King Tut Mask
King Tut Mask - The
Golden Death Mask of Tutankhamun
The Ancient Egyptians
were obsessed with the prospect of life
after death - the eternal afterlife.
The Ancient Egyptians used elaborate masks to
great effect. Egyptian masks were generally used as
Death Masks and Ritual Masks. The fabulous King
Tut Mask was a death mask.
Royal death masks or burial masks such
as the fabulous death mask of Tutankhamun, the boy King Tut, were made of gold in the image of the
deceased. The King Tut mask was used to cover the face of the mummy of
the pharaoh and ensure that his spirit would be able to recognize the
body.
Gold King Tut Mask -
Description of the Death Mask of Tutankhamun
The King Tut Mask, which is pictured above, depicts an actual likeness
of the young Tutankhamun.
The King Tut Mask weighs ten kilos, 24lbs and measures 54 cm (21 in) in
height and 15 inches wide. The
workmanship is quite exquisite and its value is priceless. It is made
of gold which is inlaid with semi-precious stones, coloured glass paste
and the eyes are made with obsidian and quartz. The back of the mask is
chased with a series of spells and texts from the Book of the Dead. The
mask was placed directly on the mummy of King Tut inside the third
coffin housed in the sarcophagus.
Description of the
King Tut Mask - The Use of Gold - The
Flesh of the Gods
The death mask of King Tut was not
made of gold just as a sign of the immense wealth of the pharaoh. Gold was
also believed to have a
magical potency containing significant religious
properties. Gold did not tarnish or deteriorate. But more importantly
gold shone like the sun god and was therefore credited with the powers
of the sun god. Gold was therefore referred to as the 'Flesh of
the Gods'. This explains the use of gold in the artefacts found in the
tomb of Tutankhamun including the King Tut mask.
Description of the
King Tut Mask - The Nemes, Cobra and Vulture
The design depicts the traditional nemes headdress.
The nemes
was the striped head cloth which would have been worn by the Pharaoh
Tutankhamun. The nemes was worn tight across the forehead and has
lappets falling forward over each shoulder. The top of the nemes displays the uraeus and the
vulture on the brow. The uraeus was a rearing cobra emblem associated
with the "eye" of the sun and meant to protect the pharaoh by spitting
fire at his enemies. The cobra snake
and the vulture were emblems of the deities Wadjet and Nekhbet. The
goddess Wadjet was the patron goddess of Lower Egypt and was associated
with the land where the cobra was present. The goddess Nekhbet
(the embodiment of Hathor) was the
patron goddess of Upper Egypt and was associated with the vulture. These
two goddesses were together known as the 'two ladies of the pharaoh'
whose special purpose was to protect the Pharaoh.
The figures of a vulture and a cobra therefore
sit on the king's forehead on the nemes headdress. The headdress has
yellow stripes of solid gold, broken by bands of glass paste, coloured
dark blue imitating lapis lazuli.
Description of the
King Tut Mask - The Make-up
The King Tut mask has blue lapis
lazuli around his eyes in imitation of the kohl make-up he would have
worn in life. The eye make-up worn
by the Ancient Egyptians such as Tutankhamun was extremely elaborate and
created the almond eye look which has become synonymous with the Ancient
Egyptians. Kohl was made from a
mixture of soot and galena.
The Egyptian eye make kohl was stored in richly decorated
containers called kohl pots and examples of these were found
in the tomb of King Tut.
Description of the
King Tut Mask - The Beard of the Pharaoh
The King Tut mask depicts the boy king
wearing the traditional false beard of the Pharaoh. Beards were considered to be
sacred to the gods and therefore the Pharaohs. The false beard depicted
on the King Tut Mask was therefore a divine symbol of the gods, emphasizing
his
status as a living god. The bizarre false beards were tightly knotted
and plaited and hooked behind the ears. The beard on the King Tut mask
is a long, narrow beard plaited like a pigtail with the end jutting
forward. King Tut would have worn the false beard of the Pharaoh on important
religious and other ceremonial occasions.
Description of the
King Tut Mask - The Crook and the Flail
The King Tut mask
shows Tutankhamun holding the Crook and Flail which were part of the
royal regalia and the symbols of kingship. The crook and flail are shown
in images of the god Osiris, lord of the underworld and this was
imitated by the divine pharaoh. The crook was called the hega and flail
was called the nekhakha. are made of cylindrical sections of dark
blue glass, obsidian and gold mounted on a copper rod.
Description of the
King Tut Mask - The Collar
The King Tut mask has a highly elaborate
collar which is decorated with feldspar, quartz, lapis lazuli and
colored glass. The ends of the golden collar are decorated with the head
of a falcon encrusted with obsidian and semi-precious stones.
Gold King Tut Mask
Each section of this King Tut Mask website addresses all topics and
provides interesting facts and information about the Golden Age of
Pharaohs and of Egypt. The Sitemap provides full details
of all of the information and facts provided about the fascinating subject
of the Pharaoh King Tut Mask - Tutankhamun!
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