Although Tutankhamun was not the most illustrious pharaoh to reign over ancient Egypt, he has certainly made up for it in the afterlife.
While many people would struggle to list the feats of the formidable warrior king Ramesses the Great, King Tut's name is a byword for the majesty of ancient Egypt. More than 3,200 years after he died in his late teens, the discovery of Tut’s intact tomb in 1922 sparked an international obsession with all things ancient Egyptian – and, judging by the thousands of people who flocked to see his treasures at the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza this week, Tut’s definitely still got it.
The opening of the museum marks the first time that almost the entire collection of artefacts from Tutankhamun’s tomb have been displayed together since it was unearthed. The exhibition features more than 4,500 objects – alabaster vessels and jugs, exquisitely carved furniture, even amazingly preserved sandals and linen-lined socks – and beautiful works of art.
Tutankhamun’s golden burial mask
He's the star attraction at the museum for good reason. Visitors were not allowed to take photos with his solid gold burial mask in its old home at the Egyptian Museum in central Cairo. Now, the mask has its own space as the grand finale of the Tutankhamun Galleries.
On Tuesday, the first day the museum was open to the public, there was a constant throng of visitors posing for selfies with Tutankhamun, as a burly security guard did his best to keep the crowd from getting too close. If you’ve been to the Louvre Museum in Paris to see the Mona Lisa, you'll get the idea.
The excitement was palpable as people from all over the world jostled to capture their moment with the iconic artefact. An influencer in a chic A-line dress tried to get her best angle while amid the crowd, while a young Egyptian man proudly wore his country’s flag as a cape and a 70-something British woman told her husband: “I’ve waited 55 years for this.”
Shrines, coffins and eternal servants
Having lived in Cairo for five years, I’ve watched as the Grand Egyptian Museum was developed. The Tutankhamun Galleries are the jewel in the crown.
One of the first guided tours was conducted by young Egyptologist Shrouk Mamdouh, who brimmed with enthusiasm as she whirled 40 visitors around some of the collection's highlights.
Four gilded wooden shrines are unmissable due to their size and grandeur. The outermost shrine is adorned with gold and turquoise symbols of Isis, the Egyptian goddess of magic, motherhood and healing, while a phalanx of gods are finely engraved on other shrines.
You then encounter the three golden coffins, including the 110kg solid gold one that once housed Tut’s mummified remains. Today, it lies empty – the mummy is still within the original tomb in Luxor’s Valley of the Kings and is considered too fragile to move.
Also on display are Tut’s decorated chariots, the peak of technological innovation in their day, and his exquisite gem-encrusted golden ceremonial throne.
The back is adorned with an image of Tutankhamun’s wife Queen Ankhesenamun rubbing perfumed oil into his shoulder while the sun god Aten shines down – it is one of the most well-preserved finds from ancient Egypt. The colours still gleam magnificently despite being more than 3,000 years old.
However, sometimes the divine is in the detail. Some of the less showy artefacts capture the attention because of what they reveal about ancient Egyptian beliefs.
There is a fascinating display of hundreds of tiny shabtis, ancient Egyptian funerary figurines, which were placed into tombs to do the bidding of the pharaoh in the afterlife. In the Tutankhamun Galleries, it is possible to imagine all of the figurines springing into life to fetch pomegranates and fan the boy king with ostrich feathers for millennia. Going above and beyond must clearly be part of the job description.
