The Pyramids of Giza at the Giza Plateau, Egypt, are one of the most famous sights in the world. It's probably photographed from every possible angle from the ground, but often do you see it from above? Sure, Google Earth might give you an insight into aerial photography, but GeoEye has kindly given Heritage Key amazing satellite imagery at a high resolution, allowing us to see the pyramids as if we were in the space shuttle (or an alien space craft).
It isn't a surprise that in Egypt the - rather sandy at times - winds are a threat to the ancient monuments at the Giza Plateau. Wind influences are important environmental factors that cause deterioration and often irreversible damage to these historical heritage sites.
Submitted by Keith Payne on Thu, 10/15/2009 - 15:10
How do you keep the Great Sphinx’s paws dry? With a lot of work, that’s how! The latest Heritage Key video clip of Dr Zahi Hawass highlights his collaborative effort with Dr Mark Lehner in protecting the Sphinx from the danger of rising ground water, an issue that is threatening Egyptian heritage sites from Nubia to the Giza Plateau. The problem is as large as global warming and as local as sewage and agricultural runoff, but the insidious threat coming from below—the changing of the water tables—requires innovation as recent as cutting-edge mining technology and as ancient as divining water in the desert.
Andrew Collins' book 'Beneath the Pyramids' in which he claims to have (re)discovered the Lost Underworld of the Pharaohs starts with the assumption that the cave complex was last explorered in 1817 by Henry Salt and sadly forgotton or ignored after this; only an obscure reference in Salt's memories references to the 'catacombs', which might even be the mythical Hall of Records. Dr. Zahi Hawass - Secretary General of the SCA - did already issue a statement saying the tomb's location is well known to the SCA (thus the opposite of 'lost') and that there is no underground cave complex at this site. Now more proof - dug up from the archives - that the undecorated rock-cut tomb was never lost is presented by Peter Manuelian, Director of the Giza Archives for Boston's Museum of Fine Arts.
One of the most impressive and startling structures in the world is the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, yet the construction of it remains the subject of much debate and discussion to this very day.
Dr Mark Lehner, an archaeologist at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, and Harvard Semitic Museum, has given an exclusive video interview to Heritage Key in which he explains what he and his team are doing in their latest excavation.
Andrew Collins promised the world that soon he'll unravel Egypt's best kept secret in 'Beneath the Pyramids: Egypt's Greatest Secret Uncovered', but it seems that Dr. Zahi Hawass has beaten Collins to this, stating that the so-called cave-complex is nothing but a rock cut tomb, already thoroughly explored and examined.
Submitted by Keith Payne on Mon, 08/10/2009 - 19:28
More than two thousand Egyptophiliacs lined up outside Clowes Memorial Hall for what Director of Operations Karen Steele informed me was a sold-out house. “Even as funding for the arts is being cut, an event like this sells out in days."
It would not be too much of an exaggeration to say Zahi Hawass's lecture, The Mysteries of King Tut Revealed, had the feel of a rock concert. We were there to see a star. What secrets would he reveal tonight? What announcements would he make?
The Sphinx of Greek myth was a baffling creature. She ambushed unsuspecting travellers, and then ate them when they couldn’t answer her riddles. But the original Sphinx – a colossal statue located at Giza, Egypt – is in many ways more enigmatic, and a riddle in its own right. This Great Sphinx spent most of its history buried up to the neck in sand, giving no clues to the colossal body, and the layers of meaning, lying below.
Tuthmosis IV, the pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty, apparently excavated the Sphinx, as did the Romans. But shifting sands have made modern excavation difficult, and in the 19th century several attempts to uncover it were abandoned. It was only in 1925-1936 that Frenchman Emile Baraize finally exposed its body to modern eyes. Each time the Sphinx was excavated, it needed extensive repairs.
Menkaure's Pyramid is the smallest of the three Pyramids of Giza, located on the Giza Plateau just outside Cairo. It was built some time in the 26th century BC, and served as a tomb for the fourth dynasty Pharaoh Menkaure. It is much smaller than its neighbours in the Giza necropolis; this may be because by the time of its construction the ancient Egyptians placed more emphasis on temples than the actual pyramids.
At 61m tall (with a former height of 65m) and with a base of 106m, the pyramid is made mainly from limestone. Yet its first 16 courses are built from granite; possibly because the craftsman wished to set the building apart from its neighbours. The granite appears to end suddenly, suggesting maybe that it ran out, or that the Pharaoh's death interrupted proceedings. Menkaure's son Shepseskaf completed much of the complex, including the adjacent Valley Temple and the causeway leading to the Mortuary Temple; it has even been speculated that the building continued after Shepseskaf's death, into the stelae of Merenre I and Pepi I.
It isn't a surprise that in Egypt the - rather sandy at times - winds are a threat to the ancient monuments at the Giza Plateau. Wind influences are important environmental factors that cause deterioration and often irreversible damage to these historical heritage sites.
Andrew Collins' book 'Beneath the Pyramids' in which he claims to have (re)discovered the Lost Underworld of the Pharaohs starts with the assumption that the cave complex was last explorered in 1817 by Henry Salt and sadly forgotton or ignored after this; only an obscure reference in Salt's memories references to the 'catacombs', which might even be the mythical Hall of Records. Dr. Zahi Hawass - Secretary General of the SCA - did already issue a statement saying the tomb's location is well known to the SCA (thus the opposite of 'lost') and that 
Andrew Collins promised the world that soon he'll unravel Egypt's best kept secret in 'Beneath the Pyramids: Egypt's Greatest Secret Uncovered', but it seems that Dr. Zahi Hawass has beaten Collins to this, stating that the so-called cave-complex is nothing but a rock cut tomb, already thoroughly explored and examined.
