In his role as the president and CEO of the Houston Museum of Natural Science (HMNS), Joel A. Bartsch oversees a wide range of exhibits that provide visitors with educating and compelling viewing. One unique offering Joel Bartsch brought to the museum in 2022 is King Tut's Tomb Discovery Experience.
Celebrating the 100th anniversary of British archeologist Howard Carter’s monumental discovery of King Tut’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings, the exhibit features a recreation of the tomb, including treasures and objects buried alongside the king. This exhibit provides an accurate sense of how archeologists must have experienced the chamber when they entered the tomb in 1922. A highlight is a stone sarcophagus that contains three stone coffins surrounding the mummy and protected by four golden shrines.
The reproductions of historic objects were sourced from the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities. As visitors pass the central tomb area, animated images and hieroglyphic texts are projected on walls. This information describes King Tut’s funeral and his journey through the afterlife, as believed by ancient Egyptians.
