A Wood Floor Fit For A 3,000-Year-Old King

Photos courtesy of The Paul Getty Trust

As if King Tutankhamun didn't have enough amenities in his tomb, he can now add new hardwood floors to the list. Conservators recently completed a decade-long renovation of the boy king's famous treasure-filled tomb, installing new lighting, a ventilation system and 430 square feet of pine flooring. Hardwood floors were a feature introduced to the tomb's entrance following its discovery in 1922; the tomb's most recent wood flooring was pine that was only about 15 years old but badly worn by millions of visitors to the site, says Dr. Hussein Shaboury, whose Alexandria, Egypt-based development company installed the new flooring. "The most challenging part was designing a system that can be partially assembled in small pieces outside the tomb to allow its access from the narrow tomb door and minimize installation work inside the tomb," Shaboury says. After the flooring was sanded and given a clear matte finish outside the tomb, it was screwed onto a new metal structure overlooking King Tut's remains. The average wood floor pro has no doubt seen some unusual things below floors, but a 3,000-year-old sarcophagus takes the crown—or in this case, the golden death mask.