Famed Egyptian archaeologist travels to U.S. to promote 'Not by Africans' tour

Follow-up interview to the this article: The Importance of Egypt to The African Mind, March 22, 2023

Former Minister of Egyptian Antiquities, Dr. Zahi Hawass, is the superstar of a growing movement whose main mission is to erase people of African descent from their pioneering role in ancient Egypt.

Mr. Hawass, the mastermind and inspiration of this revisionist movement, is scheduled to begin his 23-city Grand Lecture Tour in the United States this May.¹ Separating Egypt from Africa and denying the Blackness of the founders of Dynastic Egypt are the cornerstones of his popularity. 

For instance, in the Daily News Egypt, Hawass speculated that “the origin of Ancient Egyptians was purely Egyptian based on the discovery made by British Egyptologist Flinders Petrie at Naqada, and this is why the Ancient Egyptian civilization did not occur in Africa, it occurred only here.”²

His unscientific conclusions are based upon anti-Black biases and are contradicted by DNA evidence, eyewitness accounts and self-depictions by Egyptians themselves. Most non-African historians prefer to begin their study of Ancient Egypt after the 18th Dynasty (1292 BCE)  and later instead of at the First Dynasty (3100 BCE). This is so because during the later Dynasties Egypt began to slowly develop a cosmopolitan skin tone--like New York City--as invaders and foreigners intermixed with indigenious Africans. 

Around 430 B.C., for example, Herodotus described the Egyptians as “dark skinned with woolly-hair" like their neighbors to the South, the Kushites. The Kingdom of Kush is primarily located in modern day Sudan. Unlike many European and Middle Eastern historians, Herodotus’s observations were not corrupted by racial superiority.  That is, this Greek historian had no agenda other than to describe what he saw during his visit to Egypt, known as Kemet at the time.

On the other hand, Hawass intends to accomplish what Eurocentric Prof. Mary Lefkowitz failed to accomplish in the 1990s.  She promoted similar anti-Black ideas on speaking tours for her book, Not Out of Africa. Had it not been for a severe and expeditious response from the community of African-centered scholars, led by Drs. John Henrik Clarke, Molefi Asante, and Leonard Jeffries, Lefkowitz’s Eurocentric theories may have penetrated deeper into academia. In fact, the very presence of African-centered scholars of that golden period forced Lefkowitz and other Eurocentric scholars into hiding for nearly three decades.

But, Hawass wants to revive false notions of Egypt, once again. 

Hawass is de facto promoting a ban on certain aspects of Black History from being taught in Egyptian institutions if those facts threaten his misleading view that Arabs were the original Egyptians. His African xenophobia turns him away from a glaring fact: His ancestors did not enter Egypt until 639 AD. Yet, The Step Pyramid was built around 2630 B.C., over three-thousand years before invaders conquered Egypt during the Caliphate of Umar ibn al-Khattab.

Hawass styles himself as an Middle Eastern version of Indiana Jones. Despite his Hollywood antics, his stature as the godfather of non-Black Egyptologists makes him a serious concern to Blacks. His reputation as the authority on ancient Egypt won him the distinction of being the personal tour guide for former U.S. Pres. Barack Obama and many Grammy Award winners including Will Smith. In addition, his anti-Black pronouncements are considered mandates by those he inspires. One fanatical admirer of Hawass is the group Egyptian Consciousness. This radical Middle Eastern group is the intellectual watchdog for anti-Black organizations based in Egypt. Egyptian Consciousness displayed the degree of its power against an African-centered tour guide agency in 2021. This writer chose not to disclose the identity of the agency for strategic reasons. 

However, the founding director of the agency, related to this writer that staff and others were set to travel to Egypt with over two-hundred people when Egyptian Consciousness led an organized effort to prevent the group from holding a conference in Aswan, Egypt. This extremist group led a petition with Change.org. that was signed by almost two-thousand supporters. Signatories of that petition expressed racial hatred towards people of African descent in words unsuitable to print here. The quote that follows satisfies the point being made.

“[The] Afrocentric movement is a pretender and thief of the ancient Egyptian civilization. Egyptian murals and ancient statues testify to the falsehood of that movement. The Egyptians now resemble the ancient ancestors and do not resemble the Afrocentric Negroes. Stop this claim and this lie,” is one of the disturbing remarks posted by Hend Ghani, an Egyptian Consciousness member. 

As a result of this campaign group rescheduled its trip. Upon learning of the rescheduling, Egyptian Consciousness triumphantly gloated: “A communication was officially submitted to prevent the most prominent members of the organization from entering Egypt completely for any reason and to prevent them from excavating antiquities in Egypt.”

But this particular agency is not the only victim.

The Center for Pan African Studies (CPAS) strongly suspect that Egyptian Consciousness-affiliate groups are behind the abrupt cancellation of Kevin Hart’s first comedy show in Egypt last month. Hart was swiftly targeted after he said: “We must teach our children the true history of Black Africans when they were kings in Egypt and not just the era of slavery that is cemented by education in America. Do you remember the time when we were kings?”³

To be sure, a growing African consciousness is stirring anxiety in the minds of racists who share the views of Hawass.  These Middle Easterners are deliberately targeting the philosophical progeny of Cheikh Anta Diop and Dr. Asa Hillard whom they deem are manifested in groups like the Center for Pan African Studies. Moreover, they view these groups as part of the current vanguards of African-centered/Pan African thinking.

Hence, in recent years these Middle Eastern hate groups have intensified their opposition towards Black educators, on par with the hatred exhibited by White supremacists in the U.S.  To be honest, it seems like Hawass and others are trying to outdo the racism towards Blacks promoted by people like Gov. Ron DeSantis. These attacks occur at a time when they believe people of African descent are exhausted by other pressing issues and thus are incapable of responding thoughtfully or collectively. 

Hawass is taking advantage of our confusion. He is making a daring 23-city tour in cities that have significant African American populations. He wants Black kids to believe that they are incapable of producing anything noteworthy.  His tickets cost up to $1,000. One of his stops is in Detroit on May 26, 2023--the current hometown of this author. I am certain that a Detroit delegation will be waiting outside the event protesting his anti-Black propaganda. It will be prudent if Black organizations, and especially Black Studies departments, mobilize members and students to show up at other events on his itinerary. 

Unfortunately, many African-centered scholars have chosen not to respond directly to Hawass out of fear that he may ban future travels to Egypt. However, some years ago I decided not to travel to Egypt because I did not want to contribute to the billions of dollars the Egyptian government receives from tourists each year.

If Blacks do not strongly oppose Hawass and his minions, we risk losing all the hard-fought gains made by historians J.A. Rogers, George G.M. James, and Master Teacher Dr. Josef Ben Jochananon. 

1. May 2 Phoenix, AZ. May 4 Los Angeles, CA. May 5 San Diego, CA. May 8 San Francisco, CA. May 11 Seattle/Tacoma, WA. May 13 Portland, OR. May 17 Denver, CO. May 20 Kansas City, MO. May 22 Minneapolis, MN. May 24 /Rosemont, IL. May 26 Detroit, MI. May 27 Columbus, OH. May 31 St. Louis/St. Charles, MO. June 5 Atlanta, GA. June 7 Philadelphia, PA. June 9 New York, NY. June 13 Washington, D.C. June 16 Miami, FL. June 17 Orlando, FL. June 22 Houston, TX. June 24 Dallas, TX. June 27 San Antonio, TX. June 30 Boston, MA.
2. https://dailynewsegypt.com/2021/04/14/claims-that-ancient-egyptians-were-african-untrue-zahi-hawass/
3. https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2023/02/explainer-egypt-cancels-kevin-harts-show-after-black-egyptians-reference