Artifact: Chest Plate

Tutankhamun is popular for a reason; the artifacts found in his tomb are just darned wicked. This skilfully crafted chest plate was one of those recovered items and shows the young king seated with a crook over one shoulder, handing an ankh (the ancient Egyptian symbol for life) to a winged blue goddess.

The piece is made from beaten and moulded metals, mostly gold, with semi-precious stones inlayed. Above the scene are cartouches containing the king's name, (not Tutankhamun, but one of his other five royal titles: Nebkheperure, which is rather a mouthful). Finally, over it all sit mirrored hieiroglyphs of a reed and bee which create the word Nesu-bity, used to describe a king as ruler of both Upper and Lower Egypt.

It's a rather smashing piece certainly telling of the Egyptians' formidable stone and metalworking prowess. You can download it as a wallpaper/background from Jimzip.com by right-clicking here.

Enjoy!

Jimzip