Tutankhamun's Funeral Mask

Superior Essays
Tutankhamun's mask
The stunning, gold funeral mask of Pharaoh Tutankhamun is considered to be one of the most highly artistic, complex, and beautiful pieces of art crafted by the ancient Egyptians. Tutankhamun, or better known as “King Tut”, reigned from 1332-1323 BC. His name translates to “The living image of Aten.” He was considered to be an atrocious ruler, even at nine years old, unlike his father before him. Under his ruling, he made many changes to Egypt that were unpopular with the people. Tut made complete religious changes to Egypt primarily, as he forced the people to follow Monotheism; Aten, the sun God. The death of Tutankhamun is not entirely known, but it is speculated
…show more content…
A cobra can also be found on the mask, which is thought to represent the ruling Tutankhamun had over lower Egypt. This magnificent piece of artwork, obviously, was created as a funeral mask for a Pharaoh. It was hoped that Tutankhamun would have an appealing afterlife with the mask of solid gold. This mask, and other funeral masks, also served a purpose other than for decoration. They were worn to preserve the body in the afterlife. These masks fully covered the faces, to ensure that the spirit of the dead person was able to recognize the body. The masks of Pharaoh were almost always made of gold, no matter how popular they were with the people. Traditionally, masks were made from a material-like paper soaked in carbon, then molded in a wooden …show more content…
Based on the knowledge of the mask of Tutankhamun, and the artwork of the Egyptians, you can deem that the Egyptians carefully crafted each and every piece of artwork that they created. Each and every piece of artwork that they created had historical significance. Much of their artwork painted a picture of their culture and religious beliefs. For example, the ruins and tombs told how important afterlife was to them. You could tell how wealthy or politically powerful a person was by the make of their tomb. Obviously, those who were more powerful had tombs filled with riches. The Egyptians created many pieces of jewelry and pottery to be put into these tombs, in hopes that this person would have a good afterlife. Hieroglyphics were also written on the walls of the tombs, only to be used in their next life. The hieroglyphics often told stories or gave information that was valuable to the deceased. The mass number of tombs eventually lead to the creation of the Pyramids, which are not only some of the largest man-made structures, but also some of the most

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    The deep-set, heavy-lidded eyes, the thin lips, and the series of diagonal furrows marking the rather hollow cheeks give representations of this king a brooding expression not usually found on the faces of Egyptian kings. The ruler seemed consciously to have chosen to represent his humanity rather than an idealized image of eternal kingship. This is often interpreted as a portrayal of the burden of power and kingship. He is shown wearing the nemes headcloth with a cobra at the front, the pleated shendyt kilt, and the bull's tail, visible between his legs. Beneath his feet are nine bows, symbolizing Egypt's traditional enemies under his…

    • 683 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    During the reign of Amenhotep IV (also known as Akhenaton), Egypt was catastrophic. The change of religion brought great distrust between the king and the people. After the death of Akhenaton, his son King Tut became the king of Egypt at the age of 9. The people of Egypt were still furious at the dynasty when Tut became king. Under the…

    • 387 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    It was created around 2520—2494 BCE. This work of art was carved from a rock that was located in a quarry. The figure has the body of a lion and the head of a pharaoh and is connected with the sun god. Having the body of a lion symbolizes the power and strength of the pharaoh, and the head is the intelligence of the ruler. (cite textbook)…

    • 284 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Although there is no correct answer, many believe that King Tutankhamen started rolling Egypt at the age of 8 or 9. Since King Tutankhamen was very young many think that King Tutankhamen didn't have a lot of control, and instead older and wiser relatives told him ho to rule. You may think that King Tutankhamen was a really popular pharaoh, but actually King Tutankhamen was very minor and many people did not know about him until the discovery of his tomb. King Tutankhamen ruled during the 18th dynasty, he was the 12th king in his dynasty, and was also the…

    • 416 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    It has been found that the bodies of the pharaohs were mummified and placed deep inside the pyramid along with funerary materials (@). Even more information has been revealed about the pharaohs themselves from searching through the pyramids. For example, after King Tutankhamun’s tomb was discovered, materials were found that gave insight into his life. Over five thousand artifacts and several other mummies were found inside his tomb. The cause of Tutankhamun’s death was also determined to be malaria (*).…

    • 608 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    King Tut Research Paper

    • 518 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The most famous pharaoh in the history of Egypt was not famous because he was the best or most powerful king. King Tutankhamun was so famous for two reasons. The first reason was because of his extreme youth when he became pharaoh. He was only six when his father, Akhenaten had died and he earned the title of the Boy King. The second reason was that in a time where grave robbery was common, archaeologist howard Carter had the good fortune to discover Tut’s tomb undisturbed.…

    • 518 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    A newspaper author has a large responsibility to present an academic article in a way that properly conveys the argument of the original author, but it can do more than that. A well written newspaper story about an archeological academic paper can educate the public of finds, challenge theories that could change people’s interpretations of the past, and generate interest in archeology. The conclusions and arguments from the publication, “The Burial of Nefertiti?” contained in the Economist article, “What lies beneath”, present a compelling and balanced presentation of the findings of the original article by choosing to only incorporate certain arguments and present compelling questions to the readers. By studying the Factum Arte, high resolution color photography and scanned records of the painted walls in King Tutankhamun’s Burial Chamber, Dr. Reeves argues that there are hidden rooms and a secret passageway behind two of the walls.…

    • 1358 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Inca Masks Research Paper

    • 470 Words
    • 2 Pages

    For my mask project, I picked a mask from Western South America. The mask that I picked is the Inca Sun God Mask, another name to call the mask is Inti. It is used during ceremonies, to worship the sun. I picked this mask because it caught my attention by its shiny gold. The mask is very irregular by the shape of its face.…

    • 470 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Death is inevitable and the customs that follow one 's death are representive of the beliefs and shared religion of that society. Through the scope of this paper I will discuss the death rituals and tomb burial practices of both Ancient Egypt and Ancient China. Over the examination of Ancient Egypt and Ancient China burial practices we begin to understand the complex thought process of respecting the dead, Furthermore, even though both of these civilizations have individually intricate beliefs we can also see the similarities in their ideals and rituals used to honor the dead and afterlife. These societies performed rituals for their deceased by using key components such as symbolic material objects buried alongside the dead, elaborate decoration…

    • 1051 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    How To Build Pyramids

    • 525 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The shoes for the poor like slaves and workers wore made out of woven strings and the rich, like pharaohs and the family of pharaohs, wore leather shoes. They made the leather from cows, pigs, goats, and sheep. The ancient Egyptians also wore jewelry. The rich wore expensive golds and rocks.…

    • 525 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The mask is “life-size”. 2. As I study the picture, I notice how the green color varies and I can see a lot of white and natural earth colors, like brown. I also see that the nose of the mask sticks out unnaturally quite a bit. Specifically above where the eyebrows would be, a portion of the upper nose bridge is clearly raised artificially to make his nose appear much longer.…

    • 793 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Tutankhamun

    • 711 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Many other funerary items depicted him to be a skilled warrior too, such as chariot parts and a decorative fan (Griffith Inst.: 120c; Silverman et al. 2006:173)6. He potentially may have wanted to copy athletic kings of the past as a kind of legitimization from “beyond the grave”. Redford remarks that Tutankhamun may have wanted to better align himself to not only the kings, but to Amun too (Redford 1984:211). On the other hand, Silverman et al. suggest that rather than showing real events, they could have represented his interests and goals (Silverman et al.…

    • 711 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    King Tut Research Paper

    • 400 Words
    • 2 Pages

    King Tutankhamen was a pharaoh who died at a young age and is rumored to have a cursed tomb. Tut was a young boy when he came into power in Egypt in 1332 BC. His decade long rule was relatively insignificant in Egyptian history, but the discovery of his tomb in 1922 was among the most remarkable events of time. Discovered by British Archaeologist, Howard Carter, King Tut’s tomb was the first tomb to be found almost entirely intact. Since the discovery of his tomb in 1922, Tutankhamun has awe-struck the world.…

    • 400 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Only the Pharaoh was able to wear this Mask, it was designed and made especially for him to wear, with a royal head cloth called the “nemes”. Another famous piece of work done by the Egyptians was “The Palette of Narmer”, The Palette of Narmer is decorated on the front and back with low relief…

    • 1286 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Egyptians practiced the art of mummifying their dead for 3,000 years or more in the belief that the soul would be reunited with the body in the afterlife, so the body had to be kept intact. A mummy is a dead body in which some of the soft tissue has been preserved along with the bones. Usually this means it was specially embalmed or preserved for burial, but sometimes natural conditions alone freeze, dry out, or otherwise prevent the body from decaying by inhibiting the growth of microbes. The most carefully prepared Egyptian mummies date from about 1000 B.C., but the earliest ones discovered are much older. Sacred animals, such as cats and crocodiles, were also mummified.…

    • 433 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays