Egypt archaeologist: Muslim call to prayer on loudspeakers ‘disturbs tourists’

Former Egyptian antiquities minister Zahi Hawass said the calls to prayer shouldn’t be amplified on microphones to high levels as they disturb tourists.

“Egypt should protect tourists from being disturbed by the Islamic call to prayer”, top Egyptian archaeologist and former antiquities minister Zahi Hawass has said, causing controversy among Muslims.

Alongside its famed ancient temples, Egypt has over 130,000 mosques and is home to numerous medieval mosques and Islamic sites.  Its capital city, Cairo, has one of the world’s largest concentrations of Islamic monuments and mosques, from which the calls to prayer can be heard five times daily.