Meeting King Tut

In 1922, a group of British archaeologists were working diligently in the Valley of Kings near Luxor, Egypt. The valley had become a veritable goldmine of artifacts from the age of the pharoahs. Located near the ancient capital of Thebes (now Luxor), the site had been used for centuries as a burial ground for kings and other nobility from the legendary Egyptian Empire. Thinking the tombs of the past had been nearly expired, Howard Carter and his employer, Lord Carnarvon, were exploring. In those early days of treasure hunting, young locals were often hired to bring buckets of water from off-site to the expedition teams. Due to the nature of the sand and winds of the area, these buckets were often dug into the ground for stability once brought. One such local boy had brought in water to the team outside the tomb of Ramses VI, and as he positioned his bucket into the sand, he hit the hard edge of stone. The nearby Carter immediately focused a dig team at the site and so found the hidden tomb of King Tutankhamun, the Boy King. Covered for thousands of years underneath the larger tombs of the area, the tomb was nearly pristine and untouched, one of the most complete discoveries out of any of the tombs of the valley. The find has become one of the most famous stories in archaeological history, fascinating the world and creating one of the lasting legacies of Egypt. The pieces found with the body of Tut are some of the most well-traveled of any pieces of the ancient world.

In cooperation with the National Geographic Society, several of the items from within the tomb are touring yet again. Upon my first visit to New York City, I noticed banners in Times Square mentioning the current tour, "Tutankhamen and the Golden Age of the Pharoahs." I had previously been unaware of the exhibit and had been planning instead to visit some of the other staples of NYC museum touring. While the Met, Guggenheim, Whitney, and the others all sounded well and good, I simply could not pass up the opportunity to see not only another National Geographic Exhibition, but pieces from the Egyptian era that I had only hoped would exist somewhere in the city. So, while my girlfriend went to one of her frilly Broadway-musical-dance-show-things, I took the quick jaunt down to the Discovery Times Square Exposition and slapped down the $30 entrance fee. Going in, I knew very little about the exhibit other than "Egyptian stuff from King Tut and National Geographic." As our hosts gathered us into a small room for a 90-second introduction video, I had doubts in the back of my mind that this would be a small display that used additional audio guide and film entrance costs to cash in. However, as the short clip ended, the doors in front of us swung open to reveal dramatic lights beaming down on a granite bust of the pharoah himself. With booming music introducing us to the actual pieces, my doubts faded and I was able to enjoy an absolutely wonderful gallery with everything I had hoped for in an Egyptian display.

One important element to the exhibit that I found interesting is that it deals not only with King Tut but most of the rest of his family the comprised the 18th Dynasty. With over 130 artifacts available to view, it followed the family from at least Tut's great-grandfather Thutmosis IV to the Boy King himself. The first of the galleries dealt with the early dynasty and Egyptian life at the time, and each of the subsequent sections followed the family timeline through generations. While I did not keep an exact count, I would guess there were at least 15-20 rooms total, each of which had several items on display. The pieces chosen were genuinely interesting, and it was one of the few museums were I made a note to read the descriptions of everything available. Many of the other participants (and there were many on the day I went, especially for a Wednesday), were doing the same from what I had noticed. The descriptions were usually short and simple, but educational and in line with what I read in the cover article of the September 2010 issue of National Geographic dealing with recent DNA tests regarding King Tut's family history. Even the basic items like bowls or spoons had something insightful to offer about life of the era.

Of course, when talking about ancient Egypt, the first image that springs into most peoples' minds is gold. Indeed, Tut's death mask and sarcophagus have practically become the national symbols of the country. While the mask and coffin themselves are not allowed outside Egypt's borders (and thus not included in the exhibit), there was no lack of gold within the Exposition hallways. All of the item descriptions mentioned what the item was composed of, and well over half of them had "gold" somewhere in the makeup. Sometimes, it was only a gilded necklace on a tiny model. Other times, the pieces were huge, including the gilded death mask and golden coffin of Tut's great-grandmother Tjuyu. Extravagance abounded in every room in surprising detail. I was quite surprised at how well most of the pieces had been preserved after thousands of years of burial (Tjuyu's mask still had remnants of its original cloth wrappings). Looking through the glass cases, a person would be hard pressed to admit they had been created by a people long since gone.

I was slightly disappointed about the inability to take photos, understandable a policy though it was. I was also unaware that the mask and coffin of Tut were not on display, though it made sense once I realized it. They did, however, have one of the canopic coffins that contained Tut's internal organs for mummification, and it was essentially a miniature version of the main casks. Out of my entire NYC trip, the King Tut exhibit was among my favorites. Even the dinosaurs in the Natural History Museum have hard competition against such a comprehensive, complete, well-planned gallery. The website estimates nearly 3 million people will view the current tour. While the $30 entrance fee was somewhat pricier than the other museums in city, I highly recommend being one of those 3 million before these pieces before they head back to their home country. Their next stop should be Denver, CO.

Official Exhibition Website