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The Egyptian government has blamed a recent maintenance mishap on a private contractor that may have impacted the Great Pyramid of Giza, amid a nationwide uproar.Ìý Ìý Ìý

A apparently taken by tourists using hammers, chisels, and other similar tools to break down parts of the rocks of the over 4,600-year-oldÌýhas gone viral over the past few days, prompting activists, public figures and intellectuals to demand official accountability.Ìý

Shortly after the clip went viral, senior officials at the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities were quick to justify the incident. Local news outlets quoted them as stressing no damage had been inflicted on the ancient monument, considered the last of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World left standing.ÌýÌý

"We urge citizens to refrain from spreading rumours. What appeared in the video was not an act of demolition, but a removal of almost two-decade-old construction materials, which have no archaeological value, to extend power to the Pyramids," the ministry's statement said on Sunday.

"The operation has been carried out by a private sector company in the absence of a specialised antiquities inspector or a restoration specialist," said Ayman Ashmawi, head of the Ancient Egyptian Antiquities Sector at the Supreme Council of Antiquities

Ashmawi further told Egyptian Al-Hayat TV Network that such maintenance operations should have been scheduled after tourists' visiting hours. ÌýÌý

"The scene of breaking the rocks of the Great Pyramid to make a power extension was absolute insanity. The apology of the head of authority was even more insane when he said, 'We were putting cement'… on the pyramids decades years ago. What is happening in Egypt is quite scary," self-exiled journalist Gamal Sultan X, formerly known as Twitter.

The incident prompted MP Amira Abu Shoka to file an urgent motion before the parliament speaker, demanding an explanation from the antiquities minister.

In a statement, Abu Shoka criticised the incident for "ruining Egypt's tourism reputation and the country's image… [and] "fuelling rumours about damaging the Great Pyramid of Khufu."

Tourism is one of Egypt's primary sources of national income and hard currency. The Ministry of Tourism and AntiquitiesÌý in July that the country attracted over seven million tourists between January and June this year.

The parliamentarian said the lighting system for the Great Pyramid "should not have been installed in such a chaotic manner."

Local news outlets reported that Sherif Minister of Tourism Antiquities has ordered a probe into the incident, and referred the officials involved to the internal investigative department for possible disciplinary measures.ÌýÌý

Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris has resurfaced in comments on social media suggesting his possible involvement. In 2018, Naguib Sawiris' mega-company, Orascom Investment Holding, acquired the development project of the Giza Plateau that houses the pyramids.

However, in a recent post on X, he denied that his company was involved in the maintenance operations in question.ÌýÌý

Until the time of publication, the names of the officials under investigation and the company tasked with the maintenance were not made public by the Egyptian authorities.Ìý

The Giza Pyramids have also made news headlines on several occasions over the past months. Last month, a video of a stray dog spotted on top of the second went viral on social media.

The clip, taken by an AmericanÌý, who flew over the Pyramids of Giza at sunrise, showed the dog after he climbed the country's second-largest pyramid.

Earlier in February, an official committee of experts rejected a restoration project for the Menkaure Pyramid after it had sparked a heated debate.