Speaking of sea shells

There is an article on the Discovery channel website about sea shells embedded in the stones of the Sphinx, pyramids and other monuments in Egypt

I mentioned this in one of my recent posts when we were scrambling around the Sphinx.

There is an hypothesis that the stones that built the pyramids (among other large monuments) were cast in place like cement. It is not a highly regarded hypothesis.

Zahi Hawass (Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities) vehemently denies the possibility that the blocks were cast. He views it as an insult to ancient Egyptian in that it insinuates that they were incapable of building the pyramids by moving the blocks. I don’t necessarily share that opinion. It would seem to give the ancient Egyptians some great credit for figuring out cement all those years ago. [shrug]

And if Zahi Hawass is unhappy with you, you will never get another permit to dig or explore in Egypt while he draws breath.

And if Zahi Hawass were to say something like “write an article that refutes this nonsense about cement casting the stones of the Pyramids” to another archaeologist or geologist, it happens.

[I recently attended a lecture at the SCA that was “requested” by Zahi Hawass to “clarify” some statements made on a BBC documentary about the town of Armana. Someone had dared to say that the people that built the city of Armana worked hard and suffered hardships. Preposterous! All Egyptians have always been healthy and happy and whistled while they worked. This misinformation had to be stopped!]

This article seems at least partially aimed at refuting the casting hypothesis. Perhaps by request?