An exact replica of Tutankhamun’s tomb was inaugurated Wednesday in Luxor, attended by ambassadors from the EU, Minister of Tourism Hisham Zaazou and minister of Antiquities Mohamed Ibrahim .
The project was supported by Factum Arte Organization and funded by the E.U. to boost tourism in Egypt, according to a statement by the E.U. embassy in Cairo.
E.U. Ambassador James Mouran said on the sidelines of the opening that he hoped that the facsimile of the tomb would help the tourism sector.
After 2011′s January 25 Revolution, the Supreme Council of Antiquities ordered King Tut’s tomb closed in an effort to protect it.
Germany’s Ambassador to Cairo, Michael Bock, said before the opening that a team is visiting Sharm El Sheikh days to verify the security situation there, in order to pave the way for German tourists to return to Sharm El Sheikh.
Egypt tourism was damaged since ousting the former President Hosni Mubarak in 2011 over the political unrest in the country. Some E.U. countries issued travel warnings in March after a bomb exploded near Taba killing three Korean tourists and an Egyptian driver.
