Tutankhamun final world tour

2022 marked the centenary of the Egyptologist Howard Carter’s discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings, which spurred renewed interest in Ancient Egypt and the marvels of Luxor. As part of the celebrations, over 150 objects found in the pharaoh’s tomb began a world tour, starting with six months in London, continuing to Sydney, and intended to finish at the new Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo which should be open by early 2023.

After this tour ends, only those on Egypt vacations will be able to admire these priceless treasures. The French exhibition has already broken its own world record, not least because it features three times as many artefacts as have ever travelled previously – some 60 of them have never before left Egypt.

Carter would later write: “At first I could see nothing, the hot air escaping from the chamber causing the candle flame to flicker, but presently, as my eyes grew accustomed to the light, details of the room within emerged slowly from the mist, strange animals, statues, and gold – everywhere the glint of gold.”

Much of this – the famed gold coffinette, a statuette depicting the pharaoh on the back of a panther, a ceremonial shield, a silver trumpet and the incredible bird-shaped ba pectoral – is part of the new exhibition.

During his search and subsequent excavations, Carter would post news of his discoveries on the notice board of the Winter Palace Hotel on the east bank of the Nile, where his patron, Lord Carnarvon, stayed. Carnarvon died shortly after Tutankhamun was found, from an infected mosquito bite, and his was to be the first death ascribed to the ‘Curse of Tutankhamun’ that went on to ‘claim the lives’ of almost a dozen people connected in some way with the discovery over the following decade. All nonsense, of course, but still Responsible Travel’s official guidance does recommend that if you purchase a ticket to enter KV62 in the Valley of the Kings you should always carry a four-leaf clover in one hand and a rabbit’s foot in the other, just to be on the safe side.

Assuming all goes to plan, and King Tut’s curse doesn’t strike again, the new Grand Egyptian Museum should open outside Cairo in by early 2023, with panoramic views over the Great Pyramids of Giza. Tutankhamun’s treasures, including his funerary mask, will be on permanent display, along with some 100,000 objects including a gigantic statue of Ramses II, the greatest pharaoh of them all.

So, if you do unfortunately miss King Tut’s final grand tour, no need to despair. You know where to find him.