Exhibition: Tutankhamun in San Francisco

In 1978, at age 23, I stood anxiously waiting in a long line outside the Los Angeles County Museum for my chance to see relics from King Tut's tomb. It certainly wasn't common in the 1970s for artifacts to generate concert-ticket-length queues, let alone record-breaking museum attendance. But King Tut was a cultural phenomenon like no other. From 1976-79, nearly 8 million Americans viewed "The Treasures of Tutankhamun" during sold-out tours at each museum it appeared -- including the de Young in San Francisco. Passions ignited for all things Egyptian -- especially the boy king himself -- unleashing a consumer phenomenon that included jewelry, clothing, dance moves, songs and even hairstyles.

The American frenzy for ancient Egypt wasn't unique to the '70s, however. In 1922, English archaeologist Howard Carter launched the first wave of Tutmania when he originally discovered the long-forgotten tomb of King Tut. For the next decade, photographs of the objects that emerged had a wide ranging influence on America, from product advertisements cigarettes and soap, to automobiles the Scarab, to Hollywood movies "The Mummy", to art and architecture Art Deco.

Last week, I avoided the long lines I experienced 30 years ago by attending the press preview of "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs"at the de Young Museum. I photographed the refreshment tables featuring pyramid-shaped vanilla yogurt on crackers, and cream cheese-stuffed dates looking very much like tiny coffins.

I listened to various dignitaries, including the famed Egyptian scholar/explorer Zahi Hawass, discuss the importance of the exhibit to San Francisco and Egypt, since proceeds from the exhibit will go not only to the museum, but also back to Egypt to further its efforts to excavate and preserve antiquities. According to Hawass, Egypt never saw a dime from the 1970s U.S. tour. And I lingered over each item in the exhibit itself.

Now that I've seen this amazing exhibit and done a bit of reading, I'd like to take a stab at answering that nagging question: Why is the West so fascinated by the world of the pharaohs?