"Open the coffin?" Bi Fang looked surprised and looked around at the tomb that had not been neatly arranged and was filled with moisture. "Is this too hasty?"
When it comes to archeology, Bifang is a complete layman.
The reason why he seems to know everything about the ancient Egyptian tombs and is proficient in all aspects is entirely because he has learned this aspect of history well.
With the ability of the Memory Palace, Bi Fang could almost write down more than 95% of the contents of an Egyptian history book.
Before every adventure, Bifang does a lot of research.
The local flora and fauna, climate, and environment are the most basic. On top of that, there are also local folk customs. This is to facilitate dealing with residents.
Further up are myths, history and so on.
These contents can greatly enrich Bifang's live broadcast content. For example, when fishing, you can tell a local history, myth, or short story related to rivers or fish.
However, even as a layman, Bi Fang instinctively felt that it was not appropriate to open the coffin as soon as he came in. As far as he knew, the excavation time of some large ancient tombs could even be counted in months.
"I mean, don't you need to prepare anything?"
A middle-aged man with gray hair on his temples jumped into the pit through standing water, checked the integrity of the coffin with gloves on, and shook his head.
"There is not much need. You regard coffin opening as too mysterious. Normal coffin opening, if the coffin itself is not a work of art, but an ordinary coffin, is often done directly with a crowbar. As long as the internal decorations are not damaged, many coffins can be opened.
The reason why it is not open is that the application process is too cumbersome."
"I have opened hundreds of coffins like this."
【Hundreds?】
[Damn, this is an old man]
[A professional coffin opener, right?]
"This is Mostafa Waziri, the general director of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities. He is in charge of all this and the archaeological work. Basically, he can open it if he can."
Ambassador Liao on the side introduced Bi Fang's identity in a low voice. Although they briefly met above, Ambassador Liao was worried that Bi Fang didn't remember it, so he repeated it again.
"In November last year, he opened dozens of ancient coffins in public, and many reporters were present."
Bi Fang was surprised: "Dozens?"
Is this wholesale?
"Yes." Ambassador Liao nodded, "A press conference was held under a huge white tent opposite the Pyramid of Djoser. I went to see it at the time. It was indeed shocking."
On the main stage, dozens of sealed coffins and mummies were lined up one after another, exposed to the flashlights of the media.
The most incredible thing is that at the press conference, there were also cultural relic experts who "opened the coffin to conduct an autopsy". They opened the coffin containing Mu Nayin and used an X-ray machine to scan the condition of Mu Nayin wrapped in layers in public.
This operation shocked Ambassador Liao at the time.
Rows of pharaoh's coffins were laid out like cabbage in a vegetable market, and then opened one after another.
"That was from September to November. Over a total of more than three months, the archaeological team excavated more than 100 sealed mummies, sarcophagi, masks and more than 40 pagodas in the Saqqara ancient tombs south of Cairo.
-Sek, which is the statue of the main god of the ancient tombs of Saqqara."
Waziri in the pit obviously heard the "whispers" of the two people and said with a smile.
Bi Fang and Ambassador Liao had no intention of hiding anything from each other.
Even the breathing can be clearly heard in this confined space buried dozens of meters deep.
[Holy shit, more than a hundred tools were dug in three months?]
[If you don’t care, you will be fired on the spot. Feelings are worthless, right?]
[If you are in China, is there gold in ancient tombs in Egypt? Wait online, it’s very urgent.]
【Why, you still want to go there and dig it yourself?】
The upper chambers are already a little damp, and the lower chambers are even more so.
The air became much thicker, and the thick humidity mixed with the high temperature made it almost impossible to breathe.
There were water stains everywhere, and nearly a centimeter of water accumulated in the square pit where the wooden coffins were placed.
"Clean up the surroundings."
Mostafa directed everyone, and the entire cleanup process was orderly. It was obviously a complete excavation team that had cooperated many times.
Objects submerged in the water were quickly rescued and moved outdoors one by one.
The drone flew out of the cave, and you could clearly see a huge white tent being quickly set up, and the helicopter that originally sent people over also flew away.
Apparently there are more coming.
Several pieces of expensive gold utensils are covered with thick dust in the underground tomb, making them look unattractive. They can be moved outdoors and wiped, then shine in the sunshine.
"Because of their age, most tombs are dark and damp like this, and the groundwater level may also rise. Many times, the ground is submerged in mud, and archaeologists can only reach out and search for buried antiquities in the mud to ensure that nothing is missed.
"
Mostafa Waziri handed over a stone carving. He obviously said these words not only to everyone present, but also to the audience in front of the drone.
The reason why they decided to open the coffin immediately was that it was not unusual to open the coffin. It was not as careful as people thought, but opening the coffin immediately after entering did have certain risks and might cause damage to the internal objects.
But after the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities learned about the entire incident, it immediately decided to open the coffin directly on site, in front of Bi Fang.
This is certainly not to show a friendly image to the world or to please Bifang.
The fundamental reason is that no matter how stupid people are, they realize that this is an excellent publicity opportunity.
Why were dozens of pharaoh's coffins opened at the same time last November, and why were numerous media reporters allowed to observe and take photos on site?
If someone accidentally breaks a gold mask or a bronze sculpture, wouldn't it result in vomiting blood?
When there are a large number of people and the scene is noisy, this kind of thing is definitely possible.
In the final analysis, so many activities are aimed at attracting more tourists from around the world.
Money, it’s all about money!
Tourism is one of the pillar industries of the Egyptian economy.
According to a report by the International Association of Travel and Tourism, the output value of tourism accounts for 13% to 15% of Egypt's GDP and directly or indirectly creates 12% of the country's jobs.
This amount is extremely huge. Such a brilliant tourism industry is naturally inseparable from the Sahara Desert and, most importantly, the pyramids in the desert.
Every successful publicity brings a lot of benefits and achievements.
Bi Fang's trip across the Sahara was not a shady case, but he reported every country he might pass along the way. This is why after being treated as a spy in Algeria, the local police released Bi Fang after a little confirmation.
It has been recorded above.
It's just that the work efficiency of local people is really slow.
In addition, Bi Fang once used an identity coupon for wilderness traveler skills and obtained two certificates from the system. One is a hunter's certificate, which is universal and can hunt most non-endangered species.
The second is the permit. When Bi Fang goes to any corner of the world or handles related matters, he can quickly get approval from the local government, which opens the door to convenience.
Bifang had a glorious history of driving the tourism economy with every adventure. The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism, which had been notified long ago, was keeping an eye on him, waiting to come to Egypt, and then advertised.
What I never expected was that Bi Fang not only came, but also caused such a big event.
It’s still a great thing!
open!
Drive hard!
Isn't it just a coffin?
Pharaoh has been dead for thousands of years, but he can still make contributions to future generations. Shouldn't he be happy?
Therefore, Qiao also wants to pry open the pharaoh's coffin. The only condition is that he must do it in front of Bi Fang and in front of the live broadcast camera.
This was the notice Waziri received.
Otherwise, with his professionalism, he would not be able to open the coffin as soon as he came down. He would have to wait at least a few days to research and come up with a clue first.
With everyone's busy work, a clear space was finally cleared out of the deepest tomb.
"After all the surrounding things are cleaned up, we have to come to the most important step, which is to open the coffin."
Waziri's gloves were stained with muddy sewage, so he took them off and put on a new pair of white gloves.
White gloves can clearly show whether they are dirty and prevent damage to the integrity of the antiques.
"The environment here is quite humid. Even the entire coffin is soaked in water. Sometimes the corpse inside has also rotted for many years."
"It's okay if it's a set of remains. Some of them have turned into a pool of deteriorated sewage due to environmental reasons, and many funerary objects or clothes have been integrated with this pool of sewage. We can only carefully clean them out bit by bit. That process
You definitely don’t want to see it, it’s quite disgusting.”
Waziri carefully tied the ropes to the coffin, and then everyone worked together to lift it out of the pit and carefully carry it to the cleared space aside.
Seeing that they were finally going to do something about the coffin, the audience in the live broadcast room was extremely excited.
From the discovery of the ruins to now, this is undoubtedly the most anticipated.
Initially, the audience did not expect to directly open the coffin and see the real person. After all, it was a cultural relic and Bi Fang could not act rashly. But they never expected that it would happen in the end.
【The big one is coming, the big one is coming!】
[This is so fucking exciting]
[Who else, who else! The best in the live broadcast industry, exploring ruins and opening pharaoh’s coffin! 】
[It’s not necessarily a pharaoh’s coffin, maybe it’s just an ordinary nobleman]
[I won’t listen, I won’t listen, the person here must be Pharaoh]
【as long as you are happy.】
After Waziri and several other scholars lifted the coffin out of the ground, they took out a series of tools and started tinkering with the coffin.
"The ancient Egyptians had a set of elaborate burial customs and believed that this was a necessary step to ensure their eternal life after death."
"This set of burial rituals and procedures includes the making of mummies, chanting magic spells to liberate the souls, and burying them with special tomb objects that they think they will need in their afterlife."
"At the same time, the tomb rituals adopted by the ancient Egyptians have continued to evolve and develop with the changes of dynasties, economic and political developments, and other aspects. Some old customs have been eliminated, and some new customs have been adopted."
"Although there have been appropriate 'reforms' in the burial rituals of different periods, several important links in the burial process are still in use and have not been added or deleted at will."
"Although the specific details of these steps may change over time, the steps involved in making the mummy, saving the deceased, and preparing the tomb objects are the most important aspects of an Egyptian funeral.
The basic components will basically not change much."
"But we can intuitively judge its approximate period from these forms."
Bi Fang did not rush up to help.
Even if he was carrying the coffin just now, it was a sheer effort and he didn't move forward.
For these professional things, the best thing to do is do nothing.
Waziri next to him was explaining to the audience while looking at the coffin.
For scholars like him, live streaming is no different from giving lectures. They both teach people something.
"For example, in the predynastic period, the ancient Egyptians dug shallow pits in the desert to bury their dead relatives."
"Due to limited conditions at that time, coffins were not used, and the deceased was usually buried directly by bending the body and lying on its side. However, this would accelerate the decay of the body."
“By the end of the Predynastic Period, tombs with walls made of mud bricks and roofs made of wood appeared, the prototype of the mastaba began to appear, and people also used straw mats or baskets woven from willow branches for use.
To protect the body, sometimes wooden coffins or pottery coffins, which are simple and easy to obtain materials, are used.”
"It was not until the ancient times that coffins were gradually commonly used. Although archaeologists have not yet discovered the tombs of nobles or high-ranking officials at that time, we can judge from the coffins of ordinary people unearthed now that most of the tombs are just
Simpler wooden boxes were used, and even reed baskets appeared."
"In the Old Kingdom, burials with the body stretched out and longer coffins gradually became common, and there were two styles, one with an arched coffin lid and the other with a flat-topped coffin lid."
“Nobles or high-ranking officials sometimes wrap wooden coffins with stone coffins, similar to what we call ‘double insurance’ today.”
"Coffins are often carved or decorated with false doors to allow the deceased to enter and exit smoothly."
"Flat-topped wooden coffins usually have patterns or eyes carved on the head of the deceased, so that the deceased can better see the rising and setting of the sun."
"By this period, the ancient Egyptian tomb system was roughly formed. At the same time, the materials of the coffins used in the tombs became more abundant and diverse, and the types of words and pictures painted by the ancient Egyptians on the coffins also gradually
Be rich and colorful.”
"And during this period, which is when the pyramids appeared, we can see that this is a typical flat-top wooden coffin."
The flashlight shines on the flat coffin, and everyone can clearly see the eye-catching image on it, as well as the picture of the sun rising and setting.
[But what are those human-shaped coffins that we often see?]
[One thing to say, I don’t understand these periods (dog head)]
【Playing the piano to a cow belongs to yes.】
"The human-shaped coffins appeared in the Middle Kingdom, which is a relatively long time ago. At that time, the coffins of the ancient Egyptian pharaohs were somewhat like matryoshka dolls. They were not only double insurance, but were divided into three layers inside and outside, and each The first floor must be patterned in the image of the Pharaoh, and the Pharaoh’s name must be engraved on it.”
Waziri couldn't see the barrage on the drone. This answer was Bifang's answer.
Soon, the coffin became loose.
At this time, everyone held their breath and did not dare to take a breath. Tong Ren was trembling slightly and did not dare to leave the ancient coffin for a moment.
Waziri even looked up at the drone, and after confirming that the camera was focused here, he used his legs to slowly push the coffin lid open.
A shriveled and decayed mummy with arms crossed on his chest appeared in front of everyone, resembling the ancient Egyptian Pluto Osiris.
I don't know if it was an illusion, but Bi Fang suddenly felt a slight disturbance in the dull air of the tomb.
It's like a breeze awakening a body that has been sleeping for thousands of years and blowing away the mysterious veil of history.
It makes people stand on the shoulders of time and have a dialogue with history. This chapter has been completed!