Dear Commons Community,
One of the most famous visages in Egyptian archaeological history, that of King Tutankhamun, might not actually be the young king at all.
After a re-examination of the original 1920s discovery, experts now believe even more strongly that King Tut’s golden burial mask wasn’t originally intended for him at all and was likely designed for a high-status female. It all comes down to the earring holes. As reported by Express and other media.
“This mask was not made for an adult male pharaoh,” said Joann Fletcher, Egyptologist and honorary visiting professor in the Department of Archaeology at the University of York, according to a History Hit documentary reported by Express. “When the gold was compared, [they found] the face is made of completely different gold to the rest.
“Evidence of soldering is clearly visible on the mask,” she said. “It now seems as if Tutankhamun’s own face was effectively grafted onto the mask of the previous ruler. They may have had pierced ears, they may have been a woman, it may well have been [Queen] Nefertiti.”
King Tut’s iconic mask is 21 inches tall, inlaid with precious stones, and features a 5.5-pound golden beard as part of the larger 22.5-pound gold mask. That beard may have been an afterthought when the young ruler died unexpectedly at roughly 19 years of age in 1323.
Originally discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter, the records of Carter’s discovery have been kept at the University of Oxford’s Griffith Institute. Fletcher said that not only is there different gold used on the face of the mask than the remainder, but the perforated ears designed around earrings would only have been done for a high-status female or a child, since children often wore earrings in that culture.
Known as the boy king, King Tut the throne in 1332 BC around the age of 9, an appropriate age to wear earrings, but as he grew older during his reign, he would have stopped wearing them well before he died around the age of 19, experts believe.
As theories continue to mount over who the gold mask was really intended for, the latest earring episode only leads further credence to the claim that his stepmother, Queen Nefertiti, whose burial location has never been found (though there are theories), was the original user of the mask.
Tutankhamun reigned until 1323. Scientists believe he died from malaria and had a broken leg, possibly from a chariot crash. His cleft palate, curved spine, and club foot showed he likely struggled with health his entire short life. Those ailments could have resulted from inbreeding, as experts believe his father may have married his own sister, based on DNA from mummified bones.
A somewhat sudden death could have left officials scrambling to get King Tut’s burial chamber in order. A power struggle could have also hurried the process. Additional details show that experts believe the paint in the tomb was still wet when it was sealed. If those in charge of burying the young man needed a mask in a hurry, they may have grabbed one already used, potentially borrowing from one of the most famous queens in all of Egypt.
I saw King Tut’s Tomb in 2009 in the Valley of the Kings, one of the most impressive places I have ever visited!
Tony
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