Mask of Tutankhamun

{{Infobox artifact

| name = Mask of Tutankhamun

| image = File:CairoEgMuseumTaaMaskMostlyPhotographed.jpg

| material = Gold, lapis lazuli, carnelian, obsidian, turquoise, and glass paste{{cite book |last1=Gâdiuță |first1=Corina |title=Egyptian Museum Cairo |year=2005 |publisher=Editura Adevărul holding |isbn=978-606-539-203-8 |page=106}}

| size = 54 × 39.3 × 49 cm (21.3 x 15.5 x 19.3 in)

| created = {{circa|1323 BC}}

| discovered = 28 October 1925 AD{{cite book |author=Christiane Desroches-Noblecourt |title=Tutankhamen: Life and Death of a Pharaoh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PWZNAAAAYAAJ |year=1965 |publisher=Doubleday |page=55 |isbn=978-0-14-002351-0}}

| location = Egyptian Museum in Cairo

| id = Carter no. 256a; Journal d'Entrée no. 60672; Exhibition no. 220{{cite web |url=http://www.griffith.ox.ac.uk/perl/gi-ca-qmakesumm.pl?sid=109.152.215.177-1279532502&qno=1&curr=256a |website=The Griffith Institute |publisher=University of Oxford |title=Tutankhamun: Anatomy of an excavation, the Howard Carter archives|access-date=28 November 2015|archive-date=8 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208115258/http://www.griffith.ox.ac.uk/perl/gi-ca-qmakesumm.pl?sid=109.152.215.177-1279532502&qno=1&curr=256a|url-status=live}}

| type = Death mask

| language = Egyptian language (via inscribed hieroglyphics)

| discovered_by = Howard Carter (archaeologist)

| period1 = Dynasty XVIII of the New Kingdom

| place = Tomb of Tutankhamun at the Valley of the Kings

| civilization = Ancient Egypt

}}

The mask of Tutankhamun is a gold funerary mask that belonged to Tutankhamun, who reigned over the New Kingdom of Egypt from 1332 BC to 1323 BC, during the Eighteenth Dynasty. After being buried with Tutankhamun's mummy for over 3,000 years, it was found in 1925 following the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb three years earlier by the British archaeologist Howard Carter at the Valley of the Kings. Since then, it has been on display at the Egyptian Museum in the city of Cairo.

Bearing the likeness of Osiris, the Egyptian god of the afterlife, the mask is {{convert|54|cm|in|1}} tall, weighs over {{convert|10|kg|lb|0}} or 321.5 troy ounces, and is decorated with semi-precious stones. A spell from the Book of the Dead is inscribed in Egyptian hieroglyphs on its shoulders. In 2015, it had to be restored after its {{convert|2.5|kg|lb|1|adj=on}} plaited beard fell off and was hastily glued back on by museum workers.

According to the British Egyptologist and archaeologist 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."{{sfn|Reeves|2015|p=522}} Since 2001, some Egyptologists have suggested that it may originally have been intended for Neferneferuaten, a female pharaoh who reigned near the end of the Amarna Period.{{cite book |author=Marianne Eaton-Krauss |title=The Unknown Tutankhamun |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FySCCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA111 |year=2015 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-1-4725-7561-6 |page=111}}

Discovery

Tutankhamun's burial chamber was found at the Theban Necropolis in the Valley of the Kings in 1922 and opened in 1923. It would be another two years before the excavation team, led by the English archaeologist Howard Carter, was able to open the heavy sarcophagus containing Tutankhamun's mummy. On 28 October 1925, they opened the innermost of three coffins to reveal the gold mask, seen for the first time in approximately 3,250 years. Carter wrote in his diary:

The pins removed, the lid was raised. The penultimate scene was disclosed – a very neatly wrapped mummy of the young king, with golden mask of sad but tranquil expression, symbolizing Osiris … the mask bears that god's attributes, but the likeness is that of Tut.Ankh.Amen – placid and beautiful, with the same features as we find upon his statues and coffins. The mask has fallen slightly back, thus its gaze is straight up to the heavens.{{cite web |url=http://www.griffith.ox.ac.uk/discoveringTut/journals-and-diaries/season-4/journal.html |title=Howard Carter's excavation diaries (transcripts and scans)|access-date=10 April 2016 |website=The Griffith Institute |publisher=University of Oxford|archive-date=14 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161014072044/http://www.griffith.ox.ac.uk/discoveringTut/journals-and-diaries/season-4/journal.html|url-status=live}}

In December 1925 the mask was removed from the tomb and transported {{convert|635|km|mi}} to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, where it remains on public display.{{cite web|url=https://egyptianmuseumcairo.eg/artefacts/mask-of-tutankhamun/|website=Egyptian Museum Cairo|title=Funerary golden mask of King Tutankhamun|accessdate=27 December 2024}}

Design and composition

The mask is {{convert|54|cm|in|abbr=on}} tall, {{convert|39.3|cm|in|abbr=on}} wide and {{convert|49|cm|in|abbr=on}} deep. It is fashioned from two layers of high-karat gold, varying from {{convert|1.5|–|3|mm|in|abbr=on}} in thickness, and weighing {{convert|10.23|kg|lb|abbr=on}}.{{sfn|Reeves|2015|p=512}} X-ray crystallography conducted in 2007 revealed that the mask is primarily made of copper-alloyed 23 karat gold to facilitate the cold working used to shape the mask. The surface of the mask is covered in a very thin layer (approximately 30 nanometres) of two different alloys of gold: a lighter 18.4 karat shade for the face and neck, and 22.5 karat gold for the rest of the mask.{{cite book |last1=Uda |first1=M. |last2=Ishizaki |first2=A. |last3=Baba |first3=M. |editor1-last=Kondo |editor1-first=Jiro |title=Quest for the Dreams of the Pharaohs: Studies in Honour of Sakuji Yoshimura |date=2014 |publisher=Ministry of State for Antiquities |location=Cairo |pages=149–177 |url=https://www.academia.edu/25196075 |access-date=12 October 2021 |chapter=Tutankhamun's Golden Mask and Throne |archive-date=14 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714081858/https://www.academia.edu/25196075 |url-status=live}}

The face represents the pharaoh's standard image, and the same image was found by excavators elsewhere in the tomb, in particular in the guardian statues.{{sfn|Reeves|2015|p=513}} He wears a nemes headcloth, topped by the royal insignia of a cobra (Wadjet) and vulture (Nekhbet), symbolising Tutankhamun's rule of both Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt respectively. The blue stripes on the headcloth are glass.{{Cite book |last=Tyldesley |first=Joyce |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HshuEAAAQBAJ&dq=tutankhamun's%20mask%20stripes%20blue%20glass&pg=PT106 |title=TUTANKHAMUN: 100 years after the discovery of his tomb leading Egyptologist Joyce Tyldesley unpicks the misunderstandings around the boy king's life, death and legacy |date=2022-10-27 |publisher=Headline |isbn=978-1-4722-8987-2 |language=en}}

The ears are pierced to hold earrings, a feature that appears to have been reserved for queens and children in almost all surviving ancient Egyptian works of art.{{cite news |author=James Seidel |url=http://www.news.com.au/technology/science/archaeology/tutankhamuns-mask-evidence-of-an-erased-name-points-to-the-fate-of-heretic-queen-nefertiti/news-story/41c5e678fdbc4dc5fcd5b38de1687b7e |title=Tutankhamun's mask: Evidence of an erased name points to the fate of heretic Queen Nefertiti |date=26 November 2015 |website=News.com.au |publisher=News Corp Australia|access-date=28 November 2015|archive-date=22 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190622155948/https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/archaeology/tutankhamuns-mask-evidence-of-an-erased-name-points-to-the-fate-of-heretic-queen-nefertiti/news-story/41c5e678fdbc4dc5fcd5b38de1687b7e|url-status=live}} However, the Egyptologist Zahi Hawass, a former Egyptian Minister of Antiquities, told Al-Monitor that the "theory about the ear piercing is unfounded because all the 18th Dynasty's rulers wore earrings during their period of rule."{{cite news |author=Hagar Hosny |title=Egyptologists refute British theory doubting King Tut's mask |url=https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/07/egyptologists-refute-british-theory-doubting-king-tuts-mask|access-date=11 November 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=28 July 2021|archive-date=11 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220611071525/https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/07/egyptologists-refute-british-theory-doubting-king-tuts-mask|url-status=live}}

The mask is inlaid with coloured glass and gemstones, including lapis lazuli (the eye surrounds and eyebrows), quartz (the eyes), obsidian (the pupils), carnelian, amazonite, turquoise, and faience.{{cite book |author1=Alessandro Bongioanni |author2=Maria Sole Croce |title=The Treasures of Ancient Egypt from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jaUYAAAAYAAJ |year=2003 |publisher=Rizzoli |isbn=978-0-7893-0986-0 |page=310}}

= Beard =

When it was discovered in 1925, the {{convert|2.5|kg|lb|abbr=on}}{{cite news |url=http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContentPrint/9/0/161598/Heritage/0/Face-to-face-with-Tutankhamun%E2%80%99s-mask.aspx |title=Interview with German conservator Christian Eckmann |website=Ahram Online |date=22 October 2015|access-date=18 December 2015 |author=Nevine El-Aref|archive-date=22 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222103335/http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContentPrint/9/0/161598/Heritage/0/Face-to-face-with-Tutankhamun%E2%80%99s-mask.aspx|url-status=live}} narrow gold beard, inlaid with blue glass, giving it a plaited effect, had become separated from the mask, but it was reattached to the chin using a wooden dowel in 1944.{{cite web |url=http://www.drhawass.com/wp/does-king-tut-have-a-new-barber/ |title=Does King Tut have a new barber? |website=Dr Zahi Hawass |publisher=Laboratoriorosso |date=22 February 2015|access-date=18 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161007075912/http://www.drhawass.com/wp/does-king-tut-have-a-new-barber/|archive-date=7 October 2016|url-status=dead}}

{{external media

| float = right

| width = 230px

| video1 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcsPIKWOULE News report on the 2015 restoration work] (in English)

}}

In August 2014, the beard accidentally become detached from the mask when it was taken out of its display case for cleaning. The museum workers responsible used quick-drying epoxy in an attempt to fix it, leaving the beard off-center. The damage was noticed in January 2015 and has been repaired by a German-Egyptian team who reattached it using beeswax, a natural material used by the ancient Egyptians.{{cite news |author=Liam Stack |title=Repaired King Tut mask back on display in Egypt |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/17/world/middleeast/repaired-king-tut-mask-back-on-display-in-egypt.html|access-date=16 December 2015 |work=The New York Times |date=16 December 2015|archive-date=18 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151218043226/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/17/world/middleeast/repaired-king-tut-mask-back-on-display-in-egypt.html|url-status=live}}

In January 2016, it was announced that eight employees of the Egyptian Museum were fined and faced discipline for allegedly ignoring scientific and professional methods of restoration and causing permanent damage to the mask. A former director of the museum and a former director of restoration were among those facing discipline.{{cite news |url=http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2016/01/23/8-antiquities-employees-referred-to-trial-over-damage-to-tutankamun-mask/ |title=8 employees referred to trial over damage to Tutankhamun mask |newspaper=Daily News Egypt |date=23 January 2016|access-date=24 January 2016|archive-date=24 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160124234623/http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2016/01/23/8-antiquities-employees-referred-to-trial-over-damage-to-tutankamun-mask/|url-status=live}}

= Inscription =

File:King Tut Mask front and back (cropped).jpg

A protective spell is inscribed with Egyptian hieroglyphs on the back and shoulders in ten vertical and two horizontal lines.{{sfn|Reeves|2015|p=513}} The spell first appeared on masks in the Middle Kingdom, 500 years before Tutankhamun, and was used in Chapter 151 of the Book of the Dead.{{cite web |url=http://www.touregypt.net/museum/tutl18.htm |title=Tut exhibit: Gold death mask of Tutankhamun |website=Tour Egypt|access-date=19 December 2015|archive-date=16 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211016160236/http://www.touregypt.net/museum/tutl18.htm|url-status=live}}

Thy right eye is the night bark (of the sun-god), thy left eye is the day-bark, thy eyebrows are (those of) the Ennead of the Gods, thy forehead is (that of) Anubis, the nape of thy neck is (that of) Horus, thy locks of hair are (those of) Ptah-Sokar. (Thou art) in front of the Osiris (Tutankhamun). He sees thanks to thee, thou guidest him to the goodly ways, thou smitest for him the confederates of Seth so that he may overthrow thine enemies before the Ennead of the Gods in the great Castle of the Prince, which is in Heliopolis … the Osiris, the King of Upper Egypt Nebkheperure [Tutankhamun's throne-name], deceased, given life by Re.{{cite book |title=Treasures of Tutankhamun |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xBYOAQAAMAAJ |year=1972 |author=Trustees of the British Museum |publisher=Thames & Hudson |pages=154–156 |isbn=978-0-7230-0070-9}}

Osiris was the Egyptian god of the afterlife. Ancient Egyptians believed that kings preserved in the likeness of Osiris would rule the Kingdom of the Dead. It never totally replaced the older cult of the sun, in which dead kings were thought to be reanimated as the sun-god Re, whose body was made of gold and lapis lazuli. This confluence of old and new beliefs resulted in a mixture of emblems inside Tutankhamun's sarcophagus and tomb.

= Bead necklace =

Although it is usually removed when the mask is on display, it has a triple-string necklace of gold and blue faience disc-beads with lotus flower terminals and uraeus clasps.{{sfn|Reeves|2015|p=514}}

Gallery

{{Gallery

| align = center

| height = 220

| width = 220

| File:Tutankhamun's mask, Burton photograph P0744, 1922.jpg

| The gold mask in situ, 1925

| File:Tutankhamun's mask without beard.jpg

| The mask without beard

| File:Beard and necklace of Tutankhamun's death mask.jpg

| The bead necklace and beard

}}

Possible alteration and reuse

Several of the objects in Tutankhamun's tomb are thought to have been adapted for Tutankhamun's use after originally being made for either of two pharaohs whose short reigns preceded his: Neferneferuaten, who was possibly Nefertiti, and Smenkhkare. Egyptologist Nicholas Reeves argues that the mask was one of these objects. He says that the pierced ears indicate that the mask was intended for a female pharaoh, which Neferneferuaten was; that the slightly different composition of the underlying alloy of the face (23.2 karats) suggests it was made independently from the rest of the mask (23.5 karat alloy); and that the cartouches on the mask show signs of being altered from Neferneferuaten's name to Tutankhamun's.

Reeves argues that the nemes-headcloth, collar, and ears of the mask were made for Neferneferuaten but that the face, which was made as a separate piece of metal and matches other portrayals of Tutankhamun, was added later, replacing an original face that presumably represented Neferneferuaten.{{sfn|Reeves|2015|pp=519–523}} However, Christian Eckmann, the metal conservation expert who carried out the restoration in 2015, says there are no signs that the face is composed of a different gold than the rest of the mask or that the cartouches have been altered.Forbes, Dennis C. Tombs, Treasures, Mummies, Book Four: The Tomb of Tutankhamen (KV62), Revised Edition. KMT Communications, 2018. p. 363

References

Bibliography

Broschat, Katja; Eckmann, Christian (2022). Tutanchamuns Mumienmaske – Chronographie einer Ikone. Monographien des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums, vol. 162. Mainz: Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum, {{ISBN|978-3-88467-356-0}} (monographical study on the scientific and technical aspects of the mask).
{{cite book| author-link= Nicholas Reeves |first=Nicholas |last=Reeves|chapter-url = https://www.academia.edu/7415055 |chapter=Tutankhamun's Mask Reconsidered |editor-first1=Adela|editor-last1=Oppenheim|editor-first2=Ogden|editor-last2=Goelet |title=Bulletin of the Egyptological Seminar |volume=19 |publisher=Egyptological Seminar of New York |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-9816120-2-7}}