The fascinating saga of the origins of a captivating component in Tutankhamun’s Scarab Brooch has been unearthed this week. It has been established that some of the material found in that brooch was a result of a phenomenal event that occurred 28 million years ago.

The consequence of an incomprehensibly ancient cosmic event that had humbling through the throes of the cosmos towards the Earth created a component which was subsequently incorporated into Tut’s brooch. But there has been some debate as to how exactly this event reached the garment of King Tut’s brooch. Now, scientists from Australia and Austria think they have the evidence that provides an end to the argument about the origin of Tutankhamun’s brooch.

The findings at the tomb of Tutankhamun were numerous and a small artifact, such as a brooch, might be overshadowed by the weightier items. But oftentimes, unassuming items have a deeper story than initially perceived. This impressively preserved brooch has such a deep history that it could not be imagined and it came to light only through thorough research from multiple disciplines. The brooch contains a striking yellow-brown scarab brooch made of a yellow silica glass stone produced from the sand of the Sahara and then shaped by some ancient Egyptian artisans. It is this scarab that has perhaps the most intriguing history of all.

Tutankhamun’s brooch holds evidence of ancient comet-striking Earth.

Chemical analysis revealed that the silica glass from this dessert was originally formed 28 million years ago, when a comet entered the Earth’s atmosphere above Egypt. The sand beneath it was heated to a temperature of about 2,000 degrees Celsius and resulted in the formation of the yellow silica glass, which lies scattered over a 6,000-square-kilometer area in the Sahara Desert.

In 2017, this silica glass was one of the clues that led Professor Jan Kramers of the University of Johannesburg, South Africa, and colleagues to a remarkable discovery. The other key find was a small black diamond-bearing pebble, which the researchers named ‘Hypatia’, that had been found by an Egyptian geologist several years earlier. This gave the clues needed to detect the cosmically event and the composition of the desert.

The detection of tiny diamonds within the stone which are the result of extreme pressure usually deep within the Earth’s crust showed it to be remarkable. This pebble was found on the surface and so the question arose of how this cataclysmic event created the glass. There were still questions as to whether the event was an actual comet strike or a near miss.

In a press release by Curtin University, Dr. Cavosie, from the Space Science and Technology Centre in Curtin’s School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, said, ‘It has been a topic of ongoing debate as to whether the glass formed from a comet strike or an airburst, which happens when an asteroid or comet explodes in the air rather than striking the Earth’s surface.’

In a press release by Curtin University, Dr. Cavosie, from the Space Science and Technology Centre in Curtin’s School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, said, ‘It has been a topic of ongoing debate as to whether the glass formed from a comet strike or an airburst, which happens when an asteroid or comet explodes in the air rather than striking the Earth’s surface.’

The research team believes new evidence found in their research, published in the Geological Journal, dismisses the airburst proposal completely. The study states that although both airburst and a comet impact could melt the desert sand, they found the glass contained a rare metal called iridium, and this they say could only be delivered by the power of an impact, which is millions of times stronger than an airburst. Dr. Cavosie states:

‘Live Science reports the study as saying, “Airbursts create shock waves up in the air that can be thousands of Pascal (a unit of pressure), whereas impact impacts cause shock waves of billions of Pascal on the ground.’

Comet Hale-Bopp takes center stage in the vicinity of Pazi in Istanbul/Croatia (CC BY SA 2.0).

Comet material had never been observed before Earth before, except as microscopic-sized dust particles in the upper atmosphere and in Antarctic ice. Space agencies have sent missions to secure the smallest amounts of pristine comet material and bring it back to Earth, but what is the importance of this work?

“Comets contain the very secrets to unlocking the formation of our solar system, and this discovery gives us an unprecedented opportunity to study comet material firsthand,” said Professor David Black of Wits University, a key researcher on the comet team.