Taking Time for King Tut
Our family really enjoys outings into San Francisco to take a break from our intense…with the emphasis on “tense” when the stress starts getting to us…focus on work and school. So when I saw that Costco was selling tickets for the King Tut exhibit at the de Young, I thought that would give us the opportunity to plan another day-cation into the City. Plus, I had fond memories of the Tut exhibit because it was one of the first events Steve and I went to as a couple more than 25 years ago.
After buying the tickets at Costco, I went online and chose Sunday at 10am for the day and time; I remember how popular the exhibit had been last time around so I was hoping that a Sunday morning wouldn’t be peak hours. That strategy worked; when we arrived at the de Young we there were only about 20 other people in line. The group of us was ushered quickly into a small room and the doors closed behind us.
Then the room went dark and the video screen lit up; it felt exactly like we were getting on the “Tower of Terror” ride at Disneyland. I was expecting lightening flashes and Rod Serling on the video screen welcoming us to a continuum of time and space. Instead, we heard Omar Sharif’s voice as he narrated a brief history of the boy king. Just like a thrill ride, they wanted to add some drama and build up our sense of anticipation before we entered the mysterious world of mummies and golden sun gods.
Inside the exhibit, we thought that the craftsmanship and sculptural shapes of the pieces were amazing. Valerie particularly liked Tut’s bling; a huge necklace that had a beautiful yellow-green stone scarab as the centerpiece. Jennifer liked that Tut’s tomb contained the 1322 BC version of a Nintendo DS in the form of a two-sided carved game board. Steve’s favorite part of the exhibit was some large photos documenting Howard Carter’s discovery of the tomb.
Looking at one of the display cases that contained an embellished dog collar, I couldn’t help but think how prosperous the Egyptians must have been. If you’re living at subsistence level, you’re probably not spending a lot of time thinking about dressing up your dog.
Although there are more than 130 pieces in the exhibit, it didn’t have some of the really large items that I remember seeing when the Tut exhibit came through San Francisco in the late 1970’s. For example, the iconic blue and gold Tut coffin is there, but it’s not the full size piece, it’s a canopic coffinette which is only about 18 inches high. And just when you think that they have led you through all the chambers for a big reveal, the exhibit ends. “Please place your audio tours on the rack by the exit.” Darn, over so soon.
It probably took us about an hour to move through the exhibit and then we spent another hour perusing the de Young museum store. We extended our time in the City with a trip to Haight Street to find a clothing store that Jennifer had found online and we had a great time window shopping in several funky stores along the street. Should I ever need vintage glass taxidermy eyes, I now know where I can get them.
Was the Tut exhibit worth the $26.99 that I paid for each ticket? Probably not, if we went there solely to be blown away by the art and history. For me, going to the exhibit was really about setting aside time to do something together as a family and take a break from college applications and work demands. And that was worth the price of admission.
