SL3 Tutankhamon
More than 3300 years after the birth of Tutankhamun and 100 years after the discovery of its tomb, Beretta pays tribute to ancient Egypt and to the brave men who made it possible to unearth one of the greatest testimonies of its history.
the inspiration
In 1914, a team of archaeologists and explorers guided by Howard Carter and financed by Lord Carnarvon started to dig in the Valley of Kings in Egypt. In 1922, this group of men, pushed by their hunger for knowledge, discovered a significant vestige of one of the greatest and most mysterious civilizations in history.
The intact tomb of a King with over 5,000 artifacts gave rise to the renewed public interest in ancient Egypt and became a source for many stories, including the legend of a curse affecting the ones who first made their intrusion into Tutankhamun’s sealed tomb.
HISTORY, ENGRAVED
The right sideplate of the SL3 Tutankhamon features three main gold-inlaid subjects, representing three main personalities of Ancient Egypt's 18th Dynasty related to King Tut's history:
On the left the Pharaoh Tutankhamun who ruled over the New Kingdom of Egypt from c. 1332 BC until c. 1323 BC and was the last of his royal family to exercise governance during the Eighteenth Dynasty.
On the right the Queen Ankhesenamun (c. 1348 or c. 1342 – after 1322 BC), the Great Royal Wife of Tutankhamun.
In the center the Queen Neferneferuaten Nefertiti (c. 1370 – c. 1330 BC), the Great Royal Wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten, who ruled before Tutankhamun.
EGYPTIAN GODNESS
The two main subjects of the left sideplate represent with gold-inlay technique, two of the main deities of Ancient Egypt:
Horus, depicted with a falcon head and wings, was mainly worshipped as the god of kingship and the sky.
Anubis, portrayed with a canine head, was celebrated as the god of funerary rites, protector of graves, and guide to the underworld
THE SEALS OF A DINASTY
The top and the bottom of the receiver are all reminiscent of Tutankhamon's tomb and its discovery.
The top with the gold-inlaid winged beetle displays the cartouche on the door of King Tut's tomb and Tutankhamon's prenomen or throne name.
The bottom portrays King Tut's golden death mask. The crook and flail were insignia of pharaonic authority in ancient Egyptian society. The shepherd's crook stood for kingship and the flail for the fertility of the land.
The SL3 Tutankhamon gun case is made from a naturally tanned cowhide and opens as a sarcophagus, allowing the lid to be completely removed from the lower part of the case. Thanks to the creativity and accuracy of the Pietro Beretta Selection craftsmen, the lid was pyrographed to portray the original inner coffin of King Tut, with details painted in gold and blue. Additional gold leaf touches were applied.
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