Did You Know
that Tutankhamun Was buried in Not One but three Golden Sar
cophagi?
The discovery of the tomb of King Tutankhamun in
1922 by Howard Carter and his archaeological team was highly significant due to
the intact nature of the tomb. Entering the tomb, the team found four gilded
shrines – one nested within the next in or
der of decreasing size, much like
Russian nesting dolls.
Inside of the innermost shrine were three
coffins in the shape of a human body, painted with the likeness of the deceased
pharaoh mummified within. The paintings allowed the deceased to have a face in
the afterlife, making them highly important in the Egyptian religion. Along
with the painted likeness of King Tut, the sarcophagi had paintings of
other deities along with other adornments, showing the prevalence and prestige
of the ruler. Inside of the three coffins laid the preserved body of the king
along with his famous golden death mask.
The Outer
coffin
King
Tutankhamun’s outer coffin measures 2.24
meters (7.35 ft.) long and its head is positioned to the west. The coffin rests on a low bier that shockingly
survived 3,200 years under the strain of the one and a quarter tonne weight of
the sarcophagi. The lid and the base were covered in rishi, a feather
decoration executed in low relief.
On the left and right
were engraved images of the deіtіeѕ Isis and Nephthys with their wings
extended. At the button of the coffin,
under the foot, is another depiction of the goddess Isis in a kneeling
position; below this are ten vertical lines of hieroglyphics used as a sort of
protective charm for the entombed king. Chippings from the coffin revealed that it was made from cypress
wood with a thin layer of gesso, or primer, overlaid with gold foil.
The
gold overlay varied in thickness and colour over the surface of the coffin; thicker and paler sheets were used for
the face and hands as opposed to elsewhere on the body. In the words of Howard
Carter, this variance in thickness and colour gave, “an impression of the
greyness of death.” King Tutankhamun himself is depicted in the image of Osiris
– clutching the twin symbols of kingship, the crook and the flail. The original
design of the coffin lid incorporated
four silver handles, still intact at the time of discovery, Carter and his team
used them to pry open the first sarcophagus to reveal what awaited them below.
The Second
Outer coffin
Using
the silver handles, the archaeologists removed the first coffin’s lid to reveal another coffin hidden underneath. The second coffin measures 2.04 meters (6.69 ft.) long and
is made from a yet to be identified wood covered in the same gesso as the first
coffin, overlaid with another gold foil
layer. The inlays were far more extensive than the outer coffin, even though they have suffered due to
the dampness within the tomb and therefore show some damage.
A
technique known as Egyptian cloisonné work was used on this coffin. This
technique involves narrow strips of gold being soldered to the base of the
sarcophagus to form cells in which small pieces of coloured glass can be
cemented on. As with the outer coffin, a rishi pattern covers the entire
surface of the king’s body, although here the feathers are inlaid with
jasper-red, lapis-blue, and turquoise glad.
Replacing
the images of Isis and Nephthys are the images of the winged vulture goddess
Nekhbet and the winged Wadjet, these images are also inlaid with pieces of red,
blue, and turquoise glass. Unfortunately, unlike the first coffin, there were
no handles attached to the lid of this coffin. In addition, there were ten
gold-headed silver nails holding the lid in its place. However, Carter and his
team persisted and removed the lid to reveal the third and final sarcophagus of
King Tutankhamun.
The
innermost coffin was certainly a spectacle to behold. When the lid of the
second sarcophagus was finally lifted, it revealed a human image much like the
first two, however, this one was made from solid gold. The golden coffin
measures 1.88 meters (6.17 ft.) in length and the metal used to form the shape
was hammered from heavy gold sheet in thicknesses varying between 0.25 and 0.3
cm (0.1 – 1.18 inches).
In 1929, the
sarcophagus was weighed at 110.4 kgs (243.39 lbs.), thus its scrap value at
that time would have been 1.7 million USD. As in the first two coffins, the
image of the king lays with his arms crossed holding the crook and flail.
However, the inlaid materials are much richer on this coffin. The eyes are
inlays of calcite and obsidian, the eyebrows and cosmetic lines are
lapis-lazuli coloured glass.
At
the neck of the coffin were placed two heavy necklaces of disc beads made of
red, yellow, and blue faience. Underneath the hands of the king, the goddesses
Nekhbet and Wadjet, made from gold sheet and inlaid red-backed quartz along
with lapis and turquoise coloured glass, spread their wings protectively around
the upper body of the king. In their talons they each grasp the Egyptian
Hieroglyph for “infinity.” The goddesses Isis and Nephthys are also present again
on the rishi background, much like in the two previous coffins. Like the
outermost coffin, the innermost was fitted with four handles which made the lid
easier to remove. Thus, at long last, “The lid was raised by its golden handles
and the mummy of the king disclosed.”
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