He would have been a mere footnote in history had it not been for the sensational discovery of his tomb, which brought him instant fame the world over.

　　Funerary treasures of King Tutankhamun, to be shown outside Egypt for the first time in a quarter century, are expected to attract hordes of museum goers in Switzerland.

　　More than half a million people are expected in Basel for the six-month exhibition, which will highlight the wealth and splendor of one the world's most ancient civilizations.

　　On view at the Museum of Antiquities starting on April 7 will be 50 outstanding artifacts from the tomb of the boy king, also known as King Tut, supplemented by 70 additional pieces from the Valley of the Kings, the site of royal tombs in southern Egypt.

　　Basel is the first stop on what is likely to be a world tour to include shows in the United States, Japan and possibly China.

　　Stringent security precautions have been taken to protect a dazzling array of mostly gilded objects that have been insured for US$650 million.

　　They were shipped to Basel on two Egypt Air flights as a precaution against losing the whole collection in an air crash.

　　A replica of the burial chamber with reproduced frescoes may give visitors a sense of the excitement that struck British excavator Howard Carter when he opened the tomb in November 1922.

　　It was to be the most important find in the history of archaeology, sparking unprecedented public fascination with the past.

　　Among the show's main attractions will be the magnificent Golden Shrine, a richly decorated wooden chest covered with sheet gold. Numerous reliefs recount episodes in the life of the young king and his wife, Ankhesenamun.

　　The chest, 50 centimeters (20 inches) high, attests to the elegance and refinement of art dating to the 18th Dynasty, which lasted from 1570 to 1293 BC.

　　A so-called canopic coffin, also made of gold, features a small effigy of the king holding across his chest a shepherd's crook and flail. These are the emblems of the god Osiris with whom he was identified.

　　A photograph of the tiny top of the effigy with the king's portrait has been blown up to make the signet of the exhibition suggesting some likeness with Tut's world-famous gold mask which may no longer leave Egypt.

　　The miniature coffin, of a total of four, originally contained one of the king's internal organs removed from his body during the embalming process.

　　In keeping with the cult of the dead in ancient Egypt, the tomb was filled with necessities of the afterlife, ranging from furniture to games.

　　Among them was an ebony gaming board. The game, called Senet, is assumed to have been one of the favorite pastimes of the young king.

　　The exhibition will cover 1,500 square meters (16,000 square feets) in two underground halls. A maximum of 400 visitors will be admitted at one time.

　　Those who have not ordered tickets by Internet or telephone may have to face long hours in line.

　　Museum director Peter Blome said the exhibition will probably move to the United States early in 2005 and later to Japan.

　　"The interest in both countries is immense," he said.

　　A similar tour of Tutankhamun's treasures through seven US museums in 1976-78 attracted eight million visitors.

　　Blome says Basel's success in winning the exhibit was due to a "mixture of madness, persistence and good connections."

　　But political factors may have played a role, too. Tourism, a key factor in Egypt's economy, has seen a setback following the 1997 terrorist massacre near Luxor in which 58 foreign tourists were killed, most of them Swiss.

　　It took more than three years of negotiations before Egypt gave the green light to allow its treasures to be shown overseas.

　　The Switzerland show will end on October 3.

　　(The Associated Press)