Plan to put a granite pyramid back on the map leads to heated discussions

According to Morgan Moroney, the assistant curator of Egyptian, Classical and Ancient Near Eastern art at the Brooklyn Museum, many of the granite stones have fallen or been removed from the site over the centuries. Even in ancient times, she said, people reused them to build nearby monuments or houses. Earthquakes, erosion and vandalism have wiped them out over the centuries.

Salima Ikram, head of the Egyptology unit at the American University in Cairo, is cautiously optimistic about the new project.

“Scanning and documenting the pyramid and the blocks on the ground is very helpful,” she said. If the team were to put the fallen blocks back in place in a way that is reversible, that would be “eminently sensible,” she said. But she warned against restoring blocks if their origins are unclear and suggested further research would be needed to confirm the pyramid could still support the weight of more granite cladding.

Ibrahim Mohamed Badr, associate professor at the Department of Restoration and Conservation of Antiquities at Misr University of Science and Technology in Giza, was skeptical about which stones at the site – many of which were unpolished – could be confirmed as original to the pyramid.

“The ancient Egyptians would have polished the blocks when they installed them in the pyramid itself,” he said. “Any attempt to repair and polish them would be a blatant interference with the work of the ancient Egyptians, who did not complete this pyramid.”

The Ministry of Antiquities did not respond to a request for comment and did not confirm the project's budget. Waziri told al-Mehwar TV that the initial phase of the project — which begins at a time of rising debt and inflation in Egypt – was fully financed by its Japanese partners. “We won't pay a cent,” he said.

The Menkaure project is part of a wider investment in Giza's infrastructure, which includes new restaurants and visitor facilities. The Grand Egyptian Museum, which reportedly cost $1 billion and has been 20 years in the making, is all set to open later this year.

Nada Rashwan contributed reporting from Cairo.