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domingo, 18 de marzo de 2012

Ancient Egypt - The Mask of King Tutankhamun


By :  Twomacs May 26, 2009

The intact tomb of King Tutankhamun was discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter in the Valley of Kings. King Tut, the Boy King, would have been relegated to relative obscurity, reigning Ancient Egypt for a mere 10 years, without the discovery of his tomb. The everlasting image of King Tut’s mask has been seen around the world and has come to symbolize the Ancient Egyptian civilization, as iconic as the pyramids themselves.


The mask protected the head of the mummy of Tutankhamun. It presents us with a beautiful, albeit idealized, portrait of the young King. Its purpose was to enable his soul to recognize his mummy and to re-enter it. Protection was assured by a magic formula engraved on the shoulders and the back of the mask. The usual Nemes headdress knotted back at the nape of the neck is a striped blue-green imitating Lapis Lazuli, a semi-precious stone found in Afghanistan. The headdress golden stripes are of solid gold. On the forehead of the mask are a royal Uraeus (a rearing cobra) and a vulture's head, symbols of the two patron deities of Lower and Upper Egypt; Wadjet and Nekhbet, both protecting the King, in gold inlaid with semi-precious stones and colored glass. The mask's eyes are made of obsidian and quartz with a touch of red at the corners: the cosmetic lines and the lids are of inlaid blue glass. The divine beard, plaited and turned up at the end, is of Cloisonn work (colored glass held in a framework of gold.) The wide necklace collar is formed of rows of Lapis Lazuli, Quartz, Amazonite and colored glass beads attached at each shoulder to a gold falcon's head (representing Horus) ornamented with obsidian. All of this intended to protect the King in his journey to the afterlife. This fabulous mask is held at the Egyptian Antiquities Museum in Cairo when not touring the world.

Ancient Egyptians believed their Pharaohs live on if their names are remembered. If that is true then a young boy born circa 3000 years ago may outlive them all.

Twomacs -

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