Zahi Hawass talking about the Step Pyramid. I don't know how long this page has been up but I hadn't seen it before so it may be that others haven't seen it either. Thanks to Fred Sierevogel for pointing me at it.
Today, the Step Pyramid complex is visited by thousands of tourists every year. The relentless force of the desert wind over the millennia, combined with increasing underground moisture as the water table rises all over Egypt, have weakened this incredible monument. Jean Philippe Lauer, a French architect and Egyptologist who worked at Saqqara for over 70 years, did a great deal of restoration work in the complex. It was clear, however, that further action was needed, and that if we did not do something soon, there might be little left for visitors to enjoy within just a few decades.
In 2008, the SCA organized a major conservation effort, carried out by an all-Egyptian team. I appointed talented archaeologists, architects, and restorers, giving each of them a job description covering the duration of the project. Soil mechanic Dr. Hassan Fahmy of Cairo University joined the team, in order to help us understand and combat the environmental forces threatening the underground galleries and passages. Archaeology and conservation are complimentary aspects of the project, as we must understand the monument in order to develop the best plan for restoring it.
No comments:
Post a Comment