Magic Friday: Egypt closes Great Pyramid of Giza following rumours of 11/11/11 rituals
Source: ca.news.yahoo.com
Egypt’s antiquities authority closed the largest of the Giza pyramids Friday following rumours that groups would try to hold spiritual ceremonies on the site at 11:11 A.M. on Nov. 11, 2011.
The authority’s head Mustafa Amin said in a statement Friday that the pyramid of Khufu, also known as Cheops, would be closed to visitors until Saturday morning for "necessary maintenance."
The closure follows a string of unconfirmed reports in local media that unidentified groups would try to hold "Jewish" or "Masonic" rites on the site to take advantage of mysterious powers coming from the pyramid on the rare date.
Amin called all reports of planned ceremonies at the site "completely lacking in truth."
The complex’s director, Ali al-Asfar, said Friday that an Egyptian company requested permission last month to hold an event called "hug the pyramid," in which 120 people would join hands around the ancient burial structure.
The authority declined the request a week ago, al-Asfar said, but that did not stop concerned Egyptians from starting internet campaigns to prevent the event from taking place.
"It has been a big cause now on Facebook and Twitter for many people to write about," al-Asfar said.
The closure was unrelated to the rumours, he said, adding that the pyramid needed maintenance after the large number of visitors during the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday last week.
The rest of the complex, which includes two other large pyramids, numerous tombs and the Sphinx, remained open Friday, though security appeared to be heavier than usual.
Dozens of police officers and soldiers were posted throughout the complex. Some patrolled on camel-back. One soldier stood next to his machine-gun near a souvenir shop selling miniature pyramids.
Speaking by phone from the pyramids after 11:11 had passed, al-Asfar said he’d seen nothing out of the ordinary.
"Everything is normal," he said. "The only thing different is the closure of the Khufu pyramid."
Khufu is credited with building the Giza complex’s largest pyramid, now one of Egypt’s main tourist attractions. Khufu founded the 4th Dynasty around 2680 B.C. and ruled Egypt for 23 years.
Article from: ca.news.yahoo.com
Egypt closes Pyramids over 11-11-11 ’Ceremony of Love’
From: JPost.com
Supreme Council of Antiquities succumbs to pressure over rumors that Jewish Masons were on their way to Cairo to claim pyramids as their own.
Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) closed the Great Pyramids on Friday after protesters said various groups, among them Jews, planned to attend a numerologist ceremony on the Giza Plateau.
Egyptian media reported that some Egyptians feared that the event would be used by Jewish Masons to reclaim the Pyramids as ancient Hebrew structures, denying Egyptians their claim to the pharaonic monuments.
One SCA employee claimed that a crew of 1,200 Jews were planning to attend the event, crowning the mightiest of the three structures with a Star of David in order to assert the claim that Jewish slaves built the pyramids, and not the ancient Egyptians, Egyptian daily Al Ahram reported.
Egyptologists have never proven whether or not Jewish slaves took part in the construction of the monuments, or even settled in Egypt in the time when Old Kingdom pharaohs commissioned their massive mausoleums.
Former SCA Secretary General Abdel Halim Noureddin told Al Ahram Jewish Masons have been trying to cap the Great Pyramid since 1931 with the Jewish emblem, so this instance should not be surprising.
According to a report from British daily the Telegraph, a Polish numerologist group had, in fact, received permission from the Egyptian government to hold a ceremony at the pyramids in order to protect the world from "cosmic forces" aimed at destroying Earth next year.
The resulting commotion surrounding the event, including the attendance of Jewish Masons, pushed the SCA to cancel the event, called the "Ceremony of Love."
Andrzej Wojcikiewicz, director of the Warsaw-based group Dar Swiatowida, described the ceremony, saying two pyramidal crystals would be placed inside the Great Pyramids at Giza in order to bolster their protective powers. The day chosen, 11-11-11, or November 11, 2011, was important because of its numerological significance.
It also happens that next year, on December 12, 2012 (12-12-12) some eschatologists believe the world will come to an epic end, citing a 5,125-year cycle in the ancient Mayan calendar (the Mayans also built pyramids).
Dar Swiatowida’s events website, called Projekt [sic] Cheops, had this statement vis-a-vis the 11-11-11 event:
"The Ceremony planed for November 11, 2011 at Gizah [sic] Plateau is canceled due to security concerns. All three Pyramids will be closed during that day in spite of the fact that about 2000 tourists from all over the world wanted to participate at the evening event."
Article from: jpost.com
Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities succumbed to pressure after protest groups behind the revolution that overthrew Hosni Mubarak in February demanded that the Pyramids be sealed off for the whole of "Magic Friday".
The council faced a backlash after it reportedly gave permission to a Polish numerologist group that wanted to hold a ceremony to protect the world from "cosmic forces" intent on destroying the planet next year.
The group, calling itself Dar Swiatowida, called on people to attend a "Ceremony of Love" at the Great Pyramid during which "two interpenetrated pyramid-shaped crystals" were to be placed inside the structure to imbue it with additional powers.
Numerologists believe that numbers have mystical properties, making November 11, 2011 -- 11/11/11 -- one of the most potent days in the planet’s history.
The Polish group said the crystals, sourced from an Indian mountain, would harness the energy of all sacred sites around the world to create a shield between the planet and cosmic forces. Dar Swiatowida shares the belief of some eschatologists that the world will come to an end on December 12, 2012 -- 12/12/12 -- a day that marks the end of a 5,125-year cycle in the ancient Mayan calendar.
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