King Tut Reflection/Question

In The King Tut piece by Melani McAllister, King Tut and Middle Eastern culture are commodified and made into something that can be bought or sold. Simultaneously, the same thing is happening middle eastern oil. In my presentation on this reading, I acknowledged this fact but also (perhaps without realizing it) focused on the corruption that our government seemed to be exhibiting through the exchanges described by McAllister. I couldn't believe the way that the government seemed to feign interest in King Tut in order to gain political and economic influence in the Middle East and its oil. However, I noticed that in class and in discussion we barely focused on that aspect of the King Tut phenomenon and I don't know why that was. Was it just understood that that happened? Did it not pertain to the class enough? Or am I making a big deal about something that just wasn't that important? Any ideas are appreciated.