King Tut in Dallas

A week or two ago I get a distraught email from a lady upset because she thought King Tut was going to usurp Big Tex's position at the State Fair of Texas. I reassured her that Big Tex would stand alone. And he is.

Meanwhile the King Tut exhibit has opened in another part of Dallas. It's not in Fair Park, but at the Dallas Museum of Art at 1717 N. Harwood Street, in the part of downtown Dallas known as the Arts District.

King Tut has been to America before, back in the 1970s. At that time he visited 7 U.S. cities, including Seattle. I think I went to see Tut in Seattle, but I may be confusing it with going to the Egyptian Pavilion at Vancouver's Expo 86 World's Fair.

For 30 years, give or take a few, Egypt has refused to let King Tut tour the world, due to the Egyptians being righteously annoyed because one of the Tut artifacts had been badly damaged while in America. But, the Egyptians wanted to raise some money to fund an ambitious Egyptian museum building plan. So, if a town would come up with $10 million they could have King Tut come to town. Dallas put up the money. And so now King Tut is here.

This King Tut exhibit is missing some of the items that made his first tour so popular, like Tut's funeral mask. Egypt decided not to let the most valuable items out of their control again.

But, it looks like there is still plenty to see.

The exhibit is called "Tutankhamen and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs." It runs now through May 17, 2009. Tickets range from $16.50 to $32.50. Weekdays are cheaper than weekends. Seniors, College Students $24.50 - $29.50. Kids 6-17 $16.50. Adults $32.50.

You can see King Tut 8am-8pm, Monday-Wednesday. 8am-9pm, Thursday. 8am-8pm Friday-Sunday. Last entry at 2:30pm Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve. Closed Christmas.