King Tut has left he building. Actually, he was never there. I attended a showing of the Tut exhibit to bask in his glory. The promotional literature implied that the tour would culminate with a viewing of the fabulous Tut burial mask. Sadly this was not reality. Most of the items exhibited, while quite interesting, were associated with King Tut’s predecessors. I was quite impressed that these items retained much of their beauty. However, I began to wonder when they would be bringing on the Tut. The last room did have Tut related items, but these were mostly jars for his livers and some fancy necklaces. The exhibit itself had the feel of an old mummy movie compete with faux tomb columns and ambient exploration music.

The most enjoyable aspect of this exhibit was to see the lengths to which Ancient Egyptians fetishized these pharaohs. They were revered as gods and the burial rites were elaborate and exquisite. Before we pause to have a chuckle at the foibles of these silly ancients, I must point out that we have continued with the fetish of the Egyptians. We send these artifacts around the world and lay down crisp Hamiltons down to view them. There are documentary television series hosted by khaki-adorned hosts wondering aloud if King Tut was murdered? Tut has even been x-rayed and CAT scanned to investigate this “mystery” further.

Maybe this can all be explained away as taking a healthy interest in history. The same cannot be said for the city of Memphis with its number one attraction, Graceland. During his life, Elvis Presley was no less a king (The King) than a god. Women fawned over his gyrating hips and men, well let’s be honest, men were also interested in those hips. Elvis lived a life of luxury and excess, and when he died, the country mourned. His estate now serves as a museum of his existence. Elvis has devotees around the world who still worship him, and some maintain he did not actually die.

I suppose we are not so different than ancient peoples. We have just chosen to worship our celebrities rather than our rulers. I often wonder, whom will future generations worship and revere with such fervor. Well, based upon the trends of the last three thousand years, I believe there is only one answer: pornographic actors. That will be interesting; imagine those museum exhibits.