PHILADELPHIA HOSTS KING TUT EXHIBIT PACKAGES,
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Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs, an exhibition of more than 130 artifacts from King Tut and his royal relatives, will be in Philadelphia's Franklin Institute from February 3 to September 30, 2007. Philadelphia will be the last stop on its North American tour.

The treasures in the galleries are between 3,300 and 3,500 years old. Besides 50 of King Tut's burial objects, visitors will see more than 70 artifacts from his 18th Dynasty (1555 B.C. to 1305 B.C.) contemporaries. Stone, faience and wooden pieces from burials before Tut's reign demonstrate the lost burials of other royalty and commoners.

King Tut's birth, marriage, life and death

The ancient Egyptian boy pharaoh King Tutankhamun was one of the last kings of Egypt's 18th Dynasty. He was born around 1343 B.C. in the Egyptian city of Akhetan, now called Amarna. Tut's father was Akhenaten, a pharaoh who was declared a heretic because he started a new religion, which worshiped Aten, banned other gods and shut down their temples. Officials destroyed records mentioning Akhenaten and his successors, so very little is known about Tut's life.

King Tut's mother was most likely Kiya, one of Akhenaten's minor wives. Tut became a pharaoh when he was nine or 10, in 1333 BC.

The name of the young king, originally Tutankhaten, was changed to Tutankhamun, in the third year of his reign, when the king and his court were moved from Amarna to Memphis. Tutankhamun means “the living image of god Amun.” Scholars believe that Tutankhamun married his half-sister, Ankhesenamun, Akhenaten's third daughter by his wife Nefertiti, when he was about 12 years old. Although archeologists found mummified fetuses of two daughters in King Tut's tomb, the couple had no surviving children.

Several old temples were rebuilt and restored in his name. At Karnak, a stela commemorates his work, saying that the temples had “fallen into neglect.”

King Tut died under mysterious circumstances in the ninth year of his reign, in 1323 BC. Some Egyptologists believe he was murdered by his successor Ay. A 1968 X-ray showed damage to his skull, which may have been caused by a fall, a blow to the head, or mummification.

Tutankhamun was buried in the Valley of the Kings. He lay undisturbed for 3,300 years until Howard Carter discovered his tomb in November 1922. King Tut's mummified remains are still in a stone sarcophagus in his burial chamber, even though the treasures have been removed from his tomb.

What to see at King Tut Exhibit

The most important objects in the exhibit include King Tut's gold crown or diadem that Howard Carter found on Tut's mummified the head, when he opened the royal coffin more than 3,300 years after the king died. Tutankhamun probably wore the crown, inlaid with colored glass and semi-precious stones, when he was alive. The vulture and cobra, two protective deities, on the front, were removed and placed near the mummy's thighs so the golden face mask could be placed on his head.

King Tut had four miniature gold coffins, inlaid with colored glass and semi-precious stones, each in a separate compartment of an alabaster chest. The Viscera Coffin contained his mummified internal organs. An inscription band on the front names Imseti, a son of Horus, and the goddess Isis, as protector of the deceased and the mummified liver inside. The cartouche encircling the king's name on the inside, originally circled the name of a relative of Tutankhamun.

A bust of Tutankhamun carved from wood, covered in plaster-like gesso and painted, depicts the young with a royal crown with a cobra deity projecting from his forehead. In the painting, the smiling King Tut wears a linen shirt and has pierced earlobes, which were worn by both males and females at this time. Busts like this one were used in religious rituals. The wooden statue could have been a mannequin for displaying King Tut's clothes and jewelry.

A royal calcite bust of Tutankhamun was a stopper for one of the four cylindrical hollows of the canopic chest, which stored the king's mummified organs separate coffinettes. It portrays King Tut wearing the nemes headdress. Red and black paint outlines his facial features and the two protective vulture and cobra deities projecting from his forehead.

One of the 35 ritual figures of King Tut and deities, placed in sealed wooden shrines in his tomb, was a statuette of Tutankhamun wearing the tall crown of Upper Egypt. Made of wood covered in plaster-like gesso and then gilded, the colors represent both rebirth and regeneration. King Tut holds two symbols of his kingship, a crook in his left hand and a flail in his right hand.

A similar golden statuette depicts Tutankhamun wearing the crown of Lower Egypt. He holds a gilded bronze crook and flail and wears gilded bronze sandals. Originally covered in linen and placed within a wooden shrine, the golden statuette stands on a black base.

In King Tut's tomb antechamber, Howard Carter discovered a small wooden chest shaped like an ancient shrine, covered in sheet gold. Carved footprints show where a statuette once stood. The base was plated in sliver. On the insides and outsides of its walls, back and doors, festival, sexuality and coronation scenes show King Tut and his queen.

A golden falcon collar, found on King Tut's mummy was one of several pieces of amuletic jewelry that he wore around his neck. Made from sheet gold, it was cut into the shape of the god Horus, a deity which represented kingship and the solar religion. The falcon has outstretched wings and engraved feathers. A gold wire, attached to the two wings, encloses the collar. A counterweight is suspended from a loop in back.

King Tut's dagger was placed among his mummy wrappings. The highly polished gold blade has engraved details. The gold hilt alternates bands of granulated gold and red and blue glass cloisonné. The top of the pommel surmounting the handle is decorated with a flower design with two cartouches containing Tut's names and two falcons with outstretched wings.

Another tomb artifact is an elaborate gold necklace, decorated with inlaid electrum (a gold, silver and copper alloy), silver, semi-precious stones and colored glass. On the front pectoral and back counterweight, delicate cloisonné openwork shows King Tut with the gods. The straps linking them are double cartouches encircling the names of Tutankhamun, alternating with royal titles, deities and amuletic messages in hieroglyphs. The front plaque is shaped like a shrine, with King Tut standing before Ptah and Sekhmet. The back surface is solid gold with finely engraved details. The counterweight scene depicts King Tut seated before the goddess Maat.

A wooden mirror case, covered in gold and inlaid with semi-precious stones and colored glass, is shaped like an ankh, the Egyptian word for “life.” The ankh is also a word that ancient Egyptians used for “mirror.” The inlaid jewel hieroglyph spells out King Tut's throne name, and the lotus blossom below represents rebirth. The loop on top of the ankh encircles the name like a cartouche.

A wood ostrich feather fan, overlaid in gold, was found in the tomb burial chamber. Its long handle ends with a papyrus umbel and lunette portraying an ostrich hunt on one side and the hunter returning with ostrich feathers on the other side. A similar fan appears in the hunt scene. King Tut stands in the chariot, ready to shoot ostriches with a bow and arrow, while an ankh, the hieroglyph for the word “life,” anthropomorphized with arms and legs, follows behind to shade the pharaoh.

An unguent or cosmetic vessel, carved from calcite, is decorated with sheet gold, colored pigment and colored ivory. A resting lion, with the pharaoh's cartouche near its shoulder, is on the vessel's lid. Four of Egypt's traditional enemies, represented by their heads, are trapped at the base. An image of the god Bes tops two columns and frames two scenes of fighting animals in a band around the middle of the jar.

How to get to Philadelphia's King Tut Exhibition

Ride the Tut Trolley, an inexpensive shuttle service, between The Franklin Institute, the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and a central hotel stop.

King Tut Exhibit tickets

Buying tickets in advance is strongly recommended because of high demand. Tickets are timed and dated. Admission is 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.

Tickets cost $27.50 (Friday to Sunday: $32.50) for adults, $24 (Friday to Sunday: $30) for seniors, students and military with ID, $17.50 for children ages 4 to11. An audio guide is $7 for adults and $6 for children. A complementary IMAX movie is $5.

To buy single tickets for the King Tut Exhibit, phone 1-888-600-KTUT (5888).

Where to stay in Philadelphia

King Tut hotel packages include VIP tickets to the Tut exhibition. Some include the concurrent Amarna exhibition. The only way to receive an undated, un-timed VIP ticket is to stay at a hotel with an official King Tut Hotel Package: Courtyard by Marriott Downtown, Crowne Plaza Center City, Doubletree Philadelphia, Embassy Suites Center City, Four Seasons Hotel, Hilton Inn at Penn, Loews Philadelphia, Marriott Downtown, Radisson Plaza-Warwick Hotel, Residence Inn Philadelphia Center City, The Rittenhouse Hotel, Ritz-Carlton Philadelphia, Sheraton Philadelphia City Center, Sheraton Society Hill and Westin Philadelphia.

Radisson Hotel Valley Forge, at 1160 1st Avenue, King of Prussia, has 20 thematic “fantasy suites.” The Pharaoh's Tomb is decorated in black, gold and beige, with faux stone walls, hieroglyphics and Egyptian figures.

Where to eat Egyptian food in Philadelphia

Tangerine, a restaurant in Old City, serves a King Tut menu. Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia features a Pharaoh's Indulgence dessert, made from pomegranates, figs, almonds, dates and honey. McGillin's Olde Ale House, Philadelphia's oldest continuously running tavern, serves a King Tut-ini, a martini made with vodka and Goldschlager, in a gold-sugar rimmed glass.

In Center City, at 2129 Arch Street, Aya's Café serves authentic Egyptian cuisine, with food from Italy and other Mediterranean countries. Chef/owner Tarek AlBasti's homemade Egyptian specialties include lentil soup, shawarma (lamb or chicken with tahina sauce), kofta sandwiches (ground spiced lamb with vegetables and tahina dressing) and Egyptian pudding. Bring your own bottle.

You can sample natural snacks, grown and eaten in ancient Egypt, at Edwards-Freeman Nut Co. at 441 E. Hector Street, Conshohocken. The candy museum and factory-outlet sells dried fruit, figs, dates, pistachios, pine nuts and walnuts, which were also grown by early Egyptians.

Egypt seminars, exhibits and belly dancing in Philadelphia

For the Year of Egypt, the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, at 3260 South Street, is hosting Amarna, Ancient Egypt's Place in the Sun. The exhibition, named after Amarna, the city where Tutankhamun grew up., runs from November 12, 2006 to the end of October 2007. Visitors can attend lectures, take belly dancing classes and guided tours of the museum's permanent Egypt galleries, which display more than 42,000 historically significant items.

For Egyptian architecture, in Philadelphia, visit the Masonic Temple, on 1 N. Broad Street, which was completed in 1873. The temple was built from Cape Ann syenite, named after Syne in Upper Egypt, where it was quarried ancient Egyptians for monuments. Egyptian Hall is decorated in Nile Valley style, with accurate copies of hieroglyphics from Egypt. Temple visits are required field study for local architecture and Egyptian history scholars. Guided visits are available several times daily from Tuesday through Saturday.

Glencairn Museum, at 1001 Cathedral Road, Bryn Athyn, houses more than 1,300 Egyptian artifacts. In the Egyptian Gallery, visitors see dioramas, small figurines, and an Old Kingdom “spirit” door from the tomb of a priest of King Khufu, the builder of the Great Pyramid. During the King Tut exhibition, the Glencairn Museum will offer special tours with discounted price of admission for visitors King Tut exhibit ticket stubs.

The oldest zoo in the USA, The Philadelphia Zoo, at 3400 W. Girard Avenue, houses many animals that existed in ancient Egypt. Lions, elephants, hippos, cheetahs, Nile crocodiles, Egyptian cobras, baboons and the ibis bird were portrayed in hieroglyphics and jewelry.

Temple University is offering day-long lectures in February on the history of Egyptian archaeology and King Tut. The Adventure Aquarium, across the Delaware River in Camden, New Jersey, has a daily show about Egyptian animals, including the hippopotamus, crocodile and eel.

Egyptian spa treatments and stores

Rescue Rittenhouse Spa Lounge offers a Cleopatra Rescue Treatment, which uses milk and honey in facials, exfoliations and massages. 3000 BC is a day spa, on 8439 Germantown Avenue and 605 W. Lancaster Avenue, Wayne, which uses essential botanical oils for aromatherapy.

Halloween sells gold, silver, jewels and gems and Egyptian-style jewelry, including rings, bangles, earrings and brooches. Owner, Henri David, also sells table pieces made from sterling silver, white diamonds, yellow gold and opals.

Morgan's Cauldron, on 509 S. 6th Street, sells books on ancient Egyptian magic, Isis goddess statues and pendants and tarot cards with Egyptian scenes. Bauman Rare Books, an antiquarian bookstore, on 1608 Walnut Street, sells Egyptian photography titles and maps.

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