Who was Tutankhamun and what treasures he kept in a secret tomb

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Tutankhamun is a pharaoh of Ancient Egypt from the XVIII dynasty, who ruled approximately in 1333-1323 BC. e. In the eyes of historians, Tutankhamun remained a little-known minor pharaoh until the beginning of the 20th century. Howard Carter, the archaeologist who discovered his tomb, has the following words about the young pharaoh: "With the present state of our knowledge, we can only say with certainty: the only remarkable event in his life was that he died and was buried."

Due to the sudden death of the pharaoh, they did not have time to prepare a worthy tomb, and therefore Tutankhamun was buried in a modest crypt, the entrance to which eventually turned out to be hidden under the huts of Egyptian workers who were building a tomb nearby for the pharaoh of the XX dynasty Ramses VI (d. 1137 BC).). It was thanks to this circumstance that the last refuge of Tutankhamun was forgotten and, despite the two-time invasion of ancient marauders, the tomb appeared before the eyes of archaeologists almost completely intact, when in 1922 it was discovered by a British expedition led by Howard Carter and Lord Cornarvon, the richest English aristocrat who financed … This discovery gave the world the most complete picture of the splendor of the ancient Egyptian court. The eighteen-year-old pharaoh was buried with fantastic luxury, although modern scholars agree that according to ancient Egyptian concepts, the tomb of Tutankhamun was modest, even poor, the burial was carried out in a hurry and almost with carelessness.

When the burial chamber was found and opened, it contained a huge case (ark) covered with gold plates and decorated with blue mosaics, which occupied almost the entire tomb. On one of its sides, bolted doors without a seal were installed. Behind them was another ark, smaller, without a mosaic, but with the seal of Tutankhamun. A linen cloth embroidered with sequins hung over it, attached to wooden cornices (unfortunately, time did not spare it: it turned brown and in many places torn because of the gilded bronze daisies on it).

To continue the work, the scientists had to separate and remove the heavy gilded arks from the tomb. As it turned out later, there were four of them sequentially installed one inside the other. Oak boards up to 5.5 cm thick were used to make the arks. The wood was covered with gilded primer. The outer sides of the arks were decorated with relief images of gods and all kinds of symbols, and the columns of hieroglyphic texts accompanying them contained excerpts from some chapters of the Book of the Dead. Each of the arks had a symbolic meaning. The inner, fourth, personified the palace of the pharaoh, the third and second - the palaces of southern and northern Egypt, and the first with its double curved lid - the horizon. By the way, the funeral seals on the doors of all the arks, to the great joy of the scientists, turned out to be intact.

When the last, fourth ark was disassembled, the Egyptologists faced the lid of a huge sarcophagus made of yellow quartzite, the length of which exceeded 2.5 meters, and the granite lid weighed more than a ton. At the same time, some curious circumstances emerged: it was possible to establish how the ancient Egyptian masters assembled the arks. They seem to have brought in first the parts of the first ark and placed them along the walls in the order they needed to assemble; then, respectively, parts of the second, third and fourth. Naturally, they first assembled the inner, fourth ark. In an effort to make the job easier, ancient carpenters and joiners neatly renumbered the details and marked the orientation. But in the dark and in a hurry - and its traces are visible throughout - the workers confused the orientation of the side walls in relation to the cardinal points. Therefore, the doors of the arks are facing not to the west - as required by the ritual - where, according to the Egyptians, the abode of the dead was located, but to the east. They did not react very conscientiously to the task entrusted: with a hammer or some other tool, the gilding was damaged during assembly, in some places parts were even beaten off, chips remained uncleared.

Having opened the sarcophagus, scientists discovered a huge gilded relief portrait of Tutankhamun, which in fact turned out to be the lid of a two-meter coffin, repeating the contours of a male figure. The opening of the first anthropoid coffin took place only during the fourth season, which lasted from October 1924 to May 1925. The lid of the coffin was fastened to the bottom of it with ten silver spikes. For convenience, two silver handles were made on each side. When the thorns were removed with difficulty and the lid, tied by the handles, was slowly and evenly raised, a second anthropoid coffin, also wooden and gilded, appeared, covered with a thin veil. Both coffins so precisely and tightly adjoined one another that it was extremely difficult to separate them.

Under the cover of the second coffin there was a third, depicting the deceased pharaoh in the guise of Osiris, and they tried to give his face a portrait resemblance to Tutankhamun. Up to the level of the neck, the coffin was covered with a linen, reddish cover. When it was removed, it turned out that the entire coffin (1.85 m long) was made of massive gold. He weighed 110.4 kg. But it took a lot of effort to remove this coffin. During the burial, resinous incense was poured on him in such an amount that, having frozen, they firmly glued it to the second coffin. After it was finally lifted, the pharaoh's mummy with a shining golden mask, one of the greatest creations of Egyptian artists, appeared carefully wrapped like a giant cocoon in funeral veils. It is forged from pure gold and weighs 9 kg. The linen cover along the body was covered with ribbons consisting of gold plates fastened with bundles of beads. Along the sides of the mummy, from the shoulders to the legs, attached to the transverse sling, stretched the same ribbons, decorated with magical emblems, ureus and cartouches of the pharaoh. Unfortunately, the threads that attached the golden hands and jewelry to the veil, as well as the scepter and whip, which crumbled to dust at the first touch, completely decayed.

At the burial, at least four buckets of dark resinous incense were poured over the mummy and the golden coffin with excessive generosity. As a result, she and the lower parts of the second and third coffins stuck together into a single dark mass.

The examination of her mummy began on November 11, 1925. Oxidizing, the resinous substances charred the linen covers. They became brittle and crumbled with every attempt to separate them from each other. It wasn't just the outer layers of the dressings that were damaged by the incense. Having penetrated deeper, they literally fastened the mummy to the bottom of the coffin. In the end, they had to be beaten off with a chisel in whole pieces. It was necessary to act with great caution, since not only bandages and bandages were damaged by the incense, but also the remains of the pharaoh. In addition, on the mummy, between the layers of the coverings, there were many different items of jewelry, amulets and all kinds of magical symbols: only one hundred and forty-three.

Tutankhamun's head, hidden by several layers of bandages, was wrapped in a diadem - a gold hoop decorated with carnelian circles. In the center of each is a golden knob, and gold ribbons and a bow are attached to it in the back, and the heads of a snake and a kite in front. Beneath the next layer of bandages, a wide ribbon of polished gold hung to her ears wrapped around her forehead. On the back of the head were the same emblems - a kite and a cobra, made up of gold plates. Another layer of bandages concealed the kind of cap worn on the pharaoh's shaved head. Since the king's head was also charred, the covers imposed on it were removed with extraordinary care. After removing the remains of the last of them, the face of Tutankhamun was revealed. On the pharaoh's neck were two types of collar-necklaces and twenty amulets in six layers. Pharaoh's hands were swaddled separately, and then, bent at the elbows, they were bandaged to the torso, putting two small amulet bracelets with sacred symbols in the bandages. From forearms to wrists, bracelets were worn on both hands: seven on the right and six on the left.

On the legs (on the thighs and between them), in swaddling clothes, lay seven flat rings and four necklaces, made in the cloisonné enamel technique so beloved in Egypt. Shoe Tutankhamun for the last journey in golden sandals. Their pattern reproduced woven reeds. The toes, like the fingers of the hands, were enclosed in gold cases with the nails and the first joints depicted on them.

Read also on the topic: