A video showing renovation work on Egypt’s Giza Menkaure Pyramid has sparked criticism on social media, with one expert denouncing it as “ridiculous”.
In contrast, Mostafa Waziri, chairman of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, called it “the project of the century.”
In a video posted on Facebook on Friday, Waziri showed workers placing granite blocks at the base of the pyramid, which is located next to the Sphinx and the larger Pyramids of Khafre and Cheop in Giza Next to the Pyramid.
When the pyramid was first built, it was clad in granite, but over time, part of the covering disappeared. The aim of the renovation was to restore the original appearance of the structure by reconstructing the granite layers.
Waziri, the head of the Egyptian-Japanese delegation in charge of the project, said the work is expected to last three years and will be “Egypt’s gift to the world in the 21st century.”
But beneath the video, dozens of distraught people left comments criticizing the work.
“No way!” writes Egyptologist Monica Hanna.
“The only thing missing is to add tiles to the Pyramid of Menkaure! When will we stop the absurdity of managing Egypt’s heritage?” she asked.
Hanna added: “All international principles on renovation prohibit such intervention and called on all archaeologists to “mobilize immediately”.
Other commentators reacted with sarcasm.
“When is the plan to straighten the Leaning Tower of Pisa?” one asked.
“Why not wallpaper the pyramid instead of tiles?” said another.
Egypt generates 10% of its gross domestic product from tourism, and the protection of its heritage is often the subject of heated debate.
The recent destruction of entire areas of Cairo’s historic district has triggered a powerful mobilization of civil society, which has been largely barred from political activity and whose fight against the government now focuses mainly on urban planning and heritage issues.
The latest controversy has focused on the fifteenth-century Abu Abbas Morsi Mosque in Alexandria, Egypt’s second-largest city.
Local authorities announced an investigation after the contractor responsible for the renovation decided to repaint the ornate, carved and colorful ceilings of the city’s largest mosque white.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
