Egyptian authorities (always them) have given up on a controversial plan to install granite cladding on the pyramid of Menkaure, the smallest of the three great pyramids of Giza, according to a committee formed by the country’s tourism minister.
Mostafa Waziri, a true lunatic who serves as secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, announced the plan last month, declaring it to be “the project of the century.”
The news quickly reached the international community, which protested, prompting the Egyptian authorities to review the project.
It is worth remembering that the pyramids are the only one of the seven wonders of the ancient world that still exists. Destroying a pyramid built almost 5 thousand years ago to make ‘Instagrammable’ would be a true crime against humanity!
Alone among the pyramids, Menkaure was designed to be covered with granite instead of limestone, but over so long the pieces were stolen, as happened with almost all great monuments of antiquity.
“The Menkaure Pyramid Review Committee unanimously opposed the reinstallation of the granite casing blocks, which have been scattered across the base of the pyramid for thousands of years,” the committee said in a statement on Thursday.
Zahi Hawass, a former antiquities minister who headed the committee, said it would be impossible to determine where each block originally stood. Replacing them would also require cement, which would ruin the pyramid.
“What I want to say is don’t worry, the Giza pyramids are safe and nothing will happen to them,” Hawass told Reuters. “People from everywhere are calling me, writing letters, e-mails. They are worried. Don’t worry, the pyramids are safe and no one can touch Menkaure’s pyramid.”
The Pyramid of Menkaure, or Menkaureans in translation, is the smallest in size and the third among the most famous pyramids of the ancient world, the Pyramids of Giza. The pyramid was made to be the tomb of Pharaoh Menkaure/Miquerinos, son of Pharaoh Khafre and the fifth sovereign of the Fourth Dynasty.
The discovery of his name took place in the 19th century, it was written on the ceiling of the funerary chamber of a secondary pyramid in red ocher and a set of monuments was also attributed to him, confirming that it had been given by Herodotus. The pharaoh reigned for a short time, which is why he did not have time to complete his pyramid.
With his death, the pyramid was finished in a hurry, hence the genius idea of the politician who let the Saharan sun rise to his head and announced “the project of the century”.
