Egypt - Tutankhamun Replica Special The Travel Show

It is arguably the world's most famous antiquity,

but it's now in critical condition, and in order to save it

from complete collapse, a state-of-the-art replica

of Tutankhamen's tomb has been painstakingly created.

After 3,000 years undisturbed, a mere nine decades of mass tourism

has taken its toll on the boy king's final resting place.

After unsuccessful restoration attempts,

installing a replica is accepted by most experts as the only solution.

Unless something is done -

and the facsimile is part of that something -

there will be more collapses.

The Travel Show has exclusive access

to the key players in this epic drama.

Will limiting access to the original tomb

and opening a replica be another nail in the coffin

for Egyptian tourism, or will it be instrumental in securing its future?

Luxor in Egypt - one of the most legendary sites in ancient history.

It's said a third of the world's antiquities

are to be found in this region.

And just outside the city, the Valley of the Kings.

A huge underground acropolis, where the archaeologist Howard Carter

spent five years hunting for elusive buried treasures.

And just as he was about to give up, he struck lucky.

It's such a compelling story of discovery, of mystery, of magic.

In 1922, Carter stumbled on a set of steps, and into the tomb

of a 19-year-old king who'd been forgotten by history.

The tomb itself doesn't compare to others in Luxor,

which are much larger and intricately painted.

But it had one major advantage - it was intact.

It shows the entrance of the Karnak Temple.

'These are the original plate-glass photographs

'of Tutankhamen's treasures, taken by this shop owner's grandfather.'

'The discovery of the tomb spawned a mini industry,

'and kick-started cultural tourism to Egypt.'

For more than 3,000 years, this tomb survived intact,

in almost pristine condition,

but after only nine decades of tourism,

with up to 1,000 visitors trooping in here every day,

well, the conditions deteriorated dramatically.

And the main reason for that was this...

..human breath.

Over the years, since Carter opened the tomb up,

the constant changes of humidity, the changes in moisture levels,

the airborne pollutants that come in with the people,

have an effect on the tomb.

Urgent action was needed.

Previous attempts at conservation had only made the problem worse,

which left one previously unthinkable option,

and arguably commercial suicide for Luxor -

closing Tutankhamen's tomb to the public.

But there was one potential way of taking the heat off the tomb -

to create a facsimile, a copy.

A technical artist was asked to work on the idea.

We began by deciding that the way to record the tombs three-dimensionally

was to use a laser scanning system.

It was a complex job.

Adam's digital conservation company, Factum Arte,

set to work recording the tomb, taking into account colour,

tone, texture, relief, sheen and quality.

For every square metre, 100 million bits of data were recorded.

The aim - to create a replica

that, to the naked eye, would be identical to the original.

The aim is to capture every speck of sand

and every crack in the paint on the surface of the walls.

The team completed the replica and aimed to install it in 2011,

but then political events in Egypt began to take over,

and progress was halted.

The revolution against President Mubarak

had a huge impact on tourism in the country.

And the facsimile project dropped off the radar.

SHOUTING

Further instability and mass protests,

which led to the ousting of the new president, Morsi,

resulted in government lockdown...

..and the replica was left in a basement in Cairo.

But now the replica is finally on its way to Luxor.

The first job, to get it out of storage.

Moving the heavy and very fragile boxes is a tricky operation.

Hopefully still intact, the new tomb is on its way.

Thousands of years ago, limestone, granite and gold

were taken down the River Nile

in order to build the tombs and temples of Luxor -

the very same route used to transport the replica.

FANFARE PLAYS

This fanfare for the arrival of the boxes, and these people have

good reason to hope that the replica will mean more tourism for Luxor.

Because the impact of the country's instability is plain to see here.

Once 10,000 tourists arrived every day. No longer.

Hotel occupancy has dropped by more than 95%.

Before 2011, this market would be bustling with tourists.

Now there is not one.

Walking around this souk,

you can really feel the desperation in the air.

Most of these market traders are making next to nothing every day.

You walk into one of these shops

and they'll only then turn the lights on, in order to save money.

It's heartbreaking.

Egypt without tourism is dead place. As you see yourself.

Temples empty, market is empty, most of the place empty. Hotels empty.

Every part is empty.

'Those who are in work are having to support whole families.

'Saeed is 16 and has a job at a hotel, caring for its camels.'

Many of your friends, are they now not working?

What are they doing these days?

The stakes are high here.

Locals need to be persuaded that the new tomb could revive tourism

and woo people back to Luxor.

Can you really build a brand-new tomb

so that it looks 3,000 years old?

And will it satisfy visitors who may have travelled

thousands of miles to see it?

There is a new tomb in Egypt, but it's not beneath the ground.

It's currently in boxes,

and is a replica of Tutankhamen's burial chamber,

which has been badly damaged by tourism.

Another change in government means a decision about where to put it,

and when, has been slow.

But, finally, an agreement is reached

that the site will be outside the house of Howard Carter,

near the entrance of the Valley of the Kings.

When we had all the finish of the paper,

I was so happy that we could move it fast before they change their mind!

Before the tomb walls can be erected,

the structure needs to be built.

Egyptian architect Tarek

is in charge of the design and construction.

'It is a very unique project.

'For anyone who has loved this country,

'we feel that this is something new, to build a tomb.

'And as an architect, to build a tomb that was designed 1,000 years ago,

'it is very attractive,'

and also I feel some responsibility

of my history and my heritage,

our heritage in Egypt,

and this would help us a lot to keep it for the coming generation.

It's all about turning a shell into a convincing copy

of an ancient burial chamber, both inside and out.

And that means using the same sort of limestone as the original,

and chipping and scraping away at it to get an authentic affect.

Tarek lets me have a go.

-Here, try it.

-Is that right?

Some more to be done, still?

Yes, but slowly and carefully, and you will feel it.

It is like...it's a piece of sculpture. Try it. I trust you.

If you did anything wrong, I would correct it, don't worry.

Don't worry about that.

You have to go back 4,000 years to go inside the mind of somebody

who does not exist any more,

and to understand and to catch what he wants from this building,

which is designed not to be seen or visited.

It's a tomb for the king.

With the outer building well under way

and the frame of the roof hoisted,

the boxes can finally be opened and checked.

The carefully recreated wall panels and replica sarcophagus

are now being seen for the first time by many of the local workmen.

Like this granite... If you look,

it has the mixture of the red and the black

and yellow and the cream, and it feels exactly like stone.

Very good, very good.

Huge flat packages are carefully unwrapped

and then assembled like a giant jigsaw.

Got it?

It's all very exciting, but even at this late stage

some locals are harbouring doubts.

If those tombs survived thousands of years, tomb robbers,

treasure hunters, art collectors,

tourists later on,

I'm sure they can survive now, with modern technology,

with different techniques, for ventilation, for protecting the tomb,

just being more strict.

The creators of the replica say no such technology exists

that can undo the damage that has already been done.

There are many ideas.

People want to put screens of glass,

people want to put in air-conditioning systems,

people want to put in fancy lighting,

people want to do many things,

but the tomb was never meant to be visited.

This is the thing we have to respect.

The simple truth is the tombs can't take that number of visitors.

I would not want to come all the way from Canada

to see replicas in Egypt.

We need to have that passion to see the real thing.

If you're seeing a replica, you don't have that same passion.

SHOUTING

And now the final piece -

the sarcophagus, weighing in at a hefty 300kg.

CHEERING

So, how about one last peek at the original tomb?

After nearly a century of being the object of so much curiosity,

surely it's time to let it breathe,

and let a younger model take some of the limelight.

Down in the burial chamber, there is a gold mummy case

which the replica team didn't have permission to record.

So that'll be one noticeable difference

between the two tombs for visitors.

But the damage on the walls is clear to see.

The simple fact is that,

for every extra day hordes of tourists are allowed in here,

the further it deteriorates.

And the more desperate need for the replica to actually open.

Did I ever doubt it would happen?

I doubted it would happen all the time,

and I never doubted it would come to a satisfactory conclusion.

The only question is, when it was going to come to that conclusion.

And the end is in sight.

I finally get a sneak preview before the replica opens.

It's definitely lighter, it smells newer, but the paintwork is spot-on.

It's pretty impressive to me, but will the public buy into it?

'I asked an Egyptologist who lives locally

'to give me a more informed perspective.'

This is the first time you have seen this,

the first time virtually anybody has seen this.

It is the first time I'm coming here. I'm quite surprised.

-Ooh!

-What do you think?

-Ooh-oh.

Come closer.

You know, I speak, you know, from my heart.

Well, I'm sorry, but I have to say it's marvellous.

THEY LAUGH

Perfect.

It looks so old, it looks so true.

-And, look, this is a copy?

-Mm-hmm.

Can you imagine? This looks a bit new, maybe,

but if you put a glass on top, like it is, you know,

it looks perfect.

What we're talking about here is a change in mindset,

a recognition that, in the grand scheme of things,

going to see the facsimile, the replica,

rather than the original, is actually a very positive act.

Hopefully there's a way that we can both get the tourists back in

and preserve the monuments so the tourists will still come,

because if not there will be a point when people stop coming

because they've destroyed something of fundamental importance.

CHORAL SINGING

And for Adam, if it's well-received,

it opens up a whole world of possibilities.

I would love to be asked to go and work to help save the Sistine Chapel.

Yes, that's an obvious example,

where thousands of people go to see an iconic monument, but too many.

No building can sustain that.

And there are even plans to extend the facsimile project

back here in Egypt,

and train local people to create replicas of some of the tombs

that are so fragile they've been closed to the public for decades.

This is a start.

And I think we will continue to be doing a lot of replica

related to some other tomb, like Seti's tomb,

like other tombs here,

to try to keep all the real tombs in a good condition.

Before tourists are let in, there is just time for some final touches.

How are you feeling? Are you feeling relieved?

I'm feeling deeply stressed is the truth.

The logistics of trying to do the work we're doing

in the heat here, in the chaos, is extraordinary,

but the great moment of happiness that makes the stress worthwhile

is watching the faces of people walking into it.

Initially, both tombs will be open to visitors,

but the long-term plan is to restrict access to the original tomb

and ask individuals to fork out a lot more

for the privilege of seeing the real deal.

I hope people will start to look,

and if they do a sort of spot-the-difference

between the facsimile and the original, I would be delighted.

So, a new tomb for Tutankhamen, a new start for Egyptian tourism?

Well, maybe.

It's certainly a good-news story for a country whose reputation

has been badly tarnished in recent years.

But for this to work, two things have to happen.

People have to return to a country they believe is both stable

and secure, and they have to feel a part of a process

of preserving Egypt's magnificent antiquities.