Tourists destroying legendary tombs

Plans have been announced to “change the face” of Egypt’s famous Valley of the Kings – to protect it from destruction by tourists. According to The Guardian newspaper, Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquitites has asked architects, engineers and archaeologists from the Theban Mapping Project to draw up a plan to conserve the famous attraction. As many as 9,000 tourists visit some of the most famous tombs in the world each day – and the effect has been to destroy the ancient paintings and decorations that adorn them. Kent Weeks, professor of Egyptology at the American University in Cairo, is quoted as saying: “The results are an uncomfortable, claustrophobic experience for tourists, who go away sweating, unhappy, feeling they have been robbed in a way, which they have, and we find the tombs are suffering badly.” The Guardian reports that each tourist leaves an ounce of moisture from their breath in each tomb they visit, causing such damage to paintings that, according to Weeks, “you end up with bare stone and a puddle of pigments and mud on the floor, and that’s it”. Part of the proposals will reportedly involve restricting the number of tourists in any one tomb, while there are also plans to revamp the valley’s visitor centre and move parking lots and roads to less environmentally-sensitive positions. Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad Ltd