The tomb of the boy-king Tutankhamun – one of the most incredible discoveries in the history of archaeology … But the tomb is only full of mysteries that have baffled scholars. Ancient Mysteries s1e3: King Tut’s Tomb: The Hidden Chamber
November 2015: The north wall holds a secret: ‘There may be another doorway behind the north wall.’ ibid.
Experts have discovered that some of the objects found in the tomb probably first belonged to a woman. ibid.
The ten plagues of Egypt: with rivers and plagues of locusts it’s a Biblical story so bizarre and so bloody most people believe the events described could never have happened. But now archeologists are unearthing shocking new discoveries. Ancient Mysteries s2e2: Ten Plagues, Channel 5 2017
He turns the River Nile into a torrent of blood … Next God sends plagues of frogs followed by swarms of flies; disease strikes down the livestock, and boils blight the people. ibid.
The Stele’s message is clear: it wasn’t a battle that struck Egypt 3,500 years ago but a terrifying storm. ibid.
Did the Thera eruption unleash climate chaos? ibid.
What ultimate weapons of destruction have ancient civilisation managed to create more than 2,000 years ago? Might the energy of the sun have been used against invading ships? Could a cannon powered by steam have crushed an enemy fleet? And might the ancient world have built a warship so huge it could match modern aircraft carriers? Ancient Impossible s1e1: Ultimate Weapons, H2 2014
The ancient world was not primitive. Their marvels were so advanced we still use them. ibid.
Egypt: This floating superweapon appears to have carried more people than a modern aircraft carrier. ibid.
How do you get a thousand-ton obelisk on to a barge? … [A. Make it an axle] Ancient Impossible s1e2: Moving Mountains
How did the Egyptians carve the world’s largest monument thousands of years before the Americans carved Mount Rushmore? How did the Romans build a dome bigger than the dome of the US Capitol building? And how were the massive stones of Stonehenge moved hundreds of miles across rugged terrain? Ancient Impossible s1e3: Monster Monuments
Over 3,000 years ago one of Egypt’s greatest pharaohs created this impossibly vast monument to himself at Abu Simbel at an imposing location on the Nile River. To this day it is still the largest temple ever carved out of solid rock. ibid.
3,000 years ago at Abu Simbel in Egypt there was no dynamite or power drills. ibid.
Yet the Egyptians built this massive temple with little more than copper chisels. ibid.
‘Today, the great Temple of Abu Simbel looks like it’s always been here. It is a great testament to the ancient builders who constructed it, and to the modern engineers who moved it.’ ibid. Comment
The Egyptians built more than a hundred pyramids across their kingdom. ibid.
The ancient world clearly had more than one great scientific thinker. These ancient geniuses came up with many amazing theories and inventions. Many believe their intellectual capacity may have matched that of great moden thinkers such as Albert Einstein. Colossal monuments, powerful ancient superweapons, and technology so precise it defies reinvention. Ancient Impossible s1e5: Ancient Einsteins
What incredible power-tool might the ancient Egyptians have used to create this mysterious cylinder known as Core 7? What precision instruments did they have to create some of the greatest treasures of the ancient world? Who created the world’s first multi-tool? And an ancient Chinese machine that would start the world’s first industrial revolution. Ancient Impossible s1e6: Power Tools
How could ancient civilisations have built huge structures in less time than it takes to construct the biggest buildings of today? Could Ancient Egyptians have produced thousands of chariots with assembly-line precision? Why would the Romans have created a massive underground industrial hell, where thousands of slaves never saw daylight? Ancient Impossible s1e8: Biggest Builds
Might the Ancient Egyptians have created a giant circular saw that could cut through granite? Julius Caesar it seems built a bridge across the Rhine in just 10 days and marched his Roman army of 40,000 over it. Then there are the secrets of the greatest harbour of the ancient world. Ancient Impossible s1e10: Extreme Engineering
Pharos, the Great Lighthouse of Alexandria: 400 feet high. ibid.
Egypt’s great pyramid – the only survivor of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Nothing on this scale had ever been built before. Exactly how a bronze-age society managed to haul and fit together two and a half million stone blocks is one of the world’s greatest enigmas. Today, archaeologists may finally be able to solve this mystery. Egypt’s Great Pyramid: The New Evidence, Channel 4 2017
Sourcing the 170,000 tons of high quality limestone to encase the Pyramid was Khufu’s biggest challenge. This could only be mined in far-away quarries. ibid.
Without the Nile the Great Pyramid would have been impossible to build. ibid.
The project was a truly international affair. ibid.
Egypt: land of the pharaohs, of pyramids, of mysterious colossal statues and vast ancient temples that are still unrivalled by anything that man has built since … Let’s look at how the ordinary people lived three thousand years ago. Terry Jones, The Hidden [aka Surprising] History of Egypt, 2002
People today still sleep on the rooftops under the stars. ibid.
They also had experts and technicians just as skilled as today’s. ibid.
A shorthand version of the hieroglyph … Papyrus grew in abundance alongside the Nile. ibid.
A balance between the sexes was all part of the balance of life in general. ibid.
Men wore make-up as well as women. ibid.
The ever-present spectre of death – and children were especially vulnerable. ibid.
Sharp practice in the Egyptian undertaking business. ibid.
Egypt: a land of hidden treasures, buried secrets and spectacular finds. Of all the Egyptian pharaohs one name towers above the others: Ramesses II. New discoveries are adding to our picture of this extraordinary king: warrior, builder, lover, god. He was depicted as a superman but who was he? The Great Ramesses: New Evidence, Channel 5 2018
Ramesses’ reign began around 1279 B.C. He died peacefully aged about 90, the father of about 100 children. ibid.
A relatively small man with a hooked nose. ibid.
His father Seti had built extensively … but Ramesses would outdo all his predecessors. ibid.
Ramesses’ grain stores were the powerhouse of his ceaseless building programme. ibid.
Tutankhamun’s spectacular treasures – they captivated the world for almost a century, but they still harbour hidden secrets some invisible even to the most expert eye. Until now. For the first time since they were discovered, all 5,398 of Tutankhamun’s treasures are being brought together in a new £750 million museum. King Tutankhamun’s Hidden Treasures, Channel 5 2018
The most important of those magical objects was the death mask … could it be true that this iconic death mask was never intended for Tutankhamun? ibid.
The gateway to ancient Egypt: Cairo. Today, Cairo is home to over 20,000,000 people. Michael Scott, Ancient Invisible Cities, BBC 2018
Buried deep within its giant pyramids mysterious towers and ancient fortresses. These monuments today are surrounded by the city of Cairo. ibid.
Sphinx: This is the oldest life-sized statue ever found in ancient Egypt … It was coated in white plaster … and painted … This is the scan of Khafre: the face of the Sphinx is superimposed on top. ibid.
The people who built the pyramids were free men. ibid.
There’s always been one of human history that has really captured my imagination. I’m talking about ancient Egypt. Almost a hundred years ago Howard Carter and his discovery of Tutankhamun crowned a golden age of tomb exploration. But right now the archaeologists are back. And the world of Egyptian tombs is as exciting as ever. Tony Robinson, Egyptian Tomb Hunting, Channel 5 2018
Some remarkable tomb discoveries which I’m about to join … John and Maria have been systematically revealing a large burial ground known as a necropolis … ibid.
I was hunting for the men and women who built ancient Egypt when Egypt was at the peak of its powers and the tombs were spectacular. ibid.
‘About 120 [pyramids] all around Egypt.’ ibid. expert
It’s one of the most famous and mysterious faces in history. A teenage pharaoh who ruled over ancient Egypt: Tutankhamun. But who was Tutankhamun and how did he live? And most intriguingly how did he die? Tutankhamun: The Truth Uncovered, BBC 2018
Valley of the Kings: The Egyptians started to bury their rulers here around 1500 B.C. Over the centuries, thieves managed to raid all of the tombs in this valley except one. ibid.
A hurried burial perhaps … Tut was around 19 when he died … suggests it was not a natural death … Had the young pharaoh been murdered? ibid.
The young Tutankhamun inherited a country in chaos and many powerful enemies. ibid.
So if it wasn’t murder, then what killed him? … This fracture happened so close to the time of death, it almost certainly links what killed him … The fracture just above the left knee … Chariot accident is one of the most accepted theories of what killed Tutankhamun. ibid.
A clubbed foot … necrosis of the bones … a painful disabling condition … Tut was a product of incest … brother and sister. ibid.
A sudden death and burial, an unusual and life-threatening fracture to his knee, a disabled foot from a disease which may have run in the family, and incest. ibid.
Each generation died younger than the previous one … Some kind of hormonal imbalance … ‘He might have had temporal-lobe epilepsy.’ ibid.