Gold mask of Psusennes I.

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gold mask of Psusennes I.
Golden Mask of Psusennes I.jpg
material Gold, glass flux, lapis lazuli
Dimensions H. 48 cm; W. 38 cm;
origin Tanis
time 21st Dynasty ( Third Intermediate Period , around 1075 to 652 BC)
place Cairo , Cairo Egyptian Museum , JE 85913

The gold mask of Psusennes I , also known as Psusennes I's death mask , comes from his grave in Tanis . Psusennes I was the 3rd ancient Egyptian king ( Pharaoh ) of the 21st Dynasty ( Third Intermediate Period ) and ruled from 1039 to 991 BC. The gold mask is with the inventory number JE 85913 in the exhibition in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo .

Find history

The grave of Psusennes I was discovered by Pierre Montet during his excavations in Tanis ( Lower Egypt ) in 1939 . In the grave marked no. 3, the king's burial chamber was untouched. Similar to Tutankhamun's grave , this contained extensive burial equipment , which included shabtis , canopic jugs and vessels made of gold and silver. In the second sarcophagus made of black granite was a coffin made of solid silver, in which the wrapped and poorly preserved mummy of the king with the golden death mask lay. The finds from the grave were transported to the museum in Cairo on March 7, 1940. The gold mask was only removed afterwards in order to be able to carry out further investigations.

Material and workmanship

The life-size mask Psusennes I is a masterpiece of ancient Egyptian goldsmithing. It consists of two parts of chased and polished gold sheet. The gold mask is held together on the inside by five bent gold nails. The rear part of the mask is made of thicker sheet of gold than the front. The few inlays are made of white and dark glass flux for the eyes, eyebrows and eye rims as well as lapis lazuli for the indicated band on the cheeks that hold the royal beard. The braided royal beard, rolled up at the end, is also attached to the mask with a small, bent gold nail.

The precious metal gold was "sun-like" in ancient Egypt and was considered the "flesh of the gods". Its property of not corroding or changing too massively like other metals made it an imperishable material that was equated with immortality and guaranteed the dead access to the underworld at the side of the gods.

The mask is very well preserved and shows only minor damage in the area of ​​the right eye and the fine lines on the cheeks.

Portrait of the king

As in many ancient Egyptian portraits, the king's youthful facial features are idealized and of perfect purity. Psusennes I wears the Nemes headscarf with the Uräus serpent , the goddess of Lower Egypt, Wadjet , on his forehead. Chest and shoulders are covered by a wide neck collar ( Wesech ). This has 12 suggested rows of pearls and three further and wider rows with motifs of drops, plants and flowers. The last row shows lotus flowers . Another royal attribute besides the cobra is the royal or ceremonial beard .

The death mask in comparison

Gold mask of Tutankhamun

The gold mask is a typical example of the artisans from Tanis, who “created work with technical perfection and balanced forms”. According to Henri Stierlin, the gold mask Psusennes I is definitely comparable to that of Tutankhamun, but according to Nicholas Reeves "it does not stand up to any comparison with regard to the materials used and the design".

literature

  • Alessia Amenta, Maria Sole Croce, Alessandro Bongioanni: Egyptian Museum Cairo (= National geographic art guide. National geographic). 2nd edition, National Geographic Germany, Hamburg 2006, ISBN 3-934385-81-8 , p. 422.
  • Silvia Enaudi in: Francesco Tiradritti, Araldo De Luca: The Treasury of Egypt - The famous collection of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Frederking & Thaler, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-89405-418-2 , p. 315.
  • Henri Stierlin: The gold of the pharaohs. Terrail, Paris 1993, ISBN 2-87939-075-3 , p. 143.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ To: Thomas Schneider : Lexicon of the Pharaohs. The ancient Egyptian kings from the early days to Roman rule. Artemis & Winkler, Düsseldorf / Zurich 1997, ISBN 3-7608-1102-7 , p. 319.
  2. ^ A b Nicholas Reeves: Fascination Egypt. Frederking & Thaler, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-89405-430-1 , p. 192.
  3. ↑ Silvia Enaudi in: Francesco Tiradritti, Araldo De Luca: The Treasury of Egypt - The famous collection of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Munich 2000, p. 315.
  4. ^ Henri Stierlin: The gold of the pharaohs. Paris 1993, p. 143.