What X-Rays Showed About King Tut's Golden Mask

Bright Side

King Tut’s golden mask is iconic, but did you know X-rays revealed some surprising details about it? Turns out, the mask wasn’t originally made just for him—it might have been repurposed from someone else, possibly a queen. X-ray analysis showed mismatched metals and an altered design, like the nameplate being switched to Tut’s after his unexpected death. The craftsmanship is still incredible, but it’s clear his burial was a bit rushed, leaving behind some ancient "last-minute project" vibes. Despite these quirks, the mask remains one of the most breathtaking treasures of ancient Egypt. It's fascinating to think even ancient pharaohs dealt with a little improvisation!  Credit: New China TV / YouTube British Pathé / YouTube King Tut Ankh Amun Golden Mask: By Steve Evans - https://flic.kr/p/ipo8, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3658413 ThebesKV23Chamber: By Roland Unger, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22697353 CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0: Look of the King: By Basma Eloufy, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=51551374 King Tut Mask: By Tarekheikal, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62662593 Mask: By EditorfromMars, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=93347957 CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0: Gold of Honor: By ddenisen, Dmitry Denisenkov- https://flic.kr/p/bWpiLp, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24834259 WV23: By kairoinfo4u: Mutnedjmet, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5476737 CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0: Tutankhamun Gold Mask: By amirfiala1, https://skfb.ly/6QVMQ Egyptian Hieroglyphics Stone _ 3Daily 2017: By forest_cat, https://skfb.ly/6su7y Round stone steps/platform: By Luke.G, https://skfb.ly/6STtY Male head: By C.J..Goldman, https://skfb.ly/o9RZv Wooden guitar stand / rack: By DeepDown, https://skfb.ly/ooVvo Tube-006: By kositsuwan, https://skfb.ly/oQSwK Egyptian Tomb: By Bianca.Popa, https://skfb.ly/oJuNZ Animation is created by Bright Side.  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/   Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV   Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightside Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en Telegram: https://t.me/bright_side_official   Stock materials (photos, footages and other): https://www.depositphotos.com https://www.shutterstock.com https://www.eastnews.ru ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.

Transcript

00:00For more than 3,000 years, the gold mask of Pharaoh Tutankhamen stayed hidden in the Valley

00:06of the Kings.

00:07This artifact, which stands about 21 inches tall, shows how skilled and artistic the ancient

00:12Egyptians were.

00:14But nobody expected that X-rays would reveal its biggest secret.

00:19King Tut was the last ruler of his family during the 18th dynasty.

00:23He took the throne at just 9 years old, but ruled for only 10 years before he passed away

00:29unexpectedly.

00:30If we're being honest, back in ancient Egypt, he was mostly forgotten by the rulers who

00:35came after him.

00:36His tomb wasn't a big deal for them, so much so that even the grave robbers forgot

00:41about it.

00:42It might sound a bit sad, but the truth is that it was actually great news for us.

00:47Since his tomb was practically forgotten, it ended up being perfectly preserved.

00:52While the other tombs in the Valley of the Kings were looted, his remained sealed and

00:57untouched.

00:58So when it was discovered back in 1922, it had over 5,000 precious objects inside.

01:05That made Tutankhamen basically an instant celebrity and one of the best-known pharaohs

01:10nowadays.

01:13Among the treasures was the most stunning piece – his golden mask.

01:18This mask is said to be an exact image of the king's face, or at least it was supposed

01:23to be, but we'll get to that later.

01:26The purpose of this accurate representation of his face was to make sure that his soul

01:31would recognize him in the afterlife and return to his mummified body.

01:36In ancient Egyptian beliefs, this would allow him to continue living in the afterlife.

01:41The details of the mask clearly looked incredibly difficult to create.

01:45But people didn't realize how complex it truly was until many years later.

01:51The first x-rays of the mask were taken in 1967.

01:55Back then, the main reason for these scans was practical – conservation.

01:59The mask was heading to Paris for an exhibition, and it was the first time it had ever left

02:05Paris.

02:06This would help them keep track of any changes during the exhibit.

02:09Plus, the images could give clues about how the mask was made.

02:14But back then, they probably didn't fully realize just how complex its construction

02:19was.

02:20I mean, Egyptian goldsmiths didn't use modern soldering techniques.

02:24So how did they make this mask?

02:27New x-rays taken in 2007 gave us some answers.

02:31It turned out that the Egyptians didn't use pure gold, which is 24 carats.

02:36The mask was actually made of 23-carat gold, meaning it was mixed with another material.

02:42So specialists discovered that the gold sheets contained a small amount of copper, a reddish

02:47brown metal.

02:48This was likely done to make the material more flexible and easier to shape.

02:53They would then shape the gold sheets by heating and hammering them over and over again.

02:58But there was one more secret inside the mask that wasn't discovered until 2015.

03:04The year before, the staff at Cairo's Egyptian Museum were working on the mask display when

03:10the long beard of the mask accidentally got knocked off.

03:14Another theory is that the beard had become loose over time and just fell off.

03:18Either way, the fact that King Tut's beard came off caused a lot of stress.

03:24After all, we're talking about one of Cairo's biggest tourist attractions, so the experts

03:29had to fix the problem quickly.

03:31The restoration process started with a detailed recording of the mask's condition.

03:36To do this, they had to take a full three-dimensional scan of the artifact.

03:41And by accident, they found something very interesting in the mask.

03:46Inside the royal beard, there is a gold tube, an intriguing structure that the Egyptians

03:51likely used to attach the beard to the rest of the mask.

03:55And that proved, once again, that the process of making this mask was even more complex

04:00than experts thought.

04:03But the mysteries don't stop there.

04:06Remember how we mentioned that the mask was thought to perfectly represent King Tutankhamen's

04:11face?

04:12Well, that might not be entirely true.

04:15Some popular theories suggest the mask was never meant for him and was actually made

04:20for someone else.

04:22A study published in 2015 suggested the mask was originally made for a female pharaoh,

04:28his supposed stepmother, the famous and beautiful Egyptian queen, Nefertiti.

04:33The biggest clue comes from an inscription on the mask.

04:37At first glance, it seemed to belong to Tutankhamen.

04:40But after a close examination, researchers noted that something else was actually written

04:45underneath King Tut's name.

04:48The royal name stamp seems to have been altered, and originally, it had something written on

04:53it that translates to Queen Nefertiti.

04:59There is another feature of King Tut's golden mask that was overlooked for years, which

05:04adds even more mystery.

05:06As we mentioned earlier, experts believe he wasn't respected much by the pharaohs who

05:10came after him.

05:12And one of the clues that made archaeologists think this is the pierced ears on the mask.

05:17Some researchers believe that King Tutankhamen wouldn't have worn earrings after he was

05:22a kid.

05:23So, according to their theory, by the time he passed away at 18, he shouldn't have

05:28been represented with pierced ears.

05:30This could also support the idea that the mask originally belonged to Nefertiti, or

05:35maybe to someone who wasn't even connected to King Tut.

05:40But the mask isn't the only source of mystery.

05:43In fact, his whole tomb is full of puzzles.

05:46Recently, historians found a sign that the place where King Tut was supposed to be buried

05:51was changed at the last minute.

05:54For years, experts wonder why a pharaoh who ruled for 9 years ended up in such a simple

06:00tomb.

06:01When compared to the grandeur of other pharaohs' tombs, his tomb seemed, well, a bit plain.

06:07The idea that a king like Tutankhamen would have such an unremarkable resting place just

06:13doesn't match up with the power and importance he must've had in ancient Egypt.

06:18So what happened?

06:20Well, apparently, this might have something to do with his successor, Pharaoh Ai.

06:26After King Tutankhamen passed away, researchers believe that Ai made sure to erase him from

06:31Egypt's history.

06:33So one theory suggests that he was probably behind the quick decision to place King Tut's

06:38body in a smaller, less impressive tomb.

06:41When experts looked at Ai's own tomb, they found something interesting.

06:45There is a large wall covered in painted baboons.

06:49This is the same type of artwork found in Tutankhamen's tomb.

06:53It seems like the same person might've chosen the artwork for both tombs.

06:59The design and decoration of the two tombs are almost identical, suggesting there was

07:04a shared hand behind both.

07:07But there is one key difference.

07:09Ai's tomb is fit for a king.

07:11It's much bigger and more impressive, even though the style and artwork are similar to

07:16what you see in Tutankhamen's tomb.

07:19So the theory suggests that Ai decided what went into both tombs.

07:24Since Tut passed away unexpectedly at a young age, his grand tomb wasn't finished in time.

07:30Normally, pharaohs start building their tombs while they're still alive to make sure everything

07:35is perfect.

07:36But Tut passed away when he was just 18, so there wasn't enough time.

07:41Ai may have taken advantage of the situation, ordering a smaller tomb for Tut and keeping

07:46a larger one for himself.

07:49It's believed this theory explains why Tutankhamen's tomb is so simple and how Ai managed to wipe

07:54his memory from history so easily.

07:58But in the end, the story of King Tut's mask and tomb is full of mystery and intrigue.

08:04Each new discovery sheds more light on what really happened all those years ago.

08:09But one thing is for sure, the secrets of ancient Egypt still have much to reveal, and

08:14King Tutankhamen will continue to fascinate people for years to come.

08:19That's it for today!

08:23So hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your

08:28friends!

08:29Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!

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