Experts Are Alarmed by a Video of Workers Hammering Away at Egypt’s Great Pyramid of Giza

Outrage and concern haven’t abated since a video of maintenance workers hammering away at Egypt’s Great Pyramid of Giza went viral late last year.

In the clip, two workers in high visibility vests appeared to use hammers and chisels to break apart stone blocks on the pyramid. Just one row above the workers, a group of tourists shuffled along and looked askance at the repair work.

Shortly after the clip went viral, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities stressed that no lasting damage had been done to the UNESCO World Heritage site and only remaining Wonder of the Ancient World, which was built as a tomb for the pharaoh Khufu around 2550 B.C.E.

“We urge citizens to refrain from spreading rumors. What appeared in the video was not an act of demolition, but a removal of almost two-decade-old construction materials, which have no archaeological value, to extend power to the pyramids,” the ministry’s statement said, according to the New Arab.

In the statement, Ayman Ashmawi, head of the Ancient Egyptian Antiquities Sector at the Supreme Council of Antiquities, blamed the incident on private contractors working on the pyramid’s lighting apparatus, noting “the absence of a specialized antiquities inspector or a restoration specialist.”

But the official explanation did little to quell discontent, instead raising more questions about how the Egyptian government manages its most iconic landmarks and why it allowed an unsupervised private company to conduct repairs.

"The scene of breaking the rocks of the Great Pyramid to make a power extension was absolute insanity,” Gamal Sultan, an Egyptian journalist, wrote on X (formerly Twitter), per a translation by the New Arab.

In the aftermath, Amira Abu Shoka, a member of Egyptian parliament, demanded an explanation from Sherif Fathy, the minister of tourism and antiquities. In a statement, she accused the video of “ruining Egypt’s tourism reputation and the country’s image,” according to Karen K. Ho of ARTnews.

Tourism is a central component of Egypt’s economy. In the first half of 2024, nearly 7.1 million tourists visited the country, staying for the equivalent of 70.2 million nights and contributing $6.6 billion in revenue.

“Conducting such work during peak hours in the busiest tourist season of winter was a management error by the company overseeing the project and all responsible officials,” Bassam El-Shammaa, an Egyptologist, told the New Arab’s Mariam Zaki in December.

However, some citizens and scholars see issues that run deeper.

Monica Hanna, an Egyptologist at the Arab Academy for Science and Technology and Maritime Transport in Aswan, tells the Art Newspaper’s Hadani Ditmars that “mismanagement” is a profound threat to the country’s rich—and fragile—cultural heritage.

Last year, a plan to cover the Pyramid of Menkaure, the smallest of Giza’s three pyramids, with granite blocks was scrapped after widespread backlash. Ongoing upgrades at the Great Pyramid site, including a new visitor center in Giza and plans for new highways and cafes, have also been controversial.

“Any work on the Giza plateau, whether it is the removal of concrete or the installation of lights, or indeed, any building work, must be carefully monitored as there is scope for destruction and loss of data,” Salima Ikram, an archaeologist at the American University in Cairo, tells the Art Newspaper. “Buildings on the plateau should be limited and kept far away from the pyramids as these would disrupt the view and alter the landscape dramatically.”

Stephen Harvey, an Egyptologist at Stony Brook University who conducts research at the ancient city of Abydos, tells the Art Newspaper that he’s particularly worried about damage to “less visible heritage,” like underground sites and ruins along a new cross-country high-speed rail route.

Hanna tells the New Arab that the laws regulating how heritage is managed and repaired “[lack] detailed guidelines,” particularly regarding who can carry out repair work. She adds that international agreements like the Venice Charter of 1964 and UNESCO regulations provide guidelines for restoration that emphasize respect for the original character and integrity of historic sites, but they’re often overlooked.

“Treating our monuments with carelessness harms our repatriation efforts, as it shows we cannot properly care for the monuments and artifacts we possess,” says El-Shammaa to the New Arab. “So we must handle them carefully, professionally and expertly to preserve our heritage.”

Eli Wizevich | | READ MORE

Eli Wizevich is a history correspondent for Smithsonian. He studied history at the University of Chicago and previously wrote for the El Paso Times.