Visitors to Egypt will pay to see replica tombs in future as tourism takes its toll
For many visitors to Egypt, it is the definitive experience; to witness first hand Tutankhamun’s tomb in Luxor’s famous Valley of the Kings.
However, irreparable damage caused by decades of tourists flocking to see the boy king’s burial chamber and other ancient tombs could mean visitors are soon banned from entering them.
Changes in temperature and humidity, say experts, is causing the intricately painted plaster to crumble away from the walls.
Future visitors to the tomb will have to be content with paying to see a carefully-crafted replica although Egyptian authorities have yet to make a decision on when that might be.
The Supreme Council of Antiquities has already commissioned a series of near-perfect replica chambers in conjunction with Switzerland’s University of Basel and Madrid-based company Factum Arte.
Highly skilled artists were given the green light to create three ‘facsimilies’ of the tombs of Seti I, Nefertari and Tutankhamun back in 2009.
One of them, Briton Adam Lowe, told The Independent on Sunday newspaper: ‘The truth is that the tomb was never meant to be visited.
‘It lasted well for over 3000 years. But in the last 90 since Carter’s discovery, its condition has deteriorated dramatically.’
