King Tut exhibit is a great day trip to Philly

The 14th century BCE is made remarkably accessible by the exhibit currently under way at the Franklin Institute, in Philadelphia. With an entire floor of artifacts from Howard Carter's 1922 dig of the Tut burial chamber, and other finds from around the same period, the $32.50 per person ticket price is well worth the money and gas getting there.

It is something of a disappointment not to see the actual boy king's death mask and the like, but it is made up for with the artifacts and elaborate coffin of another of the nobles of Tut's era. Of course there are many artifacts directly from Tut's tomb and they are remarkable. There are some one-of-a-kind pieces that are the only remaining things of their kind from that era, such as various boxes and oil containers. In the outer portion of the exhibit, there is a great area that talks about the modeling that was done to create life-like images of Tut and others, based on the remains discovered thousands of years after entombment.

The mummification process is discussed, in conjunction with some of the religious ideas of the day, and it was an incredible education experience. Click on the headline and go to the Franklin Institute's site.

By the way, no photography anywhere near the exhibit, and they are pretty serious about turning off cell phones.