Tutankhamen Treasures (Part 2)
1- Golden Flabellum:
Golden Flabellum found in the Burial Chamber where it was left between the 2 innermost golden shrines, this regal fan was originally mounted on a long, gilded staff and fitted with 42 ostrich plumes hunted by the young pharaoh himself. Celebrating the young pharaoh’s sporting nature and love of archery, one face of the chased wooden palm commemorates Tutankhamun’s hunt in the desert beyond Heliopolis in his royal chariot while the opposite face depicts his triumphant return with his quarry. In court ceremonies this flabellum was carried by the exalted vizier Ay, fanbearer on the pharaoh’s right.
2- Golden Funerary Mask of Tutankhamun:
Golden Funerary Mask of Tutankhamun. This radiant portrait of the pharaoh, with its youthful countenance and touching expression, was fashioned from 2 sheets of solid gold hammered into a faithful and striking likeness of Tutankhamun. The magnificent mask was found resting over the head and shoulders of the pharaoh’s linen-wrapped mummy. Portraying the dead pharaoh as Osiris (ritually wearing the pleated false beard of divinity) was believed to be essential for his resurrection. Tutankhamun was only 18 or 19 years old when he died, possibly from a suspicious injury to his head. His untimely burial appears to have evoked a trace of sympathy from the hands of the artisans who crafted his funerary effigy. Depicting the nemes headdress crowned with the vulture goddess Nekhbet and the Uraeus-serpent Wadjit (symbols of the pharaoh’s sovereignty over Upper and Lower Egypt), the gold mask was inlaid with exquisite detail work of lapis lazuli, carnelian, quartz, obsidian, colored glass, and cloisonné.
3- Ceremonial Flabellum:
Ceremonial Flabellum providing the pharaoh with shade and a breeze in the arid desert climate was a noble station like that of a scribe. In court processions and religious rituals, ceremonial fans fitted with ostrich plumes were borne on long, gilded staffs by respected royal attendants. This stately fan was found lying on the Burial Chamber floor. The wooden palm is covered with dense gold sheet decorated with the pharaoh’s twin cartouches bearing both the prenomen Nebkheprure and the nomen Tutankhamun.
4- The Golden Falcon:
The ancient hieroglyphic symbol for god was a falcon, the protector of the pharaohs. Rendered in 18th Dynasty style, decorated with painted cloisonné feathers and inscribed with a cartouche bearing the sovereign's prenomen, this dazzling image of the divine Golden Falcon would have associated Tutankhamun with the falcon-headed sun god Horus, foremost among the divinities. Most of the pharaoh’s ritual figures were located in the Treasury where they remained undisturbed since the day of his burial. Tutankhamun’s short life, primarily devoted to the costly restoration of the Theban temples that had been ravaged by his heretic father Akhenaton, was chronicled on a necropolis seal stamped 8 times on the plaster doorway to the long entrance corridor of the tomb: Nebkheprure, Pharaoh of Upper and Lower Egypt, spent his life making images of the gods, who now give him incense, libations, and offerings every day.
5- Ebony Stool:
Ebony Stool: In ancient Egypt folding stools appear to have been used exclusively by men. Huy, the Egyptian viceroy of Nubia is portrayed on the walls of his Theban tomb overseeing the presentation of tribute to Tutankhamun by Nubian princes; included in the painting of the offerings is a folding stool with a stretched leopard skin seat. This delightful object, made of ebony inlaid with ivory in stylized imitation of a genuine folding camp stool, was found in the Antechamber of the pharaoh’s tomb. The duck’s head motif on the legs was typical of such furniture. Originally overhanging the corners were 4 golden paws which were apparently torn away in antiquity by robbers.
6- Golden Bed:
Golden Bed of the 6 beds found in the tomb, the most spectacular was the pharaoh’s personal golden bed, recovered from the tangled debris of the Annex. The regal feline frame, with its elegant, leonine legs and ornately carved footboard, is made of gilded ebony strung with an elaborately woven mattress. The central panel of the footboard is decorated with a relief of the heraldic smatawy symbol (celebrating the union of Upper and Lower Egypt) framed by a pair of panels bearing a papyrus motif. Unlike the ritual funerary furniture, this piece showed signs of wear resulting from use.
7- Ivory Headrest:
Ivory Headrest. This elegant amulet, found in a box in the Annex, had a magical function. In the form of a headrest of unique design, it represents Shu, the god of the atmosphere, kneeling between the mountains of the eastern and western horizons and raising up the heavens. In Egyptian legend, this was the end of chaos and the beginning of the universe. Carved from 2 pieces of ivory coupled by a dowel secured with gold nails, this headrest was designed to support the pharaoh’s head between the 2 horizons (in the status of the sun). Symbolizing the 2 mountains, the recumbent lions on the base are decorated with a rosette on each shoulder, a puzzling feature observed as far away from Egypt as Mesopotamia. A hieroglyphic inscription on the column behind the figure heralds: The benevolent god, son of Amun, pharaoh of Upper and Lower Egypt, lord of the Two Lands, Nebkheprure (Tutankhamun’s prenomen), given eternal life like Re. Wound with strips of linen until comfortably padded, such headrests were used by the pharaoh when sleeping and were associated with resurrection.
8- Dress Mannequin:
Dress Mannequin. This life-size, stuccoed wooden effigy, carved and painted in a wonderful likeness of the pharaoh, was discovered behind the stack of chariots in the Antechamber. Wearing the yellow mortar headdress (reminiscent of Nefertiti’s famous flat-topped crown) and constructed without arms, the figure has pierced ears and is depicted wearing a plain, white linen tunic resembling an undergarment. Its design suggested to Howard Carter that the portrait was a dress mannequin for Tutankhamun’s robes, necklaces, and earrings. The red pigmentation of the face hints at the ancient mixture of both African and Asian heritage in the pharaoh’s royal bloodline.
9- Ankh Mirror Case:
Ankh Mirror Case. Found in the Treasury where it had been stripped by the grave robbers of the silver mirror it once contained, this regal mirror case was fashioned of wood covered in sheet gold and embossed with both the royal and personal names of the pharaoh. Since the hieroglyphic ankh symbol for life (represented in the form of sandal straps) was also the symbol for mirror, the witty artisan who crafted this unique case was indulging in a playful pun. Within the loop (as in a cartouche), a hieroglyph of Tutankhamun's throne name, Nebkheprure, is incorporated into a sacred motif inlaid with carnelian,quartz, and colored glass. The design ritually depicts the creation of the universe with the birth of the sun god (Re), rendered as a scarab (kheper) rising forth from the primordial lotus (its corolla crowned by the neb basket). Although it might have been intended exclusively for funerary purposes, this delightful amulet may well have been one of the pharaoh's treasured personal belongings.
10- Painted Linen Chest:
Painted Linen Chest. This painted wooden coffer, found in the Antechamber, was described by Howard Carter as “one of the greatest artistic treasures of the tomb… we found it hard to tear ourselves away from it.” Packed with sequined linen robes, a headrest, and golden court sandals, it was exquisitely decorated with intense scenes of hunting and war. The young pharaoh is symbolically depicted in his chariot, vanquishing both African and Asian adversaries. On the end panels he appears as a lion trampling his foreign enemies underfoot, a customary form of flattery to the pharaoh.
Tutankhamen Treasures (Part 1)
Tutankhamen Treasures (Part 3)
Tutankhamen Treasures (Part 1)
Tutankhamen Treasures (Part 3)