The golden throne

Six chairs and twelve stools were discovered within the tomb of King Tutankhamen. All are made of wood except for one made of papyrus. The golden throne of the king is considered to be one the magnificent examples which style was so popular for royal chairs of the 18th dynasty.

Discovery:

The golden throne was discovered wrapped in black linen in the antechamber beneath the hippopotamus couch.

Material:

It is a life-size throne that is carved of wood; the armchair is covered with gold leaf, and inlaid with different kinds of materials such as silver, colored glass, faience, calcite, and semi-precious stone.

Importance:

This chair is one of the rare items that date to the heresy of Aten. It is strongly believed that the throne was made during the early years of the king which were spent at Amarna owing to the main scene depicted at the back of the throne as well as the names of the king and the queen in which appears the name of Aten.

Description:

The scene:

It is decorated with a scene that starts with a frieze of serpents with solar discs on its head; they are inlaid with precious and semi precious stone and multi colored glass. The solar disc of Aten is to be seen in the middle while spreading its rays that ends with the anx sign of life near the nose trills of both the king as well as the queen in an indication of giving the breathe of life.

The king is depicted seated on his throne with his feet upon footstool. He is represented while wearing a hair wig with the uraes of royalty and protection at the forehead, the hair wig is surmounted with a composite crown, a broad collar is seen ornamenting the chest of the king who is also wearing as long pleated kilt that is completely made of silver.

In front of the king stands his wife anx s n pA itn who is shown wearing an elaborate hair wig with a diadem of uraes and a composite crown of solar disc with two feathers inserted between two horns, a broad collar is seen ornamenting the chest of the queen who wears also a long rope of silver. The queen leans forward touching gently the shoulders of the king as she anointing him from the unguent vessel seen on her hand. Behind the queen is her hair-dresser. The royal couple are shown wearing golden sandals. The king is represented with one of the pair while the queen with the other as the outer pairs of the sandal was broken or fell down during the evacuating clearing of the tomb. The whole scene is boarded with geometrical and floral motifs.

The armchair:

The armchairs taking the form of winged cobras wearing the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt (pA sxmti) which is made of silver and outstretching their wings enclosing the Sn sign of eternity and the nsw bity sign followed by the royal cartouches incised with names of the king resting upon the nbw sign. The cobra on the left hand side enclosing the royal cartouche with the birth name of the king that reads as Tutankhaten which confirms that the throne was made during the Amarna period whereas the cobra on the right hand side enveloping the coronation name of the king nb xprw ra.

The lions’ heads:

The throne is adorned with to heads of a lion which were made separately and then attached to the throne. Their eyes are inlaid; the white is of rock crystal whereas the pupil is of obsidian.

The existence of two lions supporting the seat “the lion throne” bring to our mind the iconography of horizon Axt, since it was guarded by two leonine forms representing god Sw and goddess tfnwt and from the horizon the sun used to rise and set, and with which the king was identified.

The corners:

The corners of the throne are decorated with two cobras; the one on the left wears the red crown of Lower Egypt whereas the one on the right wears the white crown of Upper Egypt.

The legs:

The four legs of the throne taking the form of feline hooves designate in hieroglyphs as wHm which means “to repeat, or to renew”. The feline hooves rest upon drums for support. The feline legs of the throne were connected to each other by an open word design of the smA tAwy motif, now missing.

The reverse side of the back:

The back of the chair is supported by three vertical columns; each incised with hieroglyphic inscriptions as follows:

The 1st column:

nTr nfr nb tAwj nb xprw ra sA ra tut anx itn mi ra Dt

The good god, lord of the two lands (Egypt), lord of the forms of Re, son of Re, the living image of Iten, like Re forever

The 2nd column:

nTr nfr nb tAwy nsw bity nb xprw ra Hmt nswt wrt anx s n pA itn ti anx Dt

The good god, lord of the two lands (Egypt), king of Upper and Lower Egypt, lord of the forms of Re, the great royal wife, Ankhesenpasten, given life forever.

The 3rd column:

Same as the 1st column.

Cobras:

Four cobras with solar discs rise up in pairs between the supporters. The solar discs placed above the heads of the cobras were given to it as a reward from god Re whose journey in the Netherworld was full of danger since he was attacked by evil spirits however he was protected by a serpent that carried him upon its back and crossed him safely to the eastern side.

Scene:

The back of the throne is carved with a gilded scene of birds in marches.      

There is a footstool which is constructed of heavy wood, gilded and inlaid with blue faience and yellow stone. Upon it, there is a representation for six enemies representing Asiatic enemies on the left side and Nubians on the right side. The representation of these enemies on the footstool was to show that the king has full control over his enemies as they were represented under his feet. On the sides of the stool there is a representation of the (rXyt) birds standing on the nb sign and in front of it is the star dwA which can be translated as all people adore the king; the (rXyt) means the people or commoners, nb means all and dwA means to adore.