In November 1922 Howard Carter and his sponsor Lord Carnarvon discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings in Upper Egypt. Seventy years later my father Tarek Ragab and his uncle Dr. Hassan Ragab created an exact replica tomb for Tutankhamun and his treasures. All great ideas must have a mastermind; Tarek Ragab is the mastermind behind the creation of the replica treasures of Tutankhamun. He also established the Egyptian Art Center, first company in the world to display the replica treasures of Tutankhamun worldwide. It is an interesting story.
When you open a new tourism project probably the worst thing that could happen is a terrorists group shooting at tourist, and this is how it all started. Everything was going well on September 1992 for the opening ceremony of king Tutankhamun’s replica tomb that took place at the Pharaonic Village (a theme park in Cairo) many governmental dignitaries were there including the first lady of Egypt Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak. One week later, fanatics shooting at tourist in Upper Egypt, although miles away from Cairo the impact to tourism was substantial. "Tarek do you know how much did it cost us to carry on your idea?" A question from Dr. Hassan Ragab founder of the Pharaonic Village and sponsor for the replica treasures of Tutankhamun. "About five million dollars" Tarek answered. "Now tourist will not come to Egypt for a while, how can we get back our investment?" Dr. Ragab asked?? Tarek answered in confidence "Dear uncle: if tourist will not come to Egypt Tutankhamun will travel to them. We will take our replicas in a tour and display it worldwide”.