Tutankhamen’s death mask looks away from tourists

Date

2011

Description

Creator of the image: Khaled Elfiqi
Date of the image creation: 16 February 2011
Medium: Photograph
Persons depicted: Tourists

This photograph was used to illustrate an Agence France Presse story about a group of forensic scientists who performed a virtual autoposy on Tutankhamen’s body using computerized tomography (CT) scanning. They claimed that the mummy had spontaneously combusted while still inside his coffin due to a botched mummification process. The photograph captures the display cabinet at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. A crowd of people in the background are seen gazing at the famous mask, and some are reflected in the protective glass in the foreground.

King Tutankhamen’s mask again made news in 2015 when it was noticed that the Pharaoh’s beard was slightly crooked. Upon investigation, it was revealed that the beard had fallen off when the death mask was cleaned in 2014. The museum workers had panicked, and used a quick-drying epoxy to fix the damage. It was subsequently repaired using beeswax, presumably the substance that ancient Egyptians would have used to repair the object. Thereafter, eight museum employees — including the former director and director of restoration — stood trial, facing accusations of ignoring scientific and professional procedures and causing permanent damage to the ancient artefact.

Tutankhamen, the boy king, was perhaps the most famous of the Egyptian pharaohs. Son of Akhenaten and his sister, King Tut ascended to the throne of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt at the age of nine or ten. Upon becoming king, he married his half-sister, Ankhesenpaaten, who later gave birth to two stillborn daughters. Tutankhamen brief reign (1332–1323 BCE) ended with his early death at age 18. After a spectacular burial fit for a god, Tutankhamen remained entombed until for thousands of years; until 1922, when Howard Carter and George Herbert lead an expedition which uncovered his intact tomb. Among other treasures, they unearthed was Tutankhamen’s death mask, depicted here.

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