Mask of Tutankhamun
The mask of Tutankhamun is a gold funerary mask of the 18th-dynasty ancient Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun (reigned 1334–1325 BC). After being buried for over 3,000 years, it was excavated by Howard Carter in 1925 from tomb KV62 in the Valley of the Kings and is now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. The death mask is one of the best-known works of art in the world and a prominent symbol of ancient Egypt.
| Mask of Tutankhamun | |
|---|---|
| Material | Gold, lapis lazuli, carnelian, obsidian, turquoise and glass paste |
| Size | 54 × 39.3 × 49 cm (21.3 x 15.5 x 19.3 in) |
| Writing | Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs |
| Created | c. 1323 BC |
| Discovered | 28 October 1925 |
| Present location | Egyptian Museum, Cairo |
| Identification | Carter no. 256a; Journal d'Entrée no. 60672; Exhibition no. 220 |
Bearing the likeness of Osiris, Egyptian god of the afterlife, it is 54 centimetres (21.3 in) tall, weighs over 10 kilograms (22 lb) or 321.5 troy ounces, and is decorated with semi-precious stones. An ancient spell from the Book of the Dead is inscribed in hieroglyphs on the mask's shoulders. The mask had to be restored in 2015 after its 2.5-kilogram (5.5 lb) plaited beard fell off and was hastily glued back on by museum workers.
According to the Egyptologist Nicholas Reeves, the mask is "not only the quintessential image from Tutankhamun's tomb, it is perhaps the best-known object from ancient Egypt itself." Since 2001, some Egyptologists have suggested that it may originally have been intended for Queen Neferneferuaten.