EgyptologistFame

Your fame as an Egyptologist is dependent on the same factors as your power: who you know, how long you’ve been doing what you’re doing, what you’ve managed to discover and/or publish along the way. There is a curious dichotomy between fame in the field and outside of the field. Those who are famous in the popular eye (remember Zahi Hawass?) get to wear the Indy hat, but are often snubbed or ridiculed in academic circles. Those Egyptologists whose articles are required reading in every class, who have written the mandatory books in the field, are not often known by anyone outside the field. Egyptian archaeologists are famous depending on what they find, and as time goes by, less and less of the sort of treasure that catches the public eye remains to be found and depicted in National Geographic in glowing golden majesty.