USAID Offers USD 17 Million to Conserve Archaeological Sites in Luxor

As part of their decades-long support of Egypt’s development efforts, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is providing Luxor with USD 17 million via the University of Chicago to conserve and preserve its archaeological sites. This fund will also be used to support tourism and establish Luxor’s first formal school of archeology.

Recently, the USAID has helped fund the restoration and preservation of some of Egypt’s most promising tourist sites. The USAID invested USD 6.8 million to revitalise cultural tourism in Esna, a small town just 55 km south of Luxor, where they helped restore archaeological sites such as the Ottoman-era caravansary ‘Wakalet el-Geddawy’. Other US-funded cultural heritage projects include the famous Luxor Temple complexes and Medinat Habu, which is currently being transformed into an open-air museum by the University of Chicago with a six million dollar grant from USAID.

Since 1978, the US has contributed USD 30 billion in support of Egyptian development. Over the past 25 years, the US has provided more than USD 102 million towards preserving and protecting more than 85 cultural sites across Egypt.