Tutankhamun's Treasure - A Brief Guide for KS2 Students
Updated: Jun 20, 2023
When Howard Carter first discovered Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922 he unlocked around 5000 stunning treasures that had been hidden underground for thousands of years. Here are a few of them:
Dagger:
Inside the burial wrappings of Tutankhamun himself, Carter found a pair of daggers. Both were stunning artefacts, but one of them was particularly unusual - the iron used to create the dagger contained a large percentage of nickel.
After many years of research, scientists have finally discovered where the iron from this dagger came from;
It came from a meteorite!
Mind blown!
Armour:
A 3000-year-old tunic of armour was discovered at Tutankhamun's tomb, made up of small leather 'scales' that interlocked (similar to those shown in the image) to protect the wearer's skin from enemy attacks.
This armour was originally thought to be ceremonial. It may have never even been worn by Tutankhamun himself.
But on closer inspection, damage on the edges of the leather scales implies that Tutankhamun not only wore it, but actually fought battles in it! Was Tutankhamun a Warrior King after all?
Senet:
Tutankhamun was buried with five game boards. He used these to play games of Senet, a popular game played in Ancient Egypt where two players race their pieces across the squares to the finish.
Poorer Egyptian people would play Senet by scratching a grid into the sand, but wealthy Egyptians often had a board made especially for the game (similar to the one in the photo).
Some game boards were even reversible, with a Senet board on one side and a game Egyptologists have called Twenty Squares on the other.
Packed Lunch
It's a long journey to the afterlife and it's important to take some food for the road. So Tutankhamun's embalmers made sure to prepare a packed lunch.
No, sadly this was not a packed lunch like we know it, with sandwiches and crisps. Tutankhamun's lunch included 48 boxes of mummified meats, such as duck and beef. The meats would be dried with salt, bandaged and covered in resins like human mummies. Yum.
A Tale of Two Thrones
One throne was not enough for Tutankhamun, this boy king required two thrones in the afterlife to rest his royal posterior! Also, just to point out, we're not saying that Tutankhamun had two bottoms and could sit on both thrones AT THE SAME TIME, as that would be silly.
Each throne is made from wood and is gold plated. The thrones are inlaid with ebony, ivory and precious stones. They are also exquisitely detailed; the back of the gold throne has a detailed image of Tutankhamun and his queen Ankhesenamun.
Boomerangs
No, your eyes aren't tricking you, boomerangs were found in Tutankhamun's burial chamber! In fact, boomerangs had been used by Egyptians for hunting since the Old Kingdom - hundreds of years before Tutankhamun was even born. Hunters would throw them at birds from the safety of their marsh boats.
Many boomerangs were found in the tomb - some which return when thrown and others that do not!
If you are a Primary School teacher then you'll definitely want Imagining History to bring their 'Ancient Egypt: A Time Travel Tour' Interactive workshop to your school.
Our Award-Winning sessions combine role-play, storytelling, demonstrations and drama and performance to bring history to life for your students.
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