In the years since its discovery, the tomb of the young pharaoh Tutankhamun emerged from obscurity to capture public imagination. About 1,000 visitors enter the fragile sacred space each day, leaving behind bacteria and a thick layer of dust that is wiped off the sheet of glass covering the sarcophagus every morning.

The TNPI recorded the tomb of Tutankhamun and made public its data for scholars and conservators to monitor its conservation condition. The data was re-materialised as a facsimile to create awareness about the importance of non-contact conservation and sustainable tourism.

The burial chamber of Tutankhamun´s facsimile is presented exactly as it is in the Valley of the Kings. The antechamber and annexe, while retaining the same proportions and materials as the original, are designed as an exhibition space. The permanent exhibition explains the degradation of the tomb since its discovery and the impact of mass tourism. The missing section of the South wall of the burial chamber, which disappeared after the tomb´s discovery in 1922, is shown restored and re-materialised as part of the exhibition.

Every stage of the production of the facsimile was undertaken by Factum Arte, supported by the Factum Foundation and the Society of Friends of the Royal Tombs of Egypt.

READ
2015 Nicholas Reeves´s article The burial of Nefertiti
2014 The Authorised Facsimile (exhibition catalogue)
2012 The Facsimile of the Burial chamber of Tutankhamun (report)

VIDEO
BBC report on the facsimile of the tomb of Tutankhamun
Making the facsimile
The finalised facsimile

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