ItsImagical indiana egypt Manual Del Usario página 10

of hippopotamus heads Lord Carnarvon finds the entrance to another
room. Soon known as the annex, this tiny chamber holds more than
2,000 everyday objects. They include boomerangs, shields, a box
containing eye make-up and 116 baskets of food. Some of the piles
reach nearly six feet high! When Carter clears the annex out later, his
workers are suspended by ropes at first to keep from stepping on
things.
The disorder in the annex indicates ancient grave robbers had looted
the tomb. They left behind footprints and a bundle of Tut's gold
finger-rings hurriedly wrapped in cloth. Luckily, they'd been caught
and the tomb re-sealed. That was more than 3,000 years ago.
The explorers are fascinated by two tall statues in the antechamber
showing Tut dressed in gold. The figures seem to be guarding yet
another room. Sweltering in the heat, the group crawls through a hole
created by the ancient robbers. Before them stands a huge wooden
box, or shrine, that glitters with a layer of gold. This room must be
Tut's burial chamber! At the very centre of the shrine is a carved
sarcophagus, or stone coffin. Inside it are three nested coffins, each
one more richly decorated than the one before. Inside the last coffin,
made of solid gold, lies the mummy of Tutankhamun. A 22-pound gold
mask covers its head and shoulders. A collar made from 171 separate
gold pieces rests on the mummy's chest. It wears gold sandals on its
feet.
On one side of the burial chamber is an open doorway. It reveals the
fourth room of the tomb, this one so full of riches that Carter dubs it
the treasury. Towering over the other objects is a gold-covered shrine
protected by statues of goddesses. The shrine holds Tut's liver, lungs,
stomach and intestines. Each vital organ is preserved, wrapped in
linen and placed in its very own small coffin.
Carter's discovery was over 80 years ago, yet today about 2.5 million
people visit Egypt's Cairo Museum each year to see Tut's treasures
on display. The ancient Egyptians believed that "to speak the name of
the dead is to make them live again". If that is true, Tutankhamun
certainly lives on.
IN YOUR EGYPTIAN DIG THERE ARE SEVEN 'TREASURES' TO
EXCAVATE
When you think of Ancient Egypt, you are likely to visualise the
pyramids and King Tut's treasures. However, Egyptian life started
over 5000 years ago and is an amazing period of history, full of rich
culture. The Egyptians worshipped Gods, enjoyed fashionable
clothes, jewellery and make-up, their homes, their writing and
everyday lives were all very different than ours.
The river Nile flows through Egypt and was at one time the main
means of transport in the country. It was very fertile along the Nile so it
encouraged farming. The Egyptians loved their animals and cats
especially were worshipped, you could pay with your life for killing a
cat!
EGYPTIAN CAT
It is thought that cats first became 'pets' in Egypt by 2000 B.C.
They were considered very useful in catching and killing vermin
that threatened the food supplies. Cats were possibly the most
popular animals with Egyptians, becoming over time sacred
deities. There are many depictions of cats in tomb
paintings and during excavations cat cemeteries were
found! Mummified cats have also been found, some of
which were revered family pets so given a superior
funeral or simply offerings to the gods (you could buy
cats ready mummified!).
DAILY LIFE
Although we see depictions of grand villas and palaces in wall
paintings, these homes were for royalty and for the rich, as most
people lived in simple houses,
but all houses however grand or modest were made from dried mud
bricks.
Jewellery was worn by everyone, though the poor people had basic
pieces. The ancients always wore amulets to ward off evil spirits and
the ankh was extensively used as it represented 'life'.
ANKH
The ankh is a form of cross with a looped top, which is
found not only as a form of jewellery but as a hieroglyphic
symbol (life) and as a decorative emblem. The gods are
often seen in paintings and carvings carrying ankhs, and
ankhs appear in Egyptian writings about the afterlife.
HIEROGLYPHICS
Hieroglyphics formed the Egyptian writing system. They are a form of
pictures and symbols used in place of an alphabet. It was a very
difficult 'language' to learn and took historians years
to decipher, as there were at least 700 images and
often these symbols had alternative meanings!
Found in pyramids and tombs they depict the history
of the time, especially that of Egyptian royalty.
Hieroglyphics have also been found on jewellery and
name plates.
MUMMIFICATION
Egyptians appear to have been almost obsessed with life and death,
observing many ancient rituals in ancient times that might seem
outrageous today. Convinced of the afterlife, they prepared their
funerals and burials in order that they could enjoy similar comforts,
such as wealth and rank as they did in this life.
One of the most talked about rituals is mummification. The Egyptians
so wanted to be prepared for and enjoy the afterlife that they would try
to preserve their dead bodies. Wrapping the bodies in linen shrouds
and bandages they were then laid in coffins with death masks placed
over their faces. Some Egyptians believed you lived on in your tomb
and others that you were whisked off to a magical and better place.
They prepared for both by being buried with servants (shabti figures
who might do the work for them), material possessions (gold and
jewellery) and even food for sustenance. Of course this was once
again for the rich and for royalty, the poor had simple burials, but still
took possessions with them to make the next life better. Although we
refer to an Egyptian 'mummy' the word is not of Egyptian origin. It is
derived from the Arabic 'mumiyah,' meaning a body preserved with
wax or bitumen, which is how the Arabs thought the Egyptians
preserved their dead.
COFFIN IMAGES
It became popular in Egyptian times to make
human-shaped (anthropoid) coffins to hold the
mummies, sometimes they were even nested so
you might find up to four coffins each placed inside
the next like Russian dolls. These early versions
depicted the whole body and were sometimes, as in the case of King
Tut, highly decorated or even made from gold. The lower classes
were normally buried in coffins made from reeds, pottery and cheap
woods, whilst the rich and royalty had coffins made from cedar,
sycamore and acacia or gold and silver if they were kings! On the lid
of the coffin there was sometimes a depiction of a protecting god and
for male coffins the hands might be shown clutching amulets (for good
luck).
CANOPIC JARS
These jars were used to store the body organs during
the mummification process. It was thought that
removing these organs would help preserve the
main body and stop it becoming foul smelling
and putrid. The jars had different heads or stoppers
depicting the four sons of Horus. The human headed
jar held the liver, the falcon headed the intestines, the baboon the
lungs and the jackal the stomach. Each canopic jar was deemed to
protect the organs from evil spirits and keep them safe and ready for
future use! The heart was not removed from the body as it was
thought it was connected to the soul and should never be parted from
the body. The brain was considered an unimportant organ that was
drained from the body and thrown away!
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