Participants: Pr. Tony Moore
Series Code: OTR
Program Code: OTR000707
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01:01 Well, welcome back again to three Angels,
01:03 we're glad you're back for part two 01:05 of the archeology seminar with Tony Moore. 01:08 Last night was just amazing and our last seminar together 01:10 and tonight we're looking forward to just more 01:12 information that I think will be useful to you. 01:14 You know, I came away from last night 01:16 just more impressed that the Bible can be trusted. 01:19 How about you? 01:21 And tonight when we come back, we're gonna just be growing 01:25 in our confidence in God's Word. 01:26 I'm looking forward, not only to tonight but tomorrow night, 01:30 where we're gonna talking about Iraq or Iraq, 01:33 I think is the real way to say it, Iraq, 01:35 in Bible prophecy and when Iraq ruled the world. 01:38 Well, tonight let's just bow our heads and ask the Lord 01:41 to bless us as we begin this special program this evening. 01:45 Father in Heaven, we're indeed grateful 01:48 that as we dig up the future, as we dig up the past 01:53 that tell us not only about the past but also the future. 01:56 And archeology points toward those ancient prophecies 02:00 and tonight, as Tony Moore shares 02:02 and as we grow together, 02:04 we just ask Your presence to be with us. 02:06 We thank You and we come in the all powerful 02:10 and all worthy name of Christ, amen. 02:13 Again, Rafael Scarfullery, we're glad that he's with us 02:17 and he's gonna be playing for us this evening. 02:21 "I'm just a wayfaring stranger." 06:10 Thank you so much, Rafael, that was truly lovely. 06:15 It's great to with you again this evening as we're prepared 06:17 to take a journey to the far land of the Nile. 06:20 How many of you've been over the Nile? 06:24 One? Only one other person has been to Egypt, wow. 06:29 Well, you're in for a special treat tonight. 06:30 Let me tell you where we're going, 06:32 we're gonna go and survey the entire land. 06:35 We're gonna look at the monuments, 06:36 the background, the story. 06:38 And then we're gonna ask the question, 06:40 where would Joseph and Moses fit 06:43 into Egyptian history as we know it today. 06:45 And so it's gonna be a special journey. 06:47 Our next episode is going to be "In the footsteps of Jesus." 06:50 And I really want to encourage you to be here for that. 06:52 We'll be serving the entire land. 06:55 We'll look at the background of the story and I guarantee 06:58 that the gospel story of Jesus will come to life 07:00 as never before for you. 07:02 As we're able to unite the pictures of the places 07:05 where they happened and the description 07:07 and it's really, really special, 07:08 but tonight we want to take a journey, 07:11 "Amazing Discoveries in the Land of the Nile." 07:14 Egypt, the very name stirs our minds with wonder. 07:19 Pyramids, Sphinx, mummys, Tootencarmoon. 07:23 Egypt seems to hold a spell over our imaginations. 07:26 What are the mysteries of these ancient buildings? 07:29 Do they posses mystical powers, 07:31 why were they built and by whom? 07:34 Herodotus, an early road traveler said, 07:35 "Egypt has wonders more in number than any other land. 07:39 And works it has to show beyond expression great." 07:43 Tonight I want to take you on a fascinating journey 07:46 to the wonderful land of the pyramids to investigate 07:49 the wonders that impressed Herodotus 2,500 years ago. 07:53 But first I want to take you to Cairo. 07:55 Cairo is the capital of the modern Egypt, 07:58 it's one of the worlds largest cities. 08:00 It's situated on the edge of the desert 08:03 with the population over 15 million people. 08:07 It's a crowded, dusty, noisy city 08:10 and yet it is one of my favorite cities. 08:12 It's a vibrant city. 08:14 It has a unique combination of open, friendly people 08:16 with thousands of buildings and monuments, 08:19 spanning nearly 5 millenniums. 08:22 From Pharonic to modern with Greek Roman, 08:25 Coptic, Muslim, thrown in for good measure. 08:28 Cairo is a wonderful city of contrast, 08:30 from the dry sands of the desert 08:32 to the life giving waters of the Nile. 08:35 And the people who make their living collecting and sorting 08:37 the garbage to the socially elite, 08:39 Cairo is the very heartbeat of Egypt. 08:43 Now traveling in Cairo is always an exciting experience. 08:46 You're presented with many challenges, 08:48 many different opportunities, antiquated street cars 08:51 or the age old-- or modern subways, 08:54 dilapidated busses or by the ago old feluccas. 08:57 Speedy taxis or of course you can go by 09:00 the time honored method of going by foot. 09:02 Each outing can be an exciting and accelerating experience. 09:06 Like the time I wanted in to the Khan El Khalili-Bazaar 09:09 where the famous Egyptian cotton fabrics are sold. 09:12 This truck could not make the turn down a crowded, 09:14 narrow street, so a group of men literally swarmed around 09:17 and picked up the truck and pointed it 09:19 in the desired direction. 09:20 And this man had the fastest iron in the east. 09:22 He sprayed a mist of water from this mouth, 09:24 ironed djellaba with his feet and folded it with his hands. 09:29 I have to admit how I really-- my favorites leisure activity 09:33 in Cairo is strolling by the Nile 09:35 in the cool of the evening. 09:37 I enjoy seeing the sailors working their boats 09:40 in the cities skylight at night. 09:42 And it seems to be a favorite of the locals too, 09:44 for the sidewalks are always full of Cairoites, 09:47 enjoying their river by the cool of the day. 09:50 Well, the Nile has been the source of life 09:53 for Egypt throughout the centuries. 09:56 Herodotus, that early world traveler said 09:58 Egypt is the land of the Nile 10:01 and the Nile is the gift of the Gods. 10:04 For over four millenniums this river has nourished 10:08 one of earth's greatest civilizations. 10:11 Indeed the Egypt's very existence 10:13 is always depended upon the Nile. 10:16 From its source in the mountainous rainforest 10:19 in Central Africa, it pushes northward 10:21 for nearly 4, 000 miles, to the searing sands 10:25 of the Sahara Desert until it empties 10:27 into the Mediterranean sea. 10:29 Egypt could be thought it was an island floating 10:31 in the midst of Sahara desert. 10:34 An island floating in the midst of the Sahara desert, 10:36 it's bound by the Arabian desert to the east 10:39 and the Libyan desert to the west. 10:40 The Mediterranean Sea to the north 10:42 and the great, great Cataract Aswan to the south. 10:45 It only had one natural border to defend and because of that, 10:50 it-- ancient Egypt prospered to the years. 10:55 For over 50 millenniums. 10:58 I'm sorry, for over 50 centuries, 11:00 99% of the people have lived on 1% of the land. 11:04 Ancient Egyptians call it the black land. 11:07 It's known as Abyssinian carpet 11:09 and has some of the richest farmland in the world. 11:11 Now the life sustaining Nile valley, 11:13 it varies from 1 to 15 miles in width, 11:15 with a desert as an ever present reality. 11:19 The line of demarcation is so distinct 11:21 and so unforgiving that you can literally step 11:23 with one step from the black farmland 11:25 to the red sands of the Sahara desert. 11:28 It is a special place to travel to. 11:31 The first cataract at Aswan was a series of 11:35 rapids full of sharp rocks that rendered 11:37 the region impassible by boats. 11:39 It was formed by a ridge of granite that-- 11:41 it was lying across the river and from that ridge of granite, 11:45 some of Egypt's greatest temples and tombs 11:48 and obelisks were carved. 11:52 It was 750 miles up river from the Mediterranean 11:55 and as a result it was quite protected it. 11:59 It was a border fortress, down into Africa 12:03 and so during times of peace Aswan served as a border, 12:08 as a strategic trading post and then turn-- 12:12 time during times of war, it was the last defense, 12:14 before enemies might try and come into the land. 12:18 Near Aswan the large temple of the Abu Simbel. 12:24 Wait, we're gonna back up just a second, I'm sorry. 12:27 I want to tell you about the great Aswan high dam 12:29 and this was considered by many people 12:31 to be the 8th Wonder of the World. 12:33 When the Egyptians build this, they formed the lake 12:35 that was some 310 miles long and 6 miles wide. 12:39 It flooded the land of Nubia and many villages 12:42 had to take refuge upon the shores of Lake Nasser 12:45 along with 14 temples that were moved to higher ground. 12:49 The large temple of Abu Simbel, 12:52 a 170 miles south of Aswan became a symbol 12:55 of global solidarity in a section of the world 12:58 that is marked by struggle and war. 13:00 Now this temple was constructed by 13:03 Ramses the Great, but it has to be moved 13:05 212 feet above its original location. 13:08 And so they cut it into over a thousand jigsaw pieces 13:12 and then they made this molded hill to look like 13:15 the original cliffs and they reconstructed the temple 13:17 212 feet above where it originally stood. 13:21 Today, Aswan is a busy, somewhat prosperous city 13:25 due to the construction of the great Aswan high dam 13:28 and the industry that it had created. 13:30 Yet it still retains 13:31 the characteristics of a small village. 13:34 Now it's just offshore, a couple of hundred yards 13:36 is Elephantine Island. 13:37 If we see this strange name from that rock formation, 13:40 that looked like an elephants face. 13:42 I went out to examine the nilometer, 13:45 a gauge used for measuring 13:48 the rise and fall of the Nile River. 13:51 As Nile would rise, the water inside the building 13:53 would rise and they can measure it against the markings 13:56 and they could predict the annual floods 13:59 and of course they could predict the fall, 14:01 the harvest that would come. 14:03 Which used by the ancient Egyptians by the Greeks, 14:06 by the Romans, by the Coptic's, 14:08 and of course by the Muslims to determine 14:09 the planning times and predict the harvest. 14:12 Now today, this is an island of contrast 14:14 on the north end is this plush, 5 star hotel, 14:17 but then you cross over the wall 14:19 on to the southern half and you step back in time, 14:21 into a Nubian village. 14:23 The people were very open and friendly. 14:25 I met a charming school teacher there and his wife. 14:28 They insisted that I come to their home 14:31 and have tea with them. 14:33 We sat down in their home and she prepared our tea 14:36 on this mud brick oven and pretty soon, 14:41 the amaya, the woman's mother came. 14:43 Pretty soon her sister in law came 14:46 and the whole living room filled up. 14:48 As we sat and said, we set to sip tea 14:51 and watch the daily soap opera. 14:54 Something's don't change around the world. 14:58 Well, there are few bends in the Nile River, 15:01 and it's perfect for river traffic. 15:03 The prevailing wind blowing from the north 15:05 makes sailing south a breeze and the current flowing 15:09 from the south makes the return trip almost effortless. 15:13 But since the erection of the high dam, 15:14 the Nile no longer floods Egypt but life is still just 15:18 as depended upon it today, as it was 4,000 years ago. 15:22 You see, it's a source of irrigation and drinking water 15:25 for the towns and villages, even the distant resorts, 15:28 150 miles away on the Red Sea. 15:30 They have to import their fresh water from the Nile 15:33 since literally no rain falls there. 15:36 Although there are roads and train tracks paralleling it, 15:39 the Nile is still the life blood of Egypt. 15:42 Today the massive luxury ships are joined 15:45 by the age owned feluccas, 15:46 plying the waters of this ancient land. 15:50 Three remarkable facts stand about out about Egypt, 15:52 I want to share with you tonight. 15:53 First, the culture, the climate is so dry 15:56 that things made thousands of years ago 15:59 have survived to the modern era. 16:02 Second, the development of writing preserved 16:05 a historical account of their beliefs and achievements. 16:11 Third, since their religion depicted-- 16:14 their religion viewed death as an extension 16:16 of the present life, they portrayed that life 16:20 in colorful wall painting in their tombs. 16:23 They carved scenes from life and put them into their tombs 16:26 and they've come down to us today, 16:28 so we have a window into their life if the past. 16:32 Now the lack of rainfall in the desert 16:34 makes Egypt an archeologist paradise. 16:38 While it occasionally rains in Lower Egypt, in Cairo, 16:42 it almost never rains in Upper Egypt in the south 16:45 and places like Luxor and Aswan. 16:48 And because of this, things formed years ago 16:50 have survived to the modern times. 16:53 Now you're familiar with the mummies, 16:55 they have their skin still in place today. 16:58 This lady still sports the perm she received 3,000 years ago. 17:02 But did you know that there are perfectly preserved bodies 17:06 of people who have found buried in the desert of Egypt, 17:11 who had not been mummified. 17:13 This man on the screen was nicknamed Ginger 17:16 because of his hair color. 17:17 They found him in a shallow grave 17:19 at the edge of the desert, 17:20 his finger nails and toe nails were still intact. 17:22 They called him ginger because of the color of his hair. 17:26 The amazing thing is that the hot sands of the desert 17:29 had naturally preserved him for over 4,000 years. 17:33 Now the Egyptian belief in the after life 17:35 revolved around the Ka and the Ba. 17:38 At death, they believed, the Ka 17:40 or the invisible double person was released to go off 17:42 into some other existence. 17:44 They believe that would dwell near that the deceased 17:47 if it could recognize the person who had died. 17:52 If it could recognize the person who had died. 17:54 So tombs were often called houses for the Ka to live. 17:59 Now it was critical that the Ka could recognize the deceased, 18:02 I don't want you to miss this point, 18:03 it's very important. 18:04 If the body decayed then the Ka would wander 18:08 aimlessly seeking the person from whom it was released. 18:12 Now this was no problem as long as you were buried 18:15 in the dry sands of the desert like Ginger. 18:18 But when royalty began to be buried under the ground in pits 18:23 and to be buried in stone tombs 18:25 their bodies naturally decayed. 18:27 Well, this presented quite a problem. 18:29 What would they do? 18:30 So they began to experiment 18:33 as to what they would do to preserve the bodies. 18:37 The early dynasties begin to experiment 18:40 with preserving the bodies of the deceased, 18:43 the result today is known as mummification. 18:47 Right, mummification, now the word embalm 18:50 comes from the Latin-- 18:51 it means to put into aromatics resins. 18:54 The Arabic word is actually -- 18:57 and because many were coated with a dark resin. 19:00 Now we don't have very many first hand accounts 19:03 of the practice but Herodotus, who went down, 19:05 he interviewed several practitioners 19:07 and this is what he told us had happened. 19:09 When a person died, they reached 19:11 inside of the skull with a means of an iron hook, 19:14 through the nose and they pull the brain out. 19:18 And then the cut the body opened and they took out 19:21 the organs and placed them into various jars. 19:23 Then they washed the body and then they packed it 19:26 in natron to be dehydrated for 70 days 19:30 and then they wrapped it in strips of linen 19:32 and then at the end of 70 days, 19:33 they had a very elaborate ceremony. 19:35 You can see it here on the screen. 19:37 You can see the man on the right, he's a priest. 19:39 You can he's a priest because he's got a leopard skin on 19:41 and then the man on the left, who's all dressed in white. 19:44 He's deceased, and so now the priest is coming, 19:47 at the end of the 70 days to do a special ceremony, 19:50 it was the called the opening of the mouth ceremony, 19:52 to allow his Ka to return to him 19:55 so this is what they believed. 19:57 Well, tourism has been a big business in Egypt 20:00 for over 4,000 years. 20:02 When Herodotus visited Egypt 2,500 years ago 20:05 the hieroglyphs that were inscribed 20:08 on the temple walls were still understood. 20:10 When Napoleon marched his army however down into Egypt 20:14 in the 1790's, they gazed in wonder 20:18 at the massive stone remnants 20:21 of the world's greatest civilization. 20:23 As they paraded on the Giza Plateau in the shadow 20:25 of the Great Pyramid of Cheops, their emperor addressed them, 20:28 "Soldiers of France, four thousand years 20:31 of history look down upon you." 20:34 There are before them stood the same 20:37 ancient temples and tombs and obelisks and pyramids 20:40 that Harada disengaged upon 2,500 years earlier 20:44 but unfortunately, the details of that history 20:47 were vague and incomplete. 20:49 In vain, the conquerors sought to decipher 20:52 the mysterious writing in the rock, 20:54 chiseled under the rocks. 20:55 Its meaning had been lost for nearly 2,000 years. 21:00 Napoleon however, was more than a soldier of fortune. 21:03 He had a passion for antiquity 21:04 and so he had a group of scholars with him. 21:06 And when the British were invading 21:08 the northern part of the delta, the soldiers were actually 21:11 fortifying a fort at a place called Rashid Rosetta 21:15 and as they were fortifying this fort, 21:16 they were throwing stones, rubble and they had to make 21:19 the walls thicker and one of the stones they picked up, 21:22 they noticed inscriptions on it. 21:24 It turned out to be a tri-lingual inscription, 21:27 known today as the Rosetta Stone. 21:31 Now they set it aside and later on scholars 21:34 begin to examine it and they hoped that it told 21:37 the same story because on the top it had hieroglyphs 21:41 and then in the middle it had another writing 21:42 called the demotic that was the cursive form 21:45 of hieroglyphs and then down the bottom it was in Greek 21:48 and so they were hoping that all three stories would tell-- 21:50 all three languages would tell the same story 21:53 and that perhaps they could use this as key 21:56 to be able to understand the hieroglyphs. 21:59 And indeed that is what happened. 22:03 Twenty-four years later, this man 22:05 Jean Francois Champollion, was able to break into 22:09 the silent world of pharaonic writing and immediately, 22:12 old Egypt began to reveal her secrets. 22:17 As I mentioned earlier, the Egyptian religious concept 22:20 revolved around immortality. 22:23 Their word for tomb meant the house for eternity. 22:28 During the first two dynasties, massive tombs were constructed 22:33 in the mud brick imitation of the Mesopotamian style. 22:37 But about 200 years after the first dynasty, 22:40 a gigantic engineering leap took place as tombs 22:44 began to be constructed, not out of mud brick, 22:47 but out of stone. 22:49 Some stone blocks weighing up to 20 tons. 22:53 Imhotep was the vizier of King Djoser, 22:56 he pioneered the way by building, 22:58 what's known today as the step pyramid, 23:00 it was the first large scale building 23:02 constructed on the planet. 23:03 It consisted of six diminishing squares, 23:06 placed on top of one another. 23:08 It's the first recognizable member of the family of tombs 23:11 know today as pyramids. 23:14 In its ruins a seated statue of Djoser 23:17 has survived for over 4,000 years. 23:20 During the next millennium, every king of substance 23:24 and authority would be buried under or in a pyramid. 23:28 But by the end of the era, many would be small 23:31 and constructed from mud brick, a great departure, 23:34 from the plentiful and splendid visions of the past. 23:37 But less than 100 years after Djoser's craftsmen 23:40 began working on the step pyramid, 23:42 work began on the largest stone building ever made by man, 23:47 the Great Pyramid of Cheops on the Giza Plateau. 23:51 It's a gigantic structure composed of over two million, 23:55 three hundred thousand blocks, weighing on average, 23:58 two and a half tons each. 24:01 Now originally it towered over 480 feet high, 24:06 it covers 13 acres at its base. 24:08 But even more amazing than the size of the pyramid 24:12 was the accuracy with which it was constructed. 24:15 It's oriented almost exactly in line with true north. 24:19 The four corners form perfect right angles. 24:23 Now unfortunately, no two sides are exactly the same. 24:26 It's-- about 755 feet each, 24:29 no two sides are exactly the same, 24:32 but the difference between the longest and shortest side 24:35 is less than 8 inches. 24:37 How could the ancient Egyptians 24:41 build their pyramids so precisely? 24:44 Well, they're all sorts of wild theories that have been 24:46 suggested from divine intervention 24:48 to assistance from outer space. 24:51 Speculations have run from the occult sciences, 24:54 to the levitation of the blocks by priests, 24:57 to even sophisticated machines 24:59 that we've lost the knowledge of. 25:00 It's even been hypothesized by some, 25:03 that the pyramids are really a divine work, a prophecy, 25:07 revealing the history and future of our world. 25:11 Herodotus said that it took 100,000 slaves 30 years 25:15 to build the pyramid of Cheops. 25:18 How does that fit with the information that we have today? 25:22 Could the pyramids have been built 25:25 without modern machines or engineering techniques? 25:28 Well, the archeological evidence would suggest 25:31 that they did not possess the wheel 25:33 or even the block and tackle. 25:35 That they did not have iron tools, 25:37 they only had simple copper tools. 25:39 Well, did they have super natural assistance? 25:42 Were they aided by visitors from 25:43 outer space or the occult sciences? 25:45 Well, actually there's no need for such fantasies. 25:48 It could have been built with the 25:49 simplest of tools and technologies. 25:51 Before they actually began to haul the stones, 25:53 they had two problems, two challenges. 25:56 And that was they had to level the plateau 26:00 and then they had to plot the angles 26:02 and the orientation of the building. 26:05 Well, this Plain of Giza was chosen because of its height 26:08 above the flooding Nile River 26:10 and the close proximity of a limestone quarry. 26:14 The area first had to be cleared 26:16 of the gravel and the sand. 26:17 They went down to bed rock 26:19 and then it was surrounded by a low brick wall. 26:22 And flooded measurements were take, 26:24 the trenches were cut, when the water was drained, 26:26 it was a simple matter to level the area to an equal depth. 26:32 It received its true northward orientation 26:35 by being aligned with the circumpolar stars. 26:39 While the plateau was being leveled, 26:41 thousands of workers, quarried limestone 26:43 with copper tools, those two and a half ton 26:46 blocks were floated to the edge of the river. 26:49 The edge of the Giza Plateau during the annual flood 26:52 and they were often described with the "vigorous gang" 26:56 and the "boat gang," but what about that granite 26:59 that was used from Aswan? 27:02 Cooper tools could never cut granite. 27:04 Iron would not be discovered for another thousand years. 27:07 How could they cut that, this Aswanian granite? 27:12 Well, they used special diorite hammers, 27:15 a very hard stone and they were able to chip 27:18 rough gutters into the granite and then as they chipped 27:21 that rough gutters, they were able to take 27:23 wooden wedges and fit them down in and pour water on it 27:25 and then the water would then of course expand in the wood 27:28 and it would cause the stone to crack. 27:32 And then they were able to take those, 27:33 those hard stones of diorite and they were able to just 27:36 chisel it out and make it smooth. 27:38 And then they were able to fashion the stones, 27:42 some of them weighing 70 tones and put them on barges 27:47 and ship them 500 miles down 27:49 to be used in the great pyramids tombs. 27:53 A fascinating story. 27:55 Well, the fine Tura limestone once completely covered 28:00 the Great Pyramids of Giza, 28:02 reflecting the rays of the sun in a dazzling display. 28:05 It's been scavenged through the years 28:07 to be used in other buildings. 28:09 Now only Chefren's Pyramid 28:12 wears that original limestone cap. 28:15 It looks larger than his father Cheops, 28:17 but this is due to the fact 28:18 that it sits upon higher ground. 28:21 So why did Herodotus tell us that 28:23 there are 100,000 workers working for 30 years? 28:27 Why did he say that they had machines and iron tools? 28:32 Think about this fact. 28:34 The pyramids were more distant from Herodotus in his day 28:39 than the Colosseum is from us in our day. 28:42 Okay, the pyramids were more distance 28:45 from Herodotus in his day, than the Colosseum in Rome 28:48 is from us in our day. 28:50 Herodotus mistook his guide or priest, 28:55 he thought he had special information, 28:57 this man here by the Sphinx also thought 29:00 he has special information. 29:02 I met him and as we talk that evening, 29:05 he promised to take me in the morning 29:09 to a special meditation room inside of this phoenix. 29:13 If only I would pay the fee tonight. 29:18 Well, there are many charlatans even today. 29:21 The Sphinx seems to symbolize all that is 29:24 strange and mystical about ancient Egypt. 29:27 It was carved from a large rock out cropping 29:30 in the limestone quarry below the pyramids. 29:32 Its lion shaped body is 240 feet long 29:35 and 66 feet high, the 13 foot wide face 29:39 is that of-- a portrait of its builder, 29:41 Chefren, whose limestone capped tombs stands above it. 29:46 The Sphinx is an Egyptian phrase for a living being 29:49 that fused together the features of 29:51 king and lion and man. 29:53 But there's nothing about the great Sphinx 29:56 that is harder to understand than its tremendous age. 30:01 According to the stele that's found 30:03 between the paws of the Sphinx, 30:05 a young prince was running in the desert 30:07 and he paused to take a nap in the shadow of the Sphinx 30:09 or in the shade of the Sphinx. 30:11 And according to the story, as the price slept, 30:14 the Sphinx began to talk to him. 30:16 You see, sand had blown in, it was covering up the arms, 30:18 the paws of the Sphinx 30:20 and so the Sphinx spoke to him, according to the legend, 30:22 according to the story between the-- 30:24 on the stele and it said, 30:25 if you clean the sand off of my paws, 30:29 I will make you the ruler of the two lands. 30:33 Well, the young man indeed heard that. 30:36 His name was Prince Tuthmosis IV, 30:38 he cleared the sand of Egypt 30:40 and he became pharaoh 34 centuries ago. 30:45 And at that time, 30:46 the Sphinx was already a 1,000 years old. 30:49 Well, I went out to this Sphinx at 4:30 in the morning 30:51 because I wanted to photograph that stele 30:55 before the guards or the tourist arrive 30:58 because I wanted to get some-- 30:59 because I want to get a close up of it, 31:02 because it casts an interesting light 31:03 upon the Hebrew scriptures. 31:04 You see, Tuthmosis IV was not the oldest son of his father. 31:11 However, his brother unexpectedly died 31:16 and he became pharaoh. 31:18 Some people wonder was he the one of the Exodus. 31:21 Did this take place during that time? 31:23 Well, let me read to you what's actually a translation 31:26 from what's on the stele. 31:28 This is between the paws of the Sphinx. 31:30 It says, "On one such day it so happened 31:32 that the king's son Tuthmosis had come hunting at noon 31:35 and afterwards resting 31:37 in the shadow of this great god. 31:39 Sleep seized him and he found the majestic deity 31:41 speaking to him as a father speaks to his child. 31:44 'Look at me, Tuthmosis, my son, 31:47 I am your father, Horus-in-the-Horizon. 31:50 I promise what is my gift, 31:52 earthly rule at the head of all the living. 31:55 Seated on the throne of the earth-god 31:56 you will wear the White Crown and the Red. 31:59 All the territory n which 32:00 the eye of the sun rests will be yours. 32:03 Yours the food of the two lands, 32:04 great tribute and long life. 32:07 To you I turn my face and heart for protection, 32:10 since I am sick in all my limbs. 32:12 The sands of the holy place 32:14 upon which I rest have covered me.'" 32:17 True to his promise he cleared the sand 32:20 and built mud brick retaining walls 32:22 to prevent it from seeping back in 32:24 and indeed he became pharaoh. 32:26 Now we've investigated how the pyramids were built, 32:29 now we need to know why. 32:31 Why would any civilization invest 32:33 such tremendous expenditures of energy and money 32:37 to build these massive mounts of stone? 32:41 To understand the reason for the pyramids, 32:45 I want to remind you 32:46 of the religious beliefs of the Egyptians, 32:49 their beliefs of death and immortality. 32:52 They believed the king could survive bodily death 32:56 and bless Egypt from the afterworld through his Ka, 33:00 if the Ka could survive to see the body preserved. 33:06 Otherwise, it would aimlessly roam 33:08 through the earth seeking it. 33:09 That's why they embalm the bodies 33:11 that we talked about earlier. 33:12 That's why they fashioned masks of wood 33:15 and masks of gold, resembling the features of the deceased. 33:19 Now the royal tombs evolved from deep pits 33:23 in the desert to giant pyramids 33:25 but they were all built on the west bank of the Nile. 33:28 You see, the Egyptians saw the sun set in the west 33:31 and they said, well, that's clear, 33:34 but the sun would rise in the east 33:35 and so they said we want to identify with the sun. 33:38 And so even though we die and be buried, 33:40 we want to rise in the morning 33:42 and so they built all of their tombs 33:44 on the west bank of the Nile. 33:46 They were identifying with the static sun 33:48 and the setting sun in their static world 33:51 but unfortunately for the pharaohs, 33:54 their gigantic mausoleums advertised the location 33:58 of undreamed of wealth for grave robbers. 34:01 And so, the grave robbers came 34:03 and they stole all of the riches from the tombs. 34:06 And the new kingdom, a thousand years later, 34:08 they would be hidden in the cliffs 34:11 of the west bank of the Nile down at Luxor and Thebes. 34:15 But ultimately, this didn't work either. 34:16 There was too much wealth 34:17 being buried with these pharaohs. 34:19 Only one tomb has come down intact 34:21 from that amazing period. 34:24 You know him as King Tut or Tutankhamun. 34:28 But before I share the fascinating story 34:30 of how his tomb was discovered, 34:33 I want to take a moment and look at Egyptian history 34:37 and see where we might find 34:38 the biblical story of Moses and Joseph. 34:42 I want to back up just a moment 34:43 to the beginning of the second millennium B.C. 34:46 there was a Semitic group from Palestine 34:48 known as the Hyksos or the foreign chieftains. 34:51 They began to filter across the desert and they came down 34:54 and they settled in the Nile delta region of Egypt. 34:57 They had little trouble 34:58 overcoming the native population 34:59 for the Egyptians were not advanced in the art of warfare. 35:04 They introduced new weapons from Asia, 35:06 they had body armor and they introduced body armor 35:10 and bows and arrows and knives 35:12 and most importantly 35:13 they introduced the horse drawn chariot. 35:16 Now the Bible relates a fascination story 35:18 of Joseph who also as a Semite. 35:20 He was a Semitic slave from Palestine 35:23 and the Bible tells us that he came down 35:25 and he interpreted two dreams that pharaoh had, 35:27 two strange dreams. 35:29 One was about seven fat cows that came out of the river 35:32 and then seven thin cows that came out of the river. 35:35 And pharaoh was perplex by this. 35:37 Notice what the Bible says about it. 35:38 It's Genesis 41, 35:41 "God hath shown pharaoh what He is about to do. 35:44 Seven years of great abundance 35:46 are coming throughout the land of Egypt, 35:48 but seven years of famine will follow them. 35:50 Then all the abundance in Egypt will be forgotten 35:53 and the famine will ravage the land." 35:57 Joseph predicted seven years of plenty 35:59 to be followed by seven years of famine. 36:01 Well, pharaoh was perplexed by this dreadful news, 36:04 certainly he was familiar with what happened. 36:05 Sometimes it wasn't the lack of rain, it too much rain 36:08 and the Nile would overflow and the crops would rot. 36:11 And so he was very concerned, what should he do? 36:13 And so the Bible tell us 36:14 Joseph recommended wise counsel. 36:17 Joseph recommended this counsel, he said, 36:19 "Let Pharaoh appoint commissioners over the land 36:23 to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt 36:26 during the seven years of abundance. 36:28 They should collect all the food 36:30 of these good years that are coming 36:31 and store up the grain under the authority of pharaoh, 36:33 to be kept in the cities for food. 36:36 This food should be held in reserve for the country, 36:39 to be used during the seven years of famine 36:41 that will come upon Egypt, 36:42 so that the country may not be ruined with famine." 36:47 The Bible says that pharaoh accepted 36:49 Joseph's interpretation of the dream, 36:51 released him from prison, 36:53 elevated him to vizier over Egypt. 36:55 The bible goes on to say that... 37:01 "So Pharaoh said to Joseph, 37:02 'I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.' 37:05 Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger 37:07 and put it on Joseph's finger. 37:09 He dressed him in fine linen 37:11 and put a gold chain around his neck. 37:14 And he had him ride in a chariot 37:18 as his second in command." 37:20 Who introduced the chariot to Egypt? 37:22 The Hyksos, Semites from Palestine. 37:26 And so we could see that 37:28 Joseph would fit into this period extremely well. 37:32 Bible chronology places this story of Joseph 37:34 right during the Hyksos rule. 37:36 Joseph was a Semite, 37:38 he'll be readily accepted by Semites 37:40 who were ruling Egypt. 37:41 Joseph rode in a chariot, the Semites, 37:44 the Hyksos introduced the chariot to Egypt. 37:47 Joseph's father, Jacob and his tribe 37:49 came down to live in the delta of Goshen. 37:53 Here we have a painting on the screen 37:55 from a tomb called Beni Hasan and it is very interesting 37:59 because you can see that these are not Egyptians. 38:02 These are clearly shepherds. 38:04 Egyptians didn't care 38:05 for taking care of sheep and their Semitic. 38:08 And so here we have Semitic shepherds 38:10 coming down and living in Egypt. 38:13 Now this is not about Jacob but its reflective 38:16 of the story of Jacob who was shepherd, 38:18 a Semitic shepherd from Palestine 38:20 who came down and lived in the delta region of Egypt. 38:23 Now the Egyptians, they are farmers 38:24 and not really shepherds 38:25 like they are in Israel or Palestine or Canaan. 38:29 And so they liked to grow their crops 38:31 and so they're very different group. 38:33 However, these Semitic shepherds 38:39 would have been readily accepted 38:41 by their racially related rulers of Egypt, 38:44 the Hyksos rulers. 38:46 They gladly welcomed them but this was about to change. 38:51 Seqenenre was a prince from Thebes, 38:54 he rebelled against the Hyksos dominated government. 38:57 He started a war of liberation. He made a noble effort. 39:00 Today, his skull is in the Cairo museum. 39:03 You can see all the holes in his skull 39:05 were he paid for his bravery with his life. 39:08 However, his sons Kamose and Ahmose, 39:11 they continued the war of liberation 39:14 and they were able to overthrow the Hyksos. 39:16 They drove them out of the land 39:18 and never again will the Hyksos 39:20 play a dominant role in the ancient world. 39:23 They become national heroes. 39:25 And they founded the powerful 18th dynasty. 39:29 Here's a story of Joseph, just a Jewish myth 39:32 as many people believe? 39:34 Well, there's no direct references 39:36 to Joseph in Egyptian history. 39:40 But don't be surprised, there are no really 39:42 direct references to the Hyksos in Egyptian history either. 39:45 You see, they didn't like to write about 39:47 bad things that happened to them in their diaries. 39:50 Expect for one man who had a tomb 39:52 and he had been a victor over them 39:54 and he wrote about his victorious achievements 39:57 in his tomb-- in his tomb walls. 40:00 But they did find this inscription 40:02 down near Aswan. 40:04 Fascinating, it says, "I collected corn, 40:06 I was watchful in time of sowing, 40:08 and when a famine arose 40:10 lasting many years, I distributed corn. 40:12 The Nile has not overflowed for a period of seven years. 40:17 Herbage fails, storehouses were built 40:19 and all that was in them has been consumed." 40:24 Wow, kind of parallels 40:25 to the story of Joseph, doesn't it? 40:27 The Egyptians did not make much, 40:28 as I said of the remaining Hyksos. 40:30 They didn't want the names 40:31 of the foreign rulers to be remembered 40:33 and the Hyksos were expelled from Egypt, 40:36 never again to decisive role in the ancient world. 40:39 And the Egyptians then made 40:42 the remaining Semites their slaves, their slaves. 40:47 Hebrew 1: 8 is fascinating to me, 40:50 I used to be perplexed by this. 40:52 It says, "Now a new king arose over Egypt, 40:54 who did not know Joseph." 40:56 I used to wonder-- if Joseph was so great, 40:58 how could a king not arise and know who he is? 41:01 That's because the previous kings 41:04 were Semitic Hyksos from the area of Palestine. 41:08 Now the local Egyptians have rose up. 41:10 So a new king arises over Egypt 41:12 who did not know Joseph, he said, 41:13 "Come, let us deal wisely with them, 41:15 lest they multiply and in the event of war, 41:17 they also join themselves to those who hate us, 41:20 and fight against us. 41:22 So they appointed taskmasters over them 41:24 to afflict them with hard labor." 41:27 While the enslave Hebrews manufactured bricks, 41:31 and the delta, the new kingdom pharaohs 41:34 were bringing Egypt to its greatest period of-- 41:39 its most glorious periods, 41:40 untold well begin to pour in from Africa and Asia. 41:45 They launched massive buildings projects throughout the land 41:47 but there was no city more decorated then ancient Thebes. 41:51 You see, Thebes was the capital 41:53 of the two lands for over 1,500 years. 41:57 It was embellished by powerful kings 42:01 with names like Tuthmosis 42:03 and Rameses and Tutankhamun. 42:07 Two fabulous temples survive 42:09 revealing the greatness of the past. 42:11 First, I want to take you over to Luxor Temple 42:12 that was started by Amenhotep III. 42:14 It was dedicate to the Theben god Amun-Ra, 42:17 the sun god. 42:18 Who was added to by succeeding generations of pharaohs 42:20 including Tutankhamun 42:22 and of course Rameses the Great. 42:23 In front of the temple 42:25 they are actually six statues of Rameses, 42:27 four seated, two standing. 42:29 They're carved out of granite, 42:30 and if they were not carved out of granite, 42:31 you might have thought they were poured 42:32 from the same mold because they're almost exact. 42:35 They are two obelisks that stand there 42:37 and one of them says that 42:38 the Rameses built this great temple, 42:41 blithely overlooking the fact that it stood for 700 years. 42:44 He just added to the entrance to the temple. 42:47 Today, it's only one obelisk that stands there. 42:49 The other decorates Paris 42:51 and we can see these beautiful papyrus budded columns 42:55 and the lotus flowers, 42:56 they're beautiful by day or by night. 42:58 But Luxor was the small temple in town, 43:01 the worlds largest temple was 3 kilometers north. 43:05 Karnak evolved over 2,000 years. 43:07 It sprawls over a 150 acres. 43:10 Its sheer size makes it almost impossible 43:12 to get into perspective. 43:13 You approach through 43:15 the great avenue of the Sphinxes. 43:16 There are Sphinxes that led all the way down to the river 43:18 and then 3 kilometers 43:19 all the way back to Luxor temple. 43:21 You go through a great pile on into the four court 43:24 and it's amazing as you go through these courts. 43:26 We come to my favorite part of the temple, 43:28 the Hypostyle Hall and here you can see it on the screen. 43:31 And these columns are so big that the capitals 43:34 are large enough for 100 men to stand upon each capital. 43:39 Fabulous, they still hold seven ton beams 43:43 after all of these millenniums. 43:45 Near the scared lake, 43:46 I photographed this giant scarab beetle. 43:50 The beetle who pushes his larvae into-- 43:52 out of the sand at sunrise became a symbol 43:55 of the resurrection to the ancients. 43:57 They wore them as amulets around their neck 43:59 and they put them over the hearts 44:01 of their mummies in death. 44:03 These columns of papyrus reed and lotus flowers 44:06 symbolized upper and lower Egypt. 44:08 They still retain some of their color after 3,500 years. 44:12 So I have to confess that I was really drawn 44:15 to this obelisk, that is here. 44:17 This obelisk was of Queen Hatshepsut, 44:19 mystery woman of ancient Egypt. 44:21 She was the daughter of Tuthmosis I. 44:23 Her father died without leaving any male heirs, 44:27 although he did have a son through a concubine. 44:30 But the royal blood was going through 44:32 his daughter Hatshepsut. 44:34 So she married, they did not have an heir, 44:38 they did not have a son. 44:40 However her husband, Tuthmosis II 44:42 had a child through a concubine. 44:45 The boy, Tuthmosis III was crowned 44:47 after his father's death. 44:48 As a lad, he co-ruled 44:50 with his step-mother aunt for several years 44:53 until she claimed the throne as her own. 44:56 She wore the ceremonial beard 44:59 and ruled as pharaoh for over 20 years. 45:01 She erected this magnificent obelisk 45:03 that we see here, it was taller than her father's by 30 feet. 45:07 She also constructed, what I believe 45:08 to be the most beautiful building in Egypt, 45:11 Deir el-Bahri. 45:12 This, by the way, was the scene of the massacre 45:15 of the German tourist 45:16 and the others several years ago. 45:18 But she-- built this beautiful, 45:21 most symmetrical temple in all of Egypt, Deir el-Bahri. 45:24 It was built on the west bank of the Nile 45:27 because it was her funerary temple, 45:29 the place were she was to be entombed throughout eternity. 45:33 Unfortunately, all of the release 45:36 of this remarkable woman have been chiseled out. 45:39 You can see here on the screen, they're chiseled out. 45:41 All up and down the Nile, references to her are gone. 45:46 She died, was buried 45:49 but her mummy has never been discovered. 45:51 Remember the reason for a mummy? 45:53 So the Ka could come back to it in the afterlife. 45:56 The worst thing in their world you could do 45:58 is not to kill somebody but to destroy their mummy. 46:03 Then the person will be bound 46:05 to endless wandering throughout eternity. 46:08 Now for a fast ending clue 46:10 that brings the Bible story of Moses into focus. 46:12 According to 1 King 6:1, 46:15 "In the four hundred and eightieth year 46:17 after the Israelites came out of Egypt, 46:19 in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, 46:22 he began to build the temple of the Lord." 46:25 Now according to the Bible, 46:26 when will the exodus take place? 46:31 Four hundred and eighty years 46:33 after the Israelites came out of Egypt. 46:36 They got to forget all about 46:37 what you know about the exodus right now. 46:38 Because the Bible says it was 480 years after the exodus 46:43 that Solomon began to build the temple of the Lord. 46:45 Well, we have some dates and that's kind of easy 46:47 to establish that the temple of Solomon 46:50 was constructed around 970 B.C. 46:53 So we can kind of add and go back 46:55 and see that that means the exodus would be 46:57 in the mid 15 century around 1450 B.C. 47:01 And we see then that Moses will be born 47:04 according to this chronology 47:06 right in the midst of the time of Thutmosis I. 47:10 Who had no male heirs, 47:12 he has a daughter who usurped the throne. 47:15 And so as we see Biblical chronology 47:17 we see that they would-- this would fit just perfectly. 47:20 This Thutmosis I would have been the pharaoh 47:23 who made the decree to kill all male babies. 47:27 All male Hebrew babies, I should say. 47:29 Now the poor were buried in the sand 47:32 or sometimes they'd be put into little reed baskets 47:34 and floated out into the Nile river 47:35 where it would sink and they would die. 47:37 So Moses parents follow the letter of the law. 47:39 They put their baby into a little reed basket, 47:42 but first, they sealed it with pitch so it wouldn't sink 47:44 Then they strategically placed it where they knew 47:47 Princess Hatshepsut would come to do her ritual bathing. 47:50 And as she came to do her bathing, 47:51 she heard the baby cry and she read in a glance 47:54 what had happened. 47:55 But she thought, I'm barren, 47:57 the Nile god has smiled upon me and given me a child. 48:02 And so she took the child, she arranged for his mother, 48:05 his mother to nurse him and she gave him the name Moses 48:09 because Moses means born-of or drawn-from. 48:13 Okay, there was Ahmoses, remember one of the liberators? 48:16 It means he was born of the deified soul Ka-ah. 48:21 There was Kamoses born the deified soul Ka. 48:23 There was a Thutmosis, born of the scribal god thoth. 48:27 There was Ramoses born of the sun god Ra, 48:29 we call him Rameses today. 48:32 And most likely, the child would have been Hapimoses, 48:35 born to the Nile god Hapi. 48:37 Moses would have dropped the reference 48:39 to that Egyptian name after he left Egypt. 48:43 So this was a very popular name, 48:44 it fits into what we knew of Egyptian history today. 48:48 Hatshepsut adopted the boy 48:50 arranged for his maternal mother to nurse him 48:52 until he came of age. 48:53 He was educated by the priest 48:55 and became a favorite of pharaoh. 48:56 He was bright and witty and a great soldier. 48:59 When he husband died without leaving a legal air, 49:02 she intended to put Moses upon the throne. 49:05 But the step-son was opposing this, 49:08 the priests of Amon-Ra were opposing because they, 49:11 they noted a strange sense of independence in the lad. 49:14 And so they wanted to put the other boy on the throne. 49:18 They figured with the child born from the concubine, 49:21 Thutmosis III, after Moses killed the Egyptian foreman 49:24 and he fled into the desert Sinai, 49:26 Hatshepsut days were numbered. 49:28 Soon the powerful priests moved against her 49:30 and established Thutmosis III as pharaoh. 49:33 Immediately he dispatched soldiers 49:35 to go throughout the land 49:36 chiseling out all references to Hatshepsut. 49:41 She disappears from the annals of the history, 49:43 all of the mummies of this dynasty has been found. 49:46 Hers is the only exception. 49:49 They would have had reason for the ultimate revenge. 49:52 Thutmosis not only had reason to murder her 49:54 but to destroy her mummy 49:55 and confine her soul to endless wandering. 49:59 Thutmosis invaded the land of Palestine and Syria 27 times, 50:05 almost every year of his reign. 50:07 The wealth of Asia poured in, the wealth of Africa poured in. 50:10 The country experienced its greatest power 50:12 under Thutmosis III. 50:13 The great building program needed inexpensive labor 50:17 and he specifically says, 50:19 that he used Semitic slaves in his work. 50:22 Moses would have approached his step-brother. 50:26 He would approached his step-brother 50:27 and he said, let my people go. 50:31 And the Bible records the words of Thutmosis, 50:33 it says, "Who is the Lord, 50:35 that I should obey him and let Israel go? 50:37 I don't know the Lord and I will not let Israel go." 50:40 I hear him saying brother Moses, 50:41 you had your opportunity and you blew it. 50:43 Now you're just a shepherd out there in Midian, 50:44 why don't you go back where you came from? 50:47 You're not my servant, I will not Israel go. 50:50 Now Egyptologists have established the Moses-- 50:52 that Thutmosis I died March 17, 1450. 50:56 They say he was 60 years old when he died. 50:59 Now when they discovered his mummy, 51:00 they examined all these mummies and they x-rayed them. 51:03 And they established that 51:05 Thutmosis III mummy was 40 years old. 51:09 Now if they said he was 60 when he died 51:10 and yet the mummy's 40, what's going on here? 51:13 If he was the one who had gone out to the Red Sea 51:17 and drowned in the Red Sea, 51:19 and they could not find his body, 51:20 they had to bring back the body of someone else to embalm 51:23 and to do the whole elaborate ceremony 51:25 and that's what took place. 51:26 Now do you remember the time of Passover? 51:28 Ah, spring of the year. 51:30 He died March 17, spring of the year. 51:33 Spring of the year. 51:35 And so this would be fascinating insight into Moses, 51:39 this would be the time that he will live. 51:40 The Bible tells us this about Moses in Hebrews 11. 51:43 It says, "When Moses had grown up, 51:44 he refused to be known 51:45 as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. 51:47 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Messiah 51:50 as of greater value than the pleasures of Egypt, 51:52 because he was looking ahead to his reward." 51:54 I've puzzled over that, 51:55 why would anyone step away from such a wealth. 52:00 Because he looked ahead to his reward. 52:04 He believed the reward of-- of the Hebrews would be 52:07 greater than the reward of the Egyptians. 52:10 Now if he would have been a humble 52:11 and pliable servant of the priests, 52:13 he would have received a rich and powerful burial 52:15 that's beyond our wildest imagination. 52:18 But he didn't want the reward 52:19 that came with the treasures of Egypt. 52:21 He looked ahead to a different reward, 52:23 you see, as soon as the pharaoh came to power, 52:25 he begin planning for his death. 52:26 Whether it was building a pyramid 52:28 or tunneling into the west bank at Thebes, 52:30 only one tomb has come down intact from that period 52:33 revealing the priceless treasures of Egypt. 52:35 It was discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter 52:39 and his patron, Lord Carnavron, 52:41 after eight years of searching he was almost ready to give up. 52:44 But three days into the new dig season, 52:47 he found steps leading down to a sealed doorway. 52:50 Carter summoned Carnavron from England. 52:52 On November 26, a lower door was breached 52:55 and Carter peered through a small hole into the tomb. 53:00 Listen to his words, he says, "With trembling hands 53:03 I made a tiny breach in the upper left-hand corner. 53:06 Darkness and blank space 53:07 as far as an iron testing rod could see. 53:10 Candle tests were applied as a precaution 53:13 against possible foul gases, 53:14 and then widening the hole a little, 53:16 I inserted the candle and peered in, 53:18 Lord Carnarvon standing anxiously beside me 53:20 to hear the verdict. 53:21 At first I could see nothing, 53:23 the hot air escaping from the chamber 53:24 causing the candle flame to flicker, 53:27 but presently as my eyes grew accustomed to the light, 53:31 details of the room within emerged slowly from the midst. 53:35 Strange animals, statues and gold, 53:39 everywhere the glint of gold. 53:41 For the moment, an eternity 53:43 it must have seemed to the others standing by, 53:45 I was struck dumb with amazement, 53:46 and when Lord Carnarvon, 53:47 unable to stand the suspense any longer, 53:49 inquired anxiously, 'Can you see anything?' 53:52 It was all I could do to get out the words, 53:55 'Yes, wonderful things.'" 53:58 What Carter saw on his initial glimpse 54:00 was only the contents of the antechamber. 54:03 Which centuries earlier have been entered by thieves 54:06 and left in disarray. 54:08 Soon additional rooms were discovered, 54:10 opened for the first time 54:11 since the death of the boy-king. 54:12 No one could comprehend the staggering wealth. 54:15 The glory of the art of the past until this moment 54:18 of discovering Tutankhamun tomb yielded undreamed of treasures. 54:24 A life size statue of King Tut, 54:26 mason, rod in hands stood there by the door. 54:29 The skin in black resin 54:31 symbolized the color of rebirth. 54:33 Everything in the tombs spilling out. 54:35 The hope that he would be reborn in the after life 54:37 and enjoy the incredible wealth that was buried with him. 54:40 His death mask of beaten gold reveals the handsome features 54:45 of the boy-king who died around 18 years of age. 54:48 The beard under his chin identifying him as one 54:51 with Osiris, the god of the dead. 54:53 The throne of King Tut was woodened 54:54 and covered with gold and precious jewels. 54:58 And carved into his footstool were the traditional enemies, 55:00 the Asiatics and the Nubians. 55:03 He was buried in a nest of coffins, seven coffins. 55:06 One being 22 carat gold and weighing 296 pounds. 55:10 More than a 143 jewels were distributed over his body. 55:14 More than 5,000 priceless treasures of art 55:17 were found in the tomb, effigies of gods and goddess, 55:20 jewels and faces and chest of ivory 55:22 and furniture and other fabulous things of beauty 55:26 were removed by Carter during the next nine years. 55:29 Today, thousands of them are on display 55:30 in the Cairo museum in Egypt, the Egyptian museum in Cairo. 55:35 Now while we're overwhelmed by the beauty, 55:37 we have to remember he was a minor king 55:39 ruling only 9 years. 55:41 Think of the incredible tomb of someone like Thutmosis III. 55:45 But Moses turned away from the treasures of Egypt, 55:48 preferring a different reward. 55:50 Why would anyone turn away from such a funeral as this? 55:54 Because he believed the religion of Egypt 55:58 with its belief in the Ka 55:59 and the Ba were only fairy tales. 56:02 Fables invented by the priest to perpetuate their wealth. 56:09 The words of the 49th Psalm symbolize the reason 56:13 I believe that Moses, left Egypt. 56:16 He said, "Do not be overawed when a man grows rich, 56:18 when the splendor of his houses increases. 56:20 For he will take nothing with time when he dies. 56:22 Though while he lived he counted himself blessed, 56:25 he will join the generation of his fathers, 56:27 who will never see the light of life. 56:29 For all can see that wise men die, 56:31 and leave wealth to others. 56:32 Their tombs will remain their houses forever. 56:34 But God will redeem my life from the grave. 56:38 He will surely take me to himself." 56:40 Let's pray together, eternal God, 56:42 I thank you so much for the opportunity 56:44 to survey ancient Egypt. 56:45 But we ponder the question of Moses, 56:47 why would anyone turn away? 56:49 Because he looked ahead to his reward. 56:51 Not a reward of being buried with gold, 56:54 but a reward of living forever with You. 56:56 My father, I pray that You will help us also 56:58 to make the right choices like Moses did long ago. 57:01 I pray in Jesus name, amen. 57:04 Well, again we thank you for joining us 57:06 in this wonderful journey 57:07 and we hope that you can join us for our next episode 57:10 in this thrilling series on archeology 57:12 and prophecy in foot steps of Jesus. |
Revised 2015-05-14