Subj: Egypt cancels plans to cap a pyramid in gold for millennium
Date: 12/16/99 10:37:22 AM Pacific Standard Time
From: hblondel@tampabay.rr.com (New Millennium)

12/16/99 -- 1:08 PM

Egypt cancels plans to cap a pyramid in gold for millennium

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - In an apparent nod to public opinion, the government
on Thursday canceled its plan to cap the Great Pyramid in gold for the
millennium celebrations.

Egypt had planned to usher in the New Year by affixing a gold-encased
capstone on the Great Pyramid, built as a tomb for King Cheops about
4,500 years ago.

The 30-foot high cap was to be lowered by helicopter at the stroke of
midnight Dec. 31, making the broken pyramid whole again, if only for a
night.

Culture Minister Farouk Hosni gave no reason for backing off the plan,
but said the decision was made despite technical advice that it would
not have damaged the monument, Egypt's Middle East News Agency reported.

Egypt's millennium celebrations feature a 12-hour concert at the foot of
the Giza pyramids with 1,000 performers.

Egypt, whose recorded history goes back 6,000 years, is promoting the
celebration as the start of its seventh millennium.