Glories Of Ancient Egypt Will Come To Life Again

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31235, 6 December 1966, Page 16

Glories Of Ancient Egypt Will Come To Life Again

(N .Z.P.A.-Reuter) CAIRO. The great temple of Karnak at Luxor, used 45 centuries ago for the worship of the God Amon, will be brought to life again for next year’s tourists to Upper Egypt.

A son et lumiere programme is to be introduced at this monument of ancient Egypt and pageantry recalling a colourful past will be enacted.

Under a restoration and beautification scheme, the big sacred lake at Karnak, now dry, will he refilled with water pumped from the nearby Nile. The son et lumiere facilities will bathe the temple in a flood of coloured lights. There will be music, and the deep voice of a narrator will tell how the colossal place of worship was built and describe the peoples of those distant days. A restaurant and other amenities will be provided for visitors.

Giving a new look to Karnak, always a magnet for sightseers, is part of a £2B million development plan which the Egyptian Government is carrying out to enhance attractions for the country’s many tourists. While Karnak will receive a considerable share of this money, a sum of £1 million will be spent on the improve-

ment of tourist services in Luxor. . The plan for other ancient remains include son et lumiere facilities in the Temple of Edfu and other temples south of Aswan. Islands Illuminated The illumination of all islands in the Nile has already been completed at a cost of about £BOOO. Each year more tourists are visiting Egypt. There were 407,382 in 1964 and an increase of 9 per cent to about 550,000 last year. A West German company is to organise trips to Egypt and a Swiss hotel group is to run the famous Mena House Hotel overlooking the Giza pyramids near Cairo, and two leading hotels in Aswan and Alexandria. Dr. Aziz Yassin, the Minister of Tourism, says that his plans include the encouragement of archaeological excavations. Out of a total of 27,000 acres in various parts of Egypt with

possible traces of the past, 1000 acres have already been cleared by the Antiquities Department. Foreign archaeological expeditions are being invited to help with the clearing of the large remaining area. Contains Relics The onee-forgotten land of Menia, in Upper Egypt, renowned for the richness of its antiquities is now part of the tourist area. Seldom visited in the past, the area contains archaeological relics of the Middle Kingdom which existed from 2100-1700 B.C. The area was also the cradle of the first monotheistic religion founded by the Pharaoh Ikhnaton in about 1580 B.C.

But Egypt is planning other, modern attractions. In a few years the tourist will be able to idle in the shade of a million swaying palm trees surrounding Lake Karoun, 50 miles from Cairo. The lake offers the holidaymaker a variety of outdoor sports, including duck shooting, fishing, yachting and water ski-ing. Bungalows are to be built round the lake and a hydrofoil ferry-service will link the northern and southern shores.