Tutankhamun's Tomb (Royal) Flashcards
Rooms in the Tomb
Passage
Antechamber
Annex
Burial Chamber
Treasury Room
How many objects in the entire tomb?
Approximately 5000 catalogued objects.
Antechamber
Main room of the chamber, leading to all the other rooms.
Seven hundred artefacts:
- Three animal couches (hippopotamus, lion, cow)
- Tutankhamun’s throne
- Chariots
- Life-sized statues of Tutankhamun in military wear
Lacks paintings or hieroglyphics (possibly not enough time since King Tut died young)
Disorder in the Annex
Two theories:
1. Robbers searched for only the valuable artefacts among the hundreds.
2. Necropolis guards hastily returned items after robbery and sealed off the room for protection.
Annex
Accessed through a small door behind one of the animal couches in the antechamber.
Considered a private room due to its lower value and practicality of artefacts.
280 artefacts.
Treasury
Significant artefacts:
- Portable shrine of Anubis
- Canopic jars guarded by goddesses Selket, Isis, Nepthys and Neith.
- 14 model boats, all pointing west
More religious significance than symbol of economic prosperity.
Burial Chamber
All walls covered in murals of Tutankhamun, but size and lack of intricacy indicates that construction was rushed.
More elegant than the other rooms as it was not filled with hundreds of items, rather only the sarcophagus and two shrines.
Northern Wall
Burial Chamber
Most famous mural depicting three scenes of Tutankhamun:
1. Tutankhamun in the form of Osiris during his Opening of the Mouth Ceremony, which was performed by Aye (his royal vizier).
2. Tutankhamun as a child being greeted by the goddess, Nut. who welcomes him into the afterlife.
3. Tutankhamun and his ka embracing Osiris, being accepted into the afterlife.
Eastern Wall
Burial Chamber
Tutankhamun’s body being carried to his tomb on a ship anchored to a sled and a canopy to protect the mummy. A large procession of mourners act as the procession, including high officials of both Upper and Lower Egypt.
Southern Wall
Burial Chamber
Damaged upon entering the chamber as Howard Carter had to chisel through it.
Unscathed half depicts Tutankhamun surrounded by Anubis and Hathor, both holding ankhs to symbolise his eternal afterlife.
Western Wall
Burial Chamber
Majority of the wall is paintings of 12 baboons to represent the 12-hour journey through the night and into the afterlife.
Upper-left corner: Two forms of Osiris on a boat, worshipping a scarab beetle that represent the sun god, Ra.
Upper-right corner: Forms of five gods, including Ma’at and Horus.
Howard Carter
British Egyptologist who headed the team that excavated the tomb in 1922.
