Probably the most famous artefact in the world, the 11 kg death mask of pharaoh Tutankhamun was restored in 2015. The work is more than just the careful repair of a 3300-year-old death mask.
In August 2014, cleaning staff in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo mishandled. They accidentally knocked off the beard of Tutankhamun’s death mask. In no time at all, they glued the separated beard back on with an insoluble epoxy resin ( also known as superglue ). This was not a good idea, as it later turned out: “ They didn’t reattach the beard in its original position, the beard tilted slightly to the left side,” explains Christian Eckmann.
The German is a recognized restorer from the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum, an archaeological research institute in Mainz. He was commissioned by the Cairo Museum to restore the death mask. It was feared that the valuable artefact had been irreparably damaged with the dilettante glue. Eckmann calmed the minds and said that the damage could be repaired. “ The beard was not only damaged during the work, but it was already damaged when Howard Carter found the mask,” Eckmann says. “
After the excavation, when the mask was brought to the museum, they had not reattached the beard to the mask - until 1946.” Nicholas Reeves then claims that Tutankhamun’s grave mask and many other treasures of the tomb were originally made for the queen and only later manipulated, namely when the king died unexpectedly young. Since 2001, research has suggested that it may originally have been intended for Queen Neferneferuaten; her royal name ( Ankhkheperure ) was found in a partly erased cartouche on the inside of the mask. Anyway, the mask originally consisted of two parts. Matchings with the faces of Nefertiti and Tutankhamun speak clearly for an adaptation of the mask for Nefertiti! The Egyptologist Chris Naughton, Director for The Egypt Exploration Society, tries to clarify the situation.
The mask is 54 cm ( 21 in ) tall, 39.3 cm ( 15.5 in ) wide and 49 cm ( 19 in ) deep. It is fashioned from two layers of high-karat gold, varying from 1.5–3 mm ( 0.059–0.118 in ) in thickness, and weighing 10.23 kg ( 22.6 lb ). X-ray crystallography has revealed that the mask contains two alloys of gold: a lighter 18.4 karat shade for the face and neck, and 22.5 karat gold for the rest of the mask.
A protective spell is inscribed with Egyptian hieroglyphs on the back and shoulders in ten vertical and two horizontal lines. The spell first appeared on masks in the Middle Kingdom, 500 years before Tutankhamun, and was used in Chapter 151 of the Book of the Dead :
„ Thy right eye is the night bark ( of the sun-god ), thy left eye is the day-bark, thy eyebrows are ( those of ) the Ennead of the Gods, thy forehead is ( that of ) Anubis, the nape of thy neck is ( that of ) Horus, thy locks of hair are ( those of ) Ptah-Sokar. ( Thou art ) in front of the Osiris ( Tutankhamun ). He sees thanks to thee, thou guidest him to the goodly ways, thou smitest for him the confederates of Seth so that he may overthrow thine enemies before the Ennead of the Gods in the great Castle of the Prince, which is in Heliopolis … the Osiris, the King of Upper Egypt Nebkheperure [ Tutankhamun’s throne-name ], deceased, given life by Re.“
King Tutankhamun’s collection of treasures is significant for several reasons. The treasures date back to the Eighteenth Dynasty, which is considered the most prosperous era of Ancient Egypt. At that time, Egypt had strengthened relations and cultural influence with the regions of the Ancient Near East, especially those of the northeastern territories and the Aegean Sea, as a result of military campaigns, trade, and the exchange of craftsmen and artists. Tutankhamun’s collection is the most complete royal treasure ever discovered, consisting of more than 3850 artefacts. Spectacular examples include an exquisite gold mask and three mummy-shaped coffins, one of solid gold and two of gilded wood.
This collection was kept intact in Egypt to show how royal tombs were provisioned. The discovery included everyday artefacts such as toys and games, chairs, stools and beds, wine jars and boxes of food, bows, arrows, swords, and boomerangs. The collection also included guardian statues, ritual statues of deities, and magical objects to protect and assist the king in the afterlife. We learn much from this discovery about the personal life of the king, such as his love of hunting, his happy marriage to his wife, Ankhesenamun, and his relations with high officials, who provided him inscribed shawabtis, statuettes intended to perform work in place of the deceased in the underworld.
