Eye to Eye

Walking through the Halls of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, you are walking alongside tales as old as time - and proof that they were once actually there.

This museum holds the largest collection of Pharoanic Antiquities in the world, and it is all out on display. It is absolutely fantastic.

I had visited the Museum some 7 years back and it was much the same as I had remembered. With this in mind, I knew exactly why I came and where it was where I had to go.

It was upstairs, in it's own separate, air-controlled room.

Before I was in that exact spot of where I needed to be, we first walked through the rooms which housed all the artifacts that he was buried along with. This is the closest experience to a time machine I will ever see. There was jewelry lined with gold, silver and bronze. There were weapons, paintings and offerings. There were clothes, food, and jars filled with perfumes and oils. But I didn't come for this. These artifacts just warm you up for the main event; and I was getting close.

Entering into the separate room, out of the corner of my eye I saw what I came for right away. But I instinctively paid no attention to it. Unlike the Pyramids where your excitement builds as hints of the massive structures peek out over rooftops the closer you get to them; it’s of no use or value seeing what I came for from afar, then slowly getting closer to it. You have to be right in front of it, face to face, eye to eye.

So circled a bit and waited until I had a few seconds to myself with him. I had my chance and I stepped in. I looked right into his eyes and was immediately lost in all of time for those brief seconds. It’s that moment when you figure out exactly the meaning of it all, but you know you will never be able to describe it. The simple pureness of it all is simply incomprehensible, and the thought is lost once you snap back into reality.

King Tutankhamun is perhaps the most recognizable out of all the Pharaohs. His solid gold funeral mask is what defines his image. Beautifully decorated and painted, it shines brilliance. And there I was, eye to eye with him, sensing all the possibilities of what this world had and ever has to offer. That is what it feels like, if that makes any sense. But things like this don't have to make sense. Simply put, King Tut's mask is incredible for it defines mystery, wonder and amazement all in the same breath.

You see the past, you see the future; you see the unknowns and you see the truths. You get caught up in it all that everything is forgotten. Your mind just had a rush of a million thoughts but you are thinking of nothing; you are in complete solidarity. It's that powerful.

Then as quick as it happened, it's gone, as you realize where you are as others are trying to take your place, for their turn to stare into the eyes of their unknowns. You look around and remember you are in a Museum. Your name is Matt and you are in Egypt. It all slowly comes back. The sounds of tour guides and of people moving around are back into focus. You walk back down the stairs and out to the doors where Modern Cairo awaits you. It's hot, it's loud, and it's dirty.

Your thoughts in this City will never be as clear, or as pure, or as simple, as they were for that brief moment in time; today’s Cairo doesn’t allow for it.

Only in that one spot is where it can be found, face to face, eye to eye - when it was just you, the King and all of time.