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Egypt's Oldest Pyramid Is Being Destroyed By Its Own Restoration Team
Taffykay writes The oldest pyramid in Egypt, the Pyramid of Djoserat Saqqara, is being destroyed by the very company the Egyptian government has hired to restore it. The roughly 4,600-year-old structure has been in trouble since an earthquake hit the region in 1992, but in a difficult political and economic climate for the country, those now tasked with preserving the pyramid are said to be doing more harm than good.
Increasing erosion due to acid rain and global warming
can anybody tell me why this article is marked SPAM?
http://slashdot.org/submission/3822265/e-cigarette-warnings-are-alarmist
Saqqara, in Egypt, is the oldest stone complex ever built by humans
Uh uh...what does that mean? Even Skara Brae is older, and that definitely qualifies as a "stone complex", unless I got horribly wrong what that means, not to mention the assorted individual older monuments in Europe, the Mediterranean, or Asia Minor.
Ezekiel 23:20
We must not forget that Egypt is no longer the land of the pharaohs. It has become the land of the "Allah", where everything must either conform to Islam or die
In Afghanistan they destroyed thousand-year-old Buddha statues, because to them the statues were "against Allah"
What makes you think that they do not want to destroy the pyramids, for the same reason?
Egyptian Muslims have already called for the destruction of the pyramids and the sphinx, juts like the Buddhas of Bamiyan.
If it ever came even close to this, I think the international community should do something about it. It's not just their heritage, it's everybody's heritage. They don't have the right to wipe out a significant piece of preserved history.
to build a new one that can resist earthquakes?
but in a difficult political and economic climate for the country,
Yeah, maybe if they would let some competent people into the country to deal with the pyramids again, this wouldn't happen.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Looking at that picture I wonder how people can be so amazed by it. Pyramids I mean... They're supposed to be some Grand Feat or something but that doesn't look that difficult. They got 10's of thousands of people together and laid some stones... whoop-de-do. Doesn't even sound hard other than the heat (which was called fucking life back then, cause no one had air conditioning). Considering that it was made with slave labor, makes it even less impressive. There's these steps in northern california, laid by like 80 japanese slave laborers like 100 years ago... They carved the steps right into the damn mountain, up nearly a mile in altitude, twisting and winding, and looking at it from the bottom it is clear that it couldn't have been done without slave labor (2 people died). That shit was impressive... and useful... it overlooks this really huge valley...it's an amazing view. It'll still be useful in 6000 years...unlike some tomb for some king.
So why do we give a shit about these things? These things which was like a really common thing back then (using slaves to build castles and walls and all kind of stone stuff).... these things which we wholly disapprove of socially now....
I mean besides history... besides remembering that we were once terrible people so that we never become that again, other than that, what's the point of pyramids? why should we give a shit?
Her body measurements are perfect in every dimension,
She's got a figure that's sho' 'nuff gettin' attention.
She's poetry in motion, a beautiful sight to see;
I get so excited viewin' her anatomy.
"The Step Pyramid of Djoserat Saqqara"
should be "The Step Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara"
spotted it as soon as I saw it..., very poor error to make indeed
Gravity wins every time! Try to find a pyramid fixer in the yellow pages. Oh, here it is Joe's pyramid restoration. It says established 2000BC.
Bork like an Egyptian
Many of the early Mayan and Aztec structures in Latin America have been "restored" in the name of tourism to make them more comfortable. Nicer steps, higher doorways, etc. They're not as well known as the Egyptian pyramids but every bit as historically significant.
to survive at all legitImise doing
This is important: terrorists who claim to be fighting for Islam...are criminals using religion as an excuse and justification for their crimes.
> Yeah! With blackjack! And hookers!
Make that poker instead of blackjack. Liquor in the front, poker in the rear.
Why would I want to fly around the World to some religious ghetto to look at a pile of rocks?
"If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
Tell me what the difference is between "fighting for Islam" and "using religion as an excuse and justification for their crimes." Honestly it sounds about the same, except perhaps for connotation.
I mean, if someone does something that you personally perceive as a crime, and they do it in the name of Islam, and they justify and excuse it with Islam, then they've ticked both boxes. Why do you think there's a distinction?
Chief in charge: Cecilia Giménez
Tell me what the difference is between "fighting for Islam" and "using religion as an excuse and justification for their crimes." Honestly it sounds about the same, except perhaps for connotation.
I mean, if someone does something that you personally perceive as a crime, and they do it in the name of Islam, and they justify and excuse it with Islam, then they've ticked both boxes. Why do you think there's a distinction?
Fighting for something doesn't automatically mean you're committing crimes. Although I'm sure any number of Muslims who experienced the Crusaders "fighting for Christ" would say the same thing you did.
ISIS, however, is by their actions first and foremost a criminal organization pretending to be a religious organization. No less than if they'd claimed they were fighting for Christ, Buddha, or the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
And Isis, is of course, the name of a false god and thus anathema to the fundamental tenet of Islam.
Katrina and the Bangles not part of your cultural heritage?
They should be, dammit!
Walk Like An Egyptian
Fighting for something doesn't automatically mean you're committing crimes.
Correct, but that's not the issue. The issue is whether the terrorists who claim to be fighting for Islam could actually be fighting for Islam. OP claimed they are not, they are simply using religion to justify their crimes.
My point is that they are indistinguishable.
And Isis, is of course, the name of a false god and thus anathema to the fundamental tenet of Islam.
I hope you're joking. That's an acronym invented by Westerners. You realize that they use a different alphabet and different words than we do... right? The transliteration of their own acronym is something like "DASH" I believe, not "ISIS."
Your mistake is that it doesn't take "an entire country/culture" to destroy the pyramids, just like destroying the Buddhas of Bamiyan didn't take the concerted effort of every Muslim in Afghanistan.
Your mistake is to fail and reading comprehension and/or have a willingness to bring a strawman to the table.
It would have been MY mistake to assume it must take an entire culture to destroy valuable archaeological sites. But I didn't so fuck you very much.
If we rub a few neurons together till they spark and apply the most basic rules of reading comprehension, we see that my reply was specific to this statement :
Egyptian Muslims have already called for the destruction of the pyramids and the sphinx
That is an ambiguously quantified, poorly worded, if not ignorant and malicious statement. A more appropriate statements of the fact would have included something like "Some Egyptians Muslims" or "Extremist Egyptian Muslims" or "Egyptian Religious Radicals". Those provide a more accurate dimension to the problem as opposed to something that can (and will be passed by idiots) as a blanket generalization.
If I see some White dude with Nazi tats screaming vitriol against minorities, I'm not going to say "White People call for race war". I would quantify and qualify the individual or individuals appropriately so as to not open the door to idiots looking to push the "guilt by association" button. This same rule applies to anyone and anywhere regardless of ethnic/cultural/religious background.
I never stated that it must take an entire culture to destroy the pyramids. What I said had nothing to do with such a claim.
It was not my mistake to make. It was your mistake to attribute that on me. But hey, don't let me get in the way to build strawmen for whatever silly and/or twisted reasons that rock your boat.
That's just not true. Violent expansion is mandated in Islam. The large majority of them are doing it in the name of Islam, because the Quran tells them to. Stop listening to the hyper-PC media and take a look at what Islam is all about. Here, I'll get you started:
The Quran contains at least 109 verses that call Muslims to war with nonbelievers for the sake of Islamic rule. Some are quite graphic, with commands to chop off heads and fingers and kill infidels wherever they may be hiding. Muslims who do not join the fight are called 'hypocrites' and warned that Allah will send them to Hell if they do not join the slaughter.
Unlike nearly all of the Old Testament verses of violence, the verses of violence in the Quran are mostly open-ended, meaning that they are not restrained by the historical context of the surrounding text. They are part of the eternal, unchanging word of Allah, and just as relevant or subjective as anything else in the Quran.
The context of violent passages is more ambiguous than might be expected of a perfect book from a loving God, however this can work both ways. Most of today's Muslims exercise a personal choice to interpret their holy book's call to arms according to their own moral preconceptions about justifiable violence. Apologists cater to their preferences with tenuous arguments that gloss over historical fact and generally do not stand up to scrutiny. Still, it is important to note that the problem is not bad people, but bad ideology.
Unfortunately, there are very few verses of tolerance and peace to abrogate or even balance out the many that call for nonbelievers to be fought and subdued until they either accept humiliation, convert to Islam, or are killed. Muhammad's own martial legacy - and that of his companions - along with the remarkable stress on violence found in the Quran have produced a trail of blood and tears across world history.
source
This reminds me of a documentary I saw at least 20 years ago. It was about how Egypt was throwing out Western restoration experts and putting its own people in to work on some mummies that had been returned from various museums around the word.
One expert was being interviewed while she worked on a sarcophagus. In the middle of her comment about how she and her colleagues were every bit as competent as the "foreigners" who'd been sent packing, she managed to accidentally pry off a big chunk of it, which fell on the floor and broke. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
I see nothing's changed.
I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
The problem with destruction of the pyramids all started when the Transformers came to Earth and domestic militaries had to deploy heavy weapons against them.
Look it up man! It's on the 'tubes.
Christians did the same thing to various henges up in England. I'm surprised Stonehenge survived.
... How Far Should We Go in 'Restoring' Ancient Monuments?
Boing Boing shared The Daily Grail's article, with a few photo(graph)s, showing "Visions of the Past - How Far Should We Go in 'Restoring' Ancient Monuments?"
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
I see that those Muslim fuckers modded you down to -1 again, nvm, I'll reproduce what you say here:
We must not forget that Egypt is no longer the land of the pharaohs. It has become the land of the "Allah", where everything must either conform to Islam or die
In Afghanistan they destroyed thousand-year-old Buddha statues, because to them the statues were "against Allah"
What makes you think that they do not want to destroy the pyramids, for the same reason?
Having been to Egypt, not everyone is onboard with the tourism.