Hawass was born in a small village near the city of Damietta, Egypt. Although he originally dreamed of becoming a lawyer, he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Greek and Roman Antiquities from Alexandria University in Alexandria in 1967 AD. In 1979, Hawass obtained a diploma in Egyptology from Cairo University. Zahi Hawass worked at the Great Pyramids as an inspector - a mixture of director and archaeologist. When he was 33 years old, Hawass was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to attend the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia to study Egyptology. He received a Master of Arts degree in Egyptology and Syrian-Palestinian archeology in 1983, and a Ph.D. in Egyptology in 1987 from the Group of Studies Graduate School of Art and Archeology in the Mediterranean World