CAIRO — Archaeologists and visitors of Cairo’s Mamluk Qarafa area — known as the City of the Dead — along Salah Salem Street took to social media July 20, calling on the government to stop the demolition of tombs to make way for a bridge-building project.

A picture of the decision approved by the Ministry of Housing, which funded and executed the Paradise Axis project, began circulating on social media, before it was deleted. According to the decision, the road, as per the report, passes through al-Ghafir cemetery, Mansheya Nasir and Duwaika area in Cairo.

This project is part of a wider plan adopted by the Ministry of Housing's Central Construction Agency for the years 2020-21, and it includes 17 more road projects. The removal of parts of the Mamluk Qarafa area was first proposed in 2009 as part of the Cairo 2050 project put forth in 2007-08, but was repeatedly rejected by Al-Azhar and experts, who believe the removal of the graves constitute a profanation of the dead and of the architectural heritage of Egypt. The project was suspended, but the recent action has surprised many.

Nada Ezzeddine, a doctoral student in archaeological environmental changes and restoration of monuments at Osaka University in Japan, told Al-Monitor, “The Tombs of the Mamluks area includes a number of graves with a distinct historical and architectural value. This area is within the scope of Historic Cairo, registered at UNESCO.”