I read about this on Zeinobia’s blog and found the YouTube video.
This is just pure cheese, that commodifies the country’s history and culture, reducing it to some stupid reality show about Zahi’s “adventures.” But hey, if Egypt’s “history belongs to one man, the daddy of all mummies,” as the History Channel vomits in the promo, then he has the right to do anything, including putting together a festive of arrogance, where he can continue his hobby of throwing insults left and right at people as you see in the trailer above.
One thing though: I’m interested to know how much is Zahi getting paid for this show and all other shows he appears in, taking into consideration that the state archeologists who work for him make an average of LE250 a month. And since Zahi is using his position and access to promote himself–oh no God forbid I meant promoting the country’s monuments and history–is the state getting its share from this money? Does all the money go to Zahi’s pockets, or does the SCA also get a percentage? A percentage that should go into improving the lives of archeologists Zahi is shamelessly exploiting.
200, 000 USD for shooting 4 months, on average 2 to 3 days a week. And no, nothing goes to the SCA.