A project to restore Menkaure Pyramid, the smallest of the famed three Giza Pyramids, has been unanimously rejected by a supreme committee of experts formed by Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Ahmed Issa to review the project.
Menkaure (Menkheres, c.2575 – 2465 BC) reigned some 18 or 28 years, according to the Turin Papyrus. His pyramid stands 61 metres high, with a base 102 x 104 metres wide. It is constructed of limestone and Aswan granite. The first sixteen courses of the exterior were encased in red granite, whereas the upper portion was encased in limestone. The pyramid has been on UNESCO world heritage list since 1979.
The project, a joint endeavour between the Japanese Waseda University and Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), envisioned the use of state-of-the-art 3D Japanese digital technology to create a digital model of the pyramid and the granite blocks that had originally encased the lower part of the pyramid, but had fallen off it some time in the 11th or 12th century. The blocks, which are strewn at the foothill of the pyramid, would be documented with 3D laser technology. According to Nour Badr, expert conservator and professor at Cairo University’s Faculty of Archaeology, who heads the controversial Menkaure Pyramid restoration project team, the digital model of the pyramid and the fallen blocks would lead to knowledge of the archaeological history of the blocks and the possibility of returning them to their original spots.
The project aroused huge controversy among Egyptologists, archaeologists, and members of the public, who all feared the restoration would amount to perilous tampering with Egypt’s monuments.
The raging controversy led Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Ahmed Issa to issue early February a ministerial decree forming a supreme committee of experts to review the project. Heading the committee was renowned Egyptian archaeologist and former Minister of Antiquities Zahi Hawass. Members included prominent Egyptian, American, Czech, and German archaeologists, some of them specialising in pyramids studies.
On 15 February, the committee submitted its report to the Minister of Antiquities. It thanked the SCA for providing it with all the documents, information, or reports needed, a measure which it said helped greatly in concluding their work in record time.
The committee unanimously rejected the plan to restore the granite blocks strewn at the foothill of Menkaure Pyramid to their alleged primal spots, in order to preserve the universal and archaeological value of the site.
The committee stressed the importance of maintaining the pyramid’s current state without alteration, given its exceptional universal and archaeological value.
“It would be impossible to ascertain the exact original position of any of the casing blocks. Therefore, it is impossible to return any of them to their original location on the pyramid. Consequently, any re-installation of the casing blocks would change the ancient, original fabric and appearance of the pyramid, which would conceal important evidence of how the ancient Egyptians designed and built the Pyramids,” the committee’s report read.
The committee, however, granted initial consent to carry out archaeological excavations to uncover the Menkaure Pyramid boat pits (akin to those discovered near the Pyramids of Khufu and Khafre), contingent upon the provision of clear and detailed scientific studies to be submitted to the committee before the commencement of any excavations.
The project of documenting the pyramid and the fallen granite blocks using state-of-the-art 3D digital and laser technology to create a digital model of the pyramid and the blocks was fully endorsed by the committee.
The projected cleaning and upgrading of the site to accommodate tourist visits was also accepted.
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