Egypt
drhawass.com (Zahi Hawass)
Includes diagrams, photographs and a map.
See the above page for more.
- Rising Water: A Necessary Evil?
Al Ahram Weekly (Nevine El-Aref) Can the new pumping system on the Giza Plateau help reduce damage to the Sphinx caused by leaking subterranean water? Nevine El-Aref looks at this, and what caused the high water level Within the framework of the Ministry...
- In The Lab: Laser Scanning The Sphinx
drhawass.com Video. The Sphinx has always been an object of fascination for people for thousands of years. Today, new technology allows us to study it in more detail than ever. We recently cooperated with a team from the Mubarak Scientific City using...
- Sphinx Update Report
drhawass.com With photos. Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni received a technical and ecological report on the health of the Great Sphinx at Giza, which asserted that the Sphinx and surrounding bedrock are safe, and that the groundwater in the area in front...
- Rising Groundwater Threatens Monuments
MCOT English News The fact that variations on this story keeps rearing its head is a sad reflection on the threat to many monuments in Egypt. As well as highlighting the problem at Giza, this piece suggests that solutions have been proposed, but were...
- The Drowning Sphinx
With the rising ground water the monuments of Egypt many of which are made of soft limestone need protecting or they will dissolve away. http://drhawass.com/blog/keeping-great-sphinx%E2%80%99s-paws-dry...
Egypt
Keeping the Great Sphinx’s Paws Dry
drhawass.com (Zahi Hawass)
Includes diagrams, photographs and a map.
Perhaps the single greatest threat to the preservation of Egypt’s monuments is the rising level of underground water throughout the country. Runoff from sewage and agriculture, along with overall environmental changes, is resulting in the stone of temples and tombs that were dry most of the year in ancient times becoming saturated with water seeping up from below.
This weakens the architecture, and damages wall decorations. Rising groundwater is a problem faced not only by pharaonic monuments, but by Greco-Roman, Coptic, and Islamic period structures as well. Under my direction, the Supreme Council of Antiquities is working to reduce the groundwater level around antiquities sites throughout Egypt. We have completed a USAID-funded effort to de-water Karnak and Luxor temples, and work is underway in many other places. One of our greatest recent successes has been the development of a system to prevent the Great Sphinx at Giza from getting its paws wet!
See the above page for more.
- Rising Water: A Necessary Evil?
Al Ahram Weekly (Nevine El-Aref) Can the new pumping system on the Giza Plateau help reduce damage to the Sphinx caused by leaking subterranean water? Nevine El-Aref looks at this, and what caused the high water level Within the framework of the Ministry...
- In The Lab: Laser Scanning The Sphinx
drhawass.com Video. The Sphinx has always been an object of fascination for people for thousands of years. Today, new technology allows us to study it in more detail than ever. We recently cooperated with a team from the Mubarak Scientific City using...
- Sphinx Update Report
drhawass.com With photos. Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni received a technical and ecological report on the health of the Great Sphinx at Giza, which asserted that the Sphinx and surrounding bedrock are safe, and that the groundwater in the area in front...
- Rising Groundwater Threatens Monuments
MCOT English News The fact that variations on this story keeps rearing its head is a sad reflection on the threat to many monuments in Egypt. As well as highlighting the problem at Giza, this piece suggests that solutions have been proposed, but were...
- The Drowning Sphinx
With the rising ground water the monuments of Egypt many of which are made of soft limestone need protecting or they will dissolve away. http://drhawass.com/blog/keeping-great-sphinx%E2%80%99s-paws-dry...