Workmen labored for months in the pyramid of Mycerinus, cleaning graffiti off walls, reinforcing the walls and installing new ventilation and lighting systems. Gaballah Ali Gaballah, head of Egypt's Supreme Council for Antiquities, said the efforts were part of an overall refurbishing of the plateau. A guard walks through the entrance of the tomb of Yunmin. The new openings, Gaballah said, were not a ploy to lure tourists back to Egypt, which saw its lucrative position as a top tourist draw shattered late last year by terrorist attacks. But if something good comes out of it for tourism, we're not going to say no.
Workers prepare to hoist a skip from the floor of the new extension to Cairo's subway.
The tunnel in the background goes under the Nile and is the first such construction under Africa's longest river. In September, ten people were killed in an attack in front of the Cairo Museum. Tourism plummeted after the attacks, but Egyptian officials said the numbers are beginning a slow rise. The sites are protected. Related sites will open in a new browser window.