I don’t think that Cairo had ever seen before a book launch like the one that took place at the Cairo Marriott Hotel last Monday, June 8th 2015.
My new book The legend of Tutankhamun, with photographs by Sandro Vannini, was presented at an extraordinary event in Cairo which was attended by many intellectuals, politicians, diplomats, artists and archaeologists. The venue was packed, there were approximately five hundred guests.
The event was introduced by Samir Sabry, a famous television star and singer. An eight-minute video on King Tut created by Laboratoriorosso was shown, followed by a performance on the story of the Boy King by actress and drama professor Samira Kirollos, who was wearing a pharaoh costume. After this, Chris Naunton, a British Egyptologist and the Director of The Egypt Exploration Society (EES), gave a speech on “the discovery of the century”. It was then my time to speak, after which I introduced my friend Sandro Vannini and together we presented a copy of the book to Mrs Jihan Sadat, a former Egyptian first lady, to whom the book is dedicated. The presentation was then followed by a performance by Egyptian singer Azza Balbaa and her band.
I would like to thank the sponsors Join-T Energy Investments, Archaeological Paths, PICO, and The Shafik Gabr Foundation for their invaluable support for the publication of this book, and Vision Media for the great help given in the management of the event.
I would also like to express my most sincere gratitude to the Cairo Marriott Hotel, which hosted and sponsored the book launch event as part of its new campaign #Activ8Egypt. I believe that this is a really great initiative. It aims to revive tourism in Egypt by engaging key public and private partners in the tourism industry. The Marriott is seriously committed to make Egypt its premier destination of choice and let the country be once more what it deserves to be: one of the most appreciated and visited countries in the world. For this reason, it has my full support and gratitude.
Finally, I would like to thank Samir Sabry, Samira Kirollos, Chris Naunton, Azza Balbaa, and all those who attended the event. It has been a pleasure to see so many people come together to celebrate this occasion and I hope everyone enjoyed the evening as much as I did.
It was really a wonderful event. Thank you.
Zahi Hawass
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