Decision 43 COM 7B.45

Memphis and its Necropolis – the Pyramid Fields from Giza to Dahshur (Egypt) (C 86)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/19/43.COM/7B.Add,
2. Recalling Decision 42 COM 7B.52, adopted at its 42nd session (Manama, 2018),
3. Commends the State Party for reinforcing the overall co-ordination and management of the property and other World Heritage properties, through the establishment of the Supreme Committee for the Management of World Heritage Sites in Egypt, and through amendments to the law for the protection of antiquities;
4. Welcomes the significant progress made with the Step Pyramid and Southern Tomb Risk Mitigation and Restoration Project at Saqqara, the archaeological discoveries made at the property, and the response regarding the legacy from the abandoned planned Ring Road;
5. While welcoming the advice from the State Party that the necessary studies will be completed before implementation of the Cairo Ring Road tunnel project across the Giza Plateau, reiterates its request to the State Party to:
   1. Complete a comprehensive archaeological assessment, incorporating results from remote sensing,
   2. Ensure that, following the review by the World Heritage Centre and Advisory Bodies, the final comprehensive ‘archaeological assessment report’ and the previous technical reports on traffic management and design details inform the preparation of the engineering designs for the Ring Road tunnel project,
   3. Finalize the Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) for the project, following the ICOMOS Guidance on HIAs for Cultural World Heritage Properties;
6. Notes the previous Committee Decision that work for the construction of the Cairo Ring Road tunnel should only progress once all requested technical reports and subsequent HIAs have been positively reviewed by the Advisory Bodies and appropriate mitigation measures and procedures for monitoring have been agreed;
7. Expresses concern over the additional information provided by the State Party on the Giza Pyramids Plateau Development Project, and the Pyramids Security Project, and requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, as soon as possible and in accordance with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines, a detailed document providing comprehensive information about the proposed Pyramids Security Project;
8. Also requests the State Party to further strengthen the protection and management of the property by submitting the Retrospective Statement of Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) for the property to the World Heritage Centre, and by reviewing the property’s boundaries, defining a buffer zone and submitting a Minor Boundary Modification request, in line with Paragraphs 163-164 of the Operational Guidelines;
9. Further requests the State Party to invite a joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS Reactive Monitoring mission to the property to evaluate the property’ state of conservation, review the ongoing and planned projects, and assess how they may affect the property’s OUV, having particular regard to:
   1. The Giza Pyramids Plateau Development Project,
   2. The Pyramids Security Project,
   3. The proposed Cairo Ring Road tunnel across the Giza Plateau,
   4. The Giza component of the property, and the impact of increasing urban pressure in Cairo,
   5. The appropriate boundary and buffer zone for the Giza component of the property;
10. Encourages the State Party to finalize the HIA, in coordination with ICOMOS and the World Heritage Centre in the framework of the training in the preparation of Heritage Impact Assessments (HIAs), following the ICOMOS Guidance on HIAs for Cultural World Heritage Properties;
11. Finally requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2020, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 45th session in 2021.