Overview
- Video from Saqqara showed the guide sketching a stick figure on the pyramid’s outer casing and trying to rub it off.
- Egypt’s Interior Ministry said the man was identified, arrested and confessed, and that legal measures are underway.
- Officials said specialists removed the markings after an antiquities inspector reported the incident to Saqqara police.
- The guide was suspended from work and apologized, with local reports noting he said it was his first day back in four years.
- Conservation staff and commenters differ on whether the marked surface was original stone or later restoration, with potential penalties including at least one year in prison and a 500,000 EGP fine.