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The face of King Tut, revealed
For a 3,000-year-old, King Tutankhamen is in pretty good condition. There is still skin on the Egyptian pharaoh who died when he was only 19. Skin also covered the feet of the boy king, whose tomb was discovered in 1922 in the sand of the Valley of the Kings.
The mummy was revealed to the public yesterday by Zahi Hawass, head of Egypt's supreme council of antiquities, who, judging by his headgear, is a huge Indiana Jones fan.
"He has these beautiful buck teeth and the tourists will see a little bit of a smile on the face of the golden boy," said Mr. Hawass. "This will make the golden boy live forever."
Zahi Hawass (3rd L), head of the High Council for Antiquities, supervises the removal of the lid of the sarcophagus of the mummy of King Tutankhamen in his underground tomb in the Valley of the Kings.
Zahi Hawass (C), head of the High Council for Antiquities, supervises the removal of the mummy of King Tutankhamen from his stone sarcophagus.
The true face of Pharaoh Tutankhamen was revealed today to the public for the first time since he died in mysterious circumstances more than 3,000 years ago.
The feet of Pharaoh Tutankhamen are displayed in a climate-controlled case at his tomb. The pharaoh's mummy was moved from its ornate sarcophagus in the tomb where its 1922 discovery caused an international sensation to a nearby climate-controlled case where experts say it will be better preserved.
Photos: REUTERS/Ben Curtis/Pool and CRIS BOURONCLE/AFP/Getty Images
Published Monday, November 05, 2007 11:01 AM by Jeremy Barker
Filed under: Science & Health
Tutankhamen is unveiled, at last
Mummy moved to protective case to avoid deterioration
The Times, London, and Citizen News Services
Published: Monday, November 05, 2007
Blackened with age and desiccated by desert heat, the mummy of King Tutankhamen was seen in public yesterday for the first time since he died at 19 more than 3,000 years ago. It was revealed to the world in a climate-controlled glass display case in an antechamber of his own tomb in the valley near Luxor, where generations of Egyptian pharaohs were buried.
Only the face and feet can be seen, with the body wrapped in linen. The face was badly damaged when his discoverer, Briton Howard Carter, tried to pull off the ornate golden mask pressed on to the mummy's face. He discovered the tomb -- almost entirely intact with all its treasures -- on Nov. 4, 1922.
The embalmers of ancient Egypt appeared to have done their job well because the facial skin of the boy king, was remarkably well preserved. Even his feet were still covered in skin, poking up from the modest wooden tray in which he has been stored in recent years within his burial chamber deep under the sands of the Valley of the Kings.
At first glance, the face might seem a little ghoulish, but to the Egyptian archeological authorities, it was beauty incarnate, not least because of its potential for attracting tourists.
"He has these beautiful buck teeth and the tourists will see a little bit of a smile on the face of the golden boy," said Zahi Hawass, head of the country's supreme council of antiquities. "This will make the golden boy live forever." Before yesterday, Mr. Hawass estimated that only about 50 people who are still alive had ever seen the mummy. It was moved because every day hundreds of visitors file through his tomb in the Valley of the Kings on the west bank of the Nile, bringing with them into the royal tomb bacteria, humidity and other pollutants.
"The mummy risked being reduced to dust because of the rising levels of humidity due to the visitors," said Mr. Hawass, who heads the Supreme Council of Antiquities.
Made pharaoh at the age of nine, Tutankhamen became famous with the discovery of his tomb and the treasures within by Carter in 1922. Although historians do not regard King Tut's rule as particularly notable, he, more than any other pharaoh, has come to symbolize the wonders of ancient Egypt. Carter found that the tomb was untouched by robbers when he unearthed it 85 years ago yesterday. It was that fact that forced the boy king into the consciousness of the world. Tomb raiders had, over the centuries, found and pillaged almost all the chambers of the great pharaohs, making what Carter found after a six-year search exceptional. All the major works of art and ceremonial finery created for King Tut were still there, including, famously, the ornate gold mask. It weighs 11 kilograms.
The mummy had to be reconstructed after Carter cut it into 18 pieces in order to gain access to amulets and other jewelry, said Mustafa Wazery, director of the Valley of the Kings. Ancient Egyptians mummified the bodies of their rulers to ensure that their spirits had somewhere to reside in the afterlife.
Carter wrote a bestselling book about his discovery. But the myth of King Tut really took off in the early 1970s when the artifacts were taken on a global tour. The Treasures of Tutankhamen exhibition drew 1,694,117 people to the British Museum in London in 1972 during its six-month stay, making it the most popular exhibition ever to be held in London.
Later this month, a second exhibition will open in London. The show will include various works of art recovered from King Tut's burial chamber.
For a 3,000-year-old, King Tutankhamen is in pretty good condition. There is still skin on the Egyptian pharaoh who died when he was only 19. Skin also covered the feet of the boy king, whose tomb was discovered in 1922 in the sand of the Valley of the Kings. The mummy was revealed to the public yesterday by Zahi Hawass, head of Egypt's supreme council of antiquities, who, judging by his headgear, is a huge Indiana Jones fan. "He has these beautiful buck teeth and the tourists will see a little bit of a smile on the face of the golden boy," said Mr. Hawass. "This will make the golden boy live forever."
Zahi Hawass (3rd L), head of the High Council for Antiquities, supervises the removal of the lid of the sarcophagus of the mummy of King Tutankhamen in his underground tomb in the Valley of the Kings. Zahi Hawass (C), head of the High Council for Antiquities, supervises the removal of the mummy of King Tutankhamen from his stone sarcophagus.
The true face of Pharaoh Tutankhamen was revealed today to the public for the first time since he died in mysterious circumstances more than 3,000 years ago.
The feet of Pharaoh Tutankhamen are displayed in a climate-controlled case at his tomb. The pharaoh's mummy was moved from its ornate sarcophagus in the tomb where its 1922 discovery caused an international sensation to a nearby climate-controlled case where experts say it will be better preserved.Photos: REUTERS/Ben Curtis/Pool and CRIS BOURONCLE/AFP/Getty Images
Published Monday, November 05, 2007 11:01 AM by Jeremy Barker
Filed under: Science & Health
Tutankhamen is unveiled, at last
Mummy moved to protective case to avoid deterioration
The Times, London, and Citizen News Services
Published: Monday, November 05, 2007
Blackened with age and desiccated by desert heat, the mummy of King Tutankhamen was seen in public yesterday for the first time since he died at 19 more than 3,000 years ago. It was revealed to the world in a climate-controlled glass display case in an antechamber of his own tomb in the valley near Luxor, where generations of Egyptian pharaohs were buried. Only the face and feet can be seen, with the body wrapped in linen. The face was badly damaged when his discoverer, Briton Howard Carter, tried to pull off the ornate golden mask pressed on to the mummy's face. He discovered the tomb -- almost entirely intact with all its treasures -- on Nov. 4, 1922.
The embalmers of ancient Egypt appeared to have done their job well because the facial skin of the boy king, was remarkably well preserved. Even his feet were still covered in skin, poking up from the modest wooden tray in which he has been stored in recent years within his burial chamber deep under the sands of the Valley of the Kings.
At first glance, the face might seem a little ghoulish, but to the Egyptian archeological authorities, it was beauty incarnate, not least because of its potential for attracting tourists.
"He has these beautiful buck teeth and the tourists will see a little bit of a smile on the face of the golden boy," said Zahi Hawass, head of the country's supreme council of antiquities. "This will make the golden boy live forever." Before yesterday, Mr. Hawass estimated that only about 50 people who are still alive had ever seen the mummy. It was moved because every day hundreds of visitors file through his tomb in the Valley of the Kings on the west bank of the Nile, bringing with them into the royal tomb bacteria, humidity and other pollutants.
"The mummy risked being reduced to dust because of the rising levels of humidity due to the visitors," said Mr. Hawass, who heads the Supreme Council of Antiquities. Made pharaoh at the age of nine, Tutankhamen became famous with the discovery of his tomb and the treasures within by Carter in 1922. Although historians do not regard King Tut's rule as particularly notable, he, more than any other pharaoh, has come to symbolize the wonders of ancient Egypt. Carter found that the tomb was untouched by robbers when he unearthed it 85 years ago yesterday. It was that fact that forced the boy king into the consciousness of the world. Tomb raiders had, over the centuries, found and pillaged almost all the chambers of the great pharaohs, making what Carter found after a six-year search exceptional. All the major works of art and ceremonial finery created for King Tut were still there, including, famously, the ornate gold mask. It weighs 11 kilograms.
The mummy had to be reconstructed after Carter cut it into 18 pieces in order to gain access to amulets and other jewelry, said Mustafa Wazery, director of the Valley of the Kings. Ancient Egyptians mummified the bodies of their rulers to ensure that their spirits had somewhere to reside in the afterlife.
Carter wrote a bestselling book about his discovery. But the myth of King Tut really took off in the early 1970s when the artifacts were taken on a global tour. The Treasures of Tutankhamen exhibition drew 1,694,117 people to the British Museum in London in 1972 during its six-month stay, making it the most popular exhibition ever to be held in London.
Later this month, a second exhibition will open in London. The show will include various works of art recovered from King Tut's burial chamber.