Egypt relies fairly heavily on tourism. I doubt very much that they are going to be that stupid.
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.
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/
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.
Let them do it. Then they’ll starve when they lose the granary benefit.
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.
They aren’t the least bit concerned about the curse?
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?
You, good sir, are now my new favourite Doper.
They might be unhappy with venerating saints, but destroying the tombs was a direct reaction to “foreigners and infidels”.
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(Also, I see now that I didn’t read “Olive The Thread” before posting.:()
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?
RE: The Sphinx’s schnoz, here’s the (relevant) take from wiki:
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.
Apparently the calls to destroy the pyramids were a hoax.
Quelle surprise.
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.
Ditto when the crazy invaders did at Babylon:
Hey, what’s a helipad or several between friends.
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.
I think this is a good example of Poe’s Law in action:
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, in 1798, so I’m not sure the Egyptians might take any Western claim to jump in and save them that seriously…
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.