Eternal Egypt : Art and the Afterlife

Gold and the Gods

According to Egyptian belief, the flesh of the gods was gold. Their bodies were made of other precious materials, such as silver and lapis lazuli (a deep blue, gold-flecked stone).

Although not meant entirely literally, this ideal still inspired the ancient Egyptians to use gold liberally in an attempt to become “one body” with the god after death. Those who could afford it often had the faces of their mummy masks or coffins gilded.

Egyptian kings, such as Tutankhamun, had their mummy masks made of solid gold and decorated with other precious materials. Religious symbolism encouraged a connection between gold and the idea of kingship, kings being divinity upon the earth.

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