The announcement of the restoration of Menkaure’s pyramid has angered archaeologists, who have denounced the project as “absurd.”
Restoring antiquities to their original appearance: “project of the century” or “absurdity”? This is the debate that has been stirring the Egyptian scientific and archaeological communities since the recent announcement of the restoration of Menkaure’s pyramid, the smallest of the three pyramids on the Giza plateau.
The news was published last Saturday by Dr Mustafa Waziri, Secretary General of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities, in a video posted on Instagram. The archaeologist refers to the video as the “project of the century.” The images show teams covering the outer walls of the pyramid with granite blocks.
Initially, the pyramid of Menkaure was covered with granite facing more than twenty meters high — the only one of more than 124 pyramids to feature this type of exterior cladding.
The current project, led by a joint Egyptian-Japanese archaeological mission, aims to restore this layer of granite, which the monument has lost over time, to its original appearance. This “renovation will last three years” and will be “a gift from Egypt to the world in the 21st century,” boasted Mostafa Waziri, assuring that it “will make it possible to see, for the first time, the pyramid of Menkaure as it was built by the ancient Egyptians.”
“A waste of public money”
The images of the renovation, which quickly spread across social networks, did not fail to be the subject of controversy and mockery. Egyptologist Monica Hanna, who considered the project to be pointless from an archaeological point of view, stated via the social network X that “all international principles in terms of renovation forbid such interventions.”
“When are we going to stop this absurdity in the management of Egypt’s heritage?” she added.
Several Internet users commented ironically on the project: “When will the Tower of Pisa be restored?” wrote one, referring to the iconic Italian monument. Others said the restoration was a waste of public money, given the country’s continuing economic crisis.
The Pyramids of Giza had already undergone a series of renovations in 2020, with the main aim of boosting the tourism sector, which accounts for 10% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), where the protection and upkeep of heritage is often the subject of heated debate.
Last October, Egypt’s Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Ahmed Issa, announced multi-million dollar investments in infrastructure and transport networks, with the aim of attracting 30 million tourists a year by 2028.
In particular, the country is trying to increase the involvement of the private sector in managing services at tourist sites and airports. “Several private sector groups, both local and international, have expressed an interest in partnering with the Egyptian government to manage airports,” said the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities on the sidelines of the World Travel Market 2023.
A drop in tourism due to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
The S&P Global rating agency warned in November that a drop in tourism, due to recent developments linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, could cause major problems in Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon, while many travelers are canceling or postponing their holidays in the Middle East.
“Egypt is counting on a helping hand from the Great Egyptian Museum,” the minister stressed. Located next to the pyramid of Menkaure and its future new look, this “pharaonic” billion-dollar project, the construction of which began twenty years ago, will cover 45,000 square meters (484 000 square feet) and contain nearly 100,000 objects. Its official opening is scheduled for between February and May 2024.
