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Egypt suspends plan to restore granite cladding on one of the pyramids of Giza following backlash

2024-02-17T08:00:00-05:00

Egypt has scuttled a controversial plan to reinstall ancient granite cladding on the pyramid of Menkaure, the smallest of the three great pyramids of Giza, a committee formed by the country’s tourism minister said in a statement. [...] The pyramids are the only one of the seven wonders of the ancient world that still remain.

The initiative was announced in January by Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, Mostafa Waziri, calling it “the project of the century.”

The project, led by a team of Egyptian and Japanese experts, would have commenced after at least a year of planning but has since drawn international outcry, with many critics believing that there should be as little intervention on the structure as possible and that this restoration attempt could have the effect of disrupting its natural state. The pushback has led Egypt’s antiquities authority to review the project.

The plan called for the reuse of fallen granite blocks that have remained around the pyramid’s base. However, according to Zahi Hawass, a former minister of antiquities who headed the Menkaure pyramid review committee, it would be impossible to determine where each granite block had originally been located.

Hidden corridor discovered in Great Pyramid of Giza

2023-03-03T16:34:00-05:00

A hidden corridor nine metres (30 feet) long has been discovered close to the main entrance of the 4,500-year-old Great Pyramid of Giza, and this could lead to further findings, Egyptian antiquities officials said on Thursday.

The discovery was made under the Scan Pyramids project, a program launched in 2015 that aims to explore and discover ancient Egyptian Pyramids using non-invasive and non-destructive techniques. The group, which includes Cairo University and the French Heritage Innovation Preservation (HIP) Institute currently uses infrared thermography, 3D simulations, and cosmic-ray imaging. Reuters reports that the discovery could provide more information of the Pyramid’s construction and the purpose of a gabled limestone structure located at the front of the corridor.

It’s theorized that the corridor was made to redistribute the pyramid’s weight around either the main entrance, now used by tourists, or around a potentially undiscovered space. Scientists found the corridor through cosmic-ray muon radiography and then retrieved images of it by feeding a 6mm-thick endoscope from Japan through a small joint in the pyramid’s stones.

SOM to reimagine visitor experience at Egypt's pyramids and sphinx

2022-07-26T19:02:00-04:00

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) and Egyptian practice Raafat Miller Consulting (RMC) have been selected to reimagine the visitor experience for the popular sound and light show attraction at the site of the ancient Pyramids and the Sphinx in Giza, Egypt.

The pair were appointed by OSL for Entertainment Projects, an Orascom Investment Holding Company (OIH). SOM will act as lead designer for the concept, design, and master plan for the project. Existing facilities will be enhanced with contemporary interventions in order to establish a world-class visitor experience while respecting unique environmental and preservation requirements.

“Visiting Giza is a rare, transformative experience that offers a glimpse into centuries of human history. As one of the Seven Wonders of the World, Giza welcomes millions of people every year,” SOM design partner Chris Cooper commented on the commission. “In reimagining the experience, our priority is to honor and preserve its history and create a sus...

Artist JR's latest installation transforms the Great Pyramids of Giza, a top-ical new NFT

2021-10-22T19:02:00-04:00

As part of a new exhibition at Egypt’s Great Pyramids of Giza, French artist JR has transformed the 4,500-year-old World Heritage Site into a haunting levitated mass, done over in steel and mesh, that will also be minted as a 4,591-piece NFT representing his first foray into the newfound digital realm .

Titled Forever is Now, the exhibition is put on by Art D’Egypte with support from UNESCO and the country’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

“Egyptian culture is a gift to humanity, and the purpose of this exhibition is to showcase these treasures in a dialogue with the contemporary on an international scale,” Art D’Egypt founder Nadine A. Ghaffar said in a statement. “Ancient Egypt has influenced artists from around the world, and so we bring the world to Egypt and Egypt to the world through art.”

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Art D’Égypte (@artdegypte)

JR says his latest installation is in some ways an expansion on his 2016 Louvre installation...

Ancient ramp discovery could help explain construction of Egyptian Pyramids

2018-11-06T18:48:00-05:00

The mystery of how, exactly, the pyramids were built may have come a step closer to being unravelled after a team of archaeologists made a chance discovery in an ancient Egyptian quarry. Scientists researching ancient inscriptions happened upon a ramp with stairways and a series of what they believe to be postholes, which suggest that the job of hauling into place the huge blocks of stone used to build the monuments may have been completed more quickly than previously thought.

The theory of ancient Egyptians using ramps to move the enormous stone blocks to build the Great Pyramids of Giza some 4,500 years ago has been around for a while, but this new discovery suggests the possibility of a significantly steeper ramp angle and shorter construction period than commonly assumed.

A closer look at the Giza 2030 master plan: blessing or curse for Egypt?

2015-01-27T14:11:00-05:00

Is this the promising future of Giza 2030? What is the status of Giza 2030 after the Egyptian Revolution in 2011? Would it be a curse or a blessing if I were from Giza? And my message to the current Egyptian regime is this: if this is the future of Egyptian cities, please leave the situation as it is.