What is The Valley of the Kings Foundation?
Like
many archaeological sites around the world, the Valley of the
Kings is under threat from the pressures of time, nature, and
an increasingly hostile modern world. Egypt's Ministry of Culture
and Supreme Council of Antiquities are faced with an awesome task
of upkeep and preservation, which they discharge with great
diligence and skill, assisted by a handful of foreign
archaeological missions from Britain, France, Germany, Japan,
Switzerland, the United States
and
elsewhere.
The task is immense, and much valuable and important work
still remains to be done.
With
this in mind, The Valley of the Kings Foundation was established
in 1998 as a not-for-profit organization currently applying for
charitable status. It aims to help promote and coordinate, on an
international basis, the exploration, documentation,
interpretation, publication and preservation of the site and its
royal and private tombs and related archaeology, as well as to
record the social history of those who have explored and continue
to work there.
Areas
in which the Foundation takes a principal interest fall under the
following headings:
Exploration
and recording
Despite
the work which has been carried out over the centuries within its wadis,
the Valley of the Kings is, from an archaeological point of
view, remarkably little known. The tombs themselves are planned
and documented to varying degrees, but little specific context
exists for understanding the process of their siting, planning,
quarrying, stocking, concealment, robbery and subsequent
dismantling. Landscape and stratigraphical studies of the Valley
are likewise in their infancy.
With
a view to addressing such matters, it is a principal aim of The
Valley of the Kings Foundation to promote the responsible
excavation and recording of the Valley of the Kings through a
range of individual projects directed by officers of the
Foundation or other suitably qualified personnel.
The
first of these projects, The
Amarna Royal Tombs Project was set up in 1998 to carry
out controlled stratigraphic excavation in the Valley, and to date
has completed three successful seasons in the field during 1998,
1999
and 2000.
The Project’s fourth season commenced on 16 January, and will
run until the end of February 2002.
The background to the work and initial results have been
communicated to an international audience through the internet
(the old BBC website beeb.com, 1998), TV (the BBC/The Learning
Channel programme 'Nefertiti. Egypt's Mysterious Queen', 1999),
and through articles
and lectures
in the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Japan and
Egypt itself.
Other
field work is planned, as and when resources become available.
Conservation
The monuments of the Valley of the Kings are under serious threat, both from natural phenomena (flash-flooding) and from the constant demands of tourism.
The wall paintings in the Valley represent the greatest collection of ancient art in
the world. As Egypt's Ministry of Culture and Supreme Council of Antiquities are only too aware, dramatic steps must and are being taken to control the situation, reverse current trends and ensure the tombs' continuing survival.
Within its resources, The Valley of the Kings Foundation will contribute both financially and professionally to the preservation and conservation of the Valley's monuments, and to the circulation of information concerning the results of ongoing work in this area.
Education
The
Valley of the Kings Foundation is committed to the widest possible
dissemination of existing knowledge relating to the Valley of the
Kings, through all available media but in particular via the
internet. Materials of immediate interest include the results of
the Foundation's various field projects, as well as other
archives, documents, photographs, films and recordings of
relevance to the topography, geology, archaeology, and general
history of the area.
The Valley of the Kings Foundation desires in particular to plan for the future by affording opportunities to a range of individuals from Egypt and around the world to study, understand and assist in the documentation and preservation of this unique site. One of the ways by which, in due course, it is hoped this might be achieved is through the provision of scholarships, these intended to enable the pursuit of any Valley of the Kings-related field of study at one of a range of universities or other approved educational institutions throughout the world.