Researchers claim Tutankhamun’s burial mask may have originally been made for a woman – but there is reason to doubt.

However, Aidan Dodson, a professor of Eqyptology and author of several books on the Amarna period, makes a slightly different argument. Akhenaten’s successor, Pharaoh Neferneferuaten (who was most likely his wife, Nefertiti), never received a kingly burial. So, it’s likely that her material was repurposed for Tutankhamun very early in his reign. This would mean his burial equipment was already essentially completed by his early death, rather than put together in a hurry.

Tutankhamun’s actual tomb, however, was probably still incomplete, meaning that he was probably given an existing tomb that had been intended for a noble or lesser royalty.

The reuse of tomb equipment was common in this period, including coffins and burial vaults, so this in itself is not unusual.