Iron
Dagger
of Tutankhamun
A dagger with a blade of iron from the sky, found wrapped on the king's thigh.
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The story
Howard Carter's team found it in 1925, in the wrappings on the right thigh of the mummy. The iron blade sits in a gold sheath decorated with lilies, feathers and the head of a jackal, and the gold handle ends in a pommel of rock crystal.
In 2016 a study of the blade found about 11% nickel and 0.6% cobalt, which is in line with iron meteorites. In ancient Egypt, iron was rare and precious.
See it in GizaDetails
- Period
- New Kingdom, Dynasty 18
- Reign
- c. 1332 – 1323 BC
- Found
- In the wrappings, on the right thigh of the mummy
- Material
- Iron blade, gold handle and sheath, rock crystal pommel
- Displayed
- The Tutankhamun galleries
Made in the New Kingdom
The iron dagger comes from the tomb of Tutankhamun, who ruled in Dynasty 18 of the New Kingdom, about 1332 to 1323 BC.
- Predynastic
- Early Dynastic
- Old Kingdom
- Middle Kingdom
- New KingdomDynasty 18
- Late Period
- Ptolemaic
- Roman
Four more artifacts
Golden MaskSolid gold, inlaid with lapis lazuli and quartz.
Golden ThroneGilded wood, with the queen anointing the king.
Painted ChestBattle and hunt, painted in miniature.
Canopic ChestGuarded by four goddesses, it held the canopic jars.
3D model: “Tutankhamun's Meteoric Dagger 1323 BCE” by Tom_Bentkowski, licensed CC BY 4.0, from Sketchfab. The model was made by its author and may differ in small details from the museum object.