Sandals of Tutankhamun: 3,300-year-old footwear that let King Tut walk all over his enemies

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Among the sandals discovered in Tut's tomb is a pair whose insoles were decorated with images of the boy king's enemies.

a pair of decorated wood-and-leather sandals on a grayish table
A pair of sandals depicting King Tut's enemies was found in his tomb. (Image credit: Khaled Desouki/Getty Images)
QUICK FACTS

Name: Sandals of Tutankhamun

What it is: A decorated pair of leather sandals

Where it is from: King Tut's tomb, Valley of the Kings, Egypt

When it was made: Circa 1330 B.C.

When British archaeologist Howard Carter and local Egyptians excavated the tomb of King Tutankhamun in 1922, they found thousands of artifacts buried with the young pharaoh. These sandals were one of the dozens of pairs of footwear that carried Tut to the afterlife, but the depiction of defeated enemies on their insoles makes them unique.

The sandals were made of wood and covered with a veneer of bark, green leather and pieces of gold foil on top of a layer of white paint. In the arch area of each sandal, there are depictions of two people bound with lotus and papyrus. Each sandal also has eight bow weapons — four near the toes and four at the heel — as well as a strap in the shape of a bow. Together, these made up the Nine Bows, the collective symbol for the enemies of Egypt.

The sandals are on display in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. An information card notes that the bound captives refer to King Tut's power and that the Nine Bows are "situated so that the king's feet step on them, reifying the trampling of Egypt's enemies by the monarch."

When his mummy was discovered, Tut was found to be wearing gleaming gold sandals and gold toe covers. It is unknown, though, whether King Tut ever wore any of the sandals discovered in his tomb during his life or if they were made specifically for his afterlife attire.

For more stunning archaeological discoveries, check out our Astonishing Artifacts archives.

Kristina Killgrove
Kristina Killgrove
Staff writer

Kristina Killgrove is a staff writer at Live Science with a focus on archaeology and paleoanthropology news. Her articles have also appeared in venues such as Forbes, Smithsonian, and Mental Floss. Kristina holds a Ph.D. in biological anthropology and an M.A. in classical archaeology from the University of North Carolina, as well as a B.A. in Latin from the University of Virginia, and she was formerly a university professor and researcher. She has received awards from the Society for American Archaeology and the American Anthropological Association for her science writing.

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