Word: dahshur
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...King," Khufu (also known as Cheops), his more famous son and successor. Because Khufu's Great Pyramid at Giza, on the outskirts of Cairo, is more accessible to tourists, it has become the picture-postcard landmark. Snefru's monuments, by contrast, sat on an army base in Dahshur, 13 miles away. For much of this century, they were concealed behind barbed wire and watch towers, off limits to all but a handful of archaeologists...
...that will change this week, when Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities opens Dahshur's long-hidden monuments to the public, adding a stunning new attraction to the nation's 86 previously accessible pyramids. Eventually, says Zahi Hawass, director of antiquities at Giza, Dahshur could rival Giza as a place of historical interest. "It's time the father became as famous as the son," he maintains. "The father was more important...
...remains of 11 pyramids, some of which were built 700 years after Snefru's reign, and many smaller rectangular mausoleums, known as mastabas. But it is Snefru's spectacular constructions that dominate the horizon. Most Egyptian kings gave themselves only one pyramid; Snefru built five, three of them at Dahshur...
Parts of the Dahshur site were first excavated 101 years ago by French archaeologist Jacques de Morgan, though few visitors ever saw the area. Little was done to build on his work during most of this century, however, and the site fell into neglect. Today Dahshur's pyramids and mastabas are being re-excavated by archaeologists from three countries. "De Morgan's methods were very crude," says Dieter Arnold of New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art. "He was only interested in treasure and the names of kings...
...Israelis demonstrating restraint. Apparently appalled by the death of 80 Egyptian civilians in the earlier bombing of a factory at Abu Zabal (TIME, Feb. 23), Israel collared its pilots. When Israeli jets took to the air, they were restricted to unmistakable military targets, bombing SA-2 missile sites at Dahshur and Helwan in the Cairo perimeter and Egyptian installations along the Suez Canal. President Gamal Abdel Nasser also claimed that he was practicing moderation. When...