The criticism generated by the proposal to cover one of the pyramids in Egypt

When Egyptian authorities recently released a video outlining plans to cover the Pyramid of Menkaure, the smallest of Giza's three main pyramids, with the granite blocks that once covered part of its exterior, the initial reaction was harsh.

Some archaeologists criticized the idea. One online comment that was widely reported by news organizations compared it to an attempt to “straighten the Tower of Pisa.” Others worried that covering the pyramid's well-known limestone walls with new cladding would turn the historic Giza Plateau into a pseudo-Disneyland.

The initiative was announced by Mostafa Waziri, secretary general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities. He has said that the effort, led by Egyptian and Japanese experts, would begin with at least a year of study, and that an international team would then decide whether to proceed with trying to restore the granite blocks that once covered roughly the bottom third of the pyramid. .

Some online critics seemed to believe that the smooth blocks of granite visible in videos and photographs of the pyramid—which contrast sharply with the familiar textured limestone above—were new. But several Egyptologists said they appeared to be the surviving granite blocks of the pyramid, which have been there for centuries and can be seen in photographs dating back to 1907.

The pyramid was built to house the tomb of King Menkaure, who ruled Egypt more than 4 thousand years ago. It is the only one of the three main pyramids at Giza that was covered in multiple levels of Aswan granite, a red stone that comes from quarries located more than 885 kilometers south of Giza. Experts believe that the pyramid was never completed after the king's death.

Over the centuries, many of the granite stones fell or were removed, says Morgan Moroney, assistant curator of Egyptian, classical and ancient Near Eastern art at the Brooklyn Museum in New York. In ancient times, she explained, people reused them to build monuments or houses. Earthquakes, erosion and vandalism wore them down over the centuries.

Waziri told al-Mehwar TV that the initial phase of the project, which begins at a time of rising debt and inflation in Egypt, was being financed by its Japanese partners.

Ibrahim Mohamed Badr, an associate professor in the department of restoration and conservation of antiquities at the Misr University of Science and Technology in Giza, was skeptical about which stones from the site — many unpolished — could be confirmed as originals from the pyramid.

“Any attempt to fix and polish them would be a blatant interference in the work of the ancient Egyptians,” he said.

By: Julia Halperin