I have read that claim. I repeat. Bullshit. And yes he does have a habit of doing exactly what you claim he does not do.
Funnily enough I’m not sure if it was ever clearly defined at the start of the thread what any theoretical ‘intervening’ would mean, or what form it would be.
Intervening needn’t nescessarily be a declaration of war. I’m not sure the wider world is overly protective about the Pyramids anyway. Already a lot of damage happens to the Giza Plateau, slowly but surely (which links up with what even sven was saying this morning, about the damage to historical sites more often than not being mundane damage, rather than sudden attacks on them).
Broken water and sanitation mains in the village near the Giza plateau have damaged underground areas near the Sphinx that were up for excavation at one stage, and there are plenty of pits in the mastaba areas near the Great Pyramid in which discarded electrical wire, plastic bags and all sorts of other junk is routinely lobbed. Last year I visited Tanis in the Nile Delta, a relatively remote attraction, and the amount of trash left by local Egyptian tourists was an issue at that site. 1000s of discarded cigarette ends all over the place, empty drinks bottles and foil packets thrown into excavated burial pits / tombs and one fallen column with carvings of Ramses II on was stained by a dried sticky liquid that look like soda has been splattered on the column.
One or two of Egypt’s big sites such as Abu Simbel, Luxor Temple and Karnak are well kept, but outside of that it is surprising just how much ongoing damage occurs and how much - "Abdul and Fatima were 'ere, 2008" sort of name carving goes on even today at some sites. A lot of is down to money, and the lack of it, to fund and motivate those chosen to ‘patrol’ these areas.
Due to the prevalance of baksheesh in the culture, the vigilance and loyalty of guards can be bought off as they are poorly educated low payed locals given a hat and a security jumper and jump at the chance to get more money and to hell with principals. Last year on my latest visit to Giza, there was something afoot on the plateau, because since the fall of Mubarak and the removal of Zahi Hawass from his position, some of the advances he made are being rolled back and it ain’t looking good. It’s an area that was corrupt enough already, but the future isn’t looking too good for it until some semblance of normality resumes in Egypt.
You are correct and that is a very good point. I was responding to “intervene” as if it was being used as a code word for military action. In international relations, at least, the two are frequently interchangeable.
I don’t have a problem with some kind of non-military intervention, though I think it would be a waste to pay Egypt not to destroy them. If I were the US president and had a choice, I would threaten to reduce or cut off the, what? – billion or 2? – we give Egypt in assistance annually. It wouldn’t cost anything, and might make them think twice.
And if they in fact went ahead and blew them up anyway, I’m not even sure I’d follow through on the threat to cut the aid. I’d have to consider the world and regional situation at the time and decide whether it was a smart choice or not.
Meh, it accords with what I’ve heard from people from the ME. And elsewhere for that matter. If people feel no kinship with the previous inhabitants, they aren’t going to be all that interested in their relics.
Look at the US as an example. How many people in the US even know that there existed urban civilizations in the US prior to European settlement - that (for example) the Mississipian city of Cahokia was comparable in size to contemporary European capitals like London?
It isn’t all that well known, mainly I would say because the modern inhabitants of the US mostly feel kinship with their European heritage. Hence, the (modest) remains of Jamestown have star billing while the huge pyramids of Cahokia are less known.
The reverse is the case where for ideological or historical reasons the inhabitants feel a strong kinship with the past. Iran is an example of that - modern day Iranians feel a strong kinship with the glories of ancient Persia. In Israel, for much the same reason, archaeology is practically the national sport.
Yes, I had somehow missed that story and only read about it by following the link from the article in the OP. Very sad, I’d always fancied going to Timbuktu. There is (was?) lots of cool architecture around there.
The question I want to ask is: Can the pyramids be destroyed by the Egyptians? How would they go about doing that?
With enough explosives you can destroy anything. The resulting rubble pile may remain pyramidal in shape, depending where the explosives go off. The again, it might end up a crater with rubble strewn around it.
We’re already looking at the inner structure of Giza pyramids when we see them today.
Nearly all casing stones of the three Giza pyramids were used to build the notable structures in Islamic Cairo, supposedly after major earthquakes in the middle ages wrecked the casing. I’m not convinced though. Part of the casing was probably compromised in earthquakes, but the very structure and tight fitting nature of them would not have brought it ‘crashing down’ as such, and a breach was probably used as an excuse to start using them as stone mines.
It is the mighty strong stepped core shape of the major two pyramids we see today that would present a headache for anyone intent on removing them completely. I agree that big enough explosives would create a hell of a mess, but still I believe it would take multiple mega deliverys to even dent the shape as the structures are mostly solid piles of rock, beginning with truly massive stones at the base but admittedly becoming smaller the more it ascends to the apex.
The inner chambers are granite, tough boot mothers. Both the Great Pyramid and Second Pyramids are hard nuts. The far smaller third Pyramid (Menkaure) on the plateau could be taken out no problem though with a little persistance.
Damage to one area of the Great Pyramid is clearly visible today that goes back to an early attempt to explode another entrance based on a hunch, way back.
Even that just left major but still cosmetic damage.
I can’t believe I’m discussing this scenario 