A controversy erupted in Egypt after the installation by the authorities of a wooden roof on part of the colonnades of the pharaonic temple of Karnak, in Luxor. For social networks, it is a disfiguration of one of the most iconic monuments in Egypt.
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With our correspondent in Cairo, Alexandre Buccianti
It is by the thousands that Internet users have denounced what some describe as ” lese pharaoh crime “: ” They didn’t even put good wood and reused pallets “, writes a sarcastic Internet user.
Egyptians are angry because ” the forest of columns » is part of the collective cultural imagination. The columns of Karnak became world famous also thanks to the film hell sky, by director Youssef Chahine and who launched Omar Sharifwith a scene that has become legendary in the middle of the monument.
The head of antiquities in Luxor defends himself by indicating that the temple originally had a roof – except that archaeologists believe it was made of stone. The official in question adds that the wood will protect the columns from the sun and the rain; however, the latter did without a roof for 2,000 years.
To end the controversy, the authorities have announced that they will soon replace the wooden roof with plexiglass.