Death Mask of Tutankhamun. Gold inlaid with lapis, turquoise, and carnelian, ca 1323 BC.

King Tutankhamun, or Tut for those of you who are lazy, is probably today's most well-known pharaoh, thanks to Egyptologist Howard Carter. In 1922, Carter discovered Tut's tomb and fascinated the world with the treasures found inside.

Ironically, Tutankhamen really didn't do much to deserve to be famous - he began ruling when he was 9 years old, and died at 19 from gangrene. (Recent studies of Tut's corpse have shown that he did not have his head bashed in, as some had formerly believed. Too bad.) As a pharaoh, he was pretty small potatoes, and didn't get as elaborate a burial as other pharaohs did. Rulers like Ramses II were probably buried with the really nice stuff, but honestly, who's going to watch a bunch of treasure get buried in the sand and not want to dig it up? Grave robbers did find Tut's tomb, and looted it, but they overlooked a door that opened into the area where the real bling, and the coffin, were kept.

And so, the tomb remained hidden for another 3000 years until modern-day grave robber Howard Carter found it. The story goes that Carter was so excited when he saw Tut's death mask that he ripped it off of the body, taking a good chunk of Tut's face with it. Now that's responsible archaeology.

The death mask of Tutankhamun is currently touring the U.S. in an exhibition called "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs." When "Tutankhamun" was in LA, LACMA decided to stay open 24/7 to accommodate for demand. (When I made it to LACMA about a month later, I ran into a few bitter museum staff members.) The exhibition will be in Fort Lauderdale, Florida until April 23rd, (why Fort Lauderdale, of all places??) and will then move on to Chicago, Philadelphia and London. If you're planning on seeing it, make sure to get your tickets in advance. For more info, visit www.kingtut.org.