Hawass says that Tutankhamun was not black
AFP
Egyptian antiquities supremo Zahi Hawass insisted Tuesday that Tutankhamun was not black despite calls by US black activists to recognise the boy king's dark skin colour."Tutankhamun was not black, and the portrayal of ancient Egyptian civilisation as black has no element of truth to it," Hawass told reporters.
"Egyptians are not Arabs and are not Africans despite the fact that Egypt is in Africa," he said, quoted by the official MENA news agency.
Hawass said he was responding to several demonstrations in Philadelphia after a lecture he gave there on September 6 where he defended his theory.
Protestors also claimed images of King Tut were altered to show him with lighter skin at the "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs" exhibit which leaves Philadelphia for London on September 30.
The exhibition sparked an uproar when it kicked off in Los Angeles in June 2005 when black activists demanded that a bust of the boy king be removed because the statue portrays him as white.
- Why Cleopatra was definately not black on the Topix website
- Conference: Third Eye Conference To Explore King Tut's Ethnicity
Dallas News What was the ethnicity of King Tut? Because Egypt is on the northern region of the African continent, some black culture enthusiasts vigorously proclaim long-standing theories that black Africans can claim the young pharaoh as a racial kinsman....
- Why King Tut's Ethnicity Is Such A Complex Issue
Philadelphia Inquirer (Steven Barnes) The author raises the issue of why the exhibition, Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of Pharaohs has resulted in protestors saying that the organizers have downplayed the role of black Africa in Egypt's past. It...
- Tutankhamun Ticket Sales Approaching Record Levels In Philadelphia
Philadelphia Business Journal To date, the Franklin Institute has sold 1.2 million tickets for "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs," which opened Feb. 3 and closes Sept. 30. The previous record of 1.3 million visitors was set in 1977 when...
- Celebrating The Birthday Of Tutankhamun
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/772/he1.htm"As 2005 drew towards a close, the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square celebrated the 83rd anniversary of the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb with a gala party. This featured the opening of a landmark exhibition...
- How Do You Take Your Tut?
http://www.opinioneditorials.com/freedomwriters/jjordan_20050929.html An article taking an uncompromsing look at the recent discussions about whether the Ancient Eygptians were black or white. Written by Jim Jordan, and entitled How Do You Take Your Tut,...