Linen Gloves of Tutankhamun

The linen gloves of king Tutankhamun is the same as a modern gloves. A glove would be in the shape of the hand and have five fingers like this one, or two fingers like another one that was found belonging to the same king in his tomb.

The tiny gloves were among the clues that first led archeologists to suspect that Tutankhamun ascended the throne as a mere child.

Most probably, gloves in ancient Egypt were not used to keep the hands warm, as in cold countries, but were worn for horse riding, so were made of linen and not of wool.

Linen was the national textile in ancient Egypt and the figures for the flax harvest were shown on the tomb’s walls beside those for the wheat harvest.

One of the king’s riding gloves was made from three pieces of material to give more room for the fingers, a technique that wasn’t patented in the United States until 1945.

The statues, jewels, gold and household items such as folded chairs and pillows say little about his life. The serene face of his solid gold mask, in the Cairo Museum, is still his most identifiable legacy.

From the Tomb of Tutankhamun (KV62), Valley of the Kings, West Thebes. Now in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. JE 62671