• Spell 151 from the Book of the Dead for the West god Qebehsenuef was: o “I am your son, Osiris, I have come to be your protection. I have united your o bones for you, I have assembled your limbs for you. I have brought you your o heart, and placed it for you at its place in your body. I have strengthened your house after you, as you live, eternally.” King Tut, as previously mentioned, was crowned pharaoh at the age of ten after the death of his father, Akhenaten. He reigned with the help of his vizier, named Ay and perhaps his deceased father’s wife named Queen Nefertiti. (Queen Nefertiti is not known to have been Tut’s biological mother.) Since King Tut’s adolescent-to-adult reign was but a few short years, questions are raised about the quick construction of his tomb and the artifacts found within it, primarily the funerary mask. Due to circum- stances, it is believed that Tut had an unexpected, premature death. Consequently, one might question how the ancient Egyptians created such a beautiful mask in the likeness of King Tut with relatively no notice. A very plausible explanation is that King Tut’s entire funerary mask was not created at the same time, nor for King Tut at all! The mask is constructed of several separate pieces possibly from two of his predecessors, Akhenat- en, his father and Queen Nefertiti. Specifically there are pieces of two ears, a beard, a face, the vulture and cobra, frontpanel, back panel and collar. Without a doubt, the pieces were riveted, soldered and hammered togeth- er. Further examination of the mask reveals cartouches (name symbols), primarily of Queen Nefertiti which have been inscribed over by other symbols or covered by King Tut’s throne name. In addition, the ears appear to have holes for ear ornaments. Although it was known that prepubes- cent male royalty wore ear ornaments, King Tut dies after puberty; thus, he would not be still wearing earrings. Incidentally, two loose gold pieces were found on the mask which would have fit in the holes to give the ear holes a more dimpled, “skin closed over the hole” appearance rather than an indication of holes for earrings. The question can be asked: Why did King
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