coldrum sends Nevine El-Aref's article from weekly.ahram.org.eg/. This is an excerpt:
More than two years after the January 2011 Revolution, urban and agricultural encroachment continues to threaten Egypt’s archaeological sites. The lack of security that overwhelmed the country during and after the revolution has certainly taken its toll. The sanctity of spiritual and archaeological environments have been desecrated, with plundering and destruction by vandals, thieves and neighbouring residents being carried out virtually unchecked.
DAHSHOUR NECROPOLIS: An armed gang accompanied by residents of Ezbet Dahshour have been ravaging the area in front of King Amenemhat III’s Black Pyramid and digging in the sand in order to install a modern private cemetery.
This area was a necropolis for ancient Egyptian nobles and officials, and a German archaeological mission currently excavating there is discovering more to add to Dahshour’s history.
The invaders dug more than 30 new tombs on the site, building an ugly construction using white cement blocks. “Not only do they distort the scenery and the panoramic view of the site, but they are destroying the ancient artefacts buried in the sand underneath,” says Nasser Ramadan, director-general of the Dahshour archaeological site. “Our hands are tied and our heritage is in danger, and nobody is coming to the rescue.”
Although all campaigns launched by archaeologists and the authorities concerned to rescue Dahshour from encroachment, and UNESCO visited to inspect the current situation to intervene to stop the intrusion and help save one of its world heritage sites, all attempts to solve the problem in an amicable manner have so far failed. The Ezbet Dahshour residents on the site have refused to move to another plot away from the archaeological area where they could easily build a modern cemetery.
The MSA has taken legal steps, but since the intruders still refuse to move the ministry is now collaborating with the Tourism and Antiquities Police to expel them by force. They have been allocated a new plot for their cemetery, and now the ministry is carrying out an archaeological inspection of the new site before handing it over to the intruders so they can commence building.
In the meantime, the intruders, in total disregard of the legal processes, are insisting on staying where they are and continuing construction. They have now raised the building to the second floor.
Antiquities experts warn that the construction of the new cemetery endangers the ancient complex. Villagers say their cemeteries are full, but that the authorities did not give permits or land for new ones, so they grabbed what they insisted was empty desert to erect family tombs.
Something is not right. This message is just to keep things from messing up down the road