Pyramid restorationIn 1984, restorers stopped using mortar and adopted the original system of interlocking blocks practiced by the ancient Egyptian pyramid builders. An international panel overseeing the restoration of the Great Pyramids in Egypt abandoned modern construction techniques which were found to be destructive when water in modern cement caused adjacent limestone stones to split. Located at Giza outside Cairo, some of the oldest manmade structures on earth were showing severe signs of decay by the early 1980s. Successful repair work began on the 4,600-year-old Sphinx in 1981, but restoration of the pyramids had been frustrated by the problems of modern cement. Upon returning to the ancient methods, the project ran smoothly. |
