The research team recently performed an X-ray scan on the iron dagger that
belonged to the Egyptian pharaoh, Tutankhamun. Researchers want to know how
the dagger from the meteorite was made. Tutankhamun's dagger has long been a
mystery.
The dagger was first discovered when archaeologists entered the burial
chamber of Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings in the 1920s.
They found a 30 cm long dagger among the luxuries of Tutankhamun's burial.
However, as quoted from Gizmodo, Saturday (19/2/2022) what made
archaeologists confused at that time was that the blade was made of iron.
While the Iron Age only began a century after his death.
This led researchers to believe that the material used to make the dagger
came from meteorite iron that fell to Earth and was forged later. But the
question is what type of meteorite was used and how was it forged?
"To understand the manufacture and origin of the dagger, we carried out a
non-contact and non-destructive two-dimensional chemical analysis of the
dagger," said Tomoko Arai, a researcher from the Chiba Institute of
Technology in Japan.
Researchers then mapped the elemental structure of the blade by shining
X-rays on it, revealing concentrations of iron, nickel, manganese and
cobalt. Meanwhile, in the black spots on the blades, they found sulfur,
chlorine, calcium, and zinc.
Researchers also managed to identify that the metal used came from a typical
octahedrite meteorite.
"The presence of patterns in Tutankhamun's weapon indicates that the dagger
was made of octahedrite, the largest group of iron meteorites," Arai
explained. The pattern on this ancient Egyptian dagger also reveals how it
was made, that is, it was forged at a relatively low heat, around less than
950 degrees Celsius.
"We found small black spots in several places on the surface. We thought it
was rust but it turned out to be iron sulfide which is a common inclusion in
iron octahedrite meteorites," Arai said.
Even so, chemical analysis could not give any clues about the origin of the
dagger.
It's just that when researchers looked at a series of 3,400 year old tablets
known as the Amarna Letters, there was mention of an iron dagger in a golden
sheath.
The dagger is said to have been a gift from the king of Anatolia to
Amenhotep III, Tutankhamun's grandfather.
So it could be, Tutankhamun's space dagger was a gift from a neighboring
country.
Moreover, the gemstone on the dagger's hilt was also attached with lime
plaster, which was commonly used in the Anotolia region but not popular in
Egypt.
Researchers say future research is needed to help confirm more about this
dagger.
The findings are published in Meteoritics & Planetary Science.
