Egypt is set to put the mummified remains of Tutankhamun on public display for the first time today - 85 years after the 3,000-year-old boy pharaoh's golden enshrined tomb was discovered in Luxor's famed Valley of the Kings.
Egypt's antiquities chief Dr Zahi Hawass said scientists began restoring the boy king's damaged mummy more than two years ago after it was removed briefly from its sarcophagus and placed into a CT scanner for the first time for further examination.
Much of the mummy's body is broken into 18 pieces, that Dr Hawass said looked like stones, that were damaged when British archaeologist Howard Carter discovered the mummy, took it from his tomb and tried to pull off his famous golden mask.
But Dr Hawass said he fears a more recent phenomenon - mass tourism - is further deteriorating the mummy. Thousands of tourists visit the underground chamber every month. "The humidity and heat caused by ... people entering the tomb and their breathing will change the mummy to a powder. The only good thing (left) in this mummy is the face. We need to preserve the face," said Dr Hawass.
The mystery surrounding King Tutankhamun and his glittering gold tomb has entranced ancient Egypt fans since Carter first discovered the hidden tomb on November 4 th, 1922, revealing a trove of fabulous gold and precious stone treasures.
Archaeologists in recent years have tried to resolve lingering questions over how he died and his precise royal lineage. Several books and documentaries dedicated to the young pharaoh, who is believed to have been the 12th ruler of ancient Egypt's 18th dynasty and ascended to the throne around the age of eight, are popular around the world.
In an effort to try to solve the mysteries, scientists removed Tutankhamun's mummy from his tomb and placed it into a portable CT scanner for 15 minutes in 2005 to obtain a three-dimensional image.
The scans were the first done on an Egyptian mummy. The results did rule out that Tut was violently murdered - but stopped short of definitively concluding how he died around 1323 BC. Experts for the time though suggested that days before dying, he badly broke his left thigh, apparently in an accident, that may have caused a fatal infection.
The CT scan also provided the most revealing insight yet into the life of ancient Egypt's most famous king. He was well-fed, healthy, yet slightly built, standing at 5ft 6in tall (170 centimetres) at the time of his death. The scan also showed he had the typical overbite characteristic of other kings from his family, large incisor teeth and his lower teeth were slightly misaligned.
The unveiling of thes mummy comes amid a frenzy of international publicity for the boy king. A highly publicised museum exhibit travelling the globe drew more than four million people during the initial four-city American-leg of the tour. The exhibit will open later this month in London and after it makes a three-city encore tour in the US beginning with the Dallas Museum of Art.
AP