Exclusive: new excavations in valley of the Kings

Exclusive: new excavations in valley of the Kings by an Egyptian mission 

Dr. Mamdouh El Damaty told Luxor Times today that an Egyptian mission will start excavation in the valley of the Kings on the 1st of August.

This will be the second time in history for an Egyptian mission to excavated in the Pharaohs burial place for over 500 years.

The first mission was led by Dr. Zahi Hawass.

The new mission will be under direct supervision of the minister of Antiquities and led by Dr. Mostafa Waziry with field director Salah El Masekh and will excavated in the areas to the north and south of Ramses IV tomb (KV2) which was last excavated in 1902.

#Egypt #Luxor #Egyptology #Archaeology #AncientEgypt 

Luxor Museum to open in the evening, Minister says

Minister of Antiquities, Dr. Mamdouh El Damaty, announced today during his visit to Luxor Museum that the museum will be back to the old opening times till 9pm instead of current times from 9am till 3pm. The museum will start from 1st of August to open in the evening from 5pm till 9pm.

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For the first time in 3500 years, Royal tombs are open at night

Minister of Antiquities, Dr Mamdouh El Damaty opened the Valley of the Kings for the first time in history at night for visitors.
 

The great Pharaohs ‘ burials were sure visited at night in the past 35 centuries but mainly in ancient time by tomb robbers, this time the visit will be possible for public till 9pm.

The tombs which are equipped by the new lighting system provided by “DEFEX”, a specialised company, through a Spanish loan of 6 million Euros, are KV2 (tomb of Ramses IV), KV9 (tomb of Ramses V and Ramses VI) and KV17 (tomb of Seti I) beside the tombs will be open at night too also include tombs of Ramses III, Ramses IV and TutAnkhAmon tomb too.

 Photo was taking during the new lighting system was being tested (August 2013)

The last person who had enjoyed this magical atmosphere at night in the Valley of the Kings could be Sgt. Richard Adamson, as he claimed that he was guarding KV62, the tomb of King Tutankhamon since the discovery in 1922 and for several years afterwards playing opera records of an old gramophone at night but this is another story.

Now, visitors to Luxor have an amazing chance to enjoy those masterpieces of ancient Egyptian art at night even during the summer, no more hot days if you can visit at night.

The sites which will be open till 9pm in Luxor include Luxor Temple, Ramesseum temple and Valley of the Kings and Hatshepsut temple. Later Habu temple and Seti I temple will be added to the list soon when the new lighting system is completely installed and tested.

#Egypt #Luxor #AncientEgypt #Egyptology #Antiquities #Archaeology