Magic Chalice:
One of the pharaoh’s personal treasures, this enchanting alabaster oil lamp went with him to his grave. Flanked by sculpted handles decorated with traditional images of Heh, the god of infinity, the vessel still bore traces of sesame oil when it was discovered in the Burial chamber. In the form of a lotus, its thinly carved inner walls cleverly concealed a painted scene depicting the great royal wife Ankhesenamun presenting her young husband with ritual emblems symbolizing hundreds of thousands of years. Otherwise invisible, the picture would appear through the translucent stone whenever the lamp was lit, as if by magic.
Court Sandals:
Fashioned of papyrus fiber, leather, wood, and even sheet gold, some 93 articles of footwear were buried with Tutankhamun. The finest example is this elegant pair of sandals found in the Antechamber, packed inside of the painted chest. Made of wood with ornate marquetry veneer, the soles are decorated with the traditional images of captive African and Asian enemies, symbolically trampled with the pharaoh's every step.
Royal Broad Collar:
Most of Tutankhamun's precious jewelry was stolen in antiquity by the tomb robbers. Throughout the 4 chambers and the tomb's entrance corridor, Howard Carter found over 200 ornaments and amulets (both funerary and personal) including collars and necklaces, pendants, bracelets, and rings, the majority originating from the Treasury. Although fitted with modern settings by Egyptian artisans, this splendid reconstruction of an openwork broad collar of faience beads and scarab pendants is in the classic Amarna style.
Golden Dagger and Sheath:
A masterpiece of the ancient art of jewelry making, this magnificent royal dagger is fashioned of solid gold. It was discovered wrapped as an amulet within the linen bandages of the pharaoh's mummy where it had been ritually placed on his right thigh. Recalling the primitive origins of such weapons in Predynastic times, the base of the elaborately ornamental hilt is bordered with a formal rope pattern symbolically binding it to the simply decorated blade of hardened gold. The luxurious gold sheath bears a hunting scene in vibrant repousse (depicting hounds and lions attacking ibexes and a bull) embellished with floral motifs of Asiatic influence. Usually forged in bronze or copper, fine daggers made of gold were rare possessions too precious for anyone other than the pharaoh to own.
Scarab Bracelet:
Found in the Treasury, this bangle of utterly unique design was apparently one of the pharaoh's personal ornaments (as opposed to funerary regalia). Dominated by a large scarab of gold openwork inlaid with lapis lazuli and flanked by matching motifs of mandrake fruit, poppies, and gold marquerites, the bracelet is fastened by sophisticated interlocking hinges with gold pins.
Necklace with Falcon Pendant:
Inlaid with carnelian, turquoise, and lapis lazuli, this lavish amuletic pectoral pendant made of gold was fashioned in the form f a falcon divinity, clutching the symbols for life and infinity in its talons and supporting the solar disc with its head. Found in the Treasury, it represents Re-Horakhty, a consolidation of the 2 regional sun gods Horus and Re, traditionally associated with the pharaoh.
Winged Scarab Pectoral:
The ultimate merging of such diverse regional conceptions of the solar deity as a falcon and a beetle is elaborately celebrated in this mysterious amuletic pendant of gold and inlay of cloisonné and semiprecious stones. Combining both views, this fanciful winged scarab is depicted clutching a lily, a lotus, and a pair of shen infinity signs in its talons while pushing a gold lunar barque with turquoise inlay (bearing the left eye of Horus associated with the moon) in place of the conventional emblem of the solar disc.
Prenomen Pectoral with Lunar Scarab:
This amulet of gold inlaid with cloisonné and semiprecious stones was found enfolded within the linen mummy wrappings on the pharaoh's chest. Cryptographically representing the pharaoh's hieroglyphic prenomen Nebkheprure, the usual neb basket beneath the divine scarab Khepri has been replaced with the heb symbol for festival while the traditional solar disc above the scarab has been replaced by the lunar disc and crescent in an esoteric reassignment of their significance.
Necklace with Winged Scarab Pendant:
Suspended from a gold chain with a simple gold counterpoise of floral motif, this intricate pectoral amulet of gold, silver, and cloisonné inlay was found stuffed in a box in the Treasury. It represents the divine solar scarab rising from a swamp represented by tassels of lotus and poppies. Flanked by royal cobras, the scarab is pushing the lunar barque which bears the left eye of Horus surmounted by the moon in both disc and crescent aspects. Within the disc golden figures of the gods Thoth and Re-Horakhty (respectively representing the moon and the sun) welcome Tutankhamun as a divinity.
Pectoral with Scarab and Boat:
Depicting a scarab in a boat, flanked by a pair of royal cobras and supporting the solar disc, this pectoral ornament found in the Treasury is made of gold inlaid with lapis lazuli, turquoise, carnelian, and feldspar. It symbolizes the resurrection of a god.
Winged Uraeus Amulet:
This exquisite golden amulet depicts the sacred cobra, ancient protector of the pharaohs. Representing the authority of the serpent goddess Wadjet over Lower Egypt (where she was worshiped in the Delta region), this pendant was found on the mummy of Tutankhamun, its graceful wings outstretched to shield him from harm.
Necklace with Udjat Eye Pendant:
Symbolizing the right eye of the celestial hawk god Horus, this sacred emblem of the solar divinity was found enfolded within the mummy wrappings on the pharaoh's chest. Framed by the protective vulture and cobra divinities of Upper and Lower Egypt, this classic golden amulet, with its enigmatic gaze, was believed to have the power of resurrecting the dead. The elegant gold counterpoise of the necklace, inlaid with cloisonné, represents the hieroglyphic tyet sign (a girdle knot symbolizing the protection of Isis) flanked by a pair of djed-pillar signs symbolizing the backbone of Osiris as well as endurance.
Prenomen Pectoral with Solar Scarab:
The pharaoh's prenomen Nebkheprure (“The Royal Manifestation of Re”) is celebrated in hieroglyphic form in the design of this gold pendant found in the Treasury and decorated with cloisonné inlay. Emerging from the neb basket (cryptically alluding to the primordial lotus blossom), Khepri, the falcon-winged scarab god of the sunrise, is depicted pushing the solar disc u into the heavens, a symbol of the sun's daily rebirth and of the pharaoh's immortality.
Funerary Necklace and Earrings:
Of a traditional design that was much in fashion during the 18th Dynasty, this stately 26th Dynasty necklace (with matching earrings) is made of green faience, ceramic disc beads, and gold plate. Dating from around 600 B.C., it appears to have been commissioned by the pharaoh Nekau as funerary jewelry for a noble subject. Although this antique jewelry has been fitted with modern settings by Egyptian artisans hoping to improve its value, the integrity of the original design is intact.
Mummybead Collar:
Worn around the mummy's neck, this 18th Dynasty faience mummy bead necklace was traditionally followed by a shroud of necklaces and other jewelry reaching as far as the ankles. Over 33 centuries old, fine jewelry of this kind was highly prized by ancient tomb robbers.
Funerary Collar and Earrings:
Commissioned around 600 B.C. by the 26th Dynasty pharaoh Nekau for the opulent burial of a noble subject, this luxurious collar is made of faience beads and gold cowrie shells. A common adornment by the 26th Dynasty, earrings were an Asian legacy and a recent novelty in Egypt during Tutankhamun's reign some 700 years earlier, particularly for men, who stopped wearing them after puberty.
Louts Lamp:
The fragrant (and narcotic) lotus plants growing along the Nile were beloved by the ancient Egyptians. In the graceful form of a large blue lotus flower framed between a pair of floating white lotus blossoms, this oil burning triple lamp was carved from a single piece of luminous alabaster. When found in the Burial Chamber, each of its 3 reservoirs still retained traces of oil. Mixed with salt to lessen the smoke, linseed and sesame oil with floating wicks of braided flax were burned for light. Utterly unique among the pharaoh's stone vessels, the sophisticated, sinuous design of this delightful chalice belies its profound antiquity.
Alabaster Perfume Vessel:
Extracted from flowers and various fragrant resins, perfumes were so treasured in antiquity that grave robbers were willing to risk gruesome execution in order to procure the valuable oils. First plundered for its precious metal objects, the tomb was soon raided gain and its fine perfume vessels emptied of their priceless aromatic contents. Howard Carter noted that some of the vases still retained the “finger marks of thieves on their interior walls.” Carved on separate pieces of alabaster joined together, this fine amphora and its stand are flanked by 2 handles rendered in the traditional sma-tawy motif of intertwined papyrus and lotus. The neck is decorated with a relief of the goddess Hathor with lotus and a mandrake fruit hanging from her collar. Cartouches bearing the pharaoh's names and titles are incised on the vase. A pair of ankh signs with arms are holding the hieroglyphic symbol for dominion, while hieroglyphic tadpoles, rings or rope, and palm ribs signify 100,000 years times infinity. Found in the antechamber stacked with a cluster of similar objects, this vessel represented a wish for the pharaoh's long life and reign, imparted through its fragrant contents.
Ebony Game Box and Casting Sticks:
One of the young pharaoh's favorite diversions was playing games of chance. Like many ancient Egyptians, he was particularly fond of the game of senet in which the movement of pawns on a checkerboard was decided by the throw of knucklebones or casting sticks. The religious text of the Book of the Dead refers to senet as one of the pastimes in the afterlife. Of the 4 game boxes found in the Annex, this one made of wood with ebony and ivory veneer was the finest. Recumbent on a leonine frame which rested on a small sledge, it was dismantled and scattered throughout the tangle of rifled objects in the crowded chamber. Inscribed with a band of painted hieroglyphs identifying the pharaoh as its owner, this delightful senet game contains a small storage drawer for the playing pieces and set of 4 casting sticks carved in the shape of a finger, along with an ivory board divided into 30 squares, 5 of which are incised with significant hieroglyphs. As traditional funerary equipment the game, already an ancient form of entertainment in Tutankhamun's time, eventually became a contest between the deceased and fate with immortality as the stake.
One of the pharaoh’s personal treasures, this enchanting alabaster oil lamp went with him to his grave. Flanked by sculpted handles decorated with traditional images of Heh, the god of infinity, the vessel still bore traces of sesame oil when it was discovered in the Burial chamber. In the form of a lotus, its thinly carved inner walls cleverly concealed a painted scene depicting the great royal wife Ankhesenamun presenting her young husband with ritual emblems symbolizing hundreds of thousands of years. Otherwise invisible, the picture would appear through the translucent stone whenever the lamp was lit, as if by magic.
Court Sandals:
Fashioned of papyrus fiber, leather, wood, and even sheet gold, some 93 articles of footwear were buried with Tutankhamun. The finest example is this elegant pair of sandals found in the Antechamber, packed inside of the painted chest. Made of wood with ornate marquetry veneer, the soles are decorated with the traditional images of captive African and Asian enemies, symbolically trampled with the pharaoh's every step.
Royal Broad Collar:
Most of Tutankhamun's precious jewelry was stolen in antiquity by the tomb robbers. Throughout the 4 chambers and the tomb's entrance corridor, Howard Carter found over 200 ornaments and amulets (both funerary and personal) including collars and necklaces, pendants, bracelets, and rings, the majority originating from the Treasury. Although fitted with modern settings by Egyptian artisans, this splendid reconstruction of an openwork broad collar of faience beads and scarab pendants is in the classic Amarna style.
Golden Dagger and Sheath:
A masterpiece of the ancient art of jewelry making, this magnificent royal dagger is fashioned of solid gold. It was discovered wrapped as an amulet within the linen bandages of the pharaoh's mummy where it had been ritually placed on his right thigh. Recalling the primitive origins of such weapons in Predynastic times, the base of the elaborately ornamental hilt is bordered with a formal rope pattern symbolically binding it to the simply decorated blade of hardened gold. The luxurious gold sheath bears a hunting scene in vibrant repousse (depicting hounds and lions attacking ibexes and a bull) embellished with floral motifs of Asiatic influence. Usually forged in bronze or copper, fine daggers made of gold were rare possessions too precious for anyone other than the pharaoh to own.
Scarab Bracelet:
Found in the Treasury, this bangle of utterly unique design was apparently one of the pharaoh's personal ornaments (as opposed to funerary regalia). Dominated by a large scarab of gold openwork inlaid with lapis lazuli and flanked by matching motifs of mandrake fruit, poppies, and gold marquerites, the bracelet is fastened by sophisticated interlocking hinges with gold pins.
Necklace with Falcon Pendant:
Inlaid with carnelian, turquoise, and lapis lazuli, this lavish amuletic pectoral pendant made of gold was fashioned in the form f a falcon divinity, clutching the symbols for life and infinity in its talons and supporting the solar disc with its head. Found in the Treasury, it represents Re-Horakhty, a consolidation of the 2 regional sun gods Horus and Re, traditionally associated with the pharaoh.
The ultimate merging of such diverse regional conceptions of the solar deity as a falcon and a beetle is elaborately celebrated in this mysterious amuletic pendant of gold and inlay of cloisonné and semiprecious stones. Combining both views, this fanciful winged scarab is depicted clutching a lily, a lotus, and a pair of shen infinity signs in its talons while pushing a gold lunar barque with turquoise inlay (bearing the left eye of Horus associated with the moon) in place of the conventional emblem of the solar disc.
Prenomen Pectoral with Lunar Scarab:
This amulet of gold inlaid with cloisonné and semiprecious stones was found enfolded within the linen mummy wrappings on the pharaoh's chest. Cryptographically representing the pharaoh's hieroglyphic prenomen Nebkheprure, the usual neb basket beneath the divine scarab Khepri has been replaced with the heb symbol for festival while the traditional solar disc above the scarab has been replaced by the lunar disc and crescent in an esoteric reassignment of their significance.
Necklace with Winged Scarab Pendant:
Suspended from a gold chain with a simple gold counterpoise of floral motif, this intricate pectoral amulet of gold, silver, and cloisonné inlay was found stuffed in a box in the Treasury. It represents the divine solar scarab rising from a swamp represented by tassels of lotus and poppies. Flanked by royal cobras, the scarab is pushing the lunar barque which bears the left eye of Horus surmounted by the moon in both disc and crescent aspects. Within the disc golden figures of the gods Thoth and Re-Horakhty (respectively representing the moon and the sun) welcome Tutankhamun as a divinity.
Pectoral with Scarab and Boat:
Depicting a scarab in a boat, flanked by a pair of royal cobras and supporting the solar disc, this pectoral ornament found in the Treasury is made of gold inlaid with lapis lazuli, turquoise, carnelian, and feldspar. It symbolizes the resurrection of a god.
Winged Uraeus Amulet:
This exquisite golden amulet depicts the sacred cobra, ancient protector of the pharaohs. Representing the authority of the serpent goddess Wadjet over Lower Egypt (where she was worshiped in the Delta region), this pendant was found on the mummy of Tutankhamun, its graceful wings outstretched to shield him from harm.
Necklace with Udjat Eye Pendant:
Symbolizing the right eye of the celestial hawk god Horus, this sacred emblem of the solar divinity was found enfolded within the mummy wrappings on the pharaoh's chest. Framed by the protective vulture and cobra divinities of Upper and Lower Egypt, this classic golden amulet, with its enigmatic gaze, was believed to have the power of resurrecting the dead. The elegant gold counterpoise of the necklace, inlaid with cloisonné, represents the hieroglyphic tyet sign (a girdle knot symbolizing the protection of Isis) flanked by a pair of djed-pillar signs symbolizing the backbone of Osiris as well as endurance.
Prenomen Pectoral with Solar Scarab:
The pharaoh's prenomen Nebkheprure (“The Royal Manifestation of Re”) is celebrated in hieroglyphic form in the design of this gold pendant found in the Treasury and decorated with cloisonné inlay. Emerging from the neb basket (cryptically alluding to the primordial lotus blossom), Khepri, the falcon-winged scarab god of the sunrise, is depicted pushing the solar disc u into the heavens, a symbol of the sun's daily rebirth and of the pharaoh's immortality.
Funerary Necklace and Earrings:
Of a traditional design that was much in fashion during the 18th Dynasty, this stately 26th Dynasty necklace (with matching earrings) is made of green faience, ceramic disc beads, and gold plate. Dating from around 600 B.C., it appears to have been commissioned by the pharaoh Nekau as funerary jewelry for a noble subject. Although this antique jewelry has been fitted with modern settings by Egyptian artisans hoping to improve its value, the integrity of the original design is intact.
Mummybead Collar:
Worn around the mummy's neck, this 18th Dynasty faience mummy bead necklace was traditionally followed by a shroud of necklaces and other jewelry reaching as far as the ankles. Over 33 centuries old, fine jewelry of this kind was highly prized by ancient tomb robbers.
Funerary Collar and Earrings:
Commissioned around 600 B.C. by the 26th Dynasty pharaoh Nekau for the opulent burial of a noble subject, this luxurious collar is made of faience beads and gold cowrie shells. A common adornment by the 26th Dynasty, earrings were an Asian legacy and a recent novelty in Egypt during Tutankhamun's reign some 700 years earlier, particularly for men, who stopped wearing them after puberty.
Louts Lamp:
The fragrant (and narcotic) lotus plants growing along the Nile were beloved by the ancient Egyptians. In the graceful form of a large blue lotus flower framed between a pair of floating white lotus blossoms, this oil burning triple lamp was carved from a single piece of luminous alabaster. When found in the Burial Chamber, each of its 3 reservoirs still retained traces of oil. Mixed with salt to lessen the smoke, linseed and sesame oil with floating wicks of braided flax were burned for light. Utterly unique among the pharaoh's stone vessels, the sophisticated, sinuous design of this delightful chalice belies its profound antiquity.
Alabaster Perfume Vessel:
Extracted from flowers and various fragrant resins, perfumes were so treasured in antiquity that grave robbers were willing to risk gruesome execution in order to procure the valuable oils. First plundered for its precious metal objects, the tomb was soon raided gain and its fine perfume vessels emptied of their priceless aromatic contents. Howard Carter noted that some of the vases still retained the “finger marks of thieves on their interior walls.” Carved on separate pieces of alabaster joined together, this fine amphora and its stand are flanked by 2 handles rendered in the traditional sma-tawy motif of intertwined papyrus and lotus. The neck is decorated with a relief of the goddess Hathor with lotus and a mandrake fruit hanging from her collar. Cartouches bearing the pharaoh's names and titles are incised on the vase. A pair of ankh signs with arms are holding the hieroglyphic symbol for dominion, while hieroglyphic tadpoles, rings or rope, and palm ribs signify 100,000 years times infinity. Found in the antechamber stacked with a cluster of similar objects, this vessel represented a wish for the pharaoh's long life and reign, imparted through its fragrant contents.
Ebony Game Box and Casting Sticks:
One of the young pharaoh's favorite diversions was playing games of chance. Like many ancient Egyptians, he was particularly fond of the game of senet in which the movement of pawns on a checkerboard was decided by the throw of knucklebones or casting sticks. The religious text of the Book of the Dead refers to senet as one of the pastimes in the afterlife. Of the 4 game boxes found in the Annex, this one made of wood with ebony and ivory veneer was the finest. Recumbent on a leonine frame which rested on a small sledge, it was dismantled and scattered throughout the tangle of rifled objects in the crowded chamber. Inscribed with a band of painted hieroglyphs identifying the pharaoh as its owner, this delightful senet game contains a small storage drawer for the playing pieces and set of 4 casting sticks carved in the shape of a finger, along with an ivory board divided into 30 squares, 5 of which are incised with significant hieroglyphs. As traditional funerary equipment the game, already an ancient form of entertainment in Tutankhamun's time, eventually became a contest between the deceased and fate with immortality as the stake.