Ce Que Les Rayons X Nous Ont Révélé Sur Le Masque d'Or De Toutânkhamon

Sympa

Le masque en or de Toutankhamon est emblématique, mais saviez-vous que les rayons X ont révélé des détails surprenants à son sujet ? En fait, le masque n'a pas été fabriqué initialement pour lui seul - il pourrait avoir été réutilisé d'une autre personne, possiblement une reine. L'analyse aux rayons X a montré des métaux incompatibles et un design modifié, comme la plaque portant son nom qui a été remplacée par celle de Toutankhamon après sa mort inattendue. Le savoir-faire demeure tout de même incroyable, mais il est clair que son enterrement a été un peu précipité, laissant derrière lui une impression de "projet de dernière minute" de l'Antiquité. Malgré ces particularités, le masque reste l'un des trésors les plus époustouflants de l'Égypte ancienne. C'est fascinant de penser que même les pharaons de l'époque devaient parfois improviser un peu !  Animation créée par Sympa. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Musique par Epidemic Sound https://www.epidemicsound.com   Pour ne rien perdre de Sympa, abonnez-vous!: https://goo.gl/6E4Xna​ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nos réseaux sociaux : Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sympasympacom/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sympa.officiel/  Stock de fichiers (photos, vidéos et autres): https://www.depositphotos.com https://www.shutterstock.com https://www.eastnews.ru ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Si tu en veux encore plus, fais un tour ici:  http://sympa-sympa.com

Transcript

00:00For more than 3,000 years, the golden mask of the Pharaoh Tutankhamun has remained hidden in the Valley of Kings.

00:07This artifact, which measures about 54 cm high, testifies to the skill and art of the ancient Egyptians.

00:14But no one expected what the X-rays revealed of his greatest secret.

00:19King Tutankhamun was the last ruler of his family during the 18th dynasty.

00:24He ascended the throne at the age of 9, but reigned only 10 years before he died unopinionally.

00:30To be honest, in ancient Egypt, he was forgotten by the subsequent rulers.

00:36His tomb was not very important to them, to such an extent that even the tomb raiders have forgotten him.

00:42It may seem a little sad, but in reality, it is excellent news for us.

00:47As his tomb was practically forgotten, it ended up being perfectly preserved.

00:52While the other tombs in the Valley of Kings were plundered, his remained sealed and intact.

00:58Thus, when it was discovered in 1922, it contained more than 5,000 precious objects.

01:04This made Tutankhamun an instant celebrity and one of the most famous pharaohs of our time.

01:13Among his treasures was the most amazing piece, his golden mask.

01:18This mask is supposed to be the exact image of the king's face, or at least it was supposed to be, but we will come back to this later.

01:26The purpose of this exact representation of his face was to ensure that his soul would recognize him in the afterlife and return to his mummified body.

01:35According to ancient Egyptian beliefs, this would allow him to continue living in the afterlife.

01:41The mask seemed to have been incredibly difficult to achieve, but its real complexity was only revealed many years later.

01:49The first radiographs of the mask were made in 1967.

01:55At the time, these scans were mainly motivated by practical reasons, conservation.

02:00The mask was going to an exhibition in Paris, it was the first time he left Egypt.

02:05These images would allow us to see the possible changes that occurred during the exhibition.

02:10In addition, they could indicate how the mask was made.

02:15But at the time, we probably did not realize the complexity of its construction.

02:20Egyptian goldsmiths did not use modern welding techniques.

02:24So how did they make this mask?

02:27New radiographs made in 2007 gave us some answers.

02:32It turns out that the Egyptians did not use pure gold, which is 24 carats.

02:37The mask was actually made of gold 23 carats, that is, mixed with another material.

02:43Specialists have thus discovered that these gold leaves contained a small amount of copper, a red-brown metal.

02:49This operation was probably aimed at making the material more flexible and easier to shape.

02:54They then modeled the gold leaves by heating them and hammering them several times.

02:59But the mask contains another secret that was only discovered in 2015.

03:04The previous year, the staff of the Egyptian museum of Cairo prepared the exhibition of the mask when its long beard was accidentally torn off.

03:12According to another scenario, the beard would have detached over time and would have fallen on its own.

03:17In any case, the fact that the king's beard while in Cameroon has detached has caused a lot of tension.

03:23After all, this is one of Cairo's largest tourist attractions.

03:28And the experts had to solve the problem very quickly.

03:31The restoration process began with a detailed survey of the state of the mask.

03:35To do this, they had to perform a complete three-dimensional scan of the artifact.

03:40And by chance, they found something very interesting inside.

03:45In the royal beard is a gold tube, an intriguing structure that the Egyptians probably used to attach the beard to the rest of the mask.

03:55This once again proves that the manufacturing process of this mask was even more complex than the experts thought.

04:04But the mysteries do not stop there.

04:06Do you remember that we said that the mask was supposed to perfectly represent the face of the king while in Cameroon?

04:12This may not be entirely true.

04:14Some popular theories suggest that the mask was never designed for him, and that it was made for someone else.

04:22A study published in 2015 suggests that it was initially made for a woman pharaoh, his mother-in-law supposed, the famous and magnificent Egyptian queen Nefertiti.

04:33The most probable clue comes from an inscription on the mask.

04:37At first glance, it seems to refer to Tutankhamun.

04:40But after a thorough examination, the researchers noticed that something else had been written under the name of the king.

04:47The hidden royal name seems to have been modified.

04:51Originally, he wore an inscription that we translated as Queen Nefertiti.

04:59Another characteristic of Tutankhamun's golden mask, unnoticed for years, adds to the mystery.

05:06As we have already mentioned, experts think that the pharaohs who succeeded him did not respect him much.

05:12The ears pierced on the mask are one of the clues that led archaeologists to this conclusion.

05:17Some researchers think that King Tutankhamun did not wear earrings after his childhood.

05:22Thus, according to their theory, when he died at the age of 18, he should not have been represented with pierced ears.

05:30This could also confirm the idea that the mask originally belonged to Nefertiti, or perhaps to someone who was not even related to King Tutankhamun.

05:40But the mask is not the only source of mystery.

05:43In fact, it is full of puzzles.

05:46Recently, historians have discovered a clue indicating that the place where King Tutankhamun was supposed to be buried had been changed at the last minute.

05:55For years, experts have wondered why a pharaoh who reigned for nine years ended up in such a simple tomb.

06:04Compared to the size of the tombs of other pharaohs, his tomb seems a bit ordinary.

06:10The idea that a king like Tutankhamun could have such a banal resting place does not correspond to the power and importance he must have in ancient Egypt.

06:18So what happened?

06:20Apparently, this could have something to do with his successor, Pharaoh Ai.

06:25After the death of King Tutankhamun, researchers think that Ai made sure to erase him from the history of Egypt.

06:32A theory therefore suggests that he is probably at the origin of the quick decision to place the body of King Tutankhamun in a smaller and less impressive tomb.

06:42When the experts examined Ai's tomb, they found something interesting.

06:46A large wall covered with paint representing baboons.

06:50It is the same type of work of art as the one found in Tutankhamun's tomb.

06:54It seems that it is the same person who chose the works of art for the two tombs.

06:59The design and decoration of the two tombs are almost identical, suggesting that a common hand made them.

07:06But there is an essential difference.

07:09Ai's tomb is worthy of a king.

07:12It is much larger and more sumptuous, even if the style and works of art are similar to those of Tutankhamun's tomb.

07:19This theory therefore suggests that Ai would have decided on the content of the two graves.

07:24As Tutankhamun died suddenly at a young age, his great tomb was not completed in time.

07:29Usually, the pharaohs undertook the construction of their tombs, of their living, in order to ensure that everything was perfect.

07:36But Tutankhamun died when he was only 18 years old, and so he missed the time.

07:41And maybe he took advantage of the situation to order a smaller tomb for Tutankhamun and keep the largest for him.

07:48Experts think that this theory would explain why Tutankhamun's tomb is so simple and how Ai managed to erase his memory of history so easily.

07:58In the end, the story of the mask and the tomb of King Tutankhamun is full of mystery and intrigue.

08:04Each new discovery sheds a little more light on what really happened so many years ago.

08:09But one thing is certain, ancient Egypt still has many secrets to tell us.

08:14And King Tutankhamun will continue to fascinate men in the years to come.

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