Meet The Winners Of The Dr. Zahi Hawass Award 2023

In an expanded meeting with a number of archaeologists and restorers working for the Supreme Council of Antiquities, at the Ministry’s headquarters in the New Administrative Capital, Mr. Ahmed Essa, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, honored three of the employees at the Supreme Council of Antiquities who contributed to developing and enriching archaeological work. Dr. Zahi Hawass award was announced for the best archaeologist and restorer of the year 2023, on the occasion of the celebration of the seventeenth anniversary of Egyptian archaeologists. 

At the beginning of his speech on this occasion, the Minister congratulated all Egyptian archaeologists and restorers on their holiday today, thanking them and all the employees of the Supreme Council of Antiquities for their great efforts in leading archaeological work over the past years.

For his part, Dr. Mustafa Waziri, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, noted that the annual celebration of Archaeologists’ Day has been canceled in solidarity with the incidents in Gaza, thanking all employees in the various sectors of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.

The Dr. Zahi Hawass Award for the best archaeologist and restorer for the year 2023 was also announced, amounting to 15 thousand Egyptian pounds. The award for the best archaeologist was won by Professor Hisham Abdel Qader for the baths and water management project in Hermopolis Magna from the Roman era, and Professor Mohamed Okasha won the award for the two restoration projects of the Great Hypostyle Hall in Karnak and the Temple of Medinet Habu on the western mainland of Luxor. As for the Best Restorer Award, it was jointly won by Professor Dina Yahya for the project of documenting, restoring and packaging a group of rare archaeological textiles in critical condition preserved in the Museum of Islamic Art, while Professor Mohamed Hefny won the award for the project to restore and maintain a group of glass and ceramic antiquities affected by climate change at the Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo.