Lesson video

Hello, everyone, and welcome to your ninth lesson on ancient Egypt.

My name is Mrs. Tipping, and in this lesson today, we are going to look at why was Tutankhamun's tomb an important discovery.

In this lesson, we will learn about the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb and the incredible artefacts that were uncovered within.

So let's begin! Okay, so for this lesson, you are going to need to be set somewhere nice and comfortable so that you can capture all of that knowledge, and you're going to need a couple of things.

One of those things is an exercise book or a piece of paper, a pencil or pen, and finally your fantastic brains.

Now, if you haven't got any of those things, quickly go and grab them.

That was quick, well done! Let's get started! Let's have a look at the lesson structure.

So I'm going to start with some key words and then we're going to take a look at what the Valley of the Kings was.

Then, the next question explores who discovered Tutankhamun's tomb.

And finally, what was found inside the tomb.

And we'll finish with an end of lesson quiz! So let's take a look at the keywords for today.

The first word is reign.

My turn, your turn, reign.

Now this word reign means to be king or queen of a country.

So a king or queen may reign a country.

The second word is sarcophagus.

My turn, your turn, sarcophagus.

A sarcophagus is a stone coffin that was usually decorated with sculpture and writing.

And the third word is artefacts.

My turn, your turn, artefacts.

Artefacts are objects made by people throughout history.

So they're the things that are found, for example, in tombs.

So let's take a look at what the Valley of the Kings was.

So the Valley of the Kings can be found on the west bank of the Nile near Luxor.

During Egypt's New Kingdom, the valley became a royal burial ground for the pharaohs such as Tutankhamun, Seti I, and Ramesses II, as well as the queens, any high priests, and other nobles.

The underground tombs were well-stocked with all the goods a ruler would need in the next world.

So here you can see a picture, you can see the little holes in the sand there.

That's where the tombs were hidden well underground.

So, a quick question.

Where was the Valley of the Kings near? Was it A, Thebes, B, Luxor, or C, Edfu? Where was the Valley of the Kings? Shout out your answer, write it down, or point to the screen.

Which one do you think it is? The answer is.

Luxor! It is near Luxor on the west bank of the Nile.

So, though their entrances were hidden, tomb robbers and treasure hunters had raided many of the tombs so they still managed to find them and rob them.

But there were 62 tombs that were discovered by 1922.

And many thought that there were no more tombs after that.

They thought that that was it, but they were to find an amazing archaeological find in 1922.

And we're going to find out about that soon.

So I'd like you to pause the video now to have a go at this task.

Answer these questions.

When you're done, restart the video.

So let's take a look at the answers.

How many tombs were found in 1922? There was 62 tombs.

Where were all of the tombs? They were in the Valley of the Kings.

And what could be found in the tombs? Hmm.

Everything.

They had everything for the next world.

So you might've written down food or weapons or clothes and all of those things would be correct, but they would try and get as much as they could in those tombs.

Good job.

Now let's explore who discovered Tutankhamun's tomb.

In 1922, after six years of searching, archaeologist Howard Carter, who was funded by Lord Carnarvon, was about to give up hope.

One of his crew, a young boy who was actually a water fetcher, found a stair carved into the rock and he let Howard Carter know.

And that is how they discovered Tutankhamun's tomb.

Because of Tutankhamun's link to Akhenaten, which was a previous pharaoh, Tutankhamun's reign was struck from the record.

So his name was crossed out of all of the records and it said that he wasn't a pharaoh of Egypt.

And because of this, thieves did not know his name.

They didn't know who Tutankhamun was, so they didn't look for his tomb.

Therefore, his tomb had been preserved.

No one had found it and all of the treasures inside had been left untouched.

It was one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of the 20th century.

And when Howard and his crew entered the tomb, they found it filled with thousands of incredible treasures including a golden sarcophagus.

And you can see in this image here, these are the real artefacts that were found inside Tutankhamun's tomb that are now in a museum.

So I'd like you to pause the video now and have a go at this task.

So I'd like you to write a monologue, which is like a speech, as Howard Carter.

So pretend you are Howard Carter and describe what it would have been like looking inside the tomb of Tutankhamun for the first time.

What would it have been like? You could start your speech, your monologue, with, "After years of searching." What would it have felt like to be Howard Carter? When you're finished, restart the video.

So let's now take a look at what was found in Tutankhamun's tomb.

Now, we talked about Tutankhamun before in our previous lessons.

Now, Tutankhamun became the king of Egypt at just the age of nine.

During his reign, he was supported by lots of powerful advisers to help him restore Egypt.

Now, Tutankhamun unexpectedly died at the age of 19 and we don't know how he died exactly.

Now, although his reign was short, he still had many treasures.

He was buried in a poorly prepared tomb in the Valley of the Kings, but he had lots of amazing things to be buried with.

Now, the person responsible for his burial was a pharaoh named Ay.

He was the pharaoh straight after Tutankhamun's death and he is actually on the walls of Tutankhamun's tomb.

So here's a quick statement.

Tutankhamun died because of an infectious disease.

Is that true or false? Have a quick think.

Point to the screen, say your answer out loud, or write it down.

What do we think? It is indeed false.

It's false because it's unknown how Tutankhamun died.

It's suspected that he might have died of an infectious disease or even a fatal injury, but some historians even say he could have been murdered.

We're really not sure.

So, Tutankhamun is primarily known, he's mainly known for his tomb.

His tomb was Tomb 62, which was discovered undamaged in the Valley of the Kings.

Inside his really small tomb, Tutankhamun's mummy lay within a nest of three coffins.

So here's a diagram that's being drawn here.

You can see Tutankhamun's sarcophagus in the middle and those layers, okay? So the first one, the first coffin he was in, the first sarcophagus was made of solid gold! And the two outer ones were made of a gold hammered over wood.

Now, on the king's head was a magnificent golden portrait mask, and lots of jewellery and amulets were also inside the mummy and his wrappings.

Now, the other rooms were crammed with furniture, with statues, with clothes, with chariots, weapons, and lots of other objects.

So lots of different things.

I'd like you to have a go now to pause the video and have a go at drawing the inside of Tutankhamun's tomb and the different contents you might find within.

So remember to include his sarcophagus and what that was made out of, and then lots of the different other objects that were inside the tomb.

What do you think it would have looked like? And then restart the video once you're done.

So your inside of your tomb may have included some of these things.

You may have drawn the sarcophagus with the golden sarcophagus and then the two wooden ones on the outside.

You may have included any of the items in this picture here such as the chariots or food or jewellery.

As long as you've included some of those things, I'm sure you have drawn a great example of the tomb.

So, Tutankhamun's treasures, all of the artefacts have been carefully removed from the tomb in order to preserve them.

If they'd been left in the tomb, it's likely that there could have been even further damaged by the weather and the sand or even stolen.

Now, some of the artefacts were used in a really highly popular Treasures of Tutankhamun exhibit, which travelled the world in the 1960s and 1970s, which sparked something called Tut-mania.

That means people were really crazy and couldn't wait to see the amazing treasures that had been uncovered.

No one had seen anything like it before.

Now, not everyone could get the chance to travel to Egypt to see them, so when this exhibit went around the world, it gave everyone the chance to share in the incredible discovery.

Now, there are many people who study something called Egyptology and that is the study of Egypt.

Now, there's a study of Egypt because there's so much fascinating history that's been uncovered over the years.

Now, most of Tutankhamun's treasures are now housed at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, but some of them have been lent out to other museums in other countries, such as London.

And this is a very expensive and careful operation so as not to damage the artefacts.

Now I'd like you to pause the video to complete this task.

I'd like you to list two reasons why artefacts should be removed from the tombs and list two reasons why artefacts should not leave the tombs.

So, draw a table a bit like this one and name two reasons why they should be removed and two reasons why they should not, and then restart the video once you're done.

Okay, here are the reasons you could have had.

So, when the artefacts are removed, it helps preserve them and it also shows the world.

And then artefacts maybe shouldn't be removed because they belong to the Egyptians and maybe it could damage them.

So they've got to be really careful.

So, thinking about those reasons, I want you to decide now, ultimately, should artefacts be left in the country they were found or should they not be left in that country? So, I want you to write out an answer, answering the question whether they should be left in their original location or the country they belong to, or should they be allowed to go into lots of different countries? What are your thoughts? And when you're finished, restart the video.

Okay, great work for today! That's the end of our lesson and we've covered so much.

And we only have one more lesson to go so I hope to see you soon to finish your ancient Egyptian unit.

So until then, goodbye!.