Perhaps there is no such person with access to information systems who has never heard of the famous pyramids in Giza. Everyone also knows how ancient and amazing they are in design. But what is much less known about these ancient gigantic objects is that they have repeatedly been endangered. Moreover, in a number of cases, it was not about the impact of natural elements or hostilities, but about a pure human factor - the people themselves intended to simply disassemble them.
It would seem that such large-scale objects as the Egyptian pyramids can go down in history either under the pressure of time and natural influences, or because of the conduct of hostilities somewhere nearby. However, humanity could lose the unique historical heritage of the ancient world as early as the 12th century, and with the light hand of one person. We are talking about the initiative of the young Sultan of Egypt Al-Aziz Usman, for whom the preservation of antiquities was not a priority of state policy. Therefore, he came up with the decision to dismantle the necropolis.
The researchers did not find out the real reasons for such an unusual decision, but put forward several versions. For example, there is an opinion that the Sultan was trying to find the treasures supposedly buried under the pyramid of Menkaure - it was assumed that they were only inside the construction of the chambers, but also under its foundation. Another version says that the probable reason for the decision to dismantle the pyramids was the further use of stone for the construction of a new city wall. This explanation is considered the most plausible, because such a practice is indeed existed: a number of other Egyptian rulers were involved in the demolition of smaller pyramids from a similar purpose.
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The Sultan, perhaps, decided to do the same, and therefore ordered his subjects to proceed with the demolition of the Menkaure pyramid. But he didn’t succeed: it turned out that, contrary to the popular expression, it is as difficult to break down such huge structures, erected for centuries, as difficult as to build. Even modern equipment is not so easy to cope with this, and more than eight centuries ago, it, of course, did not exist. Therefore, the workers were able to loosen some huge blocks, which eventually fell into the sand, and that was it. The only reminder of that attempt by Sultan Al-Aziz is the opening in the pyramid, which still exists today.
However, there was at least one more attempt to dismantle the pyramids, and this happened much later, in XIX century, under the reign of Muhammad Ali Pasha, who is considered the founder of modern Egypt. It was he who owns the not-new idea of dismantling the pyramids in order to use the stone from there to build a dam across the Nile River. Besides. he saw in such a decision a certain symbolism in destroying the old in order to create a new one. However, this attempt failed: the engineers managed to convince the politician that it is much more profitable and easier to get a stone. for a dam in a more traditional way - in an ordinary quarry, so the pyramids in Giza managed to survive to our days.
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Source: https://novate.ru/blogs/180422/62744/