Participants: David Down
Series Code: DUTP
Program Code: DUTP000026
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00:01 A discovery in 1922 of the tomb of the boy king Tutankhaman,
00:05 was one of the most exciting discoveries in the history of 00:09 archaeology. The only tomb of a Pharaoh found intact 00:14 up to that time. Thousands of priceless treasures, 00:18 tons of gold and the spectacular death mount are what we'll be 00:22 discussing in this program. 01:02 The Pharaohs of the 18th dynasty did not build pyramids. 01:06 They chiseled their tombs out of the side of the valley of the 01:11 kings. And they had long tomb passages with beautiful 01:15 paintings adorning the walls. At the end of the passages 01:20 they made their tomb chambers and they had a sarcophagus 01:23 in which they were buried, and so this is where the mummy 01:28 of each king was placed. That scheme didn't work either. 01:31 The tireless tomb robbers soon found their way into the tombs 01:35 and deprived them of all their valuable contents. 01:37 And so the officials of the 20th dynasty gathered the mummies 01:44 together and buried 13 of them in the tomb of Amenhotep II 01:48 and they took another 40 over to a shaft near the temple of 01:52 Hatshepsut and put them down there. That's where they stayed 01:55 for over 3000 years. In 1981 the tomb robbers were 02:00 apprehended. And they agreed to bring Egyptologist, 02:04 Heinrich Brugsch to the place where the mummies were buried. 02:07 And they brought him to this lonely valley and took him right 02:10 up the end there, up where those heaps of rubble are. 02:17 Huh, Well I don't know whether Brugsch found it as hard as I 02:20 did. The slippery shale, you know, you go one step up and 02:24 two steps back. Well, these fellows brought Brugsch 02:29 to this shaft here. And they said, Here it is. 02:35 And they produced a rope and they said to him, Alright, 02:39 you go down here 10 meters and Brugsch suddenly realized 02:45 he hadn't told anyone where he was going and these fellows 02:49 could just lower him down the shaft and then disappear. 02:52 Nobody would ever hear of him again. Well he looked into their 02:55 faces and said, Okay. They lowered him down this shaft 02:59 10 meters. He went 30 meters along and then his delighted 03:05 gaze rested upon 40 mummies, been buried there for more than 03:09 3,000 years. And they were all neatly labeled with the names 03:13 of the Pharaohs. They took them from here down to the Nile 03:16 valley, floated them down the river Nile and they're in the 03:20 Cairo museum today, also neatly labeled only this time 03:25 in English. In 1998 Victor Loret discovered the tomb of 03:32 Amenhotep II and he found all these mummies that had been 03:36 buried there and so he had them transferred to the Cairo museum. 03:39 In 1902 an American-he wasn't an archeologist, he was really 03:45 just an adventurer with a lot of money-did some excavations 03:49 here and he found the tombs of Harem Heb and also the tomb of 03:55 Tuthmosis III, that mighty conqueror, you know the greatest 03:58 of all the Pharaohs. You have to go up some steps now to reach 04:01 this tomb. It was right at the end of the valley. And then 04:04 you go down the valley into the shaft and at the end of the 04:09 shaft the sarcophagus is still there. Then in 1914 Davis 04:15 announced that the valley was exhausted, no more tombs. 04:18 He'd found them all. And so he relinquished his permit. 04:22 And that's when Howard Carter came into the scene. 04:25 Well, Carter wasn't able to start immediately because 04:28 the great war started; but when it was all over and the 04:31 shooting was finished, Carter came here and he started 04:34 excavating. He was supported financially by Lord Carnarvon 04:38 of Wales. And he worked here for six seasons. 04:41 Finally in 1922 Carnarvon said, Listen, we just can't go on 04:46 forever. And then Carter made that memorable plea, Please, 04:51 just one more season. A plea that was to make history. 04:56 Well, Carter figured that down there must be the tomb of 05:01 Tutankhaman. You see all the other tombs had been found. 05:04 Just one king of the 18th dynasty had not been discovered. 05:09 So he felt sure it was there somewhere; but where? 05:12 He went over every nook and corner in the valley. 05:15 Couldn't find a thing, and at last he thought, There is just 05:19 one place they could be. You see down there is the tomb of 05:24 Ramesses 6th and when that tomb was excavated for the king, 05:28 they took all the rubble and dumped it on the ground. 05:32 And Carter thought, Maybe, just maybe Tutankhamun's tomb 05:38 was under that rubble. So he set his men to work to remove 05:42 this mound of rubble. And he left the scene and one morning 05:47 he came back there. And from the deathly silence on the men 05:52 standing around looking he knew that something had been found. 05:56 And when he came up to it, they pointed down to a step 06:02 that had been exposed under the rubble. And Carter knew that he 06:07 had something. And so he ordered the rest of the rubble to be 06:12 removed and step by step it was exposed, until he came down 06:18 to a slab of stone which was a doorway and Carter's heart 06:25 leaped as he realized that the necropolis seal was on that door 06:30 Now you don't seal something unless there's something 06:34 valuable inside. But what? Was it Tutankhamun's tomb? 06:37 Or was it just someplace where they stored a lot of valuables? 06:41 Had the tomb robbers got in? He didn't know but he kept 06:46 on going and right down at the bottom he found the cartouche. 06:51 That means the name of Tutankhamun. He still couldn't 06:55 be sure. But he figured there was something there. 06:58 So he fired off a telegram to Lord Carnarvon back in Wales 07:01 and said, You better come! And so Carnarvon and his daughter 07:05 Lady Evelyn came. In the meantime what did Carter do? 07:08 He filled the whole thing back in again so that you wouldn't 07:11 know that there was anything there. Well, when Carnarvon 07:15 came, of course the press turned up and all the officials and 07:19 so once more they removed all the rubble there and exposed 07:23 the steps and here was this door. And that's when Carter 07:28 took a hammer and a chisel and he began to make a hole 07:32 in the door. And when he did he discovered that inside 07:37 the tomb passage was filled with rubble except for one corner 07:41 where obviously the tomb robbers had got in. So the tomb robbers 07:45 had been in there. How much did they get? 07:48 Did they get everything? Or did they leave something behind? 07:51 Well, all the rubble was taken out of that tomb passage 07:54 and then they came to another door. And then came the exciting 07:59 moment when Carter took another hammer and chisel and he 08:03 hammered a hole there. And at last he took a candle, 08:08 put it inside to make sure there no poisonous gasses 08:12 that were going to asphyxiate him and then he peered inside. 08:17 There was a silence and a pause that was deafening and at last 08:22 Carnarvon couldn't bear the suspense any longer and he said, 08:25 can you say anything? And Carter whose eyes had now become 08:30 accustomed to the gloom, said, Yes many wonderful things. And 08:36 that was the understatement of the century. 08:39 One of the best known items that was found in this anti- 08:43 chamber was a beautiful throne of Tutankhamun. On the back of 08:48 that throne is depicted Tutankhamun with his lovely 08:51 young wife Ankhesenamun offering incense of perfume to him. 08:56 Then there was this treasure chest which was beautifully 09:01 inlaid and had a scene on the side of it of Tutankhamun 09:05 in his war chariot fighting his enemies. 09:08 And then there was this Anubis, the jackal or god of the dead, 09:13 a statue of him. Tutankhamun had a footstool, in fact he had 09:17 two footstools. There was this one here and then there was 09:22 the other one with two Nubian heads on it, indicating you know 09:26 that he put his feet on these Nubian famed Richard Kushites 09:29 There was a beautiful bracelet with a beetle you know the 09:34 scarab beetle on it and then was this chess board. You know he 09:38 apparently played sort of a game like chess. There were these two 09:41 lovely alabaster statues and his Hathor couch. That means the 09:47 couch on which he used to lie and it was shaped like the 09:52 goddess Hathor. Now there these two daggers, one was gold 09:57 and one was iron and of course of the two, the iron one was the 10:00 more valuable because iron was more difficult to obtain. 10:04 Beautiful touch pendant and then the scene of his wife 10:09 and himself in the garden among all the beautiful flowers. 10:14 And then there was the statue, an ebony statue sort standing 10:19 guard over the place. There was his Canopic shrine and the four 10:24 little statues in which the Canopic contents were placed. 10:30 And then there was the shrine with the 4 cherubim guarding it, 10:35 And his alabaster cups and then his inlaid chair, 10:41 beautiful thing, and this magnificent cup which was 10:46 - it had pictures inside it. When you put a light inside 10:50 it is just beautiful shining through the translucent 10:53 alabaster. And Tutankhamun's golden gods and then this lovely 11:00 pendant that hung around his neck around his breast, and 11:05 then there was his hippo couch like a hippopotamus and his 11:10 beautiful alabaster drinking cup. He had a golden fan. 11:16 There used to be ostrich feathers out the top of it. 11:19 But of course they have disintegrated, but the golden 11:22 fan beautifully inscribed has been left behind. There were two 11:26 chariots there golden plated. And his Nubian dancing girls. 11:31 And another chair that he had. And another breast plate of the 11:37 vulture god. There was a strange little image made of 11:42 solid gold that was actually his father that is Amenophis III 11:48 Apparently when this idol was just a boy. How he got in the 11:52 tomb, nobody knows. And then there were his Canopic urns 11:56 and his headdress, you know we like a nice soft pillow. 12:02 And in those days they had a stone for their headrest. 12:05 And here is Tutankhamun's headdress, made out of ground 12:08 glass sort of stuck together. Then there was his bracelet. 12:13 also with Scarab beetles on it and his golden bird 12:18 representing the flight of his soul. Then there was another 12:21 couch, a golden couch. All these things and many more, 12:25 more than 2,000 items were in his outer ante chamber 12:29 and then when Carter broke down the partition wall and looked 12:33 into his tomb, all he could see was a solid wall of gold. 12:38 He didn't know what it was at first. But then he went around 12:41 to the end and opened up the doors and there inside that 12:46 was another golden box. Inside that another golden box. 12:51 Inside that another golden box. Four of them altogether. 12:56 And inside that, there was the sarcophagus of stone. 13:00 He lifted the lid of that and inside that was a beautiful 13:03 golden coffin and under the lid of that was another golden 13:07 coffin and under the lid of that yet another golden coffin. 13:11 And finally Tutankhamun's beautiful death mask. 13:17 All of these are just part of the treasure of Tutankhamun's 13:21 tomb. Well Tutankhamun really did have a magnificent burial. 13:28 And remember that his tomb was one of the simplest in the 13:31 valley of the kings. Can you imagine what the others 13:34 must have been like! Would you like to have a burial like that? 13:37 Well, Moses could have. You know the story of Moses? 13:41 Pharaoh's daughter came down to the river one day and she saw 13:46 a little basket floating among the reeds. You see Pharaoh had 13:50 made a decree that all the male babies were to be thrown 13:52 into the river. And this family had fulfilled the letter of the 13:57 law, but not exactly the spirit. They had taken the precaution 14:01 first of putting their baby in a water proof basket before 14:04 they threw him into the river. And Pharaoh's daughter came 14:07 down there and saw this little basket with this little baby 14:11 weeping and it touched her mother's heart. you see she 14:13 didn't have any children of her own. She was down there 14:15 worshipping the river god, the fertility god Hapi. And so 14:20 she determined to take this little baby and make it the 14:24 future heir to the throne of the Pharaoh. Well, Moses grew up 14:30 in an environment like this, you know. He could have become 14:34 the Pharaoh. He could have been a mummy in the Cairo museum. 14:37 He could have been buried in a royal tomb like Tutankhamun. 14:41 But Moses made a choice. Its recorded in the book of Hebrews, 14:46 and in chapter 11. It says, By faith Moses when he became 14:51 of age refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. 14:54 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of 14:57 God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the 15:02 reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures 15:04 in Egypt for he looked to the reward. 15:07 Do you think it was a good choice? 15:10 We're on top of mount Tabor and this is the traditional site 15:16 for the transfiguration. In fact behind me is the church that 15:21 is supposed to mark the spot where this transfiguration 15:24 took place. And just in case you're a little rusty on what 15:28 happened up here, let me read to you from Matthew chapter 17, 15:31 and from verse one onwards, where it says, Now after 6 days, 15:36 Jesus took Peter, James and John his brother, brought 15:40 them up on a high mountain, by themselves and was 15:43 transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun and his 15:48 clothes became as white as the light. And behold Moses 15:51 and Elijah appeared to them talking with him. 15:55 Alright, well now, we are told here that Moses and Elijah were 15:59 on the mount of Transfiguration with Jesus. How did they get 16:02 here? No problem about Elijah, of course, because the biblical 16:05 account tells that Elijah was taken straight to heaven before 16:09 he died. But haven't' we already noticed that Moses died and was 16:13 buried on Mount Nebo? Then how come he is here, Alive? 16:17 There are two verses that I want to read to you that I think 16:21 are significant in this connection. The first one is 16:24 in the book of Romans, and in chapter 5, verse 14. It says, 16:28 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses. Alright, 16:32 apparently there was something happened at the time of Moses 16:36 that ruined the reign of death. And what was it? I'm turning 16:42 over here to the book of Jude, the little book of Jude, and 16:45 in verse 9 where it says, Yet Michael the archangel, 16:48 in contending with the devil, he disputed about the body of 16:52 Moses. Now there was some argument about the body of Moses 16:56 and the devil was objecting. What was it? Up until the time 17:00 of Moses nobody had ever come back from the dead. Nobody had 17:05 ever risen from the dead, bodily and when Michael the archangel 17:09 came down to raise Moses from the dead naturally the devil was 17:13 very upset about it and he disputed it. But all that God 17:17 said was, The Lord rebuke thee, Satan. And so apparently Moses 17:22 was raised bodily from the dead. And so when Jesus Christ stood 17:27 on the mount of transfiguration Moses and Elijah came down 17:31 and were able to talk to him on this mountain 17:38 Moses, then was alive. He's alive today. 17:41 And isn't it a lot better than being a cold stiff mummy in 17:47 the Cairo Museum? No matter how fabulous a burial he might have 17:51 had. He could have had all the riches in the world bestowed 17:54 upon his body, but if he's still in the Cairo Museum, that's not 17:58 nearly as good as being alive, Is it? Alive and living forever. 18:02 So Moses made the right choice, don't you think? 18:08 And everyone of us will have to make a choice. 18:11 I have to make a choice. You have to make a choice. 18:14 We've all got to make a choice. We need to choose to follow 18:19 Christ and believe in Him. We need to choose to keep His 18:23 true Sabbath Day. We need to choose to follow His example 18:28 and be baptized. You might say, Well, is it really necessary? 18:34 Does it really matter? It certainly does. 18:38 In Hebrews, chapter 10 and in verse 26, it says, For if we sin 18:44 willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, 18:47 there remains no longer a sacrifice for sins. 18:51 Well, Christ has made the sacrifice for our sins. 18:55 But it tells us that if we sin willfully, that means, if we do 19:01 continue to do something that we know we should not be doing, 19:05 or continue any course that is contrary to the word of God, 19:08 when we know that we shouldn't follow that course, It says, 19:11 Christ's sacrifice does not avail for us. 19:13 In fact it goes on to say here in Hebrews, chapter 10, 19:19 Anyone who has rejected Moses law dies without mercy 19:24 on the testimony of 2 or 3 witnesses. Of how much worse 19:27 punishment do you suppose will he be thought worthy who has 19:31 trampled the Son of God under foot and insulted the Spirit 19:35 of grace? You see the Spirit of grace, God's Spirit, speaks to 19:38 our hearts and tells us, This is the way. Walk in it. 19:42 Do what is right. Keep God's commandments. Follow Christ in 19:45 all things. And if we don't do that, we are really insulting 19:49 the Spirit of grace. Jesus Christ gave a rather serious 19:53 statement over here in the book of Matthew and in chapter 12, 19:59 where he says, Therefore I say to you, Every sin and blasphemy 20:04 will be forgiven men, but the Blasphemy against the Spirit 20:07 will not be forgiven men. Its a terrible thing to think 20:10 that there is a sin that can't be forgiven. 20:12 And what is that sin? It says, Anyone who speaks a word 20:17 against the Son of man, it will be forgiven him, but whoever 20:19 speaks against the Holy Spirit it will not be forgiven him. 20:22 Now how do we commit this sin against the Holy Spirit? 20:25 Its like Pharaoh, hardening his heart against the voice of the 20:29 Spirit of God. And if the Spirit of God is telling you to do 20:31 something, whether it be to accept Christ or whether 20:35 it be to keep his true Sabbath day or whether it be to 20:38 be baptized and you say, No, I'm not going to listen to that 20:42 Spirit, you are then committing the sin against the Holy Spirit. 20:47 In Proverbs, chapter 14 it says, verse 12, There is a way which 20:53 seems right to a man but its end is the way of death. Some people 20:57 think, Well, it seems alright to me. Don't trust to what seems 21:02 alright. There's only one safe thing to do and that's, Do what 21:07 the bible tells you to do. Well when is the right time to make 21:14 such a decision? There's really only one time. And that's now. 21:19 there's a verse in Isaiah that says, Seek the Lord while he 21:24 may be found. Call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked 21:28 forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. 21:31 Let him return to the Lord and he will have mercy on him, 21:34 and to our God for he will abundantly pardon. 21:38 So there's only one real time to do it. Make the decision 21:42 now. Its the only safe time to make it and if you make that 21:46 decision now, there's one thing I want to tell you. 21:48 The Lord Jesus Christ is waiting for you now. 21:54 Petra, the rose red city, half as old time is next 21:58 on our itinerary. The tombs and temples carved out of the solid 22:02 rock has to be seen to be believed. 22:04 And Petra was another of those great cities that was lost and 22:08 only discovered in the 19th century. |
Revised 2014-12-17