He's Baaaack . . .

The inescapable archaeologist-on-every-cable channel Zahi Hawass is also now back in office as Egypt's Minister of State for Antiquities, a month after resigning over the looting of sites during the revolution. Here's his video message on his first day on the job.

I know a lot of people see him as a grandstanding showman, which he certainly is, and some blame him for neglect that led to some of the theft and vandalism which occurred, but he also has drawn world attention to Ancient Egypt and, since becoming Minister previously, to Coptic and Islamic sites as well. And in the past month his posts to his blog and to Facebook have called attention to the vandalism around the world. And he seems to have weathered the change of governments successfully. This blog has sometimes been irreverent about his omnipresence, but I'll give him credit for drawing global attention to the issue.