Tutankhamun's Meteoric Iron Dagger

Tutankhamun's meteoric iron dagger, also known as Tutankhamun's iron dagger and King Tut's dagger, is an iron-bladed dagger from the tomb of the ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun. The nickel content in the bulk metal of most iron meteorites ranges from 5% to 35%, whereas it never exceeds 4% in historical iron artifacts from terrestrial ores produced before the 19th century. No Egyptian archaeological evidence exists of iron smelting until the 6th century BC. The earliest known example of the use of metallic iron in Egypt dates to approximately 3400 BC. This corresponds to the prehistoric time before Egypt became a single state ruled by a pharaoh. In the 1980s strong doubts developed after suggestions from archaeo-metallurgists that some early examples of nickel rich iron were produced by the use of terrestrial nickel rich iron ores. The results indicated the beads' micro-structures and composition were consistent with that of an iron meteorite that had been worked into a small thin sheet and bent into a tube-shaped bead. Hence, "For the first time using modern technology researchers recorded conclusive proof that the earliest known use of iron by Egyptians was from a meteorite." These blades are also intricately linked to iron and stars, being described in temple inventories as composed of iron and were themselves frequently referred to as the stars. Only further analytical testing can confirm if all of these artifacts are made from meteorite iron but they do appear to suggest that iron was a material used to indicate high status at the time of Tutankhamun's death in approximately 1327 BC. See also[edit] References[edit] Further reading[edit].