No secret stays locked away forever, so the saying goes. And it may hold true for ancient secrets uncovered by researchers day by day. For instance, a recent scientific venture published in the journal of Meteoritics and Planetary Science reveals new data on an ancient Egyptian artifact that has hounded experts for decades. The story involves a King Tut’s dagger from the sky, a wedding gift to a king, and ancient crafting traditions.
In particular, the discovery revolves around the tomb of King Tut – a source of wonder and pop culture myth. Now, years later, the world is still discovering new stories out of the lives of ancient kings thousands of years after their rule.
Discoveries of the ancient world
King Tut, the boy king from ancient times, instantly became a hot topic among archeologists when his tomb was discovered years ago. Scientists found precious artifacts and other sacred objects resting on his royal tomb.
The items were not just everyday objects – they were of high value. In fact, they consisted of amulets, jewelry, musical instruments, board games, and more symbols of wealth and power. A rumored curse made the myth of the tomb even more popular. But apart from the hype around it, scientists also spotted a few other interesting things amid the rubble.
They found two daggers, one made of gold and one of iron. There is a catch, though. Humans had not developed iron-forging tech during the time yet. Because of this, the experts began to become skeptical of the material that made up King Tut’s dagger.
How was King Tut’s dagger made?
King Tut lived in the era of the Bronze Age, a time when artisans had yet to create ways to work with the high melting point of iron ore. Because of this, it was hard to access and use iron mineral deposits.
A study made in 2016 revealed that most of the items forged during this time were from meteorite material. Because of this, some think that the Ancient Egyptian dagger could be extraterrestrial. Further inquiry by Japanese scientists also revealed that the blade had traces of iron, nickel, manganese, and cobalt. However, traces of sulfur, chlorine, calcium, and zinc were also present in King Tut’s dagger.
A cross-hatched texture called the Widmanstatten is present on both sides of the dagger. Now, this pattern is only seen in meteorite chemical material from the Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter.
To check if their hunch was correct, Japanese researchers from the Chiba Institute cross-checked the material from King Tut’s dagger with an emperor’s katana blade. As it turns out, royalty during this time had more access to meteor material than we thought.
Upon closer inspection of the pattern, it was likely that King Tut’s dagger was forged at low heat, under 950 degrees Celsius.
A wedding gift
Instead of being a dagger forged for burial, the weapon turned out to be a wedding gift. In fact, a series of letters from the kingdom of Anatolia reveal that the item was a gift from the king of Mitanni to Pharoah Amenhotep the Third. The Amarna letters showed that the dagger might have been a wedding gift for the Pharaoh and the King’s daughter.
Studies first made the connection between the two daggers in 1999. Christine Lilyquist, a curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, proposed that the Amarna iron weapon and King Tut’s dagger were the same.
King Tut’s dagger value is still a source of pride for Egyptians today. In fact, like many artifacts of that time, King Tut’s dagger from space is currently on display at the Cairo Egyptian Museum. Clearly, there is still a lot the world does not know about the ancient world. Ancient Egypt and King Tut’s gold daggers may hold more secrets than we think.
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