| Mask of Tutankhamun | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Material | Gold, lapis lazuli, carnelian, obsidian, turquoise and glass paste[1] |
| Size | 54 × 39.3 × 49 cm (21.3 x 15.5 x 19.3 in) |
| Writing | Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs |
| Created | c. 1323 BC |
| Discovered | 28 October 1925 AD[2] |
| Identification | Carter no. 256a; Journal d'Entrée no. 60672; Exhibition no. 220[3] |
The mask of Tutankhamun is a gold funerary mask of the 18th-dynasty ancient Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun (reigned 1334–1325 BC). After being buried for over 3,000 years, it was excavated by Howard Carter in 1925 from tomb KV62 in the Valley of the Kings. It has been displayed in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo from 1925 to present. The death mask is one of the best-known works of art in the world and a prominent symbol of ancient Egypt.[4]
Bearing the likeness of Osiris, Egyptian god of the afterlife, it is 54 centimetres (21.3 in) tall, weighs over 10 kilograms (22 lb) or 321.5 troy ounces, and is decorated with semi-precious stones. An ancient spell from the Book of the Dead is inscribed in hieroglyphs on the mask's shoulders. The mask had to be restored in 2015 after its 2.5-kilogram (5.5 lb) plaited beard fell off and was hastily glued back on by museum workers.
According to the Egyptologist Nicholas Reeves, the mask is "not only the quintessential image from Tutankhamun's tomb, it is perhaps the best-known object from ancient Egypt itself."[4] Since 2001, some Egyptologists have suggested that it may originally have been intended for Queen Neferneferuaten.[5]
- ^ Gâdiuță, Corina (2005). Egyptian Museum Cairo. Editura Adevărul holding. p. 106. ISBN 978-606-539-203-8.
- ^ Christiane Desroches-Noblecourt (1965). Tutankhamen: Life and Death of a Pharaoh. Doubleday. p. 55. ISBN 978-0-14-002351-0.
- ^ "Tutankhamun: Anatomy of an excavation, the Howard Carter archives". The Griffith Institute. University of Oxford. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
- ^ a b Reeves 2015, p. 522.
- ^ Marianne Eaton-Krauss (2015). The Unknown Tutankhamun. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 111. ISBN 978-1-4725-7561-6.