Download The Valley of the Kings: The History of Ancient Egypt's Most Famous Tombs and Burial Site AudioBook Free
Africa gave go up to the first humans, and Egypt probably gave go up to the first great civilizations, which continue to fascinate modern societies throughout the world nearly 5,000 years later. Through the Catalogue and Lighthouse of Alexandria to the Great Pyramid at Giza, the early Egyptians produced several magic of the world, revolutionized architecture and development, created a few of the world's first systems of mathematics and drugs, and established terminology and fine art that spread across the known world. With world-famous leaders like Ruler Tut and Cleopatra, it's no surprise that today's world has so many Egyptologists. Given the plethora of funerary artifacts that contain been found within the sands of Egypt, it sometimes seems as if the early Egyptians were more concerned with the things of the afterlife than these were with things of the life span they experienced from daily. Probably one of the most abundant sources of these funerary artifacts is the Valley of the Kings, a royal necropolis located on the west lender of the Nile at Thebes. Here, pharaohs of the brand new Kingdom Period were buried in complex, treasure-filled tombs which were cut deep in to the cliffs that walled the Nile Valley. In lots of of the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings, elaborate reliefs were painted on the walls that depicted sunlight god and the lifeless king on the nightly quest through the underworld, that was known in Egyptian as the Duat (Wilkinson 2003, 82). These displays, which vary marginally from tomb to tomb, are known collectively by modern scholars as The Book of Gates because they depict sunlight god's quest through 12 gates or pylons, one for every hour of the night (Wilkinson 2003, 81). As sunlight god and the lifeless king travel through the night, they need to cope with various demons and a giant snake known as Apophis (Lesko 1991, 119). The Egyptians assumed this quest was cyclical, as they viewed time itself, so it occurred daily (Lesko 1991, 119). Though these tombs have been extensively plundered, they still stand as gateways to the afterlife that provide a murky windows into the past of a remarkable civilization. Most of all, the relatively untouched tomb of the young Ruler Tutankhamun offered clear information. Many of the objects which were uncovered in Tutankhamun's tomb were clearly made designed for him and his burial, including the coffins, funerary masks, canopic equipment and statues. Other objects, including the furniture, clothing, and chariots, were naturally items that have been used during Tutankhamun's lifetime. The motifs found upon a lot of his property depicted him in triumph over his enemies. For instance, a painted solid wood chest bears an excellent example of such a scene; the king is shown in his chariot, followed by his soldiers, attacking a group of Nubians. Scenes depicting aggression and triumph over Egypt's opponents by Egypt's king are classical examples of Egyptian kingship.
