Tutankhamun's Golden Mask

Attribution:

Key Dates

1350

The Golden Mask was created around 1324BC in the period known as the New Kingdom.

Key People

Created for Tutankhamun, the 18th Dynasty boy pharoah, who is arguable the most famous pharoah due to the discovery of his tomb by Howard Carter in 1922.

Key People:

Tutankhamun

Probably one of the most famous artefacts in the world, certainly the most recognisable.

The mask was created for King Tutankhamun, often referred to as the boy pharoah, to provide protection for the head and face of the King. Such an eleborate design and materials consisting of gold inlaid with a variety of precious stones such as lapis lazuli, calcite, carnelian, felspar, quartz and obsidian also meant that there was no doubt that the wearer of the mask was once a Pharoah.

VIDEO: Tutankhamun's Golden Death Mask (Shot in King Tut Virtual)

The 1970s tour entitled The Treasures of Tutankhamun which featured some of the objects found by Howard Carter made the golden mask infamous around the world. More than 1.6 million visitors came to see the exhibition, some queueing for up to eight hours and it was the most popular exhibition ever in the British Museum.

Sadly for many people the only way for people to ever see the golden mask will be to travel to Egypt as the Egyptian Government have stated that it shall never again leave Egypt as it is deemed too fragile to travel.

Be sure to see more exclusive photographs of King Tut's Golden Mask by Sandro Vannini!