Exactly 100 years ago, in 1922, the Englishman Howard Carter, under the patronage of Sir Carnarfon, discovered Tutankhamun's tomb, which had been in the dust for more than 3,000 years. Tutankhamun's treasure gave the world the first complete insight into the incredible wealth of the ancient Egyptian pharaohs, because so far archaeologists have not found a second pharaoh's tomb as Tutankhamun's tomb that has hardly been disturbed.
Carter and workers clean Tutankhamun's inner coffin
There are two important reasons why Tutankhamun's tomb was not looted, one is hidden, or "hidden in the city": although it is also in the ancient Egyptian tomb area of Luxor, commonly known as the Valley of the Kings, it is located in front of the entrance of another pharaoh's tomb, which is not very conspicuous and small, ancient tomb robbers once tried to steal and excavate, but did not enter the main burial chamber, and then the entrance to this tomb was buried by wind and sand, which is unknown. Second, Tutankhamun himself is little known in history, his reputation is far inferior to other prominent pharaohs, and he is not even included in the literature, which makes the tomb robbers who "ask for ji according to the picture" have no rut, which is similar to China's Zeng Marquis Yi, which cannot be found in the history books, but was dug up by archaeologists.
This picture shows the Valley of the Kings, and the inconspicuous place in the lower right corner is the entrance to Tutankhamun's tomb
Carter's discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb was an unexpected surprise. Carter had been searching for six years in the Valley of the Kings, and it is said that he turned over 200,000 tons of rubble with his bare hands and found nothing. These six years also cost the patron Carnarfon thousands of pounds, and seeing that the landlord's family had no surplus food, Carter almost gave up, but at the last moment before the food ran out, Carter's luck came.
On November 4, 1922, workers hired by Carter stumbled upon steps carved into bedrock in the Valley of the Kings, and it was along these steps that Carter discovered the long-lost tomb of Tutankhamun, and Carter and Tutankhamun became famous at the same time.
Life of Tutankhamun
Who is Tutankhamun? It's a mystery that no one has yet fully figured out. According to the current research results of authoritative Egyptologists, we only have a rough biography that we have pieced together and speculated.
According to the restored image of Tutankhamun's mummy, is there a hint of disillusionment?
Tutankhamun lived at the end of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt (c. 1550 BC to 1319 BC), the most glorious period of the New Kingdom in ancient Egyptian history (c. 1550 BC to 1070 BC). Tutankhamun's name is now known to everyone, as is his husband, Ekhnatun, a "heretical pharaoh" who vigorously promoted monotheistic worship, wanted to completely transform Egypt, but died before he could get out, leaving Tutankhamun with a mess. His mother-in-law Nefertiti is more famous, known as the most beautiful queen of ancient Egypt:
It is accepted that Tutankhamun succeeded to the throne as a son-in-law, and as to who his parents were, there is still controversy, he may have royal blood or he may only be of ordinary origin. The point is that after he married the pharaoh's daughter, he was also eligible to inherit the throne in ancient Egypt.
Tutankhamun's succession to the throne was quite dramatic. Ekhnaton was childless and had only a few daughters, and at the time of his death, the eldest daughter, Meltaton, may not have been 15 years old. Meltaton's husband, Smoncara, was the chosen successor of Ekhnaton during his lifetime, and even ruled in coalition for a while, but unfortunately, Smonkara was short-lived and died shortly after Ekhnatun's death, and some even speculated that he died earlier than Ekhnatun, and in short, the throne was empty again.
Coffin plate in Smonkala
Tutankhamun's wife was another daughter of Ekhnaton named Anhesenamon. When they married is unknown, but it is undoubtedly a "child marriage", because Tutankhamun ascended the throne at about 10 years old, died mysteriously after about 10 years in power, and died as a teenager when he was still a teenager – this is conclusive, because his mummy has survived to this day.
Tutankhamun did not catch up with the good times, and when he ascended the throne, he faced not only the half-cut mess of the old man's Reformation at home, and the spiratorial conspiracy to seize power, but also the threat of other empires abroad. Of course, he is still just a child, and he may not have thought of this at all, and it is the "regent" Ayi who "worries" about him.
Ay
Ayi was a high priest and a close confidant of Ekhnatun, and after Tutankhamun came to power, it is almost certain that Ayi played a very important role, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is not an exaggeration to take over the government, and some people even suspect that Tutankhamun's untimely death may also be the work of Ayi, because it is Ayi himself who inherited the throne of Tutankhamun.
Of course, we have no evidence, in fact, Tutankhamun himself, from birth to death, is almost all mysteries, the only certainty is his mausoleum, and the actual more than 5,000 funerary objects. However, if you study these funeral objects carefully, you will find that there seems to be something missing that should not be missing, which is also an incredible mystery, and we will sell it here and introduce his mausoleum and funeral items first.
Tutankhamun's treasure
As mentioned earlier, Carter discovered the entrance to Tutankhamun's tomb on November 4, 1922, but did not clear the rubble from the entrance until November 29, officially opening the 3,000-year-old pharaonic tomb. Let's take a look at the pattern first.
There are four burial chambers in Tutankhamun's tomb, the "antechamber vestibule" (stacked with a large amount of furniture and chests), the "annex hall" (where the clutter is stacked), the "Burial Chamber main burial chamber" (where the mummy is located), and the "Treasury treasure room" (where gold and jewelry idols are stacked, etc.), connecting the doors between the chambers and sealed at the time of discovery. In addition, except for the frescoes on the walls of the main burial chamber, the walls of the other burial chambers are empty.
Photographs taken during excavations
Frescoes in the main burial chamber
Tutankhamun mummy
Tutankhamun's tomb is small in size and does not meet the specifications of the pharaohs, and may have been hastily built after Tutankhamun's death. The vestibule is 7.8 meters long, 3.5 meters wide and 2.6 meters high, and is located 7 meters below the ground level of the Valley of the Kings. The side hall is 4.3 meters long, 2.6 meters wide and 2.5 meters high. The main burial chamber is 6.3 meters long, 4 meters wide and 3.6 meters high, about one meter deeper than the vestibule. The treasure room is 4.7 meters long, 3.8 meters wide and 2.33 meters high. Interested friends can calculate the area, visual inspection is not large.
It is in these four small burial chambers that Carter spent ten years and carefully cleaned up 5,398 cultural relics, and gold alone took hundreds of kilograms.
The first is Egypt's most heavyweight national treasure - Tutankhamun's golden mask:
Let's get a closer look at this breathtaking gold mask:
This pure gold mask set with various gemstones, about 22 kilograms, was unearthed close to the face of Tutankhamun's mummy, and according to Tashi Hawas, the father of modern Egyptian archaeology, in his book, Carter had trouble trying to remove the mask because the resin used to make the mummy was like superglue, gluing the mask and the mummy tightly together.
Carter finally had to pry off the mask with a tool, which is said to have caused the mummy to be completely damaged, broken into 18 pieces, and later restored to barely be intact, you can imagine how excited Carter was to see the golden face!
Today, this gold mask has become a symbol of Tutankhamun and the entire ancient Egyptian civilization. However, judging by weight alone, the next one seems to be worth more:
The picture above shows the innermost layer of the humanoid coffin of Tutankhamun, made of pure gold, 187 cm long and weighing more than 200 kilograms, showing the pharaoh's luxury and dignity.
In addition to the innermost solid gold humanoid coffin, there are also two layers of gold humanoid wooden coffins outside, the second layer is shown below:
The picture below shows the outermost (third-layer) human coffin, as well as the large sarcophagus, which, along with the mummy, are still in Tutankhamun's Mausoleum in Luxor, southern Egypt:
To sum up, Tutankhamun has a total of 4 coffins, the outermost is a sarcophagus, and there are 3 human-shaped coffins inside, including 2 gold wooden coffins, and the innermost pure gold coffin.
And that's not the end of it. There are also four gold-pasted "large wooden boxes" on the outside of the sarcophagus, which are also layered layer by layer:
The schematic diagram is as follows:
It took a long time to complete the structure of Tutankhamun's golden coffin, and let's enjoy a few other funeral items, of course, mainly gold!
Above, Tutankhamun's throne, the dragon chair of the Chinese emperor. Chinese loved imaginary dragons, while the ancient Egyptians worshipped real lions, so Pharaoh Tu had two lion head handles on his chair.
See the details up close. This throne is wooden, pasted with gold and silver, and set with precious stones. The motifs are pictures of pharaohs and queens together.
Let's admire Tutankhamun's gold-plastered chariot, of course, it is also a funeral object, presumably only ceremonial, because the young son of heaven has a physical disability, it is estimated that he has never really been on the battlefield, assuming that he did use this chariot, the picture should look like this:
Then admire a gold dagger, beautifully ornamented, still intact after more than 3,000 years, and in excellent condition:
Another piece of Tutankhamun's gold and gemstone jewelry, by the way, the blue one in the middle is the guardian saint of the pharaoh - the scarab, let's Chinese call it the shell:
After seeing so many dazzling goldware, is it a little aesthetic fatigue? Finally, an eye-opener, Tutankhamun pure gold flip-flops:
That's right, this style is particularly modern flip-flops, which the ancient Egyptians have worn since at least 3100 BC, pay attention to the shoe officer behind the pharaoh in the ancient artifacts below:
Next, it should be introduced that the storage of Tutankhamun's liver, intestines, lungs and stomach (when making mummies, the internal organs must be taken out and placed separately), it turned out to be 4 mini humanoid coffins made of pure gold (39 cm high):
The four mini gold coffins are placed in a beautiful container made of precious Egyptian jade, alabaster:
The four human faces in the picture above are covered with mini gold coffins placed in four compartments.
Well, that's not all, this beautiful container is again housed in this all-over gold cabin below (gold!). ), protected by a goddess on each side:
Finally, a statue of Anubis, the patron saint of the mummy, who pulls the wind, is placed to guard it:
Look at another "Unified" brand perfume bottle:
This perfume bottle is also made of alabaster, its shape in ancient Egyptian texts means the unity of upper and lower Egypt, flanked by the god Nile, a symbol often seen on the base of the pharaoh's statue and on the temple frescoes.
One more ebony chair:
The chair is extremely intricate, with an ebony frame and ivory, gold, precious stones, and faience.
Let's look at the lotus avatar:
The lotus flower has a beautiful image of rebirth in ancient Egypt, and when we see Tutankhamun emerge from the lotus, we pin his desire for rebirth.
There is also a conquest picture wardrobe:
On this wardrobe, we can see Tutankhamun shooting arrows at the enemy on the chariot, Nubians and West Asians falling to the ground one after another, and the heroic warriors of the pharaoh are in full view.
To summarize, we have just highlighted Tutankhamun's gold funerary objects, as well as several artifacts of other materials. Of course, these were selected from more than 5,000 artifacts, and in general, according to archaeologists, the types of artifacts in Tutankhamun's tomb include: mummies, coffins, gold masks, statues, funerary and witchcraft items, shrines, jewelry and amulets, clothing and fabrics, cosmetics, chessboards, musical instruments, carriages, weapons, scepters, beds and pillows, chairs, cabinets, oil lamps, metal containers, pottery, and food.
Speaking of which, some friends may realize that something important seems to be missing in it, yes, where is the papyrus? Unfortunately, and strangely, not a single roll of papyrus was found in Tutankhamun's tomb. You know, papyrus is an important carrier of ancient Egyptian documents, how can there be no book in this pharaoh's tomb? It's a mystery that no one can explain.
In any case, Tutankhamun's Mausoleum has become the focus of world attention since the day it was excavated, and with the passage of time, Tutankhamun's "popularity" seems to have increased unabated, and countless people have been fascinated by it.
Tutankhamun 50 years
In 1972, the 50th anniversary of the discovery of Tutankhamun's mausoleum, the British Museum held a grand exhibition "The Treasure of Tutankhamun", and invited 50 precious cultural relics unearthed from the tomb from Egypt, the largest of which is Tutankhamun's gold mask. According to statistics, the exhibition attracted more than 1.6 million visitors, an average of 7,000 a day, and excited crowds lined up for hours just to see the real face of the golden mask.
At that time, these 50 artifacts traveled from Egypt to the United Kingdom to exhibit with great pomp. Tutankhamun Gold Mask flew alone on a RAF plane from Cairo directly to RAF Base Blaise Norton. Other artifacts flew to Heathrow Airport on two charter planes, where hundreds of police officers picked them up. At the British Museum, security is Scotland Yard murder team leader Jack Manning. Manning said his men would guard the artifacts "all the time." At that time, the insurance amount on the gold mask was 1 million pounds, of course, this is only the number on the insurance contract, in fact, this pure gold mask weighing 11 kilograms is priceless from every point of view.
On Wednesday, March 29, 1972, the opening day of the exhibition, Queen Elizabeth II of England was present and visited the site with great interest for 40 minutes. The Queen's opening speech put it this way: "This exhibition is not only an eye-opener, it also has a purpose. Proceeds from the exhibition will be donated to UNESCO to finance the relocation of the Philae Temple. After the Philae Temple was moved to a higher place, there was no need to worry about flooding anymore... This is for the benefit of future generations. ”
As the Queen said this, the Temple of Isis, the goddess on Philae Island, had been flooded for 70 years, the result of the old Aswan dam built in 1902, and only revealed in the summer when the water level dropped, barely enough to be rowed to see it. But with the construction of the Aswan High Dam in Egypt in the 60s, Philae Island was bound to be completely submerged. From 1972 to 1980, engineering teams cut the temples on Philae into stones and transported them to the nearby island of Achillkia, where they were rebuilt on the new site as they were.
Today, it is also known as the Philae Temple and is an important tourist attraction in Egypt. The temple of Abu Simbel, both of which I have visited, is the temple of Absimbel, and my greatest feeling is that the temple rebuilt in another place is tangible, but there is no god anymore. About the story of the construction of the Aswan High Dam, which led to the flooding of a large number of sites and the rescue of the United Nations, we will talk about it later.
Let's return to this blockbuster exhibition at the British Museum. The exhibition attracted many celebrities, in addition to the presence of the Queen of England, it is worth mentioning that Carnarfon's daughter Evelyn (then 70 years old) also visited, which was the first time she saw Tutankhamun's golden mask. She and her father witnessed the opening of Tutankhamun's Mausoleum in Egypt 50 years ago, but unfortunately, her father died unexpectedly in Egypt in early 1923, and Evelyn returned to England, and Tutankhamun's golden mask was not cleared by Carter until 1925. It took Carter a total of 10 years to complete the excavation of Tutankhamun's tomb, which can be described as meticulous work.
A few years after the British Museum of Tutankhamun's Treasure exhibition, it was the Americans' turn to open their eyes. Similarly, the United States has arranged a very high standard of security, and the United States Navy dispatched two warships to meet the artifacts in Alexandria, Egypt, and then transported them to the naval base in Virginia.
The Treasure of Tutankhamun toured six cities in the United States, led by Washington, D.C., at the National Gallery of Art, and opened on November 17, 1976. Newly elected President Carter visited the scene, and Hollywood superstar Elizabeth Taylor, who played Cleopatra, also came, so he left this classic photo of the modern American goddess to the ancient goddess of Egypt:
Tutankhamun 100 years
Time flies, this year is the 100th anniversary of the discovery of Tutankhamun's Mausoleum, another big day, so what will happen this year? It's still a little new! The Egyptian government's "slow work" and ingenuity for 20 years may finally open, although the timing is still uncertain, probably until next year. The biggest highlight of the Grand Egyptian Museum is Tutankhamun. For the first time, the world will see all the artifacts excavated from Tutankhamun's tomb on full display in one museum, while before it was "scattered" in many museums, including the Egyptian Museum in Cairo and the Luxor Museum, and some cultural relics even ate ashes in the warehouse for 100 years, and now they are finally seen again, this exhibition is worth seeing.
The Grand Egyptian Museum located near the Pyramid of Khufu
Of course, now limited by the epidemic, it is not so easy to travel abroad, but there is no need to hurry, the Tutankhamun cultural relics exhibition of the Grand Egyptian Museum is definitely a permanent exhibition, and it will not be easily withdrawn, and when you can travel freely, don't forget to go to Egypt.
For more about the bumpy history of the Grand Egyptian Museum, see this article: Progress Bar of the Grand Egyptian Museum.
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