king tutankhamun treasures - art in the...

Updated November 2017

King Tutankhamun 1341 – 1323 BC

In the vertical art storage rack, you will find the following: Large Reproduction: Golden Effigy of King Tutankhamun Posters: The Art Elements & Principles posters to use in the discussion On the NSS PTA website, you will find digital images available for download. These can be sent to the teacher to project on their Smartboards. In the black cabinet, you will find a white binder with a copy of this presentation.

Tutankhamun’s Treasures

Art in the Classroom North Stratfield School

Overview

Where: More than 5000 years ago, cities began to develop along the Nile River in

Egypt. This was the birth of ancient Egyptian civilization. From about 3110 until 332 BC, Egypt was ruled by Pharaohs, or Kings. The Pharaoh was at the top of the social structure.

1. Pharaoh2. GovernmentOfficials(Priests,Nobles)3. Soldiers4. Scribes5. Merchants6. Artisans7. Farmers8. SlavesandServants

What: The Tomb of King Tutankhamun – the only tomb found intact within the Valley of the

Kings. What: The Tomb was discovered in 1922 by the British Egyptologists Howard Carter, working

for Lord Carnarvon. It took ten years to complete the work from his discovery. Today the actual tomb still contains Tut’s remains, hidden from view by the outermost of three coffins. The other artifacts from King Tut’s tomb are kept in Egypt in the Cairo Museum.



What: Ancient Egyptians believes that a person’s spirit lived on after their death, and that it was

important for the spirit to recognize its body in the afterlife so that it would have somewhere to live. Their solution was to preserve the body through an elaborate process called mummification. Egyptians also believed that when a Pharaoh died, he became a god. Pharaohs were buried in huge pyramids. Inside the tomb, walls were decorated with scenes from life, sports, feasts, and everyday activities. These scenes, as well as numerous objects from daily live, would serve the dead in the afterlife.

As a rule, the Egyptians did not worship animals themselves, but rather the divine forces they represented. Because each god could manifest himself or herself as a particular species of animal, creatures of all sorts – dogs, cats, ibises, crocodiles – were protected, venerated, mummified at dead, and buried by the thousands in special animal cemeteries.

Personal Information Name: King Tutankhamun Born: 1342 BC in Ancient Egypt Died: 1323 BC in Ancient Egypt (18 years old) Lived: King Tutankhamun was the King or Pharaoh of ancient Egypt from 1333 -1323 BC. His

rule was during what was known as the Eighteenth Dynasty which spanned from 1550-



1291 BC. Tutankhamun was until the discovery of his tomb, a fairly insignificant and little-known Pharaoh. He became king at the early age of 9 and died at around 19, approximately 3,300 years ago.

Egyptian Style A change from prehistoric art to Egyptian art can be seen in the fact that art can now be “read.” The meaning in this art is clear from the hieroglyphic labels, the visual symbols that convey messages to the viewer, and through the disciplined, rational orderliness of the design. There is a strong sense of order with surfaces divided into horizontal bands with each figure on a line. Standing figures are seen from the side. The Egyptian artist never represented a scene as it would appear to a single observer at a single moment. The artist always strived for the most telling viewpoint. The artist used only three possible viewpoints: a full face, a strict profile or vertically from above. Eye and shoulders would be shown in frontal view while the head and legs were in profile. This was done to show the Pharaoh in the most complete way possible. Since most of the scenes were depicting serious rituals related to the Pharaoh, it did not matter that showing the human body this way made any movement by the figure impossible. This image of the Pharaoh only reinforced the accepted belief that the Pharaoh does not “do” but only “is.” This viewpoint formula was not followed when the artist was depicting the common man since the air of dignity need not be maintained for them. The purpose of this style is, therefore, to convey to the viewer the great majesty of their divine ruler, the Pharaoh. Hieroglyphics The word hieroglyphics is Greek. “Hiero” means “holy” and “glyphics” means “marks” or “writings” – so the word means “holy writing”. The Egyptians believed there was great power in a name. If someone’s name was remembered then he or she would survive in the afterlife. That’s why you will find pharaohs’ names written in hieroglyphics in their tombs. Over 5,000 years ago Egyptians began to form a written language from their spoken one. They began by drawing pictures that represented words. As their need to write more and more increased, the pictures began to represent sounds as well. The sounds then formed to make their words. Egyptians used hieroglyphs both to write messages and to decorate their buildings. Most of the people in those



days did not know how to write. The common person was not educated and therefore not trained to write. The few people who were schooled in writing were known as scribes. The paper used to write on is called papyrus. It comes from the papyrus plant which was cut into strips and then woven into paper. The last known hieroglyphic message dates back to the year 394 AD. In 1822, a Frenchman studied the Rosetta Stone. The Rosetta Stone is a stone that has the same thing written in three different languages, Greek, and two Egyptian languages. The Frenchman understood the Greek message and was then able to figure out or decode the Egyptian languages from there. Did you know: The word “scribble” comes from the Latin verb Scribere, which means “to write.” The Alphabet: Hieroglyphic images are pictures that represent sounds. You can’t exactly match our alphabet to hieroglyphics, because they are two very different languages, but historians have come up with a simplified translation of our letters and Egyptian hieroglyphs.

A an Egyptian vulture B a foot C a basket with handle D a hand E a reed F a horned viper (an Egyptian snake) G a jar-stand H a reed shelter I a reed J a cobra K the basket with the handle again (because hard “C” is like “K”) L a lion M an owl N a zigzag symbol for water O a lasso P a square stool Q a symbol for the slope of a hill R a mouth S a piece of linen folded over T a bun U a quail chick (which stands for the sound “U”) V a horned viper W a quail chick X a basket and folded linen Y two reeds Z a door bolt CH a hobble KH a ball of string SH the rectangle (which is the symbol for land)



Opening the Tomb

This seal was actually a seal to King Tut’s fifth shrine. The king was buried in a series of four sarcophagi, which were in turn kept inside a series of five shrines. This unbroken seal stayed 3,245 years untouched. however because the tomb was located under an existing tomb and grave robbers never found it, it became one of the most valuable archaeological finds. Because of its lower position in the Valley of the Kings, the tomb’s entrance was sealed by rocks and mud from flooding and the location was lost until Carter’s discovery.

This famous tomb is one of the smallest in the Valley of the Kings, but it contained treasures which may have represented the most abundant hoard ever buried in the valley. The antechamber of King Tutankhamun's tomb is a gateway to each of the other rooms located inside the tomb. The room contained many of Tut's prized possessions that he used during his life on Earth. Howard Carter - the archaeologist who discovered the tomb in 1922 - described the room's contents as ""wonderful things"". When all was said and done, Carter and his colleagues uncovered, photographed, and recorded 700

items! A multitude of objects were found in the antechamber, among them were three spiritual animal couches, a fan, and some decomposing war chariots. The threecouches were made of wood, but like many other items inside, gilded in gold. They were in the shape of a hippopotamus, lion, and



a cow's head. It is very probable that the couches were used during the religious mummification processes and then placed inside. Next, a paper fan that depicted a scene of King Tut hunting many different animals. This suggests that the boy king enjoyed hunting for sport. Lastly, there was a pile of wooden wheels that once belonged to a noble war chariot. These wheels occupied much of the space in the antechamber. The Funerary Mask and Coffin

1) Tutankhamun’s first coffin was made of wood covered with a thin layer of shining beaten gold 2) The second wooden coffin was also covered with beaten gold and inlaid with brilliantly

colored glass. 3) The third coffin was made of solid gold 4) The kings’s wrapped mummy was decorated with gold bands, a gold mask and had hands of

sheet gold.



The royal mummy reposed in the innermost of three coffins, nested one within the other and shaped in the form of Osiris, Egyptian god of death. This was the most sumptuously wrought of the three. The cover of the coffin was made of gold (about a quarter ton of it), inlaid with enamel and semi-precious stones. It is 72 7/8” tall and weighs 250 pounds. The mask itself weighs 22 lbs. IT has colored inlays against polished gold surfaces depicting battle and hunting scenes which were traditional subjects of the era. The backgrounds are largely blank with only hieroglyphs filling the space. The most famous item from the tomb is the death mask. IT was made from two sheets of gold joined by hammering and inlaid with colored glass, carnelian, and lapis lazuli. 240 pounds (these days, that’d run you about $4 million, if you got a good deal

The burial chamber of King Tut is the grandest room within the entire tomb. This room was colored a vibrant yellow with paintings of Tutankhamun (King Tut) in various representations. The burial chamber encompassed a more sophisticated view in that it was not filled with hundreds of items such as the annex room, the treasury room, or the antechamber. The elegance of this room was made obvious through the reliefs on the wall and the large golden shine that encased two more shrines and



Tutankhamun’s sarcophagus. The little space that was left between the large blue and gold shrine and the tomb walls of the northern wall included boat ores and an Imiut Fetish (emblem of Anubis) positioned ever so neatly across. Though the chamber looked as if it housed very little items, the burial chamber inside the tomb had the most important and glorious treasure ever found within Egypt— Tutankhamun’s mummy, his solid gold coffin, and his death mask. Some of the Treasures

A gold gilded object is the shape of a leopard found within the intact KV62 tomb of king Tutankhamun. It bears the boy king’s cartouche atop its head. Cartouche Definition: a carved tablet or drawing representing a scroll with rolled-up ends, used ornamentally or bearing an inscription.

• • OR •

an oval or oblong enclosing a group of Egyptian hieroglyphs, typically representing the name and title of a monarch.

Fifteen rings, some with swivel bezels, were found on Tutankhamun's mummy, but only two were actually placed on his fingers; the remainder were bound in the linen wrappings, five over the right wrist and eight beside the left wrist. In addition, eight rings, which the ancient robbers had inadvertently left in the tomb wrapped in a piece of linen, were found in a gilded chest in the antechamber,



Golden Finger/Toe Stalls: wore by the deceased pharaoh as a way to protect them from mortality and decay. Gold never tarnishes, so it was used to represent the immortal flesh of the gods. (which is what the pharaoh’s believed themselves to be) Golden Sandals: The pair which were originally found on the body on King tut in his coffin. Written beneath the sandals would be a prayer for all pharaoh’s essentially saying “may he trample/walk over all enemies he may come across”

The small circumference of this bracelet suggests that it was made for Tutankhamun when he was a child. Nevertheless, it agrees very closely in size with the bracelets that were placed on the forearms of his mummy and were though by Carter to have been worn by the king in his lifetime. It was found in the cartouche-shaped box that contained several other objects, including the fine pair of earrings which also seem to have been personal possessions.

Made of wood and gilded or sheathed in sheets of gold, the chair is covered in intricate decoration - colored glass and semiprecious stones The chair in ancient Egypt was a device to distinguish the elite by physically raising them to a higher level than that of the peasants and slaves who squatted on the ground he King Tut Throne is actually made primarily of wood, not gold, though it is beautifully overlaid in sheet gold and silver, further adorned with semi-precious stones, glaze, and colored glass.



A pectoral neclacel belonging to Tutankhamun, representing his Prenomen. Pectoral scarab found in Tutankhamun's tomb. This would have been worn during life hung from a gold chain on his chest. Below the bar is a decorative lotus fringe but above the bar the decoration is hieroglyphs that spell out one of the Kings names so while we just see it as decoration, an ancient Egyptian would read it as a word. Winged scarab, uraei (fire-breathing cobras), sacred Eyes, Ankh-signs, and Lotus fringe; this pectoral is composed of TutAnkhAmon's Royal Name as "King of Upper and Lower Egypt":

Online Sources: https://discoveringegypt.com/egyptian-hieroglyphic-writing/egyptian-hieroglyphic-alphabet/ https://www.natgeokids.com/au/discover/history/egypt/hieroglyphics-uncovered/ http://www.touregypt.net/ http://kingtutone.com/tutankhamun/tomb/burial/

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