Tutankhamun is one of the most famous pharaohs in ancient Egyptian history, he succeeded to the throne of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt at the age of 9, but when he was 19 years old, he suddenly died violently, so he also left a big question mark for the world. In 1922, tutankhamun's tomb was discovered by archaeologists, unearthing a gorgeous treasure, the gold mask, and a mysterious pattern under the gold mask, until many years later, when experts discovered that it was the earliest necklace. What kind of necklace is it? If you also want to know, the following Xiaobian will reveal the secret to you from scratch.
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Since the 18th century, Western archaeologists have been devoted to Tutankhamun's research, especially in the search for Tutankhamun's mausoleum, because as long as Tutankhamun's mausoleum is found, all the mysteries about him may be solved. However, Tutankhamun's tomb was not so easy to find until more than 200 years later, when it was discovered by a British archaeologist. The British archaeologist, Howard Carter, a pioneer in the study of ancient Egyptian historical archaeology, also spent more than 30 years of time and energy searching for Tutankhamun's mausoleum, and finally found the entrance to the suspected Tutankhamun mausoleum under a ruin in the Valley of the Kings in 1922.
After more than a month of cleaning, Howard Carter and a few assistants finally opened the entrance, and they smoothly entered the burial chamber along the narrow passage, amazed by the mountains of burial items in front of them, and determined the identity of the owner of the tomb according to the ancient Egyptian records, which was the tomb of Tutankhamun that the archaeology community had been looking for for more than 200 years. In the burial chamber, there are countless kinds of burial objects, ranging from gold thrones to small wine glasses and tea bowls, and there are exquisite frescoes depicting the life of Tutankhamun. Most crucially, there is also a well-preserved coffin in the burial chamber, and when Howard Carter opens it, he is greeted by a golden mask.
Howard Carter took out the mask, and below was the mummy of Tutankhamun that everyone was looking forward to. For the gold mask, it is undoubtedly the most exquisite burial item in the entire mausoleum, it is about 54.8 cm high, about 40.2 cm wide, weighs about 10.5 kg, and has never unearthed such a huge gold mask in previous archaeological discoveries. The entire gold mask is upright, decorated with condors and cobras on the forehead, symbolizing the unity of upper and lower Egypt, with a sapphire-encrusted beard at the chin and a ring of ornaments on the neck, consisting of a total of 12 gemstones, mainly red and blue, and a small number of cyan gemstones. Experts are also very curious, what is this neck decoration?
For a long time, Western archaeologists have disputed the neck decoration of the gold mask, and experts have also conducted in-depth research in order to find out its role. As more and more ancient Egyptian tombs have been found, experts have unearthed many gemstones from the tombs of other pharaohs, which are cyan, red, and brown, and all have traces of polishing, and some even have perforations in the middle. Experts collected these gemstones, strung the perforated ones together with thin threads, and the non-perforated ones were arranged in the same color, and eventually some wide collars were obtained, and similar wide collars were often found in the murals, so experts said that this was an ornament.
It should also be noted that the people who wore wide collars in ancient Egyptian frescoes were basically pharaohs and queens, so experts believe that wide collars are a kind of necklace, but also symbolize the supreme power and status. Therefore, the neck decoration of Tutankhamun's gold mask is also the necklace worn by Tutankhamun, and it is one of the first necklaces to be discovered, so it is also one of the earliest necklaces in ancient Egypt. Since then, more and more similar wide collar necklaces have been unearthed in ancient Egypt, and their materials are also diverse, ranging from precious stones to gold, as well as ordinary faience and turquoise, etc., all of which have become gorgeous necklace accessories under the skillful hands of the ancient Egyptians.
It is worth mentioning that the larger the size of this type of necklace, the greater the power and the higher the status. In the late ancient Egyptian dynasty, similar wide collar necklaces were also passed down from the pharaohs to the social elite, and both men and women, for example, some rich merchants made wide collars extremely exaggerated in order to show off their wealth, and some even covered the entire front chest and back, looking like a gorgeous dress, rather than a necklace. Experts said that the wide collar necklace of ancient Egypt has a history of more than 3,000 years, although it is still worn today, but it only appears on some grand occasions, or some fashion shows to show Egyptian history and culture, and in general life people like more lightweight necklaces.
The ancient Egyptian ancestors were intelligent, they had a unique aesthetic, and they also knew how to decorate themselves, so they invented a variety of wide collar necklaces, and also left a valuable cultural heritage for us. In addition to the wide collar necklace, ancient Egypt has many other treasures, all of which are worth our continuous research and exploration, and discover the charm of Egyptian culture.
Resources:
The Mysterious Ancient Egypt by [de] Sabrina Rachel, translated by Changjiang Children's Publishing House
Wenlan Hairun Studio Editor-in-Chief Wen Xiucai, this article is written by: Special History Writer: Liu Lijiang's