Tutankhamun had a dagger made of iron that came to Earth on a meteorite, scientists find

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. For years, scholars have speculated about whether ancient Egyptians worked with “meteoritic iron”, because the existence of smelted iron was rare. The study might even explain a mysterious hieroglyphic term that translates into “iron of the sky”, which came into use around the 13th century BC. Tutankhamun mask breakage That seems to suggest that ancient Egyptians were aware that the chunks of iron had made their way to them from the sky – meaning that their understanding pre-dated that of Western culture by two thousand years. “As the only two valuable iron artefacts from ancient Egypt so far accurately analysed are of meteoritic origin, we suggest that ancient Egyptian attributed great value to meteoritic iron for the production of fine ornamental or ceremonial objects,” the researchers conclude.