From Cairo, Egypt, comes an update on the continuing duel between a pair of French archaeologists who have spend the better part of their lifetime studying pyramide construction and Zahi Hawass, Egypt's pitchman for all things ancient...
Here is an excerpt as reported by the Associated Press.....A pair of French Egyptologists who suspect they have found a previously unknown chamber in the Great Pyramid urged Egypt's antiquities chief to reconsider letting them test their theory by drilling new holes in the 4,600-year-old structure.
Jean Yves Verd'hurt and fellow Frenchman Gilles Dormion, who has studied pyramid construction for more than 20 years, are expected to raise their views during the ninth International Congress of Egyptologists in Grenoble, France, which starts Monday. They also published a book about their theory this week.
Standing in their way is Zahi Hawass, the director of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, who heatedly rejected the theories during a Cairo press conference this week.
"There are 300 theories concerning hidden rooms and other things inside the pyramid, but if I let them all test their theories they will do untold damage to the pyramid, which was built with the blood of Egyptians," said Hawass. "I will not let Egyptian blood be damaged by amateurs." Click For the full article.
I was in that group with you Claire and found the Egyptian people warm and frdlniey for the most part, so I fear for their safety and hope for quick and positive resolution to this, so that other travelers may soon feel safe to return to that remarkable part of our world. However, I do remember very clearly our female guide Anwar telling us that she felt very highly of Mrs. Mubarak because she had done so much for the rights of women and had established a very successful literacy program for women.
Posted by: Irina | April 26, 2012 at 12:37 AM