They say “you can’t take it with you.” I’m not sure if that belief came from a 1936 comedic play, a 1938 film, a 1987 TV sitcom, a 2009 album, a BBC radio comedy series, or songs by Marah and The Alan Parsons Project. The Egyptian Kings certainly didn’t believe it and consequently tried to do just that. They loaded up their boats and tombs with treasures to serve them in the afterlife. Whether they got there or not, these valuables obviously stayed right where they left them, unless they were stolen by thieves. They are now spending eternity in a museum, no longer in the owner’s possession.

Perhaps the greatest tomb robber of them all was archaeologist Howard Carter who persisted in finding King Tutankhamen’s buried treasure. We visited the display at the OMSI yesterday and the boy king packed everything but a gold plated sink for his journey to the hereafter. However, this particular exhibit was cleverly designed to deter potential thieves by displaying nothing but replicas. Nonetheless, it was still fascinating to witness. In fact, I think we all would be surprised how many museum pieces are really nothing but copies, with the original safely secured in a vault. Plus, it takes a trained eye anymore to distinguish real from fake, especially if it’s placed behind glass. At least the organizers were forthcoming in admitting that these was not the same artifacts that accompanied the previous world tours, and that the only place to see the actual treasures are by going to Egypt – if that’s even true?

After absorbing the overall display that included a map of the massive Valley of Kings, the exhibit definitely enhanced my appetite to make the bucket-list trip. We’re scheduled to go on a Viking River Cruise of the Nile River in 18 months, and I will make it my mission to learn as much as possible about Egyptian history before we get there. Even yesterday’s short museum experience was overwhelming in attempting to grasp the concept of “taking it with you.”

Yes, we’ll pack a few bags for our journey, but nothing like King Tut. We all come into the world, even Kings, naked and screaming. I’m sure a King is immediately wrapped in a golden robe and fitted with a jeweled, silver spoon, while the rest of us take comfort in a warm blanket. From that point on, we all begin the process of accumulation. The amazing thing is that King Tut only had eighteen years of life to do this gathering. I’ve had 67 years to put together my collection, and I’m already starting to give it away. We’ve downsized our home, taken bag after bag to Goodwill, and have tried to suppress any future material needs. We will not need a tomb to store any valuables or even a stone marker to immortalize our existence. Our organs won’t be preserved in gold-plated jars for later use or our bodies wrapped and mummified. There will not be processionals, only a few words of remembrance. We’ll go out as we came in…with nothing. After all, “you can’t take it with you,” even if you are King Tut.