New Age spiritual crusaders who believe Egyptian pyramids are the power points of the universe are flocking to the ancient ruins to plug into the area’s mysterious energies.

But they are just the latest in a long procession of Western pilgrims to visit the site.

Alexander the Great and Napoleon Bonaparte also visited.

Bonaparte spent time alone in the King’s burial chamber of the Great Pyramid. Many years later he hinted he’d received a prescient insight into his destiny during his time in the murky tomb.

The same experience – to meditate alone in the King’s chamber of the Great Pyramid – is sought by New Agers today.

Such ceremonies worry the Egyptian government which, while welcoming New Age dollars, is concerned their activities will antagonise the local religious extremists.

Some Muslim fundamentalists see the enlightened visitors as infidels who have come to revive the ancient pagan religion of the pharaohs.

But a reader of this article has indicated that as long as the proper procedures are followed, and local customs are respected, meditating in the sacred sites is not usually a problem.  

On a different note, the Egyptian government's top archaeologist, Zahi Hawass, is on the verge of discovering the tomb of Cleopatra and her Roman lover, Mark Antony.

While searching the site's network of underground shafts and tunnels, Hawass also stumbled across skeletons that he said were the likely remains of early Christians hiding from the Roman authorities.

'The discovery of Cleopatra's tomb will be the find of the century,' Hawass said. 'Nothing will compare to this.'