The renovation work at Egypt’s Menkaure Pyramid in Giza has caused social media criticism due to a video showcasing the process. An expert has criticized it as “absurd.” However, Mostafa Waziri, the head of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, has praised it as “the project of the century.”
The video, posted on Facebook, shows workers placing granite blocks on the pyramid’s base. The pyramid is located near the sphinx and the larger Khafre and Cheops pyramids in Giza. Originally, the pyramid was covered in granite, but some of the covering was lost over time. The restoration project aims to recreate the pyramid’s original style by reconstructing the granite layer.
The restoration process, led by Mostafa Waziri and Yoshimura Sakoguchi, aims to study, document, and reinstall the external casing of Menkaure. Waziri believes that restoring the granite casing is as significant and crucial as any other project in history. He described it as Egypt’s “gift to the world.”
Currently, only seven out of the sixteen granite blocks used for the pyramid’s outer casing remain intact. The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, along with a Japanese mission, is undertaking this ambitious archaeological project to restore the Pyramid of Menkaure, the smallest of the three Great Pyramids of Giza, to its original appearance.
