Read more: The 6 Most Iconic Ancient Artifacts That Continue to Captivate In 2015, the mask was positioned and lit so that researchers could photograph and more closely examine it. The artifacts from King Tut’s tomb have been carefully preserved at a museum in Cairo, although they have been allowed to go on world tours a few times. But in 2015, a scholar found new evidence that suggested the famed funerary mask was never even intended for King Tut. The striped mask became iconic and synonymous with Ancient Egypt. He had a lengthy beard, and on his forehead were two sizable animals - a cobra and a vulture, which symbolized his rule of all of Egypt. It weighed around 24 pounds of solid gold and depicted a pharaoh wearing a striped headdress. When all the coffins had been removed, Carter saw the mummy wore an elaborate death mask.

Some of the equipment was intended for a predecessor named Neferneferuaten, who likely was a daughter of Akhenaten. The pharaoh’s mummy was encased in a series of burial equipment, which were various coffins placed inside of each other, like nesting dolls. King Tut’s burial chamber was the first to reveal how much wealth pharaohs took to the grave.

Researchers found a prehistoric iron artifact in the tomb. There were more than 5,000 artifacts that had to be carefully removed and tagged, and many of these items had been piled on top of each other before the tomb was sealed for thousands of years.Įven though King Tut is a global celebrity today, he was forgotten by his successors.

Yet, it took Carter’s team several years to work through the many rooms. The tomb was considered small in comparison to the others in the Valley of the Kings. There was also an antechamber that was about the same length but a little bit wider, and then a room the team referred to as “the annex.” The burial chamber was another long room, about 21 feet by 13 feet wide. The tomb was structured so that a person first entered a long and narrow corridor that measured about 25 feet by 5 feet. King Tut’s tomb was packed with such presents, and these items remained untouched for 3,300 years until Carter’s team began opening and unpacking the vaults.Īfter the first step was found, Carter’s team dug out the steep staircase that lead to an opening below.

The ancient Egyptians believed in sending a deceased person to the afterlife with items they would need such as food, wine, furniture, clothing, jewelry and household goods. In the past century, King Tut’s death mask and other artifacts have made him one of the most famous ancient pharaohs in modern history. But his death chambers included more than 5,000 artifacts including a stunning funerary mask. King Tut wasn’t a pharaoh that many historians considered important.

Gold mummy mask