14/03/2025
What first comes to mind when you think of Ancient Egypt? Pyramids, mummies, countless royal treasures? Of the numerous artifacts left behind by the ancient civilization, one artifact in particular which captured great attention worldwide is the golden mask of Tutankhamun, also known as King Tut. Long shrouded in mystery, recent studies have come to make new discoveries about the mysteries behind the golden mask. Here at Riken Keiki, we are proud to have contributed to these new discoveries with one of our very own technologies.
Despite the extremely well-conserved state of Tutankhamun’s tomb, approximately 3000 years of damage and deterioration have caused most of the artifacts contained within to become extremely fragile.
At the time of the tomb’s discovery some 100 years ago, analytical equipment was too primitive for the material analysis of its contents.
While later developments such as non-contact analytical equipment made the material analysis of many artifacts possible, at the time of its development such equipment was typically too large to transport to the archaeological site.
This created a problem: it was not possible to analyze materials that could not be removed or transported to the equipment’s location.
The solution to this problem was a new piece of non-contact analytical equipment from Riken Keiki.
Material Analysis of the Golden Mask
In June 2006 and February 2007, a research team led by Professor Masayuki Uda of Waseda University carried out an investigation of the material composition of the golden mask of Tutankhamun.
For their research, the team used Riken Keiki’s DF-01 portable X-ray diffractometer.
This study revealed what materials were used to make the golden part of the mask and even discovered a new man-made color known as Tutankhamun blue.
The part of the mask which appears to be made of gold is in fact not pure gold (24K) but rather consists of a base of sheets of slightly less pure gold containing trace amounts of copper (23K) coated with a thin layer (approximately 30mm) of 18K and 22K metal alloy powder.
「DF-01」DF-01 X-Ray Diffractometer
Our DF-01 X-ray diffractometer works using X-ray diffraction (XRD). This technology utilizes a phenomenon known as diffraction, which occurs when X-rays directed toward a material are scattered by electrons surrounding the atoms and then interfered with by the periodic arrangement of the atoms, enhancing the X-rays in specific directions.
Riken Keiki is a gas detector manufacturer, but as you can see, we are also proud to use our advanced technologies to make important contributions to society far beyond the field of gas monitoring, such as those made using our DF-01 X-ray diffractometer.
Here at Riken Keiki, we have ample experience developing gas sensors and more for our products in-house. This experience has allowed us to put the many theoretical principles learned to use in developing composition analysis equipment.