King Tut’s dagger was made from a meteorite

New research shows that an iron dagger buried with King Tutankhamun was made from a meteorite. It even suggests the Egyptians knew what they were working with. Archaeologists and historians have been fascinated by King Tut’s mummified remains and the mysterious objects found in his tomb since their discovery in the 1920s.

But now, researchers from Italy and the Egyptian Museum used x-ray fluorescence spectrometry to accurately find out what King Tut’s knife was made of—its makeup of iron, nickel, and cobalt match other meteorites in a database, and “strongly suggests its meteoritic origin.” Researchers also say the Egyptians knew what they were using. Researchers suggest that ancient Egyptians attributed great value to meteoritic iron for the production of fine ornamental or ceremonial objects.