Tutankhamun's Inlaid Diadem
By STAN PARCHIN
May 3, 2010
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| Egyptian, New Kingdom, Dynasty 18 (ca. 1332-1323 B.C.). Inlaid Diadem. Gold, glass, obsidian and semiprecious stones. L. 19.9 cm; W. 17.5 cm. Thebes, Valley of the Kings, Tomb of Tutankhamun (KV 62). Egyptian Museum, Cairo. |
The mummy of Pharaoh Tutankhamun (r. 1332-1323 B.C.) was buried with 143 articles of jewelry. Ancient Egypt's royal artists succeeded in introducing remarkable ingenuity into the ornamental and functional works of personal adornment they produced for the boy-king. Their designs reflect the extensive degree to which the young ruler and his court repudiated the monotheistic heresy of the Aten or solar disk promulgated by his father Akhenaten (r. 1553-1336 B.C.). The symbolism of the monarch's Inlaid Diadem or crown (ca. 1332-1323 B.C.) in the special exhibition Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs demonstrates Egypt's reaffirmation of its traditional beliefs in the Post-Amarna Period.
Inlaid Diadem's Design
The principal feature of Tutankhamun's elegant Inlaid Diadem, placed on the subject's mummified head before his funeral, is a gold circlet. The handband is decorated with floral carnelian roundels (some of them modern replacements). Attached to the crown by rivets, they are set against a light and dark blue glass cloisonné-work background. A bow-knot tie formed out of two stylized flowers flanking a circle is reproduced at the diadem's back. The front edges of two gold hinged ribbons suspended from the headdress' left and right sides feature massive cobras.
The diadem's sold gold heads of a vulture and a uraeus (cobra), signifying sovereignty over Upper and Lower Egypt, are secured to the crown's front by tongues that fit into the elements' slots. The insignia's detachable nature suggests that they were used on more than one diadem. The vulture's eyes are made of obsidian. Inlaid lapis lazuli, faience, carnelian and glass embellish the uraeus' head and hood. The serpent's long curly body with chased scales is curved over the crown. Probably used during Tutankhamun's lifetime, his diadem could be placed over a variety of wigs. It closely resembles the crown worn by the boy-king in two scenes from the small Golden Shrine for a Statue discovered in the Antechamber of the pharaoh's tomb.
Insignia's Placement on the Mummy
The elaborate Inlaid Diadem's vulture head represents the goddess Nekhbet; the uraeus symbolizes the deity Wadjet. During Tutankhamun's interment, priests removed the protective insignia from the crown's brow so the royal headdress could fit and be concealed beneath the ruler's splendid Gold Mask that covered his mummy's head and shoulders. The vulture's head was placed over the king's right (southern) thigh; the serpent was positioned over his left (northern) thigh. Their arrangement perpetuated the duality of Upper and Lower Egypt. It also signified Tutankhamun's rule over the two regions unified by Narmer, the first pharaoh, in ca. 3100 B.C.
Sources
Edwards, I.E.S. Tutankhamun's Jewelry. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1976, 5-10.
_____. Treasures of Tutankhamun (exh. cat.). New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1976, 47, 116-119.
Hawass, Zahi. Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs (exh. cat.). Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 2005, 182-183, 274-275.