"And gold; everywhere, the glint of gold."

Such was Howard Carter's impression upon gazing into the first of four small chambers, each flooded by a cataclysm of furniture, jewelry, clothing, provisions ranging from beef to gaming boards for leisurely sustenance, and funerary goods, all of it gleaming with paint, inlays, and gilding. Tutankhaten/amun owes his fame to this posthumous bounty. Yet, not all of that which accompanied him to the next life or that brought him such noteriety in this one was in fact his. The collection that is Tutankhamun's treasure owes much to the circumstances of his life, the very same nuances which may or may not have contributed to his early death. He was the last son of the glorious XVIIIth Dynasty, the only surviving son of the Aten; his passing presented a somber opportunity to glean the royal coffers for those items pertaining to his ancestors and the Amarna epoch, both of which would be displaced by the following dynasty. The unexpected nature of his demise also meant that little or no funerary equipment had been pre-prepared. While artisians hurriedly concocted what masterpieces they could, older burial goods unused by his predecessors were pressed into reinscribed service to make up the difference. Some of the changes are obvious; others are so crafty as to be all but undetectable, leading to speculation about pieces whose originality should not even be called into question. Tutankhamun's inheritance is thus composed not only of sentimentality, necessity, and haste, but also glittering with golden question marks whose first winks in Carter's candle-light were mischievious hints of the inquiries to come.

The Second Gilt Shrine

This shrine was one of the four surrounding the king's yellow quartzite sarcophagus and, like its kin, consists of gessoed and gilt wood. Upon examination, Howard Carter noted changes in the cartouches suggestive of re-use from the Amarna Period. Arguing against this conclusion is the fact that the shrine's decorations are not executed in the Amarna style.

The Second Coffin

While not composed of solid gold like Tutankhamun's third coffin, the second is by far the most elaborate, it's exquisite design quite similar to that of the despondent coffin from KV55. Unlike the third and first coffins, the face of this one differs markedly from all known portraits of Tutankhamun and may therefore have been usurped from a predecessor. The coffin may have once belonged to Akhenaten--his ungainly features toned down for the sake of eternity--or his co-regent Neferneferuaten, or even the ephemereal Smenkhkare.

Canopic Chest & Coffinettes

Four golden coffinettes--each only 39 cm high--held the viscera of the king and were themselves contained within a calcite canopic chest complete with four human-headed stoppers. It has been shown that the cartouches inside the cofinettes once bore the name Ankhkheperure, the prenomen of Akhenaten's co-regent Neferneferuaten. As with the gilt countenance of the second coffin, the facial features of the coffinettes and canopic stoppers do not resemble those of Tutankhamun as rendered elsewhere. Indeed, the practically identical decoration of the coffinettes and the second coffin may be evidence that they were intended to be a matching set.

Gold Mummy Bands

Straps of gold with inlaid text ran vertically and horizontally over Tutankhamun's bandaged body and were meant to hold the mummy wrappings in place, if only visually. Carter observed that some of the straps had initially been made to fit a smaller mummy, alterations then being made to accommidate the somewhat larger body of Tutankhamun. It is possible that the bands' craftsmen simply mismeasured the intended subject, but given the second-hand nature of many of the tomb's contents, it is equally likely that the bands were at one time destined for someone other than Tutankhamun.

Mummy Trappings

This trio of straps further complimented the mummy bands and other jewelry bedecking the royal mummy's outermost surface. The backside of the straps bear the remains of religious texts interspersed with defaced cartouches. Despite the damage, the original name can be read as that of Tutankhamun's predecessor Neferneferuaten.

Ushabtis

It was a prerequisite that a royal burial be equipped with enough ushabtis, or servant figures, to insure their master's freedom from toil in the afterlife. Given Tutankhamun's unexpected and youthful death, the necessity of acquiring so many shabtis leads to an obvious and understandable need for reuse and usurpation. Some of the cruder figures made of stone or faience or examples of haste and show no signs of having been altered. A number of the more elaborate figures of carved and partially gilt wood, while exquisite pieces executed with care, exhibit physiological peculiarities when compared to the ushabtis made especially for--and thus portraying--Tutankhamun. Some have a more square jawline than is normal for Tutankhamun, or a slightly gaunter face and longer chin more appropriate to Akhenaten or one of his purported co-regents. Others have low hips and prominent breasts that indicate a feminine identity even after considering the gender ambiguity often found in Amarna art. Perhaps these ushabtis belonged originally to Nefertiti or one of Akhenaten's many daughters, for whom burial goods of any sort are sorely lacking.

The Golden Throne

Where some pieces were subject to only the most basic alterations, others were all but completely re-outfitted to better suit them to their new roles and/or owner. Tutankhamun's golden throne would seem to be a prime example. Nicholas Reeves has voiced the belief that the throne was first commissioned for Akhenaten and then later heavily altered for the sake of his son; if true, then this piece is one of the few to have had adjustments prior to Tutankhamun's funeral. Several alterations are inarguable: Tutankhamun and Ankhesenamun's crowns both cut into the rays of the Aten shining above, a transgression hitherto never seen, and were thus later additions; Ankhesenamun's wig has been reduced in size at the back, leaving the ribbons of her fillet dangling unattached behind a tell-tale seam of gold where once there was blue glass (alternately, the wig may have replaced a headress such as the khat, supporting those who would have Ankhesenamun's image as Nefertiti's under her daughter's name); and exactly half of the cartouches have been reinscribed to read 'Tutankhamun' and 'Ankhesenamun', with the remainder still retaining the 'aten' element. Whether the throne was initially Akhenaten's is debatable. If so, then the figures of the king and queen have also been changed at least in part to those of Tutankhamun and Ankhes. Tutankhamun's face lacks the incised lines running from the nostrils to the corners of the mouth that are an integral feature of Akhenaten's portraits even where the more refined Amarna style is used. It is difficult to say just what about the queen's face makes it that of Ankhes. The queen of the throne does not thrust her chin proudly forward to leave her jawline perfectly horizontal and her neck diaganol, as is Nefertiti's habit; nor does she lift her face upward, like the secondary queen Kiya, whose rounder chin and petite, button nose are absent here. If not Ankhesenamun's countenance originally, it is hers now.

*Chart information courtesy of: Reeves, Nicholas. The Complete Tutankhamun. London: Thames & Hudson Ltd., 1990.