Trumpets of Tutankhamun

The military trumpets of Tutankhamun is one of three known examples of this instrument preserved from ancient Egypt. It was fashioned from metal sheets covered with gold.

The mouthpiece is in the shape of a cylindrical sleeve with a silver ring at the outer end, fixed to a tube. On the outside of the bell is a panel depicting the king wearing the Blue Khepresh Crown and holding the crook scepter “Heka”. He stands before a shrine containing the figure of the god Ptah in the form of a mummy.

The inscription reads, “The Great One, Ptah, south-of-his-wall, Lord of Truth, Creator of all that the king receives, Life from Amun-Re, King of all Gods. He who rests his other hand on the king’s shoulders, behind the falcon-headed god, Ra-Horakhty, the good god, Lord of Gold”. All the figures are shown standing under the hieroglyphic sign for heaven and the baseline symbolizes the earth.

The trumpets, one of sterling silver and one of bronze or copper, are considered to be the oldest operational trumpets in the world, and the only known surviving examples from ancient Egypt.

“Ebony and ivory from Nubia and a jewel of Libyan desert glass show the range of Egypt’s trading and diplomatic networks. Shaving equipment and board games provide a window into the everyday lives of the people. And perhaps most poignant of all the objects in the tomb is one that conjures up a lost world of human experience: Tutankhamun’s silver trumpet.”

— Tutankhamun’s Trumpet, by Toby Wilkinson

New Kingdom, late 18th Dynasty, reign of Tutankhamun, ca. 1332-1323 BC. From the Tomb of Tutankhamun (KV62), Valley of the Kings, West Thebes. Now in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. JE 6200