According to Egyptologist Nicholas Reeves, the mask is "not only the quintessential image from Tutankhamun's tomb, it is perhaps the best-known object from ancient Egypt itself."[4] Since 2001, research has suggested that it may originally have been intended for Queen Neferneferuaten;[5] her royal name (Ankhkheperure) was found in a partly erased cartouche on the inside of the mask.[6]