Four pounds, plus £1 booking fee on this exhibition at Manchester’s Museum of Museums; and that is all I would pay.
I had never been taught much about the Egyptians at school, therefore I taught myself at a young age; this exhibition was like a field-trip for my infant-self’s independent learning.
Using headphones, we were guided around the museum and were given a descriptive insight on the life of Tutankhamun, the history of his family and his destiny to become a ruler of Egypt. I found the tour’s portrayal of the young King’s family tree very detailed considering that most of the evidence of the Egyptian dynasties is hidden under the sands of the Sahara.
Despite the interest given, I found the history difficult to follow; the headphones mentioned the ‘18th Dynasty’ and the ‘New Kingdom’? A brief history of the Egyptian era would have been useful. Was Tut King during the end of the Egyptians or at the beginning of their age?
Once Tut’s life story was over, the tour really began and I was surprised to find that it was based entirely on Howard Carter’s discovery of the tomb, having heard little about him.
The voices on the tour switched often from Carter reading pages from his diary to spectators expressing their opinion on his agendas as well as other company. The tour was coming alive. Despite the various setbacks, Carter never gave up. The voices made me feel pity for him and his passion was so powerful you could almost feel it. The guide made me feel that his determination has been almost forgotten, and his name should be made clearer in history books.
The voices created suspense and anguish, I felt I was with Carter as he discovered, bit by bit, the ornately decorated tomb. Relief and awe followed as the exhibition presented replicas of the treasures found in the tomb.Gold.
The amount of gold a nineteen year old King was buried with is incontrovertible. Displayed beautifully, accurately, and according to the timescale of how Carter found it; it was a golden moment.
When the headphone tour was complete the guides took over and told us how Tutankhamun’s mummy looked when it was discovered. The withered flowers surrounding him were thought-provoking; I had seemed to have forgotten that these events had really taken place thousands of years ago; with regards to grieving our dead not much has changed.
When and if you got the chance to question a tour guide, they seemed to be from a Howard Carter fan-club, worshiping his ambition and discoveries. Furthermore they were more reliable than the voices on the headphones. During some questioning it came to my knowledge that the audio tour had told some fibs. For example, after a Cobra killed a Canary in the mines of the dig (a dead Canary being a bad omen) locals were allegedly scared away from the tomb. Yet this may not have been true; the local helpers were all most likely, tomb robbers and would have grabbed anything shiny that they saw. Far from being afraid they would have been eager to see what was inside, regardless of a dead bird!
My housemate and I wanted to know about the ‘curse’ that was placed on the young King’s tomb in relation to the death of Carter. To our surprise, there was no curse! This myth was created by the media to make the discovery more exciting and to sell more newspapers. It is interesting to see how the media has changed little in the past 88years since his discovery.
The tomb and treasures of Tutankhamun were fascinating, despite the exhibition being entirely compiled of replicas. I would be confident to recommend this to anyone; although the real treasures lie in the Cairo Museum, this exhibition allows a visitor to get up close and personal with King Tut’s closest possessions. The exhibition was awe-inspiring and I am overjoyed at having paid £5 entry with a student card, and not the typical £14 entry. The £9 I saved has been placed in a jar on my window sill – my Egypt fund!
