Episode summary
Piers Morgan hosted Dr. Zahi Hawass, the world's preeminent authority on Egypt's pyramids, for an extended debate confronting alternative archaeology theories and addressing accusations that he operates as a gatekeeper suppressing discoveries. Hawass announced that in June 2025, his team will investigate a sealed corridor and 30-meter void within the Great Pyramid of Khufu using advanced ultrasound technology, which he believes may lead to discovering Khufu's actual burial chamber—a find he called potentially the most important archaeological discovery on Earth. The episode featured heated exchanges between Hawass and three alternative researchers: Michael Button, Jimmy Corsetti, and Timothy Alberino. They challenged mainstream Egyptology on multiple fronts, including claims of a subterranean city beneath Giza detected by Italian scientists, water erosion evidence suggesting the Sphinx dates to 7,000 BC, and unexplored chambers beneath the Sphinx's paw. Hawass categorically denied hiding evidence, stating all discoveries are published in scientific journals and his 1,000-page book on Giza. In a surprising turn, he agreed to collaborate with independent researchers using drone-mounted ground-penetrating radar to scan the Pyramid of Khafre. Hawass also revealed that Cleopatra's tomb will never be recovered because it lies underwater in the Mediterranean, dismissing 20 years of search efforts. The conversation expanded to cover the new $2 billion Grand Egyptian Museum, which displays over 5,000 Tutankhamun artifacts and attracts 15,000 daily visitors. Hawass defended traditional Egyptian archaeology while acknowledging some mysteries remain unsolved, insisting the pyramids were definitively built by ancient Egyptians, supported by the 2017 discovery of the Wadi el-Jarf papyri—a diary from a pyramid construction overseer. The episode concluded with Morgan securing Hawass's invitation for a future Egypt expedition including Graham Hancock and Robbie Williams.
