It seems that the curse of the Pharaohs has arrived at the ancient Egyptian monuments. The Great Pyramid of the Fourth Dynasty of King Khufu was not the only monument subjected to damage by two amateur German archaeologists from Dresden University, who stole samples of a cartouche of Khufu from a small room on top of the king's burial chamber and smuggled them to Germany for analysis. Archaeological inspection carried out by the Ministry of State for Antiquities (MSA) uncovered three other archaeological sites subjected to damage and looting. These sites, said Mohamed Abdel-Maksoud, head of the Ancient Egyptian Section, are a birds' necropolis at the Giza Plateau, the restoration laboratory of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) overlooking the Giza Plateau, and the MSA's 15 May quarry. Abdel-Maksoud said one of the German amateur archaeologists had succeeded in entering the rest-house of Cairo University at the plateau and copied the archaeological archive of the discoveries of the renowned archaeologist Selim Hassan. Abdel-Maksoud said the incident happened during the second half of 2011 because of a lack of security following the January 2011 Revolution. According to documents that Al-Ahram Weekly obtained a copy of, both amateur archaeologists entered the archaeological sites twice — one as part a group of German tourists on a private visit and the second time among a group of researchers producing a documentary on Ancient Egyptian monuments. Both groups presented official requests to the MSA and received the approval of the secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities after paying the LE5,000 fee. But how they got into the five small rooms on top of the king's burial chamber and the GEM laboratory and the quarry, even though these sites are off the beaten tourist path and prohibited from entry except for specialists, is unclear. Investigations are currently being conducted. Until answers come up, the MSA has imposed penalties and taken legal action against both archaeologists, Dominique Goerlitz and author Stefan Erdmann, as well as against Dresden University. It has also suspended scientific cooperation with the university as well as with the German laboratory that analysed the stolen items from Khufu's Pyramid. Minister of State for Antiquities Mohamed Ibrahim announced that the ministry imposed a number of penalties against the Germans, their university and the tourism agency that had taken them on a tour around the plateau. The case was also sent to the prosecutor-general for investigation. Interpol has been notified to put the German archaeologists on Egypt's airport watch list. Ibrahim also decided to ban private visits to any archaeological sites in Egypt unless it has the approval of the MSA's Permanent Committee and concerned authorities. Abdel-Maksoud asserted that the results announced by the Germans are false and not scientifically correct. The results of both Germans cast doubt on the construction date of the Great Pyramid and consequently the Pharaoh for which it was built. It suggests that the pyramid was built in an era preceding Khufu's reign and the pyramid itself is not the burial place for a king but a centre of power. He explained that a number of scientific researches from the past two centuries show that the Great Pyramid belongs to King Khufu, and that it was built during his reign to be used as his royal burial place for eternity. The cartouche that the German archaeologists sampled was written in red by the Great Pyramid builders in the 17th year of Khufu's reign as was the custom at that time. Workers used to write on the walls of the structures they built in order to assert their belonging to an individual or king. Such cartouches were found in the entrance of Khufu's solar boat pit. Abdel-Maksoud pointed out the discovery of the tomb of Khufu's mother, Queen Hetep Heres, to the east of the Great Pyramid by archaeologist George Raisner as another reason confirming that the Great Pyramid belonged to Khufu. According to the ancient Egyptian religious rituals the pyramid cannot be built alone because it is not a sole object but an inter-connected structural complex including the pyramid itself, the funerary temple, the side pyramid, solar boat pits, the ramp and the valley temple. Greek historian Herodotus, who visited Egypt during the fifth century BC, wrote in his diary that the ramp of King Khufu's Pyramid took 20 years of construction and its walls were painted with scenes from Khufu's era. The original blocks, many of which bore the king's name, were reused in the construction of the Pyramids during the Middle Kingdom in the Lesht and Dahshur areas. Abdel-Maksoud asserted that scientific evidence shows that the pyramid builders' necropolis was found at the eastern rock of the Giza Plateau in 1990, and that each tomb contains details of its owner and his job description, as well as his or her skeleton and funerary collection. “The most important archaeological evidence that Khufu is the king that built the Great Pyramid is the discovery made in 2012 by French archaeologist Pierre Tallet in a rock cave at Wadi Al-Jarf, two kilometres south of Zaafarana, on the Red Sea,” Abdel-Maksoud concluded. He added that Tallet found a collection of papyri dating to the reign of King Khufu mentioning the number of workers, artisans and boats that were used to transport the Pyramid's blocks to the Giza Plateau. According to studies carried out by the French mission, these papyri were part of the diary of an engineer who was involved in the construction of the Great Pyramid. The papyri also show the engineer's working plan and a description of the way the ancient Egyptians transported the blocks. Abdel-Maksoud added that German archaeologist Rudolf Cooper also uncovered graffiti in the Western Desert at the Dakhla oasis revealing that Khufu and his son Djedef Re sent missions to import colours and oxides for decorating the Pyramid's inner walls.
