The funerary mask of Shoshenq II, discovered on the king’s 𝘮𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘺, is crafted from a thick sheet of gold with hollow spaces for the eyes and eyebrows, once inlaid with glass paste. It was attached to the 𝘮𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘺 using five small perforated tenons—three on the forehead and two below the ears.

The facial features present the king as a youthful figure, following Egyptian artistic tradition, which symbolically ensured resurrection in an ideal young form.

Shoshenq II was the only ruler of the 22nd Dynasty whose tomb escaped looting. His burial was uncovered in 1939 by Pierre Montet inside an antechamber of Psusennes I’s tomb at Tanis. On March 20, 1939, in the presence of King Farouk of Egypt, Montet lifted the coffin lid to reveal rich grave goods, including jewel-encrusted bracelets, pectorals, a silver hawk-headed coffin, and this golden funerary mask.

Shoshenq II’s throne name, Heqakheperre Setepenre, translates as “The manifestation of Re rules, the chosen one of Re.”

Date: Third Intermediate Period, 22nd Dynasty, reign of Shoshenq II, ca. 887–885 B.C.

Provenance: Tanis

Collection: Egyptian Museum, Cairo