King Tut and Egyptomania
Now that King Tut is doing Dallas, this is a perfect time to reflect on the many ways ancient Egypt has influenced American culture and the rest of the world. The list is gathered from Andrew Marton’s article for the Star Telegram but I’ve added to it.
Music
Walk Like an Egyptian by The Bangles
Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs
King Tut by comedian Steve Martin
Movies
The Mummy - 1932 original starring Boris Karloff
“Mummy” - a sequence of films first released in 1999, starring Brendan Fraser
The Mummy’s Curse - 1944 movie starring Lon Chaney Jr.
Cleopatra - 1934 original starring Claudette Colbert and the 1963 blockbuster of the same name featuring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton
The Ten Commandments - 1923 and 1956 Biblical films but who can ignore the Egyptian setting.
The Egyptian - 1954 movie loosely and poorly based on the wonderful novel Sinuhe the Egyptian by Mika Waltari
We Want Our Mummy - 1939 slapstick comedy by the Three Stooges.
Death on the Nile - 1978 movie based on Agatha Christie’s suspense novel
The Jewel of the Nile - 1985 film featuring sizzling pair Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner
The Prince of Egypt - 1998 animated film based on the Ten Commandments
Television
Batman with Victor Buono as arch-enemy “King Tut”
Tutenstein - Animated series from Discovery Kids about a 10 year old pharaoh brought back to life
Actor
Omar Sharif - Alexandria born actor made famous for his roles in Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago
Belly dancing
Little Egypt, also known as “Fatima”
Sport
Bowling - the origin of this sport occurred thousands of years ago at a simple lane about 56 miles south of Cairo
Pyramids and obelisks
Pyramid Arena in Memphis, Tenn.
Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas
Pyramid Arena at Cal State
Pyramid entranceway to the Louvre Museum in Paris
The Washington Monument obelisk
Expressions
“Sphinxlike” refering to someone bearing an inscrutable, unreadable facial expression
“Pyramid scheme” meaning a corrupt form of making easy money
“Inverted pyramid” as a form of organizing a news story
Eateries
King Tut - a Fort Worth institution since opening in 1992
Campisi’s Egyptian Restaurant - where Jack Ruby dined the night before John F. Kennedy was assassinated
And of course, the legendary and pervasive “mummy’s curse”.
The Galleries of Tutankhamen’s Exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art
“Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs” consists of 12 galleries charting the history of Tutankhamen and his forebears.
Gallery 1: Introduction Theater with an imposing statue setting the mood for the lavish display ahead, 130 artifacts, 50 of them from the pharaoh’s tomb.
Gallery 2: Egypt before Tutankhamen and Daily Life in Ancient Egypt introduces the pharaoh’s ancestors and immediate family.
Gallery 3: Traditional Beliefs with Egyptian deities represented in statues, vessels, amulets and figurines.
Gallery 4: Death, Burial and the Afterlife features a coffin, gold death mask and ushabtiu from the tomb of Yuya and Tuya, presumed great grandparents of Tutankhamen.
Gallery 5: Religious Revolution also known as the Amarna period, during the reign of Akhenaten, Tutankhamen’s presumed father, who established the rule of only one god.
Gallery 6: The Discovery of Tutankhamen’s Tomb is devoted to Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon, archaeologist and financial supporter of the expedition, respectively.
Gallery 7: The Boy King with the painted torso of Tutankhamen, one of the show’s most dazzling pieces, which some scholars believe may have been used as a mannequin or perhaps as a substitute of the pharaoh during religious rituals.
Gallery 8: Daily Life in Tutankhamen’s World contains the items the king used in his lifetime and the funerary objects for his use in the afterlife including furniture, personal items and a game of Senet.
Gallery 9: Tutankhamen’s Tomb shows statues and regalia pertaining to his role as pharaoh and high priest.
Gallery 10: Causing his Name to Live has to do with all the preparations ancient Egyptians thought necessary for the afterlife.
Gallery 11: The Burial Chamber of Tutankhamen with five exquisite artifacts found in the mummy, including the royal diadem and a magnificent dagger.
Gallery 12: New Discoveries examines the theories behind Tutankhamen’s early death, including conspiracy and fatal accident.
The Egyptian government expects between $10 million and $12 million from the Tutankhamen’s exhibit at the DMA. Officials said Wednesday that, so far, the DMA has sold 125,000 tickets. At an average of $22 a ticket, that’s about $2.75 million.
The exhibition, which opened in Los Angeles in 2005, with Dallas its fifth stop, has gone on tour solely to help build a $700 million museum in Cairo, destined to become the home of Tut’s and many other treasures.
All About Egypt: How much you know?
Here are two games to test your knowledge about our favorite subject. Have fun!
Hangaroo with an Egyptian Twist!
He deserves to be hanged, but with your knowledge of Ancient Egypt you can still save the loud and obnoxious kangaroo from the gallows.
King Tut Trivia: How much you know?
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Translator
By N2H
