King Tut's Chalice...

This, I think, is probably what Tutankhamun's so-called 'favorite mug' originally looked like, before it spent all those years in his tomb with him.

Back in the 1980s, I believe, there was a traveling exhibit of Treasures from Tutankhamun's Tomb which came to our Museum in the same complex here as our Planetarium, of which I've always been fond. So I took the tour and bought the glossy little book with lots of pretty pictures. And got blown away by this one....

As I turned the pages of that glossy booklet and came to this image of the 'mug' I caught my breath, and found myself saying to myself, "There you are!". Then I stopped myself, because obviously this was impossible. There's no way I could ever have been familiar with this object. It was bizarre! I thought, "Ray, you're really losing it this time, Kid!" And yet I had this extraordinary feeling that I had seen this before, and perhaps might even have helped to create it. It seemed instantly familiar to me. And no, Pascal, I'm NOT King Tut reincarnated. But I might have been an artisan of the royal court back then, maybe. One never knows.

In any case, when I read the description of this piece, it gets even more bizarre.
Around the rim of it, those hieroglyphs are in two parts. One part lists Tut's five royal and familial names, in flowery terms, as was their custom. The other part is a wish, or a blessing, or a prayer, and it goes like this:-

May you live millions of millions of years, you who love Thebes, sitting with your face to the north wind, your two eyes beholding happiness.

I looked at that, and said to myself "That's what it says, but that's not what it means."  Why not? Because: we don't take everything we write literally, and neither did they. So what it says is not exactly what it means. You have to understand the context and the times from which it came. So let's break it down and look at it...

Those budding blue lotuses forming the handles each have the God of Eternity sitting on top on a reed raft, holding a palm frond in each hand. The meaning of that is "Forever". Thebes in those days was the center of their culture and the heart of their academic institutions, a source of enlightenment. Sitting with your face to the north wind would mean you had your back to the 'red wind' from the south, meaning the sand storms, because the cooling breezes came off the sea to the north. Your two eyes beholding happiness meant just that: happiness.

So it was really expressing this, when 'boiled down' to its essence:-

May you live Forever,

Loving Enlightenment,

Overcoming Adversity,

And Enjoying Happiness.

And that's a wonderful wish or blessing or prayer for anyone, don't you think?

I colored and framed this little picture many years ago and had to dismantle that for this scanning, because the glass and frame  made it out-of-focus for the scanner, and I do like sharp scans. And I did want a copy for a desktop background, so I thought I'd annoy you with this little tale at the same time.

I hope it hasn't been too boring for you. 

Did I ever figure out where I saw the chalice before? No, I never have, nor am I likely to. But I do think it is a chalice rather than a common drinking mug. King Tutankhamun, in his role as Pharaoh would also automatically be the Chief High Priest of the principal Temple, and thus expected to participate in certain ceremonies at least a few times a year. This was likely his ceremonial chalice for use at those religious festivals.