MODERN EGYPT

Binz of Tahoe

By Zahi Hawass
Mar. 2, 2009
Cairo

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Over 12 years ago, I had the honour of receiving a phone call from Mrs Jihan El-Sadat. Mrs Sadat wanted to tell me about a lady named Nancy Binz, who had heard about my discovery of the Valley
of the Golden Mummies and dreamt of seeing it for herself. I began receiving faxes every day from
Binz, but I could not answer them because at that time there was no e-mail, and my office at the
Giza Pyramids did not have an international line. Binz could not believe that her faxes were going unanswered. She called Ambassador Hager El-Stanbouli in San Francisco, and asked her to contact
me. Then, she called Mrs Sadat, who told her, "Nancy, come to Egypt, and you will see this great discovery."

Binz arrived at my office in Giza with a lady friend of hers. I noticed how lively Binz was, and that she had a very kind, innocent face. You cannot help but like and trust her from the moment you meet her.
I was very busy that day, and could not go with them to the Valley of the Golden Mummies. Instead,
I called the director of Bahariya Oasis and asked him to accompany them. I also arranged for the ladies to stay at the Wadi El-Nakhil Hotel, which witnessed my discovery and even has a suite named in my honour. Binz and her friend were inspired by the Valley of the Golden Mummies, which is considered by scholars to be the Tutankhamun of the Graeco-Roman period. Binz said that she had heard about the discovery everywhere, including in The New York Times, CNN, and even live on Fox TV. When she saw
it for herself, she was thrilled by the gilded mummies that had captured the hearts of the world.

I have become good friends with Binz, because I can see how much she loves Egypt. Once, she came to a lecture that I was giving in San Francisco at the de Young Museum. The curator of the Egyptian section talked to her, and told her that they needed to renovate their exhibit. Binz wrote her a check. She also found out that the American University in Cairo was creating a fellowship for Egyptology students, called the "Zahi Hawass Prize in Egyptology". She sent a check for $10,000 to AUC to support this fellowship. During the winter, Binz has an apartment on a cruise ship that sails around the world, but she always has to come to Egypt. She always says that Egypt lives in her heart. She has never said anything to me about reincarnation, but I do believe that she lived here thousands of years ago. I do not know whether she was an ordinary lady or a queen.

Binz has a foundation called the Binz Foundation, which supports Sierra Nevada College in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. This is the town where she spends most of her summers with her children and grandchildren. Because of what she has done for the college, Binz has become a kind of legend in Lake Tahoe. People love her, and everywhere she goes they thank her for her support of construction projects and fellowships. The most important thing that Binz does, however, is support culture at the university. The foundation invites famous politicians, writers, and intellectuals from all over the world to come to Lake Tahoe, meet with students, and answer the questions they have.