Alex Carson
King Tutankhamun
King Tutankhamun, aka King Tut, was the 12th pharaoh of the 18th Egyptian dynasty. He was in power from 1332 to 1323 B.C.E. He was just 9 years old when he took the crown, and he ruled until his death at the age of 19. During his reign, he did wonderful things. He was married to his queen, who also happened to be his half-sister. Back in the days of ancient Egypt, things like this weren’t unusual.
King Tut and his queen were expected to birth heirs. King Tut’s tomb contained two fetuses, which are believed to have been their children. Experts are sure that the children didn’t survive because they were products of incest. King Tut himself may also have been because of some of the abnormalities that were discovered in his face and jawbone. Experts also believe that his death at the early age of 19 as a result of malaria and a broken leg that wasn’t properly healed.
Searching For the Tomb
Historians and archaeologists searched for King Tut’s tomb for many years, but it remained hidden. Experts believe that it was hidden so well because the rulers that followed King Tut didn’t want to rule in his shadow. He was an excellent ruler, and pharaohs, who followed him, felt inferior. To make the people forget about King Tut and his time as a ruler, they made sure that the tomb was hidden away. Out of sight, out of mind. This is the reason that the tomb was not discovered until 1922.
Howard Carter
Howard Carter was the man who found the tomb, and he didn’t open it up until 1925. When the tomb was opened, it contained plenty of amazing archaeological finds. Since its discovery, the tomb and its contents have been studied. Some parts of the tomb were incredible; however, some were just disappointing. One unexpected find was the chest that was included in the tomb. Experts believed that the chest belonged to his queen, and it was placed there so that he would have a reminder of his queen in the afterlife. When the chest was opened, it was empty, which ended up being a major disappointment. There were, however, many things inside the tomb that were incredible, and certain objects continue to baffle Egyptologists today. One of these bizarre objects was a dagger. Experts studying King Tutankhuman’s dagger claimed it has extraterrestrial origins.
The Dagger
Upon first glance, the dagger looked ordinary. When Howard first opened up the tomb, he didn’t give the dagger much thought. Since the tomb was discovered, many experts examined the contents. Thanks to technology, experts have been able to study the contents of the tomb more extensively than they could when the tomb was first opened up. When analyzing the dagger, it was determined that the iron the dagger was made of is extraordinary because it is not from this planet.
Two Daggers
The King Tut died 3,300-years ago; his mummified remains were laid to rest in a triple coffin. One was for his mummified body, and the other two contained a vast array of artifacts that were placed there to help him in the afterlife. Within the mummy wrappings, there were two daggers. One had a gold blade, and the other had an iron blade. The origin of the gold dagger was simple. It is known that the ancient Egyptians were very skilled at working with gold, so this dagger being in the tomb didn’t surprise the experts. It was the iron dagger that raised a few eyebrows.
The Iron Dagger
Experts found the iron dagger to be unusual because ironwork was very rare during King Tut’s day. It was placed in a golden iron sheath that had an intricate design. The handle was also made of gold. The top of the dagger, known as the pommel, was made from rock crystal. Despite the fact that the dagger had been under the ground for over three millennia, it was not rusted at all. Experts found this to be extraordinary.
The 2016 Study
In 2016, researchers scanned the dagger using an x-ray fluorescence spectrometer. This machine was designed to measure the chemical content of the dagger. The results showed that the dagger was not only made of iron, but there were also traces of nickel and cobalt. This test proved something that the experts have suspected since the 1960s. The metal was actually made from a meteorite.
A Gift From the Gods
The ancient Egyptians knew that the meteorites fell from the sky. They believed that anything that fell from the sky was a gift from the gods. Because of this, they placed a high value on the metal extracted from meteorites. This is why only pharaohs possessed the metal that came from the gods, and it is also the reason why it was preserved in King Tut’s tomb.
