00:00Miles and miles of yellow sand, treeless mountain ridges, and scorching hot sun over your head.
00:08And suddenly, something you'd never expect to come across in a barren desert.
00:12A small group of overexcited people.
00:15They're as happy as you would be if you'd won a lottery.
00:18They've just found an ancient tomb, once flooded with its walls in bad shape.
00:23But the stuff they discovered inside proves that this is the burial site of one of Egypt's most mysterious pharaohs.
00:31Historians have been hunting for his tomb for years, but no one expected it to hide ancient treasures.
00:39Fast forward.
00:40After careful examination of the site, Egyptian officials have announced the discovery of the tomb of King Thutmose II.
00:48It's the last missing tomb from Egypt's 18th dynasty.
00:51And this is also the first royal tomb found since King Tutankhamun was discovered in 1922, in more than 100 years.
01:01A team of Egyptian and British archaeologists found the tomb in the Theban Mountains area, west of Luxor, near the famous Valley of the Kings.
01:10Before this, the site was only known as Tomb C-4.
01:14But during their excavation, the team found clear evidence proving it belonged to King Thutmose II.
01:21Archaeologists actually found the entrance and main tunnel leading to the tomb in 2022.
01:27But at first, they thought it belonged to a queen because it was near the graves of Thutmose III's wives.
01:33It was also close to Queen Hatshepsut's tomb.
01:36Originally, it was prepared for her when she was just a royal wife.
01:40But everything changed when she became pharaoh.
01:43But we'll talk about this twist of fate a little later.
01:46But soon, they realized that their discovery was much more significant.
01:52They found alabaster jars with Thutmose II's name and the words, Deceased King, written on them.
01:59That's when they realized that the tomb was actually his final resting place.
02:04Sadly, Thutmose II's tomb has seen better days.
02:08According to the head of Egypt's antiquity sector and the leader of the Egyptian excavation team,
02:14the tomb suffered major damage from ancient floods not long after the pharaoh's death.
02:20Water swept through the burial chamber, likely destroying or displacing many of the original artifacts.
02:26Much of what had been once inside the tomb was moved elsewhere in an attempt to salvage it.
02:32The researchers found out that the tomb had a basic design, with an entrance, a sloping main corridor, and a burial chamber.
02:40The corridor was coated in white plaster and rose about 4 and a half feet above the floor of the burial chamber.
02:47A large staircase and a very large descending corridor of the tomb indicated its grandeur.
02:53It took the team a long time to navigate through, though, as the tomb was blocked by flood debris and collapsed ceilings.
03:00Only after crawling through a 32-foot passageway with a small 16-inch gap at the top,
03:07the worst nightmare for those of us with claustrophobia, were they able to reach the burial chamber.
03:12There, they were in for another surprise.
03:16They cleared the debris, expecting to find the crushed remains of a burial beneath.
03:21But the tomb turned out to be completely empty.
03:24And it was not due to robbery.
03:26It had been deliberately empty.
03:28The researchers soon realized that the tomb had been flooded, since it had been built underneath a waterfall.
03:34It happened just a few years after the king's burial.
03:37So the contents of the tomb were moved to another location.
03:41That's why there was a second corridor in the tomb.
03:44It was most likely made to help remove King Thutmose II's body from his flooded tomb.
03:49Despite the damage, the excavation team made some really exciting discoveries.
03:56They found traces of mortar decorated with blue inscriptions, yellow stars, and fragments from the Book of Amduat,
04:03one of the most significant funerary texts in ancient Egypt.
04:06The book was meant to guide the deceased through the underworld, ensuring a safe journey to the afterlife.
04:12Now, how about we sneak a peek at ancient Egypt's 18th dynasty?
04:18It was all about conquering lands, expanding the empire, and building jaw-dropping monuments.
04:23Some of the biggest names from that era are Thutmose I and Thutmose III,
04:28both legendary warrior kings who left their mark in history.
04:31Thutmose I was a fierce fighter who led major military campaigns,
04:38pushing Egypt's border further south than ever before, all the way to the fourth cataract of the Nile.
04:44His victories gave Egypt access to new trade routes, stronger political ties, and more wealth.
04:51His conquests were so significant that they were recorded in the tombs of his top officials.
04:56Thutmose III, sometimes called Thutmose the Great, took things even further.
05:03He was not only an incredible military strategist, but also the commander of Pharaoh Hatshepsut's armies before becoming king himself.
05:11He led between 17 and 20 military campaigns, winning every single one and expanding Egypt's empire to its peak.
05:20He even created the world's first navy.
05:22Thutmose III is often remembered as Egypt's greatest warrior pharaoh.
05:29And sandwiched between these two powerhouses was Thutmose II, a pharaoh who doesn't get nearly as much attention.
05:36Hey, the middle child, right?
05:38His reign lasted only about five years before he passed away at around age 30 in 1479 BCE.
05:46He is kind of a mystery.
05:48No one really knows what he accomplished.
05:49For the longest time, even the location of his burial site was totally unknown.
05:55His body was actually found in the 19th century.
05:58It was just lying around in the mortuary temple of Deir el-Bahari,
06:02in a secret chamber where priests used to hide royal mummies centuries after their original tombs were looted by grave robbers.
06:10In other words, Thutmose II's body must have been moved from his original resting place at some point in history to protect it.
06:18During his lifetime, Thutmose II made at least one major impact on Egyptian history.
06:25He married his half-sister, Hatshepsut.
06:28That might not sound like a big deal, but it helped her become Egypt's greatest female pharaoh after he passed.
06:35The catch?
06:36She kept her stepson, Thutmose III, off the throne for decades.
06:40When he finally took power, he erased her name from history out of spite.
06:45And still, Hatshepsut is one of Egypt's greatest pharaohs, no matter if you're talking about a man or a woman.
06:52She brought a lot of wealth and art to Egypt.
06:55She led a big trading trip to a place called Punt, where she brought back things like gold, ebony, and incense.
07:02She also made sure her name lasted by building amazing structures that we can still see today.
07:09At Karnak, she added huge obelisks, one of them is still standing tall.
07:14She also was the one to build the Temple of Dir al-Bawre with its countless columns.
07:19She was buried there.
07:22Interestingly, Hatshepsut was often shown in art as a man with muscles and a beard,
07:28like how pharaohs were usually depicted.
07:30But she made sure there was always something in the artwork that reminded people she was a woman,
07:36like calling herself Daughter of Ray, or His Majesty Herself.
07:42When she passed away in 1458 BCE,
07:45Egypt wouldn't have a female ruler as powerful as her until Cleopatra, about 1400 years later.
07:54According to Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities Secretary General,
07:58isn't that a mouthful?
08:00Hatshepsut's name actually appears in Thutmose II's tomb, meaning she might have even handled his burial.
08:08As for their final resting places, well, Hatshepsut was buried in the Valley of the Kings.
08:13And Thutmose II's mummy is now in the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization,
08:18alongside other ancient Egyptian rulers.
08:20It gives visitors a rare chance to see the remains of a nearly forgotten pharaoh.
08:27Now, experts consider the discovery of his tomb to be one of the most significant in recent years.
08:32The artifacts found there add important details to our understanding of the history of the region
08:38and Thutmose II's rule.
08:39And even though the tomb's design is fairly simple and follows the same architectural style
08:45preferred by later Egyptian rulers, its historical importance is undeniable.
08:51In any case, the mission isn't over yet.
08:54Archaeologists are now focusing on solving another mystery.
08:58Where did the rest of the tomb's contents end up?
09:01The team is determined to continue their search.
09:04Who knows what other secrets they will uncover that have remained hidden beneath the sands for thousands of years.
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