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Tutankhamun Golden Coffin under Restoration for the First Time

The sarcophagus of boy pharaoh King Tutankhamun is on display in his newly renovated tomb in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, Egypt January 31, 2019. (Reuters)
The sarcophagus of boy pharaoh King Tutankhamun is on display in his newly renovated tomb in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, Egypt January 31, 2019. (Reuters)
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Tutankhamun Golden Coffin under Restoration for the First Time

The sarcophagus of boy pharaoh King Tutankhamun is on display in his newly renovated tomb in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, Egypt January 31, 2019. (Reuters)
The sarcophagus of boy pharaoh King Tutankhamun is on display in his newly renovated tomb in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, Egypt January 31, 2019. (Reuters)

Experts have begun restoration work on the golden-plated coffin of Egypt’s boy pharaoh King Tutankhamun for the first time since the discovery of the tomb in 1922, the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities said on Wednesday.

The coffin and the treasured collection of Tutankhamun’s tomb are expected to be the centerpiece of the new Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) that Egypt will open next year near the Pyramids of Giza.

British archaeologist Howard Carter discovered the tomb of the 18th dynasty king in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor in 1922. The tomb was untouched and included about 5,000 artifacts.

The ministry said the coffin was transported from southern Egypt to the GEM three days ago “in order to be restored for the first time since the tomb’s discovery”.

“The coffin has suffered a lot of damage, including cracks in the golden layers of plaster and a general weakness in all golden layers,” said Eissa Zidan, Head of the First Aid Restoration Department at the GEM, according to Reuters.

“The restoration work will take about eight months” he added.

Egypt has previously announced that the GEM, which has been under construction for about 15 years and is partially funded by Japan, will officially open by the end of 2020.

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Greek Firefighters Make Progress against Wildfires

Local residents and firefighters stand along a road during efforts to extinguish a wildfire near the city of Patras, western Greece on August 13, 2025. (Photo by Aris MESSINIS / AFP)
Local residents and firefighters stand along a road during efforts to extinguish a wildfire near the city of Patras, western Greece on August 13, 2025. (Photo by Aris MESSINIS / AFP)
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Greek Firefighters Make Progress against Wildfires

Local residents and firefighters stand along a road during efforts to extinguish a wildfire near the city of Patras, western Greece on August 13, 2025. (Photo by Aris MESSINIS / AFP)
Local residents and firefighters stand along a road during efforts to extinguish a wildfire near the city of Patras, western Greece on August 13, 2025. (Photo by Aris MESSINIS / AFP)

Firefighters in Greece gained ground Thursday against a wildfire outside the third-largest city of Patras, while water bombers battled blazes on three other fronts.

The situation in the country's main port to Italy was much improved after an overnight struggle, fire department spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said in a televised address.

Firefighters in Patras were facing "scattered" pockets of flames but the fire was "still active" in the eastern outskirts of the city of over 200,000, he said.

Citing data from the EU's Copernicus satellite monitoring program, the Athens national observatory on Thursday said ongoing fires in the Patras area, the Aegean island of Chios, the Ionian island of Zakynthos and near the western city of Preveza had burned over 10,000 hectares, reported AFP.

Police said they had arrested a 25-year-old man on suspicion of starting one of four fires that erupted near Patras on Tuesday.

Officials on Wednesday had evacuated a children's hospital and a retirement home as the fire had moved dangerously close to the western Greek city.

As the fire swept through the Patras outskirts late Tuesday, it gutted a customs tow yard, destroying over 500 vehicles inside.

Alexandros Dimitrakopoulos, a forestry professor at Thessaloniki's Aristotle University, said forest fires in Greece were now regularly affecting urban areas.

"We have seen it in (the greater Athens area) since 2021, now in Patras," he told state TV ERT.

Other important fires continued to burn Thursday on the Ionian island of Zakynthos, the Aegean island of Chios and near the western city of Preveza, the spokesman said.

Some 600 ground crews and nearly 30 water bombing aircraft were deployed from dawn in all locations.

Reduced wind intensity was aiding firefighting efforts.

Greece this summer has faced several major forest fires amid high temperatures which scientists say human-induced climate change is intensifying.