King Tut's dagger--a blade of meteroritic iron

[David]

Originally Posted by Roland_M

The grave of King Tut was probably already opened in the classical antiquity period and some grave goods from other graves were added to King Tuts grave goods. With the aim, to prevent it from stealing. This would explain the total chaos in King Tuts grave. So it is possible, that the dagger was made long after King Tuts death.

I have never seen any information that confirms that items had been added to King Tut's tomb in these break-in, but most archeologists seem to believe that these break-in happened very soon after the initial sealing of the tomb. The general idea when the tombs of kings are broken into is to actually rob from the tomb, not add to it. What's more, this dagger was actually found not just inside the tomb, but inside Tut's sarcophagus. I am having a hard time imagining who might break into a king's tomb at a later date and plant a very valuable dagger not just in the tomb, but actually hidden inside the folds of fabric that the mummy was wrapped in. Occam Razor seems to suggest that the dagger was there from the very beginning.
"His tomb was robbed at least twice in antiquity, but based on the items taken (including perishable oils and perfumes) and the evidence of restoration of the tomb after the intrusions, it seems clear that these robberies took place within several months at most of the initial burial.

Eventually, the location of the tomb was lost because it had come to be buried by stone chips from subsequent tombs, either dumped there or washed there by floods. In the years that followed, some huts for workers were built over the tomb entrance, clearly without anyone's knowing what lay beneath. When at the end of the 20th Dynasty the Valley of the Kings burial sites were systematically dismantled, Tutankhamun's tomb was overlooked, presumably because knowledge of it had been lost, and his name may have been forgotten."

As to whether this dagger was made by the Egyptians or a gift from another civilization, it should be considered that the reason we are hearing about this now is because the latest XRF measurements have identified the make-up of the blade to be identical to the make-up of a meteorite found near the Kharga Oasis, not far from the tomb itself. I suppose it is possible that by coincidence a meteorite that fell in a distant land was the source material for this blade, but again, Occam's Razor would suggest that the likeliest answer is that the dagger was made near when that material was found.