Bill Cooper - Excavating the Empty Tomb TV - Lost Tomb of Jesus? TV - Ian Wilson - John Milton - Shakespeare’s Tomb TV - The Greatest Tomb on Earth TV - Tony Robinson: Egyptian Tomb Hunting TV - Dan Snow: The Tutankhamun Mystery TV - The Hunt for Cleopatra’s Tomb TV - Tut’s Treasures: Hidden Secrets TV - Secrets of the Saqqara Tomb TV - Janina Ramirez TV - Lost Treasure Tombs of the Ancient Maya TV - The UnXplained with William Shatner TV - History's Greatest Mysteries TV -
In a fleshly tomb I am buried above ground. Bill Cooper
The practise of tomb veneration is ubiquitous. Excavating the Empty Tomb, 2013
The first Christians did not regard the place where Jesus had been laid as having any special significance because no grave was thought to contain Jesus’ earthly remains. ibid.
Why was Jesus’ tomb never worshipped until the fourth century? ibid.
There was never an empty tomb to venerate. ibid.
In 1980 archaeologists investigated an apparently unremarkable tomb under a building site outside Jerusalem. They found a number of ancient bone boxes or ossuaries and a series of names that sparked a sensational claim: that this unremarkable tomb could contain the remains of Jesus Christ, his family, and shocking evidence he wasn’t resurrected. But married? And that he even had a son. Lost Tomb of Jesus? Discovery 2007
‘Jesus, Son of Joseph’: this find sparked an international archaeological drama. ibid.
It was the names apparently etched on the bone-boxes inside that captivated those who formulated the sensational Jesus tomb theory. As well as the ‘Jesus, son of Joseph’ translation there were several other interpretations of names that led to the stunning suggestion Talpiut could be the family tomb of Jesus Christ. There was Maria in Hebrew, a form of Mary; another name was interpreted as Mariamne, written in Greek – perhaps another form of Mary. There was also a Jose in Hebrew, a nickname for Joseph. ibid.
But recently an ossuary appeared on the Israeli antiquities market bearing the inscription ‘James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus’ ... But subsequent investigations have cast grave doubts over the so-called James’ ossuary. ibid.
Even if the flawed translations are right, the apparently impressive cluster of names is actually statistically unremarkable. All of these names were common at the time. ibid.
The Talpiut tomb is buried beneath this concrete slab in a suburb on the edge of Jerusalem. ibid.
If a crucified man was buried at Talpiut, the signs would have been hard to miss. ibid.
Nowhere does he [Paul] mention the empty tomb. Ian Wilson, Jesus: The Evidence III, Channel 4 1984
And so sepúlchred in such pomp dost lie,
That kings for such a tomb would wish to die. John Milton
In a parish church in the Midlands lies the tomb of our greatest ever playwright: it’s only inscription is a curse. William Shakespeare’s strange-looking grave has long been surrounded by rumour and legend. Shakespeare’s Tomb, Channel 4 2016
The story claimed that a band of trophy-hunters had broken into the grave and stolen Shakespeare’s skull. ibid.
One of the wilder rumours – that Shakespeare wasn’t even buried at Holy Trinity. ibid.
Britain’s greatest dramatist was buried not in a grand vault but in a shallow grave without so much as a coffin. ibid.
The single largest burial site on Earth starting with its greatest treasure – the Terracotta Army. The Greatest Tomb on Earth, BBC 2017
New evidence suggests that the inspiration for all this could have come from the West. ibid.
They’re nothing like any figure made in China before them. 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 I II, 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
This 19-year-old boy king was laid to rest in his tomb in 1323 B.C. His mummified body hidden away behind that famous golden mask. Dan Snow, The Tutankhamun Mystery I, Channel 5 2020
Tutankhamun was one of the most powerful men on Earth. Like all pharaohs, he died wanting his name to live for ever. It was his path to immortality. But from the day Tutankhamun was sealed into his tomb in 1323 B.C. until the time he was uncovered by Howard Carter, the rest of the world pretty much forgot about him. ibid.
Luxor [Thebes] is about four miles that way on the other side of the Nile … Over here on the west bank of the Nile, this was a place of the dead. ibid.
By 1922, 61 royal tombs had already been discovered here … These royal tombs are absolutely astonishing, massive underground palaces that took years to build and were entirely dug out by hand. ibid.
Tutankhamun’s enormous empire stretched from the north of Africa to into the Middle East. This teenager ruled over 3,000,000 people. ibid.
25th November 1922: Howard Carter broke the sealed entrance to his tomb. As he gets inside what he finds is this: a gently sloping passage leading down into the bowels into the Earth: it was filled right to the top with rubble to try and deter tomb-raiders. The techniques they used to clear this passage are still in use. ibid.
And Carter replied, ‘Yes. Wonderful things.’ ibid.
It was and it still is the most incredible archaeological discovery ever made. ibid.
Evidence suggests he may well have had malaria when he died. Was this the cause of his death? … The femur, the largest bone in the human body, is completely snapped … This catastrophic injury would have almost certainly been fatal. ibid.
One way a young king could suffer such a terrible injury was in battle … The CT scan of his body suggested bone degeneration and a clubbed foot … Over 130 walking sticks were found in the tomb. ibid.
This mould isn’t seen in any other royal tomb: it only grows in damp conditions indicating the paint was still wet when Tut was sealed in his tomb. So the decoration must have taken place in the last few days before his burial. ibid.
So many things just don’t add up: a botched mummification, a small tomb, burial treasures not for him. And now last-minute art work. ibid.
Behind us is the Valley of the Kings, burial place of the most famous pharaoh of them all: Tutankhamun. He lay undisturbed right here under these sands for more than 3,000 years. Until they discovered his treasure-filled tomb in 1922. Dan Snow, The Tutankhamun Mystery II
Tut’s tomb was so small that first Carter thought he had only found a storage chamber. ibid.
On the edge of the Nile delta a major archaeological dig has begun. This is the search for the real historic Cleopatra: the leader, the politician, the scholar, and it’s attempting to shed more light on Queen Cleopatra and her dynasty: the Ptolemies. The Hunt for Cleopatra’s Tomb, Glenn Godenho reporting, Channel 5 2020
They were the last in the line of pharaonic dynasties that governed here for over three thousand years. They came to power in 305 B.C. and ruled for almost three centuries. ibid.
Not a single pharaoh’s tomb has been found in Egypt from the time of the Ptolemies, and there is little archaeological evidence from that period. ibid.
Tutankhamun’s spectacular treasures: now for the first time since they were discovered, all 5,398 objects are being brought together in a new billion-dollar museum. This will be the first time many of them will have been seen for a century. Tut’s Treasures: Hidden Secrets s1e1, National Geographic 2020
The arsenal not of a boy king but a warrior on the world stage. ibid.
At the heart of the investigation is a mysterious dagger found on Tutankhamun’s mummified body, priceless golden chariot decorations painstakingly reconstructed after laying in fragments for 3,500 years, and the leather remains of a curious armoured tunic. ibid.
Iron in the dagger’s blade wasn’t mined or smelted in Egypt, so where did it come from? … The iron in Tutankahmun’s dagger … [is] from the asteroid belt … a lump of rock and metal plummeted to Earth. ibid.
The evidence suggests Tutankhamun may have died far from home. ibid.