Tutankhamun’s treasures on show in Istanbul

ISTANBUL

The exhibition, “Tutankhamun, the Boy King’s Treasures,” which has traveled the major cities of the world for more than 60 years and broken records with more than 40 million visitors, is in Istanbul for the first time.
On the 100th anniversary of the discovery of the treasure in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt, the exhibition opens today at UNIQ Expo Istanbul.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the exhibition, Professor İlber Ortaylı said that civilization starts with Mesopotamia, but the richness of the Nile and the Nile delta created such a magnificent civilization like Egypt, and said, “Tutankhamun’s underground tomb has been perfectly preserved and when it was discovered by British Archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922, it was the only pharaoh whose treasures survived to the present day without his tomb being robbed.”

The treasures of Tutankhamun, the most important archaeological discovery of the 20th century and also one of the richest and most inspiring ancient king treasures discovered in history, attract great interest.

The exhibition includes all solid gold items, including the mysterious pharaoh Tutankhamun, who took the throne 3,300 years ago at the age of nine, his tragic life story, the famous death mask and his coffin.

Egyptian Mohamed Atef Abdelshafy, one of the curators of the exhibition, said, “It has been 100 years since Tutankhamun’s tomb was opened by Howard Carter. We are very happy to show the artifacts in the tomb today in Istanbul on the 100th anniversary. You will also see the strong love story between Tutankhamun and his wife in the exhibition. More than 400 artifacts are on display in the exhibition. All of them were brought from Egypt and were carefully placed here. Within the scope of the exhibition, you will also have the chance to see the tomb chamber and treasures of the pharaoh.”

The organizer of the exhibition, Level A.Ş. CEO Tufan Zaman said, “Since there are replicas, we carefully searched for people all over the world for this exhibition. We had to find the best people to do this job. Our goal was to realize this in Istanbul 100 years after the discovery of the tomb. Istanbul is currently the center of culture, art and history. We also brought a civilization that was discovered 3,000 years ago to Istanbul.”

“The exhibition will present a unique experience with video and projection displays based on the diaries of archaeologist Carter about ancient Egypt and Tutankhamun. In addition to over 400 artifacts, the exhibition includes the mysterious story of the famous pharaoh and reconstructed visual elements of ancient Egypt,” he added.

The exhibition will continue through the end of March.

Tutankhamun

Pharaoh Tutankhamun, who ruled between 1332 and 1323 B.C., was born during the reign of his father, Pharaoh Akhenaten, in the late 18th Dynasty of Egypt. He was nine years old when he took the throne. The body of the Pharaoh, who died at the age of 19, was mummified within 70 days and taken to the cemetery number 69 in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor. British archaeologist and Egyptologist Howard Carter discovered the magnificent treasure belonging to Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings in the south of Egypt in 1922, and the artifacts became the symbol of Ancient Egypt.

Little Pharaoh’s treasures brought to light many aspects of the history of ancient Egyptian civilization. Because all the items found in his tomb were made of solid gold, Tutankhamun is also known as the “Golden King.”

The exhibition includes exact replicas of 409 works specially selected from the treasury.