January 6

6th Grade Egypt Project: King Tut's Death Mask. Glad this one is done....but we had fun making it! Hope he gets a good grade, you wouldn't believe how much money this cost to make!!

Thought I would share his report that goes with it. Hope you feel a bit smarter when you're done!

Egyptian Death Masks –by Connor Boyle

Death masks were an important part of ancient Egyptian society. They were part of the ritual that took place after a person died. The ancient Egyptians believed that death was just a step in the process of eternal life. The purpose of the death masks was to provide a face for the dead person in the afterlife. After a person died they would mummify the body. The death mask would then cover the face of mummies so that the spirit was able to recognize the body in the afterlife and it would give them a face in their eternal life. They also believed that the death masks would allow other spirits to recognize them. Death masks were made by creating a plaster cast of the dead person’s face and then they would make a copy in gold or some other material depending on the person’s status. Some masks were made of linen or papyrus and were then painted gold. After the cast was made it was painted to make it look like the actual person. Death masks were made for both men and women. They would use red paint to show it was a man and yellow to show it was a woman. The mask I made was of King Tut and it was made in gold because he was royalty. Royalty always had their death masks made of gold and they would be covered in gemstones. King Tut’s actual mask weighs 24 pounds and is 21” high. It has a cobra snake and a vulture on his forehead that represented Upper and Lower Egypt and they were believed to protect him. Death masks were an important way that the Egyptian people would show their religious beliefs about the afterlife.