Secrets from the Sand: My Search for Egypt's Past

Zahi Hawass introduces his latest book, a personally conducted tour of some of the most important excavation sites in Egypt. These lively descriptions of his life's work, accompanied by many previously unpublished photographs, take us behind the scenes of the famous monuments at Giza, where he has supervised the restoration of the Sphinx and the Great Pyramids, explored the newly discovered tombs of the workers who built the pyramids, and developed a major plan to preserve the site under the tremendous pressure of tourism. He then takes the reader into some intriguing tombs at Saqqara and Heliopolis, as well as to the Bahariya Oasis, perhaps the most significant discovery in recent years and the subject of the author's highly acclaimed book Valley of the Golden Mummies.
The author's Egyptian heritage gives him a special viewpoint as an archaeologist, and his personal commitment to learning as much as possible about his ancestors makes Secrets from the Sand unique in the literature. For example, he has been able to reconstruct, on the basis of his work at Giza, the lives of the men and women who built the Great Pyramids, as well as of the royal figures for whom the tombs were made.

Zahi Hawass is secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Cairo.