When the tomb of Tutankhamun was discovered nearly 100 years ago in the Egyptian desert, the treasures found inside had an other-worldly quality to them that captured the global imagination.
But new research has discovered that one of the items found alongside the mummified remains of the young ancient Egyptian pharaoh really is from out of this world.
Analysis of a dagger, intricately decorated and encased within a golden sheath, has found the blade was made from iron from a meteorite.
An exquisitely decorated golden dagger found inside the sarcophagus of Tutankhamun has been found to have a blade made from iron that came from a meteorite. Researchers have discovered it has levels of cobalt, nickel and phosphorus that match the chemical composition of a meteorite found in Egypt in 2000
Researchers at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Milan Polytechnic and Pisa University, used x-ray scanning technology to examine the composition of the metal.
They found the remarkably well preserved blade, which had suffered little corrosion while buried with its owner, contained high levels of nickel, along with traces of cobalt and phosphorus.
The dagger was found inside the sarcophagus of Tutankhamun in 1925 (coffin pictured left). It was discovered lying next to the right thigh of the boy king’s mummified remains (pictured right)
Tutankhamun’s famous tomb (pictured from the outside) was first excavated in 1922. The many treasures that were removed from the ancient pharoahs burial place captured the world’s imagination and helped to fuel fascination with the ancient Egyptians
Ancient Egyptian royal archives from 1,400BC mention royal gifts of iron in the period immediately before Tutankhamun’s reign.
Tushratta, King of Mitanni – a kingdom in northern Syria and Anatolia – is reported to have sent iron objects to AmenH๏τep III, who is thought to be the grandfather of Tutankhamun.
Recently several small beads found in a tomb in Gerzeh in Egypt, thought to date from 3,200 BC in the early days of ancient Egypt’s history, were also found to be made of iron from meteorites.
The findings provide important insights into the use of the term ‘iron’ in relation to the sky in ancient texts found in Egypt and Mesopotamia, Dr Comelli and his team say.
Composite heiroglphic figures have been translated as meaning ‘iron of the sky’ and came into use in the 19th Dynasty in ancient Egypt, around 1,300BC, to mean all types of iron.
The researchers said: ‘the introduction of the new composite term suggests 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 century BC, anticipating Western culture by more than two millennia.’
The dagger reveals the sophisticated metal working skills that existed at the time of Tutankhamun. The researchers say the iron blade shows particular mastery compared to other iron objects from the time made using metal obtained from meteorites
The iron used to make the blade came from a meteorite called Kharga, which was found in 2000 on the Maras Matruh plateau in Egypt, 150 miles west of Alexandria (a similar iron meteorite found in Nangan China is pictured)
The dagger is one of the most highly valued items to have been retrieved from the tomb. Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall can be seen inspecting it at a recent exhibition in London
