Skip to main content

Iron dagger found in King Tut's tomb is made from a meteorite




An iron dagger found in King Tut’s tomb in Egypt in the 1920s was long thought to be made from a meteorite – and now it’s confirmed. The article published in the Meteoritics & Planetary Science journal also suggests that the Egyptians knew where the metal came from, referring to it as ‘iron of the sky.’

Scientists previously claimed that an iron dagger, and a gold blade, in King Tutankhamun’s tomb may have come from meteorites. Researchers from Italy and the Egyptian Museum of Cairo have used x-ray fluorescence spectrometry to accurately determine that the dagger consisted of iron, nickel, and cobalt that matches the components of known meteors. Therefore they can confirm that the iron dagger found in King Tut’s tomb is of meteoritic origin.

The researchers say that this ‘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 century BCE, anticipating Western culture by more than two millennia.’ It also adds more light on the spread of iron metallurgy in different early civilizations.

The sporadic use of iron has been reported in the Eastern Mediterranean region from the late Neolithic period to the Bronze Age. Despite the rare existence of smelted iron, it was generally assumed that early iron objects were produced from meteoritic iron. Nevertheless the methods of working with the metal and its use were contentious due to the lack of evidence.

Since its discovery in 1925, the meteoritic origin of the iron dagger blade from the sarcophagus of the ancient Egyptian King Tutankhamun (14th century BCE) has been the subject of debate. Previous analyses produced controversial results.

The Italian researchers show that the composition of the blade is iron with 11% nickel and 1% cobalt. It was accurately determined using portable x-ray flourescence spectrometry. In agreement with recent results of the metallographic analysis of ancient iron artefacts from Gerzeh, this study confirms that ancient Egyptians attributed great value to meteoritic iron for the production of precious objects. Moreover, the high manufacturing quality of Tutankhamun’s dagger blade, in comparison with other simple-shaped meteoritic iron artefacts, suggests a significant mastery of ironworking in Tutankhamun’s time.

The team of researchers from the Milan Polytechnic, the University of Pisa, the Egyptian Museum of Cairo, XGLab in Milan, the Fayooum University, the Institute of Photography and Nanotechnology in Milan, and the Torino Polytechnic were funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and the Egyptian Ministry of Scientific Research.




Comelli, D., D'orazio, M., Folco, L., El-Halwagy, M., Frizzi, T., Alberti, R., Capogrosso, V., Elnaggar, A., Hassan, H., Nevin, A., Porcelli, F., Rashed, M. G. and Valentini, G. (2016), The meteoritic origin of Tutankhamun's iron dagger blade. Meteoritics & Planetary Science. doi: 10.1111/maps.12664

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/06/02/africa/king-tut-dagger-meteorite/index.html

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/maps.12664/full



MARTINA NICOLLS is the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh  (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. ...
1 comment
Read more

Flaws in the Glass, a self-portrait by Patrick White: book review

The manuscript, Flaws in the Glass (1981), is Patrick Victor Martindale White’s autobiography. White, born in 1912 in England, migrated to Sydney, Australia, when he was six months old. For three years, at the age of 20, he studied French and German literature at King’s College at the University of Cambridge in England. Throughout his life, he published 12 novels. In 1957 he won the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award for Voss, published in 1956. In 1961, Riders in the Chariot became a best-seller, winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award. In 1973, he was the first Australian author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for The Eye of the Storm, despite many critics describing his works as ‘un-Australian’ and himself as ‘Australia’s most unreadable novelist.’ In 1979, The Twyborn Affair was short-listed for the Booker Prize, but he withdrew it from the competition to give younger writers the opportunity to win the award. His autobiography, Flaws in the Glass...
Post a Comment
Read more

Sister cities discussed: Canberra and Islamabad

Two months ago, in March 2015, Australia and Pakistan agreed to explore ways to deepen ties. The relationship between Australia and Pakistan has been strong for decades, and the two countries continue to keep dialogues open. The annual bilateral discussions were held in Australia in March to continue engagements on a wide range of matters of mutual interest. The Pakistan delegation discussed points of interest will include sports, agriculture, economic growth, trade, border protection, business, and education. The possible twinning of the cities of Canberra, the capital of Australia, and Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, were also on the agenda (i.e. called twin towns or sister cities). Sister City relationships are twinning arrangements that build friendships as well as government, business, culture, and community linkages. Canberra currently has international Sister City relationships with Beijing in China and Nara in Japan. One example of existing...
1 comment
Read more