By Zahi Hawass The highly anticipated exhibition "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs" has arrived at last in the city of San Francisco, California, where the Pharaoh was welcomed as a living king. This was not the first time that Tutankhamun has visited San Francisco, since the Golden Boy made an appearance there more than 30 years ago. The story begins before the salvage of the great temple of Abu Simbel, when Egypt decided to send the artefacts discovered in the tomb of Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings on tour. The exhibition was to visit six American cities. Fifty-five objects were chosen, including the golden mask, the throne, canopic jars and a statue of the Boy King emerging from a lotus flower. The exhibition succeeded in capturing the hearts of every single American. San Francisco aspired to become the seventh city to host the Tutankhamun exhibition. Unfortunately, however, the Egyptian Antiquities Organisation refused to add any more stops to its schedule. Walter Newman and his wife, Ellen, the daughter of Mary Ann Magnin, the founder of I. Magnin, a famous women's clothing store, came to visit Egypt in the hope of convincing the Antiquities service to allow the Tutankhamun exhibition into San Francisco. At the time I was the inspector of antiquities at Giza. I met the American couple and introduced them to my good friend Fouad El-Orabi, who was the head of the Antiquities Organisation. Orabi was able to grant permission for the city of San Francisco to host the Tutankhamun exhibition as the seventh and final stop on the tour. I was later invited to give a lecture at the de Young Museum whose administration had volunteered to return a limestone stele to Egypt that they learnt had been stolen from a tomb in Luxor. I have always thought this to be quite a generous and noble gesture. After leaving San Francisco the exhibition travelled to Germany, where an unfortunate accident occurred. The golden scorpion positioned on the head of the statue of the goddess Selket fell to the ground and broke into pieces. The Egyptian parliament requested that the objects from the tomb of Tutankhamun no longer be allowed outside Egypt. However, with the help of Farouk Hosni, the minister of culture, we were able to reverse parliament's decision. Now, 30 years later, King Tut is back in San Francisco. The new exhibition displays 50 objects discovered inside the tomb of the Boy King, as well as 80 other artefacts that teach us the history behind Tutankhamun's family and other rulers of the 18th Dynasty. It was impossible to send the golden mask on tour, as it is much too fragile. The exhibition "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs" has been organised by the National Geographic, Arts and Exhibition International (AEI) and AEG Live, a live-entertainment presenter and touring company, in cooperation with the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA). Amazingly, 10 different cities from America, Japan, and Britain will have the privilege of hosting this exhibition. This tour has and will bring money to Egypt, which will be used to restore and conserve the Egyptian monuments. In San Francisco, the exhibition was beautifully displayed. I was invited to the opening night; a black-tie event inside the museum, and it was amazing. I met the museum director, John Buchanan, who had organised, in my honour, an Arabian-themed night for the exhibition's opening. The Egyptian ambassador in Washington, Sameh Shukri, his beautiful wife, and Hisham El-Naqeeb, the Egyptian consul-general in San Francisco, also attended the celebration. After John's introduction, I gave a short speech during which I stated that there were, in fact, two important ambassadors helping to strengthen relations between Egypt and the US. On the one hand, Egypt has the Boy King who has inspired so many people. On the other hand, the US has President Barack Obama, who, as I like to joke, bears a close physical resemblance to King Tut. During the press conference I saw more than 100 members of the international press. I was also honoured to learn that two profiles were written about me in San Francisco newspapers. In March of next year, I will once again travel to San Francisco in order to give a lecture. Later on, before the end of May, Tutankhamun will travel to New York City, the last stop in the tour of "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs", which has already captured the hearts of six cities.
