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00:01Tutankhamun. Among the hundreds of rulers of the 32 dynasties that have ruled Egypt, he is probably the most famous
00:08of all the pharaohs.
00:11Yet his reign, lasting barely nine years, was one of the shortest in the history of any dynasty.
00:19Tutankhamun owes his fame to a high-profile expedition led by Egyptologist Howard Carter and his wealthy patron Lord Carnarvon
00:28in the 1920s.
00:30For years, they searched for the tomb, spending large parts of Lord Carnarvon's fortune.
00:36Just as they were about to give up, the unearthing of a nondescript stone step led Carter to his unprecedented
00:43discovery.
00:45The wealth of finery, the sumptuous death mask, the finely worked sarcophagus, and over 5,000 objects in the tomb.
00:56Remarkably, this tomb of extraordinary archeological richness, devoted to a minor pharaoh, was left untouched by tomb robbers.
01:05More than 3,000 years after the ruler's death, the world would learn the name Tutankhamun.
01:11Adding to the pharaoh's sudden fame, a legendary curse.
01:16Death would come to anyone who dared disturb the resting place of the deceased sovereign.
01:21And for Howard Carter's team, who opened the tomb in 1923, there might have been something to it.
01:30Journalists would claim that archeologists failed to heed a warning engraved at the tomb's entrance.
01:36Death shall come on swift wings to he who disturbs the peace of a kin.
01:43From the long-awaited discovery of his tomb, to the curse that propelled this unknown pharaoh to superstardom.
01:52This is the story of Tutankhamun.
02:03Egypt, land of the pharaohs.
02:07The cradle of one of the greatest and most renowned civilizations in the history of mankind.
02:12It is home to some of the world's most incredible archeological remains.
02:18The Sphinx of Giza.
02:20The Pyramid of Cheops.
02:22And of course, the famous Valley of the Kings, home to the tomb of Tutankhamun.
02:28Discovered in 1922 by Egyptologist Howard Carter.
02:36Today, when we talk about rulers of ancient Egypt, people immediately think of Cleopatra, Ramses II, and of course, Tutankhamun.
02:45Yet, before Howard Carter's expedition, nobody knew who he was.
02:50From a strictly historical and political point of view, Tutankhamun is considered by Egyptologists to be a very minor pharaoh.
03:00Once his tomb was discovered, he became the world's most famous pharaoh.
03:06An international celebrity.
03:11Until 1922, this pharaoh was only known to a handful of Egyptologists.
03:16The public at large had little sense of his time on the throne.
03:20He was born around 1345 BCE and died before his 20th birthday.
03:25His unremarkable reign lasted barely nine years.
03:29He ruled over Upper and Lower Egypt 34 centuries ago.
03:33When the kingdom was at its height, though threatened by invaders from neighboring countries.
03:40Despite his obscurity, Tutankhamun belongs to a prestigious line of 18th dynasty pharaohs, which began in 1570 BCE.
03:50Egyptologists consider that period to be the height of ancient Egyptian civilization.
03:57Based on stelae inscriptions, on tomb walls, and DNA samples, Egyptologists have established a detailed family tree for Tutankhamun.
04:07His maternal and paternal grandparents are Amenhotep III and Thai.
04:12His father is Agnatin, but the identity of his mother is still a matter of debate.
04:17What we do know for certain is that Tutankhamun came from a long line of incestuous marriages.
04:22Some Egyptologists lean towards Nepta, one of the four daughters of Amenhotep and Thai.
04:27While others believe that it was in fact Nefertiti, Agnatin's first cousin.
04:33Egyptologists estimate that Tutankhamun came to power around 1336 BCE, about two years after the death of his father, Akhenaten.
04:42He then became the 11th pharaoh of Egypt's 18th dynasty.
04:53Three years elapsed between Akhenaten's death and his young son's official succession as ruler of Egypt.
05:01During that interval, the seat may have been held by either his half-sister Nefer-Nefer-Huaten or his older
05:09sister Meretz-Haten.
05:12By succeeding Akhenaten, the young and inexperienced pharaoh inherited the onerous task of ruling a kingdom weakened by his father's
05:20widely unpopular political and religious decisions.
05:26His father, Pharaoh Amenhotep IV, also known as Akhenaten, ruled Egypt for almost four decades.
05:35Mostly, he's famous for religious reforms that his people considered heretical.
05:40Not only did he establish a monotheistic cult devoted to the deity Aten, the solar god he claimed to be
05:48the incarnation of,
05:49but he also moved Egypt's capital from Thebes to a city he created near the Nile at Tel El Amarna,
05:57which he named after himself, Akhetaten.
06:05Akhenaten was considered an apostate, and when he died, his political opponents forced his heir, Tutankhamun, to put an end
06:12to what they claimed was his father's heresy.
06:18A red sandstone stele discovered at Karnak, in the heart of the Temple of Amman, bears witness to the efforts
06:25the young pharaoh made to re-establish,
06:27probably under pressure from his entourage, the ancestral traditions and religion discarded by his father.
06:36Two years into his reign, Tutankhamun abandoned the cult of Aten and the capital built by his father.
06:43He and his court returned to Thebes, where he re-instated polytheism.
06:49Under his influence, the gods and goddesses of the Egyptian pantheon, Ra, Osiris, Isis, Horus, Anubis and others, regained their
07:00temples and prestige.
07:02Egyptologists consider this to be the most significant decision he made during his reign.
07:10Given his very young age and possibly weak constitution, he was certainly influenced by Ai, who was his father Akhenaten's
07:19royal scribe,
07:20and Horemem, the general in chief of his armies.
07:26Based on recent studies, some Egyptologists believe that besides Tutankhamun's youth and inexperience,
07:34he was of a fragile constitution and may have suffered from physical disabilities or diseases that would have made him
07:40even more vulnerable to the influence of others.
07:43The fact that he was the fruit of an incestuous union must have contributed to his health problems.
07:50The exceptional preservation of Tutankhamun's mummy has enabled forensic medical tests which have revealed diseases linked to the environment, heredity
07:59and accidents.
08:01One of his hereditary diseases was sickle cell anemia, which alters a hemoglobin that carries oxygen in the blood.
08:08That certainly contributed to Tutankhamun's weakening.
08:10He was also diagnosed with severe necrosis in two of his foot bones, which probably forced him to use walking
08:17sticks.
08:20This theory is also supported by the discovery of 130 walking sticks inside the pharaoh's tomb.
08:27It would therefore seem that Tutankhamun's life was beset by illness, which caused his death at the age of 19
08:34after ruling Egypt for almost half his life.
08:38The circumstances surrounding the death of this young sovereign of frail health has always been a cause for speculation.
08:48Science can provide researchers with some answers or more questions.
08:58Science can provide researchers with some answers or more questions.
08:58It would seem that Tutankhamun's life was beset by illness, which caused his death at the age of 19 after
09:05ruling Egypt for almost half his life.
09:09Science can provide researchers with some answers or more questions.
09:15An x-ray of Tutankhamun's skull in 1968 suggests assassination, as it looked like the young pharaoh's skull had been
09:22punctured by a blunt object.
09:24But a closer look determined that the damage had occurred after death, probably during embalming.
09:32In 2005, for the first time ever, a team of Egyptologists working for the Cairo Museum obtained permission to extract
09:40the mummy from its tomb in the Valley of the Kings.
09:43This is an unprecedented event, thanks to the use of CT, computerized tomography, a scanning technique that will enable more
09:52precise and reliable explanations to be given.
09:55They will have a quarter of an hour to place the body inside a CT scanner installed in a specially
10:01equipped vehicle parked near the tomb.
10:06The computer-driven scanner produces images of cross-sectional slices of different parts of the body.
10:17It generated 1,700 images with remarkable precision.
10:24His tissue contained a parasite that causes malaria. That, plus the other ailments, weakened Tutankhamun.
10:30He also had a fracture on the lower part of his left femur, with the kneecap torn off.
10:38According to scientists, Tutankhamun, who died around five days after sustaining this fracture, probably got an infection.
10:48That was the final nail in his coffin.
10:52Thanks to its excellent state of preservation, Tutankhamun's mummy would provide a goldmine of information.
10:59As analysis methods grew more sophisticated, archaeologists even succeeded in reconstructing his face.
11:09Beneath Tutankhamun's mask, his face was mummified using techniques developed over millennia, preserving the structure for more than 3,300
11:19years.
11:22The skin may have darkened, but didn't fully decompose. The same with his body.
11:31Inspired by the legend of Osiris, the god of the dead, and designed to preserve the remains of pharaohs to
11:37ensure their soul's passage into the afterlife,
11:40The ritual of mummification is a highly important ceremony performed by royal embalmers.
11:49Benefiting from the dry, hot climate of the Egyptian desert, the embalming ritual, which lasts around 70 days, follows a
11:56specific procedure in which all organs, except for the heart, are removed from the royal remains, before the body is
12:04dehydrated with sodium carbonate.
12:07Finally, oils and liquid resin are applied to the flesh to ensure its excellent state of preservation.
12:17Scientists relied on the bone structure and tissues preserved during mummification to rebuild the pharaoh's face, starting with the position
12:25and the shape of the skull, the preserved skin, joints and ligaments.
12:29They obtained this synthetic image by adding muscles, fat and skin from Tung Khamun's face.
12:34The reconstructed pharaoh had high cheekbones, a skull stretched backwards and flattened at the top, a slightly prominent upper lip
12:42and a slightly flattened nose.
12:46Even with this wealth of information about his appearance, health, life and his reign, the circumstances of his death remain
12:54elusive.
12:57These crucial historical elements seem to have been deliberately erased by his successors, who were not his direct descendants, because
13:05the young pharaoh, gone too soon, left no heir.
13:09Titun Khamun was succeeded by Ai, his advisor and his father's former royal scribe.
13:15He was not a descendant of Akhenaten, but legitimised his power the old-fashioned way, by marrying Aung San Amun,
13:24Titun Khamun's widow and sister.
13:26Ai died just four years after taking the throne.
13:29After him came Horemheb, the young pharaoh's other advisor and Akhenaten's former general, who also had no family ties.
13:39His accession began the 19th dynasty of the pharaohs.
13:46We know so little about Tutankhamun because his successors did a great job erasing all traces of his reign.
13:57Tutankhamun's father was the world's first monotheist, and the Egyptians didn't like it.
14:01When he died, they destroyed his tomb.
14:04Then they erased his name from the records and did the same thing to his son, which is probably why
14:09Tutankhamun's tomb was forgotten.
14:12Ironically, this actually preserved his legacy.
14:15Since the looters didn't know his name, they weren't looking for Tutankhamun's tomb.
14:20But the little that we do know about Tutankhamun suggests that he wasn't just a figurehead.
14:26It's believed that Tutankhamun tried to ease the political and military tensions with neighbouring countries, which had grown during his
14:33father's reign.
14:34But we do know that during his reign, Egypt went to war against Nubia, its constant rival.
14:41Gifts found in his tomb suggest that he may have been somewhat successful, but historical knowledge of this period is
14:47still very fragmentary.
14:50Even these small facts may never have come to light if it weren't for the dedication of one man.
14:56An English archaeologist, Howard Carter.
15:03The little that we do know about Tutankhamun may never have come to light if it weren't for the dedication
15:09of one man.
15:10Howard Carter.
15:13Howard Carter is born in 1874 in London.
15:18He comes from a modest environment and is the last of a fratrie of 11 brothers and sisters.
15:22Carter was not very educated at the beginning.
15:25He didn't go to university.
15:26He was educated at home by his parents who were artists.
15:31He will quickly show himself a natural talent for drawing and painting.
15:37At the age of 17, through family connections, he was recommended to Percy Newberry, a renowned Egyptologist who was looking
15:46for an artist.
15:47After a three month apprenticeship at the British Museum, Howard Carter set off to Egypt to work on a major
15:54excavation at Amarna, an archaeological site linked to Akhenaten.
16:00His job was to reproduce the paintings and hieroglyphs of the temples.
16:08For young Howard Carter, the site of Egyptian monuments is a revelation that would change the course of his life.
16:15From then on, he has only one goal, to become an Egyptologist.
16:24In 1900, when Carter was 26, his work caught the attention of the eminent French archaeologist, Gaston Maspero.
16:34Impressed by the quality of his reproductions of the bas-reliefs in the Temple of Amun, Maspero appointed Carter to
16:41the position of inspector at the Department of Egyptian Antiquities, where he was the director.
16:48In the early 1900s, Howard Carter worked alongside Egyptologist Theodore M. Davis in the Valley of the Kings, referred to
16:58in Egyptian scriptures as the great and majestic necropolis of the million years of the pharaoh, life, strength, health in
17:07the west of Thebes.
17:08It was considered the ideal place for the burial of Egyptian sovereigns, as it was deemed too remote in the
17:16desert to attract grave robbers.
17:20Howard Carter quickly makes a name for himself.
17:24In 1906, Gaston Maspero recommends his young protege, Howard Carter, to Lord Carnarvon, a wealthy British patron.
17:35They met at the Luxor Hotel in Cairo, where Howard Carter soon thrilled Lord Carnarvon with stories about Tutankhamun.
17:43They chose a site in the Valley of the Kings, in a spot controlled by Theodore Davis, an archaeologist Howard
17:51Carter had worked with a few years earlier.
17:53Theodore Davis' work led to the discovery of several objects, including embalming tools, linen, and other artifacts bearing Tutankhamun's seal.
18:04But this virtually unknown pharaoh was of little interest to him, and he doubted his tomb would be anything special,
18:12if it existed at all.
18:15But Howard Carter believed that these artifacts, bearing Tutankhamun's name and appearing in almost no register, hinted that Tutankhamun's tomb
18:25did exist and could be nearby.
18:29Theodore Davis agrees to hand his concession to Carter.
18:33Unfortunately, the excavation permit wasn't granted until 1914, and the outbreak of the First World War delayed the start of
18:42the day.
18:42Nevertheless, in 1915, Howard Carter finally succeeded in exploring the tomb of Amenhotep III, father of Akhenaten and grandfather of
18:54Tutankhamun.
18:55But it wasn't until December 1917 that he began searching for the tomb of Tutankhamun, whom he nicknamed the Boy
19:05King.
19:11The setting for Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon's adventure in the Valley of the Kings, or Biban al-Maluk, as
19:18it's known locally, is almost 650 kilometers south of Cairo.
19:23Here on the west bank of the Nile lies the vast necropolis, housing the remains of the pharaohs of the
19:31New Kingdom, a period that stretched from 1550 to 1070 BCE.
19:39Tombs dug into the slopes of the high limestone cliffs were designed by the ancient Egyptians to remain hidden and
19:48avoid being looted.
19:52Every year between 1917 and 1922, thanks to the financial support of his generous patron, Lord Carnarvon,
20:00Howard Carter undertook a new excavation campaign, gradually exploring and eliminating each area.
20:09After keeping a logbook of all the sites discovered in the Valley of the Kings, Carter developed a meticulous mapping
20:15method,
20:15dividing the site into grids.
20:21With his painstaking search technique, the Egyptologist makes tireless progress from one sector of the Valley of the Kings to
20:29another, hoping to find the tomb of this elusive pharaoh.
20:34Despite years of back-breaking toil in the dust and scorching heat of the Egyptian desert,
20:41Howard Carter went from one failure to the next.
20:44Lord Carnarvon's patience and finances were beginning to dry up.
20:48So in the spring of 1922, he told Howard Carter he'd have to stop subsidizing him.
20:54Howard Carter desperately managed to obtain a few months reprieve to explore the last small triangle of ground that had
21:03not yet been turned over.
21:05It was on the side of the mountain where the foundations of stone huts, probably used by ancient workers, had
21:12been uncovered a few decades earlier.
21:14Although it seems unlikely that a royal tomb would have been dug so close to these modest stone huts,
21:21Carter throws himself passionately into the dig.
21:24He has no other choice.
21:26This is his last chance.
21:31Howard Carter undertook a new excavation campaign.
21:35He has no other choice.
21:37This is his last chance.
21:38The excavation began on November 1st.
21:42Three days in, a child who was there to distribute water to the members of the expedition found an unusually
21:49shaped stone.
21:50He tells Howard Carter, who instructs his men to clear the ground,
21:55and realizes that the stone is in fact the rung of a staircase cut into the rock.
22:05This staircase, which had been buried by earth and sand over millennia, marks the entrance to a hypogeum, or an
22:13underground tomb.
22:15After clearing away the debris cluttering the stairway, Howard Carter's team discovers the top of a doorway, sealed with plaster.
22:24On it are the unbroken seals.
22:27Carter hurries to decipher the hieroglyphs and realizes they are Tutankhamun's royal cartouches.
22:37After so much effort and skepticism, the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb is a lifelong dream come true.
22:47Howard Carter rushes to send a telegram to Lord Carnarvon, who would return to London on personal business.
22:54He writes, and I quote,
22:56At last have made wonderful discovery in the valley.
23:00A magnificent tomb with seals intact.
23:04Recovered, same for your arrival.
23:08Lord Carnarvon demands that Carter await his arrival on February 16, 1923, the day before the tomb's official opening.
23:17He begins preparing for his trip to Egypt, accompanied by his daughter, Lady Evelyn Herbert, to whom he has passed
23:25along the Egyptology bug.
23:28Meanwhile, as Howard Carter's team clears the tomb, he notices that the door shows signs of repair.
23:34He now fears that the tomb may not be intact after all.
23:39The next day, as the whole team gathered to open the tomb, Howard Carter was nervous.
23:46With Carnarvon and other observers watching, he drills a small hole in the top corner of the door and places
23:54a candle inside.
23:55The flame is eventually extinguished, but not before Howard Carter has a chance to peek into the tomb.
24:07As his eyes adjust to the darkness, Lord Carnarvon and his daughter, Lady Herbert, ask him, can you see anything?
24:15Howard Carter says, yes, I see wonderful things.
24:20Objects are piled up by the hundreds in the room.
24:23At the far end, two statues of the pharaoh standing sentinel to a sealed door catch the eye.
24:31The burial chamber is intact.
24:37It is this door that will finally be opened on February 17th, 1923, in the presence of the Queen of
24:44Belgium and her son, Leopold.
24:47The happy few who witness this once-in-a-lifetime event discover four interconnected rooms, the antechamber, the annex, the
24:56treasure room, and in the center of the tomb, the burial chamber.
25:00In the center of this room, with its blue and gold tiled walls, are three gold sarcophagi.
25:06In the largest lies the mummy of Tutankhamun, intact and unseen for three millennia.
25:14Inside the tomb, they found three sarcophagi, including one weighing over 110 kilograms, with winged goddesses carved into the corners,
25:22protecting Tutankhamun's mummy.
25:25The funerary mass consisted of two gold plates, adorned with semi-precious stones.
25:32The headdress is topped by two symbolic animals, the vulture and the cobra.
25:37This incredible sarcophagus is the most fabulous find in the history of archaeology.
25:47The other two sarcophagi were smaller.
25:50CT scans revealed that they contained two female fetuses, one at five or six months, the other at nine months,
25:57just before term.
25:58Scientists found no cause of death.
26:03The mummified children are a rare and puzzling discovery.
26:07The presence of these two fetuses in his burial chamber suggests that the loss of these children was traumatic for
26:13Tutankhamun.
26:17Next to the burial chamber containing the sarcophagi, Carter and his team find another, smaller room, known today as the
26:26treasure room.
26:28When he writes his memoirs a few years later, Carter describes his first glimpse into this room filled with priceless
26:35treasures.
26:38The hot air escaping from the room caused the candle to flicker, but presently, as my eyes grew accustomed to
26:45the light, details of the room within emerged slowly from the mist.
26:50Strange animals, statues and gold.
26:53Everywhere the glint of gold.
26:56Instantly I was struck dumb with amazement.
27:04Inside the tomb chambers, there are more than 2,000 objects, including a splendid throne, several beds, one decorated with
27:13two long golden cows.
27:15There are also jewels, statuettes, heads and masks, around 130 walking sticks, vases and fans.
27:23Egyptologists believe that many of these objects were not created specifically for Tutankhamun,
27:27who died suddenly and at prematurity.
27:30Funerary objects intended for others may have been repurposed in the rush to fill his tomb, but they were still
27:35spectacular.
27:38The Pharaoh's tomb contained some of the finest solid gold artifacts ever recovered,
27:44miraculously escaping tomb whoppers for over 3,000 years.
28:03While exploring the tomb, Howard Carter and his team discovered a statue of the deity with the body of a
28:09jackal.
28:10It's carved from black painted wood, adorned with gold around the ears and silver claws.
28:17It's still on the roof of a shrine close to the burial chamber and not far from a chest containing
28:23Tutankhamun's canopic vases.
28:26Trapezoidal in shape, the space contained jewels, amulets and other objects.
28:35Among these objects are weapons such as shields, bows and swords, as well as a dagger with an iron blade
28:42and a gold sleeve adorned with precious stones.
28:46That dagger is especially remarkable.
28:50For archaeologists, this dagger is a real puzzle.
28:53At the time of Tutankhamun's reign, during the 18th dynasty, iron working hadn't yet been developed in Egypt.
29:00Some speculate the weapon could have been a gift to Amenhotep III, grandfather of Tutankhamun, by Tushrata, who ruled Mitanni,
29:09where Syria is today.
29:10What's even more astonishing about this dagger is that it's a metal not of terrestrial origin, but of meteoric origin,
29:18making it an especially rare and valuable object at the time.
29:25By any measure, the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb and all its treasures is the greatest find in the history of
29:32pharaonic archaeology and makes international headlines.
29:37Overnight, Carter becomes the world's most famous Egyptologist.
29:45After receiving Howard Carter's telegram, Lord Carnarvon sold the exclusive story to the London Times newspaper for £4,000, a
29:55colossal sum for the time, equivalent to over 2 million euros today.
30:00The money helped Lord Carnarvon replenish his coffers and finally break even.
30:07In 1922, when the tomb was discovered, newspapers were able to print photographs which fired up enthusiasm for Tutankhamun.
30:16The world had never seen anything like it.
30:24Just a few days after opening the tomb, the euphoria begins to fade as the English adventurers see the politics
30:31of Egypt change overnight.
30:37To the misfortune of Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon, Egypt had suffered a period of serious political upheaval, which had
30:43soured the Egyptian administration's attitude towards foreigners.
30:47Britain had occupied Egypt since the Anglo-Egyptian war in 1882 as they tried to establish a British protectorate and
30:55wrestle control of Egypt from the Ottoman Empire.
30:59A rebellion against British rule had swept across the country in 1918, forcing Britain to recognise Egypt's independence four years
31:07later in 1922, the same year of the tomb's discovery.
31:11Obviously, this made things very difficult for Carter and Carnarvon.
31:16The climate of hostility towards the English worked against Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon.
31:23Between 1925 and 1930, five years of pro-English governments allowed Carter to complete his work.
31:32But when the Egyptian nationalists returned to power, they forbade any object found in Tutankhamun's tomb from being taken out
31:40of Egyptian territory.
31:41This law ended the claims of Lord Carnarvon's heirs, but empowered the Egyptian people to identify with their past and
31:50their cultural riches.
31:53To make matters worse, by granting exclusive coverage of the event of the Times, a British newspaper, Lord Carnarvon, alienated
32:02the entire Egyptian press.
32:04They refer to him and Carter as tomb robbers.
32:09A reputation which sticks to these two European adventurers for over a century.
32:18Au début du 19e siècle, les campagnes de Napoléon en Egypte permettent l'essor de l'Egyptologie parce qu'il
32:24a amené des scientifiques avec lui.
32:27Un peu plus tard, Jean-François Champollion commence à déchiffrer les hiéroglyphes et dans la foulée de nombreux occidentaux se
32:35sont découverts une passion pour l'Egyptologie.
32:37Mais la plupart de ces passionnés se comportent plus comme des chercheurs de trésors que comme des chercheurs tout court.
32:45Pendant longtemps, ils se sont livrés à des pillages et à des trafics.
32:50Despite having a valid excavation permit, Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon ran into trouble with the antiquities service just a
32:58few months after they discovered Tutankhamen's tomb.
33:01A new regulation required an inspector's constant presence at any excavation site and stipulated that the Egyptian state reserve the
33:13right to keep any objects discovered without the archaeologist having any say in the matter.
33:21But Lord Carnarvon would never have time to say anything.
33:24He dies suddenly on April 5th, 1923, just over four months after the opening of Tutankhamen's tomb.
33:33Officially, his cause of death is severe pneumonia associated with septicemia caused by an infected mosquito bite.
33:45But the sudden death of the English Lord stokes a viral rumor.
33:51Cette mort soudaine est aussitôt interprétée par la presse comme le signe de la colère du pharaon qui se serait
33:58abattu sur l'un des profanateurs de sa tombe.
34:00Everywhere, around the world, the press is intrigued about this story of a curse.
34:08For the tabloid press, this story of a mummy's curse almost rivals the spectacular discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb itself.
34:17Hollywood sees a great opportunity to make money and attract moviegoers to the theaters.
34:24They will take advantage of the situation and produce the horror film, The Mummy, which will be a huge success
34:31and spawns many remakes.
34:34In the decade following the opening of the tomb, 27 people involved in either the discovery of the mummy or
34:41who handled objects in the crypt perished.
34:44These deaths fueled the belief in a curse.
34:49And yet, while some newspapers were certainly guilty of fabricating rumors with no basis in fact, other fatal incidents, real
34:57ones, seemed to lend disturbing credibility to this story of a curse.
35:01At least on the face of it.
35:03The first objective fact to support the idea of a curse was the death of Howard Carter's canary, swallowed by
35:12a king cobra that came out of nowhere a few days before the archaeologists entered the tomb.
35:18As it happens, the cobra is one of the main symbols of pharaonic power and appears on Tutankhamen's famous mask.
35:25According to legend, Uraeus, the female cobra, has always protected the pharaoh from his enemies and from impious men who
35:35would dare disturb his eternal rest.
35:39According to the Times journalist, who had exclusive coverage of the tomb opening, the curse was carved into the front
35:47of the entrance.
35:48It read,
35:49He also wrote that a terracotta tablet found in the sarcophagus chamber was inscribed with the words,
36:07Death shall come on swift wings, to him that toucheth the tomb of the pharaoh.
36:15Howard Carter himself will be quick to dispute the notion of a curse.
36:22But that doesn't stop the press.
36:25Who could resist the tale of an exotic, forgotten pharaoh's tomb, filled with riches guarded by a curse?
36:35In March 1939, Howard Carter, the main hero of this adventure, dies of lymphoma at the age of 64.
36:48In all, the newspapers reported up to 27 deaths over five decades.
36:53Each subsequent death is attributed to the curse of Tutankhamen, a story that still manages to intrigue us.
37:01People that are skeptical of the curse have proposed alternate theories to explain the premature deaths.
37:09Some hypothesize that the sweet almond oil used to embalm the mummy was transformed into cyanide.
37:15Others speculate that the torches in Tutankhamen's tomb might have been laced with arsenic.
37:21We're even treated to some very far-fetched arguments, such as it could be the work of the priests who
37:27performed the funerary rites over 3,000 years ago,
37:30who placed an unknown, undetectable poison in the tomb to kill anyone who went inside.
37:38But this colorful theory fails to explain the deaths of those who never even entered the tomb.
37:44Others will try to find a legitimate scientific and rational explanation for so many deaths associated with the tomb
37:52in order to diffuse the myth of the curse, while persisting in making a link between all these disappearances.
37:58The most likely scientific explanation suggests that toxic pathogens may have been inhaled by people in contact with the tomb.
38:09Underground, with less oxygen, potentially toxic gases may circulate more easily.
38:16Still others claim that the archaeologists succumbed to asphyxiating pneumonia caused by a virus 3,000 years old.
38:26And let's not forget about toxic molds.
38:29The theory is that they developed when fruit and vegetables placed in Tutankhamen's tomb putrefied.
38:34The tomb's humidity made them worse.
38:37Howard Carter himself mentioned respiratory discomfort in his notes.
38:41But specialists insist that no germ or fungus can survive such a long time in an enclosed space.
38:49But if we look at both the actual circumstances and timing of each death, we arrive at a more mundane
38:56explanation.
38:57It turns out that some of the deaths were actually suicides.
39:00Some were the result of crimes of passion.
39:03There was even one person who had never been to Egypt, but whose death was associated with a curse.
39:11If the myth of Tutankhamen's curse collapses under scrutiny, perhaps it's because there was no curse in the first place.
39:19The ominous legend of Tutankhamen was manufactured by Arthur Merton,
39:24the Times journalist who had exclusive access to the expedition,
39:29and wrote the article that broke the news of the discovery to the world.
39:35He reported seeing the inscribed curse, but in reality, no trace of it has ever been found.
39:41What is true, however, is the well-preserved mural on the north wall of Tutankhamen's tomb.
39:49The late pharaoh is depicted with the image of a cobra in attack posture on his forehead,
39:56the traditional uraeus.
39:58It's a sign that could indeed be interpreted as a sort of warning.
40:05But while reporting on the expedition, he will also add some fictional elements in the process.
40:13But in reality, these symbols are simply associated with the ancient Egyptian cult of death,
40:18seen as a journey to the afterlife, with eternity more important than life on Earth.
40:26In the end, perhaps the only man to suffer the curse of Tutankhamen was Howard Carter.
40:32Though he achieved his life's dreams and lived to a respectable age,
40:36he'd seen his fortune soar as a heroic explorer,
40:40only to crash under the weight of being called a glorified grave robber.
40:45Howard Carter made Tutankhamen the world's most famous Egyptian.
40:50But even though many consider him the father of modern archaeology,
40:55his reputation has been tarnished by some of his actions.
41:00For example, he was accused of recovering objects from the tomb without Egyptian authorization.
41:06For a man born in the 19th century with a strong colonial mentality, this wasn't theft.
41:13He had a sense of entitlement, that the tomb belonged to him because he had discovered it.
41:20Eventually, as proof of his good faith, he donated most of the objects and did not enrich himself,
41:28living modestly for the rest of his life.
41:32Even today, just over a century after the discovery of his tomb,
41:37Tutankhamen continues to fascinate both young and old.
41:42For more than 50 years, in cities around the world,
41:46each new exhibition devoted to the young pharaoh has been a guaranteed success,
41:51attracting millions of curious visitors,
41:54proving that the boy king still reigns in our collective imagination.
41:59To be continued...
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