Page 53 - آثار مصر الفرعونية الجزء الأول

century, there was little or no religious reverence afforded the
structure, so casing stones and other building material from the
complex were reused for new building projects in the area of
Cairo. This process was not exclusive to Khufu's pyramid and in
fact, the reuse of material from older structures was not even
uncommon during the age of the pharaohs. However, even this
did not happen to the Great Pyramids until, in the Middle Ages, a
series of earthquakes loosened the casing stones and allowed
them to be harvested for other projects.

Most people with a limited knowledge of Egypt believe that
the Great Pyramids of Giza lie out in the desert, and are therefore
rather surprised when, traveling down Pyramid road to the east,
they see them rise up, seemingly among the distant buildings.
They in fact sit on the city limits of Greater Cairo, and are
threatened by man's expansion, though scholars are very aware of
this today, and work to prevent damage to the structure.

For awhile, mankind treated the Great Pyramid with more
curiosity than reverence. It was tunneled through, climbed, and
generally abused, right up to our modern era. In her book, The
Mena House Oberoi, Nina Nelson tells us that, "Climbing
Cheop's Great Pyramid continues all and every day. ... It is a
labourious task yet everyone who does it enjoys it. The blocks of
stone measure from two to five feet high and certainly one should
have a guide to help pull one along the difficult places."

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