Egypt Pulling Publicity Stunt

If there are three priest-kings buried with the more treasures than Tut, I'll take a bite out of my wool beret and eat it! 

These are desperate times in Egypt.  We all know that tourism, the life-blood of modern Egypt, has fallen off some 95 to 98% during the continuing unrest of the past four years.  Egypt went from Mubarak (a dictator), to a weak coalition government (a form of democracy), to an Islamic majority (another dictatorship), to a military coup.  American tourists, who are considred "rich" by much of the world, are staying away in droves.  Well, who can blame them?  At least BBC is no longer broadcasting images of unemployed Egyptian males burning Americans in effigy and trampling the Stars and Stripes.  Like I would EVER spend an American penny in your country, dudes?  Ha!

I think this is bullshit - but, we'll see...

Archaeologists race to secure ancient burial site of three Egyptian kings that will make the treasure of Tutankhamun's tomb look like a 'display in Woolworths'

• British archaeologist John Romer, 72, believes he knows location of tomb
• It is believed three priest kings - Heridor, Piankh and Menkheperre - were buried there
• Romer claims the site in Luxor, Egypt, contains magnificent treasures
• Rival archaeology teams are now in a race to find and secure the tomb

By Suzannah Hills PUBLISHED: 06:19 EST, 30 March 2014 | UPDATED: 09:08 EST, 30 March 2014

An archaeology race is on to secure the ancient burial site of three Egyptian kings which contains relics that will outshine even that of Tutankhamun's, it has been claimed.

British archaeologist John Romer, 72, believes he has discovered the site where three ancient Egyptian priest kings - Herihor, Piankh and Menkheperre - were buried in Luxor, Egypt, almost 3,000 years ago.

He claims the burial ground will yield such magnificent treasures that those discovered in the nearby tomb of Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings will seem like a 'display in Woolworths' in comparison.

Like a plot out of an Indiana Jones movie, experts are now racing to secure the site called Wadi el-Gharbi, located in the cliffs on Luxor's west bank, before the arrival of so-called treasure hunters and tomb-raiders.

It is feared that ancient rock inscriptions surrounding the site, which has remained largely untouched since 1085BC, could be damaged by their quad bikes, rope ladders and other equipment.  Last week, three people were arrested by the army security services at Luxor for entering it.
 

The only person known to have excavated at the site was Howard Carter - the man who first scratched a hole through the sealed doorway of Tutankhamun's burial chamber in 1922. Carter had previously cut trenches across the valley floor at the Wadi el-Gharbi site over the course of two weeks in 1916.  He discovered huge mounds of limestone chippings on the wadi floor, identical to those found in the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings. But Carter gave up on his excavations, possibly because he had little idea of what may be buried at the site. [Oh please. He was a fricken treasure hunter and did more damage than we'll ever possibly know.]

Romer has since focused on deciphering inscriptions left behind in the area by the royal workmen who laboured there.

Romer and his colleague, Alex Peden, have found the name of Herihor among 150 rock inscriptions.
Romer believes Carter was mistaken to restrict his search to the valley floor and claims the tomb is instead located higher up in the limestone cliffs which soar to around 1,000ft. He claims: Herihor is most likely to be buried in a coffin of gold, like Tutankhamun [250 years before]. There are likely to be canopic chests, objects of alabaster, gold-plated statues, and thrones, though possibly not chariots,.'

Romer, who has been researching the potential tomb for 40 years, still needs to secure a permit from Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities to carry out his search. He now fears he may be beaten to finding the tomb after discovering a rival expedition has already arrived at the area. Romer says he would be happy to forgo the chance of discovering the tomb so long as the excavation is done properly and keeps valuable inscriptions intact. [Dude, tomb robbers have already been there, courtesy of the Egyptian government.]