King Tut Exhibit

Just thinking about this from years ago gets my so riled up. I wanted my money back. I wanted to sue. But I did nothing. False advertisement scam. No gold mask. What the fffff.

Ugh, I didn’t even buy my ticket but I still felt ripped off.
I mean, let’s be clear — King Tut, the Pharaohs, Egypt — that stuff is awesome! I always loved learning about it. But this exhibit lacks the «oomph» that translates to a $ 32 ticket where in that you have to show up at X time to get in. That didn’t stop it from being insanely busy and trying to crane your neck around people to read things.
The exhibit was interesting with all the artifacts but the history it provided was nothing new at all. Worse of all, no Tomb, no mummy, no nothing. I respect that King Tut isn’t to ever leave Egypt but the false advertising for this exhibit leads you to believe that’s what you’ll see.
Like I said, spendy, not worth the cost for what amounts to a 25 minute exhibit. Bummer.

The hype got me. I bought tickets to King Tut long before the exhibit arrived in Seattle and even extended my membership to Pacific Science Center so I could have early access to tickets.
I go to every exhibit at the Science Center (even if my membership lapses). Part of the reason I often have a crappy time is because of the crappy people who can’t read (no pictures, no flash, no food/​drink), do not observe rules of personal space, and who talk the whole freaking time.
King Tut was no exception. I think the staff was well organized to handle the timed release of patrons. The signage was clear and lines structured in an easily understandable way. I was excited that Harrison Ford was narrating but honestly, 5 minutes into the exhibit, I didn’t listen to it. I agree with some of the reviews — this was not a «King Tut» exhibit.
I’m happy I saw it, think it was a bit on the spendy side, and I’m not sure they advertised it correctly.

Meh.
I saw a King Tut exhibit in Seattle when I was a boy. I thought it would be cool to see it as an adult. There were some amazing artifacts to see, but I did not like how the exhibit was organized. I felt like there wasn’t enough information about the Pharoahs and Tut himself. Some of the placards were poorly illuminated or the text was too small to read. The exhibit felt like a zoo – the flow was poor and it was clogged with people. The ventilation could have been better too – there was some serious B.O. from the unwashed masses.

What up, Tut? It was my second time seeing the King Tut Exhibit and the first for my guy. His company bought him the package tickets as a Holiday gift and we went there on a rainy afternoon. Perfect Museum may you could say.
The time I went in San Francisco, I did not see the IMAX movie prior to the Exhibit. I’m not sure if it was even offered then, but was great. They give you a background on what you are about to see and in the actual place. So you can visualize the place while looking at the artifacts.
As you are getting ready to enter in the hall, the build of both people and excitement begin with a narration by Harrison Ford. Come on, who else could lead you into the King Tut Exhibit. No pictures, cellphones or anything like that allowed.
My only gripe was the fact that the exhibits are packed during showings and everyone has those audio tour deals, so you have to figure out which one they are all on and avoid it until later. They all huddle around the same piece leaving those without the audio part to wait until they clear out.
Other than that, it was great. I was impressed by the quality of craftmanship of the items in the museum and a lot had been added since the original tours. Still you won’t see the actual King Tut himself, but there is a creepy lifesize model you can check out at the end.
We also chose to buy a couple souvineers including the book of nice quality postcards, which was a great picture book and got a print out of both of our names in hieroglyphics.
We both enjoyed the exhibit and felt like I saw a lot more on the second time around.

Overall, I was very disappointed in this exhibit.
The biggest complaint is how busy it is. I realize that it is an extremely popular exhibit. When advertisements use terms like «once in a lifetime» and «last chance» its going to bring out everyone. BUT, when you are paying $ 35 to see something, cramming as many people in there as possible is extremely unfortunate to everyone. I was not able to even remotely enjoy this exhibit because of the sheer # of people. They say it will take 1 ½−2 hours to see everything. That’s not because of the size of exhibit, but rather the waiting in line in front of rude people to try and see each piece. This seems to be a common problem with traveling exhibits in the area, including the Picasso exhibit at the SAM a few years ago.
They advertise this as a King Tut exhibit because he was one of the more well known Pharaohs because of the late finding of his Burial site and the fact that the tomb was almost entirely intact. Despite the fact that so much was discovered in the tomb, very little of it was actually on display in this exhibit. Rather, it was a history of the Pharaohs in Egypt for about ²⁄₃ of the exhibit, and a few pieces from King Tut’s tomb. I still would have gone to this exhibit, but I didn’t appreciate the false advertising, and I imagine a lot of people won’t either.
I’ve seen quite a few exhibits on Ancient Egypt, including the British Museum and the Field Museum. I appreciated that this exhibit came from the Cairo Museum and that the items still belong to Egypt, rather than the thousands of stolen artifacts at other American and European Museums. Traveling exhibits like these are really popular because it gives an opportunity for people to see amazing ancient artifacts that they normally would not get to. So, I appreciated that, but I think overall the exhibit had too many flaws for me to recommend it, or even want to see it again.
I think the most interesting part of the exhibit was the National Geographic part afterwards about all the research that has been done into discovering how he died, and DNA testing to discover his parents. That was very interesting. I also really appreciated them telling us that King Tut’s mummy has never, nor will it ever leave Egypt. So much Ancient artifacts have been plundered in the 18^th-​20^th centuries that I appreciate that this important part of Egyptian History is their’s to keep.
Exhibits like this bring out a lot of people who do not usually go to museums, so they don’t understand the proper etiquette, and overall that annoyed me. It was like going to the Sistine Chapel, being disappointed by the sheer number of rude people surrounding you not even appreciating the magnitude of what you are viewing.

Definitely worth the trip, but if you’ve ever been to the Cairo Museum it is underwhelming…
It is about a ⁶⁰⁄₄₀ split between older (and newer) artifacts and actual treasures from King Tut’s tomb. Sadly, there are very few of the ‘amazing’ pieces that you might have seen in National Geographic or during the American tour in the 1970’s, and it is a shadow of the remarkable collection I saw at the Cairo Museum in the late 1980’s. I didn’t get the audio tour, but I’d advise getting the Costco deal on tickets.
You are restricted from taking photos, having your cell out (even to google some of the unknown terms) and, understandably, even ink pens are forbidden with staffers offering my wife a golf/​lotto sized pencil to use for notes. (NOTE: Tut is a national icon for Egypt like George Washington is for us, so they’re not going to risk him on a ‘world tour’, and after his burial mask was dropped in Philadelphia in 1978 they won’t let that out of Cairo either.)
All things considered — you MUST go see this! Not only because it is the last time to see them in North America, but most importantly these works were made upwards of 4,000 years ago by a people who had no idea their sculptures would be seen by people in lands they had never even imagined…

This all in all was a pretty good exhibit, with some minor faults.
I do not understand the complaints about it being dark here. The exhibits themselves were well lit, just the walkways and whatnot were dark. I think that helped add a bit to the mystery and ambiance of the exhibit.
However, I *do* understand the complaints about it being busy. Oh lordy. I was getting claustrophobic there. I thought the whole idea of high ticket prices and specific admittance times was to make sure it didn’t get overcrowded. But good lord was it crowded.
The actual exhibit was pretty cool though I felt it didn’t have any one piece that was truly epic. More like a lot of neat smaller things.
Would I recommend it to a friend? Unless they were a king tut nut, I don’t think so. Way too busy. At this price, I expect better.

What an awesome exhibit! I felt like I was being transported to Egypt without actually being there. It’s kinda crazy what details were in the jewelry pieces. I was amazed!
The exhibit itself could have been a bit bigger, but it was very informative and I learned a lot!
After coming here, Egypt is definitely on my future travel list!

Just like my rating, it is a ok. I expected more Tut.
The hall is narrow, dark and filled with too many people. It’s like pack rat. In the middle of the tour, the door alarm kept on going on and off. Seattle is a major metropolitan city as well. I felt like we can do better.
Note: No picture and no cell phone. Backpacker has to wear backpack in the front.

We were disappointed by this crowded, dark exhibit. As others have noted, the anticipation of seeing some of the more famous of the Tut artifacts, such as the golden burial mask (which is featured in all of the advertisements for the exhibit, on the Pacific Science Center itself and along the streets of Seattle) made for a letdown at the end of the exhibit.
On the other hand, we are extremely fortunate to have had the exhibit come through Seattle on its last tour ever, and many of the other items are breathtaking. I think the «truth in advertising» rule was broken, and that’s what leaves a bad taste in our mouths. Glad we only spent ~ $ 30 at Costco for each ticket versus retail price.
Must say, makes me appreciate the Egyptian displays at both the Met in New York and the British Museum in London much more!

Kind of expensive but well worth it. We spent extra $ 6 for the audio tour but it wasn’t all that convenience to hold it like a phone the whole show, I wish they were headsets instead.

This exhibit is an exercise in patience, avoidance and claustrophobia. If you’re not waiting for 5 minutes for people to take half a dozen pictures of the same artifact, you’re trying not to be touched, groped or pick-​pocketed by the sardine-​packed crowd, or feeling like you need a Valium or to run for the nearest exit. They pack WAAYY too many people in at one time!
The one star I gave is for the artifacts themselves.
Otherwise, that was the worst $ 86.50 I’ve spent in a long time. Boy do I feel like I got ripped off!
For the imbalance between cost and perceived value of the experience, I won’t go back and will caution those who ask my opinion!

Okay, first I would like to point out that their was a replica of Tut at the end of the exhibit. Next a few of the previous reviews stated a few artifacts were not on display. I just found out from a friend that a musuem in Tyoko is showing a King Tut exhibit as well, from Aug-​Dec 2012.
I went on Sunday and waited about 45 minutes. I didn’t spring for the Audio tour, just walked to each display and marveled at the craftsmanship. I was not disappointed with anything I saw.
It was crowded, even on a Sunday. I spent about 3 hours enjoying the tour. They sell books at gift shop but I wasn’t paying 35 plus for a book that showed me what I just looked at.
Bottom line, I learned something and saw something I may not see again.

Well… it’s not like seeing all the mummy stuff the British Museum has stolen from Egypt… but it’s A-​OK!
Wow this is expensive for what it was. First off it was super crowded, and they let your time slot in at two separate times to watch a movie narrated by who else but Harrison Ford! (Cool but.) We had to wait 10 minutes to be let in past our time (since we were in second group).
Holy picture takers! Do you really need a picture of every single thing for your Facebook wall? Just enjoy it! I love the use of an Ipad as a camera Really!!!
Sure the humongous statue was cool, and the little mustache men were cute… but I wasn’t impressed for the price. Then some of the pictures seemed in the wrong place. There was a picture that had Tut’s bed in 2 different rooms of his burial lair… hmmm
The DNA findings at the end were interesting once you exited though the gift shop. But if you buy a normal ticket to the Pacific Science Center you can see that.
The most important question I had was where’s the mummy? (once again the general ticket payer can see it) and… it’s a replica Tut has not been out of Egypt ever so no real mummy to see here.
So meh. If you have seen really cool mummy exhibits before don’t bother, but if you are not sure what a mummy is it might be really awesome!
Note we didn’t splurge for the audio or the IMAX.

Tom B. did a great summary of this exhibit. For those folks who saw the Tut artifacts when they toured in the 1970s, this is not the same show and you will probably be somewhat disappointed, as my parents were. The artifacts are not as impressive this time around, there was no death mask, and it only took us a little over an hour to see everything. My folks did appreciate that, although crowded, things were much better managed than the show in the 70s, as you could actually walk around and look at things and even take non-​flash photos. I think they are still glad that they went, but were expecting more/​better.
For folks like me who didn’t see the earlier exhibit, who enjoy history — especially Egyptian history — and who have no plans to visit Egypt, this is definitely worth the money and time. It’s important to realize that the Tut items only make up a smaller part of the exhibit, and I actually enjoyed the non-​Tut stuff far more. Most of the items from Tut’s tomb was small jewelery and items that are hard to see amidst a large crowd of people, and there was no ‘wow’ moment at the end of the tour, which drops you off into a narrow gift shop that is awkward to get through when crowded. However, seeing what the Egyptians could do with the tools of the time and realizing the age and history of the pieces is almost mind-​boggling. The artifacts are well-​signed, usually with a description of what it is, what it’s made out of, and the time period.
Overall, whether the exhibit is worth seeing or not depends a great deal on your reasons for going. If you are expecting a treasure trove of impressive artifacts from Tut’s tomb, you will be disappointed. If, however, you appreciate history and enjoy seeing original historical artifacts of any type, you’ll be glad you went. I was.

Did you know Tut was laid to rest in solid gold flip flops? No? I didn’t either.
It’s good to be the king.
FULLY worth checking this out if you have any kind of interest in Tut or things Egyptian at all. Very nice exhibit. Well lit and 360 vantage point viewing on many of the objects.
ALSO-​You can get much discounted tickets for this exhibit at Costco. The tix we got at Costco for $ 27 (Exhibit with audio guide), I think went for $ 45 at the door.
Very beautiful. Do yourself a favor and spend an afternoon entranced by this well put together show.

It seems like an omen that my father-​in-​law gave me a Life magazine from 1968 with the King Tut exhibit featured on the cover and a month later, I saw an ad saying the King Tut exhibit was back in Seattle until January 6 2013.
My lovely wife and I got to finally see the greatest archaeological find of the 20^th century and thankfully, I could take my Nikon D80 DSLR with me to take pictures
. If your camera has a fast lens and you have a little patience, you can get great pictures because after all, little kids have about a 5 second attention span. Just standing in front of an artifact, looking at it with my own two eyes and realizing it was skillfully carved by a red-​blooded human being more than 3000 years ago is absolutely amazing and yes, impressive to me. The exhibit has more than 100 beautifully crafted wooden, stone, calcite, and gold artifacts to gaze upon in wonderment and photograph. Most of them go down the family line. There are even statues depicting Ramses, the Pharaoh who famously, enslaved the Jews and trifled with Moses in the Old Testament of the Bible. But history aside, the ancient Egyptians were not only intelligent, they were true artists with a great attention to detail. And like my picture of the cat sarcophagus shows, they meticulously recorded their historical events on whatever was available.
I must say, I’m quite surprised the exhibit received any bad reviews on Unilocal but as the saying goes, «To each, his (or her) own». That said, if you have never seen handmade objects more than 3000 years old before and especially ones from a highly advanced civilization, you owe it to yourself to grab a camera and go down there and witness this legendary exhibit. You need to do this because this exhibit may not be around for a very long time after it leaves here in January. Especially with the turbulence going on around Egypt today. If you’re curious about the history that goes along with the artifacts and culture, electronic audio guides are provided at the exhibit.
We are very fortunate to have experienced and enjoyed this rare and educational event and while I’m sorry some big-​ticket artifacts were not part of the exhibit, I’ve seen exquisite pictures of those and that’s good enough for me. Thank you Egypt Museum and the Pacific Science Center!

I’m splitting the difference on this one.
Five stars if you love history and don’t expect to visit Cairo in your lifetime.
Three stars if you just like going to museums occasionally to see interesting stuff.
For me, I’m closer to the former, but I haven’t read much about ancient Egypt so I walked in pretty anonymously as just a guy off the street in terms of my historical acumen. The pharaohs I can name off the top of my head are few. You could count them on one hand. Even if you’ve had a band-​saw accident.
But they do a great job of reminding you why this stuff is interesting and making sure you understand the civilization, the warfare and trade, family life, and palace life. It’s all a quick survey, but you get a sense for what’s happening when these people lived, and what life was like for them when they carved and crafted these amazing relics. Some of them still look almost brand-​new, 3,500 years later, and any schoolkid could tell you they’re fancy and valuable. There are plenty of things 500 years old, or even less, that end up in museums and just look like junk purely due to age. What these people accomplished with calcite, paint, stone, gold, and semi-​precious jewels is astonishing. Of course, temperature and moisture were on their side.
The PSC and the exhibit curators have done a great job sequencing the galleries. You move through history lessons about Egyptian and Pharaonic life on your way to a loose replica of Tut’s tomb. There, you get the antechamber, annex, burial chamber, and treasury, laid out in rough proportion to how they were laid out in the Valley of the Kings.
The whole thing takes about two hours to walk through. You’re jostling and being jostled a fair amount of the time, which isn’t so fun, but high-​visibility exhibits like this do always tend to draw in the big crowds. You can take non-​flash photos as long as no one poses in the shot. That’s pretty cool. But I’d opt for one of the many books of high-​quality photos available in the gift shop. Pricy, but a far better remembrance, since they come with detailed notes on each item.
Bottom line, it’s twice the cost of a movie, and tickets are going fast. You’ll probably have to go on a weekday, and probably have to make a day of it. And the displays in Cairo literally have over 100 times the antiquities viewable here. But if you, do get down and see it while it’s here. It gives you a taste for the wide, old world we live in, and how long the roots of human civilization extend behind us. It’s humbling, and edifying. So you got that going for ya. Which is nice.
On a side note… can you imagine the uproar if an Egyptian team came here, dug up a bunch of graves in Arlington National Cemetery, and then sent the artifacts out on tour around the world? We’re very lucky to get to see this stuff.

My girlfriend thought the King Tut Exhibit was a sham and spent the next day raging about it to everyone and making empty threats of a class action lawsuit. So, of course, to annoy her, I contradicted her and told everyone about the few impressive things that were there and how she is not impressed by anything. Yes, I’m a bad boyfriend.
But the truth is that she is (mostly) right. The exhibit itself is a little underwhelming and the way it was advertised was bordering on dishonest.
First the advertising. In all the billboards and promotional materials, the famous King Tut death mask is always front and center. Also the billboards proclaim that it is the last time that King Tut will be in North America. From these two things, a reasonable person would deduce that the Exhibit would contain 1) the death mask and 2) king tut (mummy). Neither of those are there. Which would be okay if there was no expectation of them being there, but since they created that expectation, you are left feeling a little ripped off.
And I can tell that my girlfriend and I weren’t the only ones that felt that way as in one of the last rooms there was a video playing about the famous tut death mask and people were actually standing around taking pictures of the video.
So in general, the King Tut experience was light on the king tut. But that doesn’t mean there weren’t interesting pieces, like his stomach holding tiny sarcophagus, his giant scepter, fan, and the giant statute of him in stone, plus some other items which (along with majority of items) were not tut related. Due to these pieces, I have given the extra star in this review. Just don’t tell my girlfriend.