00:00We all know some iconic symbols. The Statue of Liberty screams USA. The Eiffel Tower represents Paris. And this mask?
00:09Undoubtedly, it's Tutankhamun's, right?
00:13Sometimes it feels like historians have squeezed every last drop out of the King Tut story.
00:18But guess what? The most obvious details often slip right under our noses.
00:23Like the fact that this famous mask didn't actually belong to him, nor was it ever meant for him.
00:30Stick with me for the details. Can we get a close-up of that mask? Thanks.
00:35See those holes? Yep, they're for earrings.
00:39And no, it's not that they had anything against jewelry.
00:42But back in ancient Egypt, earrings were typically worn by high-status women or kids.
00:49Now, if you know your history, you might say, but Tut was a boy king, wasn't he?
00:54You're spot on. He began his reign at just 9 years old.
00:59Sadly, that didn't last long as he passed away at a very young age.
01:04So when he was 9, he might have worn earrings, but he probably took them off when he hit that no-earrings age.
01:10Sounds reasonable, right? Actually, not quite.
01:14That would have been pretty strange since nobody expected him to pass away young. Certainly not at 9.
01:21So no one was preparing a kid's mask for a burial.
01:24It's this untimely demise that suggests the mask used was simply the best option available when Tut passed away.
01:32There are more clues pointing to the idea that the mask was found in a hurry.
01:37Let's think about this. Even though Tut was mummified and his body could wait a bit,
01:42his loved ones wanted him to reach the afterlife ASAP.
01:46Some experts even believe the paint in the tomb was still wet when it was sealed.
01:50But look at his mask. It's a masterpiece.
01:54There's no way it was made in a rush. It's way more elaborate than other simpler cartonnage pieces.
02:00The renowned mask of King Tut stands 21 inches tall, adorned with precious stones,
02:06and features a golden beard that weighs 5.5 pounds, making the entire mask 22.5 pounds.
02:14Ok, I'm a bit confused here. So it seems like it was probably a kid's mask, but it had a beard?
02:21I've never seen a 9-year-old with a goatee, and I'm guessing you haven't either.
02:25Just think about it. A grown man's face compared to a kid's face.
02:30Fun fact for you. Our faces pretty much stopped growing at the age of 16.
02:34So by 19, Tut would have definitely had the face of an adult man.
02:39Can you imagine trying to fit a relatively small kid's mask on a grown man?
02:44That would have been super embarrassing. And no one would have let that happen.
02:49Right, let's dismiss the kid's theory.
02:52Now the second option, if you remember, is that the mask could have originally belonged to a woman.
02:58This is where the beard theory comes into play.
03:01Some researchers believe the beard might have been added later on.
03:05Here's another twist. What if the mask was actually made for Nefertiti herself, who ended up maskless?
03:13In this case, there are two discoveries. Ahem, two birds with one stone.
03:18For now it sounds like a conspiracy theory, I know, but let's give it a shot and delve deeper into the details.
03:26So, Tut passed away in around 1323 BCE, probably due to malaria.
03:32He had other health issues too, like when he broke his leg, and records suggest he wasn't in the best shape.
03:38As for Nefertiti, we have no solid data about her demise.
03:42Plus, nobody knows exactly when or where she was buried.
03:46The supposed year when she passed away is around 1330 BCE,
03:51but she could have lived longer, and the mask was intended and prepared for her.
03:55Or maybe they just took her mask right from the burial chamber.
03:59After all, they were family. Well, sort of.
04:03She was said to be his stepmom, having been married to Akhenaten, who was likely Tut's father.
04:08But this is not 100% accurate. Some scientists doubt it.
04:11Ah, these ancient Egyptian families. It's hard to keep track of who's who.
04:16I know, you're not yet convinced that Tut wore a lady's mask.
04:20Let me share one more theory with you.
04:23Meet Howard Carter, the enthusiastic archaeologist who discovered Tutankhamen's tomb.
04:29It was located in the Valley of Kings outside Luxor, and, to everyone's surprise, was nearly intact.
04:36When he entered, he noticed something odd.
04:39This didn't feel like a pharaoh's burial chamber.
04:42It was classy and all, but it had a vibe that suggested it was made for a woman.
04:47Typically, Egyptian pharaohs had larger tombs that suited them better, and, even more strangely,
04:53it was oriented to the right of the entrance.
04:56This didn't add up.
04:58That orientation was typical for female chambers, which Egyptian queens used.
05:03Another red flag was that the chamber appeared to have been built in stages,
05:08and all the artifacts, around 2,000 of them, seemed hastily placed there.
05:13Even more curious, they looked like they were meant for other royals.
05:19Carter discovered this burial site in 1922, but it remained a mystery as to why it was so bizarre.
05:26Almost a century later, Nicholas Reeves thought he may have solved the puzzle.
05:31He claimed that King Tut might not have been the original resident of the tomb.
05:35Instead, he suggested that the undisturbed resting place of the legendary Queen Nefertiti
05:41could be hidden behind the walls of the boy king's burial chamber.
05:47Nicholas studied high-resolution photos for months, meticulously examining every pixel.
05:53One day, he focused on detailed scans that revealed the texture of the tomb's walls beneath layers of paint.
05:59He spotted what he believed to be outlines of two doorways that had been blocked and plastered over,
06:05to hide them from view.
06:07The more he looked, the more it seemed real.
06:10Could it be a tomb within a tomb?
06:13Nicholas theorized there was a hidden storeroom behind the western wall of King Tut's tomb,
06:18and his chamber might just be the outermost section of a larger, corridor-style network of rooms.
06:25It all sounds fancy, but sorry to break it to you, Reeves' theory was debunked.
06:30To find out if he was onto something, experts had to use ground-penetrating radar to see the unseen.
06:36Reeves' idea was that if there were gaps, it could indicate the presence of additional rooms.
06:42And at first, in 2015, one expert even thought he had found a hidden room.
06:48But the glory didn't last for long.
06:50A year later, after double-checking, it turned out there were no hidden doorways.
06:55By the way, Nefertiti isn't the only legendary woman from Egypt whose burial site remains a captivating mystery.
07:04There's a cool legend about Cleopatra that you might enjoy.
07:08It's said that she once declared,
07:11No man will ever find my tomb.
07:13Kind of fitting, right?
07:15After all, the person who's come closest to uncovering her final resting place is a woman.
07:21Fast forward a few millennia after she passed away,
07:25and while no man has located it,
07:27archaeologist Kathleen Martinez believes she might have cracked the code.
07:32She's been on the quest for Cleopatra VII's tomb for nearly 20 years
07:37and recently discovered a bust that she thinks represents the famous queen.
07:42However, not everyone is on board with her claim.
07:45Some experts argue that the bust doesn't resemble Cleopatra at all.
07:50Alongside this intriguing marble statue,
07:53Martinez's team also unearthed 337 coins,
07:57some of which, less controversially, feature Cleopatra's likeness.
08:01But the real part is that it's still not officially confirmed.
08:05There's no doubt about the existence of the small bust.
08:09It's carved from white marble,
08:11fits in one hand and shows a woman wearing a royal crown,
08:14according to a translated statement from the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.
08:19The big question, though, is who it actually depicts.
08:23While Martinez insists this statue is a representation of Queen Cleopatra VII,
08:29many other archaeologists argue that the facial features don't match,
08:33suggesting it likely belongs to a princess instead.
08:37Sorry, I can't resist the temptation of breaking the magic for a moment.
08:42Some folks believe that the whole idea of
08:44no man will find my tomb is misunderstood.
08:47Even if she did say it,
08:49what she probably meant was no living soul,
08:52and it wasn't about gender at all.
08:54It can as well be just a beautiful legend.
08:57Toodaloo!
08:59That's it for today.
09:01So, hey, if you pacified your curiosity,
09:03then give the video a like and share it with your friends.
09:05Or, if you want more, just click on these videos
09:08and stay on the Bright Side!
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