"The artifact, discovered in the Myers Collection at Eton College in the UK, depicts the young king drinking from a white lotus cup while wearing a blue crown with a cobra on it, a wide necklace, bracelets, armbands and a detailed pleated kilt. Mike Tritsch, a PhD student in Egyptology at Yale University, released his interpretation this month, noting artifact was not just decoration, but was effectively a tool of control."
"His research showed that the necklace, known as a broad collar, was a calculated royal gift meant to 'cement loyalty,' enabling powerful officials to wear a symbol that broadcast their dependence on the king. Imagery of rebirth, fertility and divine blessing was also identified, suggesting the collar was likely a subtle reminder of who held real power, and a way for Tutankhamun's court to bind its elites through religion, prestige and obligation."
A fragment of an ancient broad collar depicting King Tutankhamun drinking from a white lotus cup was identified in the Myers Collection at Eton College and labeled ECM 1887. The depiction includes a blue crown with a cobra, a wide necklace, bracelets, armbands and a pleated kilt. Iconographic comparisons with imagery from tombs of high-ranking officials, carved stone slabs and a small golden shrine and throne from Tutankhamun's tomb interpret the necklace as a calculated royal gift to cement loyalty. Imagery of rebirth, fertility and divine blessing signals cultic functions that ennoble, rejuvenate and sometimes deify the wearer. Such collars were likely distributed at elite banquets as both royal endorsement and divine approval, reinforcing Egypt's strict social hierarchy.
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