Hawass on the subject of a recent visit to Hamburg

Asharq Alawsat (Zahi Hawass)

Hawass mentions various aspects of his visit but perhaps the most interesting part of this piece is his highlighting of the closure of Hamburg's Egyptology department.

I was saddened to learn that the University of Hamburg decided to shut down its Egyptology department due to the economic difficulties the city was facing; difficulties that compelled the university to close down some of its institutes and departments, and it felt that there was no other department it could close except the Egyptology department. The officials of the city or university never thought that the residents of Hamburg would protest the decision and put together a petition [against the closure]. The campaign organizers collected 66,000 signatures against the closure of the Egyptology department so it was decided that the issue would be settled through the voting system. If the majority vote against the closure of the Egyptology department at the University of Hamburg then it will remain open.