This book is intended as a guide for visitors to the facsimile of the tomb of Tutankhamun. Part I begins with an overview of what we owe to the Pharaonic culture in general. Part II goes on to the story of the rebuilding of the tomb of Tutankhamun. Then in Part III there follows an overview of the iconographic programme in the burial chamber. This section concludes with an introduction to the religious representations and texts, given on the four gilded shrines placed around the sarcophagus. These images and texts combine to provide unique guidelines to Pharaoh Tutankhamun in his tomb prior to his resurrection as Re-Osiris. The more we learn about the deeper meaning of these guidelines in the Pharaonic tombs, the more we can also see what all this may mean for us today. And the more these images and texts acquaint us with the wisdom of the ancient Egyptians about this world of the Beyond, the more we will be motivated to protect these treasures of the past in a sustainable way for future generations.

Foreword by Prof. Dr Mamdouh El-Damati 7 Introduction 9 Part I: What we owe to Pharaonic Egypt 11 Egypt – protected by Mother Nature 13 The first Half of human History – mainly written in Egypt 15 Equality of the male and the female Principle 17 The Pharaonic Concept of Sustainability – 3‘000 Years of Success 19 Successful Overcoming of a Crisis: Tutankhamun and Ma‘at 21 The Sungod‘s Journey to its own eternal Renewal 23 Following the Sungod’s Journey can bring about eternal Rejuvenation 25 Part II: The Story of the Creation of Facsimiles of Pharaonic Tombs 27 The Problem of Mass Tourism 29 From the Problem to a possible Solution 31 The Facsimile of the Tomb of Thutmosis III 33 The Facsimile of the Tomb of Tutankhamun 35 The Phases of Making the Facsimile of the Tomb of Tutankhamun 37 The Facsimiles of the Tombs of Seti I and Queen Nefertari 47 Creating Work-places for Egyptians 49 Part III: The Tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun: Images and Texts in its Burial Chamber 55 1. Overview of the Tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun 56 2. Who was Tutankhamun? 59 3. The Discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamun 61 4. The Opening of the Burial Chamber 63 5. The Decoration on the Walls, Introduction 65 6. The east Wall 66 7. The north Wall 74 8. The south Wall 84 9. The west Wall 88 10. The south Wall - left Part 95 11. The four Shrines around the Quartzite Sarcophagus 97 12. The smallest Shrine IV 99 13. Shrine III 107 14. The Shrine II 111 15. The Pall 115 16. Shrine I 117 17. The Quartzite Sarcophagus 121 18. The three Coffins inside the Sarcophagus 123 19. The golden funerary Mask 125 Part IV: Appendix 127 1. Chronology of the Pharaohs of the New Kingdom 128 2. Selected Bibliography 129 3. List of Illustrations 132 4. Glossary 136 5. Index 139