Tourism promoters are hoping that after their next advertising campaign, even Tut, the boy king, will know Philly's more fun when you sleep over.

The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp. says it's equipped with $1 million in grants from the state to promote " Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs," opening Feb. 3 [2007] at the Franklin Institute, to attract people from outside the region.

The Franklin Institute and its partners for the show, including primary sponsor Mellon Financial Corp., will be spending at least $1 million more on marketing, said Karen Corbin, the museum's vice president of marketing and visitor relations.

The Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau will advertise the exhibition to tour groups and in Europe.

The travelling exhibition, which will make the last of four U.S. stops here, could draw more than a million people, officials said. Already, the museum has sold more than 200,000 advance tickets, with 94 percent bought by people from outside the region...

An invitation from King Tut to stay awhile, Tom Belden, The Philadelphia Enquirer, Pennsylvania, USA, November 12, 2006.

In anticipation for the King Tut exhibit coming to the Franklin Institute in February, Sunday the Penn Museum unveiled Amarna, Ancient Egypt's Place in the sun. It offers a unique look at the childhood home of Tutankhamun.

Hundreds endured long lines Sunday to get a glimpse at parts of the royal city the boy king called home.

Penn's Curator Dr. David Silverman tells Action News, "This always has to do with the wonders of King Tut. You just mention his name and people will come. And what we like to think we have here is hors d'oeuvres for the main event in February..."

Includes video footage: Egypt Comes Early to U Penn.

Egypt Comes Early to U Penn, Erin O'Hearn, 6 ABC Action News, Pennsylvania, USA, November 12, 2006.

The Field Museum in Chicago, where Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs is on view through Jan. 1 [2007], is extending its hours for the holidays, providing not only more viewing time at the blockbuster show but also more time for shopping.

Through the end of the year, the museum will open one hour earlier (8 a.m.) on Saturdays and Sundays.

It will remain open until 9 p.m., with the last tickets sold at 7 p.m. today, Monday, Friday and Nov. 21, 22 and 25 [2006]. The museum also will be open Thanksgiving from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

From Dec. 20-23 the museum will be open from 9 a.m.-9 p.m., and on Christmas Eve from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. From Dec. 26-29, visitors can enjoy "Tut at Twilight," a premium showing of the exhibition (with reduced crowds) from 5:30-10:30 p.m. Cost is $50 per person and includes an audio tour narrated by Omar Sharif...

Field Museum gives extra time for Tut, The Cincinnati Enquirer, Ohio, USA, November 12, 2006.

The J. Paul Getty Museum’s former antiquities chief said the market for ancient art is probably the “most corrupt” of art markets, with unscrupulous dealers peddling smuggled goods, according to a written statement made to a Rome court where she's on trial for buying loot for the Getty.

Marion True, the former antiquities curator of the Los Angeles-based Getty, the world’s wealthiest art institution, said she fought the illicit trade by tightening the Getty’s acquisition standards, and by purchasing and documenting objects of unknown origin so they wouldn’t be lost to the private trade.

“The museum had to accept the premise that the majority of antiquities available on the market had, in all probability, been exported from the countries of origin illegally,” True, 58, wrote, explaining why the Getty adopted policies that restricted artefacts it could buy.

True’s lawyers submitted her statement today to the Rome Tribunal as evidence in her trial...

Getty Ex-Curator Says Antiquities Trade ‘Corrupt,’ Art Smuggled, Vernon Silver, Bloomberg, New York, USA, November 10, 2006.

At first glance, one may mistake it for a Pharaonic archaeological site but this is the remains of the only Pharaonic temple outside mainland Egypt. Mohamed El-Hebeishy sets out to discover the Nile Valley temple of Serabit Al-Khadem, dedicated to the Goddess Hathor — Lady of the Turquoise.

Miners were the very first settlers in Sinai. Around 8,000 years ago they started mining near-surface turquoise and copper. By 3500 BC, the goliath turquoise vein of Serabit Al-Khadem was discovered and for more than 2,000 years the early Pharaohs of newly united Egypt conducted a fairly systematic operation. Turquoise was extracted from the high mountainous mines, carried down through Wadi Matalla till it reached the garrison port of Al-Markha, near today's Abu Zenima. From there it was loaded onto ships bound for mainland Egypt. The bluish green turquoise served a number of purposes, from carving scarabs to using its powder as a colouring paint.

Dedicated to Hathor, the patron goddess of copper and turquoise miners, her temple is located 1,100m above sea level. It was first built during the reign of Pharaoh Sesostris I of the Middle Kingdom...

Snap shots, Mohamed El-Hebeishy, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 819, November 09 - 15, 2006.