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Inside an Ancient Tomb

AROUND HALLOWEEN, I THINK I’D RATHER DEAL WITH MUMMIES THAN THOSE CREEPY CRAWLIES. THAT’S JUST WHAT A GROUP OF ARCHEOLOGISTS IN LUXOR, EGYPT ARE UP TO. THEY UNEARTHED THE TOMB OF A GOLDSMITH, BURIED SOME 3,500 YEARS AGO. THE TOMB IS FILLED WITH ARTIFACTS AND SARCOPHAGI OF OTHERS BURIED THERE. A SARCOPHAGUS IS AN ANCIENT STONE COFFIN THAT IS HIGHLY DECORATED. KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR THEM AS REPORTER BEN WEDEMAN TAKES US INTO THE TOMB.

BEN: THE SKULLS AND BONES LAY UNDISTURBED FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS…BURIED DEEP UNDERGROUND ON A BARREN DESERT HILLSIDE IN SOUTHERN EGYPT.

"THIS IS JUST THE LATEST TOMB DISCOVERED, ONE OF HUNDREDS HERE AT DRAA ABU AL-NAGA, WHICH IS VERY CLOSE TO THE FAMOUS VALLEY OF THE KINGS."

BEN: BUT THERE ARE NO KINGS HERE, ONLY COMMONERS. MOST OF THE BODIES ARE UNIDENTIFIABLE…AT ONE POINT THE TOMB WAS THE PROPERTY OF THE GOLDSMITH AMENEMHAT AND HIS WIFE AMENHOTEP, A PROSPEROUS, MIDDLE CLASS FAMILY…

AMENEMHAT'S CALLING WAS HELD IN HIGH REGARD. GOLD, TO THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS, WAS THE SKIN OF THE GODS…BECAUSE IT DOESN'T RUST, TARNISH OR CORRODE, THE PRECIOUS METAL WAS ASSOCIATED WITH IMMORTALITY.

WEALTH, HOWEVER, DID NOT BRING HEALTH…BY MODERN STANDARDS, LIFE WAS SHOCKINGLY SHORT.

SHERINE: NOW WE DON'T KNOW HOW OLD THESE PEOPLE WERE WHEN THEY DIED BUT ACCORDING TO ONE STUDY THE AVERAGE LIFE SPAN FOR ANCIENT EGYPTIANS LIVING AROUND 1500 BC WAS THIRTY-FOUR FOR MEN, ONLY THIRTY YEARS FOR WOMEN.

BEN: …THIS BABY'S COFFIN UNDERSCORES THE FACT THAT MOST DIED BEFORE REACHING ADULTHOOD.

ANOTHER MUMMY FOUND HERE, DATING BACK PERHAPS MORE THAN FOUR THOUSAND YEARS, WAS THE EXCEPTION.

SHERINE: FIFTY-FIVE, PLUS OR MINUS

BEN: SHE DID, HOWEVER, SUFFER FROM ARTHRITIS, TOOTH DECAY AND A BAD BACK, AND WALKED WITH A CANE. NONETHELESS SHE WAS BURIED IN AN EXPENSIVE COFFIN MADE OF IMPORTED CEDAR WOOD.

THE CONTENTS OF THE TOMB SHOW JUST HOW OBSESSED EGYPTIANS WERE WITH THE AFTERLIFE… ARCHAEOLOGISTS FOUND DOZENS OF USHABTIS, SMALL FIGURINES MEANT TO ACT AS SERVANTS FOR THE DECEASED.

KHALID: BY THE END OF THE NEW KINGDOM AROUND 1000 BC ORDINARY EGYPTIANS WERE BUYING THEIR COFFINS RIGHT OFF THE SHELF. THEY, LIKE THE PHARAOHS, HAD ONE THING IN MIND-ENSURING ETERNAL LIFE. AND THIS IS THE HIEROGLYPH FOR ETERNITY.

BEN: KHALID AL-WAZIRI LED THE EGYPTIAN TEAM WHO DISCOVERED THE TOMB.

MUSTAFA: IT'S SUCH A BEAUTIFUL AREA. IT'S SUCH A RICH AREA. IT'S SUCH AN IMPORTANT AREA. AND I'M EXPECTING TO FIND MORE TOMBS.

BEN: AND WITH EVERY NEW DISCOVERY…A LITTLE MORE DUST IS REMOVED TO EXPOSE WHAT LIFE WAS LIKE SO VERY LONG AGO.


Find Out More


Website Article: DK findout! The Valley of the Kings | Detailed illustrations of King Tut’s tomb.

Video: YouTube, Travel Kids, Egyptian Mummies. | Visit Egypt and find out how mummies were made.

Encyclopedia Article: INFOhio, World Book Student, Ancient Egypt | May need password.