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Egypt
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The Death Mask of
Tutankhamen |
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Tutankhamen
(Toot to his friends) lived from 1354 to 1345 BC under the regency (she
told him what to do) of Nefertiti .
His predecessor, the rebel pharaoh Akhentaten, built a new capital city
(Akhetaten), established a one god religion, and held that all men were
equal. Toot moved the capital back to Thebes, reestablished the old
multi-god religion, died young (18) and was so inconsequential that he
rapidly faded from memory and his tomb got lost.
That's his real claim to fame: HIS TOMB GOT LOST! Unlike the more
memorable Pharaoh's, all of whose tombs were raided by robbers, his
remained undiscovered until 1922 when Howard Carter discovered it.
That's when his importance in the history books skyrocketed! His
tomb produced more artifacts than any other tomb and gave the world a
fantastic look in to life 3,500 years ago. What a guy, eh?
| Here
is something you can try at home, kids. Rent the movie, The
Curse of King Tut's Tomb (1980). The plot is just ok, but
the scenes are from the tomb and Egypt! |
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Admittedly
this picture is a little hard to see. It was taken with my digital
camera in the Museum without a flash because flashes are prohibited.
In addition to flashes being prohibited, an extra ticket is required to
take any kind of camera inside. Video Camera tickets cost as much as
ten times more! I worked on this picture with my photo editing
software. Click
on the picture to see
the results.
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The young Pharaoh's mummy was
entombed within several shrouds and caskets, each one inside the
other. This is one of the shrouds. His mummy remains in his
tomb in the Valley of Kings. We passed by his tomb, but didn't
go in because the tickets were very, very expensive. |
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A
small sampling of the jewelry placed between the layers of linen of Toot's
mummy are shown in the surrounding Thumb Nails. Click on them.
Carol says she is already mummy and wants her jewelry NOW!. |
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Canopic Jars contain the vital organs of the dead Pharaoh.
They are likenesses of various goddesses in carved alabaster
stone. Just to the right in the small picture you can see the
top of the box. The four jars contain the heart, the brain,
the liver and the smaller one contains the, ah...the, ah...he wasn't
very tall either.
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Other Items of Interest in the Museum
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The vase
symbolizes the Union of the two parts of the country, Upper and
Lower Egypt, by the Lotus and Papyrus, these flower plants are entwined
around the neck of the vase and fall over on either side. Two
Nile-gods support the hanging stems and are themselves crowned by Lotus
and Papyrus bouquet's. |
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Games people play. Dice
anyone? |
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This artifact was a
gold casket within a wooden one. It contained a statue of the
Pharaoh, and a lock of his grandmother's (Tyi) hair. His
grandmother is also thought to be the grandmother of his wife.
Cousins?
The gold cover is to the left. The grandmother's hair is in the
little box at the bottom.
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Models of Sun Boats. The full size
versions, several of which have been found, were to carry the
Pharaoh across the sky to the after life. |
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A wine bottle! Food
for the after life was important.
Chef's note on the front says, "Toot's favorite Cab'.
Good body, nice bouquet, good color. Likes with steak or BBQ
ribs. |
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On to the Abu Simbel! |
