King Tut Exhibit 2006-2007

The study of the ancient Egyptian Kings and the Pyramids and all that kind of stuff has long fascinated the world. Movies and television shows have been made about it, books have been written about it, and many great mystery novels have used it as a setting. The Valley of the Kings is where the action is, so to speak, when you are talking about mummies in general, and King Tut in specific. But now the King is on the road again. After an absence of 26 years, he is on the road again.

The King Tut Exhibit 2006 - 2007 has been going on since June 2005. What makes this tour so unusual is the technology that is being used to explore the King and his secrets. Groundbreaking CT scans of the pharaoh King Tut are on display in the National Geographic exhibition "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs," as the tour is officially known.

The scans of Tutankhamun that will be featured in the exhibition were captured through the use of a portable CT scanner, donated by Siemens Medical Solutions, which allowed researchers to see through the mummy's wrappings and for the first time, to compile a three-dimensional picture of Tutankhamun. These never-before-seen images will be on display in the final room of the exhibit, along with other dramatic images and video footage. The scanning of Tut's mummy is part of a landmark, five-year Egyptian research and conservation project, partially funded by National Geographic, that will CT-scan the ancient mummies of Egypt. In my regular day-to-day job, I repair CT scanners, and the technology is truly fascinating.

The exhibition will place fifty of King Tut's burial objects found when Howard Carter discovered the tomb in 1922 in their historical, religious and sociopolitical context to show the changes occurring in Egypt in the late 18th Dynasty (1555 B.C. to 1305 B.C.). Key items include Tutankhamun's royal diadem -- the gold crown discovered encircling the head of the king's mummified body that he likely wore while living -- and one of the gold and precious stone inlaid canopic coffinettes that contained his mummified internal organs.

There are items from other ancient Egyptian kings, all well categorized and presented. You can lean a lot about the site on the site, but it is well worth the trip to see these priceless items up close and personal.

http://www.chiff.com/a/king-tut.htm