#10 The Burial mask of Tutankhamun

The Burial Mask of Tutankhamun

King Tutankhamen (or Tutankhamun) ruled Egypt as pharaoh for 10 years until his death at age 19, around 1324 B.C. Although his rule was notable for reversing the harsh religious reforms of his father, Pharaoh Akhenaten, Tutankhamen’s legacy was largely negated by his successors. He was barely known to the modern world until 1922, when British archaeologist Howard Carter chiseled through a doorway and entered the boy pharaoh's tomb, which had remained sealed for more than 3,200 years. The tomb's vast hoard of artifacts and treasure, intended to accompany the king into the afterlife, revealed an incredible amount about royal life in ancient Egypt, and quickly made King Tut the world's most famous pharaoh.

The death mask(or burial mask) of Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun is made of gold inlaid with colored glass and semiprecious stone. The mask comes from the innermost mummy case in the pharaoh’s tomb, and stands 54 cm (21 in) high. The emblems on the forehead (vulture and cobra) and on the shoulders (falcon heads) were symbols of the Two Lands of Upper and Lower Egypt and of divine authority. The vulture Nekhbet and the cobra Wadjet protected the pharaoh. The Egyptian vulture is a tool-using bird. Egyptian vultures are specialists in egg-eating. They are among the only known birds in the world to use stones as tools. They will repeatedly strike at an abandoned ostrich egg with stones, then use their beak to enlarge the hole and penetrate membrane. Then it feasts on the oozing interior of the egg. In ancient Egypt the vulture is considered to be nearer to God who is believed to reside above the sky. Much like the Vulture The ancient Egyptians worshipped the Cobra and used it as a symbol on the crown of the pharaohs. It is used as a protective symbol, the Egyptians believed that the cobra would spit fire at any approaching enemy.

Artifacts from King Tut's tomb have toured the world in several blockbuster museum shows, including the worldwide "Treasures of Tutankhamun" exhibitions. Eight million visitors in seven U.S. cities viewed the exhibition of the golden burial mask and 50 other precious items from the tomb. Today the most fragile artifacts, including the burial mask, no longer leave Egypt. Tutankhamun's mummy remains on display within the tomb, his layered coffins replaced with a climate-controlled glass box.

Tutankhamens gold funerary mask

found in the king's tomb, 14th century BC

  

Tutankhamens gold funerary mask

found in the king's tomb, 14th century BC

King Tutankhamens Treasures

found in the king's tomb, 14th century BC