A restoration project to cover one of Egypt's most iconic pyramids with a granite cladding has sparked a decidedly mixed reaction among heritage experts and social media users.
Mostafa Waziri, head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, posted a video on Facebook on January 25 announcing the project, which appears to be already underway.
The footage shows Waziri in front of the Pyramid of Menkaure, the smallest of the famous structures, in Cairo's Giza suburb.
Estimated to have been built around 5,000 years ago of limestone, granite, and mortar, the pyramid was designed as the final resting place of Pharaoh Menkaure.
The video shows workers excavating sand from the base of the pyramid. A layer of gray blocks is already visible.
The project will span three years and involve intensive research and documentation, the Independent Arabian newspaper Waziri reported.
He called it “Egypt's gift to the world,” according to a Guardian translation. It is a phrase used to launch other projects of national pride, such as the expansion of the Suez Canal.
Waziri said this will restore the 213-foot-tall pyramid to its original state, covered in granite.
A crane lifts a stone during a conservation project at the base of the Pyramid of Menkaure (built in the 26th century BC) at the Pyramid Cemetery of Giza, west of Cairo, on January 29, 2024.
Khaled Desouqui/Getty Images
But the reaction from some heritage experts, Egyptologists and the general public is cautious.
“When are we going to stop the absurdity of Egyptian heritage management?” Egyptologist Monica Hanna said, according to the Telegraph.
Ms Hanna said the intervention was contrary to all principles of conservation.
“Interfering with the nature of the monument can cause visible problems and major damage,” she told Independent Arabia.
The project's Japanese partners have the technology but do not have the necessary archaeological expertise, she added.
Hussein Bashir, director of antiquities at the Library of Alexandrina, said the project should be approached with extreme caution and after considering multiple risks, the paper said.
Meanwhile, Salima Ikram, an Egyptologist at the American University in Cairo, said the project could work “as long as the stones used are found in the surrounding area and we don't add new stones that don't belong to the pyramids.” told the outlet.
It's unclear if that's part of the plan.
Social media commenters showered the project with disdain. “When will the project to straighten the Leaning Tower of Pisa be planned?” one person wrote, according to French 24 newspaper.
Another said, according to the Guardian: “Why not put wallpaper on the pyramid instead of tiles?”
According to the Telegraph, the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities has asked for a moratorium on the project to reconsider its feasibility after strong opposition.
Fix: January 31, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misspelled the name of the pharaoh on whom the pyramids were built, calling him Menkaure instead of Khufu.
