"Expedition Unknown: Egypt LIVE"
"Expedition Unknown: Egypt LIVE"
Discovery viewers witnessed history in the making in EXPEDITION UNKNOWN: EGYPT SPECIAL, as a team of Egyptian archaeologists and explorers uncovered a 2,500-year-old mummy of a high priest for the first time ever on television. In addition to the high priest mummy, two other mummies were revealed along with a treasure trove of antiquities. We take a look at some of the incredible finds that Josh and Dr Zahi Hawass discovered.
Discovery viewers witnessed history in the making in EXPEDITION UNKNOWN: EGYPT SPECIAL, as a team of Egyptian archaeologists and explorers uncovered a 2,500-year-old mummy of a high priest for the first time ever on television. In addition to the high priest mummy, two other mummies were revealed along with a treasure trove of antiquities. We take a look at some of the incredible finds that Josh and Dr Zahi Hawass discovered.
2,500 year old high priest
The sealed sarcophagus contained an exquisitely preserved 2,500-year-old high priest, a “Great of the Five Priest of Thoth,” covered from top to bottom with gold banding and other artifacts.
Singer Mummy
The second mummy was discovered inside the “Family Tomb,” the final resting place of an entire family from 2,500 years ago. While the second mummy was not a high priest or fully preserved, the objects inside the tomb and inscriptions on his sarcophagus reveal that he was a singer in the temple of an Egyptian god known as Thoth.
Canopic Jars
Found inside the 'Family Tomb' were Canopic jars, which were used by Egyptians to store a mummy’s organs, including the intestines, liver, lungs and stomach. The heart was left inside the body itself, as the Egyptians believed the heart would be weighed in the afterlife to see whether they had led a good life or not. The Canopic Jars were always decorated with the heads of the four sons of Horus: Imsety, Qebehsenuf, Hapy and Duamatef, as seen in the picture.
Also in the 'Family Tomb' was a Senet, or Ancient Egyptian board game. The game is divided into 30 squares with 3 sections and would have been played using a dice and pieces made from bone. The Egyptians placed it in the tomb to help the deceased's soul to get to the afterlife. It was believed if you won the game, you would go to paradise.
Josh and Dr Hawass also discovered a mysterious wax head that they believe is the exact mold of “Irt Hrw,” one of the high priests. Otherwise known as a 'reserve head', the purpose of this wax cast would most likely have been to be used in the afterlife as a back-up, in case the body was destroyed, which would cause the spirit to be lost.
The eyes shown above were found on the mask of the High Priest Mummy and are made of plaster-filled bronze. They were used not only to make the Mummy look more lifelike, but to help them 'see' in the next world.
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