Rev. Bob Boyd
*Rev. Bob Boyd can be contacted at 1712 Academy St., Scranton, PA 18504
King Tut’s Innermost Solid Gold Coffin
Over six feet long and one-eighth inch thick, this coffin weighs over five hundred pounds! The face portrays the young pharaoh as he was in life. The whip and crook he holds – like a scepter – are symbols of his authority.
BSP 1:2 (Spring 1988) p. 13
Archaeologist Howard Carter, on November 26, 1922, made the momentous discovery of the tomb of Tut-ankh-Amun in the Valley of the Kings. This Pharaoh had lived and died shortly after the Exodus. Inside his tomb, located 500 miles south of Cairo, were discovered some of the “riches of Egypt.”
Kings had their tombs hewn inside rock mountains. The longer they lived, the more rooms were hewn. Their religious beliefs taught them to prepare for eternity, so personal belongings were stored in these rooms to have and use in the hereafter. Inside Tut’s tomb, one coffin alone was made of solid gold, weighing 2000 pounds, and his mummified body was bedecked with 143 gold and jeweled ornaments. The current value of gold is $425 an ounce. So by today’s standard, Tut was buried in a $13,000,000 coffin!
Gold and precious stone jewelry, gold-overlaid furniture, gold statues, etc., found in the tomb by Carter are priceless. Someone has estimated that today his personal belongings would be valued close to $100,000,000. Keep in mind that this is just the riches of one Pharaoh, and a minor one at that. Counting them all, the wealth of the kings alone would run into the billions. No one need take my word for these remarks about the riches of Egypt. The discovery of Tut-ankh-Amun’s wealth is an established fact, and the finds are in the Cairo Museum.
Hebrews 11:26 speaks of the “riches of Egypt” in relation to Moses. It states that Moses esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt. How could he have had these riches?
The Bible tells us that as a babe he was hidden because of Pharaoh’s death threat to all male infants. Pharaoh’s daughter found him and took him to the palace to raise him. He was schooled in all the wisdom and sciences of the Egyptians and was in the royal family for 40 years (Exodus 2:1–10; Acts 7:17–23a).
The daughter who found him, believed by some to be Hatshepsut, became queen, and was known as the “Female King.” Having no legal heirs to the throne, she wanted Moses to be called the “son of Pharaoh’s daughter.” If Moses had accepted, he could have been a Pharaoh, become an Egyptian deity, and inherited the “riches of Egypt.” He refused, cast his lot with God’s people, turned away from the pleasures of sin for a season, feared not the wrath of the king, and kept his eyes on Him who is invisible (Hebrews 11:23–27).
This is a challenge for us today when so many have made material things their god. We may never acquire the “riches of Egypt,” but far better to “seek first the kingdom of God,” and let Him add what is necessary. Maybe Moses did not know the passage as we do, but he knew that it would profit him nothing if he “gained the whole
BSP 1:2 (Spring 1988) p. 14
world and lost his own soul” (Mark 8:36). He cared not what others said about his stand for the Lord; his great desire was to be numbered among those who were linked to the Living God and who kept their eyes on Him. Moses taught us that it takes courage to stand up and be counted, but also that it takes more courage to keep standing after one has been counted.
Model Funeral Boat Made of Alabaster
This stylistic model boat probably was intended for King Tut’s pilgrimage in the after-life. Two attendants would be available at all times.
BSP 1:2 (Spring 1988) p. 15