Renowned
Egyptologist Zahi Hawass asserts that the stone could not have come from the
Great Pyramid of Giza. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.
he
supervisor-general of Egypt's Antiquities Repatriation Department, Shaaban
Abdel-Gawad, has told Ahram Online that Egypt will send an official inquiry to
Scotland asking for a certificate of possession and export documents for a
casing stone purportedly from the Great Pyramid of Giza.
The
BBC reported earlier today that the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh
will display on 8 February a casing stone from the Great Pyramid of Khufu,
which will be displayed for the first time outside of Egypt along with other
ancient Egyptian artefacts.
Abdel-Gawad
said that the Egyptian law for the protection of antiquities stipulates that
trading or exporting antiquities is a crime, and if the block is found to have
been smuggled out the country, all procedures will be taken to return it home.
Renowned
Egyptologist Zahi Hawass asserted to Ahram Online that the block could not be
from the Great Pyramid, whose outer layer was destroyed over the centuries.
“There
is no image showing the casing of the Great Pyramid," Hawass said, adding
that the outer layer of the pyramid was made of granite, like the pyramids of
Khafre and Menkaure, and not of limestone as the National Museum of Scotland
claims.
Hawass added that the only remaining casing from
the Giza pyramids is found at the top of the Khafre pyramid and the lower part
of the Menkaure pyramid.
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