"Scientists discover the mystery of King Tutankhamun's dagger" secrets and mysteries you did not know

Archaeologists have finally been able to solve the mystery surrounding a dagger belonging to King Tutankhamun 3,400 years ago.

According to the British newspaper The Sun, a new analysis of the weapon discovered in the tomb of the pharaoh in 1922 revealed that it was made outside Egypt, which supports a previous theory that this dagger was gifted to the grandfather of King Tutankhamun from abroad.

In 2016, scientists determined that the chemical composition of the 13-inch dagger showed it was expertly crafted from iron ore, but analysis by a team at Chiba Institute of Technology in Japan revealed that it was likely made outside of Egypt.

The researchers described their investigation earlier this month in the Journal of Meteoritics and Planetary Sciences, confirming that they had conducted x-ray analyzes of the dagger in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, and the results showed that the handle, made of gold, was apparently made using an adhesive known as lime plaster.

They emphasized that this material was not used in Egypt until much later, but was used by craftsmen in other parts of the world at that time. The analyzes indicated that the artifact was made using a low-temperature technique and was heated to less than 950 degrees Celsius (1,742 degrees Fahrenheit), and they comment that "it hints of its foreign origin, possibly from Mitanni, or from Anatolia." This prediction is in line with ancient Egyptian records claiming that an iron dagger with a golden handle was gifted from the Mitanni king to Amenhotep III, Tutankhamun's grandfather, implying that the boy king inherited the dagger because it was passed down through the family.

The artifact dates back to the 14th century BC and was found in the casing surrounding the right thigh of the mummy of King Tut. It features a golden handle decorated with a circular rock-crystal handle. It was wrapped in a golden sheath decorated with a pattern of lilies, feathers and a jackal's head.

Iron coins were rare and considered more valuable than gold during the Bronze Age and were mostly decorative. This may be because the Egyptians found iron difficult to work with because the metal required very high heat to forge.

It is noteworthy that King Tutankhamun is one of the most famous pharaohs of ancient Egypt, and he ruled Egypt for more than 3000 years from 1332 to 1323 BC, and was known as the "boy king" when he was only 10 years old when he took the throne.

When he became king, he married his half-sister Ankhsen Batten, but he died at the age of 19 in mysterious circumstances, as some believe that he was assassinated, while others believe that his death was an accident.

The boy pharaoh was famous for the supposed curse that haunts his grave. After the tomb was discovered in 1922, the archaeologists who discovered it, and even their family members, died of horrific diseases or in strange accidents, and some say the deaths were not coincidental.