Of course, Tut had no way of knowing that he would die young. Nevertheless, he’d already started planning his tomb before his death.
Why?
The ancient Egyptians believed in an afterlife. Life after death was very much like life on Earth. In fact, it was even better!
The journey to the Land of the Dead was a difficult one. Not everyone was allowed to live there. A special book had magic spells that helped a person reach the Land of the Dead. The book was called The Book of the Dead.
THE BOOK OF THE DEAD
AFTER A PERSON DIED, HIS OR HER SPIRIT WANTED TO REACH THE LAND OF THE DEAD. A BOOK OF POWERFUL SPELLS AND SONGS WAS THOUGHT TO HELP THE SPIRIT ON THE JOURNEY. THE BOOK IS COMMONLY REFERRED TO AS “THE BOOK OF THE DEAD.” OVER TIME, THE BOOK GREW LONGER UNTIL IT CONTAINED NEARLY TWO HUNDRED SPELLS. IT COULD BE PURCHASED BY ANYONE WHO COULD AFFORD IT. IT WAS OFTEN ILLUSTRATED IN COLOR, AND A COPY OF IT WAS PLACED INSIDE A COFFIN, IN A TOMB, OR SPELLS FROM IT WERE WRITTEN ON TOMB WALLS.
A papyrus showing people standing in their garden praising Osiris.
THE MOST IMPORTANT CHAPTER DESCRIBED THE RITUAL OF THE WEIGHING OF THE HEART.
If the dead man had lied, the monster would eat his heart and he would not enter the after life.
Every person, even the pharaoh, had to pass a test. In the underworld, his or her heart was put on one side of a scale. On the other was a feather. If the person had led a good life, the heart would be lighter than the feather. And that meant the person could enter the Land of the Dead.
In the Land of the Dead, the person’s spirit would continue to enjoy all the same pleasures as before. Eating. Drinking. Hunting. Playing games. Going for boat rides.
A tomb was not just a resting place for the body. It was like another home, filled with absolutely everything the person would need or want in the afterlife.
Of course, poor peasants did not own many things. Nor could they afford large tombs. Often, poor people were just buried in the sand. But a royal tomb had many rooms, all of which were filled with treasures.
The tomb of Tutankhamun was very small for a pharaoh. It had only four rooms. That’s because it was meant for someone else. Probably a member of the court. But when Tut died, his own much grander tomb was not ready. There was no choice except to bury him someplace else.
The largest tombs of pharaohs are the three pyramids at Giza. The huge statue of the Sphinx is there, too, watching over the pyramids.
The pyramids were built long before Tut’s time—more than one thousand years before.
The biggest pyramid belonged to a pharaoh named Cheops. It took approximately one hundred thousand workers twenty years to complete. The body of Cheops was placed deep inside, in a secret chamber.
In ancient times, people knew that treasure lay buried with the body of the pharaoh. Unfortunately, the pyramids were looted. Robbers made off with the objects meant for the pharaoh’s afterlife.
Pharaohs who lived later decided to build secret tombs to keep robbers away. The tombs were underground hiding places. They had all sorts of traps.
Some tombs had stone blocks placed above the entrance. If the door was opened, the stone would fall and kill the robber. Inside, there were false rooms to confuse robbers. And if certain floor tiles were stepped on, they gave way, sending robbers down a shaft to their death.
But all the planning and all the traps did not stop thieves. Somehow they managed to find the tombs. They broke into them and made off with the riches.
Before Howard Carter found Tut’s tomb in 1922, people thought every single tomb of a pharaoh had been opened and robbed. That was why Carter’s discovery was such an important event. There always had been legends about the fabulous treasures of the pharaohs. Now there was proof.
The legends were true.
THE PYRAMIDS
THE PYRAMID SHAPE WAS VERY IMPORTANT TO THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. THEY BELIEVED THAT THE PHARAOH ASCENDED TO HEAVEN ON THE RAYS OF THE SUN. THE SHAPE OF THE PYRAMID WAS A SYMBOL FOR THE SUN’S RAYS, WHICH THE PHARAOH WOULD USE TO CLIMB TO THE AFTERLIFE. WHERE THE PYRAMID WAS PUT ALSO WAS VERY IMPORTANT. IT NEEDED TO BE UNDERNEATH THE MOST IMPORTANT STARS IN THE SKY.
THE FIRST PYRAMID WAS BUILT IN 2611 B.C. FOR A PHARAOH CALLED DJOSER. IT HAD SIX LEVELS THAT ROSE UP LIKE STEPS.
THE FIRST PYRAMID WITHOUT ANY STEPS, CALLED “THE BENT PYRAMID,” WAS BUILT ABOUT THIRTY YEARS LATER BY ANOTHER PHARAOH. BUT IT DID NOT RISE VERY HIGH AND THE ANGLE BY WHICH IT WAS BUILT
CHANGED DURING CONSTRUCTION MAKING IT LOOK “BENT”.
FIFTY YEARS LATER, THE LARGEST OF THE THREE PYRAMIDS AT GIZA WAS BUILT. ABOUT TWO MILLION STONE BLOCKS, EACH ONE WEIGHING AS MUCH AS FIFTEEN TONS, WERE USED. ALTOGETHER IT TOOK MORE THAN EIGHTY YEARS TO BUILD ALL THREE PYRAMIDS!
FOR A LONG TIME IT WAS BELIEVED THAT SLAVES WERE FORCED TO BUILD THE PYRAMIDS. IN FACT, THE LABORERS WERE HIRED WORKERS. THERE WAS A LARGE VILLAGE NEAR THE BUILDING SITE, WHERE THE WORKERS LIVED WITH THEIR FAMILIES. THERE WAS EVEN A DOCTOR, IN CASE A WORKER GOT INJURED. |