European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 2, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Replicas May help save ancient Sites editor s note a it sounds like something Disney would do build replicas of the tombs of egyptian pharaohs for the tourists to look at. But the people responsible for preserving Egypt s antiquities say they have Little Choice. The real tombs Are deteriorating rapidly in the crush of the tourist flow. To close them would mean losing the tourist Trade. % by Mimi Mann associated press Egypt s pharaohs built their tombs to last an eternity. But some of the most magma Centof the Royal resting places May not make it much past the 20th Century. A main spoiler is Man. Drawn by ancient Egypt s Aura of mystery thousands of visitors Parade every Day through the once off limits world of dead pharaohs and their Queens. They violate Tomb Chambers designed by ancient priests for one Mummy filled coffin. With that in mind a Swiss group has come up with a multimillion Dollar answer custom built tombs clustered in a new Quot Valley of death especially groomed to accommodate mass tourism. Give the tourists what they be come to see but in facsimile. Quot if you want to have your tourists and save your tombs building replicas is the Only answer says Theodor Abt president of the Zurich based society of friends of the Royal tombs of Egypt. Quot we Haven t a minute to lose Quot he says. Quot each time i come i m shocked to see what has happened. The world can t afford to give up something so unique and  egyptian officials agree. In March they approved a proposal from the society to duplicate two tombs the tiny crudely painted chamber of the boy pharaoh tutankhamen and the larger beautifully decorated Tomb of Nefertari powerful chief Queen of Warrior pharaoh Ramses ii. They Are among More than 400 tombs stretching for five Miles along the Nile River s Western Bank opposite ancient Thebes now Luxor 450 Miles South of Cairo. Saving both tombs has been a great worry for antiquities officials. Quot it s a wonderful project the answer we be been searching for Quot says Sayed Tawfik chairman of the egyptian antiquities organization. Quot now we can save our tombs without depriving our tourists of their Beauty. Quot and if we have to close one or More of them for restoration and conservation we won t feel so bad about  Tawfik says tourists still will be allowed in the original tombs but he expects the replicas Quot to deflect masses away from endangered  not even Egypt s mightiest Kings foresaw that their secret burial Chambers carved in valleys so desolate they were unfit for the living one Day would attract a tourist Boom of monumental proportions. But they have. Each Day 3,000 to 5,000 people crowd the land of the dead even in the horrendous heat of upper Egypt s summer. Humidity dust and Salt brought into the tombs by sweaty bodies and the touch of countless fingers Are eating away at the timeless but fragile decorations on their Walls. The Only sure Way to save them would be politically and economically explosive bar tour groups from the most popular tombs. Most visitors travel in groups carried across the Nile by special launch and bused to the various valleys of death. Only about two dozen tombs Are open to the Public at any one time. Permanently closing the tombs is an option that s hardly figured in years of debate Over Monument conservation because of a National push to bring Ever More tourists into Egypt. Some 2 million visitors now pump $2 billion a year into Egypt s Dollar starved Economy. The government predicts the number of tourists will double within the next few years. 24 stripes Magazine a s it x. \ in a a a v s the Tomb of Nefertari above chief wife of Ramses ii will be one of the first to be duplicated. Proponents Hope to raise Money in a Campaign like the one that helped save her husband s Temple left at Abu Simbell. For antiquities officials whose Job is to protect relics copying the Best and most endangered tombs offers an acceptable alternative to Locking doors. It leaves room for tourist expansion. Also the replicas will be tombs with a difference. Tourists will see them As the ancients did not the faded and damaged Chambers visited today. And with modern touches one Way traffic and air conditioning. Abt a Zurich psychoanalyst says engineers have selected the Bone dry fault filled Western Valley for the reproductions lying just Over the Hills from the tombs of tutankhamen and fellow pharaohs. The Western Valley was chosen because of Quot its Beauty and emptiness. The sacred atmosphere so important to Early Tomb builders is something we Don t have to duplicate Quot Abt says. Quot it s already  the West Bank s most popular tourist spot is the Valley of the Kings where new kingdom rulers were buried for 500 years. But ancient architects originally gave the Royal nod to the Western Valley where they placed the Mummy of pharaoh amenophis in in 1353 . The area later was abandoned in favor of valleys to the East and South. Abt says plans Call for the first Cluster of duplicate tombs to include in addition to tutankhamen s and Nefertari a those of the Warrior pharaoh Tut Mosis Iii and two non royals sen Nadjem a court official and labor Foreman inh Eckhau. He estimates each Cluster will Costas much As $80 million raised in a Campaign like the 1960s Enesco drive that saved the monuments of Abu Simbell and Oil nubian Sites South of Luxor. Abt says duplicate tombs will be Low Slung built to disguise their locations and decorated by egyptians us ii techniques of the ancients. Originally tombs were dug into the landscape to hide them from would be robber after the riches accompanying the dead pharaoh into to afterlife. Each Cluster will be built against the mountains and covered with rocks to give the same feeling of Antiquity the ancient tombs Quot Abt says. To ensure that each Tomb will be Correct historically the Swiss group s 50 International members include As vice president an authority on the West Bank burial grounds Basel professor Erik Hornung. While new in Egypt building replicas to save antique is not a new concept. French officials closed the Lascaux caves near Montignay in 1963 after 100,000 visitors surged in the previous year to see the monuments prehistoric paintings. In 1983 a facsimile was opened which today awes 400,000 visitors annually. Spain currently is seeking Money to reproduce 12,0 year old Wall paintings of Bison and horses at its Altami. Your a crush in the main Cave became so or in 1982 that it too had to be closed