Egypt To Close King Tut's Tomb to the Public at the End of 2011

[JamesG]

Egypt to close Tutankhamun's tomb
by Sean McLachlan
Jan 19th 2011


The Valley of the Kings is one of the highlights of any trip to Egypt.

In this hot, dusty ravine are some of the most remarkable tombs of the Egyptian pharaohs. Paintings adorn their walls, showing the soul's journey through the afterlife and the gods and goddesses described in the Egyptian Book of the Dead.






Now the most popular of those tombs is going to close.

Zahi Hawass, head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, has announced he will close Tutankhamun's tomb by the end of the year. The brilliant paintings that make the tombs so attractive were preserved because the tombs were sealed.

With thousands of people passing through every day, the tombs have become hotter and more humid. It's sad, but to save the tombs they have to be shut from public view.





Dr. Hawass has commissioned an exact replica of King Tut's tomb so that visitors will get an idea what the original looked like.


http://www.gadling.com/2011/01/19/eg...2_lnk2%7C37198