Mom and Dad took my sister and I to the first Tut show. I was eight and don’t really remember it, but when I asked my mom, she said she did. Why? Because we were touring the exhibition just behind the remarkable CBC radio announcer Barbara Frum. I hope to be trailing Rick Mercer or George Strombo this time around.

I was at the 1979 King Tut exhibition with my wife and my parents.

I was astounded of course by the mask but even more so by what the doctors and embalmers did to preserve the young king…

I have since become an active member at AGO and encourage all friends and family members to see this and many other wonders present at AGO.

See you November 21st

Robert Laporte

The 1979 Toronto King Tut Exhibition closed on New Years Eve. I was among the last straggling visitors to see it just before midnight.. Indeed, I was the very last person left in the hall. Alone I approached Ptah, the patron deity of artists and craftsmen. We had a silent and very powerful communion.

1980 signaled my return to making films and painting out of my gut urges. A new confidence had come over me. Dozens of awards followed. The artist in me was given a, “Go.”

Thanks for bringing Tut back to TO.

In ’79 I was president of the Anthropology Forum, a student group of anthropology majors at Buffalo State College, and a member of the AGO. I was living in Buffalo to study at their International Center for Studies in Creativity. Anthropology was my major, creative studies, a minor.

Moved by the Tut opportunity, I cajoled the powers-that-were to make tickets and transport available for students and faculty for the trek. Well worthwhile. Felt good to provide an open door to culture and learning, networking and fun. We followed it up with a party where each dressed as a figure from Tut’s time. Without the Tut exhibit, Ancient Egypt 301 might have not had the impact it did.

Looking forward to Tut ’09, this time to bring clients to help stimulate their creative thinking as we enter the age of innovation.

I was in Grade 12 and went with my high school. I thought that the exhibits were very cool. It was the first time i ever saw a mummy. Can;t wait to go to this one im taking my 12 year old as we went to the ROM this summer and she enjoyed the egyptian stuff there.

I was 19 and in my second year at university when I went through the Tut exhibition with my parents, sister, two aunts and one uncle. While I do not have detailed memories of the show itself, I did purchase an exhibition poster. There certainly was some inspiration in that poster as Tut’s mask still peers at me from the wall of my high school classroom where I teach history.

This time I hope to bring my wife and two children (age 14 and 11) to the exhibit. If the show doesn’t inspire my boys, perhaps a gift shop purchase will have a more lasting impression!

I was 11 years old back in 1979. 5 other kids and I won an essay writing contest about King Tut, and the prize was a trip to see the exhibit. At the time, I was absolutely terrified to even glance at King Tut’s death mask, because I had read up on “the curses”. I thought, oh my gosh, King Tut will so know if I am looking at his mask, and I will be cursed! I’m 40 years old now, and not much has changed with my active imagination

I was really thrilled to hear that this exhibit is returning to Toronto. I can recall being very young and hearing of the amazing stories surrounding King Tut. The curses that were placed on those who had disturbed his resting spot and the elaborate burial as well as the stories of his servants who were buried with him. I now have a boy who is 9 yrs old and he’s fascinated with the stories. We cannot wait for it the exhibit and the myths that surround this amazing pharoah.

In ’79 I went through the King Tut exhibit twice. My favorite were all the animated bottles and golden trinkets that accompanied the body in burial. I was absolutely fascinated by the meticulous embalming process, too. The second visit was to Seattle. My mother drove us over the border early on a Monday morning, unaware that it was an American holiday. We spent 9 hours waiting in line just to get tickets into the exhibition. We had just enough time to find something hot for dinner and return for our 9pm entry time. I will never forget the good humour and kindness of those waiting with us in line covered in sleeping bags to keep warm. And yes, the exhibit was worth it.

I saw the King Tut exhibition back in 1979…I was 7 years old. To be frank, I can’t recall much about it other than my mother buying me a TUT hat and eating a candied apple from a vendor outside the AGO…..oh yes…and a really long line up. I think I must’ve had a good time but it was what happend after the exhibition that I remember most….I was tormented with nightmares of mummies chasing me and my mother in the park (we used to hang out around the swing sets quite often). I was so scared that I had to sleep in my parents bed everynight for weeks. But…thankfully …one Saturday morning I saw a Scooby Doo episode where Scooby solves the “Mummy Mystery” and when he unwrapped the evil mummy I saw it was just a dude. So I thought to myself I guess mummies are just dead dudes and nothing to be afraid of….

I can’t wait for the new King Tut exhibition but I hope I don’t get those nightmares again and I sure hope I don’t have to crawl into my parents bed again every night for safety….I don’t think they’d appreciate it at 37 years old.

I was an AGO member volunteer for the 1979 Tut exhibition. Many
people from the U.S. called asking for directions to the Gallery, dates, times, tickets. I enjoyed Tut more for having worked so hard on the phones.Such beautiful objects and workmanship :could
never figure out the headrests :still can’t. How could they have slept on such tiny stool-like head supports ? At the time Ralph Lauren had just brought out his new perfume (red bottle) and the AGO Gift Shop was selling a silk scarf (Egyptian Terra cotta colours). I associate that exhibition with that scent and silken colours. So happy Tut has returned : have re-newed my membership and will see him again in September.Thank-you so much AGO.

I was in Grade 6 living in the Laurentians when my folks took me to see the Boy King in 1979. I do not recall too much about the train trip to Toronto from Montreal, but I do remember all the GOLD…. Also, the brilliant siamese cat figures and symbols.

I was taken so much, I did a presentation to my class upon return and got an A+ for my project.

I look forward to taking my children this year. I will join asap.

THANK YOU AGO.

“Do you remember the time?” (Michael Jackson’s Egypt-themed video) Yes! I was 9, I was in Grade 4, and I remember A) the way the AGO front foyer used to look B) the big crowds and C) the big crowds around the showpiece blue/gold mask which was in Display Case #25. The other big memory for me was the class project we all had to put on for an after-hours open class in the school library for our parents and it was about ancient Egypt because of the exhibit. One kid in our class played the part of the mummified King Tut – he was wrapped in bathroom tissue (no I’m not making this up).

I was very lucky to see the exhibit in 1979. We had group tickets organized through my high school in Mississauga, Ontario. Our King Tut field trip was scheduled during the week that we were evacuated due to the chemical spill from the Mississauga Train Derailment. I was staying with family in Toronto and made my way to the exhibit without my ticket. A few other classmates also made their way to Toronto without their tickets and after explaining our situation to the staff, we were permitted entrance.

I remember gold, gold and more gold. Although I was only 14 years old, I appreciated the opportunity to attend the exhibit.

Now I’ll be able to attend once more, this time with my 17 year old son who is fascinated and passionate about Egyptology.

Thank you.

I remember the 1979 Tut exhibit well since I was a young mother at the time. Therefore, our visit to see the exhibit included bringing along our infant son in a pouch. He was about 4 or 5 months old. The crowds were phenomenal… everywhere were people desperate to see the gold artifacts left behind in memory of the boy king. We all had to wait for closeup looks. Through it all, our son slept on. Many visitors were interested as well in the sleeping baby we carried about. He gained his own notoriety snoozing away in the midst of the dazzling exhibit. This fall, we are going to return and bring him along again. He’s now 30 and I expect will be able to stay awake and see some of what he missed the first time round. He has been asking who will carry him this time.

My second cousin Maureen shared a memory with me and said I could post it. She was a teenager and went with her mom and dad from Burlington. It was the day after that the train crashed and most of Mississauga was evacuated for three weeks. She remembers they got up mighty early to take a detour to the gallery – but they didn’t miss it!

I was 12 years old when Tut was here the last time. By that time I had already made the decision to become an archaeologist. 30 years later – here I am, an archaeologist who has worked in the Middle East, toured around the Med., visited Egypt and am teaching Intro to Western Civilization at UofT. How great is that! I am so looking forward to taking my daughter (same age was) to the exhibit and have her experience the same feelings I did. Who knows, maybe she’ll want to follow in her fathers footsteps!

I was just telling my 13 y/o son yesterday that I had seen this exhibit as a little girl (10 y/o) during a school trip and can’t wait to take him to see it…happy to see it’s back

I saw this exhibit when I was 9 years old. I was completely fascinated by hieroglyphics, and bought a kit in the giftstore that showed how to draw them. I remember sending notes to my family, and also doing a school project, written entirely in hieroglyphics. (I still have the kit, along with the book from the exhibit.) The other thing that I remember from the exhibit was the fact that King Tut wore earrings. When I was entering my teens, and the punk rock movement was new, I heard adults criticizing youth who wore earrings, and thought I had an indefensible arguement when I remembered that King Tut wore them, too.

I became fascinated with Tutankhamun with the approach of the 1979 exhibit and the exhibit itself blew me away. I still have my ticket and the original bag from the museum shop “The Tutankhamun Shop” where I loaded up on Tut goodies, the original flyer, brochure and articles from Readers Digest, Chatelaine, Toronto Calendar Magazine and the Toronto Star. I am beyond excited that the golden pharaoh is returning to our city.
If anyone at the AGO would like PDF copies of the materials that I have collected from the 1970 exhibit, please feel free to contact me.

I was 29 when I saw this amazing exhibit. Everything, but everything, was so interesting. The richness of this exhibit was profound and just to be able to see the craftsmanship of that time was unbelievable. It may be odd to say this; but, I thought those alabaster lamps were such a invention (dispite their simplicity in design). I loved this exhibit! It was like be present in that moment of time.

I bought an AGO membership when I was 21-years-old in 1978. Soon afterwords, I was able to take in the King Tut Exhibition for free! As a teenager, I was fascinated by Ancient Egypt and wanted to become an archeologist. Being able to see this magnificent glittering pageant was a wonderful experience! Since the exhibit has returned, I am now able to revisit it with my thirteen-year-old homeschooled daughter in what will be a history field trip!

I have been reading all of the comments from “Tut” exhibit circa 1979. I was a twelve year old, who along with my best friend won an essay competition within our school. Our compostitions were choosen at our middle school in south Etobicoke, and the prize was a ticket to the very famous exhibit. We were thrilled, just the thought of seeing these artifacts in person rather than in a book was just amazing to us. As someone mentioned, I do remember the “dark” entrance, and especially the death mask. I was not afraid of seeing the supposed evil cursed mask, I was trying to figure out how it was made. The whole experience is still etched in my mind, I believe it was the main factor in my love for history to this day. My best friend and I plan on getting tickets this time around if possible, to relive our exciting trip from 30yrs ago. I know we will both take more away this time , we often talked about the 1979 exhibit, and how we hoped it would return someday. Thanks AGO, looking forward to attending this falls exhibit….SB

My mother and a friend attended the Tutankhaum exhibit in 1979. I was only 6 years old at the time but I remember the book my mom brought home from the show called “Tutankhaum: his Tomb and its treasures”. I would spend hours flipping through the book with my mom looking at all the beautiful treasures. I now share that same book with my own children, ages 4 and 6, who are equally fascinated by the story and treasures of Tutankhaum. I can’t wait to share with them this great experience — King “tut” at the AGO 2009.

I was honoured to be chosen one of he Ushabtis for the 1979 viewing of the Treasures of King Tutankhamun. I am excited to see that some of the pieces are returning and will enjoy taking my children to see them