Tutankhamun tomb replica

An exact replica of Tutankhamun’s tomb was scheduled to open in Luxor, Egypt, on April 30. The facsimile was a gift to Egypt from the Factum Foundation of Madrid, Spain, the Society of Friends of the Royal Tombs of Egypt in Zürich, Switzerland, and the University of Basel. 

Work began in 2009 when the Factum Foundation used 3-D scanners to map the tomb and its contents. The original tomb has begun to suffer deterioration due to the CO2 exhaled by the many visitors. In 2011 the Supreme Council of Antiquities called for the tomb to be closed to the public, but it remains open. 

Located at the entrance to the Valley of the Kings on Luxor’s West Side, the replica tomb is next door to the house of Howard Carter, the man who discovered Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922. The Carter house has been a museum since it was restored in 2011.