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US-EGYPT-HISTORY-ARCHAEOLOGY
Thousands-year-old Egyptian sarcophagus opened on live TV
WASHINGTON, April 8, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – A sarcophagus containing an Egyptian
high priest was opened on live TV Sunday during a special two-hour broadcast
by the American channel Discovery.
“Expedition Unknown: Egypt Live” aired from the site outside Minya, which
is along the Nile River south of Cairo and its Giza pyramids.
Archeologists recently discovered a network of vertical shafts at the site
which led to tunnels and tombs containing 40 mummies “believed to be part of
the noble elite.”
After exploring other tombs — finding artifacts like statues, amulets,
canopic jars used to store organs, and other mummies including one that had
decomposed to a skeleton — they crawled to the chamber containing the
intricately carved sarcophagus.
It took the strength of several people to open.
And the team’s efforts had not gone to waste: inside was a pristinely
linen-wrapped mummy surrounded by treasure including gold.
“I can’t believe this, this is incredible,” exclaimed Zahi Hawass, an
Egyptian archaeologist and former antiquities minister, who had taken charge
of the expedition with American explorer Josh Gates as the host of the
broadcast.
A Discovery spokesman previously told AFP that the project was set up in
collaboration with Egypt’s antiquities ministry.
– ‘Like a royal burial’ –
Gates said the mummy was that of a high priest of Thoth, the ancient
Egyptian god of wisdom and magic, and dated to Ancient Egypt’s 26th dynasty –
– the last native dynasty to rule until 525 BC.
“Toward the end of Ancient Egypt, the power really was with the high
priests and you can see this… almost feels like a royal burial,” Gates
said.
Cairo has sought to promote archeological discoveries across the country in
a bid to revive tourism hit by turmoil after the 2011 uprising against Hosni
Mubarak. Asked by AFP about a possible financial deal between the channel and
the Egyptian state for permission to film and open the grave, the spokesman
for Discovery refused to comment.
“It’s a media spectacle in the end — but it could make people love
antiquities and is a good promotional opportunity for tourism, if done
right,” an Egyptian archeologist who asked to remain anonymous told AFP.
However, she asked: “If money is being paid by a major channel to the
ministry to show antiquities, where is it going to end up?”
“Will it go in the state’s purse-strings or end up elsewhere? We need more
transparency on where the money is going.”
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has overseen a crackdown on
dissent, banning protests and jailing Islamists as well as liberal and
secular activists.
He regularly evokes political stability to draw foreign investment.
The tourism sector has begun to return, with arrivals reaching 8.3 million
in 2017, according to government figures.
That still falls far short of the 14.7 million in 2010.
Discovery’s broadcast also comes with global interest in Egyptian
archeology generated by a “once in a generation” exhibition about the pharaoh
Tutankhamun, which opened in Paris last month and will tour the world.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1114 hrs