Working in the Valley of the Kings

Wed, 24 May 2006 09:42:34 GMT

Sorry for no updates for a while I have been to Luxor for a few days working in the Valley of the Kings on the Visitor Center project and things took a while longer to sort out than I expected.

So what have I been doing in Luxor and the Valley of the Kings?

Here's a brief overview:-

The Valley of the Kings Site Management Plan

The Valley of the Kings (Wadi Biban el Mouluk) on the West Bank of the Nile in Luxor, in the Arab Republic of Egypt, has been labelled a ‘honey-pot’ World Heritage site. Its recognition goes beyond national and international boundaries and it is considered an essential component of any visit to Luxor. The result of this popularity has been a massive increase in visitor numbers over the last decade. The total number of admissions in 2004 was over 1.8 million; this is approximately 7,000 visitors a day.

Moreover, the number of visitors is almost guaranteed to increase, yet this fragile resource cannot be expanded to deal with this influx. However, what can be done is to prepare an effective site management plan to deal with the current visitor levels and the planned increases and agree on the limits of acceptable change to the site.

In the spring of 2004, the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) requested that the Theban Mapping Project (TMP) prepare a masterplan for the future management of the Valley. This project was generously supported by the World Monuments Fund (WMF) and the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE).

The methodology adopted for the plan included the following elements:

· Assessing the significance and values of the site

· A survey of historical data

· An inventory of threats

· A comprehensive condition survey of the tombs and the site

· A stakeholder consultation both on site and online

· Microclimate surveys

· Visitor behaviour surveys

· Proposals to remedy the current threats and to prepare the site for the future

These processes are designed to be fluid, dynamic, and face regular revision.

The completed Valley of the Kings Masterplan will be translated into Arabic and form the basis for a practical site manual.

More on this later, any comments appeciated.

Archaeologist at Large: TMP

Working in the Valley of the Kings