What is the temporary shelter at Egypt’s Ramesseum temple designed to do?

The shelter is meant to protect the pylon gate from the elements while a crane is housed inside for dismantling and restoration work. It was built as part of a Korean-led project in Luxor.

Why did Korea Heritage Service and Egypt’s antiquities council start the Ramesseum project?

They began working together in 2023 on a five-year effort to dismantle and restore the temple’s pylon after years of weathering, sharp temperature swings and earthquake risk threatened its stability.

What did researchers find during the Ramesseum excavation and survey work?

They identified a cartouche bearing Ramesses II’s name and a previously unrecorded place name that may help confirm the extent of his kingdom’s territory. The work on the pylon is planned to continue through 2027.

Korea Heritage Service sets up temporary shelter to restore Egypt's Ramesseum temple gate

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Summary

The Korea Heritage Service and the Korea National University of Heritage completed a temporary protective shelter over the Ramesseum temple’s pylon gate in Luxor, Egypt, marking a milestone in a Korean-led restoration project. The shelter will protect the site while dismantling and restoration work continue. The project is being carried out with Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities and aims to conserve the pylon through 2027.

Key Facts

The shelter measures 42 meters by 26 meters, with a floor area of 1,092 square meters and columns 21 meters tall.
KHS and KNUH have worked with Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities since 2023 on a five-year project to dismantle and restore the temple’s pylon.
Researchers identified a cartouche bearing Ramesses II’s name and a previously unrecorded place name during excavation and survey work.
About 100 people attended the ceremony, including officials from KHS, KNUH, the SCA and the Korean Embassy in Egypt.
KHS said it is the first large-scale temporary shelter of its kind built for a heritage restoration project in Egypt.

By Jhoo Dong-chan

Published Sep 4, 2026 1:24 pm KST

A temporary protective shelter is built over the Ramesseum temple's pylon gate in Luxor, Egypt. Yonhap

The Korea Heritage Service (KHS) and its affiliate, the Korea National University of Heritage (KNUH), held a completion ceremony Wednesday for a temporary protective shelter built over the Ramesseum temple's pylon gate in Luxor, Egypt, marking a milestone in a Korean-led restoration project.

The Ramesseum is the mortuary temple of Pharaoh Ramesses II, who ruled Egypt's 19th dynasty from roughly 1279 B.C. to 1213 B.C., and forms part of the UNESCO World Heritage site "Ancient Thebes with its Necropolis." Years of weathering, sharp temperature swings and earthquake risk have long threatened the structure's stability.

KHS and KNUH have worked with Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), led by Secretary-General Hisham El-Leithy, since 2023 on a five-year project to dismantle and restore the temple's pylon, or monumental gateway. During excavation and survey work, researchers identified a cartouche — an oval hieroglyphic frame enclosing a pharaoh's name — bearing Ramesses II's name, along with a previously unrecorded place name that could help confirm the extent of his kingdom's territory.

The newly completed shelter, measuring 42 meters by 26 meters with a floor area of 1,092 square meters and columns 21 meters tall, will protect the site from the elements while housing a crane for the dismantling and restoration work.

KHS said it is the first large-scale temporary shelter of its kind built for a heritage restoration project in Egypt, applying Korean conservation techniques and experience.

About 100 people attended the ceremony, including officials from KHS, KNUH, the SCA and the Korean Embassy in Egypt. KHS officials also met separately with El-Leithy to discuss expanding heritage cooperation between the two countries.

Egypt's Nubian monument rescue campaign in the 1950s and 60s helped inspire the creation of the World Heritage Convention. Korea, which hosted the UNESCO World Heritage Committee's 48th session in Busan in July for the first time, adopted a declaration there emphasizing international collaboration in heritage protection.

KHS and KNUH plan to continue dismantling and documenting the pylon and conserving its stonework through 2027.

This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.

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