On the 11-11-11 closing of the Great Pyramid

I'VE BEEN MEANING TO COMMENT on that story about the Egyptian Government closing the Great Pyramid last Friday to protect it from the 11-11-11 depredations of a horde of "Jewish Masons." I can understand the Government's desire to maintain order at the site, but it doesn't sound as though there was much basis for concern apart from "unconfirmed rumours in the local press" about a plot to put a Star of David on top of the Pyramid. In any case, it was handled in a typically ham-fisted way that invites ridicule, but at least no one got hurt this time. The Guardian has a pretty detailed account, from which the quote above comes.

My interest is more in the background of the event (or, as it turns out, the non-event). Israel Today Magazine has the relevant details:

Claiming that the world will soon come under assault by external powers, the group obtained permission from Egyptian authorities to hold a ceremony at the Great Pyramid and place a protective crystal inside.

But there was an uproar in Egypt following claims that among the New Age group would be 1,200 "Jewish Masons" who intended to cap the Great Pyramid with a Star of David.

Egyptian antiquities officials said that Jewish Masons have been trying to cap the Great Pyramid for nearly a century in order to highlight the claim that the ancient structure was built by Jewish slaves prior to the biblical Exodus.

As I have noted before, I can't find any Jews who make the claim today that the Israelites built the Pyramids, although Egyptians keep bringing it up. Scotland gets blamed too, but the earliest surviving reference to this daft notion comes from Josephus.

Cross-file under "Junk History."