Karnak

Um, but...

And, and Karnak Temple.

Like these used to, these were kilometers long avenues of, of obelisks and giant statues, like thousand-ton statues.

[laughs]

I mean, not only that, but many of these massive megalithic structures with this limestone that's eroded, they were cased in granite.

Like, they had that granite casing inside and out, all around, which is, which, which-

The ones at Karnak are crazy.

Remember those three at Karnak?

Presumably at

Karnak.

Absolutely.

At Karnak Temple, she'd be sort of a regular performer before the gods.

Absolutely.

There's an interesting story here, isn't there?

Nearly every detail of the mummy's life is apparently recorded on the coffin.

She was a singer, probably at one of Egypt's greatest temples, Karnak, participating in rituals with a sacred rattle called a sistrum.

And she had proved beyond doubt that an effective leader didn't have to be a man.

As part of Hatshepsut's master plan for posterity, she commissioned two pairs of pink granite obelisks at Karnak Temple.

At almost 30 meters high, this one is the tallest still standing anywhere in Egypt.

In her own words, she tells us why she wanted to set up such striking monuments, as a tribute to her father, to the one who made me, she says.

And by father, she didn't mean her natural parent, but Amun, the king of the gods, to whom this whole temple is dedicated.

Their tops would have been capped with electrum, which is a blend of gold and silver.

And the idea is they acted as a kind of esoteric lightning rod to catch the very first rays of the sun at dawn, to transmit that solar power down here into the heart of Karnak Temple, where it could then be redistributed for the good of Egypt.

MUSIC PLAYS Karnak Temple is the place where the god Amun was worshipped.

In the great museum at Cairo, there are today many samples of furniture glued together with Egyptian glue, which are still in excellent condition.

It is, however, more than likely that little or no binder was used when the pigments were applied on the various tombs or temples, even to those built about 1,500 years later, like the Temple of Karnak.

We all know that the climate of Egypt is exceedingly dry and therefore no rain can wash off or disintegrate a cold water paint made by means of pigment and glue.

The Nile clay and Nile mud largely used in building are slightly alkaline and in many respects similar to the adobe mud in New Mexico and Arizona.

And it didn't stop there.

At Karnak in Luxor, Amun-Mesi also erased Merneptah.

Sometimes, he didn't even replace the names, just cut them out and left the cartouches blank.

Which, at least to my mind, might suggest some kind of vendetta against Seti and Merneptah, that could support the idea of Amen-Messi as a disinherited son of the late pharaoh, taking vengeance on those who wronged him.

Working backwards, it seems that Pharaoh purged the workforce, perhaps dismissing those who had collaborated too willingly with Amen-Messi.

Thirdly, there was the problem of Amun.

Specifically, the great temple and priesthood at Karnak.

Amen-Messi, or born of Amun, perhaps enjoyed some support there, because Seti instituted a shake-up in the top ranks.

In the great museum at Cairo there are today many samples of furniture glued together with Egyptian glue which are still in excellent condition.

It is, however, more than likely that little or no binder was used when the pigments were applied on the various tombs or temples, even to those built about fifteen hundred years later like the temple of Karnak.

We all know that the climate of Egypt is exceedingly dry and therefore no rain can wash off or disintegrate a cold water paint made by means of pigment and glue.

The Nile clay and Nile mud largely used in building are slightly alkaline and in many respects similar to the adobe mud in New Mexico and Arizona.