One of the saddest aspects of Egypt's legacy is that because of greed, ignorance, or simple neglect, the world has lost a great deal of the archaeological riches from that great civilization.
Architects of the earliest pyramids were aware that robbers would try to steal the gold and other treasures stored with the pharaoh's tombs. For that reason, they built in elaborate devices, including blind passageways, trap doors, and air shafts filled with sand, to stop robbers from breaking in.
In spite of these efforts, every known pyramid had been looted by 1000 B. C. In many cases the theft was an "inside job" by the very priests whose responsibility it was to protect the tombs. These corrupt priests moved a number of the treasures to another location, supposedly for safekeeping but in fact to loot the gold. Perhaps if the gold items had been preserved intact, they might
Have later resurfaced, but in order to avoid detection, the robbers usually melted down the treasures they stole. Therefore the world will probably never know what gorgeous objects were buried with pharaohs such as Cheops and Khafre.
Ancient Egyptian law set extremely harsh penalties for grave-robbing. There were tales of a curse over those who disturbed the eternal sleep of the pharaohs. Thus when Howard Carter discovered the tomb of Tutankhamen, it was said that he brought a curse on himself. Several strange things did happen, including the sudden death of Lord Carnarvon, who financed Carter's expedition. But Carter himself lived to be 65 years old, so it would be hard to prove that he had suffered a "curse."
Curse or not, great damage has been done by people who did not know how to value the historical treasures of Egypt. In the a. d. 600s, the Arab
Officially ended the religion of Aton and went back to the old faith and his old name. That name would become more familiar to the modern world than it ever was to the ancients: Dead at the age of eighteen, Tutankhamen was destined to become one of the most famous pharaohs of all time.
World History
