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Science has discovered that a dagger buried with King Tut was actually made from a meteorite. Josh King has the story (@abridgetoland). Buzz60
In this Saturday, Jan. 24, 2015 file photo, The gold mask of King Tutankhamun is seen in a glass case during a press tour, in the Egyptian Museum near Tahrir Square, Cairo.(Photo: Hassan Ammar, AP)
A dagger buried alongside King Tutankhamun was made with iron from a meteorite, according to research published in the journal<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Meteoritics & Planetary Science.
Using X-ray fluorescence, a team of researchers,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>led by<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Daniela<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Comelli of the Polytechnic University of Milan,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>analyzed the blade and found that it has a similar composition to metallic meteorites.
The dagger was one of two, discovered in 1925, beneath the wrappings surrounding King Tut’s body. The iron dagger, which had a gold sheath and handle, was found by King Tut’s right thigh. For years, archaeologists have debated whether or not the iron dagger was meteoric in origin, though the researchers note, previous analysis of the dagger provided controversial results.
USA TODAY
King Tut tomb theory suddenly in doubt
According to the study, early iron works are rarely found in ancient Egypt, suggesting that the Egyptians found the material hard to work with and typically reserved it for ceremonial tools and items.
The researchers note that the discovery provides further insight into ancient Egyptian descriptions of iron some 100 years after King Tut’s death, where the mineral is described as “iron of the sky.”<span style="color: Red;">*</span>
“The introduction of the new composite term suggests that the ancient Egyptians, in the wake of other ancient people of the Mediterranean area, were aware that these rare chunks of iron fell from the sky already in the 13th C. BCE, anticipating Western culture by more than two millennia,” the researchers concluded.
A dagger buried alongside King Tutankhamun was made out of a meteorite, according to new research.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Daniela Comelli/Polytechnic University of Milan)
Follow @MaryBowerman on Twitter.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>
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