Friday 3 February 2023

WHEN I WAS FORTUNATE TO SEE TUTANKHAMUN'S MUMMIFIED BODY & HIS DEATH MASK...

 Left Behind: The Crooked Boy



The famed steps dodged the eye, beneath a stairway

To the plain room

Where he lay

Linen-covered from slim ankles to desiccated neck.

Neat, a cadaver, poised for inspection.


The famed baboons’ glare eyed a stone sarcophagus

In an adjoining room,

Where he once lay

Hidden deep inside glorious boxes of gold.

Neat, so calm, poised for resurrection. 


The famed visage stirred my eye’s fascination

In a sultry room

Where he now reclined:

Feet uncovered, toes jutting from insteps,

Uneven, like cactuses, deformed on inspection.


The famed youth’s eyes belied their pain

In that quiet room,

Where emaciated, he reclined

And my tear for a legendary King

Trickled, in awe and consummate dejection…


Pete Ray



On seeing the mummified remains of the 

Pharaoh Tutankhamun. 



Wonderful moment… 



The Mask…



The boy stared,

Had lost his humanity

But dared betrayal

And yet he had long vanished…

His death-mask’s brilliance,

Stylised certainly,

Traumatised me nevertheless

And it was the beauty,

Stark, sleek and glistening

Which exuded a calm resilience…


Pete Ray


Tutankhamun’s wondrous mask in Cairo’s Museum…

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