Zahi Hawass and the Tutankhamun family project

Zahi Hawass was born May 28, 1947 in Al-Ubaydiyah, near Damietta in the north-eastern Nile Delta. At fifteen years old, Hawass commenced law studies at the University of Alexandria but soon shifted his primary area of interest to archaeology and antiquities. Hawass graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Greek and Roman Archaeology although he would go on to become one of the world's premier Egyptologists. After graduation, he worked for one year as an inspector of the Egyptian Antiquities Organization, which would later be known as the Supreme Council of Antiquities. The Egyptian Antiquities Organization was located on the ancient site of Hermopolis, now Tuna el-Gebel in Middle Egypt ("Inspector of Antiquities for Tuna el-Gebel and Mallawi"). According to the biography on his Web site, "Hawass was reluctant at first to accept this assignment, and briefly considered changing careers rather than accepting it." However, the job would help build Hawass's career. As inspector for the Egyptian Antiquities Organization, Hawass worked with an Italian excavation team on Sheik 'Ibada, the site of ancient Antinopolis. Hawass's position introduced him to noted Italian archaeologists Sergio Donadoni and Guido Bastianini.

Hawass continued his work for the Egyptian Antiquities Organization over the next several years, working as an inspector on expeditions in Abydos, the Nile Delta, Alexandria, the Imbaba and Giza areas of Cairo, and Abu Simbel's Temple of Ramses II, Malkata (Luxor). By 1974, Hawass's career was firmly established and he became First Inspector on a series of Egyptian sites including the Giza Pyramids, Imbaba, and the Bahariya Oasis. In 1980, Hawass became Chief Inspector of Antiquities for the Giza Pyramids ("Chief Inspector of Antiquities for the Giza Pyramids ").

As a Fulbright Fellow, Hawass earned his PhD from the University of Pennsylvania and presented a dissertation entitled "The Funerary Establishments of Khufu, Khafra and Menkaura during the Old Kingdom," ("Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania"). Afterwards, Hawass spend a decade as General Director of Antiquities for the Giza Pyramids, Saqqara, and Bahariya Oasis. According to his Web site, "During this period, he made some of his greatest discoveries, including the Cemetery of the Pyramid Builders and the Valley of the Golden Mummies," ("General Director of Antiquities for the Giza Pyramids, Saqqara, and Bahariya"). During this time Hawass also made notable strides in conservation of Egypt's most important archaeological sites. Hawass tjhen served as Undersecretary of State for the Giza Monuments until 2002 when he earned the prestigious spot as Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.

Hawass's work as Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) has been instrumental to Egyptology and the preservation of ancient sites throughout the country. Hawass has been credited with revitalizing Egypt's museums, upgrading facilities, preventing vandalism, supporting education programs, and lobbying for the return of antiquities abroad back to Egypt. Hawass has become more recently famous for his collaboration on projects related to molecular archaeology and the use of genetics in archaeology.

For example, one of Hawass's most notable accomplishments is the recent Family of Tutankhamun Project. The Project ran for about two years, between September 2007 and October 2009. Results of the Family of Tutankhamun Project were released in February of 2010.

The SCA project is based on DNA analysis of mummies including that of King Tutankhamun. Hawass et al. note that sixteen "royal mummies underwent detailed anthropological, radiological, and genetic studies." Eleven of the royal mummies under investigation were believed to be within the Tutankhamun lineage including Queens Tiye, Yuya and Tjuya, and Amenhotep III ("Press Release - the Discovery of the Family Secrets of King Tutankhamun"). As a control group, the researchers also examined five royal mummies that dated from a previous period about a century earlier than King Tutankhamun.

Two types of DNA analysis were performed from mummy bones. The first analysis concentrated on the Y chromosome, which would illuminate King Tutankhamun's paternal heritage; the second analysis consisted of genetic fingerprinting," (SCA, cited by Ann). Genetic fingerprinting allowed for a five-generation "pedigree of Tutankhamun's immediate lineage," (Hawass 2010). All of the testing was replicated in an independent laboratory designed specifically for the Family of Tutankhamun Project (Hawass et al.). In addition to the DNA analyses that were performed on the royal mummies, CT scans were also used to help analyze bones.

The results of the DNA analysis revealed the parentage of King Tutankhamun. Akhenaten is the father of King Tutankhamun, not his brother as was previously believed (MalcolmJ). However, Hawass had already hypothesized that Akhenaten was the father of King Tutankhamun. Hawass notes that an inscribed limestone block that he helped piece together led him to question King Tut's heritage. The text printed on the limestone block states that Tutankhamun is the "king's son of his body, Tutankhaten," and his wife as the "king's daughter of his body, Ankhesenaten," (Lorenzi). Hawass claims, "the only king to whom the text could refer as the father of both children is Akhenaten," (cited by Lorenzi).