For a 19-year-old who died of unknown causes thousands of years ago, Tutankhamun sure is good at working a crowd.

Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs examines the life of the ancient Egyptian boy king. More than 7 million visitors saw the exhibition on its US and European tour and obviously Melbourne Museum are hoping it’ll be a similar drawcard.

I was hesitant to go. Ancient Egypt all just seemed a little, well, predictable. A good hit for primary schoolers, not worth it for everyone else. Luckily I was wrong. Even if you’re not an Egyptologist of the Molly Meldrum persuasion, the Tutankhamun exhibition is packed with enough beautiful items to make it interesting on an artistic, not just historical level.

A few basic facts: Tutankhamun became a pharaoh in 1333 BC at the tender age of nine. Within a decade, he was dead. English archaeologist Howard Carter discovered Tut’s intact tomb in 1922.

Beware, you won’t find Tutankhamun himself at the exhibition. But you can find the pure-gold dagger that was buried with him. Right next to that you’ll find the intricate jewellery that lay around his neck, the crown that sat on his head and the shimmering canopic coffinette — fashioned from gold and precious stones into that classic Egyptian burial design — that housed his stomach.

There are rooms and rooms of stuff, not all of it from Tut’s tomb. Sculptures from temples. Wooden games for children. Mini figurines of slaves, there to provide pharaohs with slaves in the afterlife. Incredible jewellery and scarabs. Marble vases for holding internal organs. A spectacular gold coffin of a distant relative.

Egyptians may have built fancy tombs and pyramids, but the interior design leaves a little to be desired. Photos from Tut’s tomb show priceless possessions packed in something like a warehouse self-storage container. It’s an interesting comparison seeing a dusty old chair piled under a collection of crap, then seeing it in real life polished to perfection and sparkling under museum lights.

As part of the exhibition, there’s a 3D film about another pharaoh. It’s an additional $8.50 and probably not worth it, although it offers a bit of background about ancient Egyptian life and beliefs.

The exhibition is worth the dough though. Plus, it’s closer and cheaper than a plane ticket to London or Cairo, the only other places you can experience ancient Egyptian artefacts of this nature. And if you don’t go? Well, tut tut.

Details: The exhibition is at the Melbourne Museum until November 6. Tickets — adults $35, concession $32, children $19.50 — are available online.