CAIRO (Egypt) -  Since 1922, when his tomb was discovered, hundreds of legends are born about his early death and mysterious beauty.

From today the public will have the possibility to see, for the first time, the real face of tutankhamun, the young Egyptian pharaoh who, according to recent research, would have died during a hunt falling from his chariot about 3,000 years ago: his mummy has been brought back to the Valley of the Temples, into the tomb where it was discovered exactly 85 years ago, and now visitors can admire it closely.

MUMMIFICATION – Despite the fact its sarcophagus is one of the most famous archaeological findings in the world, until yesterday just about fifty persons were able to see the real face of tutankhamun. It is still undamaged thanks to the complex mummification process performed by  Egyptian doctors three millenniums ago. According to archaeologist Zahi Hawass, the heat and the damp produced by the crowds visiting the mummy might provoke serious damages to the body of tutankhamun. For this reason, the scientists decided to remove the mummy from the ancient sarcophagus and place it into an air-conditioned Plexiglas showcase in the antechamber of his tomb.

FACE TO FACE – Archaeologist Hawass saw tutankhamun’s face for the first time in 2005, when conducting some very technological research about the sovereign’s mummy, which have then lead to the three-dimensional reconstruction of his face. In a recent interview Hawass stated that seeing the face of the young pharaoh has been an unforgettable experience: “The first time I saw him I was charmed- commented the archaeologist – Meeting the sovereign tutankhamun face to face has been an amazing experience, a very important moment of my life”.

 Francesco Tortora
4^th November, 2007