The DC Traveler

King Tut visits Philadelphia

by Jon on March 12th, 2007

I’ve mentioned before, I grew up in Chicago. And as a kid, I recall visiting two major exhibits at local museums. The first was in the early 1970s, soon after the Apollo 11 moon landing. NASA allowed samples of moon rocks to be exhibited around the U.S., so as a kid who loved astronomy, the space program and looking through my telescope, seeing moon rocks up close was really “cool”.

About eight years later, the Field Museum of Natural History had an exhibit from Egypt, The Treasures of Tutankamun. 

The exhibit was a national sensation and the result of President Nixon’s visit to Egypt and his meeting with Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.  During their meeting, the two signed an agreement to create a traveling exhibition of Egyptian antiquities, including some of the treasures from the boy king, Tutankamun.

The exhibit toured the U.S. for three years, and was part of the 55th anniversary of the discovery of the tomb in 1922 by Howard Carter.

At the time, I knew little about ancient Egypt, the pyramids or the pharaos, but remember after seeing the exhibit, I visited the library to learn more about. It’s one place that is still high on my list of travel destinations.

Fast-forward 30 years…and I am once again visiting with King Tut. 

The current exhibit, Tutankhamen and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs at the Franklin Institute Science Museum in Philadelphia has over 130 artifacts on display in 11 galleries, many of which were not part of the original 1970s exhibit.  The primary piece is undoubtedly the pharaoh’s coffinette and a full size golden tomb of one of Tut’s grandparents.

King Tutankhamen was the Pharaoh who ruled the Egyptian dynasty for just 10 years from 1333 B.C. to 1324 B.C.  His name Tutankhamen, means “the living image of the creator”.  He began his reign at the age of just nine, and by 19 was dead.

In 1922, after 15 years of searching the Egyptian desert for ancient ruins, British archaeologist and Egyptologists, Howard Carter, discovered the most intact and best preserved tomb of the Pharaoh ever found.

There were some several strange and interesting occurrences related to the ruins and artifacts of Kign Tut:

• While unwrapping the linens of the mummy, the skull detached from the body, and fell to the floor. It caused the skull to become dented.   
• There is a curse associated with Tut, The Curse of King Tutankhamen. Based on the untimely death of one of the financial backers of the expedition, and a few other deaths of people involved in the project. 
• Stories of a curse were reported almost immediately after the tomb was discovered by members of the press.  In reality, it was most likely journalists who, having been excluded from getting a story, simply invented the curse.  The London Times had exclusive rights to the story. 
• It was falsely reported by competing papers and reporters that tomb had contained an Egyptian curse in hieroglyphics: “They who enter this sacred tomb shall swift be visited by the wings of death.” No such hieroglyphics were ever found.
• While Tut’s cause of death is unknown, there are some theories, including the most widely accepted that he fractured his left thigh (perhaps in a chariot accident) and may have died from gangrene infection. It is also thought that he may have been murdered by receiving a blow to the head and died from a brain trauma.
• Tut King stood 5’7”, was thin and had a pronounced overbite.
• The embalming and mummification process took around three months to complete.

The exhibit is spread over 11 galleries and takes about an hour to tour at a slow pace.  An audio tour is also available.

Showing in the museum’s IMAX theater is Mysteries of Egypt, produced by National Geographic. It documents the construction process and history of the pyramids of Giza and the Valley of the Kings starting some 5000 years ago. Omar Sharif guides you as the journey begins at the source of the Nile River and ends up with the discovery of King Tut’s tumb in the 1920s.  I highly recommend this IMAX movie as part of your Tut experience and for some historical background.

It may be another 30 years before Tut goes on tour again and Philly is the last stop in the U.S. (after Tut visited Los Angeles, Ft. Lauderdale and Chicago), so don’t miss this famous exhibition.

Tutankhamen and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs
Franklin Institute Science Museum
222 N. 20th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103

Dates - daily through September 30 - 9:00 a.m. - to 9:00 p.m.

Tickets – Adults $32.50, kids 4-11 $17.50, seniors $30.00.  Advance tickets are required and are available online.  Tickets are available for a specific date and time (in 30 minute increments) to better control crowds.  Many weekend mornings and afternoons are already sold out, so I recommend you order your tickets immediately.

Getting There - Philadelphia’s about a 2½-hour drive from DC, so you can easily make it a day trip.  You can also take Amtrak from Union Station to Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station.

Additional Information - Of the three books on Tut that I’ve listed below, the one on the left - Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs is the “offical companion” to the exhibition. It’s a highly discriptive history of Tut and the discovery of his tomb.  With stunning photos, illustration and maps, along with informative text, it details each of the pieces on display in the exhibit and makes a great souvenir.  Plus by ordering through Amazon, you’ll save more than 50% versus buying it at the museum store.

Photo credits: Tut Tomb - Hajor, Dec.2002. Released under cc.by.sa and/or GFDL. Magazine cover courtesy of National Geographic.

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POSTED IN: Museums, Must-See Sights