:12:02
preserved by the desert air
:12:04
and the skill of their creators.
:12:06
Some are so old that
they had already stood
:12:10
a thousand years
when Tutankhamon was born.
:12:25
The enormous obelisks of Karnak
:12:27
were carved from single blocks
of granite,
:12:30
moved hundreds of miles by boat
rolled on logs
:12:33
and perhaps levered up
with huge timbers.
:12:47
Giant statues of Ramses the Great
carved at Abu Simbel
:12:51
are still some of the largest figures
:12:53
ever sculpted from solid stone.
:12:59
We don't know how they did it,
:13:01
but we do know why
to honor the pharaons,
:13:05
both in life and after death.
:13:09
Honor the pharaons after death?
:13:11
Does that have anything
to do with mummies?
:13:13
Yes.
Look at Tutankhamon for example.
:13:18
When the young kind died,
:13:20
the priests sought
to create
:13:21
a magical new body for him.
:13:24
For 70 days they labored,
:13:26
drying and preserving the
royal body with salts
:13:29
and ointments,
:13:31
then wrapping it in hundreds
of feet of linen laden
:13:34
with protective jewels,
charms and amulets.
:13:43
And finally,
:13:44
crowning the mummy with
:13:46
an exquisite golden death mask.
:13:55
Tutankhamon was ready
for the afterlife.