King Tut was an Egyptian Pharaoh that ruled between 1332 to 1323 BCE, during the Eighteenth Dynasty of the New Kingdom. He is commonly known as the “The Boy King” because he started ruling at age 10 and unfortunately he died at the young age of 19. It was first believed that he was murdered since his mummified body showed a blow to his head. Later it was recognized that he suffered a fracture to his leg that became fatally infected. To understand King Tutankhamun it is important to understand what preceded him. It is unclear whether Tutankhamen ruled immediately right after his father
Akhenaten, Some archeologist believe that there was at least two other king pharaohs between Tutankhamen and Akhenaten, one of them being Tutankhamen possible mother Nefertiti. But most importantly King Tutankhamun was known for the restoration of the traditional religion and worship of the God Amun. King Tutankhamun was originally named by Akhenaten as “Tutankhaten” which means the “living image of Aten”. Akhenaten caused social chaos when he forced people to worship the God Aten and made it the official religion. When King Tut took power he restored the traditional god Amun and hanged his name to King Tutankhamen.
King Tutankhamun’s short lived reign did not accomplish more than restoring the original religion therefore, King Tut is most widely know and appreciated for the treasures discovered in his tomb at the Egyptian Valley of the Kings. (Akhenaten and Tutankhamun Book) Howard Carter is a British Archeologist that arrived in Egypt in 1891 but it wasn’t until November 26 in 1922 that he and his colleague, Lord Carnavron, entered the interior burial chamber of King Tutankhamun’s tomb and found King’s Tut Funerary Mask among thousands of other artifacts in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings.
Howard Carter states the following: “One thought and only one was possible. There before us lay the sealed door, and with it’s opening we were to blot out of a king who the centuries and stand in the presence had reigned 3,000 years ago. My own feelings as I mounted the platform were a strange mixture, and with trembling hand I struck the first blow. An astonishing sight… revealed what to all appearance was a solid wall of gold” -Howard Carter King Tutankhamun has been by far the most famous pharaoh rom the New Kingdom. He is vastly covered by the media due to the findings in his tomb.
He is the best recognized because Tutankhamun’s tomb was the only tomb that remained completely intact with little to no damage for thousands of years and it consisted of many gold and precious artifacts. The funerary mask, is the most famous along with his sarcophagus. It is now located at the Ciaro Museum in Egypt. King Tuts funerary mask was placed over his mummified body. The mask portrayed a realistic image of him that was used in order for Gods to recognize him in the afterlife. In specific, King Pharaohs such as Tutankhamen wanted to be identified by the sun-God Re.
The sun god had a golden body with hair made form lapis lazuli just like how Tutankhamuns mask was made. (Treasures of Tut) According to Linda Alchin, the mask itself weighs about 24 pounds and it is 21 inches tall and 15 inches wide. It is mostly made out of beaten down gold but it does have precious stones such as Lapis Lazuli. The study “Tutankhamun’s Golden Mask Investigated with XRDF” revealed that there is two shades of gold in the mask. King Tut’s face and eck are made out of whitish lighter gold and all the other parts are made out of a golden colored gold.
The gold did not only represented the luxury King Tut received but it was also known to have religious properties and represent the power of the sun god. Some other parts of the mask are made out of faience which is a fired glass. The eyes are made out of quartz and obsidian. Quartz is a type of crystal and obsidians a volcanic glass type rock. The mask shows King Tut in his Nemes headdress. It consists of gold and blue stripes. The blue strips are made of a blue lass. It was meant to imitate Lapis Lazuli, which was a rare precious and expensive stone (Treasures of Tut).
On top of the names there is a vulture and a cobra. The Vulture represented supreme power over Upper Egypt, and it was also made out of colored glass. The Cobra, known as the Uraeus, represents power over Lower Egypt. The cobra and the vulture together represent two lady pharaohs that will protect the pharaoh in his afterlife, they also represent the unification of Egypt. The Cobra is mostly made out of gold except for the head which is made ut of dark blue faience, its eyes were made with red quartz and its “hood” was made from three materials; lapis lazuli, glass and quartz (Alchin 2015).
The mask also shows a realistic image of King Tuts face. The “makeup” he uses is representative of what he may have used in real life. In real life King Tut would have worn Kohl around his eyes. The mask imitates the kohl with Lapis Lazuli for a longer lasting effect. King Tut also has the traditional false beard worn by ancient pharaohs. The false beard was sacred to the Gods, it was a symbol of a supreme being and right to rule. Therefore pharaohs wore beards to show that they were “living-walking gods”.
It was also important for pharaohs to wear beards to show their religious and ceremonial practices. King Tuts false beard was also made of the blue glass that was used for his Nemes. It has a braided style effect to it and is semi-pushed forward (Alchin 2015). King Tuts Funerary Mask also has a very large collar that wraps from shoulder to shoulder but does not cover the neck. It has rows of little squares all throughout. The squares are all made out of different material. It consisted of feldspar, quartz, lapis azuli, and colored glass.
Feldspar is a rock made of minerals with alumni and silica. (Treasures of Tut). The back of the mask has an inscription. It is a old spell that first appeared in the Middle Kingdom. Later when Tutankhamen took power it was part of the “Book of the Dead”. The spell identifies different part of the mask with different Gods. Each part is protected by each God. (Treasures of Tut) Recently King Tuts beard was broken off after an attempt to adjust the lighting of its case at the Ciaro Museum in Egypt. The people working at the museum attempted to glue on the beard ith epoxy but failed (Lynch 2015).
Epoxy is often used for glueing together steel, aluminum, wood and ceramic. It is very hard, but not impossible, to dissolve and reverse its effects, therefore King Tuts beard has been permanently damage. According to Egyptologist Monica Hanna, the glue between his chin and his beard is about one centimeter in width. In addition, another person working in the museum tried to scrape off the epoxy with a spatula and caused permanent scratches. Monica Hana also states that no one has been held accountable for the damage.