King Tut's Burial Mask Has Been "Irreversibly Damaged"

Define irony:

King Tut sits virtually undisturbed for thousands of years.

That is until someone got the bright idea to dig him up.

Put him on display.

Charging admission fees to the world can 'share'.

And the museum essentially broke him.

King Tut was better off buried.

Priceless imo.

I agree that it is a bummer that it was damaged and poorly repaired. Perhaps we should think for a moment about what has happened at that museum since the overthrow of the the Egyptian government. My understanding is that the entire museum staff was let go or run off. The new rulers wanted their people in positions of power. Here is the result.

Fools get jobs they shouldn't have as a result of a change in politics. Artifacts get damaged or simply disappear. It has been going on as long as there have been people digging up and displaying treasures.

originally posted by: diggindirt
I agree that it is a bummer that it was damaged and poorly repaired. Perhaps we should think for a moment about what has happened at that museum since the overthrow of the the Egyptian government. My understanding is that the entire museum staff was let go or run off. The new rulers wanted their people in positions of power. Here is the result.

Fools get jobs they shouldn't have as a result of a change in politics. Artifacts get damaged or simply disappear. It has been going on as long as there have been people digging up and displaying treasures.

Pretty good assessment...ya wanna bet it wouldn't have happened on Zahi's watch.

originally posted by: Chrisfishenstein

originally posted by: bastion
How is using epoxy trying? They caused more damage than the original accident.

It's a burial mask of one of the most important people and periods in human history - if you can't see why that is something worth looking after then more fool you.

WHY? I was waiting for this to come up!

Why is King Tut "one of the most important people in human history"? Oh, because he was the youngest? What has he done that makes him so important to us? You probably can't even say how long he ruled without looking it up online first....EXPLAIN this garbage and why his stupid effing burial mask is important to our society/culture...Please

Yet, you think the Shroud of Turin, which has never been verified as having actual contact with a possibly mythical human being, is more worthwhile?

tut,....tut,tut


for a "boy king" that's certainly
an impressive beardy looking thing !


and the moral of the story is..
don't go shaving without bandaids ,

epoxy is messy stuff !

a reply to: Chrisfishenstein

If you can't see how being ruler of the biggest civilisation at the time is an influential position then you never will.

Go back to TV and leave culture to the adults.

a reply to: hounddoghowlie

Your post disagrees with itself.

If he was a nobody, why all the artifacts.

If you're against artifacts being preserved, then why acknowledge or celebrate the fact that having artifacts allows us to find out more about people and ancient civilisations? How would we have any of this knowledge unless it was preserved?

Egypt is highly nepotist, people's relatives obtaining all sorts of high official positions with zero relevant training and experience. I don't think any sinister motive was behind this because it damages Egypt the most. Highly likely the curators and upper management of this museum don't belong there but were pointed by some corrupt official. Reading about Hosni Mubarek right now and my mind is blown how corrupt Egyptian institutions have been traditionally.

a reply to: bastion

If he was a nobody, why all the artifacts.

tradition, you do realize that Tut wasn't the one running the country then don't you. most scholars think it was his Vizier Ay and a general named Horemheb who both became pharaohs after Tut that were the real power behind his throne. it' is thought by many that Ay had the old gods restored to curry favor with the priests and others that had been driven to worshiped them in secret. another reason why this is thought to have been, was the poor economy and turmoil that egypt was in after his fathers death. it is known that Tut worshiped Aten the sun disk god only when he first came to the the throne, it wasn't until he was 11 or 12 that the old gods were brought back and the capitol city moved back to Thebes, and the city his father built abandoned. this is also when he changed his name from Tutankhaten, which means l the living Image of Aten, to Tutankhamun which means the living Image of Amun, thus abandoning his father change to the sun disk god.

many scholars ask why would a boy of 11 or 12 who was raised by his father to believe that he was the image of a single god who he worshiped, change his name and do away with his fathers dictates, if he was the one making the decisions. Ay seems to be the answer.

being that during his so called "reign" seeing how the old ways were returned he was buried in the traditional manner, the way they did it before his father, which very little doubt at least in my mind and many others that Ay probably ordered it seeing how he was one of the powers behind the throne and he took the throne after Tut. Ay was only pharaoh for four years and then Horemheb became king. he set out to remove all of Tut and all of his family from the historical record, by having Tut's father akhenaten, stepmother nefertiti, his wife ankhesenamun, half sisters and other family members names and images destroyed, names chiseled out of cartouche or destroyed. very few reliefs or images if any thing were left.

in fact if i recall correctly, the only reason carter knew about Tut was he found a reference to him in another tomb, KV55 if i recall correctly by a man named ayrton who was working for a man named davis, that's how carter knew of him. in fact many say that KV55 is Tut's father akhetaten
also if you look carefully and search for you will see that most all say that Tut had very little claim to fame other than his tomb. and was lost to time until carter dug him up. if fact the huts of another pharaoh were built over his tomb if he was famous and remembered they would have never done that.

if you doubt any of what i said do a search and you will find that out for yourself.

If you're against artifacts being preserved, then why acknowledge or celebrate the fact that having artifacts allows us to find out more about people and ancient civilisations? How would we have any of this knowledge unless it was preserved?

apparently you have not read or even applied comprehension skills to my posts.go back and read them. i said saving artifacts is a good thing and i'm all for it. what i'm against is the cult like following of doing it, and the crying, pissing and moaning about it, when accident happens, or when someone does a poor job at repairs as this has been shown to be the case.

also i have stated that the knowledge learned from archeology / egyptology has very little use for our lives today other than just knowing, it doesn't feed people, it doesn't solve energy problems, it doesn't stop wars, it doesn't help with medicine the list goes on and on. about the only thing that we may benefit from it is engineering, and from the examples of what people come up with about the way they moved things is all but impractical in today's world.

if just half the time,effort and money spent on digging up the past, had been spent on the problems of here and now, and all the intellect that has been wasted applied to benefiting man now just imagine where we could be.

show me one find of the past that has helped man to better the life that they we have today. well i just thought about, there could have been benefits found in medicine, but big pharma has more than likely hidden them from the public view and has used it for their on money grubbing.




ETA: just to lighten the thread, thought many would enjoy this.


i wanted to post the SNL video, can't find any thing good on you tube, and just 30 sec portions.
here is a photobucket video.
Steve Martin King Tut SNL

originally posted by: hounddoghowlie
also i have stated that the knowledge learned from archeology / egyptology has very little use for our lives today other than just knowing, it doesn't feed people, it doesn't solve energy problems, it doesn't stop wars, it doesn't help with medicine the list goes on and on. about the only thing that we may benefit from it is engineering, and from the examples of what people come up with about the way they moved things is all but impractical in today's world.

What a very sad world you live in, where Art, Culture and the Human Adventure must be justified by a business case.

a reply to: JohnnyCanuck

Aye!

Many business families have risen and fallen to the dirt whilst Art, Culture and history have outlived them all.

Ironically, it's the fall of dynasties that makes history so colourful and interesting for those who want to avoid repeating mistakes.

You know what really bugs me? All those rovers on Mars, leaving their tracks, drilling holes in the rocks, and generally fouling the pristine ground with a lot of human marks and destruction.

The fact is, time eventually destroys everything, and the difference between a bad restoration and a good one is that you can more easily detect the bad one. But it's still a restoration. Hey, even brushing the dust of the tomb off an object is a kind of restoration, no?

Don't want to necessarily sound like a Buddhist here, but material things have no real value. The only thing that has any value in the end is an idea. Understanding. It's fun to look at something pretty and shiny. But hopefully its true value would go beyond that.

originally posted by: JohnnyCanuck

originally posted by: hounddoghowlie
also i have stated that the knowledge learned from archeology / egyptology has very little use for our lives today other than just knowing, it doesn't feed people, it doesn't solve energy problems, it doesn't stop wars, it doesn't help with medicine the list goes on and on. about the only thing that we may benefit from it is engineering, and from the examples of what people come up with about the way they moved things is all but impractical in today's world.

What a very sad world you live in, where Art, Culture and the Human Adventure must be justified by a business case.

actually my world is quite a happy place. i have the love of a good woman, our children, friends and family. we both work 5 days a week, taking care of the the necessary things that must be done first.

just because i think that the betterment of man should come first and don't fall down at the alter of the past, doesn't mean that i don't know anything about "Art, Culture and the Human Adventure" or enjoy it.

just because some people think that all things from the past should be studied and worshiped doesn't mean they should.
those are just secondary to living in the here and now.

a reply to: AdmireTheDistance

Don't worry, Tut wont ever find out.

Just thought I'd post some updated information that I just came across...

It turns out the beard was indeed put on crooked, in addition to everything else. The scratches on the face were not caused by the spatula they used trying to get the extra epoxy off, but by sandpaper they used once it had already dried.

Now for some good news: The five conservators responsible were removed from the museum on November 17th. Personally, I hope they do net end up in similar jobs elsewhere, as anybody who thinks using sandpaper on a priceless ancient artifact is a good idea, should not be allowed anywhere near ancient artifacts.

Finally, according to at least one restoration professional, the epoxy may be able to be removed and most of the damage reversed. They're not entirely sure, but they are setting up a panel of experts to weigh in on it and to perform any further restoration work that may be done.
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