In January 2016 an 18-year-old German named Andrej Ciesielski climbed the Great Pyramid of Giza, near Cairo, without permission, filmed the ascent and posted photos from the summit online. He was briefly detained by Egyptian police when he came down, and Egypt's Ministry of Antiquities then announced that he would be banned from entering the country again. The footage is spectacular, but the climb was illegal, dangerous and damaging to a 4,500-year-old monument, which is why Egypt treats it as a serious offence.
The video went viral in early 2016 and has resurfaced many times since, often presented as a fresh story. Here is what actually happened, why climbing the pyramids is prohibited, and what the episode says about how social media shapes the way people visit famous places.
What happened on the day
According to reports at the time, Ciesielski entered the Giza plateau as an ordinary visitor. He waited for a moment when guards were not looking, then started up one of the edges of the pyramid, where the stepped blocks are easiest to climb. By his own account, the ascent took about eight minutes and the climb down about twenty.
Partway up, other tourists and security staff spotted him and called for him to come down. He kept going, reached the top, took photos and video of the view across the plateau and the second pyramid, and then descended. Police were waiting at the bottom, took him to a station for questioning and checked his camera before releasing him.
Climbing the pyramids is illegal in Egypt, but he was released without charge. Instead, Egyptian Streets reported in February 2016 that the antiquities minister had notified the German Embassy of a life ban on his entering Egypt. Many archaeologists and Egyptians saw the stunt as a needless risk to the monument.
The videos
The first clip is the climber's own point-of-view footage. It shows the size of the limestone blocks, many of them well over a metre high, and how exposed the edges are. A single slip on loose stone would be a fall of dozens of metres.
A second clip of the climb was shared on YouTube as well. The view from the summit, looking toward the pyramid of Khafre with Cairo hazy in the distance, is one that very few people have legally seen since climbing was stopped.
Why climbing the pyramids is banned
The Great Pyramid was built for the pharaoh Khufu around 2600 BC, during Egypt's Fourth Dynasty. It originally rose to about 146 metres and was the tallest human-made structure in the world for more than 3,700 years. Today it stands at roughly 138 metres, because the smooth white casing stones and the capstone were removed over the centuries, exposing the rough core blocks that climbers use as steps.
In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, climbing the pyramid with local guides was a standard tourist excursion. Accidents, deaths and damage led Egypt to ban it, and the rule is enforced by tourist police across the plateau. There are three main reasons:
- Safety. The blocks are uneven, some are loose, and wind and dust make the upper courses treacherous. People have died falling from the pyramids.
- Preservation. Every climber wears the stone a little, and scrambling can dislodge already weakened blocks. Multiplied by millions of visitors a year, small damage adds up.
- Respect. The pyramids are royal tombs and part of Egypt's national heritage. Many Egyptians see stunts on them as disrespectful, especially when they are staged for followers abroad.
The pyramids of Giza are also part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Memphis and its Necropolis – the Pyramid Fields from Giza to Dahshur", listed in 1979, which places international weight on their protection.
Not the only one
Ciesielski was not the first person to sneak to the top, and he was not the last. Climbers have been caught on the pyramids at regular intervals, and in later years several social-media personalities posted their own climbs. In December 2018, the Danish photographer Andreas Hvid published a video and photo that appeared to show a couple undressing on top of the pyramid, prompting a prosecutor's investigation and a wave of criticism in Egypt; pyramid officials said the video was fake. In 2019 another climber evaded security and damaged the survey mast that has stood on the summit since 1874. Each case has led to calls for tighter security, and Egyptian authorities have repeatedly warned that offenders face arrest.
The pattern says something about the attention economy. A view that cannot be legally reached becomes valuable precisely because it is forbidden, and a single viral post can bring a climber more followers than years of ordinary content. That incentive is exactly why authorities want penalties to be visible.
How to see the pyramids properly
You do not need to climb to have an unforgettable visit. A few legitimate options give remarkable views and access:
- Go inside. A separate ticket lets visitors walk up the narrow passages and the Grand Gallery to the King's Chamber in the heart of the Great Pyramid.
- Visit the panoramic viewpoint on the desert plateau west of the pyramids, where all three main pyramids line up in one frame.
- Arrive early. The site is cooler and quieter right after opening, which makes photography easier.
- See the Grand Egyptian Museum nearby, which houses many of the finds from Giza and the Tutankhamun collection.
- Use licensed guides and follow the instructions of the tourist police; rules on drones and photography change, so check them before you go.
The lesson of a viral climb
Ciesielski's photos are striking, and it is easy to understand why they spread. But they also show how easily the line between adventure and harm gets blurred online. The Great Pyramid has survived more than four millennia of weather, quarrying and war; whether it survives the next four depends partly on visitors choosing to enjoy it from the ground. Watching his footage is the safe way to see that view.
Sources: Climb footage and photos by Andrej Ciesielski (2016); Egyptian Streets, January 2016; Egyptian Streets on the entry ban, February 2016; Wikipedia, Great Pyramid of Giza; UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Memphis and its Necropolis; Egyptian Streets, December 2018.
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