One of the best-known objects to be brought out of Tutankhamun's tomb was his life-size golden death mask. Made from sheets of beaten gold and decorated with semi-precious stones, it is so valuable that it is considered to be one of the greatest treasures in the whole world. The mask was fitted over the young pharaoh's mummified head to protect him once the priests had finished their work. Further protection was added in the form of a magic formula, which was engraved on the shoulders and on the back of the mask.
Tutankhamun's body, complete with the death mask, was then placed inside a nest of three exquisitely decorated coffins, carved to this body and each one complete with a different face mask.
The first coffin was made out of gold, and the second and third were carved from wood, inlaid with gold. The world-famous golden death mask is said to represent an idealised face of the young pharaoh – and pays tribute to Tutankhamun's great position and power. On the mask, Tutankhamun wears the divine plaited beard, made from colored glass, expertly worked into a golden framework.
His wide necklace collar, made from lapis lazuli, quartz, amazonite and colored beads, is attached at each shoulder to a gold falcon’s head. Around his forehead he wears a vulture and cobra worked from gold, inlaid with semi-precious stones and colored glass. His eyes are made from obsidian and quartz and lined with inlaid blue glass.
The mask takes pride of place in the Tutankhamun collection at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, and is seen by thousands of visitors every year.
Tutankhamun's body, complete with the death mask, was then placed inside a nest of three exquisitely decorated coffins, carved to this body and each one complete with a different face mask.
The first coffin was made out of gold, and the second and third were carved from wood, inlaid with gold. The world-famous golden death mask is said to represent an idealised face of the young pharaoh – and pays tribute to Tutankhamun's great position and power. On the mask, Tutankhamun wears the divine plaited beard, made from colored glass, expertly worked into a golden framework.
His wide necklace collar, made from lapis lazuli, quartz, amazonite and colored beads, is attached at each shoulder to a gold falcon’s head. Around his forehead he wears a vulture and cobra worked from gold, inlaid with semi-precious stones and colored glass. His eyes are made from obsidian and quartz and lined with inlaid blue glass.
The mask takes pride of place in the Tutankhamun collection at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, and is seen by thousands of visitors every year.