Tutankhamun's Funeral at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
By STAN PARCHIN
February 23, 2010
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| Egyptian, New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, Amarna Period (ca. 1336-1327 B.C.). Head of Tutankhamun. Limestone (indurated). H. 15.2 cm (6 in.); D. 23 cm (9.1 in.). The Metropolitan Museum of Art. |
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| Egyptian, New Kingdom, Late Dynasty 18 (ca. 1327-1295 B.C.). Stela of Userhat and His Wife Nefertari. Limestone. H. 42.5 cm (16.7 in.); W. 48 cm (18.9 in.). From Thebes. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. |
New York's
Metropolitan Museum of Art presents the special exhibition
Tutankhamun's Funeral from March 16 to September 6, 2010. The installation features 60 objects used in the mummification and religious rituals associated with the boy-king's burial. Most of the artifacts are derived from the museum's permanent collection.
In 1908, American lawyer and archaeologist Theodore Davis (1837-1915) discovered some 12 large storage jars while excavating in Egypt's Valley of the Kings. Their contents included: broken pottery; bags of
natron, a powdered chemical used in the
mummification process; pouches of sawdust; floral collars; animal bones; bandages; and pieces of linen marked from regnal years 6 and 8 of
Pharaoh Tutankhamun (r. 1336-1327 B.C.). Six of the vessels and much of what they contained, lids and bowls were given to the museum in 1909.
Curator Herbert Winlock (1884-1950), the museum's field director of its Egyptian excavations, realized that the natron and linens were the embalming refuse from Tutankhamun's mummification. Having suggested that the animal bones, pottery and collars might have come from a funeral meal, Winlock provided a valuable clue that led to the 1922 discovery of the adolescent ruler's tomb by Howard Carter (1874-1939).
In-depth botanical analysis of the well-preserved floral collars found in Tutankhamun's burial indicates that the plants used in their fabrication flower in Egypt between late February and mid-March. Mummification took some 70 days to complete, making the adolescent pharaoh's month of death either December or January.
The museum's installation is greatly enhanced by the presence of a limestone
Head of Tutankhamun (ca. 1336-1327 B.C.) and several facsimile paintings depicting ancient Egyptian funerary rites. Archival photographs taken by Harry Burton (1879-1940) during the excavation of the pharaoh's modest and unfinished
tomb round out the presentation.
Sources
Allen, Susan J. Tutankhamun's Tomb: The Thrill of Discovery (Photographs by Harry Burton) (exh. cat.). New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2006.
Hawass, Zahi. Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs (exh. cat.). Washington, D.C.: National Geographic, 2005.
Malek, Jaromir. Tutankhamun: The Story of Egyptology's Greatest Discovery. London: André Deutsch, 2009.
Reeves, Nicholas. The Complete Tutankhamun: The King, The Tomb, The Royal Treasure. New York: Thames & Hudson, 1995.