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King Tut swaps pyramids for the Dome
By Tom Teodorczuk 21.02.07
Precious: a gold inlaid coffinette that contained King Tutankhamun's mummified liver
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It promises to be the biggest exhibition of them all.
Tutankhamun And The Golden Age Of The Pharaohs will open in a new, 60,000 sq ft exhibition centre at O2, the £500 million venue inside what used to be the Millennium Dome, in November.
It will showcase 130 Egyptian treasures, all between 3,000 and 3,500 years old and including 50 from the tomb of Tutankhamun.
There had been fears the exhibition would be canned after the Greenwich site lost out to Manchester in the race for the first supercasino.
But Anschutz Entertainment Group, the company behind the O2, confirmed today that it is pressing ahead with the display.
It is hoping to eclipse the 1.7 million people who viewed the artefacts the last time they came to London in 1972, when The Treasures Of Tutankhamun exhibition became the most popular show in the history of the British Museum.
The new exhibition will be twice the size of the previous show and will include many major objects not previously seen outside Egypt.
Some of the antiquities were discovered during a five-year research and conservation project on the site of Tutankhamun's tomb that was completed in 2005.
Highlights of the exhibition will include the royal diadem (the boy king's gold crown) and one of the gold and inlaid canopic coffinettes which include his mummified organs.
Tutankhamun's tomb in Egypt's Valley of the Kings remained undiscovered for more than 3,300 years until it was found by British Egyptologist Howard Carter, who was excavating on behalf of his patron Lord Carnarvon.
A spokeswoman for the exhibition said: "This will be a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see the remains of the Pharaoh's tomb.
"The aim is to make it even more visually stimulating than what people witnessed in 1972."
Reader views (8)
I too saw the 1972 exhibit in London and later in the US. I will be in London late April/early May and would like to know when the exhibit closes so that I might book tickets.
- Fae, USA
Go to the O2 site and search for Tuankhamun. The exhibition details will come up and there is a link to a site where you can register to be on the list for tickets. Tickets are not available yet as far as I can make out but they are supposed to contact you and offer you tickets once they are finalised. I couldn't find any info on closing dates but it is billed as opening on 15th November on the 02 site.
Good luck! I agree the publicity for tickets only is very poor. The only tickets I’ve seen advertised have been part of a package.
- Caz, Hook, Hampshire
I too have been searching for tickets only, as I live close to London, and also for basic information such as the closing date. I attended the previous exhibition at the British Museum in 1972 and know just how popular this event will be - so where is all the publicity? Is this the UK falling foul once again of any decent organisation? Or is this just a scam to keep local hotels in business?
- Caz, London, UK
Like the previous correspondents, I would like to see the exhibition but do not wish to stay in London. Come on, O2, there are a lot of people out here who would like an answer, so where will be able to buy tickets only?
- Chris Morris, Waterlooville, Hampshire, UK
I was so excited to see that Tutankhamun was coming back to London, especially as my mother took me to see the exhibition in 1972. I am frantically trying to find tickets to take her to see it now, later this year as I was a teenager all those years ago and am now 50 this year. We live nearby too and don't wish to stay in a hotel in London, merely just wishing to visit the exhibition.
- Carole Segger, Biggin Hill, Kent
I have found the same inability to find a seller of individual tickets for this event as Mrs Lavender. Surely it isn't compulsory to stay in a hotel in order to gain entry?! I was hoping to buy tickets as a Mother's Day present, but it doesn't look as if that will be possible now! I suspect that stand alone tickets will not be made available until the best have been allocated to those taking up mini-break bookings. Not that I am cynical. I hope that I am proven wrong!
- Emma, Nottingham, UK
Does anyone know when and where single tickets for a half or full day at the Tutenkhamun exhibition are or will be on sale?
All I can find are newspaper and travel company adverts for overnight hotel stays.
As I live not too far from London, I can't afford this, and want to go only for the day.
There doesn't seem to be any contact with C02 or whatever silly name they call themselves now instead of just The Dome - so I don't know how to get in touch with anyone.
- Mrs Margaret Lavender, Salisbury, England
When I read this I was almost immediatly interested in it all. I can not wait until I have enough money to actually go over to this museum and see it for myself. I have always been interested in Ancient Egyptian culture and I am sure this display shall be amazing.
- Marykate B., Waretown, United States
