# Should (and would) the West intervene if the Pyramids were in danger? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 10, 2012, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-and-would-the-west-intervene-if-the-pyramids-were-in-danger/627822 "2012-07-10T19:13:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-and-would-the-west-intervene-if-the-pyramids-were-in-danger/627822/41 "2012-07-11T12:33:49Z")
Egypt relies fairly heavily on tourism. I doubt very much that they are going to be that stupid. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-and-would-the-west-intervene-if-the-pyramids-were-in-danger/627822/42 "2012-07-11T12:37:43Z")
> [@Esox\_Lucius](#): > > _ **The Muslims are at it again!** _ > > In a related story that’s all too depressingly real, an Islamic group that has taken control of northern Mali is showing its displeasure with the West by…wait for it…[destroying Muslim tombs at an ancient mosque](http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/9/47361/World/International/Mali-Islamists-destroy-tombs-at-ancient-Timbuktu-m.aspx): > > They ain’t the pyramids, but Jeez Louise, where are their fucking brains? They are not showing their displeasure with the west. They’re showing their displeasure with practices common in northern Africa that they deem heretical : namely the veneration of “saints” supposed to be buried there. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-and-would-the-west-intervene-if-the-pyramids-were-in-danger/627822/43 "2012-07-11T13:47:06Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I believe our gig was after they were built…or maybe before… 🙂 It was long after, around 1000 years after (assuming it wasn’t totally mythological). The great pyramids where build during Egypt’s Old Kingdom - the Pyramid of Giza was build aprox. 2500 BC, while the events of Exodus happened (or are alleged to have happened) around 1500 BC. The great pyramids were already antique. I’m refering to a specific Onion article though: [http://www.theonion.com/articles/jews-ordered-back-to-egypt-for-pyramid-duty,20447/](http://www.theonion.com/articles/jews-ordered-back-to-egypt-for-pyramid-duty,20447/) 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-and-would-the-west-intervene-if-the-pyramids-were-in-danger/627822/44 "2012-07-11T14:18:04Z")
Leaving aside the issue of who owns the pyramids - and like I said, I think they belong to humanity, not whoever runs Egypt at the moment - it’s hard to justify killing people or spending people to die over artwork or historic buildings. That’s what would probably keep the West (or anyone) from intervening if for some reason the Egyptian government were dead set on doing this. I am sure there would be a great deal of diplomatic pressure, but a real military intervention would be unlikely, I think. I don’t expect that this is going to happen in any event. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-and-would-the-west-intervene-if-the-pyramids-were-in-danger/627822/45 "2012-07-11T14:47:19Z")
Let them do it. Then they’ll starve when they lose the granary benefit. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-and-would-the-west-intervene-if-the-pyramids-were-in-danger/627822/46 "2012-07-11T15:59:40Z")
So in March of 2001 the Taliban destroyed the 1500 year old Buddhas of Bamiyan. The west criticized them, but did nothing otherwise, and as mentioned, few had even heard of them up to that point. The world didn’t end. It’s not like the disrespect for other cultures is a slippery slope leading to worse things, or some kind of indication of their true desires. So yeah, let them blow up the Pyramids, what’s the worst that could happen. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-and-would-the-west-intervene-if-the-pyramids-were-in-danger/627822/47 "2012-07-11T16:18:20Z")
They aren’t the least bit concerned about the curse? ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-and-would-the-west-intervene-if-the-pyramids-were-in-danger/627822/48 "2012-07-11T16:54:46Z")
> [@XT](#): > > Maybe we could buy them from the Egyptians and move them, sort of like Scotties Castle. 😛 You know, I’ve been on three tours of Scotty’s Castle, and the docents never mentioned that it was moved from Egypt. Why are they hiding the truth? ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-and-would-the-west-intervene-if-the-pyramids-were-in-danger/627822/49 "2012-07-11T17:11:20Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Let them do it. Then they’ll starve when they lose the granary benefit. You, good sir, are now my new favourite Doper. ---
**Author:** ![Esox\_Lucius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Esox\_Lucius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esox_Lucius)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-and-would-the-west-intervene-if-the-pyramids-were-in-danger/627822/50 "2012-07-12T02:54:13Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > They are not showing their displeasure with the west. They’re showing their displeasure with practices common in northern Africa that they deem heretical : namely the veneration of “saints” supposed to be buried there. They might be unhappy with venerating saints, but destroying the tombs was a direct reaction to “foreigners and infidels”. > [@](#): > > On Tuesday a source in Ansar Dine told AFP that “from now on, as soon as foreigners speak of Timbuktu” they would attack anything referred to as a World Heritage site. > > “There is no world heritage, it doesn’t exist. The infidels must not get involved in our business,” said a Tunisian jihadist who gave his name only as Ahmed and said he was part of Ansar Dine’s "media committee. " (Also, I see now that I didn’t read _“Olive The Thread”_ before posting.:() ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-and-would-the-west-intervene-if-the-pyramids-were-in-danger/627822/51 "2012-07-12T04:27:33Z")
I’d personally disapprove of the current regime taking it upon themselves to destroy 4000-year-old monuments as one of their first items of order. Why do they hate Egypt? ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-and-would-the-west-intervene-if-the-pyramids-were-in-danger/627822/52 "2012-07-12T05:12:56Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > This article is the first time i’ve ever heard the allegation that Muslims destroyed the Library of Alexandria (which i’m pretty sure happened a couple hundred years before there was any such thing as Islam) or “de-nosed” the Sphinx with cannon fire (which i’m pretty sure was the victim of natural erosion). RE: The Sphinx’s schnoz, [here’s the (relevant) take from wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Sphinx_of_Giza#Missing_nose_and_beard): > [@](#): > > The Egyptian Arab historian [al-Maqrīzī](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Maqrizi), writing in the 15th century AD, attributes the loss of the nose to [iconoclasm](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iconoclasm) by [Muhammad Sa’im al-Dahr](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Muhammad_Sa%27im_al-Dahr&action=edit&redlink=1), a Sufi Muslim from the khanqah of Sa’id al-Su’ada. In AD 1378, upon finding the Egyptian peasants making offerings to the Sphinx in the hope of increasing their harvest, Sa’im al-Dahr was so outraged that he destroyed the nose, and was hanged for vandalism. Al-Maqrīzī describes the Sphinx as the “talisman of the Nile” on which the locals believed the flood cycle depended. But I don’t buy that anyone with the power to do so would actually do what the article in the OP suggests - I think it’s just sensationalist rabble-rousing that is typical of the (FrontPageMag) source. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-and-would-the-west-intervene-if-the-pyramids-were-in-danger/627822/53 "2012-07-16T12:32:13Z")
Apparently the calls to destroy the pyramids were a hoax. > [@](#): > > **Another hoax: cleric calls on President Morsy to destroy Giza Pyramids** > > Calls from a Bahraini Sunni cleric urging President Mohamed Morsy to destroy the Giza Pyramids were issued from a parody Twitter account online, the Daily News Egypt has learned. > > SOURCE: [http://thedailynewsegypt.com/2012/07/11/another-hoax-cleric-calls-on-president-morsy-to-destroy-giza-pyramids/](http://thedailynewsegypt.com/2012/07/11/another-hoax-cleric-calls-on-president-morsy-to-destroy-giza-pyramids/) ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-and-would-the-west-intervene-if-the-pyramids-were-in-danger/627822/54 "2012-07-16T12:36:21Z")
Quelle surprise. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-and-would-the-west-intervene-if-the-pyramids-were-in-danger/627822/55 "2012-07-16T12:39:19Z")
I’m glad the truth has come out about this spurious story. Just before the Taliban destroyed those statues, the _Houston Chronicle_ published an essay by an Egyptian studying at Texas A&M. It was an open letter, pleading with the Taliban to preserve the monuments–explaining his own countrymen’s pride in their ancient history. I’m sure the Taliban never read it, but he was trying to explain to Texans that not all Muslims are that narrow-minded. ---
**Author:** ![PrettyVacant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/49beb7/32.png) [@PrettyVacant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PrettyVacant)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-and-would-the-west-intervene-if-the-pyramids-were-in-danger/627822/56 "2012-07-16T12:40:59Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > Many people complained when the Taliban set out to destroy all the Buddha statues in Afghanistan. No action was taken, however. Ditto when the crazy invaders did at Babylon: > [@](#): > > “Outrage is hardly the word, this is just dreadful,” said Lord Redesdale, an archaeologist and head of the all-party parliamentary archaeological group. “These are world sites. Not only is what the American forces are doing damaging the archaeology of Iraq, it’s actually damaging the cultural heritage of the whole world.” > **[Babylon wrecked by war](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/jan/15/iraq.arts1)** > > US-led forces leave a trail of destruction and contamination in architectural site of world importance. Hey, what’s a helipad or several between friends. ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-and-would-the-west-intervene-if-the-pyramids-were-in-danger/627822/57 "2012-07-16T14:26:44Z")
It would be funny to watch them try. It would be alot of work trying to destroy several enormous piles of rocks. But it won’t happen. The Egyptian military wouldn’t allow it. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-and-would-the-west-intervene-if-the-pyramids-were-in-danger/627822/58 "2012-07-16T15:51:15Z")
> [@Steken](#): > > Quelle surprise. > [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > I’m glad the truth has come out about this spurious story. I think this is a good example of Poe’s Law in action: > [@](#): > > Without a winking smiley or other blatant display of humor, it is impossible to create a parody of Fundamentalism that SOMEONE won’t mistake for the real thing. > > SOURCE: [Poe's Law - RationalWiki](http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Poe%27s_Law) ---
**Author:** ![Full\_Tilt\_Boogie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/2acd7d/32.png) [@Full\_Tilt\_Boogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Full_Tilt_Boogie)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-and-would-the-west-intervene-if-the-pyramids-were-in-danger/627822/59 "2012-07-16T16:02:36Z")
Napoleon, gawd bless 'im, actually used the Great Pyramids at Giza as target practice for his canons prior to fighting the British at [The Battle of the Nile](http://www.britishbattles.com/waterloo/battle-nile.htm), in 1798, so I’m not sure the Egyptians might take any Western claim to jump in and save them that seriously… ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-and-would-the-west-intervene-if-the-pyramids-were-in-danger/627822/60 "2012-07-16T16:14:08Z")
The loss of the Pyramids would be a huge blow to humanity, but at the end of the day, I don’t see how you could justify starting a war to save a tourist attraction. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-and-would-the-west-intervene-if-the-pyramids-were-in-danger/627822.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-and-would-the-west-intervene-if-the-pyramids-were-in-danger/627822.md?page=4)