Egypt to Preserve Pharaonic Tombs with Closure and Replicas
By STAN PARCHIN
August 20, 2009
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| Dr. Zahi Hawass stands over Pharaoh Tutankhamun's mummy in the ruler's tomb in the Valley of the Kings while monitoring the body's CT scan. Photograph courtesy of Zahi Hawass and University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. |
Dr. Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt and Director of Excavations at the Giza Pyramids, Saqqara and Bahariya Oasis, told Agence France-Presse on August 17, 2009 that the wall decorations of his country's pharaonic tombs near Luxor (ancient Thebes) are in danger of disappearing due to environmental and biological factors. His solution is to close many of the tombs to tourists after conservation and construct scale replicas within each site's vicinity near the Nile River's west bank.
"The tombs (in the Valley of the Kings and nearby Valley of the Queens) which are open to visitors are facing severe damage to both colors and the engravings," Hawass said. "The levels of humidity and fungus are increasing because of the breath of visitors and this means that the tombs could disappear between 150 and 500 years."
Measures have already been taken to preserve the royal burial chambers' interiors, including the installation of new ventilation systems, limiting the number of tourists and closure.
Conservation of Ancient Egyptian Tombs
The Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) has been a part of the J. Paul Getty Trust since 1985. Its staff worked with Egyptian colleagues and an international team from 1986 to 1992 on the conservation of the wall paintings within the tomb of powerful Queen Nefertari (ca. 1290-1254 B.C.).
The GCI's current six-year partnership with Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) is focused on the conservation and management of some 80 ancient tombs in the Valley of the Queens. The threats of flooding and mass tourism are being addressed. And SCA conservators are being trained.
All of the preparatory work for the conservation of the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun (r. 1332-1323 B.C.) was previously conducted by the GCI.
Factum Arte and Egyptian Tomb Replicas
Replacing Egypt's ancient tombs with replicas is not a new idea. Factum Arte, a company based in Madrid and London, digitally reproduces works for artists, conservators and museums using laser technology. For the exhibition The Quest for Immortality: Treasures of Ancient Egypt, which toured 11 American cities from 2002 to 2007, Factum Arte recreated to scale the burial chamber of Pharaoh Thutmose III (r. 1479-1425 B.C.), including its walls' religious inscriptions, cracks, imperfections and graffiti. Its staff is currently engaged in replicating the painted sepulchres of Pharaoh Seti I (r. 1294-1279 B.C.), Tutankhamun and Queen Nefertari. Factum Arte's expert reproductions are executed to an accuracy of 100 microns (0.1 millimeter or 0.004 inches).
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