What did the ancient Egyptian pharaohs hide in the pyramids?

When British archaeologist Howard Carter broke and opened the tomb of King Tutankhamun in 1922, he reported seeing “great things.” The tomb of King Tutankhamun was full of special treasures, such as the golden death mask of Tutankhamen, the golden throne, and even gold sandals.But all the royal tombs Ancient Egypt Do you have such a gorgeous burial item?

The answer is no.While Great Pyramid of Giza The other ancient Egyptian pyramids were incredible monuments, and the burial goods in them were probably relatively modest compared to those buried in later Pharaoh’s tombs such as Tutankhamen.

“The burial of the largest pyramid may have seemed very simple compared to Tutankhamen,” wrote an extensive study of ancient Egyptian burial customs and burial goods at University College London, Honorary Senior. Researcher Wolfram Grajetzki told Live. The science of email.

The pyramids were used as Egyptian pharaoh’s tombs from Djoser (c. 2630 BC to c. 2611 BC) to Ahmes I (c. 1550 BC to c. 1525 BC). Most of these pyramids were plundered centuries ago, but some royal tombs remain relatively intact, providing clues about their treasures, Grajetzki said. ..

For example, Princess Neferpter (who lived around 1800 BC) was buried in a pyramid at the location of Habara, about 60 miles (100 km) south of Cairo. Her burial chamber was excavated in 1956 and “contained a set of pottery, a coffin set, golden ornaments, and a royal insignia that identified her with the underworld god Osiris,” Grajetzki said. increase.

King Ho (who lived around 1750 BC) was not buried in the pyramid, but was buried in a similar set of objects, Grajetzki said. “Body [Hor] Wrapped in linen, the internal organs were placed in a special container called a canopic jar, “Gragetski said.

A photo of the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamen in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor. (Image credit: skaman306 via Getty Images)

The tomb of Queen Hetepheres, the mother of Khufu (the Pharaoh who built the Great Pyramid), is a little more elaborate. The tomb built in Giza has a gold-decorated bed and two chairs, pottery and miniature copper tools, and Grajetzki writes: article It was published in the magazine “Heritage of Egypt” in January 2008.

It was found that the lower structure of King Sekhemkhet’s unfinished pyramids (c. 2611 BC-c. 2605 BC) was not robbed by the book’s author, Egyptologist Leg Clark’s Sakkara.Eternal Security: Conservation of Ancient Egyptian Tombs from Prehistoric to Pyramids“(American University in Cairo Press, 2019) emailed Live Science. The king’s sarcophagus was empty, but archaeologists said in the hallway,” 21 gold bracelets, gold canes or swords, and more. I found “various gold jewelery”. According to Clark, these are impressive burial items, but they are not close to the wealth in Tutan Kamung’s tomb.

The relics found in these royal burials suggest that the pharaohs buried in the pyramids were probably buried in more modest burial goods than those buried in Tutankhamen, Grajetzki said. Unlike the early Pharaohs, the Valley of the Kings of Tutankhamen was in the Valley of the Kings. This is a secluded valley near modern Luxor, used as a royal burial ground for over 500 years during the New Kingdom. Britannica..

“This is he [Khufu] Was poor [than Tutankhamun].. His pyramid proves the opposite. He was just buried according to the customs of the time. ”

No major treasures have been found in any of the known Egyptian pyramids. “There was no big’treasure’in the pyramid like King Tutankhamun’s tomb,” scholar Hans Hubertus Münch, who studied and wrote about the discovery of ancient Egyptian burials, emailed Live Science. rice field. In addition, no tombs containing a large number of luxurious burial items have been found, dating back to the early days when the pyramids were built, Münch said. He said that during the New Kingdom era (c. 1550 BC to c. 1070 BC), when the pyramid building was over, the amount of luxury burial goods in which royal and non-royal individuals were buried increased.

During the New Kingdom, people tried to put a lot of gorgeous things into the tomb if they had the ability. “This huge mass of objects in the tomb is nothing more than an invention of the New Kingdom,” Münch said. It’s not entirely clear why they wanted to do this.

Pyramid text

Grave goods in the pyramids were modest compared to later ancient Egyptian tombs, but some pyramid walls had long hieroglyphic inscriptions, which scholars today call “pyramid texts.” increase. The text contains a number of “spells” (as Egyptologists call them) and rituals.

The Unis or Unas Pyramid (reigned from 2353 BC to 2323 BC) was the first pyramid to have these texts on the inner wall, while the Ibi Pyramid (reigned from 2109 BC to 2107 BC) was the last. In a known case, James Allen, a professor of Egyptology at the University of Brown, wrote in the book:Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Text“(Bible Literature Society, 2005).

Allen writes that the function of the Pyramid Texts was “to allow the deceased to become acquainted,” the spirit that exists in the afterlife. The spell was intended to reunite “ka” and “ba” — the soul of a person who believed that the Egyptians were separated by death.

The emergence of these texts “perhaps reflects a change or innovation in the thinking of the ancient Egyptian royal afterlife,” Allen told Live Science. In the past, documents like pyramid texts may have existed, but for some reason they began to be written on the walls of the pyramids during the Unis era.