King for a Day

I’m not generally given to reading non fiction but for some reason I found the images and the story within the pages of “The Discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamen” by Howard Carter absolutely riveting. It was one of the books on my father’s bookshelf, and even as a child, it fascinated me.

So today, given that I have a few days left of my stay in Melbourne, I took the opportunity to go visit the touring Tutankhamun Exhibition that’s based here for a while.

Here’s what you’ll see if you go.

Here’s what you won’t see…

Now, it helped that I’d had prior warning that some of the bigger pieces I’d have read about as a child weren’t on display, and it helped also that I’d been warned that some of the stuff was small! I’d also googled and noted that the burial hood, surely the most recognizable treasure from the tomb wasn’t Down Under with this other collection.

You also have to get your head around the fact that there are SO many people going along to see it… the sessions for viewing are carefully controlled to keep numbers flowing through, and if you want to see it after hours, it costs you more than the daylight visits. Additionally, there are a LOT of people visiting the exhibition… so if you’re not a fan of big crowds you’ll have to weigh up whether your desire to see the exhibition is greater than the fact that there is a fair bit of waiting to go past the pieces, and for that matter, waiting to get into the room to see anything!

BUT

Seriously, try and get your head around the fact that these pieces are older than Jesus… and ask yourself if you want to miss seeing them… because what you see are amazing artefacts you might never see again.

Oh, and if you really want to see King Tut’s burial mask? You’ll have to start saving now for a trip to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.