Zahi Hawass gave two lectures at São Paulo, Brazil, which was attended by more than 300 people. The Brazil tour continued to include Hawass’ visit to the city of Curitiba, the capital city of the Brazilian state of Parana. He went on a visit to the Egyptian Museum at Curitiba, which was built on an area of 20 Feddans. The museum’s entrance was designed with lotus-capital columns. The museum held a surprise lecture by Dr. Zahi for the citizens of the city. Another building next to the museum is decorated at the entrance with a replica of a large Sphinx state at the center. Another corridor is decorated with two rows of 13 large sphinxes, which leads to a replica of the Thutmose III obelisk that currently stands in Istanbul. Behind the “Avenue of Sphinxes,” a replica of a small chapel from Karnak Temple is erected with a glass pyramid inside.
Inside the museum, replicas of the Rosetta Stone, and Old Kingdom statues of Rahotep and Nofret, and the seated scribe statue, and life-size statues of Akhenaten, and Thutmose III. The only original object at the museum is that of a female mummy that was acquired from Egypt in 1888. The mummy was investigated using CT-scans and it was identified as that of a woman who was 25 years of age when she died around 500 BC.
The museum is supervised by Rosicrucians, who love ancient Egyptian civilization, and are particularly interested in Akhenaten. It is visited by thousands every month. Before the lecture, Hawass was interviewed by local television, when he was asked about Akhenaten, the repatriation of the Rosetta Stone and the bust of Nefertiti.
Hawass was awarded three awards. One was awarded by the Brazilian Academy of Arts for being the only archaeologist who wrote more than 30 books. The second award was given by the Historical Studies Society as the most famous archaeologist. The third award was given by the Institute for Historical and Geographic Studies for the restoration projects that he launched to protect and preserve ancient Egyptian monuments. 
