Wit & Attitude Quote by Zahi Hawass

“I am damn good” lands less like a brag than a preemptive defense in a public trial that isn’t happening in court. Zahi Hawass, the most recognizable face of Egyptian archaeology for decades, speaks here as a man who knows his authority has always been inseparable from performance. The profanity does double duty: it asserts competence and dares the listener to dispute it, casting critics as petty hecklers rather than peers with legitimate questions.

The next move is the classic nationalist inoculation: “for Egypt and nothing else.” In a field haunted by colonial extraction and Western gatekeeping, that claim carries real emotional voltage. Hawass is positioning himself not merely as a scientist but as a guardian of national patrimony. The subtext is that criticism of him is, by extension, criticism of Egypt’s right to control its past. It’s a powerful rhetorical shield, because it reframes allegations (often about ego, publicity, or institutional power) as betrayal.

Then he pivots to optics: “I reject 70 per cent of media interviews.” The number is probably less important than the implication of discipline. He’s countering an enduring narrative that he’s addicted to cameras and celebrity archaeology. Even while insisting he avoids the spotlight, he keeps the spotlight central to the argument: his restraint versus their hunger. The line exposes the modern paradox of scientific authority in a media age: credibility is built through visibility, and visibility invites suspicion. Hawass is trying to win that double bind by portraying fame as a burden he heroically manages for the nation’s benefit.