Discovering the treasures of Tutankhamun

The exhibition includes an eye-opening tumble of disassembled chariots, gilded beds, caskets, alabaster vases, thrones, statues and boxes, writes ROSITA BOLAND

IT IS a narrative that first becomes familiar through fairy tales and stories when you are a child: the discovery of priceless buried treasure. Included in this narrative usually are maps, the act of digging, an exotic location, determination, setbacks, clues and a long quest that – in books, anyway – ends in glorious success. The search for unimaginable treasures has endlessly fascinated both children and adults.

The most famous archeological find of the last century was Tutankhamun’s tomb in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings on November 27th, 1922. Accounts of that day tell us that British Egyptologist Howard Carter removed enough stones from the first wall in the tomb to see into the space beyond. Then he held a candle out and waited for his eyes to adjust. His patron, Lord George Carnarvon, called out, “Can you see anything?”

“Yes, wonderful things,” Carter eventually managed to reply to those waiting agog behind him.

He later wrote: “Presently my eyes grew accustomed to the light, details of the room within emerged slowly from the mist, strange animals, statues, gold . . . everywhere the glint of gold.”

The name Tutankhamun has since gone around the world. The young pharaoh who lived around 1300 BC and died when he was 19, may not have been the most revered of all the Egyptian pharaohs, but he is the only one whose tomb was found virtually intact.

Although the first room that Carter looked into on that fateful day in 1922 was in chaos and had been disturbed by robbers in another millennium, what lay beyond had not been touched.

The discovery was quite simply sensational. The world could not get enough of the story. The long-lost tomb had everything: a record of the death ritual for kings, hundreds of beautiful priceless objects, and incredible caskets that lay sealed inside each other, the final one made of solid gold.

Most of these objects are now on permanent display at the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities in Cairo.

Some 40 key items, including the gold death mask, went on a world tour from 1972 to 1979. It opened at the British Museum that March and ran for six months. More than 1.6 million people went to see The Treasures of Tutankhamun (among them my parents, who travelled over from Clare) and they queued for up to eight hours. It was the most successful-ever exhibition at the British Museum.

There has been nothing since on the scale of that touring exhibition. Ancient objects that require careful conservation and international tours are not a good combination. Besides, Egypt would far prefer that people interested in seeing their priceless treasures visit the country from which they originate to see them in situ.

Those who cannot or do not wish to make the trip can visit a major exhibition of replicas called Tutankhamun, His Tomb and His Treasures, which will be on show at the RDS, Dublin from February. There are three of these exhibitions touring different cities of the world, each of which has cost €5 million. The one that’s coming to Dublin is now at Manchester’s Museum of Museums at the Trafford Centre and has received about 35,000 visitors to date.

It’s a fair guess that most people interested in Egyptology would prefer to see the real objects themselves in their home country. But the German company, Semmel Concerts, behind these three identical exhibitions is capitalising on the fact that not everyone will have the opportunity to travel to Egypt.

The intention is that you get a flavour of what it was like when the tomb was opened. Thus you take your headphones and walk from area to area.

There is some background information about ancient Egypt; copies of Harry Burton’s beautiful black-and-white photographs from the dig; a couple of 10-minute films; plus more text on boards than you are ever likely to read, unless you are extremely keen indeed. There are also guides, and a programme of talks at each venue.

The exhibition covers a large area, so there is plenty of space for the replicas to be displayed. They are of a very high quality, but be aware that what you are going to see are replicas. There will not be any original artifacts. Some people were disappointed when they arrived at the exhibition not realising this fact.

Among the visitors to Manchester’s Museum of Museums on a recent Monday was Pam Hawthornthwaite, from Blackpool. She has never been to Egypt.

“It’s one place I’d love to go before I die,” she says. For Hawthornthwaite, the biggest surprise about the exhibition was that she “had no idea of the volume of all the stuff that was found”.

There are more than 700 objects replicated, and they include Tutankhamun’s tomb, shrines, coffins and death mask. They also include a reconstruction of the first room that Carter found as it was then. This is the one that had been disturbed by raiders, who had turned up it upside down, leaving an eye-opening tumble of disassembled chariots, gilded beds, caskets, alabaster vases, thrones, statues and boxes.

Ironically, walking past the life-sized reconstructions of replicas in that room is an experience you can’t replicate in Cairo, since everything from that room is now on show in separate cabinets. “That was my favourite part,” says Hawthornthwaite. “Seeing the jumbled mess was like you were seeing it for the first time too.”

Linda and Michael Arrow-Smith from Chorley, Lancashire, are impressed by the scale of the exhibition. They have never been to Egypt, but now Linda would love to go “to see the real gold”.

One person who has been to Egypt seven times, including three visits to the Valley of the Kings where Tutankhamun’s tomb is located, is Lynn Reeves from Cheshire. What is the attraction of seeing replicas when she has seen the real thing several times?

“When you go into the tomb, it’s really small,” she explains. “It’s hard to imagine that all of this was in that tomb. So seeing everything displayed in all this space is an insight into the actual volume of the items that were found.”

She also points out that the Cairo museum is almost always crowded and that the exhibits are difficult to get close to. “In a way, I’m seeing more here than what I’ve seen in the Cairo museum.” She plans to return to Egypt. “I’m fascinated by Tutankhamun,” she says. “I feel I can relate to him because I’ve seen his mummy. I can’t believe in things until I see them.”

Susan King from Hull says she never imagined that “the Egyptians could build anything like this”.

Not everyone is impressed, however. Her husband Tony is irritated that advance tickets can be bought online only, not over the phone.

A couple who don’t want to give their names complain that the narrative on the audios, which guide you through various rooms, are “dumbed down versions of history, only good for children”.

Schoolchildren are a key cohort of the target audience, so unless two audios are provided, the task of producing one version of ancient Egyptian history was always going to be a challenge for the organisers.

One of the parts of the exhibition particularly aimed at children is at the entrance, where they are encouraged to pin pieces of paper called their “shabti wish” on a small pyramid. A number of shabtis were found in Tutankhamun’s tomb: they were small figurines intended to act as stand-ins for him, should he be requested to do manual labour in an afterlife.

So the children are encouraged to think of tasks they would like someone else to carry out for them – but in this life, not in the next one.

At least, that was the intention. It seems something got lost in translation because the Mancunian children wrote about things they would like to happen to them, including:

To tell my mam and dad to never tidy my room;

To go to the shop and buy everything I want;

To have more dolls;

To go into the past to see the real pharaoh.

Sadly, it is not possible to go back into the past, but the best opportunity you will get in Ireland this year of seeing how a pharaoh lived and died will be in Dublin.

Tutankhamun, His Tomb and His Treasures is at the RDS Industries Hall from February 17th to July 23rd. kingtutdublin.ie