Guardian of the Tomb of Tutankhamun
2001 © Maxim Tabachnik
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Guardian of the Tomb of Tutankhamun

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A life-size wooden statue coated in black resin and gilding shows the king striding forward, holding a staff in one hand and a mace in the other. Produced around the time of Tutankhamun’s burial (c. 1323 BC), it once flanked the entrance to his tomb in Thebes. The black skin evokes regeneration, while the weapons mark him as a divine guardian protecting the pharaoh in the afterlife.