KING TUTANKHAMEN LIVES ON

For more than 100 years, photographers and photo editors working for The Globe and Mail have preserved an extraordinary collection of news photography. Every Monday, The Globe features one of these images. This month, we’re looking at the 100th anniversary of the discovery of King Tutankhamen’s tomb.

When the contents of King Tutankhamen’s tomb were revealed, Tutmania swept a war-weary world. Suddenly, people could understand an ancient civilization not just by pyramids and temples, but by its embodiment in a boy king and his treasures for the afterlife. Music, hairstyles, jewellery and fashion were influenced by the items found in the tomb. Even the design period later known as art deco flowed from the lines and curves of Egyptian art. The fascination with Tut has endured and grown – mummies are an integral part of Halloween and movie culture. Today, a thousand awestruck people a day tour either Tut’s real tomb or an exact replica near the burial site in the Valley of the Kings. Tourism remains a huge industry in Egypt, where thousands will soon tour a new billion-dollar museum of ancient artifacts. King Tut was a buried secret for more than 3,000 years, but his influence is everlasting.