Did you know there was a time when iron was more valuable than gold? You might wonder how that's possible, since iron is one of the most common elements on Earth and gold is not. The reason is because while it's possible to find a gold nugget, you'll never find an iron nugget. Iron must be extracted from ore, and for most of human history, we lacked the smelting technology to do that.

The Egyptians figured smelting out around the 8th Century BCE, according to Daniela Comelli, a professor of materials science at the Polytechnic University of Milan. So it makes no sense that when King Tutankhamun's 3,500-year-old tomb was cracked open, he was found buried with an iron dagger—about six centuries before the Egyptians knew how to make iron. Where'd they get the metal?

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From outer space, as it turns out. 

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Comelli and a team of researchers used a technique called X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy to analyze the dagger, and found "that the composition of the blade (Fe plus 10.8 wt% Ni and 0.58 wt% Co), accurately determined through portable x-ray fluorescence spectrometry, strongly supports its meteoritic origin."

The research team have published their findings in science journal Meteoritics & Planetary Science, in an article called "The meteoritic origin of Tutankhamun's iron dagger blade." As they write:

...Our study confirms that ancient Egyptians attributed great value to meteoritic iron for the production of precious objects. Moreover, the high manufacturing quality of Tutankhamun's dagger blade, in comparison with other simple-shaped meteoritic iron artifacts, suggests a significant mastery of ironworking in Tutankhamun's time.

The team have also linked their research to a 13-Century BCE hieroglyphic, "literally translated as 'iron of the sky,'" to conclude that "the ancient Egyptians…were aware that these rare chunks of iron fell from the sky already in the 13th C. BCE."

"I'll cut you with my space knife"

Via CBC News

See Also:

Watch a Master Bladesmith Make a Kitchen Knife Out of Meteorites

Seven Olympians to Win Gold Medals Made with Meteorite Fragments

Ancient Egyptian Bling from Outer Space Screws Up Historic Timeline for Metalcrafting