Mummy of boy king Tutankhamun to remain in Valley of the Kings

After much debate, the decision has been reached not to move the mummy of the boy king Tutankhamun to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. The mummy will remain in the Valley of the Kings on the Nile's west bank near Luxor.

Antiquities minister Mamdouh Eldamaty told Ahram Online that after technical discussions and a prolonged study the ministry has decided to keep the mummy inside the tomb, not in its current location at the tomb's entrance hall, but in a side chamber.

This chamber, Eldamaty explained, will be restored by the Getty Foundation, and a new lighting set-up will lend a mysterious atmosphere to the mummy's new home.

The mummy, he continued, will have a sophisticated showcase equipped with state of the art preservation devices.

"Putting the mummy back inside its original sarcophagus is off the cards," said Eldamaty. He said that the atmosphere inside the sarcophagus is no longer suitable, and that it would make the mummy's periodic examination too complicated.

"The lid is too heavy," he said, before adding that closing the mummy inside its original sarcophagus would prevent the tomb's visitors from being able to see the famous relic.

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