By Aldrich Tan/For Choices

September 30, 2005

Thirty years ago, the golden treasures of Egyptian boy king Tutankhamun attracted more than 8 million visitors in a seven-city tour of the United States.

Some of those treasures are now on display at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

The National Geographic Society worked with the Egyptian government to bring to America 50 of the more than 5,000 objects discovered in King Tut's tomb. The exhibit, in Los Angeles through Nov. 15, also will travel to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Chicago, and Philadelphia.

"U.S. audiences have an opportunity to view some of the most important artifacts from ancient Egypt," said Cindy Beidel, National Geographic spokeswoman. "We want to bring audiences a fresh look at the legendary Boy King."

The exhibit does not include King Tut's famous golden funerary mask. But priceless treasures that dazzled a global audience years ago are part of the exhibit, Bidel said.

These objects include two gilded wooden statues of King Tut wearing the crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt, an alabaster cosmetic jar with royal insignia and a golden cartouche depicting the king on an ostrich hunt.

A miniature coffin of beaten gold - it carries the likeness of the pharaoh's golden funeral mask - also is on display, Bidel said. The coffin held a mummified bundle of the king's organs.

Other highlights of the exhibition focus on King Tut's family. Among these 70 items is the colossal head of Pharaoh Akhenaten, who is possibly King Tut's father.

Formerly known as Amenhotep IV, he abolished the traditional worship of multiple deities in favor of a single god, the sun god Aten, according to the official exhibition guide. The colossal head was found at the Temple of Aten in Karnak, Egypt.

Tutankhamun, formerly called Tutankhaten, started restoring the traditional gods of Egypt. The exhibition features a life-size granite statue of the boy king from the Temple of Amun in Karnak.

But King Tut too suffered from the infamy of his father's religious heresy, according to Egyptologists. The pharaoh's name is almost scratched from the back of the statue.

Another exhibit room displays treasures from King Tut's great-grandparents, Yuya and Tjuya. The room features Tjuya's gilded coffin and her golden funerary mask. Yuya and Tjuya's tomb in the Valley of the Kings was opened by grave robbers in antiquity.

Shannon Jackson, 52, from North Hollywood said his favorite exhibit was Tjuya's elaborate golden sarcophagus.

"It has such an amazing inlay," he said.

The exhibition is located in the museum's west wing, which is one block from the main museum. Due to the exhibition's popularity, general-admission tickets admit visitors in one-hour slots.

Museum assistants sell headphones for an audio tour narrated by Egyptian film actor Omar Sharif. The cost: $6.

After traveling through rooms filled with royal Egyptian treasures and artifacts, visitors arrive at the entrance of the Tut's burial chamber gallery. The exhibit features a holographic image of King Tut's mummy along with five treasures from his body, including a royal diadem that was on the mummy's head.

At the entrance of this exhibit, the National Geographic Society has produced a digital animation of the pharaoh's shrine, sarcophagus and multiple coffins. None of the objects is part of the current exhibition.

Another video displays a CAT scan of King Tut's mummy. There were early suggestions that the pharaoh was murdered, but the CAT scan showed that what was thought to be a head wound was actually resin from the embalming process.

The scans also revealed that the boy king was 5-foot-6 and had a broken ankle, several fractured ribs, a deeply impacted wisdom tooth and a dislocated left knee. The cause of the Boy King's early death remains a mystery.

What also remains a mystery is whether King Tut's treasures will ever again be taken outside Egypt, Beidel said. That decision remains with the Egyptian government, she said.

How to attend

What: Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs

Where: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, West Building; 6067 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles

When: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day through Nov. 15

Tickets: $25 during the week, $30 on weekends. VIP tickets cost $75.

Information: www.kingtut. org, (877) 888-8587 or visit www.ticketmaster.com
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Page: 10D

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