Temple Denial/Pyramid Denial

When it comes to the Middle East, certain disputes manifest themselves absolutely everywhere.

In the year 2007, many prominent Egyptologists in Cairo refute the idea that the pyramids were built by slaves at all. The list of scholars who align themselves with this train of thought is headed by Egypt's Chairman of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Dr. Zahi Hawass. In 2002, a team led by Hawass explored unopened chambers inside the pyramids using new technology, and at the end of the process a triumphant Hawass told the world press that his findings, particularly the skeleton of a fourth-century Egyptian, showed that the pyramids were "not built by slaves," but rather by the "great Egyptians."

So far so good -- nothing very controversial here at all, despite the jingoistic kicker. But then drops the other shoe . . .

Following the exploration, which was broadcast worldwide by National Geographic, Dr. Hawass held an interview with the Arab daily El Gomhoreya, in which he said his findings "refute the allegations reiterated by Jews and some Western countries that the Jews built the pyramids."

This is plainly nuts. Aside from the sort of lunatic fringe that claims that humans and dinosaurs coexisted, no one makes such a claim: neither Jews, nor historians and archeologists. Manufactured allegations of a conspiracy to lay claim to the pyramids is xenophobic demagoguery of the worst sort.

Hawass and Egypt's Minister of Culture, Farouk Hosny, launched a campaign in 2002 to secure Giza's legacy for Egypt. Their campaign to "strike back" on those with different views on the subject was reported by Egyptian-born, London-based writer Ahmed Osman, who quoted Hosny in an interview with the Associated Foreign Press as vowing to "wage a war to protect the Pyramids... from an organized campaign by Israel."

In the AFP interview, the pair were quoted as saying, "Israeli allegations that they built the Pyramids abound, and we must face up to this even if it triggers a crisis with Israel! This is piracy! Our history and our civilization must be respected but the Israelis want to take over everything! We must counterattack with full strength because this is how they took Palestine. They think Palestine belongs to them and now they are doing on saying the same with the Pyramids."

Full article in the Jerusalem Post.

Posted by David on April 2, 2007 10:14 AM