Researchers claim Tutankhamun’s burial mask may have originally been made for a woman – but there is reason to doubt

Since the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt over 100 years ago, the contents have been examined countless times. But new details continue to surprise archaeologists.

Recently, a team at the University of York has been investigating the pierced ears of Tutankhamun’s burial mask. It’s a feature that, the team claims, was usually reserved for female or young royalty.

Tutankhamun was born in around 1341BC – an unusual time in Ancient Egyptian history. His father, the so-called heretic pharaoh Akhenaten and his stepmother, the famed Nefertiti, had been ruling from their new city in middle Egypt, Akhetaten (modern day Tell el-Amarna). There, they elevated the new state god, the sun god Aten, above all others.

The resulting changes to religious protocol meant that power was taken from the high-ranking priests of the supreme god Amun, along with the political control they were accustomed to having. After Akhenaten’s death, events are somewhat obscure, although many scholars believe that Nefertiti may have continued to rule in her own right.

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Tutankhamun became pharaoh at the age of nine, and died when he was around 18 or 19 years old. During his own rule, Tutankhamun took the court back to the traditional capital cities of Thebes and Memphis, and reinstated Amun and the priests. These changes mean that discussions and conclusions about the Amarna period (1353-1322BC) during which Tutankhamun and his father ruled are not straightforward.

Royal tomb equipment

Tutankhamun’s resting place in the Valley of the Kings is relatively small. This has led to speculation that it was originally meant for a noble, queen or a princess.

The long-held belief that Tutankhamun died suddenly and had to be buried in a hurry has informed most of the ideas around his tomb and equipment. It’s also been taken to explain why so much material from other royals and nobles was reused.

However, Aidan Dodson, a professor of Eqyptology and author of several books on the Amarna period, makes a slightly different argument. Akhenaten’s successor, Pharaoh Neferneferuaten (who was most likely his wife, Nefertiti), never received a kingly burial. So, it’s likely that her material was repurposed for Tutankhamun very early in his reign. This would mean his burial equipment was already essentially completed by his early death, rather than put together in a hurry.

Tutankhamun’s actual tomb, however, was probably still incomplete, meaning that he was probably given an existing tomb that had been intended for a noble or lesser royalty.

The reuse of tomb equipment was common in this period, including coffins and burial vaults, so this in itself is not unusual. In 2015, Egyptologist Nicholas Reeves argued that these objects probably included the king’s gold burial mask. This is based on the fact that the mask is made of two parts.

Now, the University of York team are suggesting that the mask’s original face was removed and replaced, but the “female” ears left intact.

What are the implications?

The University of York team is not the first to propose that the pierced ears on Tutankhamun’s mask are significant.

The original burial place of Nefertiti has still not been discovered, although a mummy which may be the queen has been. In 2015, Reeves proposed that Nefertiti’s burial place lies behind a wall of Tutankhamun’s tomb. But remote-sensing investigations have since debunked these claims.

As far as the question of the mask being repurposed, an analysis in 2015 by the metal conservator Christian Eckmann demonstrated that, while it was indeed made in two parts, this was actually the normal way such masks were made. Eckmann found no trace of the face having been replaced.

The mummies of Tutankhamun and other kings still display pierced ears, so the representation of the piercings on such portraits as the gold mask should come as no surprise.

Therefore, I believe there is no real basis for the York team’s proposals, as far as the piercings or any significance for the history of the mask are concerned. Nevertheless, discussion of the mask’s features proves that over 100 years after Tutankhamun’s rediscovery, the afterlife of the young king continues to inspire the public imagination and scholarship.

Claire Isabella Gilmour does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.