When archaeologists first glimpsed the gilded splendor of King Tutankhamun’s tomb, they never thought that one of the most fascinating artifacts didn’t originate in Egypt — or on Earth.
Tutankhamun ascended the throne at 9 and died at 19. While he may not have reigned long, he did wield an iron dagger that was (in the most literal sense) out of this world. It might have not looked like much compared to all the riches unearthed from his tomb, including a gold death mask that seems to gaze into the hereafter, but the blade of this dagger was actually carved from a meteorite that had previously fallen to Earth. The question is where that dagger was forged.
Never mind the origin of the asteroid that burned up in the atmosphere and sent a meteorite hurtling to Earth. Where the dagger itself came from is debatable, but the type of space rock it was made from might have now revealed something. Researcher Tomoko Arai of the Chiba Institute of Technology in Japan looked up close to find out what type of meteorite was used for such a weapon. She coauthored a study recently published in Meteoritics and Planetary Science.
