"Beyond King Tut" transports visitors into dazzling display of history
NEW YORK - This year marks the centennial celebration for the discovery of King Tut's tomb.
It's the perfect time to unveil a new attraction at Manhattan's Pier 36. It's called "Beyond King Tut."
It goes beyond a traditional artifact display. Immersive and dazzling, it's a perfect attraction for history buffs Karen and Scott Law of Wall, N.J. on the exact 100 year anniversary of a staggering archeological find in Egypt: King Tut's tomb, intact.
"It really made it come to life," Karen Law said. "Seeing the newspaper articles enlarged that I hadn't seen before, with Howard Carter and the actual events taking place all the time.
"That we're here on the 100th anniversary - she got welled up. That's what makes it special for me," Scott Law said.
"Isn't it amazing? One hundred years ago today, what the song says, the greatest archaeological find of all time, Howard Carter discovering the intact tomb of King Tut," said Mark Lach.
Lach is the creative producer of "Beyond King Tut." Nine big rooms, arranged like eye-popping chapters of a National Geographic, which partnered with him.
"Tutankhamen became king When he was 9 years old, just a boy," Lach said. "He died an unexpected - to this day unexplained - back at 18 or 19 years old."
Lach explained more about the exhibit.
"Not only do we take you on Tut's journey into the afterlife, we also show these amazing objects in photographic form, video from National Geographic's archives, but also we take you to Egypt today," Lach said. "If you can't make it to Egypt, today Egypt comes to New York."
So much captures the imagination. For many people, the number one thing is a gold mask.
"Truly amazing," said Barbara Dottino.
"The craftsmanship. To think how they actually created that," Glen Dottino said.
"I just love historical stuff. I love anything historical," said Jennifer Sanchez.
"There is a game called Senet. It's no bigger than this part of my hand here. A game he played probably kept his pocket, and those sort of personal items humanize this boy king," Lach said.
For the Laws, it was a perfect place for a photo. One last attraction: A virtual reality journey into the tomb, before a journey back into the world of now, enriched by the totally Tut experience.
The actual artifacts are back in Egypt, where they will be displayed in a new museum called Grand Egyptian Museum, or GEM.
For more information on Beyond King Tut, click here.
