Chapter 840 Gorgeous

"Open the coffin?" Bi Fang looked surprised and looked around at the unorganized and damp tomb, "Is this too hasty?"

When it comes to archeology, Bifang is a complete layman.

The reason why he seems to know everything about the ancient Egyptian tombs and is proficient in all aspects is entirely because he has learned this aspect of history well.

With the ability of the Memory Palace, Bi Fang could almost write down more than 95% of the contents of an Egyptian history book.

Before every adventure, Bifang does a lot of research.

The local flora and fauna, climate, and environment are the most basic, and there are also local folk customs, which are to facilitate dealing with residents.

Further up are myths and history.

These contents can greatly enrich Bifang's live broadcast content. For example, when fishing, you can tell a local history, myth, or short story related to rivers or fish.

However, even as a layman, Bi Fang instinctively felt that it was inappropriate to open the coffin as soon as he came in. As far as he knew, the excavation time of some large ancient tombs could even be counted in months.

"I mean, don't you need to prepare anything?"

A middle-aged man with gray hair on his temples jumped into the pit through standing water, checked the integrity of the coffin with gloves on, and shook his head.

"There is not much need. You regard the opening of the coffin as too mysterious. When opening a coffin normally, if the coffin itself is not a work of art, but an ordinary coffin, many of them are pried directly with a crowbar. As long as the internal decorations are not damaged, many The reason why it is not open is that the application process is too cumbersome. ”

"I have opened hundreds of coffins like this."

【Hundreds? 】

[Damn, this is a big boss]

[A professional coffin opener, right?]

"This is Mostafa Waziri, the general director of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities. He is in charge of all this and the archaeological work. Basically, he can open it if he can."

Ambassador Liao on the side introduced Bi Fang's identity in a low voice. Although they briefly met above, Ambassador Liao was worried that Bi Fang didn't remember it, so he repeated it again.

"In November last year, he opened dozens of ancient coffins in public, and many reporters were present."

Bi Fang was surprised: "Dozens?"

Is this wholesale?

"Yes." Ambassador Liao nodded, "A press conference was held under a huge white tent opposite the Pyramid of Djoser. I went to see it at the time. It was indeed shocking."

On the main stage, dozens of sealed coffins and mummies were lined up one after another, exposed to the flashlights of the media.

The most incredible thing is that at the press conference, there were cultural relic experts who opened the coffin containing the mummy and used an X-ray machine to scan the condition of the mummy wrapped in layers in public.

This operation shocked Ambassador Liao at the time.

Rows of pharaoh's coffins were laid out like cabbage in a vegetable market, and then opened one after another.

"That was from September to November. Over a total of more than three months, the archaeological team excavated more than 100 sealed mummies, sarcophagi, masks and more than 40 zunputa-se in the Saqqara ancient tombs south of Cairo. K, which is the statue of the main god of the Saqqara Tombs."

Waziri in the pit apparently heard the "whispers" of the two people and said with a smile.

Bi Fang and Ambassador Liao had no intention of hiding anything from each other.

Even breathing can be heard clearly in this confined space buried dozens of meters deep.

[Holy shit, more than a hundred tools were dug in three months? 】

[If you don’t care, you will be fired on the spot. Feelings are worthless, right? 】

[If you are in China, is there gold in ancient tombs in Egypt? Wait online. It’s quite urgent. 】

[What the hell, do you still want to go over and dig it yourself? 】

The upper chambers are already a little damp, and the lower chambers are even more so.

The air became much thicker, and the thick humidity mixed with the high temperature made it almost unbreathable.

There were water stains everywhere, and nearly a centimeter of water accumulated in the square pit where the wooden coffins were placed.

"Clean up the area."

Mostafa directed everyone, and the entire cleanup process was orderly. It was obviously a complete excavation team that had cooperated many times.

Objects submerged in the water were quickly rescued and moved outdoors one by one.

The drone flew out of the cave, and you could clearly see that a huge white tent was being quickly set up, and the helicopter that originally sent people over also flew away.

Apparently more were coming.

Several expensive gold utensils are covered with thick dust in the underground tomb, making them look unattractive. They can be moved outdoors and wiped, then shine in the sunlight.

“Because of their age, most tombs are dark and damp like this, and the groundwater level may also rise. In many cases, the ground is submerged in mud, and archaeologists can only reach out and search for buried antiquities in the mud to ensure that nothing is missed. "

Mostafa Waziri handed over a stone sculpture. He obviously said these words not only to everyone present, but also to the audience in front of the drone.

The reason why they decided to open the coffin immediately was that it was not unusual to open the coffin. It was not as careful as people thought, but opening the coffin immediately after entering did have certain risks and might cause damage to the internal objects.

But after the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities learned about the entire incident, it immediately decided to open the coffin directly at the scene, and in front of Bi Fang.

This is certainly not to show a friendly image to the world, or to please Bifang.

The fundamental reason is that even the dumbest people realize that this is a great opportunity for publicity.

Why did we open dozens of pharaoh coffins at the same time last November, and let many media reporters watch and take pictures on the spot?

What if someone accidentally breaks a golden mask or a bronze sculpture, wouldn’t it be a loss?

With a large number of people and noisy scenes, this kind of thing is absolutely possible.

So many activities are ultimately to attract more tourists from the world.

Money, it’s all for money!

Tourism is one of the pillar industries of Egypt’s economy.

According to a report by the International Travel and Tourism Association, the output value of tourism accounts for 13%-15% of Egypt’s GDP, and directly or indirectly creates 12% of the country’s jobs.

This amount is extremely huge. Such a brilliant tourism industry is naturally inseparable from the Sahara Desert, and most importantly, the pyramids in the desert.

Every successful publicity is a huge benefit and achievement.

Bifang's trip across the Sahara was not an illegal one, but he had reported every country he might pass through along the way. This is why the local police released Bifang after he was treated as a spy in Algeria.

It has been recorded above.

It's just that the local people's work efficiency is really slow.

In addition, Bifang once used an identity voucher on the skills of a wilderness traveler and obtained two certificates from the system. One is a hunter's license, which is universal in the world and can hunt most non-endangered species.

The second is a license. When Bifang goes to any corner of the world or handles related affairs, he can quickly get approval from the local government, which is very convenient.

Bifang's glorious history of driving the tourism economy in every adventure in the past, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism, which had been notified long ago, had been keeping an eye on him early, waiting for him to come to Egypt, and then advertised.

What was unexpected was that Bifang not only came, but also made such a big thing.

It's still a great thing!

Open!

Open hard!

Isn't it just a coffin?

The pharaoh has been dead for thousands of years. Shouldn't he be happy that he can still make contributions to future generations?

Therefore, Qiao also wants to pry open the pharaoh's coffin. The only condition is to do it in front of Bifang and the live camera.

This is the notice Waziri received.

Otherwise, with his professionalism, he can't open the coffin right after coming down. He has to wait for a few days at least to study it out.

Under the busyness of everyone, the deepest tomb finally cleared a piece of open space.

"After the outer things are cleaned up, we will come to the most important step, which is to open the coffin."

Waziri's gloves were covered with muddy sewage. He took them off and changed into a new pair of white gloves.

White gloves can clearly see whether they are dirty or not, to prevent damage to the integrity of the antiques.

"The environment here is quite humid, even the whole coffin is soaked in the stagnant water, and sometimes the body inside has also rotted for many years."

"If it is a skeleton, it's okay. Some have become a pool of deteriorated sewage due to environmental reasons, and many burial objects or clothes have merged with this pool of sewage. We can only carefully clean them out bit by bit. You definitely don't want to see that process. It's quite disgusting."

Waziri carefully tied ropes to the coffin, and then everyone worked together to lift it out of the pit and carefully moved it to the cleared space on the side.

Seeing that the coffin was finally going to be taken care of, the audience in the live broadcast room were all very excited.

From the discovery of the ruins to now, this is undoubtedly the most anticipated.

Originally, the audience didn't think that they could open the coffin directly to see the real person. After all, this is a cultural relic, and Bifang can't act rashly, but they never expected that it would be done in the end.

[The big one is coming, the big one is coming! ]

[This is fucking exciting]

[Who else, who else! The best in the live broadcast industry, exploring ruins and opening the pharaoh's coffin! 】

【It may not be the coffin of the pharaoh, maybe just an ordinary noble】

【I don't want to listen, I don't want to listen, it must be the pharaoh inside】

【As long as you are happy. 】

After Waziri and several other scholars lifted the coffin out of the ground, they took out a series of tools and started to tinker with the coffin.

"The ancient Egyptians had a set of detailed and complicated burial customs, and believed that this was a necessary step to ensure their eternal life after death."

"This set of burial rituals and procedures included mummification, chanting spells to liberate the dead, and burying special burial objects that they believed they would need for their afterlife."

"At the same time, the burial rituals used by the ancient Egyptians also evolved and developed with the change of dynasties, economic and political developments, and other aspects. Some old customs were eliminated and some new customs were adopted."

"Although there have been appropriate "reforms" to the burial rituals of different periods, several important links in the burial process are still used and have not been arbitrarily increased or decreased."

"Although the specific details of these links may change over time, the links involved in mummification, liberating the dead, and preparing burial objects are the most basic components of an Egyptian funeral, and basically there will be no major changes."

"But we can intuitively judge its approximate period from these forms."

Bi Fang did not rush up to help.

Even if he was carrying the coffin just now, it was a sheer effort and he didn't move forward.

For these professional things, doing nothing is the best thing to do.

Waziri next to him was explaining to the audience while looking at the coffin.

For scholars like him, live streaming is no different from giving lectures. They both teach people something.

"For example, in the predynastic period, ancient Egyptians dug shallow pits in the desert to bury their dead relatives."

"Due to limited conditions, coffins were not used at that time. The deceased was usually buried directly by bending the body and lying on their side. However, this would accelerate the decay of the body."

“By the end of the Predynastic period, tombs with walls made of mud bricks and roofs made of wood appeared. The prototype of the mastaba began to appear, and people also used baskets made of straw mats or willow branches. To protect the body, wooden coffins and pottery coffins, which are simple and easy to use, are sometimes used.”

"It was not until the ancient period that coffins were gradually commonly used. Although archaeologists have not yet discovered the tombs of nobles or high-ranking officials at that time, we can judge from the coffins of ordinary people unearthed now that most of the tombs are just Simpler wooden boxes were used, and even reed baskets appeared.”

"In the Old Kingdom, burials with the body stretched out and longer coffins gradually became common, and there were two styles, one with an arched coffin lid and the other with a flat-topped coffin lid."

“Nobles or high-ranking officials would sometimes wrap the wooden coffin with a stone coffin, similar to what we call ‘double insurance’ today.”

"Coffins are often carved or depicted with false doors to allow the deceased to enter and exit smoothly."

"Flat-topped wooden coffins usually have carved or painted eyes on the deceased's head so that the deceased can better see the rising and setting of the sun."

"By this period, the ancient Egyptian tomb system was roughly formed. At the same time, the materials of the coffins used in the tombs became more abundant and diverse, and the types of characters and patterns painted by the ancient Egyptians on the coffins also gradually became richer. Be colorful.”

"And during this period, which is when the pyramids appeared, we can see that this is a typical flat-top wooden coffin."

The flashlight shines on the flat coffin, and everyone can clearly see the eye-catching pattern on it, as well as the picture of the sun rising and setting.

[But what are those human-shaped coffins that you can often see? 】

[One thing to say, I don’t understand these periods (dog head)]

[Playing the piano to a cow is a yes. 】

"The human-shaped coffins appeared in the Middle Kingdom, which is a relatively long time ago. At that time, the coffins of the ancient Egyptian pharaohs were somewhat like matryoshka dolls. They were not only double insurance, but were divided into three layers inside and outside, and each The first floor must be patterned in the image of the Pharaoh, and the Pharaoh’s name must be engraved on it.”

Waziri couldn't see the barrage on the drone. This answer was Bifang's answer.

Soon, the coffin came loose.

At this time, everyone held their breath, not daring to take a breath, their pupils were trembling slightly, and they did not dare to leave the ancient coffin for a moment.

Waziri even looked up at the drone, and after confirming that the camera was focused here, he used his legs to slowly push the coffin lid open.

A shriveled and decayed mummy with arms crossed on his chest appeared in front of everyone, resembling the ancient Egyptian Pluto Osiris.

Not sure if it was an illusion, but Bi Fang suddenly felt a slight disturbance in the dull air of the tomb.

It's like a breeze awakening a body that has been sleeping for thousands of years and blowing away the mysterious veil of history.

It makes people stand on the shoulders of time and have a dialogue with history.