Once again, we are faced with the dilemma of who the real creators of the pyramids of Giza are. Recently, doubts have been raised, questioning whether the ancient Egyptians built the pyramids.
Two German amateur archaeologists, Dominique Goerlitz and Stefan Erdmann, vandalized the Great Pyramid of Giza and stole several items in April 2013. The items include samples of King Khufu’s cartouche (identifying inscription) from a small compartment above his burial chamber in the Great Pyramid of Giza. Goerlitz and Erdmann stole these items in an attempt to prove their theory that the pyramids were built by people from the legendary city of Atlantis rather than by the ancient Egyptians.
Egypt’s ministry of antiquities imposed penalties on Goerlitz and Erdmann as well as six Egyptians, including guards and inspectors from the Egyptian Antiquities Ministry for allowing the archaeologists into the Pyramid, according to the Egyptian news site Ahram Online.
Only authorized archaeologists and Egyptologists are legally allowed into such compartments. Goerlitz and Erdmann are not even archaeologists; rather, they describe themselves as “hobbyists” and were not supposed to be allowed into the pyramids. Not only have Goerlitz and Erdmann stolen artifacts and historic items, but they even flaunted their disgraceful acts by posting photographs and videos of them vandalizing the archaeological sites, according to Fox News.
What makes matters worse is that the motive behind their trip was to prove their ridiculous conspiracy theory. Goerlitz and Erdmann think that king Khufu’s cartouche that identifies him as the creator of the Great Pyramid of Giza is fake and that the cartouche was only made for king Khufu to take credit for the pyramids that were already built thousands of years before by the people of the legendary city of Atlantis. Consequently, they were trying to test the pigments on the cartouche to prove that the cartouche is not as old as the pyramids themselves, according to Fox News.
Honestly, I can’t decide which is more ridiculous: Goerlitz and Erdmann’s theory or the theory that the pyramids were built by aliens (proposed by ancient alien theorists). There are countless fallacies in Goerlitz and Erdmann’s theory, the most important one is that the city of Atlantis never existed. Atlantis was first discussed by Plato in dialogues in fictional stories and fables, according to Fox News. Few, if any, scientists think Atlantis actually existed, according to National Geographic.
In his book Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries: Science and Pseudoscience in Archaeology, Ken Feder, an archaeologist and professor of anthropology at Central Connecticut State University, proved that the ancient Egyptians did build the pyramids. He also mentioned that the pyramids include incised dates and phrases such as, “We did this with pride in the name of our great King Khnum-Khuf” (another name for king Khufu), proving that the Great Pyramid does belong to King Khufu.
As an Egyptian, reading about Goerlitz and Erdmann’s vandalism infuriated me not only because their theory is absolutely ridiculous but because they had no right to use these historic items or even enter the pyramids. Regardless of how ludicrous their theory is, nothing is wrong with trying to test it or prove it. 
However, vandalizing and stealing such historic artifacts from the oldest and only wonder that is still standing among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World is not the way to do it. What infuriated me more was the fact that Egyptian people allowed Goerlitz and Erdmann to enter the pyramids and vandalize them. As long as we, Egyptians, don’t respect our own history and legacy, no one else will respect them.
Nagham Kheder, a freshman government and world affairs major who is also Egyptian, said, “I think the Egyptians that aided the archaeologists should be punished severely for betraying their responsibilities to protect the artifacts. The archaeologists also had no right to access restricted artifacts. This should be portrayed as a warning to other archaeologists and Egyptologist to respect the artifacts that are kept within Egypt.”
This is not even the first time an incident like this has occurred. Tour-agency owners, including one of the men recently arrested in connection with this case, are often willing to bend or break the rules if it means satisfying foreigners, according to Fox News.
For example, according to CNN, in March 2013, Russian photographer Vadim Makhorov and a group of his friends decided to climb the great pyramid of Giza despite the rules and regulations prohibiting it. They took photos from the top of the pyramid. However, they later apologized for their actions: “We didn’t want to insult anyone. We were just following the dream,” said Vadim Makhorov in an email to CNN.
Such actions show nothing but disrespect to the ancient Egyptian civilization, and they must come to an end. More rules should be enforced to ensure that similar incidents do not occur again. For example, such artifacts should have security systems like those of museums such as burglar alarms and laser security systems.
Moreover, we need to finally rest our case that no matter how many different conspiracy theories people come up with, the ancient Egyptians are the real and only creators of the pyramids of Giza.
Rawan Elzayat can be reached at rawan.elzayat@spartans.ut.edu