Conservationists unveil decade-long work on Tutankhamun grave |
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http://f24.my/youtubeEN FRANCE 24 live news stream: all the latest news 24/7 http://f24.my/YTliveEN After almost a decade, a team of international experts on Thursday revealed the results of their painstaking work to preserve the tomb of Egypt's legendary Pharaoh Tutankhamun. Nearly a victim of his own fame, long years of mass tourism had left their mark on the boy king's burial place near Luxor on the east bank of the Nile River. "A hundred years of visits, after being sealed for 3,000 years... can you imagine the impact on the grave?" said Neville Agnew, head of the project led by the Los Angeles-based Getty Conservation Institute. "Visitors, humidity, dust..." lamented the scientist during the unveiling ceremony at the tomb, discovered in 1922 by British archaeologist Howard Carter in the Valley of the Kings. Called to the rescue in 2009, Agnew has led a 25-member team -- including archaeologists, architects, engineers and microbiologists -- to preserve the tomb and fend off the ravages of time and tourism. Interrupted during Egypt's 2011 uprising and the political instability that followed, the project later resumed its work and finished up this month. FRANCE 24's Ivana Scatola has more. Visit our website: http://www.france24.com Subscribe to our YouTube channel: http://f24.my/youtubeEN Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/France24_en |