Two years of anticipation will finally end Saturday, T-Day in Philadelphia, when “Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs” opens at the Franklin Institute. This city is the last of four American stops for this dazzling display of royal tomb treasures from ancient Egypt.The show attracted more than one million visitors to the Field Museum in Chicago. The Franklin Institute projects a similar turnout here.With more than 130 objects, this Tut show is far larger than its celebrated predecessor, the first American museum blockbuster, which toured this country between 1976 and 1979. That show was devoted exclusively to artifacts from the boy king’s tomb, discovered intact in 1922. This one includes material from other royal burial chambers, all of it 3,000 to 3,500 years old. Equal parts art and archaeology, the exhibition includes displays designed to help visitors understand Egyptian culture during Tut’s brief reign, more than 3,300 years ago.
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