Egypt Closes Tutankhamun’s Tomb

For many visitors to Egypt, it is one of the must see visits; to venture to Luxor's famous Valley of the Kings and witness one of the greatest Archaeological discoveries of the 20th Century – The Tomb of Tutankhamun.

However, Egyptian authorities have taken the decision to close the tomb, one of Egypt’s most important archaeological sites, to the public from October 1st for restoration, with no scheduled date for reopening. At the same time Tutankhamun’s famous funerary mask is being taken off display in the Archaeological Museum in Cairo to undergo restoration work.

Consequently the role of the Tutankhamun Exhibition in Dorchester takes on even greater significance, as it now becomes a unique place where visitors can experience the wonders of Tutankhamun’s Tomb and Treasures, without leaving the country. 

Tim Batty from the Exhibition said “Now is a particularly auspicious time to visit the Tutankhamun Exhibition, in Dorchester. It is the beginning of the traditional archaeological ‘season’ in Egypt, where 93 years ago Howard Carter resumed his search for Tutankhamun’s tomb.”

Within a matter of days of resuming this search, on the 4th November 1922, Carter found the first step of the entrance of a tomb. By the end of that month Carter had established that this actually was the lost tomb of the boy king Tutankhamun and unlike many other tombs it had lain largely undisturbed and not been pilfered by tomb robbers. The discovery was labelled as one of the greatest discoveries of the 20th Century.

The Tutankhamun Exhibition accurately recreates this momentous discovery, complete with a reconstruction of the moment of break in, the Antechamber filled with golden treasures and also the burial chamber where Howard Carter can be seen raising the golden coffins. Complete with all the tomb furniture, treasures, and ‘smells’ of the tomb, the exhibition makes it possible to experience the wonder of discovery and enter the tomb just as Howard Carter did in 1922.

Meticulously recreated, wherever possible, in their original materials, The Exhibition features some superb facsimiles of Tutankhamun’s greatest treasures including the gold Funerary Mask, the Harpooner and Anubis.

An exact anatomical recreation of Tutankhamun’s Mummy is also featured, which took over two years of research and experimentation to recreate, following x-rays and measurements of Tutankhamun's mummy.

The Tutankhamun Exhibition is open every day of the week all year round from 10am to 4pm.