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Andreas Hvid and friend allegedly climbed to the top of the Great Pyramid at Giza

Pyramid Pornographer and his Partner Cause ‘Public Outrage’ and Ridicule Egypt’s Cultural Controls

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Egyptian authorities are investigating an ‘explicit video’ that appears to have been filmed at the very top of the Great Pyramid of Giza, which for over 3,800 years was the tallest man-made structure in the world.

With a current height of 455.4 ft, (138.8 meters) the flat platform at the summit of the Great Pyramid has been used as a high altitude set for a short film that has caused so much public outrage that state news agency Ahram Online said on Friday, “Egypt’s Minister of Antiquities, Khaled al-Anani, has asked the Attorney-General to investigate the case.” The perpetrator, accused as being a pornographer, is Mr. Andreas Hvid, a Danish photographer who filmed what an article in News.Com.AU is calling “a porn video”, at the top of this world renowned ancient structure.

Is the Video Porn? Depends on Your Perspective

Of course, it’s all about perspective, but the film is not what most people would call “porn,” not even “soft core porn.” No plumbers call round and not a single pool cleaner can be seen; nor does he a have handlebar mustache or a mullet. On the contrary, the three-minute film shows a man and woman climbing the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, with the iconic Cairo skyline in the background. When the couple reach the top, she “takes off her shirt” and just before the film ends a still image pops up of the naked couple clearly having sex.

Andreas Hvid and friend allegedly on climbing the Great Pyramid at Giza (Youtube Screenshot)

Andreas Hvid and friend allegedly on climbing the Great Pyramid at Giza (Youtube Screenshot)

If you watch the video on YouTube, which according to CNN was uploaded on Wednesday by Mr. Hvid, when you reach the end you might sit back and ask yourself “what did I just see there?” The photograph of the couple fornicating has had the X-rated details blurred out which makes the image and the video exceptionally obscure. It is just downright weird.

The Pyramidal Pornographer’s Defense

According to an article in  Newser, “Mr Hvid’s social media pages showcase a number of nude photos taken overlooking cities and landscapes across the globe.” When he was questioned by reporters, he said:

“In late November 2018, a ‘friend’ and I climbed the Great Pyramid of Giza… Fearing to be spotted by the many guards, I did not film the several hours of sneaking around at the Giza Plateau, which lead up to the climb.”

Taking nothing of what Mr. Hvid has to say seriously, in a statement the minister Khaled al-Anani said that if the film is proven to be real, and not a faked video, the incident “violates public morality” and the Director General of the Pyramids Plateau Ahsraf Mohee told CNN that the “pyramids are the most important historical landmarks in the world” and this is causing great public disruption. Understandably.

According to NBC News officials are trying to determine whether Hvid actually climbed the Great Pyramid or if he set up the shoot as an attention seeking stunt. Archaeologist Zahi Hawass, former Egyptian Minister of Antiquities and director of the Giza Plateau told NBC News, “One hundred percent it is [the film] photoshopped.” He added, “There is no way any one can enter the Pyramids area at night... Those are not the stones of the big Pyramid. They’re too small.”

A Gawker article tells of a group of Russian tourists who made it to the top in 2013 and another article in Gizmodo describes a 2016 attempt when German teenager Andrej Ciesielski managed to get to the top. He claimed in a ‘clean’ video that “the ascent took about eight minutes” and told reporters that the “police did not notice he was on the structure until he had already completed part of the climb and was released after questioning.”

View of the climb up the Great Pyramid at Giza (Maksym Gorpenyuk / Adobe Stock)

Any Activity is Considered Disrespectful

Porn, no matter how disrespectful it might be deemed, is not the primary problem. The couple who filmed themselves ‘screwing around’ on the Great Pyramid might have been hitting golf balls or practicing Kung Fu. The issue is not so much ‘what’ they were doing, but the fact that ‘they were there’, on the Great Pyramid in the first place, that is the underlying pain beneath the problem. The site has suffered from neglect since the nation’s 2011 political revolution and this neglect of the law makes a total mockery of the heightened security and it provokes others to ‘give it a go’.

Top image: Andreas Hvid and friend allegedly climbed to the top of the Great Pyramid at Giza  Source: Youtube Screenshot

By Ashley Cowie

 

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He took her right up the Osiris shaft.

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Ashley

Ashley is a Scottish historian, author, and documentary filmmaker presenting original perspectives on historical problems in accessible and exciting ways.

He was raised in Wick, a small fishing village in the county of Caithness on the north east coast of... Read More

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