Remodeling Work on Pyramid Raises Questions

Online images contribute to fears it's a Disneyesque update
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 2, 2024 5:30 PM CST
Pyramid's Facelift Worries Archaeologists and Fans
The pyramid of Menkaure.   (Getty / Mirko Kuzmanovic)

It's not like vinyl siding is being installed on Egypt's pyramid of Menkaure, but a project to restore the landmark's exterior has drawn expert opposition and wisecracks—one being that it's like trying to "straighten the Tower of Pisa." The Egyptian-Japanese archaeological mission to restore granite blocks that once made up the pyramid's facade was announced last week, the Washington Post reports. The smallest of the three major pyramids in Giza, the Menkaure was built around 2490 BC with at least 16 layers of granite blocks, the only one of the country's 124 or so pyramids to have such cladding. It's now down to five or six layers, a government antiquities official said.

Much of the debate revolves around whether this is a restoration or a renovation. A UCLA professor said that conservation, which "preserves an object in the state it is in," is one thing; restoration, which "improves it, changes it, beautifies it," is another. The latter "should be avoided at all costs," Kathlyn Cooney said. A misunderstanding could be contributing to the outcry. Online videos and photos appear to show smooth granite blocks at the site that could be new, per the New York Times. But several experts recognized them as surviving granite blocks that have been at the pyramid for centuries.

Public skepticism has included comments such as "How can you think it's your job to alter the pyramid after 4,500 years?" and "Please respect the past, do not make Disneyland from ancient legacy." Experts expressed concern that history will be lost. One Egyptologist is a maybe, per Popular Mechanics. "The idea of re-covering the pyramid with the stones that fell from it themselves could be acceptable, provided that the reliance is entirely on the stones found in its surroundings without any addition of other new stones," Salima Ikram told Independent Arabia. "This project must be completed with extreme precision." The government hasn't commented on the opposition but said at least a year of study was preceding the work. (The pyramids are still supplying surprises.)

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