Egypt’s treasures in your home are life-size at one time, and small and carefully adorned at other times, as Egypt has inaugurated a factory dedicated to producing high-quality reproductions of ancient Egyptian Pharaonic antiquities, from large statues to tomb artifacts, which are considered archaeological treasures so that tourists can buy them.
The “Kunuz” factory, which covers an area of 10,000 square meters, includes more than 150 artists and restorers, and has so far produced more than 6,400 copies made of stone, wood, ceramics and even gold and silver. Read also The first in the history of Egypt.. a procession roaming Cairo to transport 22 pharaonic royal mummies Chewing gum instead of change.. Jokes and crises of dealing with the paper pound in Egypt She achieved more than 10 million views.. An Egyptian activist tells the story of Palestine in a song in a minute and a half Who built the Egyptian pyramids?
Tutankhamun’s chair
Among the factory’s most expensive masterpieces is a life-size copy of King Tutankhamun’s funeral chair, which costs 140,000 Egyptian pounds ($8,923), in addition to his gold-plated royal mask, which costs 200,000 Egyptian pounds ($12,748).
The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities inaugurated the factory in March of this year in the Obour City of Qalyubia Governorate, about 35 km northeast of Cairo.
A statement from the ministry described the factory as the first of its kind in Egypt and the Middle East, adding that the factory was established in response to a local and international demand to produce accurate and detailed reproductions of ancient Egyptian treasures.
replica piece
One of the technicians specializing in the factory, Salah Hassan (62 years old), said, “It is the property of Khan Al-Khalili. It remains a tradition… a commercial tradition, which means that you don’t need to look like it is… like the museum.. No… and the features, too, are not exactly the same. The advantage here is that They take the same reproductions from the museum and it is implemented here, as the need arose of value…from every need.”
He continued, explaining the difference in the quality of a manufactured product from other products, “Oh, of course, I was sad and very upset because this is my job when I see something that is not good for me to understand at length and the feeling remains from my insides. the most important thing”.
Many of these reproductions will be sold in the newly opened National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, which last April welcomed a procession of 22 royal mummies in a huge display attended by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and other officials.
Certificate and digital code
Dr. Hani Ahmed Badr, Director of Technical Affairs at the Antiquities Reproduction Factory, confirms that each piece of art bears a special seal of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, as well as a certificate proving that it is an exact copy of the original antiquity.
He said, “You, the product of ours, is a true copy of the original antiquity, in addition to that it is made with high-quality materials. For example, we have a model of this costume. Any piece of this costume bears the seal of the Supreme Council of Antiquities and has a barcode (digital code) and has a certificate that this is a true copy of the The original effect is not found in other markets or in the local market.
He continued, “The materials that are made are high-quality materials, the highest and purest materials from which models are made. They are materials that are very close to the ones with which the original trace is carried.”
The presence of a digital barcode encoded for patterns on each piece means that when scanning this barcode with smart phones, it will display information about the artifact, the materials from which it was made, and the location of the original artifact display.
Tourism sector recovery
The Egyptian authorities launched a large number of projects aimed at attracting tourists after the valuable sector, whose revenues are a main source of hard currency for the country, suffered a severe blow due to the Corona virus pandemic, as revenues fell by about 70% in 2020.
Egypt expressed its optimism about the sector’s recovery, and said that the number of tourists had begun to increase gradually since January of this year, reaching about half a million tourists per month.