Egyptian limestone was first used more than 4000 years ago to cover the pyramids. It was then used to build mosques, buildings, and today it is also found in Egypt in fertilizers, ceramics and animal feed. Much of it comes from quarries in the province of Al-Minya, three hundred kilometers south of Cairo, where thousands of workers go every morning before dawn. This is the main activity in this region.

Using machines equipped with circular saws nicknamed « El Fasalah » (the reaper), the workers gradually cut the ground, which throws up a cloud of blinding white dust. For a few minutes, it becomes impossible to distinguish anything more than a few meters away and the voices are drowned out by the deafening noise of the machines. Their drivers advance quickly and strike the metal with blows of hammer to warn the workmen of their arrival. Despite the masks, limestone dust penetrates their lungs, which can cause silicosis in the long term.

These machines regularly cause sometimes fatal accidents. Despite the formation of a limestone workers’ union in 2011 after the Egyptian revolution, working conditions have not changed. Most of the time, the injured or the families of the victims do not obtain any compensation because the work is illegal: no employment contract is established, and no insurance protects them.

However, for a salary of around 120 EGP per day (6 euros), the workers of the Al-Minya quarries continue their activity because they most often have no alternative.