Thursday, July 12, 2012

Egypt's Sphinx, Pyramids threatened by groundwater, hydrologists warn

Ahram Online (Nevine El-Aref)

One month ago, Giza's antiquities inspectorate installed a new system to pump subterranean water out from under Egypt's historical Sphinx monument and the underlying bedrock.

Subterranean water levels at the Giza Plateau, especially the area under the valley temples and Sphinx, have recently increased due to a new drainage system installed in the neighbouring village of Nazlet Al-Seman and the irrigation techniques used to cultivate the nearby residential area of Hadaeq Al-Ahram.

The system involves 18 state-of-the-art water pumps capable of pumping 26,000 cubic metres of water daily.

The project, which cost some LE22 million and is financed by USAID, has raised fears among some hydrologists and ecologists that it could erode the bedrock under the Sphinx and lead to the historic monument's collapse.



1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I would hate to think that any interference ,leading to the demise of the Eyptian Sphinx,and Pyramids would be allowed and I condemn the interference by people who would rather see the collapse because it represents the only sound structure which has been left by our ancestors proving their higher intelligence! there is no other structure in place so Wonderful that still exists today, all other statutes and former seven wonders of the world no longer exists with the exception of the PYRAMIDS, I beg of you in Egypt to maintain this Magnificent Wonder that remains a reminder of the first mankinds abilities,without the mechanisms that exists today!