UK Centre for Materials Education
Working with you to enhance the student experience
Working with you to enhance the student experience
From the moment they were built, the magnificent tomb pyramids of ancient Egypt were magnets for thieves. Often packed with treasure, nearly every major tomb was robbed. So, to prevent this the Egyptians designed an elaborate underground burial system to keep the robbers at bay.
Hidden at the bottom of a shaft twenty-five metres deep was a burial chamber with a vaulted roof. Inside that was a stone coffin - or sarcophagus - that weighed nearly a hundred tonnes. The sarcophagus lid was propped up on posts until the funeral ceremony was over, then a mechanism was triggered to lower it, sealing the mummy inside forever. There was one more defence against thieves - as the funeral party left, the chamber was flooded with tonnes and tonnes of sand.
For the first time in two and a half thousand years, the team attempts
to build a fully functioning Egyptian Shaft tomb. But how was the massive
sarcophagus dropped down a deep shaft with only the most basic tools?
How was the enormous lid lowered safely over the mummy? And how did they
build a system to flood the chamber with sand?
