utankhamun, little known of before the discovery of his tomb, died around his tenth regnal year at only seventeen or eighteen years of age. Much speculation has been made as to the cause of his death, though no one really knows. One theory is that his successor "Ay" who was his vizier and a soldier had him assassinated, becoming Pharaoh himself.

What we do know is that the mummification of the "Boy King" and his entombment was speedily carried out. Firstly not as much care was taken during the preservation process of the cadaver, secondly the coffins he was laid to rest in did not all represent the kings features, which leads Egyptologists to believe that the coffins were being prepared for someone else and were converted for their new occupant. He was placed inside three anthropoid coffins, the inner of which was 110 kilos of Solid Gold. Inside that lay his mummified remains with the famous "Mask" placed over his head and shoulders.

                          The Mask Of Tutankhamun

he mask itself is the clearest image we have of Tutankhamun’s features, though it represented him as the god Osiris. It is comprised of sheet gold, inlayed with lapis lazuli, carnelian, quartz, obsidian, turquoise and coloured glass. Weighing in excess of 11 kilos, he wears the "nemes" head-dress adorned with the "Nekhbet" and "Wadjet". [ The vulture and cobra, representing upper and lower Egypt.] The masks false beard attached to the chin, denotes his kingship. On the rear shoulder panels is inscribed texts from the "Book of the Dead"  which called on the gods of the under world to protect the body of Tutankhamun. This with the untimely death of the of several people working on the archaeological dig, including Lord Caernarfon who was the financier for the operation, lay the belief of a curse which had been placed upon any person desecrating the tomb or its contents.

After the work on the tomb and numerous scientific experiments were completed, Nbhprw- R^e Twt-^enh-₃mwn Hkw₃-íwn-wsm^e was finally laid to rest once again in his gold coffin within his tomb. The tomb is open for visitors at the discretion of the Egyptian Antiquities Service in the Valley of the Kings.

'Anubis' the Jackal

he original of which was carved in wood and covered in bitumen and inlaid with gold. It lay for thousands of years looking over the shrine of Tut-ankh-amun.

Size 42 x 31 cms

Nebkheprure Chest Pectoral

re-nomen Chest pectoral, cleverly designed to spell Neb-kheper-re in its image. As you will see in the titled prenomen hieroglyph to the left of the image. The pectoral itself was wrapped into the mummy bandages before burial

This was  produced using a new technique of gold overlay on a black background. You will also notice the gaps in the lapis lazuli as found in the actual artefact

Head section from the Ritual Couch No:73

he second gilded couch of the cow goddess was found in the Ante-Chamber within the tomb of Tutankhamun during the great discovery which started in 1922. 

Although constructed  of gilded wood, the  piece is highly decorated inlayed with trefoils fashioned in opaque blue glass. It is over 7 feet in length and almost 5 feet in height. The couches had to be dismantled to be removed from the tomb, but now reconstructed, can be viewed in the Cairo Museum of Antiquities.

The bust of Nefertiti

his famous bust of Nefertiti created by the sculptor Djehutymose over 3300 years ago, can be viewed in the Museum of West Berlin.

Nefertiti was the favoured wife of Akhenaten and bore him six daughters. 

One,  Ankhesenpaaten was later to become the wife of her half brother Tutankhaten, who later changed his name to the more well known Tutankhamun.

For the purposes of this portrait the figure has been completed, replacing the missing pieces for aesthetic value.