Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 2 - 8 November 2000 Issue No. 506
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875

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Keep your thoughts to yourself

By Nevine El-Aref

For the most part, the peerless array of mortuary art gracing tomb walls in the Theban necropolis at Luxor has survived several millennia safely buried under the dry desert sands. Visitors often coo with delight at the amazing brightness of the colours, astounded at how vibrant the dyes remain today. But when antiquities officials and conservationists finally get their way, impressed tourists will have to keep their astonishment to themselves while quietly making their way outside -- fast.

For every traveller who seeks to trace the final journeys of Egypt's most celebrated Pharaohs and marvel at their final resting places; for every gasp of delight over a particularly extraordinary relief painting; for every crowded nudge and bump along the tight corridors; another flake falls from these once pristine monuments. The humidity caused by outside air and the pressure of human bodies is slowly eroding sites in famous burial places like the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens, on the west bank of the Nile in Luxor. Moisture caused by people sweating, and even simply exhaling, causes irreparable damage.

Tour groups are often first led into the tombs, where their guide then lectures them on distinctive reliefs and famous kings. People whisper, touch, chat and battle for space, oblivious to the long-term effects of their visit. Over the years, countless projects have been drawn, discussed and reconsidered addressing the problem of encouraging tourism without further endangering the monuments, but only recently has one such plan gone into effect. The American University in Cairo (AUC) has joined forces with the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) and Kent Weeks' Theban Mapping Project to launch a comprehensive three-month scheme designed to create order from decades of chaos.

The idea, quite simply, is to control access to the tombs. Kent Weeks, who discovered the so-called KV5 tomb complex of the sons of Ramses II, calls it an "emergency intervention" into the rapid degradation of tombs. "It is a vitally important project, because the New Kingdom necropolis is in dire need of protection," Weeks said. He added that the project is part of a long-term conservation and site management plan for the whole Theban necropolis and its three main cemeteries: the Valley of the Kings, the Valley of the Queens and the noblemen's tombs.

Now almost a month into the project, the first steps taken have been more organisational in nature. A large, detailed map of the Valley of the Kings will be placed at the entrance to the site and accurate and informative plans will be provided outside each of the 29 kings tombs currently open to the public -- a service long overdue. The map will show the exact location of each of the tombs and, more importantly, indicate which are difficult to access, say, for the handicapped. Plans of the tombs will show the corridors and halls in each of the tombs, along with photographs of the most noteworthy reliefs and funerary objects found when the tomb was discovered. Tour groups will gather outside the tomb with their guides and hear about the tomb and its king prior to entering, following in the plan specific locations of interest. Only then, suggests Weeks, will they be guided into the tomb, "in a quiet, and orderly fashion." According to the SCA's new policy, tour guides will no longer be able to give lectures inside the tombs.

The drive for the conservation of the Theban monuments has been championed by organisations like AUC and the World Monuments Watch (WMW) programme. Founded as a private, non-profit organisation in 1965, the New York-based World Monuments Fund (WMF) uses the WMW to call attention to the world's most endangered sites and has provided emergency support and funds to help save them. The WMW puts out a list of endangered sites every two years. Both the temple of Amenhotep III in Luxor and the Qaytbay fountain near Al-Azhar mosque in Cairo have received funding for restoration through the programme. Many private companies have chipped into the effort, including BP, Emeco, the National Geographic Society and Mobil, as have numerous individual donors.

"We are proud to join WMF and the AUC in this effort," said Michael Edwards, WMW vice-president for Africa and the Middle East. "We have been collaborating with Egypt for over 80 years and are happy to join in the conservation of its artistic treasures," he said. The WMW has funnelled $60,000 in funding from the American Express company, a founding sponsor of the WMW, into an AUC grant set up for the conservation of the Valley of the Kings. After the project is complete, the leftover funds will go toward providing similar site management throughout the necropolis.

What does all this mean for the rest of us? Hopefully, it's a step toward effective and vigilant safeguarding of national treasures. But for tourists lagging behind to linger over tomb paintings, it's a brusque warning: move along, and shush!

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