Sandals
Photographer Harry Burton British
Not on view
Tutankhamun's famous sandals of gold sheet (see TAA 599) were created specifically for the burial; it would have been impossible to walk in them. The metal shoes had been put on his feet before his body was wrapped. They were removed together with the gold finger and toe stalls when Tutankhamun's mummy was unwrapped in 1925. Such procedures were common at the time but are no longer practiced.
The gold sandals' shape mimics that of footwear used in life, many examples of which were deposited in the pharaoh's tomb as well (as documented here). Made of plant material, this type of shoe was placed in the tombs of nonroyals as well.
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