Tutankhamun, the Treasures of the Pharaoh

Grand Hall and Fountain, Lions of Nubia 

At the main entrance to Parc de la Villette is the Fontaine aux Lions-de-Nubie. The “Lions of Nubia” were so-named because the water-spouting lion sculptures looked like sphinxes from Nubia (now Southern Egypt).

Behind the fountain is the Grande Halle de la Villette, a historical cast-iron & glass structure, which was at one time a cattle market. The fountain once served as an animal watering trough for the cattle. The Grand Hall was converted into a multi-purpose venue that accommodates temporary exhibitions dedicated to foreign cultures, urban art, entertainment and trade shows, as well as an information center, a library and a restaurant.

Robert in front of the Grand Halle de la Villette

Tutankhamun billboard on the Grand Hall

“Tutankhamun, the Treasures of the Pharaoh”  opened in Paris at the Grande Halle de la Villette from March 23 - September 15, 2019. When the King Tut exhibit first toured the world in the late 60s and 70s, the lines were long and people traveled hours to see it. A collection of this size was last seen in Paris by 1.2 million visitors in 1967, and it will never be seen again. The Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza currently under construction will permanently hold the collection, and it will not travel out of Egypt again. 

Patrons line up at the entry to the exhibit

Outer lobby display for the exhibit

The exhibition is very dramatic, almost cinematic; the room is completely dark, and the artifacts are expertly displayed in illuminated, glass-enclosed “kiosques.” Their craftsmanship and elegance have not diminished despite the many thousands of years that have passed since they were created and stored in the tomb.   

In 1922, English Archeologist and Egyptologist, Howard Carter, discovered the tomb of the Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun, sealed inside the Valley of Kings for more than 3,200 years. The tomb of King Tut was almost completely intact--it was the preservation of the tomb that made Tut such an important find.  

The Egyptian God Amun Protecting Tutankhamun’s Tomb

This large statue, made of dark diorite (a kind of stone), portrays Amun protecting Tutankhamun. Amun, known as the “King of the Gods,” was the main deity worshipped by the Egyptians. 

Unguent (perfumed oil) Vase with Plants in Openwork Design

Cosmetic articles were very important in Egyptian households. Scenes showing elaborate vases and spoons for ointments and perfumes were depicted in tomb paintings, and actual artifacts have been found in tombs and elsewhere. Of all the magnificent alabaster vases found in the tomb of Tutankhamun, this ointment container is the most impressive. 

Painted Wooden Food Container for Food Offering

Egyptian pharaohs and their relatives spent years preparing a lavish tomb stocked with everything they might need or want in the afterlife, including food. Even meat and poultry were on the menu, each carved into the shape of what it contained. The item on the left in the pic looks a lot like a chicken. In the middle is possibly a duck carcass, and the item on the right looks like a holder for bread.

Vases in Faience

Twenty-five faience vases, all except one blue in color, were found in King Tut’s tomb. A vase like this is often shown in ritual scenes placed on a stand or an altar. The spouts vary in shape; when used for pouring out libations, the lid was removed.

Furniture for a Boy King 

Six chairs were  found in King Tut’s tomb. This chair is small, and it is likely that  Tutankhamun used it when he was a child.

Inlaid Wooden Cartouche Box

Many important pieces of jewelry and regalia (symbols of kingship) were found in a parquetry inlaid box inside this box.

Gilded Wooden and Ivory Pen Case In the Form of Column Inlaid with Glass

Tutankhamun would have used it to store reed pens.

 Gilded Wooden Bed

The bed’s ebony frame is covered with gold leaf. The bed has a base of woven string, and the frame of the golden bed is supported by feline-looking legs. This ceremonial bed was probably made especially for Tutankhamun’s funeral. The carved lion feet represent the most powerful animal in the ancient Egyptian cosmology. The carvings of gods on the bed’s headboard provided protection for the king, keeping him safe from the dark forces intent on harming him.

Headrests

Inscribed Turquoise Blue Glass Headrest with Gold Band and Inscribed Dark Blue Faience Headrest

In these days, a headrest would most commonly be used instead of a pillow. These headrests were long popular in Egyptian tombs as an essential accessory for the "sleeping" inhabitants.

Miniature Board Game

King Tut's tomb contained many gaming boards for the game of Senet. It is clear that the King was a skilled player. (He was, after all, a kid. He became king at the age of nine years and died at the age of 19.) This is a small version of a 'travelling set' made of painted ivory. The game board has a drawer used as storage for the gaming pieces By the time Senet, or "passing," was buried with Tut, it had been played in Egypt for some 1800 years and had come to be associated with passing from life to death. The game was popular at all levels of society, but its rules have been lost to time.

Ba & Ka 

The ancient Egyptians believed that your soul split into two parts after you died. One part, the Ba, flew off every morning to keep watch over your living family. The other part, the Ka, flew happily off to enjoy life in the Land of Two Fields. At night, both the Ba and the Ka returned home to your tomb to rest up for the next heavenly day.

Ba & Ka

The soul took the form of the “BA,” depicted as a bird with the deceased’s head. By day, it could leave the tomb to fly, invisible, to the land of the living. Each night, it returned to be reunited with the mummy. The “KA” was the deceased’s life force, his spirit and very essence. It resided in the mummy, which was tightly bandaged and immobile within the tomb.

Painted Wooden Model Solar Boat with Throne and Two Steering Paddles

King Tut had many model boats in his tomb. They were symbolic to show his journey to the afterlife. This is one of his solar boats, used by the king to accompany Ra (Egyptian sun god) during the daytime to join him in the heavens.

Painted Wooden Mastless Boat with  Two-storey Cabin and Two Steering Paddles

Tutankhamun traveled throughout Egypt on a “traveling boat” similar to this model. Lacking mast, sail and rigging, it was probably powered by rowers.

On the east wall of the tomb, Tutankhamun's mummy is depicted being pulled on a sledge during the funeral procession.

Gilded Wooden “Ostrich hunt” Fan

Here, at a royal ostrich hunt in the eastern desert, Tutankhamun stands triumphantly atop a chariot pulled by running horses. Reins wrapped around his waist, his bow aimed expertly at an ostrich, he is the tamer of nature. The original fan held 30 ostrich feathers, supplied by the king.

Gilded Wooden Ceremonial Mace

A ceremonial mace is a highly ornamented staff, carried before a sovereign or other high officials in civic ceremonies by a mace-bearer, intended to represent the official's authority. The mace derives from the original mace (a kind of club) used as a weapon. 

Solar Hawk, Head of Horus  

A gilded wooden hawk with a sun disk on its head was fitted over the center pole, part of the decoration of a chariot.

Lion Tamer

Tutankhamun triumphantly brandishes a scimitar in his right hand and holds the tails of his foes, two lions, in his left. Representations of the king smiting enemies had already become a standard theme in Egyptian art. 

Gilded Wooden Statuette of Tutankhamun Riding a Black Varnished Panther 

The king’s ability to dominate the panther is clear. He carries Tutankhamun to safety through the nocturnal darkness of the Netherworld. 

Wooden Ceremonial Shield with King as Sphinx, Trampling on Nubian Enemies

The rolling hills at the bottom of the shield form the hieroglyph that translates as “foreign land.” The king is portrayed trampling his enemies underfoot.

King with harpoon

On the walls of many private tombs both before and during the New Kingdom, the owner is often shown on a small raft fishing in the marshes. While the action illustrated by this statue is similar, the king hunts neither fish nor fowl, but the hippopotamus, the animal sacred to the god Seth (god of darkness & chaos).

Horus and Anubis

Horus was the falcon-headed god with whom kings of Egypt associated themselves. Horus was among the most important gods of Egypt, particularly because the Pharaoh was supposed to be his earthly embodiment.

Anubis is the jackal-god of mummification. He assisted in the rites by which a dead man was admitted to the underworld. Anubis was worshiped as the inventor of embalming and who embalmed the dead.

Gold Squatting Figure and Chain of Amenhotep III

A lock of hair belonging to Amenhotep’s wife, Queen Tiye, grandmother of Tutankhamun, was found with this figure.

Ptah, the Creator God

Known as "the beautiful face," "the lord of truth," the master of justice," and "the lord of eternity," blue-capped Ptah was a creator-god and the patron of craftsmen and architects—basically, the people who built Tut's tomb and everything in it. 

Guardian

A pair of life-sized statues was found in an entrance room of Tutankhamun’s tomb, poised like sentries. They are supposedly KA statues, or representations of the king’s spirit.

A Guardian-- a statue standing guard outside the sealed inner door of Turtankhamun’s burial chamber

Calcite Stopper for Canopic jar, King’s Head, & Coffinette (miniature coffin) for the Viscera of Tutankhamun. 

The jar was used during the mummification process to store and preserve the viscera of its owner for the afterlife. When embalming a body, organs such as the lungs, intestines, stomach, and liver, would typically be removed from the body and stored in special jars known as canopic jars. It was believed in ancient Egypt that it was essential to take organs to the afterlife, and therefore, they were carefully preserved. The jars for such organs had lids carved to symbolize each of the sons of Horus who were gods. The organs were kept in these canopic jars. Interestingly, the canopic jar for Tut's organs was different because it was not carved to depict any of the gods, but rather it was in his likeness. Tut's face is the stopper on each jar.

Gold Openwork Pectoral Chain and Counterpoise with Lapis Scarab Flanked by Thoth 

Pectorals (brooches) attached to necklaces and decorated with figures of deities and the symbols that were associated with them formed a high proportion of the jewelry found in Tutankhamun’s tomb.

Gold Finger Stall (5)

These golden covers, or stalls, were found on the fingers and toes of Tutankhamun's mummy, and they served a function similar to that of the amulets that protected other parts of the king's body from various magical dangers. The precious material of which they were made also identified the king with the god, whose flesh was thought to be of gold. 

Coffin 

A replica of the coffin of King Tut is covered with thick  black resin and gold bands embedded with semiprecious stones wrapped around the mummy’s exterior. It is laid out with jewelry and accessories from his actual tomb. (The innermost of 3 coffins was made of solid gold.)

Falcon pendant found in Tutankhamun's tomb, holding symbols of life and infinity in its talons. 

King Tut in quartzite

The original King Tut statue stood nearly 17 feet high. It was one of two statues that guarded the entrance of the funerary temple in the Valley of the Kings. After Tut passed away, his successor, Ay, tried to destroy all remnants of his rule but obviously failed. 

FYI: The Mummy’s Curse

The mummy's curse refers to a string of tragedies that happened to the people involved in opening Tut's tomb. Four months after entering the tomb, Carter’s patron, Lord Carnarvon, died of blood poisoning. Some speculated that fungal molds in the tomb aggravated Carnarvon’s lung condition. While the consensus is that his death was unrelated to the tomb, Carnarvorn’s death, as well as tabloid journalism of the time, sparked tales of the Pharaoh’s curse hunting down those who desecrated the tomb.  Newspapers speculated that the Englishman had fallen victim to a “mummy’s curse,” supposedly outlined on a clay tablet outside of the tomb:  “Death shall come on swift wings for anyone who will disturb the King“ In reality, there were about 11 deaths in the first 10 years of Tut's tomb opening. Despite popular misconceptions, no curse was actually found inscribed in the Pharaoh's tomb. The evidence for curses relating to King Tutankhamun is considered to be so meager that Egyptologist Donald B. Redford viewed it as "unadulterated clap trap.”