Antiquities minister holds press conference on King Tut mask restoration

Minister of Antiquities Mamdouh el Damati will hold a press conference Wednesday on the occasion of the end of the renovation of the golden mask of King Tutankhamun.

Damati will announce all details concerning the 8-week restoration process of the famed relic.

In statements Monday, Damati said the journalists and reporters will be allowed to take a photo of the mask, which will be on display at the Egyptian Museum, after the press conference.

Earlier, the German government has offered Egypt a grant of €50,000 for the restoration of Tutankhamun's golden mask.

Earlier, the German government has offered Egypt a grant of €50,000 for the restoration of Tutankhamun's golden mask.

In January, the Egyptian Museum acknowledged that in August 2014 its staff accidentally detached the mask's blue and gold beard while changing the display's light bulbs and hurriedly glued it back on with epoxy resin, damaging the artifact.

In August 2014, the beard attached to the 3,300-year-old mask was knocked off while being returned to its display case after workers replaced a burned out light.

King Tutankhamun, an Egyptian pharaoh of the 18th dynasty who died at the age of 19, was propelled to fame when his almost completely intact tomb was discovered in Luxor by British archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922.

Unlike other royal tombs which were looted over the years, some 3,000 artifacts were recovered from the young King's tomb, including the 11-kilogram (over 24-pound) mask.