Jul 12, 2010

King Tut Exhibit

Denver, June 29, 2010-January 9, 2011

By Lisa T. Bergren

I was so excited about seeing the King Tut exhibit in Denver, that I planned our out-of-state summer trip around it. The last time I’d seen Tutankhamen’s  (pronounced Toot-in-common) treasures was in Cairo, back in 1990. Even there, in the ramshackle, crowded museum—that I understand has since had a makeover—the exhibit was inspiring, with its amazing gold and piles upon piles of artifacts.

Given that my kids have a thing for Egypt, I thought this would be perfect. I purchased timed-entry tickets for the fam (including the in-laws) and we made our plans to hit the Denver Art Museum, late on a Thursday afternoon. It was a great excuse to hang out in downtown Denver, and better yet, in the cool building designed by Frederic C. Hamilton, which makes a girl feel like she’s entering a piece of art.

After checking in, we went upstairs, where we waited in anticipation. They offered an audio guide narrated by Harrison Ford for purchase (we didn’t) and tickets to the 30 minute Egypt 3D: Secrets of the Mummies movie, which we liked (my youngest is seven). In retrospect, I wish we’d watched the movie first. Had we viewed it beforehand, I think it would’ve given my kids more “background” material on the pharaohs, culture, and religion, (even with its odd tangent in regard to medicine/DNA) and helped the kids absorb what they were seeing in the Tut exhibit.

In the first room, we watched a short intro film and then the doors opened in dramatic, Disney-esque fashion to the first hall. After this initial, narrow area, the crowd thankfully thinned out a bit, as people moved forward at a self-determined pace. The artifacts were amazing, beautifully displayed, nicely explained in signage, and giving insight into the life of the ancient kings and queens of Egypt. A lot of the display units were free-standing, so you could see the pieces from all sides. My kids’ favorites were:

• The 3000+ year old stone toilet seat
• The sarcophagus for a king’s cat, elaborately carved
• A sculpture of a scribe

The heavily guarded, general ancient Egypt exhibit was worthy of its own tour, with magnificent busts of kings and queens of old. There were several huge pieces that made it difficult to believe that they were “on tour” at all. Once through those major segments, there was a short film describing the discovery of King Tut’s tomb. With great excitement, we moved forward again. I loved how curators had placed huge photographs on the walls, detailing what the tomb looked like when it was found, giving visitors a feel for what it might’ve been like to actually be there in 1881.

Tut, like every other king of the era, believed he had to take what he wanted with him to the afterlife, so his tomb was packed with everything he’d need, from servants to ships. Our favorite parts of this portion of the exhibit were:

• The gold fan
• Toe and finger coverings
• His golden sandals (so hip! so NOW!)
• Model ships that were supposed to super-size to lifelike proportions in the afterlife
• The coffinette that held his stomach and other innards (part of mummification process)
• Tut’s cute, little rattan bed (he was only 5’6″, but still growing)
• Nat Geo film on the many layers of Tut’s sarcophagus
• Tut’s taste in jewelry (Did you know they had counter-weights in back for those heavy necklaces? I didn’t)

We turned the corner, and there was another, amazing, huge sculpture, but…no mummy. No gold mask. (Golden mask photo at top of post is a $2500 replica that you can buy for you very own home.) I turned around in confusion. I’d been preparing my squeamish preteen for the mummy (even if it wasn’t Tut himself) and was excited to see the kids’ reaction to that amazing mask—splashed on every ad piece for this exhibit I’d seen, from the museum’s web site to street banners to the brochure itself. But the exhibit ended there, with the requisite spillage into the museum gift store.

My husband turned back to the last guard. “There’s no gold mask?”

“No,” she said apologetically, like she’d had to say it far too often. “The mask last traveled in the 1970s, and they deemed it too fragile to travel again.”

Ahh. Well, certainly. I get that. I do. Some things are too priceless to jeopardize. But then don’t use it in all the advertising, I say. Because I felt like I’d been had. Set up. The advertising took an exhibit that I think I would’ve still very much enjoyed and made it, in the end, vaguely disappointing. The museum’s own web site states: “King Tut: Now on View.” I’d say, Hmm, that’s not really accurate. A better tag line might’ve been “Relics of the Ancient Egypt” or “Mysteries of the Tomb” or “King Tut’s Treasures.”

It’s all in the expectations, right?  If you go, just know that there’s no golden mask and no mummy. Plenty of other treasures, just not The Biggie.

Outside the gift store, there was a room with an interactive display, allowing the kids to “explore” Tut’s burial chamber. Another film showed what happened to the boy king, who died at nineteen (they wonder if a severe leg break/subsequent infection did him in). These were also well done, and at this hour on a weeknight, it was empty, save for us and another family or two.

We printed out the kids’ names in hieroglyphics from a kiosk ($1), then walked over to Mad Greens, across from the museum, which is a good option for families. (They offer paninis, salads and a kids’ menu.)

I’m sure we’ll return for other DAM exhibits in the future, but I’ll do a little digging of my own for facts, first.