Exact replica of Tutankhamun's tomb unveiled in Egypt
"Can I tell the difference?" wonders Tish Chapman, a teacher from Nottingham, standing in the latest tomb to be opened to the public at southern Egypt's Valley of the Kings.
Chapman's answer could be a pointer to the future of mass tourism. For the tomb in which she stands is in fact a replica: an exact copy of the tomb of Tutankhamun, dug into the sand about a mile from the real thing. And on Thursday Chapman, who has visited pharaonic sites including Tut's original tomb for two decades, became its first paying visitor.
"No, I don't think I can," Chapman says finally, staring at murals first drawn over 3,300 years ago. "No. It looks good enough for me." Chapman's response will delight those who think the replica is a first step to a rethink of managing tourism at ancient sites.
One of the idea's chief proponents is Adam Lowe, a British artist and master restorer who led the creation of the Tutankhamun facsimile, and supervised its installation here in Luxor. He hopes the lifesize facsimile will provide as good an experience as the original to divert visitors and ultimately help to preserve it and other pharaonic treasures.
"What I hope you'll be able to see is that it's possible to create an exact copy that from a normal viewing distance looks exactly like the tomb," Lowe says, sitting beside the nearby house of Howard Carter, the man who first discovered Tutankhamun in 1922. "And more than that – actually feels like the tomb."
In an ideal world, Lowe would admit, there would be unrestricted access to tombs like Tut's. But the reality is that these delicate burial chambers, weathered by millions of tourists for decades, risk deteriorating beyond recognition. The majority are in fact already closed, and the most impressive one – that of Sethi I – has long been too fragile for visitors.
(continued, risk life and limb in a civil war zone to see a copy? no brainer?)
