Egyptian authorities are trying to verify whether a video of a couple clambering naked to the top of the pyramid in Giza is authentic.

Egyptian antiquities minister Khaled al-Anani, quoted by Al-Ahram newspaper, said they were checking whether the video was real, and would prosecute any officials found to be negligent.

Scaling the pyramids was "strictly forbidden", he added, calling the images a "violation of public morality".

The three-minute video was posted to YouTube by the Danish photographer, Andreas Hvid, who said that he and a friend climbed the Great Pyramid of Giza at the end of November.

“Fearing to be spotted by the many guards, I did not film the several hours of sneaking around at the Giza Plateau, which lead up to the climb,” he wrote.

The photographer also posted an image of the couple lying naked on top of each other in broad daylight – but he told a Danish paper that they only posed for the photo and did not actually have sex.

The image and video have deeply offended people in the Muslim country, as well as overseas, since they were posted.