1 00:00:01,398 --> 00:00:11,393 This series presents information based in part on theory and conjecture. 2 00:00:11,393 --> 00:00:21,388 The producer's purpose is to suggest some possible explanations, but not necessarily the only ones to the mysteries we will examine. 3 00:00:22,387 --> 00:00:37,380 Three thousand years ago, a nine-year-old boy was crowned king of Egypt, an empire which was one of the most powerful in the ancient world. 4 00:00:37,380 --> 00:00:48,374 He would become a rungatively unimportant pharaoh, involved more with the passions of life than the details of state. 5 00:00:48,374 --> 00:00:56,370 Yet in death, Tutankhamun would play a role in history far more significant than anyone could have imagined. 6 00:01:10,363 --> 00:01:16,360 Few places in the world are as forsaken and unchanging as the Sahara Desert. 7 00:01:19,358 --> 00:01:26,354 People's lives are simple, uncomplicated by modern measures of time and mortality. 8 00:01:26,354 --> 00:01:37,349 The peasants mark the passing of their lifespans by the annual rotation of pasture lands and by the seasonal tilling, planting and harvesting of their meager crops. 9 00:01:37,349 --> 00:01:43,346 For most, the present and future exist in the shadow of the past. 10 00:01:49,343 --> 00:01:56,339 The desert is the place where the desert is located. 11 00:02:04,335 --> 00:02:11,331 Symbolic of ancient Egyptian civilization are the enigmatic pyramids which dot the desert landscape. 12 00:02:12,331 --> 00:02:21,326 Giant monoliths, they are silent tributes to the genius of a bygone civilization. 13 00:02:26,324 --> 00:02:32,321 Many are now falling into ruin, but their crumbling walls reveal little of the purposes for their original existence. 14 00:02:33,320 --> 00:02:41,316 Most scholars are convinced that they were constructed as giant tombs for dead pharaohs. 15 00:02:44,314 --> 00:02:57,308 It is also documented that they became easy prey for grave robbers who either found or constructed their own passages within the mammoth walls so that they could strip the chambers of their precious artifacts. 16 00:02:58,307 --> 00:03:09,302 Realizing that the pyramids were being desecrated, the high Egyptian priests began diligently searching for a location where their royal tombs would go unnoticed and undisturbed. 17 00:03:12,300 --> 00:03:22,295 Across the Nile and 400 miles south of modern-day Cairo, the priests found what they had been looking for, a valley with imposing cliffs. 18 00:03:23,294 --> 00:03:29,291 An area that because it could conceal countless tombs would later become known as the Valley of the Kings. 19 00:03:31,290 --> 00:03:36,288 It was here that the modern quest would begin for the tomb of Tutankhamun. 20 00:03:37,287 --> 00:03:44,284 Just after the turn of the century, Egypt remained the keystone of the proud yet slowly diminishing British empire. 21 00:03:45,283 --> 00:03:50,281 Egypt's positions straddling the Suez was still all important to English military strategists. 22 00:03:50,281 --> 00:04:02,274 Yet for many Britons, the sprawling Sahara desert that dominated the country represented either a warm dry vacation spot or a land rich in archaeological treasure. 23 00:04:03,274 --> 00:04:13,269 The Rosetta Stone, discovered by Napoleon in 1799 and deciphered some 20 years later, finally provided the key to solving the riddle of the hieroglyphs. 24 00:04:14,268 --> 00:04:21,265 Written in Greek, Coptic, and in hieroglyphics, scholars were finally able to understand the tiny symbols. 25 00:04:23,264 --> 00:04:29,261 From pictographs and hieroglyphs unearthed during later digs in Egypt, part of the story of Tut would emerge. 26 00:04:31,260 --> 00:04:35,257 In search of cameras, wood from these facts recreate the days of King Tut. 27 00:04:36,257 --> 00:04:44,253 The boy had become crowned Pharaoh in approximately 1500 BC. Information about his reign remained sketchy. 28 00:04:45,252 --> 00:04:53,248 All that was known was that the priestly court advisors probably extended a great deal of control over the young boy called Tutankhamun. 29 00:04:54,248 --> 00:05:04,243 But one significant portion of the story had not been recorded. The whereabouts of King Tut's tomb. 30 00:05:05,242 --> 00:05:19,235 The Valley of the Kings had already yielded the tombs of many other Pharaohs. Thus it seemed a logical place to begin the search for the final resting place of the boy monarch. 31 00:05:24,232 --> 00:05:39,225 By 1921, Egyptian workers had excavated more than a dozen sites in the Valley of the Kings, vainly searching for Tut's tomb. 32 00:05:40,224 --> 00:05:49,219 The dream of finding gold, jewels, and other great riches in King Tutankhamun's grave seemed more and more an archaeologist's folly. 33 00:05:54,217 --> 00:06:07,210 Their work had been directed by a young, obsessive British civil servant named Howard Carter. His one passion in life was to find the tomb. 34 00:06:08,210 --> 00:06:18,205 Aiding him in his effort was Lord Canarbon, an English nobleman who had originally sought refuge from England's damp weather in the healthful dryness of the Sahara. 35 00:06:23,202 --> 00:06:29,199 For five long years, Canarbon had funded Carter's fruitless efforts to find the elusive burial plot. 36 00:06:30,198 --> 00:06:39,194 Despite the find of a new, more promising dig site, Canarbon decided to return to England, threatening to cut off financial support. 37 00:06:39,194 --> 00:06:52,187 For another year, hundreds of workers labored over the new site that Carter had found. 38 00:06:53,187 --> 00:07:05,181 Then, in November 1922, Carter made an extraordinary breakthrough. He wired Canarbon, at last, made wonderful discovery in Valley. 39 00:07:09,178 --> 00:07:13,176 Together, Carter and Canarbon descended the steps to the tomb. 40 00:07:14,176 --> 00:07:24,171 Both trembled with nervous anticipation. For each man, the passing moments meant that he was closer to fulfilling a dream. But what would they find? 41 00:07:25,170 --> 00:07:28,169 Would it indeed be the undisturbed sarcophagus of Tut? 42 00:07:28,169 --> 00:07:38,164 The royal seals had remained untouched. But did that mean that the tomb and its contents had stayed just as they were when hidden 3,000 years before? 43 00:07:45,160 --> 00:07:49,158 Finally, Carter felt the last bits of mortar give way. 44 00:07:49,158 --> 00:07:58,153 He peered inside and was stunned by the site before him. 45 00:07:58,153 --> 00:08:19,143 What do you see, asked Canarbon? There was a pause. Then Carter softly replied, wonderful things. 46 00:08:28,138 --> 00:08:51,126 It took the British and Egyptian governments the next 11 years to carefully remove and painstakingly catalog all of the objects from inside the tomb. 47 00:08:52,126 --> 00:08:55,124 But Lord Canarbon would not see even half of the treasure. 48 00:08:56,124 --> 00:09:02,120 By 1923, he would be stricken under mysterious circumstances. 49 00:09:07,118 --> 00:09:11,116 Prior to his return to England, Canarbon suffered a mosquito bite. 50 00:09:12,115 --> 00:09:19,112 Normally, such an occurrence would not cause great alarm. But the bite became infected and he finally succumbed to its effects. 51 00:09:20,111 --> 00:09:28,107 Interestingly enough, legend had said that the priests had cursed the Pharaoh's tomb and that those who disturbed it would die. 52 00:09:35,104 --> 00:09:42,100 Newspapers around the world announced Canarbon's death. Then, mysteriously, others began dying. 53 00:09:43,099 --> 00:09:51,095 Coincidentally, each person had either been associated with the tomb's opening or the examination of the objects found inside. 54 00:09:52,095 --> 00:10:04,089 For a while, the curse seemed very real. But the papers neglected to mention that Carter, who was the first to enter the tomb and hundreds of others associated with Tut, remained robust and alive. 55 00:10:05,088 --> 00:10:24,078 Today, there seems little fear of the curse. More than 7 million people in six American cities pushed their way into the Tut exhibit, eager to view the objects which had so astounded Carter and Canarbon, and there were no reports of mysterious deaths attributed to the curse. 56 00:10:25,078 --> 00:10:43,069 The nearly untouched tomb of King Tut that Carter and Canarbon had unearthed was unmatched in history. It spoke of beauty and elegance in a vanished civilization. 57 00:10:44,068 --> 00:10:55,063 The romance of Tutankhamen's curse unfortunately obscured the more significant story of Tut for nearly 50 years. 58 00:10:57,061 --> 00:11:05,057 We are just beginning to realize that his death may have contributed to one of the most powerful religious movements in history. 59 00:11:14,053 --> 00:11:29,045 Many Egyptologists believe that the pyramids provided final earthly protection to royalty during their transition from the material world to that of eternal peace. 60 00:11:31,044 --> 00:11:37,041 Dr. James Brashler heads the Institute of Antiquities and Christianity at Claremont College. 61 00:11:38,040 --> 00:11:50,034 For the ancient Egyptian, death was simply a transition from one theater of existence or one arena of life to another arena, which they called the West. 62 00:11:51,034 --> 00:12:00,029 It was the land to which one went after existence in this life came to a conclusion. 63 00:12:01,029 --> 00:12:11,024 Death was simply the opening up of a new kind of life that seems to have been conceived of in terms of a paradise. 64 00:12:15,021 --> 00:12:23,017 There was a pedigree of gods to be pleased and elaborate rituals had to be performed successfully before one could enter the Egyptian Garden of Eden. 65 00:12:24,017 --> 00:12:39,009 The common citizen did not possess such knowledge. Only the priests could guide people to life everlasting and their special skills gave them an extraordinary hold over the lives of the Egyptians. 66 00:12:44,007 --> 00:12:51,003 Whether ancient Egyptians thought that they could defeat death itself through the mummification process is not known. 67 00:12:52,003 --> 00:12:55,001 Scientists have carefully examined the mummies of Egyptian royalty. 68 00:12:56,000 --> 00:13:02,997 Despite concerted efforts, researchers remain mystified by the methods utilized by the ancients to preserve the body. 69 00:13:09,993 --> 00:13:16,990 Three thousand year old stone reliefs depicted the immense power wielded by the priest class in ancient Egypt. 70 00:13:17,989 --> 00:13:23,986 It was their responsibility to begin planning for a Pharaoh's death as soon as he became king. 71 00:13:27,984 --> 00:13:35,980 At the time of Tutankhamen's coronation, the priests remained the single most powerful body within Egyptian society. 72 00:13:47,974 --> 00:13:54,970 When Tutankhamen, a nine year old boy, came to the throne, the situation was ripe for change. 73 00:13:55,970 --> 00:13:59,968 Gerald LaRue is a professor of religion at the University of Southern California. 74 00:14:00,967 --> 00:14:07,964 Who worked with this malleable young man who helped to formulate his ideas we don't know. 75 00:14:08,963 --> 00:14:11,961 Perhaps the great court advisor I was involved in this. 76 00:14:11,961 --> 00:14:15,959 Perhaps there were priests from Thebes who reached him. 77 00:14:16,959 --> 00:14:24,955 His predecessor, Akhenaten, had moved away from the traditional religions of ancient Egypt. 78 00:14:25,954 --> 00:14:30,952 Egypt had enjoyed the freedom of worship of many gods in many different forms. 79 00:14:31,951 --> 00:14:33,950 But Akhenaten had made a change. 80 00:14:33,950 --> 00:14:40,947 He had moved from polytheism to monotheism, the emphasis on one god in one form. 81 00:14:44,945 --> 00:14:50,941 Following the death of Akhenaten, it is generally accepted that his belief in one god disappeared. 82 00:14:51,941 --> 00:14:57,938 The priests had discouraged its acceptance by the general populace because it threatened their position of power. 83 00:14:58,937 --> 00:15:06,933 But some scholars theorize that small groups clung to monotheism and quite possibly spread the idea across the desert. 84 00:15:08,932 --> 00:15:13,930 There was no way that the young child Tut could understand the religious turmoil which he had entered. 85 00:15:14,929 --> 00:15:16,928 The affairs of state unquestionably rested with the priests. 86 00:15:17,928 --> 00:15:23,925 With a child pharaoh on the throne, it would be easy for them to completely reinstate the old religion. 87 00:15:23,925 --> 00:15:28,922 Meanwhile, Tut wrestled with the normal problems of growing into manhood. 88 00:15:33,919 --> 00:15:41,915 Drawings made during Tutankhamen's reign often depict him with his young bride, the daughter of his predecessor Akhenaten and Nefertiti. 89 00:15:43,914 --> 00:15:48,912 Tut married his young bride when she was 12 and he only nine. 90 00:15:54,909 --> 00:16:01,905 Tut must have spent many carefree hours in the royal gardens involved with the whimsical delights that only young lovers can devise. 91 00:16:02,905 --> 00:16:09,901 As Tut and his wife on Kensen Patten grew up together, they seemed to have possessed a great love for one another. 92 00:16:11,900 --> 00:16:15,898 A poem read to Tut by his bride has survived 3,000 years. 93 00:16:16,897 --> 00:16:25,893 My love to thee is like the acorn which I have planted with flowers in the manner of sweet smelling herbs. 94 00:16:27,892 --> 00:16:35,888 And in the acre is a pool that in the cool of the north wind it is a lovely place where I walk there. 95 00:16:36,887 --> 00:16:43,884 Your hand upon mine, my body satisfied and my heart glad that our going together is as intoxicating as to hear thy voice. 96 00:16:44,883 --> 00:16:46,882 And my life depends upon hearing thee. 97 00:16:47,881 --> 00:16:52,879 Whenever I see thee, it is better to me than food and drink. 98 00:17:06,872 --> 00:17:13,868 Tut's great appreciation for life and his intense love for Akhenzen Patten would be cut short. 99 00:17:14,868 --> 00:17:16,867 He would not live to his 20th birthday. 100 00:17:23,863 --> 00:17:27,861 Scholars are not at all certain what caused the death of Tuttakhamen. 101 00:17:28,860 --> 00:17:37,856 The mummy itself was somewhat decomposed because of the excessive use of unguents and spices that the priests carried out. 102 00:17:37,856 --> 00:17:42,853 And therefore the physical evidence is ambiguous. 103 00:17:45,852 --> 00:17:55,847 Some who have investigated suggest then that the death of Tuttakhamen probably came as a result of respiratory ailments such as tuberculosis or pneumonia. 104 00:17:56,846 --> 00:18:00,844 Still others believe that his death may have been hastened by poison. 105 00:18:00,844 --> 00:18:07,840 I, the great court priest who was present when Tutt was crowned, now watched over the young Pharaoh. 106 00:18:10,839 --> 00:18:16,836 Whether he was a member of a possible conspiracy with other court priests to terminate Tutt's life is not known. 107 00:18:17,835 --> 00:18:20,834 Tutt was now 19, an adult. 108 00:18:21,833 --> 00:18:27,830 It is possible that the priests feared they could no longer control him and he might return to the ways of Akhenaten. 109 00:18:28,830 --> 00:18:34,827 Perhaps they wished him dead for his death, like his coronation, could serve them well. 110 00:18:37,825 --> 00:18:41,823 Their power over the religious direction of Egypt would continue. 111 00:18:46,820 --> 00:18:51,818 The priest was left behind, now made a pantheon of deities, the gods of Egypt. 112 00:19:16,805 --> 00:19:42,652 The 113 00:19:42,652 --> 00:19:47,649 more than 2,000 years ago to avoid persecution for his belief in one God. 114 00:19:48,729 --> 00:19:52,966 It is possible that Moses was influenced by those who had faithfully held to 115 00:19:52,966 --> 00:19:55,125 Akhenaten's belief in monotheism. 116 00:19:56,045 --> 00:19:57,164 Once Tut died, 117 00:19:57,564 --> 00:20:02,002 it can be assumed that the few believers who still remained faced the wrath of the 118 00:20:02,002 --> 00:20:02,841 priests. 119 00:20:07,279 --> 00:20:12,037 It is very likely that they became a highly committed nomadic group who tenaciously 120 00:20:12,037 --> 00:20:13,796 clung to their singular beliefs. 121 00:20:16,794 --> 00:20:21,272 Tut's death may have affected the entire sweep of Western thought and religion. 122 00:20:22,072 --> 00:20:26,349 Not even his priestly advisors could have envisioned such a dramatic place in 123 00:20:26,349 --> 00:20:28,548 history for their young king. 124 00:20:28,548 --> 00:20:41,142 The science of Egyptology is less than 100 years old. 125 00:20:41,861 --> 00:20:45,500 While the glory of the Egyptian civilization has been well documented, 126 00:20:45,939 --> 00:20:49,657 there remains much to be uncovered and understood about its sophisticated 127 00:20:49,657 --> 00:20:53,216 culture. With the unearth thing of each new artifact, 128 00:20:53,535 --> 00:20:57,094 our knowledge grows, not only about an ancient society, 129 00:20:57,453 --> 00:20:59,852 but its effect upon modern man as well. 130 00:21:00,652 --> 00:21:05,809 Only now are we beginning to appreciate how Tut's premature death may have had 131 00:21:05,809 --> 00:21:09,887 a significant impact on the development of the belief in one God. 132 00:21:17,003 --> 00:21:21,041 Coming up next in search of continues with a probe into the claim that the 133 00:21:21,041 --> 00:21:25,199 pyramids were not tombs for kings, but shelters against a holocaust. 134 00:21:25,599 --> 00:21:29,277 Then agents investigate the murder of mine workers union candidate, 135 00:21:29,277 --> 00:21:32,275 Jack Yablonsky and his family on FBI. 136 00:21:32,475 --> 00:21:35,034 The untold stories and later tonight, 137 00:21:35,194 --> 00:21:37,913 history's mysteries brings you the story of the roaring 20s, 138 00:21:37,913 --> 00:21:42,630 most successful robbers, the Newton boys at eight here on the history channel, 139 00:21:42,670 --> 00:21:44,309 where the past comes alive.