I have been a fan of Egypt since I was a kid. I taught myself (some) hieroglypics, went on excavations in the backyard, and even had plans to be mummified. So when I saw King Tut was back in the states, I had to go. My mom had taken me when I was very young, but unfortunately I don't remember it.
I tried to go on opening weekend, but it was sold out, so Natasha and I went back to the Field Museum this last weekend. This went sour pretty quickly. I brought my camera, and several lenses, along to be able to capture all of the great treasures. But all photography (even non flash) was prohibited. This was completely unadvertised, and was a big pain in the bottom, because I now had to lug around my giant camera bag, with no benefit! I dont know if this was due to some greedy need to want to sell books and pictures at the gift shop (likely) or because...
The place was packed... Even with time restricted tickets (only good for a 30 minute window) the place was very full. In order to see some of the items, you had to wait 5 or more minutes to work your way to the front of the crowd. The photography restriction is understandable in this situation, as it would take hours to let everyone get their unobstructed photos of the items (plus idiots using flash on 3000 year old paint), but it would have been nice to be warned in advance.
Then you get to the content. The exhibit was easily more than 70% not Tut artifacts. Lots of Amonhotep II , III, and various other royals (probably) related to Tut. That isn't to say that the items aren't interesting, and rare, and worth seeing - but the exhibit is clearly advertized as revolving around Tut.
In particular, Tut's golden mask is the centerpiece of all advertising, including posters all over the city, the internet site for the exhibit (www.kingtut.org), the admission tickets, etc. But THE MASK IS NOT ON EXHIBIT. I don't know if I can emphasize how dissapointing (and frankly fraudulent) I feel this is. The single most iconic item related to Tut, and advertized everywhere, is not on display. Also not on display were the golden chariots, thrones, etc. There were really only 6 or 7 items actually from Tut's tomb, plus a large stella that refered to Tut from a temple.
In any case, I think the exhibit is worthy of a visit if you are a fan of Egypt, especially if you live near Chicago or one of the other venues, but be realistic about what you are about to see.
update Technically the show is not using false advertising, the mask that is used for all the ads is the “Canopic Coffinette of Tutankamun” This is a miniature coffin (about 16 inches long) that was used to store Tut's liver.
but the image is highly cropped to seem the same as the mask. The brochure does name the item correctly, but I think that 99% of all viewers would assume it is the mask. Interestingly, the coffinette is more ornate and more impressive (at the same level of detail) than the famous mask that everying thinks of, but the mask is of course much larger. See the images below for the actual item, how the item is presented, and compare that to the mask. I think its clear from the cropping that they are trying to evoke the mask. They could have cropped less tightly to make it obvious that wasn't the mask, but still give an impressive photo.
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| The Cofinette (It is difficult to tell from this picture, but the coffintte is only about 16 inches long.) |
| | The Coffinette as cropped in the ads |
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| The mask everyone is expecting. You can tell the ad is the cofinnette, because the full mask does not include the crossed arms with the crook and flail |