On November 26th, 1922, in the Valley of the Kings outside of Luxor, British Egyptologist Howard Carter lowered a candle into a room that had been sealed for over 3,000 years: after a seven-year search, he finally had found the intact tomb of Tutankhamun, the boy King. But it wasn’t until February 16, 1923 — one hundred years ago, this week — that King Tut’s burial chamber was unsealed. There were so many precious artifacts unearthed, it took nearly a decade to clear the tomb. Whether it’s King Tut, Cleopatra, the pyramids or hieroglyphics, there is something about Ancient Egypt that continues to capture our imagination and attention.
Can You See Anything? “Yes. WONDERFUL Things”
These were the words uttered by archeologist Howard Carter as he first peered into King Tut’s tomb one hundred years ago. It was a discovery for the ages that included treasures beyond belief, including a 269-pound solid gold coffin. UCLA Egyptologist Kara Cooney tells us more.
The Most Beautiful Woman in the World. But What Does She Look Like?
She was the ancient world’s most glamorized ruler: Cleopatra, Queen of the Nile. But in reality, the woman herself lived 2,000 years after the last pyramid was built. And although we picture her with long, black hair and gold headdresses (think: Elizabeth Taylor), in reality Cleopatra wasn’t Egyptian at all; she was a Ptolemaic Greek. Historian Amanda Hallay tells us more about history’s original femme fatale.
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