Extraterrestrial Scarab Beetle
Interesting story from "The Times" about how scientists might have figured out where the glass came from that was used to contruct the scarab beetle found in Tutankhamun's tomb.
SCIENTISTS believe they have solved the mystery surrounding a piece of rare natural glass at the centre of an elaborate necklace found among the treasures of Tutankhamun, the boy pharaoh.They think a fragile meteorite broke up as it entered the atmosphere, producing a fireball with temperatures over 1,800C that turned the desert sand and rock into molten lava which became glass when it cooled.
This is of considerable interest - it is generally believed that the Ancient Egyptians did not have the technology to smelt iron until they learnt it - possibly from the Celts - so it is believed that they only had access to "meteoritic iron" before this period.
Amidst all of the gold of Tutankhamon's tomb, ONE object of precious iron was layed at his side...a dagger made of meteoric iron.Could this iron be from the same meteorite that made the natural glass? It certainly seems like more than a coincidence that two objects associated with meteor strikes appear in the tomb of the same Pharoah.
But the mystery does not end there - there is evidence to that the Ancient Egyptians has access to iron before the burial of Tutankhamun.
On Friday May 26th 1837, during the Vyse excavations at Giza, one of the excavators, J R Hill, found an iron plate embedded in the cement of an inner joint at the southern `Star Shaft' of the Kings Chamber.It was around 12 by 4 inches and 1/8th of an inch thick.
More interestingly it was deeply embedded in the masonry and had to be removed by blasting apart the outer two tiers of stones.
So what is the truth about the knowledge of metallurgy in Ancient Egypt? Enquiring minds want to know ....
Tags: archaeology, tutankhamun, egypt, meteoritic glass, meteoritic iron, forteana
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