1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,000 Welcome back to repeats history. The episode today is going to be on tomb robbery in... 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:21,000 We're going to be focusing largely on the 20th dynasty tomb trials where they actual... 3 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:31,000 The whole history of their trial is actually recorded and has survived to the present d... 4 00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:41,000 But before we get to that, I'm just going to go over some interesting articles of news... 5 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:46,000 And this first one is weird. That's all I can really say. 6 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:59,000 8,500 years ago there were a man in his early 20s and a child probably about six months... 7 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:03,000 So it's actually one of the oldest infant skeletons found in Europe. 8 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:13,000 But these individuals who buried these people in Germany buried them standing upright. 9 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:25,000 And what's even more odd is that they were initially only buried up to their knees an... 10 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:32,000 So it sounds like these people died. I hope. I hope they were dead when this occurred. 11 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:37,000 And they covered them in earth up to their knees or up to their waist. 12 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:43,000 And then I'm assuming that they there's evidence of a fire on top of them. 13 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:48,000 But looking at the pictures, which I'll post a link to, I don't see any like charring o... 14 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:53,000 So I don't think it was a form of cremation. 15 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:59,000 So I guess they were buried in stages and then a fire built on top of them afterwards. 16 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:11,000 I know that's kind of similar to early practices in the ancient Near East where... 17 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:15,000 But they wouldn't just bury their bodies. 18 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:23,000 They would first boil their bones or boil their bodies, get their bones and then cov... 19 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:26,000 And then bury them sometimes in their living room. 20 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:29,000 So you'd be living on top of your your ancestors. 21 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:32,000 So this is from eight thousand five hundred years ago. 22 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:36,000 So six thousand five hundred B.C. 23 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:39,000 So it's from the Mesolithic. 24 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:43,000 And it was announced just recently in Berlin at a news conference. 25 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:50,000 The researchers found ample evidence that says that there's a lot more graves that a... 26 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:57,000 So it seems to be some kind of cultural practice that was going on all over in thi... 27 00:02:57,000 --> 00:03:11,000 So the excavations were in 2013 and 14 and uncovered evidence of, like I said, a... 28 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:17,000 So the paper was published in the journal Quartier, which a quarter, I assume, in... 29 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:20,000 But I could be wrong again. You know how horrible I am with languages. 30 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:24,000 But it says the burials are evidence of really careful planning. 31 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:32,000 And it's not an accumulation of burials by accident, but but at a place where they ha... 32 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:37,000 Construct over time, this this graveyard. 33 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:44,000 So it's actually the first evidence of a true cemetery in northern Europe or Scandinavia... 34 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:53,000 But like I said, it's not the graveyard itself that's rare, but the way that they... 35 00:03:53,000 --> 00:04:07,000 And while the the infant burial is rare in itself, I guess it was a thousand years af... 36 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:11,000 And he was or he was included. 37 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:17,000 He was there is stone tools and bone tools and flint knives included with his burial. 38 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:29,000 So I guess the way that they did this, this skeleton or this body was positioned uprig... 39 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:33,000 So this might have been like a ceremonial burial for. 40 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:37,000 An individual who who rank quite highly in their society. 41 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:40,000 So this guy's buried up to his knees. 42 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:43,000 And then his upper body was a lot of stone. 43 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:45,000 Buried up to his knees. 44 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:54,000 And then his upper body was allowed to decay and fall apart back into the grave where h... 45 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:58,000 And then after that is when the the fire was built on top. 46 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:00,000 So I'm assuming. 47 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:05,000 That the that the fire itself was ceremonial. 48 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:08,000 And tied to some kind of. 49 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:11,000 Of a funerary ceremony for this individual. 50 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:14,000 But I mean, there's no evidence of that. 51 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:18,000 But you can almost picture that occurring. 52 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:23,000 So I will post a link to that article detailing that burial. 53 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:27,000 There's some pretty cool pictures as well. 54 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:31,000 And I thought there was a video, but there might not be. 55 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:34,000 So another piece of news, this isn't too ancient. 56 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:40,000 Well, at least by the previous standards, but an early Christian church has been found i... 57 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:42,000 This is from February 4th. 58 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:51,000 So not too long ago, a Turkish team of archaeologists have found an early Christi... 59 00:05:51,000 --> 00:06:00,000 Near the capital of the district of Nevisier province in central Anatolia. 60 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:03,000 The frescoes here are absolutely beautiful. 61 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:08,000 I'm going to post links again to those, but they're so colorful. 62 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:13,000 And it's not very common to have. 63 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:18,000 Evidence of the early cult of Christianity. 64 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:24,000 So I guess this this church dates to the fifth century, so in the four hundreds. 65 00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:29,000 And the frescoes, which can really, really like so bright. 66 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:33,000 I guess it's they've been preserved so well because they've been buried. 67 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:41,000 But they show the crucifixion and Jesus rising in the heaven and I guess battling... 68 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:47,000 And then there's Old Testament frescoes as well. 69 00:06:47,000 --> 00:06:51,000 Moses and more. 70 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:56,000 They've only excavated, I guess, like a foot or maybe three feet. 71 00:06:56,000 --> 00:06:59,000 Of the the church from the top down. 72 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:03,000 So there's still a lot more that's going to be revealed there. 73 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:06,000 Again, I'll post pictures for everyone to see. 74 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:08,000 It's a beautiful church. 75 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:11,000 And the final piece of news I'll add here. 76 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:12,000 I was going to add. 77 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:14,000 Well, I might talk about it in a little bit. 78 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:29,000 But this final one, archaeologists in Sweden have uncovered the remains of a nine thous... 79 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:34,000 So what is really interesting here is. 80 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:36,000 This thing's huge. 81 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:40,000 It can store roughly two hundred thousand. 82 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:42,000 Fish. 83 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:43,000 We're sorry. 84 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:50,000 They found about two hundred thousand fish bones associated with this early Mesolithi... 85 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:57,000 It dates between nine thousand six hundred and eight thousand six hundred years befor... 86 00:07:57,000 --> 00:08:01,000 The size of the site indicates that these people weren't very mobile at all. 87 00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:02,000 Right. 88 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:10,000 You're not going to create this and then just move away from this site of easily accessi... 89 00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:21,000 So it kind of turns on its head our understanding of the people living during... 90 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:26,000 So I guess something like this hasn't ever been found before. 91 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:39,000 And you know, you can think or assume that it's partly because I guess the fish bones... 92 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:41,000 I guess they're they're mostly fresh. 93 00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:44,000 Yeah, they're all freshwater fish like northern pike. 94 00:08:44,000 --> 00:08:47,000 Some European perch. 95 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:51,000 And the ferment the fermentation process that they used. 96 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:55,000 It's actually it's interesting and it's quite simple. 97 00:08:55,000 --> 00:08:57,000 So they say that. 98 00:08:57,000 --> 00:09:04,000 Because they didn't have the access to salt or the ability to make like ceramic... 99 00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:19,000 They would acidify the fish using pine bark, seal fat, and then they would wrap the ent... 100 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:24,000 And then they buried in a pit, cover it with muddy soil. 101 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:33,000 And because the climate is so cold, this would ferment the fish and prevent... 102 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:40,000 And I guess they could keep returning to this site and have an accessible source of food. 103 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:42,000 So I found that really interesting. 104 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:52,000 It kind of indicates these settlements or these communities were not moving around a... 105 00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:55,000 Hunting large game. 106 00:09:55,000 --> 00:09:57,000 But instead. 107 00:09:57,000 --> 00:10:02,000 Created a source of food that was readily accessible. 108 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:04,000 So, again, I will post a link to that. 109 00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:14,000 And with that, let's get started on the topic today, which, as I mentioned, is tomb robb... 110 00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:22,000 I'm going to go over some of the evidence for tomb robbery in early Egypt and Old Kingdo... 111 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:32,000 But the focus for today is really going to be on tomb robbery in the Valley of the Kings... 112 00:10:32,000 --> 00:10:45,000 And the tomb trials involving the workers who they themselves constructed the the tombs ... 113 00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:52,000 And in the future, we're going to have an Egyptologist on who I'm sure a lot of you... 114 00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:54,000 Her name is Kara Cooney. 115 00:10:55,000 --> 00:11:08,000 She actually has a grad student did work in dear El Medina, but I'm sure she's she's... 116 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:15,000 And her discovery channel special that was on a couple of years ago. 117 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:23,000 So it'll be interesting after this episode to have her on and maybe discuss some of the... 118 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:34,000 I wanted to do this podcast before having her on just so those listening could get a bet... 119 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:42,000 And the individuals involved by the time you're done studying this this period, you... 120 00:11:42,000 --> 00:11:49,000 It's a giant soap opera and so much evidence has has remained intact from this village. 121 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:54,000 It's absolutely incredible. It's the ancient Egyptian version of Pompeii. 122 00:11:54,000 --> 00:11:56,000 I've never been there myself. 123 00:11:56,000 --> 00:12:09,000 My my travel in Egypt has mostly been located to the north and pyramid sites and the Old... 124 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:14,000 So it's definitely a site that I would love to get to at some point in my life. 125 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:18,000 But anyway, we'll get going here. 126 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:28,000 Tomb robbing itself has been a huge problem in Egypt from really the time of its earli... 127 00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:38,000 In fact, like there's actually some evidence that kings robbed the tombs of of of their... 128 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:52,000 So really like even the goods found in First Dynasty royal tombs, like I was mentioning... 129 00:12:52,000 --> 00:13:03,000 And apparently even kings who were most highly revered by all levels of Egyptian... 130 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:13,000 Remember I mentioned in my last episode or the one before actually the first episode ... 131 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:22,000 Remember, I mentioned the evidence for tomb robbing in the tomb of Sneferu, the pyrami... 132 00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:42,000 So there is evidence there, for example, of Sneferu with his mummy or the mummy we... 133 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:57,000 And his son Khufu, even in his own lifetime, was forced to relocate the tomb of his mot... 134 00:13:57,000 --> 00:14:07,000 It's like a it's like a pet, but like a rectangular common tomb type at Giza. 135 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:17,000 So he had to relocate his mother's tomb from Dasher to Giza in order to what we believe... 136 00:14:17,000 --> 00:14:37,000 I'm assuming and Egyptologists are assuming that the Giza necropolis with all this wor... 137 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:44,000 So he likely thought that relocating the tomb of his mother would better protect it agai... 138 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:50,000 So this is a real threat that the ancient Egyptians are considering at the time. 139 00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:58,000 So there's various methods of preventing access to burial chambers in the tombs... 140 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:01,000 They were built right into the tomb structure. 141 00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:04,000 So this might be a porculla system. 142 00:15:04,000 --> 00:15:14,000 But the issue is that the very workers who constructed these anti tomb robbery... 143 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:20,000 They're they were able to plan their thefts. 144 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:28,000 So it's like bypass these main security features because the people doing the tomb... 145 00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:31,000 So they had all this inside knowledge. 146 00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:44,000 So some tomb robberies, for example, took took place so soon after the burial that... 147 00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:51,000 Some even like retaining some little bit of flexibility. 148 00:15:51,000 --> 00:16:10,000 So the thefts would take place sometimes even before the actual burials, as was the case... 149 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:14,000 There's even evidence of tomb robbery in Tutankhamun's tomb. 150 00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:23,000 It's I mean, we often hear how King Tut's tomb was found not having been robbed, right? 151 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:28,000 And that's why so many valuables were found in his tomb. 152 00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:29,000 But it's not the case. 153 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:34,000 There is evidence of robbery taking place in King Tutankhamun's tomb. 154 00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:52,000 And it occurred so quickly after his death that the priests had discovered missing... 155 00:16:54,000 --> 00:17:00,000 So again, there's there's further evidence of a second robbery in Tutankhamun's tomb... 156 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:05,000 That's when large portions of the King's original jeweled burial goods were stolen. 157 00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:06,000 Imagine what those were like. 158 00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:10,000 Think of what we have left from Tuncommon's tomb. 159 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:13,000 And they were like, we don't have to worry about that. 160 00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:14,000 Look at that. 161 00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:15,000 We'll take that. 162 00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:18,000 So what we have remaining. 163 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:30,000 I assume that the tomb robbers were were disinterested in it because of the grandne... 164 00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:36,000 But this time it's possible that the okay, here's a term I'm going to use the midjay. 165 00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:39,000 This is the ancient Egyptian police force. 166 00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:41,000 It's ancient Egyptian name for the police. 167 00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:47,000 And they caught the robbers in the act when they returned to the tomb for a second go. 168 00:17:47,000 --> 00:18:01,000 And during the second attempt at stealing from Tuncommon's tomb, golden rings wrappe... 169 00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:03,000 And we were we. 170 00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:07,000 But archaeologists have actually discovered these found in situ. 171 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:24,000 So you can almost imagine or visualize the scene as the midjay come crowding through ... 172 00:18:24,000 --> 00:18:28,000 And who knows what they did to those guys once they got them out of the tomb. 173 00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:39,000 I'll post a picture or included in the YouTube video of this episode showing the ... 174 00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:50,000 And there's evidence even that in some cases, tomb robbery was actually sanctioned by th... 175 00:18:51,000 --> 00:19:04,000 And this might indicate that maybe we should adjust this widespread belief that we have... 176 00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:13,000 Because it resulted in from the ancient Egyptian perspective in the potential for... 177 00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:15,000 Right. 178 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:25,000 Because the ancient Egyptians believed that their tomb played a critical role in the... 179 00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:39,000 But it was so widespread that maybe we should be adjusting what we believe the ancient... 180 00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:40,000 I guess that's possible. 181 00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:42,000 They're human, right? 182 00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:48,000 Many of King Tut's burial goods originally belonged to Smenkare. 183 00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:54,000 Now, if you want a mystery to dive into with ancient Egypt, look in the Smenkare. 184 00:19:54,000 --> 00:20:00,000 We were not even sure exactly who he was, and he might have actually been. 185 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:06,000 Well, one theory is that he was actually Queen Nefertari, the wife of Akhenaten. 186 00:20:06,000 --> 00:20:09,000 KV-55 is associated with this mystery. 187 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:11,000 So take a peek into that one. 188 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:17,000 But like I was saying, many of Tutankhamun's burial goods originally belonged to Smenkare. 189 00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:24,000 And even large portions of his burial goods belonged originally to Queen Nefertari. 190 00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:28,000 Right, because King Tut died so unexpectedly and so young. 191 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:34,000 He didn't have the time to amass this wealth of burial goods that longer living kings... 192 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:40,000 So the priests, when he died, were probably like, oh crap, what do we do now? 193 00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:42,000 Well, there's an option. 194 00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:50,000 Akhenaten was, you know, after the reign of Hormheb, which we might touch upon later. 195 00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:58,000 He was pretty much free game for making use of his stuff since they wanted to erase hi... 196 00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:04,000 His Queen Nefertari, you know, might as well take some of her stuff. 197 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:09,000 So they were caught off guard, and this was one of the options that they had. 198 00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:20,000 Penjuhum I stole and reworked a coffin that originally belonged to Thutmose I. 199 00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:30,000 And he once served as a high priest of Amun, so he obviously understood the severity of... 200 00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:36,000 Amenemhat I, sorry, not the first, just Amenemhat, I think it was the first anyway, 201 00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:42,000 he reused the royal monuments at Giza as building material for his pyramid. 202 00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:55,000 He deconstructed the valley temple of Khufu and included the stone from that temple in... 203 00:21:55,000 --> 00:22:10,000 There's actually been talk about whether or not organized deconstruction of Amenemhat'... 204 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:18,000 but I mean, at that point you're assigning importance to one over the other and it ge... 205 00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:27,000 So obviously there was some sort of disconnect present in the psyche of the... 206 00:22:29,000 --> 00:22:31,000 They were apparently deemed accessible, right? 207 00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:36,000 And those are the 20th dynasty private residence near Thebes? 208 00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:38,000 Okay, we're going to get into that. 209 00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:42,000 It's a disconnect that still generates debate. 210 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:49,000 And a possible explanation is, or at least for Thefts of the Kings, maybe. 211 00:22:49,000 --> 00:23:03,000 Here's my kind of wishy-washy off-handed speculation, but they were essentially all... 212 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:07,000 The Horus? God? The Falcon God? 213 00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:21,000 So as the same Horus, each king as Horus, maybe they thought they had claim to the... 214 00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:28,000 so it's like, in essence, they were part of the same continuing individual? 215 00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:30,000 I don't know. 216 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:38,000 That's just me trying to make sense of apparently acceptable royally endorsed tom... 217 00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:41,000 So let's get into the nitty-gritty here. 218 00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:53,000 In the early 20th dynasty, royal authorities were growing more and more concerned with... 219 00:23:54,000 --> 00:24:02,000 In the ninth year of Ramses IX, a craftsman by the name of Amon Hotepe was tasked with... 220 00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:12,000 to inspect the tomb of Ramses VI, because they had heard rumors that this tomb itsel... 221 00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:18,000 Amon Hotepe had actually worked on the tomb of Ramses VI a couple years earlier, 222 00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:23,000 but in this particular case, everything was found intact, right? 223 00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:36,000 However, four years later, a stonemason named Amon Penefer, who was attached to the High... 224 00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:42,000 He was arrested and then held to account by the mayor of eastern Thebes, Pazer. 225 00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:45,000 P-A-S-E-R, that's a name we're going to hear a lot. 226 00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:53,000 So Amon Penefer just happened to be in possession of vast quantities of gold, 227 00:24:53,000 --> 00:25:01,000 and after a short, I'm sure it was a very casual and polite discussion with the... 228 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:07,000 he was released only to join his partners in crime at a later date where he was, quote, 229 00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:12,000 Compensated with another portion of the loots, unquote. 230 00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:22,000 And together with the other thieves continued the practice of robbing the tombs of the... 231 00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:30,000 So as if to spread the blame around the community equally, his response was, his... 232 00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:35,000 And a large number of other people robbed them as well, unquote. 233 00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:41,000 So that's the author of this papyrus detailing this robbery. 234 00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:51,000 So it wasn't established exactly which tomb he had robbed, but being found with all th... 235 00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:57,000 and as the source indicates, it was widespread. There's a major problem going ... 236 00:25:58,000 --> 00:26:08,000 A few months following the arrest, the arrest story of Amon Penefer, three trespassers w... 237 00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:15,000 For over a decade, tomb robbers had been stealing goods from private tombs in this... 238 00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:26,000 but the arrest of these trespassers was caused for serious concern as the valley... 239 00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:34,000 So under the orders of Ramses IX, his vizier, remember I mentioned M.O.Tep in a previous... 240 00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:44,000 so the vizier is basically the right-hand man of the king, I guess the hand in Game of... 241 00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:55,000 So the vizier sailed south to Thebes to share the lead of the investigation with the may... 242 00:26:55,000 --> 00:27:06,000 So they got these guys, and they subjected them to torture, and the three men admitte... 243 00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:13,000 who was the wife of Ramses III, and the mother of Ramses IV, and the sixth. 244 00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:21,000 So it's not known exactly what their punishment was, but documents dating to so... 245 00:27:21,000 --> 00:27:28,000 This really is like a soap opera that we have access to thousands of years later. 246 00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:38,000 Like I said, as you study this period, you really become familiar with these people o... 247 00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:43,000 I would really actually recommend a book at this junction anyway. 248 00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:57,000 It's called Private Lives of the Ancient Egyptians by John Romer, R-O-M-E-R, an... 249 00:27:57,000 --> 00:28:11,000 So these guys are still in prison years later, and at this time the royal court wa... 250 00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:23,000 And this threat being tomb robbery, so they tasked Pazer, who was the mayor, to really... 251 00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:38,000 The real cause for the pandemic of tomb robbery that took place in the 20th dynast... 252 00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:58,000 So, okay, it's kind of hard to explain, at least quickly explain the cause of the... 253 00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:09,000 the previously very well supplied workers in Dyril Medina, remember that's the Ancient... 254 00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:25,000 So as there's no coinage at this time or form of standardized currency in Ancient Egypt,... 255 00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:45,000 One robber recalled after looting and burning, Jennifer's coffin, who served as ... 256 00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:55,000 Okay, so obviously, Jennifer served a rather minor role in the government in comparison... 257 00:29:55,000 --> 00:30:10,000 And if they were in such desperate need for food, for grain, then other higher risk ca... 258 00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:20,000 And that's what we're going to see. The effect of widespread looting resulted in a... 259 00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:28,000 So you can imagine the consider like a bizarre right, these Middle Eastern flea... 260 00:30:28,000 --> 00:30:35,000 Imagine that in the region of Thebes, and it's just flooded with gold and all these... 261 00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:56,000 You know what's going on. So with the market being flooded with these precious metals, ... 262 00:30:56,000 --> 00:31:07,000 It was during the frequent periods when royal rations were very few or no grain at all w... 263 00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:19,000 The consequence of their previous looting further drove the workers to continue with... 264 00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:39,000 The outcome of an economy that was now so dependent on the proceeds gained from tomb... 265 00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:55,000 So this whole culture of of tomb robbering for basic sustenance had been generated by... 266 00:31:55,000 --> 00:32:01,000 Remember these workers in Deir el-Madinah, they were an isolated community. They were... 267 00:32:01,000 --> 00:32:27,000 They were craftsmen of say like the middle class, who's they actually had jobs, right... 268 00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:38,000 All they had was their skill as artisans. Okay, so if that grain isn't getting to th... 269 00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:53,000 So the mayor of Thebes and the high priest of Amun were really caught in a terrible bind... 270 00:32:53,000 --> 00:33:01,000 But on the other hand, they're also directly responsible for the safety and the integri... 271 00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:13,000 And their failure to keep these tombs safe could have terrible consequences should wo... 272 00:33:13,000 --> 00:33:29,000 In the 16th year of Ramsey's the ninth, Pazer, remember that mayor, he was approac... 273 00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:38,000 P-A-B-E-S. And they reported, sorry, they came with reports of a royal tomb robbery... 274 00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:56,000 Rumors by this time had been spreading that a royal tomb had been hit. And since the... 275 00:33:57,000 --> 00:34:10,000 It says residents of Dera Medina on the Western Bank of Thebes fell under the... 276 00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:14,000 So P-E-W-E-R-O. Pereru. 277 00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:31,000 Okay, so residents of Dera Medina fell under his jurisdiction as the mayor of Western... 278 00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:46,000 But they reported it to the more highly ranked Pazer, who is the other mayor, hopi... 279 00:34:46,000 --> 00:35:07,000 So Pazer, he got on his horse and acted swiftly. He sent a messenger downriver to ... 280 00:35:07,000 --> 00:35:21,000 So Pazer acted really quick. He sent a messenger downriver right away to the capi... 281 00:35:21,000 --> 00:35:32,000 And Aminotep, he was like the patron saint, almost a modern comparison. He might be li... 282 00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:45,000 In response to this, the king ordered that the vizier, Kemwasset, not the same Kemwas... 283 00:35:45,000 --> 00:35:59,000 So along with Kemwasset came other high ranking members of the royal court. They c... 284 00:35:59,000 --> 00:36:06,000 And in doing so, they also inspected ten royal tombs in the valley. 285 00:36:06,000 --> 00:36:11,000 And then this is where we get into the nitty-gritty with this tomb trial. 286 00:36:11,000 --> 00:36:20,000 The Papris Abbot notes that upon inspection, the tomb of Aminotep was intact, along wit... 287 00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:26,000 The tomb of Sebak Hemseth was totally robbed. 288 00:36:26,000 --> 00:36:30,000 So, Pereru recorded, 289 00:36:30,000 --> 00:36:32,000 Quote, 290 00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:45,000 The tombs, graves, and tombs examined this day by the inspectors are the tomb of King... 291 00:36:45,000 --> 00:36:48,000 Examined this day, it was found intact. 292 00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:52,000 The tomb of King Iniotep VI. 293 00:36:52,000 --> 00:37:06,000 And just an aside here, the Iniotep's are a family of kings during the, they're really... 294 00:37:06,000 --> 00:37:11,000 But anyway, the tomb of King Iniotep VI, it was found intact. 295 00:37:11,000 --> 00:37:17,000 The pyramid tomb of King Iniotep VII, the thieves had not succeeded in penetrating it. 296 00:37:17,000 --> 00:37:25,000 The pyramid tomb of Sebak Hemseth II, the burial chapel was found empty of its lord,... 297 00:37:25,000 --> 00:37:32,000 Likewise, the chamber of the great royal wife, the thieves had laid hands upon them. 298 00:37:32,000 --> 00:37:36,000 The pyramid tomb of Second Enrei I was found intact. 299 00:37:36,000 --> 00:37:40,000 The tomb of Second Enrei II was found intact. 300 00:37:40,000 --> 00:37:44,000 The pyramid tomb of Second Enrei I was found intact. 301 00:37:44,000 --> 00:37:48,000 The tomb of Second Enrei II was found intact. 302 00:37:48,000 --> 00:37:52,000 And the pyramid tomb of Kamos was found intact. 303 00:37:52,000 --> 00:37:58,000 Kamos being the brother of Amos, really the founders of the Egyptian new kingdom. 304 00:37:58,000 --> 00:38:00,000 It was found intact. 305 00:38:00,000 --> 00:38:04,000 The pyramid tomb of Prince Amos was found intact. 306 00:38:04,000 --> 00:38:09,000 The pyramid tomb of Montuhotep was found intact. 307 00:38:09,000 --> 00:38:21,000 Montuhotep, yeah, we'll get there later, that's the founder of the Egyptian middle... 308 00:38:21,000 --> 00:38:31,000 And he continues, the total pyramid tombs of the kings of old examined this day and fou... 309 00:38:31,000 --> 00:38:36,000 Found to have been violated, one tomb for a total of ten. 310 00:38:36,000 --> 00:38:40,000 So we really have detailed records of their examination process. 311 00:38:40,000 --> 00:38:52,000 So Pereru immediately wrote to the vizier indicating that he had quickly arrested th... 312 00:38:52,000 --> 00:38:59,000 One of these men was involved in the sacking of Queen Isis' tomb years earlier. 313 00:38:59,000 --> 00:39:03,000 This guy was a coppersmith by the name of Pekarru. 314 00:39:04,000 --> 00:39:13,000 In what must have been a terrifying experience, the delegation gathered around... 315 00:39:13,000 --> 00:39:24,000 He bound Pekarru, right, so they took his hands behind his back, tied them up, took ... 316 00:39:25,000 --> 00:39:34,000 He was only able to identify the tomb of Queen Isis, and then he was like forced to... 317 00:39:34,000 --> 00:39:42,000 They were going to cut off his nose, cut off his ears, and then place him on a rack,... 318 00:39:44,000 --> 00:39:49,000 So upon these threats, he's like, well yeah, this is the only one I did. 319 00:39:49,000 --> 00:40:04,000 So if it had been found later that he had lied, he had to vow that he expressed with... 320 00:40:04,000 --> 00:40:16,000 So very much pleased with himself, believing that he had personally put an end to the t... 321 00:40:16,000 --> 00:40:24,000 Pereru led the delegation across the river to the rear of the temple of Amun, where Paze... 322 00:40:24,000 --> 00:40:35,000 The crowd there began to dance and sing in the streets, very much aware that the... 323 00:40:35,000 --> 00:40:45,000 attempting to embarrass and maybe devalue his word in front of the king's representative... 324 00:40:46,000 --> 00:41:02,000 So this naturally had an effect of angering Pazer, who came out of his house to addres... 325 00:41:02,000 --> 00:41:07,000 Meanwhile, the tomb of Sabeckinsef was found to be bare. 326 00:41:07,000 --> 00:41:21,000 So one of Pereru's minor bureaucrats, hot under the collar and feeling defensive,... 327 00:41:21,000 --> 00:41:39,000 which forced Pazer to disclose the fact that the two scribes had come to him from Dyr E... 328 00:41:39,000 --> 00:41:47,000 So alarm, right, because remember I mentioned how they kind of skip the chain of command... 329 00:41:47,000 --> 00:42:02,000 So alarm by this revelation, Pereru snapped. He lost his cool and this shouting match o... 330 00:42:02,000 --> 00:42:07,000 Everyone kind of focused like, holy crap, look at these, man, something's going on... 331 00:42:07,000 --> 00:42:16,000 After all, like the the residents on the West Bank were under the jurisdiction of Pereru... 332 00:42:16,000 --> 00:42:27,000 So this publicly reflected a sense of distrust in the leadership and indicating... 333 00:42:27,000 --> 00:42:36,000 So two days later, the three were, I hope everyone's easy to, are able to easily fol... 334 00:42:36,000 --> 00:42:43,000 It's kind of a complex situation that's difficult to break down in a linear... 335 00:42:43,000 --> 00:42:58,000 But two days later, three workmen held in prison for trespassing in the Valley of th... 336 00:42:58,000 --> 00:43:11,000 So let me repeat that. Two days later, the three workmen that were held in the prison... 337 00:43:11,000 --> 00:43:19,000 Right? They were questioned because the tombs that they claimed had been looted were fou... 338 00:43:19,000 --> 00:43:36,000 So while the rounds of questioning were so severe that the Thebans still discussed it... 339 00:43:36,000 --> 00:43:40,000 So he didn't even go check himself. 340 00:43:40,000 --> 00:43:47,000 But unknown to the officials that day, Pazer's report was correct. 341 00:43:47,000 --> 00:43:56,000 The Thebes had entered the tombs from the rear, leaving the seals on their entrances... 342 00:43:56,000 --> 00:44:06,000 So the inspections of these royal tombs, all they did was go to the front of the tombs,... 343 00:44:06,000 --> 00:44:16,000 But the Thebes, often having been the ones who worked on these tombs, they knew where... 344 00:44:16,000 --> 00:44:20,000 They knew the layout of the tombs. 345 00:44:20,000 --> 00:44:26,000 So the original idea of Hashire and Pabes had failed. 346 00:44:26,000 --> 00:44:29,000 Right? They were the ones who made the report. 347 00:44:29,000 --> 00:44:37,000 So knowing their own guilt and that it was only a matter of time before they were... 348 00:44:37,000 --> 00:44:43,000 And it would have worked had the inspectors actually entered the tombs. 349 00:44:43,000 --> 00:44:55,000 So the result of their scheme was now to place them in the public eye as those who ... 350 00:44:55,000 --> 00:45:02,000 Right? So the seals were intact and these guys came and made claims that they had be... 351 00:45:02,000 --> 00:45:06,000 How did they know? 352 00:45:06,000 --> 00:45:19,000 Had Hashire and Pabes plan be known to the workers in the village, it's doubtful that... 353 00:45:19,000 --> 00:45:28,000 Because of their actions, they were now in the sights of a very, very angry Pazer. 354 00:45:28,000 --> 00:45:36,000 So sometime during the next year, Pazer and the High Priest of Amun, Amunhotep, right? 355 00:45:36,000 --> 00:45:42,000 So the High Priest was Amunhotep, ordered a house to house search in Deir el-Medina. 356 00:45:42,000 --> 00:45:48,000 And this resulted in the recovery of artifacts from the tomb of Queen Isis. 357 00:45:48,000 --> 00:45:53,000 And this, okay, this finally vindicated Pazer. 358 00:45:53,000 --> 00:46:03,000 So he's now legally free to expose those on the West Bank who had previously celebrate... 359 00:46:03,000 --> 00:46:10,000 What's interesting though is at this point, Pazer, he drops, he drops off from a record. 360 00:46:10,000 --> 00:46:14,000 There's not even a substitute name provided. 361 00:46:14,000 --> 00:46:28,000 So eight men were arrested, including the brother of Hashire, a tomb painter named... 362 00:46:28,000 --> 00:46:38,000 While eight men were being held in the Temple of Mott, the mayors and High Priests... 363 00:46:38,000 --> 00:46:42,000 And recalled the Vizier to preside over it. 364 00:46:42,000 --> 00:46:50,000 And this is where we get into what I think is the earliest known evidence of a trial. 365 00:46:50,000 --> 00:46:57,000 So Perru was placed in charge of this, of the retrieval of the tomb artifacts. 366 00:46:57,000 --> 00:47:02,000 He questioned these eight robbers as to the location of the goods. 367 00:47:02,000 --> 00:47:10,000 And it led to the disclosure of how the wealth spread through all levels of Theban... 368 00:47:10,000 --> 00:47:19,000 Even those that were like related to the High Priest and the mayor were indicated as... 369 00:47:19,000 --> 00:47:26,000 So the Vizier, Khamwaset, arrived at about this time and immediately put a halt to gr... 370 00:47:26,000 --> 00:47:32,000 Forcing the villagers who were normally, like I said, subsidized by the king to feed... 371 00:47:32,000 --> 00:47:36,000 By this time the investigation had ended, right? 372 00:47:36,000 --> 00:47:42,000 More gold and goods had been gathered than originally existed in the tomb itself. 373 00:47:42,000 --> 00:47:50,000 So apparently the threat of being caught with grave goods had reached a level that even ... 374 00:47:50,000 --> 00:47:55,000 so they would not be wrongly accused of participating in these crimes. 375 00:47:55,000 --> 00:48:07,000 And it was about this time that the Vizier ordered the seals removed on the tomb of I... 376 00:48:07,000 --> 00:48:13,000 And we have a quote from the Papyrus recording this event. 377 00:48:13,000 --> 00:48:15,000 So it says, 378 00:48:15,000 --> 00:48:20,000 Year 17, third month of the second season, day 22. 379 00:48:20,000 --> 00:48:27,000 The workmen of the Necropolis ceased work, and the butler, governor of the city and t... 380 00:48:27,000 --> 00:48:35,000 the workmen of the Necropolis and their overseers went up to the place of the fema... 381 00:48:35,000 --> 00:48:40,000 king's wife, Isis. 382 00:48:40,000 --> 00:48:45,000 And then afterwards it says LPH, which is life, prosperity, and health. 383 00:48:45,000 --> 00:48:54,000 They opened her tomb, they found the granite block, the eight thieves had done damage i... 384 00:48:54,000 --> 00:49:02,000 They had wrought, sorry, evil destruction on all that was therein, and they had damaged... 385 00:49:02,000 --> 00:49:09,000 So again, like Snefru, thousands of years earlier, they were going after the actual... 386 00:49:09,000 --> 00:49:15,000 because they know that the mummies contain these precious metals and jewels. 387 00:49:15,000 --> 00:49:32,000 But let me record from the testimony at the trial of Amun Punefer, who testified that ... 388 00:49:32,000 --> 00:49:34,000 So it says, quote, 389 00:50:02,000 --> 00:50:14,000 The noble mummy of this king was completely bedecked with gold, and his coffins were... 390 00:50:14,000 --> 00:50:25,000 We collected the gold on this noble mummy of this god, and we collected all that we fou... 391 00:50:25,000 --> 00:50:32,000 We took their furniture consisting of articles of gold, silver and bronze, and... 392 00:50:32,000 --> 00:50:40,000 Then we crossed the river to Thebes, and after some days the district superintenden... 393 00:50:40,000 --> 00:50:45,000 and they came and seized me and imprisoned me in the office of the mayor of Thebes. 394 00:50:45,000 --> 00:50:57,000 And I took the twenty debon of gold which had fallen to me as my portion and gave them t... 395 00:50:57,000 --> 00:51:03,000 He released me, and I rejoined my companions, and they compensated me with a portion onc... 396 00:51:03,000 --> 00:51:16,000 Thus I, together with other Thebes who were with me, have continued to this day in the... 397 00:51:16,000 --> 00:51:26,000 So he states that treasures taken from these two royal mummies amounted to a hundred an... 398 00:51:27,000 --> 00:51:35,000 So this document, it ends with the conviction of these Thebes, which, you know, it's a... 399 00:51:35,000 --> 00:51:46,000 and notes that a copy of the official trial transcripts was dispatched to Ramesses IX ... 400 00:51:46,000 --> 00:52:00,000 So Amun Punefer himself, he would have been sentenced to death by impalement, which wa... 401 00:52:00,000 --> 00:52:07,000 So for some reason, none of the burial items recovered from the trials were placed back... 402 00:52:07,000 --> 00:52:10,000 But it was tidied up and it was resealed. 403 00:52:10,000 --> 00:52:23,000 So I wonder if there was some manipulation or maybe melting down of some of the gold, bu... 404 00:52:24,000 --> 00:52:36,000 So what's really interesting, visiting this tomb three thousand years later, so in the... 405 00:52:36,000 --> 00:52:46,000 and with the knowledge of what I just mentioned, you can fully understand the... 406 00:52:47,000 --> 00:52:54,000 That's what I love about things like this, like you can stand there and look at this... 407 00:52:54,000 --> 00:53:05,000 and knowing a bit of its history, you can look at this sarcophagus and know that the... 408 00:53:05,000 --> 00:53:18,000 So it gives us visceral attachment to the ancient past by exploring these tomb trial... 409 00:53:20,000 --> 00:53:32,000 So it was still some months later before the vizier returned to Thebes and reinstated t... 410 00:53:32,000 --> 00:53:38,000 So work on the royal tomb was then renewed, and Ramses IX died a few years later. 411 00:53:38,000 --> 00:53:52,000 Well, tomb robbing in the Valley of the Kings really continued, largely unabated, and I'... 412 00:53:52,000 --> 00:54:05,000 but I would really recommend people look into it because we have the whole course of eve... 413 00:54:05,000 --> 00:54:12,000 It's actually a pretty detailed account that if I go into it, this episode is going to ... 414 00:54:12,000 --> 00:54:18,000 but like I said, I would really recommend everyone take a look into the 20th dynasty... 415 00:54:18,000 --> 00:54:35,000 There's just a little bit of a hint of the real problem that tomb robbing was in anci... 416 00:54:35,000 --> 00:54:42,000 I mean, often they had no choice. I'm sure there were just some out and out thieves,... 417 00:54:43,000 --> 00:55:03,000 I mean, they're humans just like us, so, but it's important to try and look at it from ... 418 00:55:04,000 --> 00:55:18,000 contributes to events such as this. And again, I would really encourage people to... 419 00:55:19,000 --> 00:55:31,000 I mean, that has everything it is like a soul proper. There's murders, there's adultery ... 420 00:55:31,000 --> 00:55:37,000 And this is all thousands and thousands of years ago. So you can walk through this... 421 00:55:37,000 --> 00:55:46,000 And like with that sarcophagus I mentioned, you can walk through these houses of the...