New Research Clay Artifacts Found in King Tut’s Tomb May Have Been Part of a Ritual Honoring the Egyptian God Osiris The four clay troughs were initially thought to have served as stands for gold-plated staffs. Now, a researcher has presented a new theory about their purpose Tutankhamun's burial mask is made of gold and precious stones. Mark Fischer via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY-SA 2.0 The ancient Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun was buried in a tomb filled with treasure. When Egyptologist Howard Carter discovered the chamber in 1922, he logged its contents: chariots, furniture, alabaster vessels, priceless coffins—and a few small trays made of clay. The four rectangular objects, each measuring about three inches long, sat atop reeds in a corner of the tomb. Carter concluded that they were stands which once propped up four gold-plated staffs. But more than a century later, a researcher has presented a new theory about the clay artifacts: They were part of a funerary ritual dedicated to Osiris, the ancient Egyptian god of the afterlife. According to a recent study by Nicholas Brown, an Egyptologist at Yale University, published in the Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, the “mud trays” in Tutankhamun’s tomb are actually too small to have served as bases for the large staffs. The researcher compared the trays to objects from other tombs in the Valley of the Kings—a site in central Egypt that holds the burials of many Egyptian pharaohs, including Tutankhamun, who ruled between roughly 1333 and 1323 B.C.E. “The whole burial chamber seems to be set up to recreate a funerary rite known from later times called ‘the Awakening of Osiris,’” Brown tells Live Science’s Owen Jarus. A depiction of Tutankhamun driving a chariot into battle Public domain via Wikimedia Commons According to ancient Egyptian religion, Osiris was killed by his brother Seth, but Osiris’ son Horus resurrected his father with a wave of his staff. Osiris became ruler of the afterlife. Egyptians believed that when someone died, they journeyed through the underworld to eventually be judged by Osiris. The four troughs and four staffs encircled Tutankhamun’s mummy, maybe meant to represent cardinal directions and “symbolically surround the deceased for protection,” Brown tells Live Science. The four golden staffs in the tomb may represent the staff of Horus, while the four clay trays may have actually held libations of water that were poured around Tutankhamun’s coffin in a “funerary rite likely associated with Osiris,” as Brown writes in the study. Some ancient Egyptian texts written on pyramid walls illustrate the importance of libations, which “are said to be fluid derived from the corpse of the deceased, or from the corpse of Osiris,” Brown writes. “These fluids are necessary in order to rejuvenate the decaying corpse and restore its life-giving fluid to the body.” “Iterations of this Awakening of Osiris ritual existed in early periods of Egyptian history,” as the researcher tells Artnet’s Richard Whiddington. “The whole burial chamber seems to be set up to recreate a funerary rite that combines these previous rituals and some new ones.” Paula Veiga, an Egyptologist at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich who wasn’t involved in the research but has studied Osiris, says she supports Brown’s findings. As she tells Live Science, the clay trays may have also held substances like ointments. The Egyptian gods were a significant part of Tutankhamun’s story. His father had rejected polytheism in favor of worshiping the sun, but when Tutankhamun took power at age 9, he reinstated polytheism as Egypt’s official religion. It makes sense, then, that his tomb would invoke the gods. Per Artnet,  Tutankhamun’s coffins are meant to resemble Osiris, and Brown interprets the four staffs as the tools used by Horus to revive Osiris. As Brown tells Artnet, “Tutankhamun and the officials acting on his behalf had the opportunity to adapt, alter and change royal funerary practice and bring back Osiris into the picture.” Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.