Talking Pyramids

An update on the state of some of the pyramids from Heidi who has just returned from Egypt.

Water threatens the pyramid at Hawara
The ground water at Hawara is high. So high in fact that the subterranean chambers of the pyramid of Amenemhet III at Hawara are totally submerged under water. Anyone trying to enter this pyramid will only get about 5 meters from the entrance, scuba diving gear is required to explore any further. Unfortunately this has been the case for some time now. Salt deposits can be seen on the walls and ceiling of the corridor. There is talk of emptying the water by pumping it out as they have done to lower the water level around the Sphinx at Giza.

Water in the descending passage of the pyramid of Amenemhet III

Menkaure still closed for cleaning
At Giza, the status of entry to the three main pyramids, that is Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure is always on rotation. Usually only two of the three Giza pyramids are open at any time to allow one of them to be closed for cleaning and restoration. Menkaure was closed all last year and was expected to open this year but is still currently closed. It is not clear if Menkaure is scheduled to open any time in the near future.

Tickets & Entry Prices
Heidi was also kind enough to send in some of the new style tickets which show the current prices for entry into many of the archaeological sites in Egypt. I’ve added these to the other tickets I’ve received from readers and you can view them as a slide show here:

Visit Heidi’s photo stream to see more photos from her recent trip to the land of the pyramids.

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Tags: Amenemhet III, Giza, khafre, Khufu, menkaure, prices

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 18th, 2009 at 12:16 pm and is filed under News, Photos, Site Updates. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.