Friday, May 21, 2010

My Journey to Heritage Key, Part 5 - King Tut Artefacts

(Follows directly from Part 4, in which I travel to the Valley of the Kings.)

As noted earlier, King Tut's tomb had been excavated and spiffed up, and many of the artefacts removed. Having finished my perusal of the tomb, it was time to see those artefacts. From the teleporter in the Valley of the Kings, I entered a replica of a pyramid/burial chamber.

The first thing I encountered was the outer funerary shrine, an imposing object nearly 50% taller than I. The room also contains a list of everything taken from the tomb. A sign reads "To the coffins," and this teleports one past the next room, although I found it easier to walk. The next room contains the second outermost funerary shrine, along with a set of informational placards. As before, one clicks to pop up the introductory card, then clicks through to subsequent cards.

The outer funerary shrine.

The coffin room contains the nested coffins, bearing the likeness of the king. Here, both audio and placards await. A button to "enlarge artefact" produces a large, rotating hologram.

First coffin and second coffin

The next room contains a variety of individual artefacts, including the golden mask of King Tut, a dagger and sheath, and a diadem.

Golden mask

The centerpiece of the mummy room is a red quartzite sarcophagus. Clicking on "meet the mummy" causes four holograms to appear, each depicting the mummy in different stages of wrapping.

Sarcophagus


Mummy

The final teleporter is to the Vannini Gallery, a collection of photographs of artefacts (from the so-called "real world") by Mr. Sandro Vannini, an Italian photographer.

Unlike the other areas, this one was more like a traditional museum, with set pieces and information on each piece, and links to the Aetherwebs for additional information.

Next in the series: the British Museum?

No comments: