Tutankhamun's Tomb, intermost coffin. New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty. c. 1,323 B.C.E. Gold with inlay of enamel and semiprecious stones.
The king’s gold inner coffin, shown above, displays a quality of workmanship and an attention to detail which is unsurpassed. It is a stunning example of the Ancient goldsmith's art. |  | |
 |  |  |
Form: 
- Tutankhamen’s sarcophagus had three coffins for the kings’ body
- outer two coffins were crafted in wood and covered in gold along with semiprecious stones
- like lapis lazuli and turquoise.
- The inner coffin was made of solid gold
- when found it was “covered with a thick black pitch-like layer which extended from the hands down to the ankles
- The death mask originally rested on shoulders of the mummy inside the pure gold coffin
- made of two sheets of gold that were hammered together and weighs 22.5 pounds (10.23 kg)
Function:
Spell 151b from the Book of the Dead on the back of the mask
- Egyptians used as a road map for the afterlife
- spell protects the various limbs of Tutankhamen as he moves into the underworld
The sarcophagus was meant to preserve and protect the pharaoh in the afterlife
Content:
- Tutankhamen’s sarcophagus had three coffins for the kings’ body
- outer two coffins were crafted in wood and covered in gold along with semiprecious stones
- like lapis lazuli and turquoise.
- The inner coffin was made of solid gold
- when found it was “covered with a thick black pitch-like layer which extended from the hands down to the ankles
- pharaoh = god like
- The gods were thought to have skin of gold, bones of silver, and hair of lapis lazuli
- king is shown here in his divine form in the afterlife
- He holds the crook and flail -- symbols of the king’s right to rule
- The goddesses Nekhbet (vulture) and Wadjet (cobra), inlaid with semiprecious stones, stretch their wings across torso
- Beneath goddesses are two more—Isis and Nephthys
- The death mask originally rested on shoulders of the mummy inside the pure gold coffin
- made of two sheets of gold that were hammered together and weighs 22.5 pounds (10.23 kg)
- back of the mask is covered with Spell 151b from the Book of the Dead
- Tutankhamen is depicted wearing the striped nemes headdress
- (the striped head-cloth typically worn by pharaohs in ancient Egypt)
- goddesses Nekhbet and Wadjet depicted
- protecting his brow
- He also wears a false beard that further connects him to the image of a god
- He wears a broad collar –– in terminals shaped as falcon head
- Other things found in the tomb were :
Context:
- Elaborate sarcophagus's like this one were only meant for kings and the rich, others were simply mummified or buried in the sand
- Tut was 9 when he became Pharaoh (18 dynasty –– New Kingdom )
- new kingdom after Amarna age
- Tut is son of Akhenaten
- Tut lived from 1332-1323 BCE
- accented moved Egypt's capital to akhenaten/ amarna (mid egypt)
- after dads rule and smenkhkare Tut shifted back to Amun’s worship and capital back to Thebes
- Tut married half sis (Ankhesenamun) but no heirs
- died at 18 — don't know how
- chariot accident, a swift kick from a horse, hippopotamus attack??
- Tutankhamun’s older advisor (and possible step-grandfather), Ay, married Ankhesenamun (Tut’s half sis) and became pharaoh after his death
