Egypt: Ancient Treasures Plundered
A young boy runs along a small hill in the desert near the black pyramid of Amenemhat III in Dahshour, Egypt.
Egyptian archeologist Monica Hanna, 29, talks with Said Hussein, 32, one of the local custodians who looks after the more than 4500 year-old necropolis of Dahshour, about tomb-robbers who have been illegally excavating in the area looking for ancient treasures. “Do they find anything,” Hanna asks Hussein. “They only find pottery, stuff like this, a wooden coffin, that’s what they take,” he answers.
A custodians who looks after necropolis of Dahshour stands onto of a sand dune overlooking what is now called the Bent Pyramid, due to its unusual shape. The Bent Pyramid was the second pyramid built by Pharaoh Snefru and is unique amongst the approximately ninety pyramids to be found in Egypt, in that its original polished limestone outer casing remains largely intact.
A man stands behind the white-stone wall of a cemetery that is being built on the necropolis of Dahshour. “Some people build in the cemetery not for a tomb, but to excavate for antiquities,” Dr. Mohamed Amin, 47, a local historian warns. It is feared that the looting and encroachment of this area, endangers the largely unexplored Dahshour complex, an area that symbolizes the evolutionary path of the ancient pharaohs’ pyramid building. It is here that Pharaoh Snefru experimented with pyramid building, completing first what is now called the Bent Pyramid, due to its unusual shape. Snefru’s first smooth-sided Red Pyramid is close by, its name reflected in the red-color tones of the pyramid’s limestone. Snefru is the father of Khufu, better known as Cheops, who built the Great Pyramid, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, located at the nearby Giza plateau.
A man shows a family tombstone for a man and his sons, which was placed on one of the newly constructed tombs of a cemetery which is expanding into the more than 4500 year-old necropolis of Dahshour.
Custodians who look after the necropolis of Dahshour stand near an illegal excavation pit, dug by tomb-robbers looking for ancient treasure near the black pyramid of Amenemhat III. The custodians say that the excavations near the Black Pyramid started a few days after the 2011 revolution and continue to this day. Said Hussein, 32, one of the local custodians, tells that armed “gangs” of up to 30 men come at nightfall to dig in this area, looking for antiquities.
A custodian climbs down the passageway of the Red Pyramid which tourists can enter, though it is visited by significantly less tourists than the Great Pyramids, located at the nearby Giza plateau. The Dahshour area was a closed military zone until 1996, when the military camp was cordoned off from the more than two-mile field of ancient pyramids. Built by Pharaoh Snefru, the Red Pyramid, is the second largest pyramid, and gets its name from the reddish limestone used to build it.
A young boy drives an auto rickshaw, also known as a tuk-tuk, through a Dashour street. Just an hour and a half drive from downtown Cairo, locals here say the revolution has not really touched them, at least in positive ways.
A young boy drives an auto rickshaw, also known as a tuk-tuk, through a Dashour street.
Custodians who look after the necropolis of Dahshour stand near an illegal excavation pit, dug by tomb-robbers looking for ancient treasure near the black pyramid of Amenemhat III.
Two cars sit in the parking area at the Red Pyramid, as few tourists can be found in Dahshour.
A young man rides a bicycle through the lush palms of Dahshour near fields that are farmed along a canal tributary of the Nile river.
Small indentations remain, along the sides of an illegally excavated hole by tomb-robbers, from an "ancient staircase," small indentations that aided ancient Egyptians to climb up and down the walls during construction.
A broken bench sits in front of the Bent Pyramid, a site that is not frequented by many tourists. The area around the pyramids of Dahshour was a closed military zone until 1996, when the military camp was cordoned off from the more than two-mile field of ancient pyramids.
Walid Ali, a custodian who looks after the necropolis of Dahshour, says “It’s like a jungle here at night,” speaking about the nightly tomb-robbing. “The robbers they attacked the custodians with weapons. The custodians don’t have any weapons and the robbers hit them with the back of their guns,” says Said Hussein, another custodian. The police don’t stop the looting either, the custodians say. “They come here in big groups with machine guns, and the policeman he only has nine bullets. What can he do,” asks Hussein.
The Bent Pyramid is reflected in the calm waters of an ancient lake which was once King Farouk’s favorite hunting grounds. The spectacular vista has remained relatively unchanged since pharaonic times. "It is rare to see such a cultural artifact in it's natural habitat, the Dahshour pyramids in their natural wetlands," says Noor Noor, Executive Coordinator of Nature Conservation Egypt.
A tank rolls though the desert just beneath the Red Pyramid's entrance. The Dahshour area was a closed military zone until 1996, when the military camp was cordoned off from the more than two-mile field of ancient pyramids.
Abdel Kareem El-Semainy, a local high-school English teacher, is concerned about the cemetery building and the excavation pits near the Black Pyramid but explains why the locals are expanding the cemetery on the necropolis of Dahshour. “This cemetery is free. If you want to build another cemetery you have to buy the land,” says El-Semainy. “Other villagers come here to build their tombs because it is free here,” he adds.
Dr. Mohamed Amin, a local historian, stands with his children near his humble home in the village of Manshiet Dahshour. “Some people build in the cemetery not for a tomb, but to excavate for antiquities,” Amin, 47, warns, speaking about the expansions of the cemetery on the more than 4500 year-old necropolis of Dahshour. He describes the looters as being very poor and lacking education. “A lot of these men, they don’t find anything. But mummies, they destroy them and they destroy the coffins too,” Amin says. “In this village, some have a belief that the ancient Egyptians are infidels,” he continues, shaking his head.
Young boys play with discarded tires on a dusty-dirt road in Dahshour.
The 4,000 year-old Black Pyramid of Amenemhat III stands above mounds of dirt that sit from the illegal excavation of tomb-robbers who dig in the area, searching for antiquities. “Here they will find many things, probably little vases, statues. It is worth quite a lot of money, if it is not lucrative they wouldn’t do this,” Egyptian archeologist Monica Hanna explains. Mummies too could be found here, she says, with a big sigh.
The more than 4500 year-old necropolis of Dahshour is under threat from criminals and villagers who are expanding a local cemetery, whose outline almost reaches to one of Egypt’s first pyramids and one of its oldest mortuary temples. The illegal grave-robbing, looting, and encroachment of this area, endangers the largely unexplored Dahshour complex, an area that symbolizes the evolutionary path of the ancient pharaohs’ pyramid building. “We are losing Egyptian history here, the history for the whole world,” says Egyptian archeologist Monica Hanna, 29, as she walked around peering into the numerous, “massive looting pits."
Read Betsy Hiel's reporting from Dahshour and to see a video check out the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
Read Betsy Hiel's reporting from Dahshour and to see a video check out the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.