmed Mokhtar’s odd remarks about a colleague and contributor to the UNESCO publication,
what he said did not take into account the fact that some very senior French Egyptologists—notably Professors Jean
Vercouter and Professor Jean Leclant—had been very impressed with Diop’s professional presentation. In reality the
resistance to accept or even consider Diop’s thesis came not from Egyptologists in general but specifically from high
Egyptian officials, as is well demonstrated by Dr. Zahi Hawass, the present chairman of Egypt’s Supreme Council of
Antiquities (SCA) and undersecretary of state to the Ministry of Culture. Hawass is well-known for his aggressive
attitude toward those who oppose him so that even the normally discreet Sunday Times of London felt compelled to
write: “He rules Egyptology with an iron fist and a censorious tongue. Nobody crosses Zahi Hawass and gets away with
it. . . . Nobody of any standing in Egyptology will come out to help you . . . because they’d lose their jobs. Sadly, people
are cowering round his ankles. . . . The hugged ankles belong to the most powerful man in archaeology, Dr Zahi Hawass,
aka Big Zee, secretary-general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA). It is Hawass who holds the keys to the
pyramids, the Valley of the Kings, the Sphinx, Abu Simbel, everything. No Egyptologist gets in without his permission,
and few will chance his anger. . . .” 36
More on Hawass
More recently, the New York times was even more candid about Dr. Hawass’s behavior to colleagues, students, and
other researchers.
Zahi Hawass, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Egypt, seems to get his name in the
papers and his face on television every time anyone sticks a shovel in the ground there. The resulting fame—the
man has become ubiquitous on history-heavy American cable channels—has apparently given Dr. Hawass, like
many celebrities before him, the mistaken impression that any sort of personal behavior will be embraced by his
adoring public, because he sure is obnoxious on “Chasing Mummies,” an annoying new show that begins
Wednesday night on History. Dr. Hawass has allowed a History crew to tag along as he does what he does, but, at
least from the evidence of the premiere, this does not result in many revelations about the science of archaeology.
It results instead in a fair amount of footage of Dr. Hawass verbally abusing those around him: the film crew,
college-age interns who have come to worship at his feet, and so on. Any infraction, or no infraction at all, seems
sufficient to warrant one of Dr. Hawass’s tirades. 37
We have experienced Hawass’s anger since early 1994, when our first book, The Orion Mystery, was published. He
branded Robert Bauval and his colleagues as liars, amateurs, pyramidologists, pyramidiots, and, befuddling as it may
seem, even Zionists who were trying to steal the pyramids. In fact, when it comes to the ethnic origins of the ancient