National Geographic: Mysteries of Egypt Page #4

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Well, certainly the workmen

believed it was the curse.

The death of the golden bird

was a bad omen to them.

It meant that someone close to

the project would die within the year.

Rumors of a curse mattered

little to Carter.

He hoped his dig would uncover

a tomb like this one

the tomb of a pharaoh

named Ramses the 6th

who ruled long after King Tut.

Carter wanted to find treasure.

But if not, something

just as precious.

Pictures...

hieroglyphs that would

reveal priceless knowledge

of how the ancients lived

and what they believed.

These images are from the

Egyptian Books of the Dead,

passports to eternity which

were buried with a mummy.

To help a dead king reach

the afterlife,

they supplied answers to

questions he would be asked

spells to deflect dangers

along the way.

But preparation for the afterlife

began long before death.

In grand temples once supported

by these pillars-among

the largest places

of worship ever built

the living pharaohs gave offerings

as a way of communicating

with the gods in the world beyond

and courting their favor.

Both immense and colorful,

temples like the great structure

called Medinet Habut

were the settings for

magnificent rituals

that proclaimed to all

not only the pharaoh's power and wealth

but his devotion to the gods

he would one day join

on a journey through eternity.

They sure seemed preoccupied

with life after death.

Yes,

and probably because

no ancient people enjoyed life

as much as they did.

There are picture stories

of invention and adventure

of board games and ball games,

of dance and music...

of acrobats and mechanical toys...

of the affection between

husbands and wives...

and of family unity and love.

It was the most advanced

civilization of its time...

and it went on for 3,000 years.

But the empire they

amassed attracted invaders.

Among the stories on

temple walls

are accounts of

battles against outsiders

who tried to conquer the

kingdom of the pharaohs.

But, the invading empires

became more powerful

even more determined

and so gradually, inevitably,

the kingdom of Egypt began to crumble.

Well, how could a place

as powerful as Egypt just collapse?

Actually, many things happened,

but mostly it was the weakening

of the pharaohs' power

through civil turmoil,

making Egypt vulnerable to invaders.

Little by little

much of the pharaohs' great

empire-along

with its secrets

was reclaimed by the desert.

But even as the monuments

of Egypt crumble,

the stories are rediscovered

by modern archeologists

deciphering the distant past.

Scholars and artists are

preserving the Great Sphinx for all humanity.

Research within the

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