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Exploring the Step Pyramid, Ancient Egypt's "Stairway to Heaven" - Dr. Zahi Hawass
Poziom:
Temat: Społeczeństwo i nauki społeczne
May be this is the most impressive place on Earth.
This is the step pyramid that is built by stone.
We are in the burial chamber of the step pyramid.
The step pyramid built by this genius architect Imhotep.
He was a common man, was not really important man,
but he became very important because of his mind.
He was the first one on Earth, who invented the building from mud brick to limestone.
He was the first one on Earth to make the first ceiling by limestone.
He was the first one on Earth to make the first pillar of a stone.
And this is why he was worshiped by the Egyptians.
From this place architecture was created.
This burial chamber is cut under the ground.
And the sarcofagus, huge 20-ton sarcofagus
made of granites, underneath the sand.
We are in the XXI century now,
trying to restore this pyramid.
Trying, because we are afraid
that these tunnels and passages can fall down.
People always loved to hear about discoveries
and secrets from the sand, mummies and things like this.
But what I've got to tell you now is not a discovery,
but it's a more thrill than a discovery.
It's a story of the step pyramid,
the oldest pyramid in Egypt
that almost dated back to 4900 years ago.
I was underneath this pyramid
for about 36 meters under the ground.
What's amazing, I used to come to this burial chamber
and they told all the time when I come by here,
it was full of the stone rubble and sand
for about four meters high.
I used to say: “It will never,”
“We will never see the sarcofagus in our life.”
I never thought that we'd be able to do conservation and restoration
and clean this sarcofagus.
What's happened in the past?
500 B.C. This burial, incredible chamber fell down.
And people in that time came and they restored the chamber.
And later the burial chamber began to be destroyed.
Huge stones, that this burial chamber was cased
with white fine limestone with the stars on them,
all this came down on the sarcofagus, they broke it to the pieces.
About 2 months ago we found a tunnel underneath the sarcofagus.
And that tunnel goes for about 60 feet,
or may be 90 feet.
But going in this tunnel crawling and see yourself under the base
of the sarcofagus that may be weight for 60 tons,
and what is dangerous about that is that you can look on the top
and you can see the sarcofagus became to be pieces.
The egyptian team that is working inside the step pyramid
was able to remove the stone rubble, limestone blocks
and be able in two months to clean the surface of the sarcofagus
for the first time.
And now, actually, I don't think
that any archaeologist in the past or anyone in modern times
saw full this sarcofagus.
It is the first time, when we can actually see it.
Samir, my assistant today, he said:
“We have huge blocks underneath”
“that we cannot move it, we need to break it.”
I said: “Break it.”
Sometimes a surgeon can make a surgery.
We have to sacrifice [UNCLEAR] to save the patient.
We are saving the step pyramid.
And the most important thing that you can see
is the touch of workmen, who moved this granite from [UNCLEAR],
over 800 kilometers south of Cairo,
brought it and made the sarcofagus.
You can see the touch of the hands,
signs that they made
to see how the blocks will be near each other.
They found names of the queens,
because the step pyramid is the only pyramid in the whole kingdom
that eleven of the king's daughters were buried inside.
And no one really knows that all these tunnels and passages,
if you take it to the computer and put it into computer,
you can see that the tunnels can show 3.5 miles long.
And that is the mystery of ancient Egypt:
how did the Egyptians imagine the other world,
full of tunnels and passages, dark.
And something that I will be proud all my life:
restoring the step pyramid.
No one can do it.
Many foreign expeditions tried, and they came and failed.
We did very impressive project
completely done by the egyptian team
of engineering architects, archaeologysts and restorators.
They worked together.
I gave them authority to make a decision.
Even if the decision could be wrong, but make a decision.
For the safety of the monuments.
And this is why we are inside this burial chamber.
It's something incredible.
And sitting above the granite sarcofagus
for the first time that people can see the sarcofagus
that makes eternal to the king.
And we are giving eternal to this unique pyramid,
the step pyramid of Djoser.
