The Mystery of Tutankhamun’s Meteoric Iron Dagger

In 1925, archaeologist Howard Carter unearthed an iron-bladed dagger in the 14th century BC King’s Valley tomb of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun. The dagger’s origins and construction quickly became a mystery.

Howard Carter examines the innermost coffin of Tutankhamun. Photo credit: By Exclusive to The Times — The New York Times photo archive, via their online store, here, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2948071

In 1925, archaeologist Howard Carter unearthed an iron-bladed dagger in the 14th century BC King’s Valley tomb of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun, which became known as Tutankhamun’s meteoric iron dagger. It is also known as King Tut’s dagger and King Tut’s iron dagger.

When British Egyptologist Howard Carter uncovered Tutankhamun’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings in southern Egypt in 1922, he discovered a curious, well-preserved iron dagger among the piled-up things inside. The dagger’s origins and construction quickly became a mystery, with its coarsely polished double-edged blade, gold-plated hilt, and conspicuous sinuous crack in the center.