Thousands of generations of humans have lived on Earth, reshaping it for better or for worse up until the present; billions of humans not known by name but through what they’ve built. Such is the case for the Pyramids of Giza, with the legacies of 20,000 Egyptians entombed symbolically in every block of limestone, granite, and mortar that make up the pyramids. Structures such as the pyramids provide a window into the ancient world of today’s ancestors that is essential to understanding their society and culture, but this window may soon slam shut and never be opened again. It was announced that the Pyramid of Menkaure, the smallest of the three Pyramids of Giza, has begun to undergo restoration including the reinstallation of granite slabs on the outer shell of the monument starting in January of this year. Egypt’s antiquities chief called the project “Egypt’s gift to the world,” while simultaneously tarnishing one of the world’s greatest gifts to its people. 

It would, of course, be interesting to see what the pyramid would have looked like thousands of years ago, but in doing so would inadvertently cover up the thousands of years of history that came after its construction. Wars, robbers, and empires have left their marks on the pyramid, with figures like Sultan Al-Aziz Uthman going as far as attempting to dismantle it and leaving a gash in the side of the structure. It is events like these that would be eradicated if the restoration continues, and the people of today have no right to defame the work of the past without so much as a justifiable reason. “In a way, it seems sac-religious to mess with someone’s tomb,” comments Mr. Atwell, a history teacher at La Jolla High, providing a curious insight into why restoring the pyramid is not just historically wrong, but also culturally and religiously. The Pyramids are the last surviving wonders of the ancient world, a door opening well over 4,000 years of human history and advancement, but to change it using our modern technologies with our modern materials would banish the word ancient associated with the Pyramids altogether irreversibly forever.