EGYPT experts discovered an “ancient treasure map” that exposed the secret to how workers mined gold needed for Tutankhamun's extravagant burial.
French gold expert Thomas Forshee and British archaeologist John Ward embarked on a journey through one of the harshest parts of the Sahara, along the east coast of the River Nile. The pair were trying to explain how the extravagant amount of gold was transported to KV62 in the Valley of the Kings – Tutankhamun's final resting place. After hours of searching the Eastern Desert, they stumbled across an ancient temple, covered in inscriptions, giving them a glimpse into the past, Channel 4’s “Secrets of Egypt’s Valley of the Kings” revealed.
The narrator explained in 2019: “Ever since Carter’s discovery of these priceless golden treasures, archaeologists have tried to work out where the ancient Egyptians got the gold needed to make them.
“On the edge of the eastern desert, French gold expert Thomas Forshee and British ancient mining expert John Ward are looking for evidence of mining communities that could have worked the rocks here in search of gold.
“In the time of Tutankhamun, miners travelling into the desert would have relied on only a few water sources for any journey, so Thomas is starting the expedition at a temple next to an ancient well.
“Built to honour the well, the temple is hewn into the rock, its intricate decoration illustrates the importance the ancient Egyptians attached to this precious source of water.”
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Egypt breakthrough: How ’ancient treasure map’ exposed Tutankhamun secret
EGYPT experts discovered an “ancient treasure map” that exposed the secret to how workers mined gold needed for Tutankhamun's extravagant burial.
By CALLUM HOARE
PUBLISHED: 11:55, Tue, Jan 21, 2020 | UPDATED: 11:57, Tue, Jan 21, 2020
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French gold expert Thomas Forshee and British archaeologist John Ward embarked on a journey through one of the harshest parts of the Sahara, along the east coast of the River Nile. The pair were trying to explain how the extravagant amount of gold was transported to KV62 in the Valley of the Kings – Tutankhamun's final resting place. After hours of searching the Eastern Desert, they stumbled across an ancient temple, covered in inscriptions, giving them a glimpse into the past, Channel 4’s “Secrets of Egypt’s Valley of the Kings” revealed.
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The narrator explained in 2019: “Ever since Carter’s discovery of these priceless golden treasures, archaeologists have tried to work out where the ancient Egyptians got the gold needed to make them.
“On the edge of the eastern desert, French gold expert Thomas Forshee and British ancient mining expert John Ward are looking for evidence of mining communities that could have worked the rocks here in search of gold.
“In the time of Tutankhamun, miners travelling into the desert would have relied on only a few water sources for any journey, so Thomas is starting the expedition at a temple next to an ancient well.
“Built to honour the well, the temple is hewn into the rock, its intricate decoration illustrates the importance the ancient Egyptians attached to this precious source of water.”
The pair found a well in Edfu
The pair found a well in Edfu (Image: GETTY/ CHANNEL 4)
Tutankhamun's burial was covered in gold
Tutankhamun's burial was covered in gold (Image: GETTY)
Like an ancient treasure map, Thomas and John will follow the wells into the desert
Secrets of Egypt’s Valley of the Kings
Dr Ward was taken back by the discovery.
He said: “It’s beautiful, isn’t it? They applied a plaster gyp ceiling over the dressed sandstone, basing this on the Valley of the Kings and the tombs there, and then applied the paint and the pigment.
“I can’t imagine what it would have been like as a gold miner to travel all the way across the plain, stop here to quench my thirst and then think ‘I’ve got another 30 or 40km to go tomorrow’.
“It really is so bleak.”
The narrator detailed why the discovery could be key to understanding how the ancient workers managed to extract and move vast amounts of gold thousands of years ago.
She added: “The texts engraved on these walls reveal clues about the ancient gold miners and where they were heading.
“It shows that workers built a network of wells and rest stops stretching across the desert.
“Each a day's walk from the last, the wells allowed the miners to safely cross and explore the barren wilderness.
“The wells lead towards the mines and the areas where the miners worked and lived.
“Like an ancient treasure map, Thomas and John will follow the wells into the desert in search of the people behind Tutahnkahmun’s gold mining operation.”
The pair travelled for five hours through the Sahara Desert, until they eventually found what they were looking for from the “ancient treasure map”.
Dr Ward spotted something in the distance and the pair made a beeline towards it.
The archaeologist exclaimed: “What’s that over there?"
The pair had just uncovered an ancient mining site, unused for millennia.
The narrator explained: “Finally they have found evidence of a settlement.
“As they get closer, they see the tools that the ancient miners used to take the gold out of the rock.
"Seeing these basic tools first hand brings home the hardship the miners endured.”
All of the equipment used thousands of years ago was still in perfect condition.
Dr Ward picked one up, before adding: “It’s a pounder, that’s what they would break the quartz with.”
Before Mr Forchee added: "You have to imagine how much pain it takes just to break a single piece of quartz.
“Doing that all day long, in the Sun, pounding and pounding and grinding and grinding for years.”
The narrator explained how these tools would have been used by ancient Egyptians.
He said: “Evidence from the Eastern Desert paints a picture of the life of these miners.
“They cut shafts, stretching up to 10 metres deep into the stone in search of precious seams of quartz rock that contains gold.
“Crushing the quartz was a massive undertaking.
“Mining experts have calculated that a team of 20 people would take a week to process enough stone to make just a spoonful of gold.
“These remnants of the miner’s lives have survived unprotected thanks to the dry climate and isolation of the Eastern Desert.”
article originally published on express.co.uk
Tue, Jan. 21, 2020
