A team of experts is working to restore an Ancient Egyptian great hall that featured in numerous blockbusters including Death on the Nile and The Spy Who Loved Me with stars like Roger Moore and Peter Ustinov filming among its 134 giant pillars.

The Great Hypostyle Hall, located in the Karnak temple complex near the Egyptian city of Luxor, is being restored before the opening of Rams Road in the complex, according to Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

The ministry said restoration of the first column in the great hall is around 60 percent finished and that experts are restoring their original colours and removing marks and blemishes.

Mostafa al-Waziry of the Supreme Council of Antiquities said the first stage of work is focused on the pillars with inscriptions.

After completing work on those columns, specialists will start work on the remaining pillars.

According to the consultant for restoration at the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Ghareeb Sonbol, 134 pillars around 20 metres high are located in the Great Hypostyle Hall in total.

Sonbol added that a monument of King Tutmose II, also in the Karnak temple complex, and the hall of Luxor Temple will also be included in the ongoing restoration work.

He said the restoration was carefully planned to make sure only the most effective techniques are being used on the ancient structures.

The Karnak temple complex is home to an array of decayed temples, chapels, and other buildings near Luxor.

Construction at the complex began during the reign of Senusret I in the Middle Kingdom (around 2000 to 1700 BCE) and continued into the Ptolemaic Kingdom (305 to 30 BCE).