Not sure where to place this thread, but...

Has anyone been to the Tutankhamun exhibition in Zurich yet? If so, what is it like? How are the crowds?

Their website is here.

Never been, but i will try it at the weekend with the bird.

Cheers

I was quite interested to go but then I read in the paper that there is not one single original item from the tomb in the exhibition. Every single item is a replica. I sure it would still be an interesting visit but the magic is lost for me....

No way! Glad you mentioned that.



Has anyone been? Is it worth the drive??

I saw it in London. I am fascinated by Egyptology, Horus and his followers. The exhitbition in London was good, TOO crowded, they herd you through. And the mask used to advertise the exhibit is not even there.

I felt kind of cheated, even though it is fascinating.

Is it the same exhibit but just 'on tour' ??

The London exhibit is different. It contains 130 original artifacts.

Tutankhamun_and_the_Golden_Age_of_the_Pharaohs

The mask never leaves Cairo, imagine trying to insure the thing or if it was stolen. I've also seen the tomb he is in nr Luxor.

The masks amazing although it does have green junk residue on the back which is fasinating, but then again I thought gold was inert?

The room is always packed where the mask is kept and whilst I was there a women wearing muslim garb had managed to smuggle a camera in to allow her husband to take pictures. Obviously the security guards took a disliking to this and hauled her and her husands ass out of the Cairo museum.

I reckon a weekend in Cairo should do it if you want to see it, really no great shakes to get over there and shouldn't be that expensive once you're there, although don't drink orange juice on Egypt Air it dried my mouth out for days there was so much sugar in it.

Of more interest I reckon were the pyramids, < a how did they do this moment> although not so great for those with claustrophobia.

Some pics give you an idea of king tut's tomb and the size of a pyramid block. BTW I'm 187cm so the blocks are pretty vast in size on the great pyramid. Luxor was 52c that day..

Actually the mask was part of the 1972 exhibition in London:

The Treasures of Tutankhamun

Quite incredible that they had 1.7 million visitors at a time when long distance national travel (eg from the Midlands to London) was not that common.

My parents attended the 1972 one from Birmingham.

I remember asking the egyptian tour guide about that and he confirmed it left the country, but then again he said it was highly unlikely it would ever leave Cairo again.

I went with a friend and our 4 kids last week. There was no problem with crowds and there was plenty of time to look around at all the (replica) exhibits. The kids found it interesting even though they were a bit young to understand the whole experience (4.5yrs and younger). They enjoyed looking at the "treasure" and "mummy" and other pictures of nile animals and other egyptian monuments....

As a grown up I have to admit to being rather disappointed at the exhibition. I can't fault the quality of the artifacts of display or the fact that you can get much closer to them that you would the real thing... I was just left with a feeling of "with all those interesting things to display could they not have been a bit more imaginative with the presentation".

It starts off quite positively with a short movie (in German) about Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon and the discovery of the tomb but then you move on to the exhibition proper. The first two exhibits are set up as "tomb views" but in reality were a flat presentation of stacked artifacts on a timed illuminated display so by the time we got close enough to see anything the lights went out and everything was plunged into darkness!

After these displays the rest of the items are just displayed in the usual museum fashion with only very basic written explanation (German and English) of the items or their significance.

There is a translated guided tour available which I guess would have enhanced the experience, but it was not terribly clear how much extra it cost and was not something we were going to attempt with 4 kids in tow. There was no guide or leaflet to take with you as you went around like other exhibitions I have been to which I also felt was quite poor.

All in all, with slow kids in tow we made it through in just under an hour and that was including long pauses to discuss in gory detail the mummification process and how they made the pyramids without bob the builder and his friends

That said we had a nice time and it beat hanging out at the park on a cold rainy day, but if you have been to Egypt and have more than the most basic knowledge of Egyptian history you may come out feeling a bit cheated.

Maxhd that sounds about right, I think I'd feel cheated.

There were x2 issues I had in Egypt at the Cairo Museum which were annoyances.

1. In the Cairo museum on the ground floor there are some of the oldest exhibits from various sources and they are open to the public to touch as they wish. Particularly stone structures/carvings which the local kids relish putting their greasy hands all over. Even though there are signs everywhere saying do not touch. It makes me want to punch the little sods knowing that only one of these exhibits exist on the planet.

2. You cannot take photos even without a flash. So you end up buying books which do not give a idea about scale or are tailored for you as a person. I cannot see the problem if a flash is not used. It's a big annoyance not being able to print photographs and frame them of a otherwise great holiday.

Secondly cameras are banned in all tombs in the Valley of the Kings/Queens regardless muppets still try to take pictures. The setup could be better perhaps with mini shops outside each tomb to buy photos, That way if you find a tomb of interest you can buy the relevant pieces.

I may post some more images up later for those interested when I get home.

Just thinking perhaps the camera thing is a security issue?

Copies? Bugger. I was keen to go, too.

Another top place for Egypt buffs is the Egyptian museum in Berlin.

I was told by the tour guide who took me to Luxor that the highest concentration of Egyptian artifacts outside Egypt is in London/Paris.

Retrospective states did a good job of stealing artifacts in the 1800/1900's and returning them home. I believe Italy has a lot of significant papyrus also.

Thanks guys!

We're off to Cairo in a few weeks time, and one of our ports of call is going to be the Cairo museum. I was just wondering whether most of their goodies were going to be on tour in Zurich or not. It would have been one of life's little ironies if they were...

The next plan is to figure out how to travel around Cairo without getting ripped off, and how to avoid being sold carpets/papyrus/kitsch...

Egypt is a fascinating country to visit - so much history, it is amazing. Good luck on trying to avoid the merchants. To their credit, I must say that tourism has gone down so incredibly that people do everything to sell their stuff, which is a pity. But then, I really did not like them pulling and pushing me to get me into their stores. It is interesting that they do not get it that you can sell much better to certain clients if you leave them alone. It must be so deeply engrained in their culture that they cannot rethink it.

When in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo a few years ago, I paid extra to go into the mummy room, and I felt that this was not worth the hefty price. If you have seen one mummy, you have basically seen them all.

Have a fun time!
Idgie