Getty Institute and Egypt Moving to Save Tut’s Tomb

The tomb of Tutankhamen, the celebrated burial place of an Egyptian boy king, is slated for conservation in a collaborative venture between the Getty Conservation Institute and the Egyptian Antiquities Organization.

The challenge for the joint project, to be announced today at a press conference in Cairo, is to restore the cracked, flaking wall paintings in the 3,300-year-old tomb, located in the Valley of the Kings on the Nile River near Luxor.

In a prepared statement, Getty institute director Miguel Angel Corzo acknowledged the “multitude of threats” facing the monuments, including “mass tourism, urban development, pollution, time and the elements.”

Tutankhamen reigned for 10 years during Egypt’s 18th Dynasty and died around 1323 BC, when he was about 19. His tomb, containing a glittering array of furnishings, jewelry, artworks and a solid gold coffin, was discovered in 1922 by English archeologist Howard Carter.

The tomb has been a major tourist attraction, drawing up to 3,000 visitors a day, but it was closed last year due to the fragile state of the paintings.

The price tag of the project has not been revealed, but the sponsoring organizations will share costs, according to Philippa Calnan, director of public affairs at the Marina Del Rey-based institute.

An international team will collaborate on the project, with Egyptians doing most of the conservation work. Corzo said this is also an opportunity to “provide Egyptian conservators with hands-on training and experience that they can apply to the preservation of other ancient sites and monuments in the region.”

An initial period of study and diagnosis of the tomb is expected to take about 18 months. Treatment is likely to require about two more years. The final phase of the project calls for monitoring and maintaining the tomb environment and determining guidelines for visitor access.