TUTANKHAMUN AND THE GOLDEN AGE OF THE PHARAOHS

Imagine my horror when I found that the irritating impostor is Omar Sharif.

Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs: The Official Exhibition DVD is nothing if not official. It's the kind of DVD you find playing on wall-mounted televisions in actual museums, and it makes you feel pretty darn smart, like you should be keeping company with college professors and archaeologists. The DVD is, in fact, so comprehensive that you could almost skip the exhibit.

Embarrassingly, I think I must have wandered around getting popcorn and making tea when I first turned on the disc, because when I sat down, an older bearded man was talking. His voice was already getting on my nerves, and lamented rather loudly, "Why didn't they just call Omar Sharif?" Imagine my horror when I found that the irritating impostor is Omar Sharif. Suffice to say, his narration is less pleasing than I would have expected, and it's been a long time since I've seen him.

Narration aside, the Main Program offers an extensive overview of King Tut's short life, including his coronation at age nine, marriage, daily life, and mysterious death at age nineteen. The cause of death is still uncertain, but had nothing to do with the hole in the back of his head. Turns out all mummies have holes in the back of their heads—it's all part of the drying out process! It is known that Tut's death must have been sudden, as his tomb does not seem to have been designed with royalty in mind. Even so, its contents offer a glimpse at life in Egypt circa 1339 B.C.

The "Gallery" is a straightforward look at the pieces in the King Tut exhibit from a variety of camera angles. It's a simple slide show set to subdued music, and simulates an actual museum visit. You can crawl right up to your TV and press pause to get a better look. This section provides a great opportunity to get up close and personal with artifacts that may have been mentioned only in passing

The final two features, "Discovery" and "Behind the Scenes" detail the excavation of Tut's tomb and the inner-workings of the exhibit that first arrived in America in 1976. These segments offer up even more creepy and fun facts. Did you know that a tomb should be aired out for several hours before you dive right in and start to explore? Otherwise you'll inhale ancient germs that just might kill you! One archaeologist explains that he never shaves when he's excavating because it leaves the skin open to these germs. It's likely that the archaeologists who originally unearthed Tut's tomb met untimely ends not because of a curse, but because of what they were handling in the tomb. Ew!

Intriguingly, all of the pieces in this exhibition were created and preserved because the Egyptian religion focused so strongly on the afterlife. They believed it was crucial to preserve bodies through mummification and to provide the dead with any items they might need on the other side. The reign of Tutankhamun may have been historically insignificant, but his tomb has made him one of the most famous and recognizable names in the collective consciousness. In that sense, his contemporaries successfully ensured that he would live on.