THE glittering treasures retrieved from the tomb of the young pharaoh Tutankhamun seized the public imagination when they were first transported to London from the Valley of the Kings.

Artefacts such as the magnificent gold death mask, ripped from his mummified corpse, inspired a fashion for the spirit and style of ancient Egypt.

Borne on a wave of “Tutmania”, the face of the boy king became one of the most familiar images of the early 1970s, with the heavily drawn eyes, sensual mouth and big ears.

Yet the visitors who queued for up to eight hours outside the British Museum saw only 55 of the 5,000 or so artefacts removed by the celebrated archeologist Howard Carter.

Now, under pressure to raise funds to protect other sites in the Valley of the Kings, near Luxor, the Egyptian authorities have agreed to release a further 50 items from the tomb, which have not previously been shown in Britain. There will also be 80 other objects from royal graves of the 18th dynasty (1555BC-1305BC.) Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, said: “Tutankhamun is back, giving a new generation the chance to learn first-hand about the life and magic of this ancient monarch.”

The new exhibition, Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs, will tour the United States before arriving at the Millennium Dome on the Greenwich peninsula some time in 2007. It is at present on show in Bonn, Germany.

The touring exhibition is being organised with the support of AEG Exhibitions, owned by the developer of the dome, as well as National Geographic. This weekend a spokesman for AEG confirmed that the artefacts would go on show in the first year of the dome’s new existence as a commercially run arena and leisure centre.

It is understood that AEG will announce other plans for the dome next month, including the names of pop stars who will take up residency in a new concert hall. It may also announce a change in the name of the dome to that of a commercial sponsor.

Sources said the artefacts would be displayed in a purpose-built secure exhibition centre. Diamond thieves mounted an unsuccessful raid within the dome during the millennium year.

Although the golden death mask will not be brought to London again, Hawass expects the new collection to create a similar stir to that in 1972. It will include Tutankhamun’s royal diadem — the gold crown discovered on his head — and one of the canopic coffinettes that contained his mummified internal organs, inlaid with gold and precious stones.

There is the king’s game board, complete with 10 game pieces made of ivory; a falcon-engraved dagger and an ornate cabinet, which survived intact despite being forced open by tomb robbers and stripped of its contents.

A fan made of sheet gold depicts Tutankhamum on an ostrich hunt, borne on a chariot, with his arms free to unleash an arrow from his bow. A shield depicts him slaughtering a lion with a scimitar and there is a statuette of the god Ra of Heliopolis.

A small ebony throne, decorated with gold leaf and ivory is a poignant reminder of his extraordinary childhood. His mother died giving birth to him and his father, Akhenaten, a tyrant, died when Tutankhamun was six.

A recent study using modern crime investigation techniques suggested that Tutankahmun might have been assassinated by his prime minister between the ages of 17 and 20.

Hawass will soon announce the results of a CT scan of the mummy, to determine the specific cause of the pharaoh’s death. An x-ray photograph showed bone fragments inside the king’s skull, suggesting that he might have been killed by a blow to the back of his head.

In the decades since the first exhibition, one persistent mystery has also been cleared up. Ever since the beginning of November 1922, when Carter discovered the stone steps leading down to the tomb of Tutankhamun, the repository of treasures has reputedly been accompanied by a curse.

It was said to have claimed its first victim when Carter’s patron, the Earl of Carnarvon, one of the first to enter the crypt, died of an infected mosquito bite. As he lay dying and delirious he was said to have cried out: “A bird is scratching my face.”

Other westerners who were present when the pharaoh was disturbed were said to have died in suspicious circumstances.

However, an analysis of the deaths of all 25 westerners now shows their average age at death was an unremarkable 70.

The only curse to be directed at the dome may therefore come from visitors who, during its year as a publicly funded exhibition, berated its creators for its mediocrity.

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