--- description: Egyptian media has reported the 4,600 year-old structure has been damaged during an ongoing restoration project title: Egypt: UNESCO Wants Detailed Report on Djoser Pyramid Restoration image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteb0a5e96870bd0e8/6986a550f983e77bd204fd99/djoser-pyramid.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Egypt](/tag/egypt/) ## Egypt Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # U.N. Agency Investigating Claims of Damage to Ancient Pyramid by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 25, 2014 12:35 AM CUT  Building materials gather dust at the foot of the Djoser Pyramid in Saqqara, Egypt, on Sept. 16, 2014 Building materials gather dust at the foot of the Djoser Pyramid in Saqqara, Egypt, on Sept. 16, 2014Samuel McNeil—AP by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 25, 2014 12:35 AM CUT The U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is requesting more [information](http://www.france24.com/en/20140925-unesco-seeks-answers-egypt-pyramid-damage/?aef%5Fcampaign%5Fdate=2014-09-25&aef%5Fcampaign%5Fref=partage%5Faef&ns%5Fcampaign=reseaux%5Fsociaux&ns%5Flinkname=editorial&ns%5Fmchannel=social&ns%5Fsource=twitter "undefined") from Egyptian authorities on the restoration of the Djoser Pyramid, after Egyptian media reported that the 4,600-year-old pyramid’s facade had been damaged. Agency officials told [Agence France-Presse](http://www.france24.com/en/20140925-unesco-seeks-answers-egypt-pyramid-damage/?aef%5Fcampaign%5Fdate=2014-09-25&aef%5Fcampaign%5Fref=partage%5Faef&ns%5Fcampaign=reseaux%5Fsociaux&ns%5Flinkname=editorial&ns%5Fmchannel=social&ns%5Fsource=twitter "undefined") that the UNESCO World Heritage Centre “sent a letter to the Ministry of Antiquities requesting a detailed technical report on the work.” The country’s Minister of Antiquities called the claim of damage “baseless,” according to AFP. \[[_AFP_](http://www.france24.com/en/20140925-unesco-seeks-answers-egypt-pyramid-damage/?aef%5Fcampaign%5Fdate=2014-09-25&aef%5Fcampaign%5Fref=partage%5Faef&ns%5Fcampaign=reseaux%5Fsociaux&ns%5Flinkname=editorial&ns%5Fmchannel=social&ns%5Fsource=twitter "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3427284/un-agency-investigating-claims-of-damage-to-ancient-pyramid/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3427284/un-agency-investigating-claims-of-damage-to-ancient-pyramid/"},"headline":"U.N. Agency Investigating Claims of Damage to Ancient Pyramid","datePublished":"2014-09-25T00:35:50.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T10:24:02.282Z","description":"Egyptian media has reported the 4,600 year-old structure has been damaged during an ongoing restoration project","url":"https://time.com/3427284/un-agency-investigating-claims-of-damage-to-ancient-pyramid/","keywords":["Egypt"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteb0a5e96870bd0e8/6986a550f983e77bd204fd99/djoser-pyramid.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteb0a5e96870bd0e8/6986a550f983e77bd204fd99/djoser-pyramid.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Building materials gather dust at the foot of the Djoser Pyramid in Saqqara, Egypt on Sept. 16, 2014.","caption":"Building materials gather dust at the foot of the Djoser Pyramid in Saqqara, Egypt on Sept. 16, 2014.","creditText":"Samuel McNeil—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/egypt/","name":"Egypt"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3427284/un-agency-investigating-claims-of-damage-to-ancient-pyramid/","name":"U.N. Agency Investigating Claims of Damage to Ancient Pyramid"}}]}] ```