Tutankhamun's Treasures

 

#Tutankhamun's Treasures : Lost Treasure

 

Egypt the richest source of archaeological treasures on the planet. Beneath this desert landscape lie the secrets of this ancient civilization. This time, new secrets of the boy kind, Tutankhamen. The Valley of the Kings, 3,500 years ago, the great Pharaohs stopped building pyramids as their tombs. They chose these secluded cliffs to become their cemetery. Over 300 miles south of Cairo, in the heart of Egypt lie the limestone cliffs of the valley of the king. After 200 years of excavation, archaeologists have located sixty-five tombs hidden among the rocks. But only one has ever been found with its treasure still inside, it belonged to the pharaoh, Tutankhamun.

British explorer Howard Carter discovered Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922. One of his teams spotted steps leading down through the sand. They led to the tomb entrance, buried beneath feet of rubble and debris. What Carter found inside inspired archaeologists for generations to come.

Deep inside the mountains, amid a maze of tunnels that bore deep through the rock, Carter reached the tomb of Tutankhamun, hidden right in the centre of the valley. Inside he found treasures unlike anything ever seen before. Over 5,000 priceless artefacts including golden statues. In the burial chamber the pharaoh's mummy wearing a golden death mask was placed inside a coffin made of more than 200 pounds of solid gold. This intact tomb made Tutankhamun the most famous of the pharaohs.

The pictures on the wall reveal another set of clues. Despite becoming the most famous pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, Tutankhamun did not have a lengthy reign. He was only a nine-years-old boy when he became king, and relied on trusted advisors to help rule his vast empire. As Tutankhamun grew older, he was known to portray himself as a warrior king, riding into battle on a chariot. But the boy king suffered from multiple illnesses, including malaria. He was only nineteen-years-old when he unexpectedly died.

300 miles north, in Giza, in the shadow of the pyramids, the biggest treasure haul in history is getting a new home, a one-billion-dollar museum and research centre. 300 miles south in the Luxor museum, Eissa Zidan is preparing 122 of these priceless artefacts for the move to Giza. 120 miles south of the Valley of the Kings, near Aswan, a Spanish research team from Jaen University is hoping to follow in Carter's footsteps and make new discoveries that could rewrite history.

According to ancient Egyptian belief, boats played a key role after death. So placing model boats into tombs was a vital part of any burial. The vessels also came complete with crew because it was believed the replicas would come to life and help with fishing and transport in the underworld. The pharaohs used a special vessel to sail across the sky for eternity. Ordinary people also thought they could reach the afterlife by boat, rowing on the Nile and into the next world. Ever since Carter's discovery of Tutankhamun's priceless golden treasures, archaeologists have continued to try and figure out where and how the ancient Egyptians found vast quantities of gold.

Fifty-miles south of the Valley of the Kings, on the edge of the Eastern Desert, French gold expert Thomas Faucher and archaeologist John Ward are on the hunt for the origins of Tutankhamun's gold. The Eastern Desert covers 85,000 square-miles of remote barren wilderness. Some of the rock here contains tiny grains of gold locked inside. The text engraved on these walls reveals clues about the gold miners and where they were heading.

Ancient engineers built a network of wells and rest stops stretching all the way, across the desert, each a day's walk from the last, enabling travellers and miners to safely cross and explore the barren desert. The temple carvings indicate these wells led toward the mines.

The Pharaoh's burial chamber is located 26 feet underground and is defended from the inside out. Engineers constructed a wall to block off the burial chamber. They filled the corridor leading to the King with tons of rubble, before sealing a final doorway and covering Tutankhamun's tomb with a vast amount of boulders under earth standard tomb protection of the day. But when Carter discovered this tomb, it had more material on top than any other in the valley. This may explain how it remained undiscovered for over 3,000 years. Could rock falls caused by earthquakes 3,000 years ago account for extra tons of rock that covered the entrance to Tutankhamur's tomb?

For the geological past and the historic point of view, they could have rock falls or rock slides that are triggered by earthquakes covering tombs. But there are no cliffs directly above Tutankhamun's tomb, so it wouldn't have been hit by a direct rock fall. But after two days of searching, finally found something. It may look like scatters stones and debris. Loose rock and debris cover the cliffs behind Tut's tomb. But also reveals these flood channels, carved into the rock by heavy rains over thousands of years and they could be the vital missing clue. Throughout history the valley has been hit by earthquakes and occasional flash floods. The flood waters push rubble downhill toward the tombs. Tutankhamun's tomb lies in the spot where the channels of water converge and dump tons of rock. This combined with stone chippings from a tomb built above, buried the entrance deeper and kept it hidden for over 3,000 years.

Tutankhamun was a boy King who played a minor role in Egypt's history, but because his tomb remained hidden for thousands of years, his treasure was kept safe from robbers and made him the legend we know today.

Scientists and Egyptologists can now begin to study and analyse each item in their new high-tech lab. Top of the list are the newly discovered boat pieces. For almost 100 years, the boat that was buried alongside Tutankhamun to help him travel into the afterlife has been missing its mast.100 years after its discovery, Tutankhamun's stunning treasure is still surprising the world. And the Valley of the Kings shows why it remains the greatest place on Earth to hunt for the secrets of Egypt's famous pharaohs.