Mask of Tutankhamun. Treasures of Tutankhamun and the curse of his tomb

In the early 20-ies of the twentieth century, the British archaeological expedition opened the tomb of one of the Pharaohs of the New Kingdom. Until then, the place of the last shelter of Pharaoh Tutankhamun for more than 33 centuries remained intact and intact. The peace of the pharaoh was not disturbed either by the medieval robbers or by the numerous tomb robbers. In the tomb was discovered a large number of jewelry, jewelry, magnificent specimens of art, which was famous for Ancient Egypt. The mummy was in a magnificent sarcophagus, and the face of the ancient ruler was covered by the golden mask of Pharaoh Tutankhamun.

Howard Carter

An amazing discovery happened in 1922, an expedition of archaeologists headed by Howard Carter. This Egyptologist from his youth devoted himself to the history of the Ancient World. Since 1899, Carter participated in archaeological expeditions. Success to him brought the discovery of the burial of the woman-pharaoh Hatshepsut to the west of Thebes.

Working with Lord Carnarvon

The acquaintance of Howard Carter with the lover archaeologist Lord Carnarvon helped to find the means to achieve the cherished goal of finding the untouched tomb of one of the numerous Egyptian rulers. Since 1914, the team, led by a tandem professional scientist and dilettant aristocrat, began active excavations in the Valley of the Kings. Numerous setbacks and modest finds in the ruined graves of the ancient kings cooled the aristocrat's enthusiasm, and the scientific community of that time was skeptical about the probability of finding an untouched grave.

In total, Carter spent 22 years searching for the untouched tomb of Egyptian lords, but in the end his search was still rewarded. On November 4, 1922, an uncrowned tomb was found in which were the remains of the pharaoh Tutankhamun. The archaeological find attracted the attention of scientists from all over the world, because many even questioned the existence of this ruler.

The youth of the king

Tutankhamun ascended the throne at the age of 8 or 9 years. The name of the ancient ruler first sounded like Tutankhaton, which meant "The Image of Aton". He was the successor of the famous pharaoh-rebel - Akhenaten. The famous pharaoh heretic forced the Egyptians to exalt the new god - Aton. Fans of ancient beliefs were deprived of donations and forgotten.

All the upbringing of the young Pharaoh was based on worshiping the image of the sun god Aton. His teachers were Meie and Horemhba. Meie was a high priest under the authority of the previous pharaoh, and Horemhba - a retired military leader. Both were dissatisfied with the previous ruler of Egypt, both pursued their own goals, teaching the young king. Having assumed authority over all of Egypt, Tutankhamun did not forget the lessons of his teachers and resolutely embarked on changes.

The rule of Tutankhamun

The history of Tutankhamun, as ruler of Egypt, begins after his accession in 1333 BC. E. Pharaoh radically changes the direction of religious and political life of the country. Henceforth his supreme god is Amon, the same as his ancestors before Akhenaton; And his name sounds like Tutankhamun. The city of the priests of Ahetatone, the place of worship of the overthrown deity, was destroyed and abandoned to oblivion. Formally, the capital of Egypt, where the Egyptian pharaohs traditionally ruled, were Thebes, but Tutankhamun spent most of his short life in Memphis. Naturally, the court nobles, military leaders, architects and priests tried to live closer to the pharaoh.

Tutankhamun Necropolis

Even after his death, the powerful worlds wanted to be closer to the messenger of the god Amon - so one of the necropolises of that time arose, Sakkara. It was here that the generals, priests and former teachers of the young pharaoh wished to arrange their tombs. Tutankhamun kept and restored the ancient sanctuaries, left behind many architectural monuments. In the Luxor sanctuary the decoration of the colonnade, built in honor of Amenhotep III, was completed, the Nubian temple was completed, glorifying this ruler. A number of military campaigns were also carried out in Nubia and Lower Egypt, some of which were successfully completed. Perhaps Tutankhamun would have been famous for centuries as the greatest ruler, but fate has left him incomplete ten years of reign. In the end, his reign was no different from that of other pharaohs. Even the cardinal change of the supreme god was not something out of the ordinary. Pharaoh died at a very young age, at the time of his death he was incomplete 19 years. As befits a true ruler of Egypt, the king in advance took care of his burial vault - the pyramid of Tutankhamun was erected during his lifetime.

Tutankhamun's Tomb

During the existence of the Valley of the Kings, Egyptian architects built 65 tombs for their pharaohs. There was built and the pyramid of Tutankhamun. The technology of erecting the tombs for 500 years has not changed. In the thickness of the rock hollowed out the steps, leaving under the ground to a depth of 200 m, which led to the funerary chamber. In the middle of the central grotto, a sarcophagus was installed, in which three coffins were put into one. At the last and put the body of the pharaoh. The outer coffin was made of gilded wood, on which were images of a vulture and cobra. These symbols represent the North and South of Egypt. Images of animals are still surprised by the delicate work and rich decor. Each feather on the wings of a kite, each scales on the hood of the cobra was given great importance, all the details were carefully executed by unknown masters.

The coffin was decorated with colored glass. He played an intermediate role between the world of the living and the world of the dead. The third coffin, in which the body of Tutankhamun rested, was made of a whole sheet of pure gold. The remains of the ruler were placed in the finest canvas, and his face was covered with the funerary mask of Tutankhamun. A lot of things that were in the "Golden Hall", remained beyond the control of time and survived to our days in almost complete safety. Items from the tomb of Tutankhamun, surrounding the body of the deceased, astonished with their luxury and wealth, each of these works of art was to facilitate the life of the ruler in the realm of the dead.

The Mystery of Death

However, not the life and rule of the lord of Egypt at that time interested scientists. It was much more fascinating to find the cause of such an early death. Several hypotheses have been put forward, explaining the posthumous secrets of Tutankhamun. His death was beneficial to Regent Eyé, who reigned over Egypt after the death of the 19-year-old ruler. Tutankhamun was not loved by the priests of the overthrown Aton, who lost their cities and temples. Among the possible causes of death were suffocation, head trauma or poisoning. But studies in 2005 showed that the head injury was inflicted on Pharaoh after his death, most likely, it was obtained as a result of mummification of the body of the ruler. One by one the hypotheses of violent death were rejected, new details of the short life of the young pharaoh were revealed.

Research data

The great ruler of Egypt, according to scientists, was a chronically ill young man who had a history of several genetic abnormalities, which suffered and other Egyptian pharaohs of this dynasty. Tutankhamun could not move normally, this was impeded by congenital lameness and incomplete number of fingers on the right leg. Finally, a team of researchers revealed the true cause of the death of the lord of Egypt. She was a microscopic bacillus plasmodium falciparum, which causes severe forms of malaria. The infection proved deadly to the king, whose body was weakened by congenital ailments and suffered trauma caused by a punch or fall from a horse.

The opening of the tomb

Notes Howard Carter talk about the long years of searching for the slightest mention of the valley of the kings. After three millennia, the pyramids were covered with sands, the countries changed their outlines, the terrain of an ancient country called Egypt was changed. Tutankhamen disappeared behind the shroud of history so that many scientists even doubted its existence. Only many years after the excavations began in the Valley of the Kings, under the house of one of the workers, Carter noticed the steps leading down. Excavations uncovered the king's tomb, not disturbed by the plunderers or natural disasters. Apparently, the builders who built the burial vault for the pharaoh of a later time diligently poured the entrance to the tomb of Tutankhamun. February 16, 1923, Carter opened the "Golden Hall" - the immediate resting place of the pharaoh. In the grave of the ancient ruler was more than three thousand jewelry and works of art, created by ancient Egyptian masters. Among the items were found beds covered with sheets of pure gold, and gilded military chariots, models of ships and chests with numerous ornaments.

Mummy of the Pharaoh

The body of the ruler was found only in the third coffin. The mummy, through the efforts of ancient burial masters, was wrapped in linens of the finest canvas. The uppermost cover was decorated with embroidered appliqués with the image of golden hands. Pharaoh was holding a wand and a whip in his hands-the ancient symbols of the ruler. Between the veils were a lot of jewelry and personal items of the pharaoh, as well as cross strips of pure gold, with the chasing of ancient prayers and images from the book of the dead. In the diapering we used the now lost aromatic resin compositions, which for over thirty centuries were firmly glued to the funeral covers of the body of the mummy.

An Amazing Find

But the most surprising finding was the mask of Tutankhamen, covering his face. The archaeologists saw an amazing creation of ancient masters. This subject rightly deserves a separate description. The masks of the rulers of Egypt were quite typical for that time. But not one funeral mask was able to see our contemporaries. This is to blame the sepulchral thieves, who destroyed the ancient graves for thousands of years. It is thanks to black archaeologists that modern Egyptology tests its hypotheses and assumptions, based only on a few not looted ancient graves. And the more important was the discovery of Carter's untouched ancient burial.

Description of the mask of the pharaoh

The golden mask of Tutankhamen covered the head and upper body of the ruler. Its total weight was 11.26 kg. This decoration with perfect accuracy was attached to the upper body and to the face of the ruler of Egypt. The mask depicts the face of the pharaoh himself, with large open eyes, brought by antimony, the eyes themselves are made of obsidian. This amazing piece of art is made of thick gold leaf and decorated with unique ornaments. The handkerchief, eyebrows and eyelids are skillfully instructed with a dark blue glass, the necklace resting on the chest of the mummy was decorated with semiprecious stones. The golden mask of Tutankhamun, thanks to special aromatic resins, was tightly glued to the face of the mummy. It took a long and laborious work to separate this unique thing without spoiling its beauty. And thanks to the art of ancient masters, modern anthropologists were able to determine with sufficient certainty the features of the ancient pharaoh.

Symbol of Egypt

An amazing archeological find was widely covered in the press and gave grounds for various discussions and pseudo-scientific assumptions. The name Tutankhamun became widely known and caused a surge of interest in studying the past of Egypt and the Ancient World as a whole.

The golden mask of Pharaoh Tutankhamun still does not have a certain market value. This ancient decoration has a huge historical, cultural and jewelry value. In a certain sense, the mask of Tutankhamun is a symbol of both ancient and modern Egypt, the main exhibit of the Cairo National Museum. She was repeatedly tried to kidnap, the last attempt was made in 2011 during the so-called Egyptian spring. Modern Egyptians refer to the mask as a talisman, whose ancient forces guarded the secrets of Tutankhamun for over thirty centuries. The Egyptians hope that their ancient country will soon again become one of the greatest countries in the world, and the mask of Tutankhamun will help them in this.