King Tutankhamun ruled Egypt from 1334 to 1325 B.C., during the Eighteenth Dynasty of the New Kingdom. He became king at the age of nine and ruled for nine years until his mysterious and untimely death. His predecessor was the infamous King Ankhenaten (Amenhotep IV), whose radical ideas changed the religion and art of Egypt. The changes in religion were but for a time, as King Tutankhamun reversed this, but the changes in art were forever. These ideas of a more naturalistic art are seen in the finds of King Tutankhamun's tomb.

An Egyptologist-Archaeologist named Howard Carter (Sponsored by the Earl of Carnarvon), who had been searching for over half his life was about to make the find of a lifetime. His life would never be the same again, nor the life of history or the art world. For on November 4, 1922 he unearthed a 16-step stone staircase. At the end of this staircase lay the treasure of a king. Let us hear in his own words the excitement of a life's dream realized.

This room he was peering into is known now as the antechamber, measuring 26 feet by 12 feet. This room alone held between six and seven hundred objects, from gold-plated chariots to the king's own throne. For seven weeks Mr. Carter toiled to meticulously remove all these precious objects from the antechamber, and his work was far from over.

To the left there was another sealed doorway, it led to the annexe, inside were more wonders to behold. There were jars of wine, oils and unguents, to chairs, boxes and stools.

To the right, the most magnificent of all was waiting, behind a sealed doorway, guarded by two carved wooden life-size effigies of the king. Breaking through the sealed doorway was a colossal chore, but all the toiling was worth its wait in gold, literally, for behind the stone wall was a glittering gilded wooden shrine that could take the breath away, upon its sides were inlaid panels of brilliant blue faience. It nearly filled the entire chamber, measuring 17 feet by 11 feet. Inside of this shrine were three more gilded wooden shrines. Opening the fourth shrine, the king's sarcophagus was located. It was an expertly carved red quartzite sarcophagus, under its lid lie a gilded anthropoid coffin with the image of the king in full regalia. Inside this coffin was another, almost an exact duplicate of the first. Opening the second coffin amazing as it is to even conceive, was found a third coffin weighing three hundred pounds of solid gold, inside was the mummy of the god-king himself, King Tutankhamun. Covering his head and chest was one of the world's artistic treasures, the polished gold funerary mask. Carter himself couldn't hold back the emotion of the experience.

"At such moments, the emotions evade verbal expression . . . Three thousand years and more have elapsed since men's eyes have gazed into that coffin. Time, measured by the brevity of human life, seems to lose its common perspective before a spectacle so vividly recalling the solemn religious rites of a vanished civilization."

The mask is solid gold, beaten and burnished, weighing 24 pounds and measuring 21by 15 inches. Perhaps slightly stylized, it is essentially a portrait of the king, immortality in solid glittering gold. The people of his time believed their sun god Ra. had a body of gold and hair of lapis lazuli. This is why the mask is gold and the king's eyelashes and eyebrows are inlaid lapis lazuli. On the head is the royal nemes headdress, its stripes are made of blue glass, as are the inlays of the false beard. A gold vulture's head rests upon the brow, symbolizing sovereignty over Upper Egypt, the beak is of a dark colored glass. At the vulture's side rears a golden cobra, symbolizing the sovereignty over Lower Egypt. Its head is dark blue faience. Its eyes are inlaid translucent quartz backed with a red pigment. Its hood is inlaid with carnelian, lapis lazuli, turquoise, colored glass and quartz. The king's eyelids, eyebrows and kohl marks are also of lapis lazuli. The eyes are of quartz and obsidian. The lobes of the ears are pierced for earrings. On the chest extending from shoulder to shoulder, is a broad elaborate collar encrusted with segments of lapis lazuli, quartz, and green feldspar with a lotus-bud border of colored-glass work. At each end of the collar is a terminal in the form of a falcon's head of gold encrusted with obsidian and colored glass. The intricacy of this pattern is proof of the fine craftsmanship of the times. The Egyptians did not work true gem stones. They did know and use what we call semi precious gems, and they used them with consummate skill. The inscription engraved on the shoulders and on the back of the mask is a spell that protects it and its wearer. It identifies its various parts with the corresponding physical members of different gods, addressing them individually.

"Greetings, perfect of face, the possessor of radiance, whom Ptah-Sokar has completed, whom Anubis has exalted, to whom Thoth has given the beautiful visage of the gods. Your right eye is the evening sun, your left eye is the morning sun, your eyebrows are those of the Ennead of the Gods, your forehead is that of Anubis, the nape of your neck is that of Horus, your locks of hair are those of Ptah-Soker. You are in front of the Osiris Tutankhamun, he sees thanks to you, you guide him to the goodly ways, you smite for him the confederates of Seth so that he may overthrow your enemies before the Ennead of the Gods in the great Castle of the Prince, which is in Heliopolis ....The Osiris, the King of Upper Egypt Nebkheperura, deceased, given life like Ra."

Gazing at this elegant masterpiece, one finds themselves transfixed. The imagination comes alive. The majesty and craftsmanship leave one gaping in awe. It is almost as if this wonderful work of art takes one back in time to a place of royal intrigue, pondering the thought of living in majestic royal luxury. This work of art teaches one that pieces of art are true time machines of the mind.

Off of the burial chamber was another room, now called the treasury. In this room Carter found a marvelous piece of art. He was struck by it, "Facing the doorway, on the farther side, stood the most beautiful monument that I have ever seen. So lovely that it made one gasp with wonder and admiration," this wonderful shrine has no comparison. This shrine-shaped chest was completely overlaid with gold, and surmounted by a cornice of sacred cobras. This shrine contained the canopic chest carved from a single block of alabaster. It had four cylindrical compartments to hold the canopic jars, which held the dead king's entrails. All four were miniature caskets of the kings anthropoid golden one. The most incredible part was not what was inside, but what was outside, surrounding this glittering shrine. On all four sides stood a four-foot tall freestanding tutelary goddess of the dead (Isis, Nephthys, Selket and Neith- the four protectors of the Four sons of Horus.) The four goddesses are distinguished only by their headdresses. They are gilded and so lifelike in appearance one may wait for them to move. Their arms are outstretched, embracing and guarding the precious contents of the shrine. The figures at front and back kept their gaze firmly fixed on their charge. The other two are even more an example of the realism as their faces are turned toward the entrance as if watching against surprise. Carter said of this remarkable shrine, "There is a simple grandeur about this monument that made an irresistible appeal to the imagination, and I am not ashamed to confess that it brought a lump to my throat." Also found in this room were a huge Anubis shrine, funerary images and model boats.

Today, the tomb's priceless artifacts fill several galleries in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo as examples of the cultural and artistic life of a bygone era. But the tomb itself has not been emptied of all its treasures. The boy king still lies in his sarcophagus in the tomb's burial chamber. Surrounding him is wondrous art. The walls of the chamber are covered with images and hieroglyphic texts of unusual proportions, colored in bright tones over a muted yellow background. Among the images can be seen depictions of King Tutankhamun being welcomed to the spirit world by Osiris. Such is the story of the tomb of King Tutankhamun, Ruler on high.

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