Sweeping Aside the Living at Luxor

Middle East Times

One of Egypt's most famous ancient cities, Luxor, is in the process of getting a makeover, and not everyone is pleased with the government's actions. The plan is to create an open-air museum on the city's west bank, home to such renowned monuments as Queen Hatshepsut's Temple and the Valley of the Kings.

It will be a haven for tourists who will be alone with the ancient structures.

The catch, however, is that thousands of Egyptians living on the west bank of Luxor will detract from the atmosphere the government wants to nurture.

No worries, the Supreme Council of Luxor told the Middle East Times: the process of moving people living among the ancient sites will be "smooth and without problems."

In fact, one official said that some people have already been moved from the west bank "and have begun to live normal lives without problems on the east bank."

In a statement to the Middle East Times, the Supreme Council of Luxor, said that the relocation of residents from the west bank will make Luxor "become the first and largest open air museum in the world."

The project to make the west bank an open-air museum is part of an overall endeavor to make Luxor a modern tourist site. It will cost the Egyptian government 1.2 billion Egyptian pounds ($200 million) for all renovations, including restructuring famed temples Karnak and Luxor as well as creating a new bazaar for shopping opportunities.

This project, the council argues, will only help "to increase tourism" in what they argued was "a manner that respects Egyptian heritage and its past" without infringing on the residents of Luxor.

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