Hawass Honored in Italy for Writing Tutankhamun's Opera

On Sunday, Renowned Egyptologist Zahi Hawass was honored at the 19th edition of the Magna Graecia Film Festival (MGFF) held in Catanzaro city in Italy.

Dr. Hawass was honored during the film event for writing Tutankhamun's opera, which Gianvito Casadonte, the festival's director, described it is the most important artistic event in 2022.

In a gala event attended by many spectators at the Magna Graecia Film Festival in Catanzaro in Italy, former minister of antiquities and renowned Egyptologist Zahi Hawass expressed his happiness to be honored during such an important event. He added that this will be the first opera of its kind about the life of the most famous ancient Egyptian king Tutankhamun.

“This unique opera is tailor-made to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the discovery of the golden king Tut’s tomb” he noted.

During the ceremony, a three-minute documentary about Hawass’s life was screened during the event. Many of the attendees called Hawass the Indiana Jones of the Modern Age.

Over the years, MGFF has become one of the most interesting film festivals for Italian cinema lovers.

The name underlining that Catanzaro, where the festival is taking place, was in the ancient times in the heart of the area so called Magna Graecia.

Hawass said in a previous interview with Italia 1 Channel that the temporary exhibition of King Tutankhamun that was displayed at the Grande Halle La Villette in Paris broke the records of turnout of the French cultural exhibitions.

It was the most visited exhibition in France, where the total number of registered visitors so far has reached 1.5 million, as recounted by Hawass.

In his interview with the Italian channel, Hawass revealed a number of important facts about the family of the Golden Pharaoh, announcing that his father is King Akhenaten and that the mummy of his mother is located at tomb number 35 where the grandmother of Tutankhamun, Tiye, was buried.

Hawass added that Tutankhamun was suffering from lack of blood reaching the feet, flatfoot, and malaria.

Tutankhamun was born in the 18th Dynasty, around 1341 B.C., and was the 12th pharaoh of that period.

Contributed by Ali Abu Dashish