Updated 15:31 IST, May 22nd 2023

In Egypt, conservationists scramble to keep 'City of Dead' alive as highway project looms

Conservationists in Egypt are putting all hands to deck to protect what is known as the 'City of the Dead', a Unesco World Heritage site.

Reported by: Deeksha Sharma
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Image: Twitter/@Tuberoot, @alyhazzaa | Image: self

Conservationists in Egypt are putting all hands to deck to protect what is known as the 'City of the Dead', a Unesco World Heritage site that stretches seven kilometers and now faces the risk of being razed down by authorities to make way for a highway project. 

Unlike its name, the site is full of life and history. It is home to the living, old artefacts, and mausoleums holding within ancient kings. The relics have been buried alongside Egypt's forgotten populace. But with President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi's vision to modernise the region, the City of the Dead appears to be near its end. 

According to The Telegraph, its roads lead to a network of mausoleums dating back to the seventh century, before ultimately meeting Sisi's 'New Administrative Capital'. In a bid to protect whatever's left of the ruins, several historians and volunteers have come together to stop the historic site's demolition. 

City of the Dead: An endless sea of tombs

One of the most recent items that have borne the brunt of the modernisation drive is an old Kufi Arabic engraved tombstone that was found buried among shattered stonework. "I'm not sure how many monuments like this have been destroyed. Every day we go, we find burials that have been removed," said Mostafa El Sadek, one of the conservationists.

"It is known that there is an older grave under this grave, and when the bulldozer digs, these things appear," said cemetery guard Amin Murad. 

Cemeteries across the region are being surveyed by a committee of the Armed Forces Engineering Authority, which is overseeing the highway project. The initiative does not only threaten bygones, but also the families residing within the mausoleums amid Cairo's worsening housing crisis. 

Published 15:31 IST, May 22nd 2023