King Tutankhamun Mask

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The death mask of King Tutankhamun is one of the many treasures found in the resting place of this so called “boy king.”. It is one of the more astounding treasures found with the body of Tutankhamun. The mask is made of solid gold and weighs about 24 pounds. It’s one of the more extravagant cartonnage masks that has ever been found and is a symbol for how the Egyptian cared for their Pharaohs and their belief in the afterlife. The Egyptian’s believed that you had two bodies, a spiritual body and a physical body. They believed that you need both bodies in the afterlife, so in order to preserve the physical body the went through the process of mummification. This was a seventy-day process done to preserve the physical body so it could be used…show more content…
The body was spread with incense and wrapped in linens. The organs that were believed to be needed in the afterlife were placed in Canopic jars. After the body was wrapped they would put a cartonnage mask(death mask) on the wrapped body. The Egyptians believed that it was important for the soul to recognize the body in the afterlife so it could return to the body it went with. Because of this, death masks were made so the soul could recognize the deceased. The masks were made so that it somewhat resembled the former person. Depending the person's status the mask was made of different materials, such as wood for lower status, linen/papyrus soaked in plaster used for middle status, or for a higher status(Pharaoh), was made out of metal. But most commonly these masks were made up of cartonnage, a lightweight and cheap material made out of linen or papyrus in plaster. The masks were designed so that the face looked like the deceased, a wig or if a Pharaoh a headdress, collar, and wide-open eyes to show a sense of vitality and alertness as they go into the afterlife. The priest that performed the ceremony would also wear a masks that resembled Osiris, the god of the underworld, and Anubis, the god of
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