when i was at the temple 4 days ago, inside the hallway leading up to the main room right next to it, i noticed arabic writing in white chalk on the wall. it says "2008 the vagina" in arabic. i told the curator and he was shocked and saddened.

[edit on 5-1-2009 by DuneKnight]

Truly sad.

Here in America, we have to carefully monitor our monuments for the same sort of stuff. I talked to National Park rangers who caught people painting graffiti on monuments... the culprits' reason was "so we could say we were here."

Ugh.

reply to post by Byrd

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"Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints."

Yet by the same token, archaeologists seem to go one about the graffiti they discover. It'd be funny to be around or see archaeologists in the future dig up or clean of a building and find the graffiti.

I've never understood this type of graffiti, or tagging. Tagging is all over the city I live, and every time I pass by one I cannot understand the reason a person would write their 'handle' on a wall that will be passed by complete strangers who will never know who the tagger is. 'Mike was here'... who cares!?

Graffiti on archeological sites is even more baffling... why do it?

reply to post by DuneKnight

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That is very sad, vandals have no shame.

Rune Spider-
I really don't think that archaeologists 2000 years from now will want to read about the 2008 vagina. BUT, there is some graffiti that is a real work of art. I'm not talking about gang graffiti or the 2008 vagina, but really cool ones like this one from Amsterdam. That is cool Graffiti.

reply to post by ShAuNmAn-X

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Probably not... but I read a book several years ago that was based off of "(Forgot the name) is an idiot." It was on a ancient greece temple i believe, from the time period. Heck, several of the bathhouses show the same wit you see on today's restrooms.

And I meant that more in a general sense. A lot of stuff that goes on commonly doesn't end up in stone or writing, graffiti is something that gets left by people, even if it's delinquents, that stands out from what you expect to find.... even if it just shows a bit of human stupidity.

there are people who think awareness and respect are evolutionary disadvantages

How to stop no brain?

At least it was chalk, not paint right? Or damn permanent marker.







Tourist numbers declining due to credit cardiac might give some places a break for a while.

lol,

Found in Greek Bathhouse- "Here I sit Broken Hearted... " That is cool. I didn't know that. You get a star for teaching me something new today. I wonder what they used instead of phone numbers? "For a good time send a carrier pigeon to..."

Still I disagree with defacing a historic treasure.

reply to post by The_Modulus

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Does it matter if nobody will know them? It's expression of self.

What is a hobby of yours? Do you expect everyone to know your name when they see it? If not, then why are you still involved in that hobby?

Heh, see how I flipped that around.

Have a nice day

I have many hobbies. None of them involve a pathetic need to deface property that does not belong to me.

Yeah well the archeologists typically only show the "clean" graffiti. Most of it was NOT at all clean, and the ancient Romans and Greeks could be quite crude especially when criticizing other people.

Sheesh even ancient stone age cave drawings, they SHOW the PUBLIC the pictures of hunters and spears and game animals, when in reality I have read the MAJORITY of the drawings were more along the lines of crudely drawn female figures with very large breasts and genitalia. They came to the conclusion that much of it was drawn by adolescent stone age males.

reply to post by DuneKnight

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Your revelation saddens me. Egypt is one of two places on this planet that I have an intense desire to visit, and that I know I'll never see. (the other place is Antarctica). I have had an intense pull to go to Egypt since I was a very young child.

OFF TOPIC - I tried my hand at some Egyptian cooking when I was younger. If you have any links to Egyptian food cooking sites - in English - I'd love to see them.

It's the closest I'll ever get to going there. Thanks.

The graffiti was in chalk, and they are "saddened" by it?

OMFG. 25 seconds with a rag and a glass of water and the "graffiti" is gone.

Not simple.



The sandstone that the temples at Abu Simbel are carved out of is highly porous - like a sponge - and the application of any kind of fluid - the rubbing would leave a dirty mark.

Calcium Carbonate (chalk) is virtually insoluble in water, and any kind of even mildy acidic fluid would be out of the question because it would dissolve deep in to the surface of the sandstone, including any minerals giving the stone its color.

Colored chalk would complicate the restoration even more.

Yes - an expert will have to be called to assess the damage and plan a restoration.




[edit on 8-1-2009 by undermind]

reply to post by sir_chancealot

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Even if it was easy to remove, you'd get ticked off if someone drew graffiti all over your truck, or your house, or your place of worship.

Here is an image that speaks volumes about how much some people care for historical or cultural sites:


(Image courtesy of Neatorama)

[edit on 16-1-2009 by Exuberant1]

Tagging is the result of a need to be noticed by someone who would otherwise not have left a mark on the world. These guys are complete losers who have no other skills and no sense of responsibility.