Posted on 06/27/2005 11:01:22 AM PDT by Jubal Harshaw
Just came back from the King Tut exhibit in LA. I saw the exhibit in '76, and have seen the Tut exhibit in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, and have been to the Luxor Museum / Valley of Kings / Valley of Queens / Abu Simbel / etc. My girlfriend never saw any of the Tut exhibits before, so together we represent a wide range of pre-existing knowledge about Tut and about ancient Egypt.
We both thought the LA exhibit, soon touring the USA, was a waste of time. The exhibit included no closely Tut-related paraphernalia bigger than a breadbox. The largest item is the gilded Coffin of Tjuya, which was apparently found in the tomb of a nobleman who might (or might not) have been Tut's great grandfather. Tjuya herself therefore might (or might not) have been Tut's great grandmother. That coffin is large, but it is likely three generations removed from Tut, and, even if related to Tut, is from a then non-royal branch of the family. It's a nice piece, but that's as good as it gets.
The famous gold bust of Tut? Not there. Tut's sarcophagus? Not there. The famous lion bed? Not there. All that's in LA that Tut might actually have owned is jewelry, trinkets, and a few small statues, many broken and not restored. Presumably so that people didn't know what they were missing, the museum didn't even have color photographs of the glorious finds that didn't make it on the tour.
All in all, for us it was a waste of time. The price was OK (~$20.00 each), but it was probably worth ~$10.00 / person. If you have a free afternoon, and want to see a few second-rate Egyptian trinkets that may be related to Tut, then it's a way to kill a few hours.
My uncle Marvin is buried in that cemetery. Got to see Mrs. Crockett's burial place after my uncle's funeral. I did not know that she was there, and it was an interesting surprise on an otherwise sad day.
Davy's widow came to Texas to get the land grant awarded as a result of Davy's service to the Republic of Texas. I believe her tract was in what is now Hood County or just to the North of there.
I guess your uncle lived in the Granbury area. Nice place.
I thought the Dead Sea Scrolls was a little disappointing.
So did I. I guess we let the advertising make us expect too much.
It is very pretty out there, and I surmise that it would have reminded Mrs. Crockett of home in Tennessee.
We decided the Dead Sea exhibit was exorbitantly expensive for what it is.
My parents went to the Tut exhibit in New Orleans. While I was more than old enough to go, they farmed me out to my grandparents' so they could have a nice date.
I saw the Tut in NO as well. A long time ago, but I still remember it.
A few years ago I went to a private showing Splendors of Ancient Egypt. One of the people remarked that he played with that type of stuff as a child in Egypt.
Don't know if you read about it but the second largest collection of Faberge (Malcom Forbes'... the Queen of England has the largest collection.) is being sold to the Russians for their St. Petersburg Museum.
I saw that exhibit too (Ramses in Dallas) - the only gripe I had was that I was shoveled through with a crowd of 150 other people at the same time, and some exhibit rooms were so packed with people shoving to get a closer look, that I didnt get much time to really admire the pieces that caught my eye. But all in all, I enjoyed the exhibit itself. its about as close to Egypt as I will ever come (unless my plan for world domination comes to fruition! LOL)
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