The pharaohs may have set the standard, but German entrepreneurs are hoping to challenge Egypt's pre-eminence in monumental self-indulgence by building the world's largest pyramid.
They have secured €90,000 (£61,000) in state funding to assess the feasibility of building a 1,600ft tall "Great Pyramid" near the town of Dessau, in the impoverished east German state of Saxony-Anhalt.
Like the original Great Pyramid at Giza in Egypt, this would be a place of burial. But instead of one ruler and his hangers-on, it would come to house the remains of millions of people.
The improbable plan is based on the belief that people will pay to have their ashes encased in the concrete blocks used to construct the monument. Millions of people would have to sign up to make it viable, though if the team behind it is successful, its members will be rich beyond the wildest dreams of even the most ambitious pharaoh.
Jens Thiel, one of the initiators of the project, says that becoming part of what he expects to be the greatest memorial in the world should be affordable to everyone: "Our current estimates are that a burial space in a concrete block will cost up to €700, depending on the size. Outlasting physical existence was reserved for the select few in Egypt, but this pyramid will be open to everyone. No one should be denied a place just because they can't afford it."
No comments:
Post a Comment