Egypt's man from the past who insists he has a future

No one interviews Zahi Hawass, Egypt's self-styled Indiana Jones of the east – he interviews himself, fist pounding on desk and spittle flying forth into the ether.

"Do I look like a minister to you? Of course not!" thunders the minister for antiquities, a man appointed by Hosni Mubarak to oversee his nation's cultural riches and, improbably, the great survivor of this year's dramatic revolution.

"I am not part of the old regime – I love Egypt, I love archaeology and I will never be a politician," Hawass continues. "I'm a damned archaeologist through and through."

Zahi's strength of feeling is understandable. The 63-year-old headed Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) from 2002 onwards. Like so many other Mubarak-era public figures he is struggling to carve out a role in post-uprising Egypt.

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