Study of King Tutankhamen’s ‘Space Dagger’ reveals startling details
The space dagger -- made with meteorites’ rocks -- entombed with King Tutankhamen has always been an enigma for historians and archaeologists. Now a new study brings to the fore several interesting aspects about this captivating artefact says a report in sciencealert.com.
Using modern scientific tools like high-resolution photography and X-rays for analysis has unveiled the type of meteorite used to make the dagger and how it was made.
Interestingly, the research also suggested that the dagger may not have been made in Egypt and was gifted to King Tutankhamen or one of his ancestors.
Also read: Ancient Egyptians celebrated peace and prosperity of King Amenhotep III in grand style
Sharing details of the study, Tomoko Arai, Chiba Institute of Technology, Japan’s planetary scientist told Gizmodo: "To understand the manufacture and origin of the dagger, we conducted on-site non-contact, non-destructive two-dimensional chemical analysis for the dagger. We noticed a cross-hatched texture present in places for the both sides [of the dagger], suggesting Widmanstätten structure, typical of [an] octahedrite iron meteorite. That was our WOW moment."
The octahedrite iron meteorites are the most common type of iron meteorites.
It is only by using a relatively low temperature forging technique can this pattern be preserved. Experts feel that the object was cast at temperatures under 950 degrees Celsius. Any increase would have resulted in the disappearance of the pattern.
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