The Discovery of King Tut will make its North American debut tomorrow at Kansas City’s Union Station. (Photo property of Union Station & Premiere Exhibitions)
By: Jacob Elyachar, jakes-take.com
92 years ago, the world stood in awe as archaeologist Howard Carter found the final resting place of forgotten Egyptian pharaoh King Tutankhamen.
Starting tomorrow, Kansas City’s Union Station will host a five-month expedition that highlights over 1,000 replicas of artifacts from King Tut’s tomb.
For Premier Exhibitions’ Vice President of Design and New Content’s Mark Lach, the Discovery of King Tut exhibit has come full circle for him.
“I had the pleasure and the privilege of working on an exhibit with the actual artifacts from King Tut’s tomb,” said Mark Lach. “During my first run-around, the exhibit only had 50 objects to display.”
When the former exhibit made its return to Egypt, it seemed like the world would not be able to see the wonders from Tut’s tomb, due to rising tensions within the country. However, Lach and Premier Exhibitions were presented an offer to present an exhibition filled with replicas of the artifacts found in King Tut’s resting place.
“I will be completely honest, I was a little hesitant to begin with.” Lach said. “I wanted to make sure that the quality of the replicas was done in a dignified and accurate way.”
Lach’s hesitations were wiped away when he first visited the exhibition in Berlin and knew that guests would be blown away with the exhibit.
“Guests will see over a thousand items that are exact replicas that were created with such care and with painstaking detail.” Lach said. “Almost all of the replicas are not acrylics and they are out in the open, so guests can really study them up close and personal.”
Some of the highlights of the exhibit will include a visit to the Tomb of Tutankhamen, where they would find the four shrines and Tut’s sarcophagus. In addition, they would also visit the Canopic Shrine and see the Wall Paintings from the House of Eternity. However, Lach states that there are additional replicas that each guest should check out.
“The Golden Mask is an item that people are always enamored with.” Lach said. “It is solid gold and it covered the face of the mummy.”
In addition, keep an eye out for the Golden Coffins. All three coffins will depict the late king mummiform (wrapped in a feather dress) and holding the insignia of power in crossed hands.
One major item that will be making its debut in this exhibit is a new replica of the deceased boy king.
“This is the first city that this exhibition has ever had the reproduction of the mummy itself,” Lach said. “People are fascinated how King Tut died and while the mummy has never left Egypt, this reproduction is exact.”
The exhibit runs from April 4 to September 7, 2014.
To learn more about the Discovery of King Tut exhibition, visit the Union Station website: http://www.unionstation.org/tut/
This exhibit looks great and your article was really informational! It was great meeting you this weekend and wish you the best as you move forward with your blog.