It is several thousand years since they were in their prime but, like ageing rockers on a comeback tour, they can certainly pull in the crowds.

London is in the grip of a fever for all things archaeological, with the opening of exhibitions devoted to the two greatest archaeological discoveries of the 20th century. A combined total of nearly a million tickets have already been sold for the arrival of soldiers from the Terracotta Army and the adornments of the Egyptian Boy King Tutankhamun.

Such is the enthusiasm for the Terracotta Army that the British Museum, an institution generally unused to generating mass public excitement, has been forced to extend its opening hours until midnight. It may yet open later, allowing for all-night Terracotta Army viewings. It originally predicted that the lifesize warriors, among more than 120 objects lent by China, would attract 400,000 visitors during the show’s seven-month run. Almost 470,000 tickets have been sold in just over two months.

While the box office is being inundated with as many as 180 calls an hour inquiring about tickets, some are braving the coldest weather and queueing from as early as 5.30am just to be sure of getting one of the 500 day tickets released almost four hours later. On some days, there have been more than 200 people waiting outside the gates. The queue eventually moves into the Great Court, snaking round the Reading Room (where the show is staged in a space adapted to suggest the tomb-like structure of the underground palace) and continuing back out again into the front hall.

On the current opening times alone, it looks as though the show will sell 720,000 tickets, a figure that could rise further once the hours are extended, probably after Christmas.

Across London at the O2 centre, Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs has already sold 400,000 tickets. More than a million people are expected to go to see the 130 exhibits, among them the golden crown that adorned the Boy King’s mummified body.

Howard Carter, the British archaeologist who discovered the tomb in 1922, said the treasures annihilated the passing of 3,000 years since the king died. Although the totemic gold mask that caused collossal queues when it was last in London in 1972 was deemed too fragile to be brought to Britain, reviewers have echoed Mr Carter’s sentiments and visitors have flocked to see for themselves.

The O2 Tutankhamun exhibition was originally offered to the British Museum, which turned it down partly because of the £5 million cost of the loan but also because it did not have the sort of space that it is now planning to build at the back of its historic building: a centre that will enable it to stage the biggest shows from all over the world.

Its own exhibition on Qin Shihuang, the power ruler who created the state of China 2,000 years ago, unifying script, the coinage system and standardising weights and measures, paints a portrait of a man who was so terrified of death that he devoted his life to preparing to command the universe in the next life. Visitors stand face-to-face with life-sized figures of warriors, archers, horses, musicians, acrobats and a charioteer created with astonishing lifelike detail. The most recent finds include bronze geese, swans and cranes that are thought to have danced to the music made by the terracotta musicians for the entertainment of the Emperor in the afterlife.

Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum, said: “We were confident that the exhibition would excite the interest of the public, but The First Emperor has exceeded our expectations in every way.” It is now the museum’s second most popular exhibition after the Treasures of Tutankhamun, which drew 1.7 million visitors in 1972, the highest figure achieved by any temporary exhibition in the modern era.

The average exhibition costs about £500,000. The bill for this one, which involved spending £1 million on fitting the Reading Room and £300,000 for the loan, came to £2 million, requiring 400,000 visitors to break even. Asked how the museum would profit financially, a spokeswoman said: “It is too early to calculate how much money will be earned but it is true to say we will be making money from the show.”

At 6.20am yesterday, David Chua, a banker from Singapore, was enduring his three-hour wait before the British Musuem opened. Staff arriving early for work told of families queueing in shifts, a 14-year-old boy arriving alone at 6am with a stool and strict instructions not to leave without tickets and one Czech tourist who queued for six hours over two days before getting tickets.

Jim Tattersdale, 44, who missed the first Tutankhamun exhibition in 1972, arrived before 7am, determined to get tickets for the latest exhibition.

How to beat the crowds

Sistine Chapel, Italy
To avoid the six-deep, two-hour queues, visitors are encouraged to turn up as early as possible. Nearby St Peter’s Basilica and St Peter’s Square are usually less crowded

Machu Picchu, Peru
With 500,000 visitors a year, the Inca citadel has long grappled with tourist congestion. Choquequirao is strikingly similar, and will be bigger than Machu Picchu when it is fully excavated. It is usually far less crowded

Eiffel Tower, Paris
Tourists can avoid queuing by booking a table at the Restaurant Jules Verne, where diners benefit from a private elevator at the south tower, although prices are rather steep. Nearby attractions include boat trips along the Seine

Pompeii, Italy
The Roman town buried in volcanic ash as Vesuvius erupted receives 2.5 million visitors a year. Guides recommend going on weekdays to avoid crowding. Nearby alternatives include its sister city, Herculaneum. The peak of Vesuvius is open to visitors

Taj Mahal, India
The mausoleum receives 3 million visitors a year, mostly during October, November and February. Women and men queue separately. The Red Fort is near by

Egypt Travel

• Discover the Nile on a voyage into the past
• The pharaohs get a face-lift
• Bringing Egypt's history to life for the kids