International conference uncovering Tutankhamun’s secrets starts Saturday

CAIRO - 5 May 2017: The third international conference highlighting the secrets and treasures of King Tutankhamun’s tomb will start Saturday.

King Tutankhamun ruled Egypt from about 3,300 years ago.

“The conference will last for three days to discuss a number of topics, including Tutankhamun’s mummification, funerary furniture and the optimum ways to preserve and restore them,’’ said Tariq Tawfiq, General Supervisor of the Egyptian Museum.

Since the British archaeologist Howard Carter discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922 in the Valley of the Kings in the ancient city of Thebes on the west bank of Luxor, world-wide passion about the young king has emerged.

This passion was fuelled by the fact that Tutankhamun’s tomb was found in its original state; it was not subjected to any kind of robbery, although it contained 3,500 golden pieces. Mystery also surrounds the death of the king at an early age, as he died at only 19 years old.

The conference will include a series of lectures by a number of Egyptian and foreign archaeologists and museums heads. The activities of the conference are divided between the headquarters of the Ministry of Antiquities in Zamalek, the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square and the new Egyptian Museum in Giza.

The conference that took place in 2016 saw significant media coverage after a controversy took place between the British archaeologist Nicholas Reeves, who claimed that there is a secret room behind the walls of Tutankhamun tomb, and a group of foreign and Egyptian archaeologists who disagreed with him.

At the end, the participants recommended further studies and a more accurate survey to ascertain the hypothesis.