King Tut is unveiled

ARTEFACTS: PHARAOH'S TOMB CONTENTS ON DISPLAY FOR FIRST TIME »» Grand Egyptian Museum expected to attract five million visitors a year.

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GOLDEN. The funerary mask of Egyptian King Tutankhamun (1341-1323 BC).

(AFP)

Thousands of visitors streamed through the Grand Egyptian Museum on Tuesday, as almost the entire collection of King Tutankhamun’s treasures - more than 4 500 artefacts - was displayed together for the first time since the young pharaoh’s tomb was discovered in 1922.

Curated and conserved over nearly two decades, the collection was unveiled to the public two days after the museum’s lavish opening ceremony on Saturday.

In a vast, dimly-lit main hall spanning four levels, visitors gazed at chariots, household items, jewelled ornaments and, at the centre, Tutankhamun’s iconic golden mask.