Black Genesis: The Prehistoric Origins of Ancient Egypt
Black Genesis: The Prehistoric Origins of Ancient Egypt
Black Genesis: The Prehistoric Origins of Ancient Egypt
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Figure A2. Rubbish dumps in the central area <strong>of</strong> Nabta Playa, 2008.<br />
Figure A3. Top: Calendar Circle, November 2007. Bottom: Calendar Circle, April 2008. <strong>The</strong> arrangement has been<br />
altered yet again and has been partially reconstructed.<br />
Bauval decided to return to Nabta Playa on May 8, 2008, to assess the situation. He was thus able to confirm that<br />
the Calendar Circle had, indeed, been much tampered with and that there were signs <strong>of</strong> other disruption on the site. A<br />
prehistoric stone sundial that he had photographed in November 2007 was badly ravaged. In addition there were heavy<br />
vehicle tracks around the megaliths and several open rubbish dumps near the sand dunes. Elsewhere a prehistoric grinding<br />
block was missing and another was broken in two. Bauval decided to go to the Nubian Museum at Aswan the next day to<br />
ask the director what had happened at Nabta Playa between November 2007 and April 2008. In the afternoon <strong>of</strong> May 9,<br />
2008, Bauval met Deputy Director Dr. Ragheb <strong>of</strong> the Nubian Museum. He informed Bauval that, upon instructions from<br />
Dr. Schild, three large megaliths from Nabta Playa had been brought to the Nubian Museum in February 2008. Dr.<br />
Ragheb showed Bauval the three megaliths, which were in the yard <strong>of</strong> the museum. Dr. Ragheb also showed Bauval a<br />
large megalith known as the cow stone, which had been brought from Nabta Playa several years before. This cow stone,<br />
which had been buried several meters beneath CSA, had unfortunately been damaged (broken into two parts). When<br />
Bauval inquired about the Calendar Circle, Dr. Ragheb insisted that the stones had not been removed and were still in<br />
their original position on site. Dr. Ragheb knew nothing <strong>of</strong> the rubbish dumps.<br />
Soon after, Bauval contacted Romuald Schild. In a series <strong>of</strong> e-mails received from Dr. Schild between May 15 and<br />
June 12, 2008, Bauval was informed that the CPE had been aware that unauthorized visits to Nabta Playa by tourists had<br />
taken place over the years. According to Schild, an estimated one thousand unauthorized tourists had come to Nabta<br />
Playa in the past decade, and there was evidence that they had tampered with the Calendar Circle several times and had<br />
even made a reconstruction and built a New Age stone circle around an upright prehistoric marker near C-group house.<br />
Schild added that the original Calendar Circle was removed from its place in February 2008 to be reconstructed in the<br />
Nubian Museum. In its place the CPE had added a modern reconstruction <strong>of</strong> this monument. Apart from this, Schild<br />
stated that he did not know <strong>of</strong> any very recent, serious damages except for some bulldozer work around the stele that<br />
were removed in February to be re-erected at the Nubian Museum in Aswan. As to why Dr. Ragheb denied that the