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Egypt's Pyramid Scheme

Halt all pyramid production! Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities announced on December 25 that it plans to pass a law requiring royalties be paid to the Egyptian government when exact duplications of the country's pyramids or sphinx structures are produced. What prompted the decision? Las Vegas.

According to an AFP report, the director of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Zahi Hawass, made the pyramid law announcement shortly after the Egyptian newspaper Al-Wafd published an article demanding that Las Vegas' Luxor Hotel give its Egyptian namesake a portion of its profits. Their reasoning: 35 million tourists visit Las Vegas each year, and only six million visit Luxor.

What remains unclear is how the Egyptian government will stop shape counterfeiters. Even Luxor's town council leader has his doubts:

We can't forbid people from using the name of Luxor and copying monuments from (the) city, which is the world's richest city for monuments...Tourists going to Las Vegas doesn't affect our city's business.

Related Links:
· Egypt to Copyright Pyramids [AFP, via Google]
· Egypt Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Vibin]