King Tut exhibit heading home after historic run in Seattle
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SEATTLE -- Some 700,000 people have seen the King Tut exhibit since it arrived at the Pacific Science Center in May, making it one of the most successful runs in the center's history.
Those who had hoped to see the ancient artifacts but never got around to it should also move fast, because King Tut will be leaving Seattle in a matter of days.
Olympia residents Marla Fralin and her family bought tickets to the exhibit months ago.
"Because we knew that it would be ending and it was the last time it was touring," she said.
Science Center CEO Bryce Seidl said the Tut exhibit was an unmitigated success, even if it didn't make the center rich.
"The Science Center doesn't make a lot of money on the exhibition," he said.
The exhibit generated more than $15 million, but the majority of that money goes directly to Egypt.
Those waiting for the next big exhibit to come through town will have to wait a long while, according to Seidl.
"There is no other exhibit of the magnitude of this in the world today," he said.
When the exhibit closes for good on Sunday night, the giant hall that has housed it for months will sit empty.
Tickets are sold out through the weekend, though there are still a few available on websites such as Craigslist. Despite the high demand for tickets, people like Fralin wouldn't give up their chance to witness history for anything.
"The artisanship and craftsmanship of all the artifacts are brilliant," she said.
Some experts say because of the political turmoil in Egypt, once the artifacts return home they may never leave the country again.
Those who had hoped to see the ancient artifacts but never got around to it should also move fast, because King Tut will be leaving Seattle in a matter of days.
Olympia residents Marla Fralin and her family bought tickets to the exhibit months ago.
"Because we knew that it would be ending and it was the last time it was touring," she said.
Science Center CEO Bryce Seidl said the Tut exhibit was an unmitigated success, even if it didn't make the center rich.
"The Science Center doesn't make a lot of money on the exhibition," he said.
The exhibit generated more than $15 million, but the majority of that money goes directly to Egypt.
Those waiting for the next big exhibit to come through town will have to wait a long while, according to Seidl.
"There is no other exhibit of the magnitude of this in the world today," he said.
When the exhibit closes for good on Sunday night, the giant hall that has housed it for months will sit empty.
Tickets are sold out through the weekend, though there are still a few available on websites such as Craigslist. Despite the high demand for tickets, people like Fralin wouldn't give up their chance to witness history for anything.
"The artisanship and craftsmanship of all the artifacts are brilliant," she said.
Some experts say because of the political turmoil in Egypt, once the artifacts return home they may never leave the country again.
I thought the exhibit was incredible. I wish I could have taken pictures, but by the sound of some of the comments, it probably made for a better experience because cameras were banned at the time I went. I'm glad I saw it. I am surprised that some were disappointed. There was a lot of statuary, you could see jewelry & games close up, and many of the items didn't have glass barriers which made for excellent viewing. My favorite was the statue of Akhenaten that they had beautifully lit up. He was such an odd looking man.
Born in Babylona
Moved to Arizona
Born in Babylona
Got a condo made of stone-ah
King Tut!
@Howard Beale Except he was born in Arizona and moved to Babylonia.
Went last June and was very happy with the exhibit. A lot of beautiful pieces and very intricate. I would have liked to have seen them lower the amount of people allowed to view it at one time though. Lots of people were taking pictures when I was there. That got a bit annoying because they were holding up viewers just trying to get a look at stuff.
I can not even begin to express my disappointment with this âexhibitionâ. I saw the first one many years ago. It was totally beyond this mediocre, poor scaled down, and almost boring non-event. When I went through the âTutâ portion of the Cairo museum in Egypt a few years ago, I was told that they only showed about 10% of the pieces. Naturally the big parts like the huge gold death mask were always on display. I had hoped to see a little more of what was not out when I went through. Instead what I saw was sort of like junk they donât bother to display in the museum. The blown up photos were the best part.  Â
 @oldster70 So... save money and buy a book with photos? That is kind of how I felt this time around.  I saw the Tut exhibit back in the 70's and you are right there were more items on display at that time versus today. I have numerous Archaeological books at home because that is as close as many of us are ever going to get to these real treasures.   Artifacts degrade from light exposure and from not being in a controlled climate. Plus there is always a risk of theft no matter how tight security is. I have been to some very nice exhibits at "The Burke." Not as many people go to "The Burke" and it is actual very pleasant.
 @OrendaQuest  @oldster70 The exhibit seemed to lack the pizazz, of the original exhibit. And I wasn't very please with the venue either. Nothing against the Science Center, but large exhibits such as Tut should really be displayed at the SAM. A place where you can view the exhibit paid for and also view other works of art. An added advantage that the SAM has over the Science Center is that the SAM has restrooms inside the exhibit hall. If you happened to down a couple of cups at Starbucks and a bran muffin before entering this show (at the Science Center) was like a disaster in the waiting.
 @oldster70 I have to agree with you. This was my first time seeing the exhibit and I was thankful enough that I went with my daughter's school as a chaperone. I was expecting to see more pieces I guess. I sort of felt like some of the pieces were replicas and I know for a fact (because it says so) that the body at the end of the exhibit is just a casting of the original. Seeing this exhibit just makes me want to go to Cairo even more but I will wait until the turmoil has ended (hopefully in the next 5 years or so).Â
I saw it back in October, and while it was utterly amazing it was disappointing at the same time.The reason I say this is because we were not allowed to take any pictures and I would have thought that King Tut's golden coffin would have been part of the exhibit since it was essentially the center piece of the entire find. Either way its sad to think that it will never be in the US again.
 @MoonDragonWitch There are a few places in and around Seattle that don't allow you to take pictures. I remember going to the Science Fiction Museum and they seized my husband's camera, gave him a ticket # and told him that he could pick it up after. Had we known that, we would have just left it in the car or at home. With that being said, I wasn't disappointed that I couldn't take pictures because I understood the reason why. Also Tut's coffin is MASSIVE so hauling that all over the world is pretty costly.Â
 @MoonDragonWitch too many people abused the privilege of photography by using flash even though they are asked to turn it off. i even saw people touching the artifacts. with so much disrespect for the exhibit i can understand why they prohibited photography.
@stargunner @MoonDragonWitch That sucks to hear they banned photos. When I was there back in July you were allowed to take as many as you wanted but as you said, they asked you dont use flash. I did notice different people using flash sometimes and its sad that it ruins the experience for others.
You'd think that after giving Egypt Billions of dollars in foreign aid, that they'd at least loan the exhibit to us for free.
This impressive collection of ancient artifacts should be seized by the US government and housed in the Smithsonian. These items will ultimately be melted down for the gold and all the rest destroyed. They should be saved for all of humanity. Extreme Islamists have already called for the destruction of the Sphinx and the Pyramids and other relics from ancient Egypt. They have already destroyed all the Muslim prophets tombs in Timbuktu and many if not all of the Buddhist statues in Afghanistan. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYYBlPWYb7Y
Timbuktu http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/18/world/africa/mali-shrines/index.html
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Egypt http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/12/world/wedeman-ancient-monuments/index.html
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These people are no better than animals. The destruction of Mecca and their religion would be more appropriate.
Saw it and loved it and so glad we took the time to enjoy it.