Here's an article from Al-Ahram Weekly about
the coming exhibition of the mummy of Tutankhamun in his tomb:-
Face to face with Tutankhamun
The mummy of the celebrated boy king is to be displayed
inside his tomb in the Valley of the Kings on Luxor's west bank from
next month, writes Nevine
El-Aref
The mummy of Tutankhamun will be placed on public display for
the first time in November when it is removed from its original
golden sarcophagus and placed in a climate controlled plexi-glass
case in the antechamber of his tomb in Luxor.
Few people have had an opportunity to see the mummy of one of Egypt's
most mysterious rulers since it was discovered by Howard Carter in
November 1922. It has been subjected to scientific scrutiny only
rarely, in 1968, 1978 and 2005, when x-rays and CT- scans were carried
out on the Pharaoh's mummified body.
Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) Zahi
Hawass has long been keen that efforts be made to preserve Tutankhamun's
mummy, which is in poor condition. It suffered extensive damage at
the hands of Carter and his team as they attempted to remove the
many ornaments from the mummy, including the boy king's golden funerary
mask. The pelvis was separated from the trunk and the arms and legs
detached. Hot knives and iron bars were variously used to remove
amulets and other jewellery. Carter's team then attempted to reconstruct
the body they had dismembered, reassembling the parts in a sand tray
and even reattaching the hands and feet with resin. In 1968, when
the mummy was re-examined, it took days to return the fingers to
their original position.
Hawass told Al-Ahram Weekly that the humidity and heat
generated by the breath of the thousands of visitors that daily visit
Tutankhamun's tomb constitutes an ongoing threat to the condition
of the mummy, which currently rests inside his gleaming anthropoid
sarcophagus.
"Removing it to a climate-controlled plexi- glass showcase,
like those used to display the royal mummies in the Egyptian museum
in Cairo, will not only help preserve the mummy but will allow visitors
to see the real face of the Pharaoh," he says. Only the face
will be left uncovered. The rest of the body will remain covered
with linen.
The move is expected to occur by mid- November, ahead of the opening
of the "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs" exhibition
in London. To coincide with the new display Hawass plans to open
16 jars from Tutankhamun's tomb, recently rediscovered in a storage
area in Luxor. Originally found by Carter, the jars had been all
but forgotten over the years. Hawass expects them to contain food,
grain, beer, wine and other items the king was thought to need in
his afterlife.
Hawass first saw the face of Tutankhamun during the 2005 CT-scan
studies that allowed researchers to create a three dimensional reconstruction
of the Pharaoh's appearance.
"I was fascinated," says Hawass, who noted that the king's
prominent teeth are similar to those of his royal ancestors. "Meeting
King Tut face to face was very personal... It was an important moment
in my life."
The 1922 discovery of Tutankhamun's intact tomb stunned the world.
He ruled Egypt between 1361 and 1352 BC, and died at the age of 19.
