Transcript Slide 1

Dr. Zahi Hawass
http://www.guardians.net/hawass/
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Alabama
University of Alabama B
California
California State University: Hayward B
University of California: Berkely: MD
University of California: Los Angeles MD
University of California: Santa Barbara B
Connecticut
Wesleyan University B
Yale University BM
Florida
Gulf Coast Community College A
New College of University of South Florida B
Illinois
Wheaton College B
Indiana
Ball State University M
University of Evansville B
Kansas
University of Kansas B
Maine
Bowdoin College B
Massachusetts
Boston University B
Bridgwater State College B
Harvard University B
Massachusetts Institute of Technology B
Tufts University B
Wellesley College B
Michigan
Michigan Technological University M
Minnesota
University of Minnesota: Duluth D
University of Minnesota: Twin Cities MD
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Missouri
University of Missouri: Columbia BMD
Washington University BMD
New Hampshire
Franklin Pierce College B
New Jersey
Princeton University BD
Thomas Edison University B
New York
Bard College B
City University of New York: Brooklyn College B
City University of New York: Hunter College B
Columbia University B
Cornell University BM
SUNY Albany BM
North Carolina
University of North Carolina: Chapel Hill BMD
University of North Carolina: Greensboro B
Ohio
College of Wooster B
Oberlin College B
Union Institute D
Pennsylvania
Bryn Mawr College BMD
Haverford College B
University of Pennsylvania MD
Rhode Island
Brown University BMD
Texas
Baylor University B
Rice University B
University of Texas: Austin B
University of Texas: San Antonio M
Virginia
Washington and Lee University B
Wisconsin
University of Wisconsin: La Crosse B
EGYPTIAN PROVERBS
True sages are those who give what they have, without
meanness and without secret!
Popular beliefs on essential matters must be examined in
order to discover the original thought!
The only thing that is humiliating is helplessness!
Middle Kingdom (2050-1786 BC)
• Weaker form of govt
• Authority to monarchs, nobles (lesser ranks)
• Final Reunification of Egypt
• Achieved under Mentohotep II (11th Dynasty)
• New Capital @ Thebes (Luxor)
Middle Kingdom
• Mentohotep II builds tomb in Valley of the Kings &
Queens
• Opens up trade relations with Syria & Palestine
• Started irrigation projects along the Nile
• Adds thousands of cultivated acreage
Valley Of Kings
• 500 Years of History
Entrance to Royal Tomb, 1821
• 16th – 11th c. B.C.
• 18th – 21st Dynasties
• Archaeological Dig since 18th c.
• 60 Tombs, more believed to be there
• 4-5 thousand tourists a day (16 tombs open)
The Valley of the Kings
With an early start to try and beat some of the heat, we head off for the Valley of the Kings, on the west side of the
Nile outside Luxor.
It's a beautiful drive—green waves of crops (sugarcane, mostly) and palm trees line the road, and farmers are at work
in their fields. Houses here are still built of mud brick, just as in ancient times.
The West Bank, our guide says, is one of the most virgin archaeological sites in the world. Almost all the New
Kingdom (circa 1539 to 1078 B.C.) pharaohs built their burial places in the Valley of the Kings, cutting concealed
tombs in the rock. Pyramids, they had learned, were too visible—and accessible—to thieves. Still, robbers looted most
of the tombs here, stealing the treasures buried with each king.
The first tomb we enter is KV 5, built for the sons of Ramses II. Rediscovered in 1989, it's still being studied. The job
will take a while—there are at least 110 chambers here.
After KV 5 the famous tomb of Tutankhamun seems very small. It was hastily prepared for the king, who died around
age 20 after a brief reign (circa 1333 to 1323 B.C.). Tut would have been just a footnote in Egyptian history had it not
been for the 1922 find of his intact tomb, undiscovered by robbers and still stuffed with treasures.
Nothing is left here now except Tut's mummy and coffin. (The rest is in the Egyptian Museum.) Only a few tourists
are allowed in at a time, and everyone stays quiet, peering over at the coffin and wall paintings that detail funerary
rituals.
Next we head back out into the sun and then down again, this time into the tomb of Seti I (circa 1290 to 1279 B.C.),
father of Ramses II—one of the valley's deepest, most decorated tombs.
Every surface is covered with paintings, drawings, and hieroglyphs, even the ceiling. Vivid reds, yellows, and blues—
they look like they were just painted yesterday. I want to touch everything.
In 1997, 58 tourists and 4 Egyptians were massacred at nearby Deir el-Bahri by Islamist militants from Al-Gama'a alIslamiyya. This led to an overall drop in tourism in the area.
Brilliantly colored paintings cover the walls of
Tutankhamun's small burial chamber in the Valley of
the Kings near Luxor. Since the young king was only
about 20 when he died, there was no tomb ready for
him, and this one was hastily prepared.
Pillar in Seti’s Tomb
Between 1539 and 1078 B.C. nearly all pharaohs were
buried in the Valley of the Kings. More than 60
tombs have been found, and archaeologists believe
there are more to be discovered.
Tomb KV8, located in the Valley of the Kings, was used for the burial of Pharaoh
Merenptah of Ancient Egypt's Nineteenth Dynasty.
Pharaoh Seti I (who reigned circa 1290 to 1279 B.C.) was buried after an 11-year reign in an elaborate tomb in the Valley
of the Kings—one of the longest, deepest, and finest of all the tombs there.
The tomb's ceiling (pictured) depicts the heavens, including constellations; astronomical texts; and a row of deities.
After the internal organs of Pharaoh Tutankhamun were removed and treated with a preservative, they were
stored in an alabaster chest and entombed in a gilded wooden shrine protected by a quartet of goddesses. The
shrine, along with most of the treasures found in Tut's tomb, is now in Cairo's Egyptian Museum.
Two 65-foot-high (20-meter-high) sandstone statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III—known, incorrectly, as the
Colossi of Memnon—are all that's left of his mortuary temple on the west bank of the Nile, across from Luxor
Temple. The annual flooding of the river eventually destroyed the once stupendous building.
Middle Kingdom
• Beginning of 12th Dynasty
• Amenemhet I established
• Egypt enjoyed one of the most stable and prosperous periods in
history!
• Initiates new Policy
- Appointing a co-ruler while in power
• Son Sesostris rules w/ him for 10 yrs
• Policy of Co-Regency later adopted by the pharaohs of the New
Kingdom
Egyptian Proverbs
• Listen to your conviction, even if they seem absurd to your
reason.
• Our senses serve to affirm, not to know.
• No discussion can throw light, if it wanders from the real point.
Middle Kingdom
• 12th Dynasty Undertakings
• Built ocean-going ships (cedar of Lebanon)
• Built a Canal (Wadi Tumilat)
– Allow boats to pass from Red Sea to Mediterranean
• Developed a canal into the 1st Cataract of Nile to
proceed past the falls into Nubia
• Monumental city Heliopolis built
Internal Chaos & Invasion
• Prosperity of 12th dynasty attracts trouble
• Asiatic people (Hyksos)
• They Bring It!
(1786-1575 BC)
• Come with Bronze Weapons
• Horse Drawn Chariots
• Considered Hyksos Rule for ~200 yrs
Internal Chaos & Invasion
(1786-1575 BC)
• Didn’t interfere w/ religion or customs
• Assimilated into Egyptian society
• Quarrels erupt causing pharaoh Kamose to react
• Launched a surprise attack against Hyksos
• Victories once again
• Younger brother Ahmose expels or enslaves last of
Hyksos
• Founded 18th Dynasty (new kingdom)