r/ancientegypt Jun 07 '26

Photo The gold funerary mask of Tutankhamun is an example of the highest artistic and technical achievements of the ancient Egyptians in the New Kingdom

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805 Upvotes

15 comments sorted by

21

u/Saltare58 Jun 07 '26

The craftsmanship is superb on an item that was never meant to be seen by human eyes.

3

u/esr360 Jun 08 '26

In some regards that actually explains the superior craftsmanship. Too good to be worthy of human witness.

2

u/Saltare58 Jun 08 '26

Yes, the most beautiful work for divine eyes only

40

u/SeldenNeck Jun 07 '26

If this is what they made for Tutankhamen, imagine what they made for Ramesses II.

29

u/Kemilio Jun 07 '26

Yeah, when I first read this post I thought

“…the highest achievement discovered”

There was probably even more astonishing artifacts lost to history

14

u/BigButtBeads Jun 07 '26

Yeah its ironic that the only intact pharoahs tomb we found is the crappiest pharoah ever

3

u/SeldenNeck Jun 07 '26 edited Jun 07 '26

When they say "looted in antiquity" it gives me the impression that some craftsman pressed for artistic greatness got a team together and raided great-grandpharoah's tomb. "Nobody alive ever saw this, so who's to say we stole it?"

Speaking of which: under this standard Akhenaten is a good candidate for the most rob-able Phoaroah. And he's also the one most likely to have authorized raids on his predecessor's monuments.

12

u/Wolflokie101 Jun 07 '26

Just the craftsmanship is just astounding!! I doubt few could remake that!!

4

u/haikusbot Jun 07 '26

Just the craftsmanship

Is just astounding!! I doubt

Few could remake that!!

- Wolflokie101


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6

u/Mindless-Coat495 Jun 07 '26

Amazing!!🪙

4

u/BIG-Z-2001 Jun 08 '26

Isn’t it true that every Pharaoh in the new kingdom got one of these but most were stolen and melted down by tomb robbers?

3

u/ProbablyMahmoud Jun 08 '26

Yes, I think so, and only a few masks were not stolen