Egypt puts King Tutankhamun mask on exhibit after botched epoxy fix

Cairo: Egypt has returned the famed golden burial mask of King Tutankhamun on display after repairing a botched attempt to reattach the mask's beard, which was accidentally knocked off and hastily glued back with epoxy a year ago.

Antiquities Minister Mamdouh el-Damaty says the mask was restored to its place at the Egyptian Museum on Wednesday evening.

A German-Egyptian team began the restoration work in October after a museum employee knocked the beard off during work on the relic's lighting, after which workers tried to reattach it with epoxy.

The 3,300-year-old pharaonic mask was discovered in Tutankhamun's tomb along with other artifacts by British archeologists in 1922, sparking worldwide interest in archaeology and ancient Egypt.

The mask is arguably the best-known piece in the museum, one of Cairo's main tourist sites.