Where's Tutankhamun?

[Winged Isis]

Since the closure of his tomb and the opening of the high-tech version, where is his mummy these days? Still in the original tomb, in the new one, finally moved to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, or is it going to the new GEM?

[newcastle]

Well...his tomb (KV62) is not closed at present.

His mummy was in the replica tomb the last time I was there earlier this year (unless my memory is failing me)....but goodness knows where it is now.

I imagine it will end up amongst the royal mummies....or the Tutankhamun collection, at the GEM in due course

[A-Four]

I do find it very sad that it is now almost a hundred years that the remains of this young man's body has been so much abused, even from the abuse of when Carter first discovered this body, and to think the remains of this most stonishing of ancient persons is still abused even today.

Many a time in years past, i was given the opportunity to look upon the actual face of the boy king Tutankhamoun, I never did, to me it was like looking beyond the gold mask, which to me is Tutankhamoun. For myself, it's similar to a person you have known so well, but when you see them dead and in a coffin, that is always how you then will always first see them in your minds eye.

I dread to think where they have now put this poor soul, in the pursuit of netting more LE than they ever had in the past. The price in the 1980's was 10 LE to look into the sacophagus, perhaps one day it will be 10,000 LE.

I wonder when the day will come when they open up the remains of past British Royal Family buried at Frogmore, and put them on display in The Tower of London for a price,..........Oh how wonderful not to be famous.

[Winged Isis]

Well...his tomb (KV62) is not closed at present.

Do you mean you can still visit as usual, as well as the replica? Any idea when it's supposed to be closed?

I'd like to hear anyone's opinion of the replica in comparison to the original, please. That is, not if you've only seen the replica, thanks.

[newcastle]

re Tut's mummy..I take your point re his mummy - and other mummies for that matter. Not much respect shown to the dead. Tut's mummy is a particularly sad sight having been butchered by Carter in order to remove it from the coffin.

His penis was misplaced for some years. I gather it's been located in a drawer somewhere but has not been returned to it's rightful place.

Unless there's been a recent change, KV62 is still open. If they decide that keeping it open is accelerating deterioration, it might be closed. This was the original idea but I suspect the takings outweigh such considerations at the moment

I've been to both KV62 and the replica....which is indistiguishable as far as the burial chamber is concerned. The replica also allows you close inspection (you can descend into the burial chamber and examine the walls and replica sarcophagus). It has some "extras" including a reconstitution of the decorated wall Carter demolished when entering the tomb.

It's also cheaper to visit.

Having said that it is a copy...albeit near perfect...and that will never satisfy some.

[Winged Isis]

Unless there's been a recent change, KV62 is still open. If they decide that keeping it open is accelerating deterioration, it might be closed. This was the original idea but I suspect the takings outweigh such considerations at the moment.

Thank you newcastle. I suspect your suspicions are totally correct. Next time I'm in Luxor I will go to the original again, then the replica to compare.

[A-Four]

What we have to understand about Tutankhamoun's tomb, is that like the body of this famous pharaoh, his second hand tomb has equally been abused in recent years.

If we go back to the late 1980's there was little damage to this tomb, that was before the Winter Palace Hotel opened a cafe in the immediate area opposite this tomb, being what is now a covered rest area in the Valley,.........believe it or not.

For years water waste penetrated this area, in a downward level towards this tomb, the Egyptian authorities, as usual in total denial, but the results can be seriously seen today, and will get worse for some years to come.

When this cafe was finally closed the toilets near KV5 were allowed to still function even when Dr Weeks was excavating this area adding to his problems there, although it was expected that each day such waste was being removed,.....but not so, it was simply allowed to enter the said tombs. I only wish that the likes of Dr Weeks would really write up their frustrations with Egyptian authorities, but like the Polish, no.

There is so much that can be said about the modern day abuse of the whole area of the Kings Valley, I honestly believe that the best representation of the tomb of Tutankhamoun can only be viewed at a place in Dorchester England, at least it shows no marks of the modern day water penetration.

Having said all this, you do not go all the way to the West Bank Luxor, in southern Egypt, a ten hour rail journey from Cairo to see a replica,.......FULL STOP,.......WELL PERHAPS YER DO IF YER STUPID.

[John Landon]

Tut Ankh Amun is not what it seems.. best I can gather is that Howard carter wanted to expose this myth, and so used the power of Photography in an attempt to
prove that he left the Mummy Intact.

When the coffin was reopened in 1968, there was a bit of a shock, some parts were missing.. these parts were vital to the true identity of the Mummy.. Mummy being the important word in this sentence. I do believe that Hapshetsut's temple is not what we think it is, but the story behind this and the Architect holds the key.

[newcastle]

The Dorchester Tutankhamun museum is an overpriced joke! A bit like putting a polystyrene mock up of Stonehenge in the middle of Hyde Park, with all the stones reassembled and cavorting Druid manikins to add "authenticity".

No-one seriously interested in egyptology would give it a second look and the decorated burial chamber bears little resemblance to the original....unless you want an idea of how the tomb MIGHT have looked 3000 years ago when Tutankhamun was interred.

The Factum Arte replica adjacent to the Carter House is an accurate facsimile of the tomb as it is currently found.....not some artistic representation. As such., it will be of considerable interest to visitors if and when KV62 is closed to public access

Many of the artifacts in Dorchester are often described by disappointed visitors as papier-mache replicas produced by some local school!

Still....each to their own

[Winged Isis]

I will visit the replica to satisfy my curiosity, having seen the original many times, and to advise friends and clients who may be interested after the original is closed..... "hee-vhentuallee".

[FarleyFlavors]

For years water waste penetrated this area, in a downward level towards this tomb, the Egyptian authorities, as usual in total denial, but the results can be seriously seen today, and will get worse for some years to come.

When this cafe was finally closed the toilets near KV5 were allowed to still function even when Dr Weeks was excavating this area adding to his problems there, although it was expected that each day such waste was being removed,.....but not so, it was simply allowed to enter the said tombs.

Minor point, but - there was never any suggestion that waste water from either the café or the toilets entered any tombs. The concrete sewer pipe remained intact throughout.

The problem was that the pipe fed a waste tank which wasn't emptied often enough. Water from there leaked into the shale around forty feet beneath the central valley floor. It's been suggested that may have contributed to cracks in the rocks above which caused problems - for example, allowing rainwater to enter Tut's tomb in the early nineties.

[newcastle]

For years water waste penetrated this area, in a downward level towards this tomb, the Egyptian authorities, as usual in total denial, but the results can be seriously seen today, and will get worse for some years to come.

When this cafe was finally closed the toilets near KV5 were allowed to still function even when Dr Weeks was excavating this area adding to his problems there, although it was expected that each day such waste was being removed,.....but not so, it was simply allowed to enter the said tombs.

Minor point, but - there was never any suggestion that waste water from either the café or the toilets entered any tombs. The concrete sewer pipe remained intact throughout.

The problem was that the pipe fed a waste tank which wasn't emptied often enough. Water from there leaked into the shale around forty feet beneath the central valley floor. It's been suggested that may have contributed to cracks in the rocks above which caused problems - for example, allowing rainwater to enter Tut's tomb in the early nineties.

That certainly accords with John Romer's description of the situation in his book "The Rape of Tutankhamun"

He's also particularly scathing of the damage caused by the excavations of Sheikh Ali abd al Rassul in the tomb of Seti I the 1960's and the ill-considered excavation (still continuing) of KV5 by Kent Weeks....damage probably in excess of that caused by the leaking cess pit.

[garfield4]

My daughter went in the real one 2 weeks ago. She assured me there was a dead guy down there! I didnt go down with her. Been there. done that.