Video of Worker Hammering on Great Pyramid of Giza Sparks Concern for Landmark
175Feb. 6, 2025
A tourist-shot video showing a construction worker applying a hammer and chisel to theGreat Pyramid of Gizahas led to unease regarding the management of the 4,600-year-old landmark. The video gained traction on social media following its posting there last November, triggering outrage among Egyptians. The kerfuffle gained the attention of Egyptian Parliament, with MP Amira Abu Shoka calling for an explanation from Sherif Fathy, the country’s minister of tourism and antiquities. Shoka in a statement said that the video was “ruining Egypt’s tourism reputation and the country’s image.”
The pyramid, the largest of the three erected at Giza, was built in 2560 BCE. It is a Unesco World Heritage Site and the only Great Wonder extant among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Many eyes have recently been drawn to the Giza Plateau on which it sits, thanks to new construction projects taking place there as part of the Egyptian government’s larger plan to bolster the country’s infrastructure and attract tourists while protecting its heritage sites. Among the recent additions there have been a new highway and several eateries; a new visitor center is set to open at Giza this month.
Fathy promised to investigate the matter, and his ministry issued a statement saying that the construction work being done on the pyramid involved only the removal of modern construction materials that had been in place for decades and that the original structure was not affected.
“Any work on the Giza Plateau . . . must be carefully monitored as there is scope for destruction and loss of data,” Salima Ikram, a professor of archaeology at the American University in Cairo, told The Art Newspaper. “Buildings on the plateau should be limited and kept far away from the pyramids as these would disrupt the view and alter the landscape dramatically.”