Archaeologists removed the mummy from his stone sarcophagus in his underground tomb, momentarily pulling aside a white linen covering to reveal his shrivelled leather-like face and body.

The mummy's face had high cheekbones, cracked and blackened skin and an intact nose.

The mummy of the 19-year-old pharaoh, whose life and death has captivated people for nearly a century, was placed in a climate-controlled glass box in the tomb, with only the face and feet showing under the linen covering.

'The golden boy has magic and mystery, and therefore every person all over the world will see what Egypt is doing to preserve the golden boy. And all of them, I am sure, will come to see the golden boy,' Egyptian antiquities chief Zahi Hawass told reporters under the intense sun.

He said scientists began restoring King Tut's badly damaged mummy more than two years ago after it was removed briefly from its sarcophagus and placed into a CT scanner for further examination.

Much of the mummy's body was broken into 18 pieces. It was damaged when British archaeologist Howard Carter discovered the mummy, took him from his tomb and tried to pull off his famous golden mask.

But Mr Hawass said he fears a more recent phenomenon - mass tourism - is further deteriorating King Tut's mummy. Thousands of tourists visit the underground chamber every month.

The mystery surrounding King Tut and his glittering gold tomb has entranced fans of ancient Egypt since Carter first discovered them on Nov 4, 1922, revealing a trove of fabulous gold and precious stone treasures.

Archaeologists in recent years have tried to resolve lingering questions over how King Tut died and his precise lineage.

In an effort to solve the mysteries, scientists removed the mummy from his tomb and placed it into a portable CT scanner for 15 minutes in 2005 to obtain a three-dimensional image. The scans were the first done on an Egyptian mummy.

The results did rule out that King Tut was murdered violently - but stopped short of concluding how he died around 1323BC.

ASSOCIATED PRESS