For Immediate Release Contact: Nancy O'Shea (312) 665-7103 (For Media Use Only) Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs May 26, 2006 through January 1, 2007 For more than 3,000 years they lay unseen beneath the Egyptian sands: gleaming treasures of gold and semi-precious jewels; statues and chests of breathtaking artistry; magical amulets and articles of ancient life; the mummified body of a young pharaoh. When the British archaeologist Howard Carter uncovered the remarkably preserved tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922, he created a worldwide sensation. When the boy king's riches toured the world in 1977, the term "blockbuster exhibition" was born. Now a new exhibition, Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs, offers visitors a chance to see fabulous new treasures and to enter the world that gives them meaning: 250 years that marked the pinnacle of ancient Egypt's culture, wealth, and imperial power. As those who saw the earlier exhibition can attest, coming face-to-face with the treasures of King Tut is an encounter not soon forgotten. Visitors to the new exhibition, twice the size of the original, will have an even broader and deeper experience. They'll see more than 130 ancient artifacts—of gold and silver, jewels and semi-precious stones, alabaster and gilded wood—excavated from the tomb of Tutankhamun and other royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings. They'll learn about life and death in ancient Egypt, and the intimate relationship between the two. And they'll discover what the latest technologies are revealing about how the young king may have died. Tutankhamun has been organized by National Geographic, Arts and Exhibitions International, and AEG Exhibitions in association with The Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt and The Field Museum. The tour is sponsored by Northern Trust. Its Chicago sponsor is Exelon, proud parent of ComEd. The Chicago exhibition is the third stop on a four city U.S. tour that includes Los Angeles, Ft. Lauderdale, and Philadelphia as well. Like the original 1977 exhibition, Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs has generated widespread excitement and record attendance in each of the cities that have presented the exhibition to date. Continue>>