Tomb of King Tutankhamun (Golden Mask)

The golden mask of Tutankhamun

Key takeaways

• King Tutankhamun was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh who ruled from around 1332-1323 BCE during the 18th Dynasty.

•  In 1922, the tomb of Tutankhamun was discovered largely intact by British archaeologist Howard Carter in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, Egypt. This was an incredibly important archaeological discovery.
• On February 16, 1923, Howard Carter (1874 - 1939) was the first person in more than 3,000 years to set foot on the floor of the room containing Tutankhamun’s coffin.
• On the walls of the room containing the shrine were wonderful drawings that told in the form of pictures the story of Tutankhamun’s departure to the world of the dead. It contained the main golden coffin, which was in the form of a statue of Tutankhamun, and this golden coffin covered two other golden coffins in the form of statues of the young pharaoh. The king's belongings were found complete without being stolen.  
• The mask is made of solid gold and depicts the young pharaoh's face. It weighs 24.3 pounds (11 kg) and is inlaid with precious stones like lapis lazuli, quartz, and obsidian.

• The discovery of Tutankhamun's nearly intact tomb provided unprecedented insight into ancient Egyptian burial practices and the tremendous wealth and artistry of the pharaohs.

• In February 2010, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism decided to allow the mummy of the young Pharaonic king Tutankhamun to be displayed to the public for the first time since its discovery with its golden shrine in the city of Luxor 85 years ago.

  Exploring Tutankhamun's tomb: a miracle of ancient Pharaonic art

  Exploring the tomb of Tutankhamun, which was found in Deir el-Bahri in the Valley of the Kings, west of the Nile in the city of Luxor, specifically in Gourna, was a unique and important event in the world of archaeology. It dazzled the world with its splendor, the precision of its workmanship, and the splendor of its golden form.

  The importance of uncovering the tomb of Tutankhamun

  The secret of the global obsession with Tutankhamun lies in the tomb’s preservation of all its contents of unique treasures, unlike other tombs that were subjected to looting, and in the mystery surrounding the fate of the young pharaoh and Lord Carnarvon, the wealthy Englishman, who financed the excavation work.

  Motives for the world’s interest in uncovering Tutankhamun’s tomb

  In addition to the greatness of the dazzling discovery, there are other reasons that helped spread the news of this discovery and its popularity, and the great interest in it. Digging revealed the extent of the world’s passion for treasures, both exceptional and ordinary. Paul Collins, curator of the Ancient Near East Wing at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, says:

  The emergence of radio, telegraph messages, widespread newspapers, and animated films contributed to fueling the obsession with Egyptian civilization that swept the world.

  King Tut’s tomb quickly became one of Egypt’s top tourist attractions, welcoming as many as 4,000 tourists a day by the late 1980s. By that time, experts had grown concerned about the effects of such heavy tourism on the burial chamber. In addition to carrying in dust from their clothing and shoes, some visitors even scratched graffiti on the tomb’s surfaces. Meanwhile, the flood of humid air and carbon dioxide into what had been a closed space for thousands of years had caused a large amount of what looked like microbiological or fungal growth, in the form of mysterious brown spots spreading across the walls.

  The results of this interest

  The discoveries inspired fashion makers in the 1920s, and Pharaonic symbols, such as snakes, birds, and lotus flowers, spread on various clothing designs of celebrities and non-celebrities.

  The images of luxury collectibles highlighted by Burton stimulated the consumerism that arose in this period, and its manifestations were monitored by the American economist Thorstein Veblen, when he coined the term “ostentatious consumption” to refer to the consumer economy in the era of the “Roaring Twenties,” and what Veblen called “purchasing To show off one's wealth and power, not to meet basic needs.

  The goddess Isis, one of the four statues protecting the tomb of King Tutankhamun, inspired the wave of “modern girls” that emerged after World War I.

  The "contemporary girl" trend spread throughout the world, from Germany to Japan, China and France, and the designs of contemporary girls' clothing and their bodies symbolized liberation. Their short hairstyles similar to Cleopatra's hairstyle, the designs of their dresses, and their lifestyle of drinking alcohol and dancing to jazz music, reflected rebellion against standards and customs.

  The image of Isis is printed on many goods, from lipstick to face powders, perfumes and face creams.

  Summary of the life of Tutankhamun

  The 12th pharaoh of the 18th Egyptian dynasty, Tutankhamen (or Tutankhamun) became king of Egypt when he was only nine years old. He ruled for less than a decade, from approximately 1332 to 1323 B.C., before dying mysteriously at the age of 19. Experts now believe he contracted gangrene from an infected leg wound.

  Despite his short reign, King Tut has become the most famous of all Egypt’s pharaohs thanks to the splendour of his tomb, which was first discovered in 1922 by the British archaeologist Howard Carter. The entrance to the tomb, located in the famous Valley of the Kings, had been concealed by debris, and remained hidden for 3,000 years after the pharaoh’s death.

  Tomb of King Tutankhamun: a spot line  the situation of the modern state 

  The features of the modern state were many. Its beginning was characterized by military power and the establishment of a strong army through which the state was able to create the first empire in the history of the Pharaonic era that included the country of Phenicia (the Levant) and even the upper Euphrates River in Asia, and included the country of Nubia in Africa and the islands of the Mediterranean. This was in The era of Tuthmosis III.

  Conditions changed during the reign of Akhenaten, who focused his affairs on the religious situation. He launched a religious revolution against the priests of Amun-Ra, in which he called for the worship of one god, Aten, and symbolized him with the disk of the sun, and built for him the city of Akhetaten to be a center for the worship of this god.

  Conditions changed during the reign of Akhenaten, who focused his affairs on the religious situation. He launched a religious revolution against the priests of Amun-Ra, in which he called for the worship of one god, Aten, and symbolized him with the disk of the sun, and built for him the city of Akhetaten to be a center for the worship of this god.

  tomb and its contents largely intact, including marvelous paintings, grave goods such as jewelry, statues, oils and perfumes and three coffins nestled inside each other, with the innermost gold coffin containing King Tut’s mummy.

  When the conservators compared photographs of the tomb walls to historic images taken shortly after Carter’s discovery, they found to their surprise that the number of brown spots on the walls had grown little since the mid-1920s. Through DNA tests and chemical analysis they confirmed that though the spots were in fact microbiological, they were dead, and no longer spreading. Because they had already penetrated beneath the surface of the paint layer, they chose not to remove them.

  FAQ

  What is tomb of King Tutankhamun?

                                                                            Tutankhamen wasn't an especially significant king, but his tomb was the only royal burial found intact in modern times. The tomb was important because it let archaeologists record what an Egyptian king's tomb looked like and learn more about ancient Egypt.

  When was this tomb discovered?

  It was discovered on february ,1923.

  Who discovered this tomb?

  It discovered by the British archeologist Howard Carter.