Rich Can Check Out Decked Out Like King Tut : For the Dead: Nation’s funeral directors boast limited-edition urns as well as gold coffins in the shape of the Egyptian Pharaoh.

If you want to go to the nether world decked out like King Tutankhamen, you can now depart in a satin-gold reproduction of the king’s innermost sarcophagus for just $7,350, thanks to Pyramid Enterprises of Genoa, Nev.

Or you could check out in the polished gold model with the hand-painted detailing, fully sculptured to the shape of the Pharaoh of the ancient Egyptians, padded and lined, complete with crook, flail and headdress, for just $9,850.

King Tut’s sarcophagus is perhaps the most non-traditional of the hundreds of funerary marvels assembled at the Baltimore Convention Center for the 5,000 to 6,000 members of the National Funeral Directors Assn. attending their annual meeting here this week.

“Two people I’m personally aware of have been buried in our sarcophagus,” Pyramid President David Schmanski says. But you don’t have to be buried in them. “They can be used for window display, too.”

“I’m very devoted to the traditional funeral service in America,” says William O. Wilson Jr., whose company makes clothes for the deceased to wear.

“Modest” is the word Wilson uses to describe the clothes women wear to their own funerals. High necklines, long sleeves, demure lace, proper pearls, little bows, dress crepes and sheers characterize his clothes.

His men’s clothing is merely conventional. It would not look out of place on a funeral director.

Deane McKercher designed the Patriot series of coffins for York Casket Co. “The ultimate tribute for 27 million American veterans,” according to a York brochure. The key symbol of the Patriot coffins is found in a cast-metal corner panel, which features a full-color flag over which “a proud American eagle stands guard for one final review.”

The Patriot is available in 18-gauge steel and stainless steel and in an Appalachian oak version called the Revere.

York Casket, McKercher says, is “the largest hardwood casket manufacturing facility in the United States.” Hardwood caskets make up about 17% of the national market, metals 68% and cloth-covered coffins 15%.

York Caskets does not like to talk price. But a sample price list from another large manufacturer suggests prices from $2,695 for a copper coffin to $6,200 for a bronze super casket, from $695 to $2,35O for various steel coffins, and from $995 for wood veneer to $3,450 for mahogany. Cloth-covered caskets sell from $200 to $800.

“We make a cremation-oriented line also,” says York employee Bruce Elder, who has been making coffins for 40 years.

The Wilbert company makes the urns for cremated remains. Its top-of-the-line urn is a sort of textured Oriental-looking pot cast of solid bronze. It is called “Soaring Eagle.” An eagle passing a polished sun is sculpted in relief on opposite sides of the urn.

“It’s a limited edition,” says Jim Neal, a Wilbert representative from Blairsville, Pa. “A thousand were made and the caster mold was broken. The sculptor was John Jagger of Paso Robles. You get a signed certificate of authenticity with it.

“It’s heavy, too,” he says, hefting the “Soaring Eagle.” “Feel the weight of it.”

OK. It is indeed heavy. So where do the dearly departed’s ashy remains go in?

“It loads from the bottom,” Neal says.