Tut’s tomb treasures coming to Hub
Instead of moving to Babylonia, King Tut is coming to Boston.
Limited-time exhibit “King Tut: Treasure of the Golden Pharaoh” opens June 13 at The Saunders Castle at Park Plaza, 130 Columbus Ave., a cheerful Mayor Martin Walsh announced Tuesday.
Walsh, accompanied by a bunch of Boston and Weymouth school children, stood in the shadow of a 25foot replica of one of Tut’s “Guardian Statues” at his tomb as the mayor announced that 150 artifacts from Tut’s tomb will come to Boston — three times more items than have ever toured at once before.
“We’re the only city in the northeastern U.S. to host it,” Walsh said outside City Hall as he stood in the shadow of the 2-ton statue’s jutting pelvis. “This exhibit is one of the most interesting and exciting in the world.”
Boston is one of 10 cities to host Tut on this tour as the Egyptian government and their partner company IMG haul his stuff around the world. This is the first time a Tut exhibit has come to Boston since 1963, and it likely will be the last, as the Egyptian
government plans to stop its periodic tours of usually a few dozen items and instead give them a permanent home in Egypt.
Anyone with a ticket also has access to another aged institution, as it will get you a discounted ride on the MBTA, whose Green Line tunnel was dug 25 years before King Tut’s tomb as discovered in 1922.
Tut — King Tutankhamun — has permeated pop culture throughout the century since British archaeologists happened across his particularly well-preserved tomb in Egypt. The boy-king who took power likely before age 10 in the 1300s B.C., apparently died around age 18.
His tomb’s discovery, with its thousands of striking artifacts and teenage mummy, caused widespread interest in ancient Egypt. Though he probably couldn’t have won a Grammy, Tut, as comedian Steve Martin sang in his famous King Tut bit from 1979, has retained pop-culture staying power. IMG says the first couple of legs on this tour have seen sell-out crowds in Paris and London, drawing millions.
IMG expects more sellouts and encourages people to go to kingtutexhbition.com to sign up for a ticket lottery.