Wednesday, June 15, 2005

Americans await King Tut’s visit


For the second time in about 30 years, King Tutankhamen will travel to US on a more than one-year visit.

    The Boy King returns to the United States 26 years after his treasures dazzled 8 million museum visitors and created a new category of cultural event.

    Egyptian ambassador in Washington Nabil Fahmi told MENA that hundreds of thousands of Americans have booked their tickets to visit King Tut.

    An exhibition for the pharaoh opens June 16 at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, where the artifacts will be on view through November 15. It then tours Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Chicago and Philadelphia in 27 months.

    Nothing from the sensational 1970s show is repeated. That means there is no gold mask bearing Tut’s unblinking, iconic likeness. Even by today’s over-the-top standards, the Tutankhamen collection is staggering.

    This time, curators of Tutankhamen and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs are packing displays with more than twice as many gold and jewel-encrusted artifacts from the world’s most celebrated archaeological discovery.

    There are 50 objects from the pharaoh’s tomb and 70 more from the graves of his noble relatives. All the artifacts are at least 3,300 years old.

    A carved wood mannequin of King Tut is among the objects on display.

 
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