Tutankhamun was an Egyptian pharaoh who ruled from 1332 to 1323 BC. When he died at the age of 18, he was buried with his “space knife”, an iron weapon created by a meteorite. Now, a new study is coming out to offer more information about this knife. Through chemical analysis, high resolution photographs and X-rays, the type of meteorite used was found as well as its construction technique.
So it seems that the object was not made in Egypt, but probably reached Tutankhamun as a gift from elsewhere. The structure of elongated nickel-iron crystals is found in octahedral iron meteorites, the most common type of meteorite.
To understand the construction and origin of the knife, we performed a two-dimensional chemical analysis without contact and without damaging the knife. We observed a cross texture on both sides of the knife, indicating a Widmanstatten construction, common to octagonal iron meteorites. This was our “wow” moment.
In order to maintain this structure, the forging of the knife had to be done at relatively low temperatures not exceeding 950 degrees Celsius, otherwise the structure would disappear. In addition, the gems that decorated it were fastened with a kind of lime, a process that did not reach Egypt until much later in history.
The golden handle shows us the foreign origin of the knife, probably from Mitani in Anatolia, as indicated by one of the Amarna letters (collection of Egyptian diplomatic letters) which says that an iron knife with a golden handle was donated by the king of Mitani to Amenhotep Third, Tutankhamun’s grandfather.
The research was published in Meteoritics & Planetary Science.
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