King Tutankhamuns dagger was 'made from a meteorite'

A new research has showed that an iron dagger buried with King Tutankhamun, one of ancient Egypt's most famous kings, was made from a meteorite.

Researchers from Italy and the Egyptian Museum have used X-ray fluorescence spectrometry to accurately find out what King Tut's knife was made of, according to an article published in the journal Meteoritics and Planetary Science.

They found its makeup of iron, nickel and cobalt matched other meteorites in a database, and "strongly suggests its meteoritic origin", CNN reported on Thursday

The authors said the Egyptians knew what they were using.

"We suggest that ancient Egyptian attributed great value to meteoritic iron for the production of fine ornamental or ceremonial objects," the article said.

The authors said their findings may explain why Egyptians in the 13 Century BC referred to a new hieroglyph that translates literally into "iron of the sky".

King Tut's mummified remains and the mysterious objects found in his tomb were discovered in the 1920s.

--IANS

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