Spatula used to repair King Tut's clumsily broken beard

A spatula was reportedly used to repair the blue and gold braided beard on the burial mask of the 3,300-year-old pharaoh King Tutankhamun.

It is believed the beard was broken off when it was being cleaned or deliberately removed after becoming loose, according to conflicting reports from staff at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

Associated Press reported that orders had come swiftly from senior museum management to rectify the damaged sarcophagus. One conservator said an “inappropriate adhesive”, the synthetic glue epoxy, was used.

The staff member said the cheap glue had dried on the mask and a colleague had used a spatula to remove it, leaving scratches and “a layer of transparent yellow” in the gap between the beard and face.

“The mask should have been taken to the conservation lab but they were in a rush to get it displayed quickly again and used this quick, drying irreversible material,” another staff member said.

Museum director Mahmoud Al Hawagi confirmed the glue was visible and told the BBC an investigation into the incident was underway.

King Tut’s nearly intact tomb was discovered in 1922 by British archaeologist Howard Carter. The discovery is largely credited with inspiring Western interest in Egyptian history.

Egypt’s tourist industry is still struggling to recuperate revenue after the unrest that transpired during the overthrow of former President Hosni Mubarak in 2011.