Resumption of visitation comes amid preparations for the official inauguration of the Grand Egyptian Museum, in Cairo, scheduled for November 1
O reopened to the public, on Saturday (4), the tomb of Pharaoh Amenhotep III, located in the city of Luxor, in the south of the country, after more than two decades of renovations. The resumption of visitation comes amid preparations for the official inauguration of the Grand Egyptian Museum, in Cairo, scheduled for November 1st.
Amenhotep III, known as Amenhotep the Great, ruled Egypt between 1390 BC and 1350 BC, during the 18th dynasty, considered one of the most prosperous in the history of Ancient Egypt. The tomb, located in the Valley of the Kings, was discovered in 1799 and had its contents looted, including the pharaoh’s sarcophagus, according to Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities.
The restoration project was carried out in three phases, over two decades, with technical cooperation from Japan. The works included the renovation of the mural paintings depicting the pharaoh and his wife, Queen Tiye, as well as structural and preservation interventions. “It’s a very fascinating tomb,” Mohamed Ismail, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, told the Associated Press. “It maintains the frame of the original sarcophagus box, with the lid positioned where the body would have been.”
The tomb has an inclined passage 36 meters long and 14 meters deep, leading to the main chamber and two secondary chambers intended for the pharaoh’s wives, Tiye and Sitamun. The walls feature paintings and inscriptions from the “Book of the Dead”, a collection of religious texts that guided the dead on their path through the underworld.
The heavily damaged mummy of Amenhotep III was transferred by priests to the tomb of his grandfather, Amenhotep II, also in the Valley of the Kings. Today, it is on display at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, alongside 16 other mummies of kings and queens. The reopening of the tomb and the inauguration of the new museum are part of the Egyptian government’s efforts to revitalize tourism, one of the country’s main economic drivers, which is still recovering from the crisis caused by political instability following the 2011 uprising.
*With information from Estadão Conteúdo
Published by Sarah Paula
