The great sphinx, carved into the limestone rock around 2500 BC, at the time of the pharaoh Chephren who seems to represent him
Already a destination for tourists and onlookers, the tomb was however a fake
“Sold” as a new “extraordinary tomb” just discovered, ready to attract droves of tourists from all over the world. But it was actually a scam and it was all built up a few months ago. The incredible story of the “small tomb of Beni Suef, one hundred kilometers from Cairo, sprung up in the desert between ancient Heracleopolis and the necropolis of Meidun, it was easy to reach and was visited by everyone for a while”.
A story told by Corriere della Sera, which explains how “the first doubt came from a researcher from one of the three universities in the area: too well preserved, those regal statues; too neat, the walls; too tidy, the site. And all it took was a phone call to the Supreme Council of Antiquities, a quick inspection” to find out that it was all fake.
As told by Corriere della Sera, “in the fake tomb of Beni Suef they have replicated ancient relics, papyrus rolls, gilded ingots, plaster statues, even a sarcophagus which now, examined by a laboratory, turn out to be junk manufactured a year ago. The material was destroyed by the police, the Egyptian judiciary has opened an investigation.Suspects surround a group of traffickers of archaeological works, petty crooks who duped tourists by offering the deal of their life: a few thousand euros in easy installments and we deliver to your hotel a unique Ramses, a very authentic Horus, a vintage Menkaure”.
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