CAIRO: Approximately two years ago, American archaeologist Semir Osmanagich and his team made the astounding discovery of a series of pyramids in Bosnia. Last Sunday, speaking at the Supreme Council of Culture, Bosnian-born Osmanagich called on Egyptian archaeologists and geologists to assist in excavating the pyramids and uncovering whether the pyramids are a product of man or nature. "We would invite five or six Egyptian archaeologists and geologists by July or August to come [to Bosnia] and give us a hand, Osmanagich told The Daily Star Egypt. "Bosnia doesn't have a faculty of archaeology. We need more help and guidance, from the Egyptian expertise especially . to get involved in this project. This will be most beneficial to both of us, said Osmanagich who has spent the some 15 years studying the pyramids of Latin America. Osmanagich believes that the Egyptians with their long experience in the excavations of monuments, particularly of the Giza Pyramids, would be best-suited for the job. Likewise, the Egyptians are eager to go and assess Osmanagich s discovery first hand. It is a good opportunity to cooperate with the experts of Bosnia in a new field like archaeology, said Anwar Ibrahim, first Undersecretary of the Ministry of Culture. Carrying a book by Osmanagich on the Bosnian pyramids in hand, he told The Daily Star Egypt that he would ask for permission to translate it into Arabic. "We want the largest number of people to get aware of the Bosnian findings, he added. During the presentation entitled "The Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun , Osmanagich spoke of finding two other pyramids, or triangular-shaped hills, that were captured by satellite photographs and thermal imaging. He named them after the moon and the dragon. Two other similar hills were found later, including what he called "the Pyramid of Love . The first three pyramids alone, according to satellite photos form the shape of a triangle if viewed from high altitudes, he said. He presented some satellite and thermal photos of the pyramids, showing quick heat loss and space inside them. He assumed that this was because of internal passageways and inner chambers, similar to those inside the Great Pyramids of Giza. "Topography doesn't lie, he said, displaying photographs of the tunnels they discovered, some of which were three meters high and 10 km long. Osmanagich was met with harsh criticism from a few Egyptian archaeologists present who questioned why, how, who built the suspected pyramids, that once were nothing but cultivated hills. "We have to begin with the evidence not the hypothesis, said Egyptologist Mohammed Ibrahim, who visited the site last August as part of a team formed by Zahi Hawas, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities. "They could be natural hills glazed with stones. Why haven't we found tombs, temples, bones, or pottery? Where are the quarries they got their stones from? How were they carried on a flat surface up to more than 100 meters high? But geologist Ali Barkat, who visited the spot last year, believes Osmanagich may not be so off the mark. "I found artifacts when I was digging with my own hands, he said. "I found a tool similar to a hammer. I also found on one of the glazed stones I unveiled myself a drawing of an arrow, this was the language used by Bosnians some 1000 years ago, he said. He indicated that he had found a tomb behind one of the pyramids. It contained human bones and organic materials which could have been a preserved organ or liquid food. Barkat said he believed the grave was some 5,000 years old. The project attracted some 250,000 tourists in 2006. Omsanagich expects the number to rise to up to one million in ten years as they are the only pyramids to be discovered in Europe. This would help the limited Bosnian economy, he concluded.
