#2321 - Dr. Zahi Hawass

SPEAKER_2 (0:03)

The Joe Rogan Experience.

SPEAKER_3 (0:06)

Train by day, Joe Rogan Podcast by night, all day.

Joe Rogan (0:12)

We can talk as long as we want.

Zahi Hawass (0:13)

No, it's up to you to decide.

Joe Rogan (0:15)

It's up to you. I'll talk to you forever. I have so many questions. I'm very excited to meet you. I've seen you in documentaries for decades. So many documentaries. I've watched so many things about Egypt. I'm completely fascinated by it.

Zahi Hawass (0:27)

You know, I will tell you something. Do you know this guy used to do a radio show late evening?

Joe Rogan (0:34)

Art Bell? The best. He was the best.

Zahi Hawass (0:37)

I need to say this on air. I need to say this story on air.

Joe Rogan (0:41)

Okay.

Zahi Hawass (0:42)

Now, are we on air now?

Joe Rogan (0:43)

Yeah, we're on air.

Zahi Hawass (0:44)

Art Bell used everything to attack me. He attacked you? Yes. Oh. How the Hawass say, how the Egyptian can move stones? That's not true. The Egyptians cannot do that. Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba. Then I was teaching at UCLA, and he called me for an interview. I said, no, I'm not going to give you an interview until you come to visit me in Egypt. And he said, okay. He came with his wife. I took him to a quarry that we are cutting stones to construct these things. Then I brought a stone, eight tons weight, and I brought a man on the edge of 70 And I told this man, cut this stone. All the men stood above the stone. You know, stones has weak parts like us. With a pencil, he drew a line from the beginning to the end. In the middle, he put a piece of iron, pump, pump, he cut it for twice. As it art, the Egyptian doesn't use muscles. They use their brain. Because the pyramid was the national project of the whole nation. If you go today, if I take you today, you will never be able to do it. And you know, I always tell people this. I give lectures maybe three, four times a week for American groups. And I tell them the following. If you stood in front of the Great Pyramid and you look at it, you will never believe that this pyramid built by human being. Why? Because you don't know. And number two, if you try to do it today, you will never be able to do it. Are you going to hire today, 10 southern workmen, to work for 28 years for nothing? That was the national project of the whole nation.

Joe Rogan (2:45)

I think Art Bell's real concern was how would someone possibly move those stones 4,500 years ago.

Zahi Hawass (2:53)

Okay.

Joe Rogan (2:53)

A lot of questions, right?

Zahi Hawass (2:54)

Yes. But can I answer you now?

Joe Rogan (2:56)

Yes, please.

Zahi Hawass (3:00)

Listen, two examples I will tell you. The first example happened a few years ago. I discovered a tomb in a site called Abbasir. In the top of the tomb, there was a huge granite sarcophagus, 20 tons weight.

If you come to Egypt, have you been to Egypt? No, I haven't. You have to. If you talk about Egypt, you have to come. But you have to tell me before you come.

Joe Rogan (3:33)

I will tell you.

Zahi Hawass (3:34)

Now, I brought only 10 people because I called the Minister of Culture and I told him, we found an intact tomb. And the minister said, wait, I will bring the reporter, the press, and we'll do it live. I said, okay, but I hate to do anything live. Then I came to the site, I brought my workman, 10 workmen only moved the 20 tons only by wooden slinges. We found underneath another sarcophagus 10 tons weight of granite. We took the third one, and we found underneath another, a third one, five tons weight. We took the five tons out, and we found underneath a coffin with zamami. And I told the workmen to put everything back. And I called the minister, I said, You can bring the press, we'll open it live. I never told him that I cheated him. But only in a site that I'm excavating right now, we do discover 60 feet under the ground, we discover sealed sarcophagus. The lid is about 10 tons weight. Two workmen only opened the lid for me.

We have a machine called the devil. I don't know why they called it the devil.

Joe Rogan (5:00)

Devil?

Zahi Hawass (5:01)

Devil. Why? I don't know. I asked them. They said our grandfathers called it like that.