Mysterious Universe

The anecdote of Hawass & the German prostitute: priceless

During the whole event of the Paradigm Symposium, there was this general treatment of viewing Hawass as ‘the baddie’. While there’s plenty of reasons why people think of him this way –the guy was very arrogant, and had enough power to make or break the careers of Egyptologists– most folks often forget there’s a reason why someone like him rose to such power.

Like it or not, Hawass was something of a necessary evil. A response to the way Western Academia has always behaved when it comes to the national heirloom of poor countries. For centuries archeologists and treasure-seekers looted the riches of the pharaohs, and many European and American museums still hold these artifacts.

That’s why he became such a bulldog.

Before he was kicked out Hawass was immersed in a vicious legal battle with the Museum of Berlin, demanding the return of Nefertiti’s bust for the opening of the New Museum in Cairo. The Germans alleged the bust was fragile it could never be moved without risking a major fracture, and Hawass threatened to cancel all German permits to dig in Egypt unless the bust was (temporarily) returned to Egypt.

Since the aftermath of the Arab Spring, after we all saw the images of priceless artifacts destroyed by looters and vandals, perhaps some people would conclude the best thing for what’s left of Ancient Egypt should be guarded OUTSIDE Egypt. And yet, being a citizen of a 3rd world nation myself, my opinion is that the wealth of Ancient Egypt should first and foremost benefit modern Egyptians.

I’m not a believer in intelligent design because at this time there is very little evidence for it, however it stands to reason that if we humans are capable of manipulating genetics of flora and fauna It’s not a stretch to believe that beings that came to or had occupied this planet millions of years ago were capable of doing the same on a broader scale. But I doubt that the religious and scientific communities will ever have a meeting of the minds about it, because both sides have way to much to lose.

anyone seen this? thoughts? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9w-i5oZqaQ

Philip Coppens wrote a response to this video on his site: http://www.philipcoppens.com/aaq_art5.html