Ancient Egypt ruled as one of the greatest civilizations in the world for over
3,000 years. But it wasn’t until the 19th century that we began to understand just
how incredibly advanced they were. From giant mummy graveyards, to a temple built for cats,
let’s break down the top 10 Egyptian discoveries that changed everything!
THE GREAT PYRAMIDS
This one goes without saying. When modern explorers discovered the pyramids in the
late 19th century, the entire world changed.
No one knew how these massive structures could have possibly been built in ancient times.
In fact, we still aren’t sure how they managed to put them together. The ancient Greek historian
Herodotus thought that the largest pyramid took 100,000 slaves over twenty years to finish.
But the impressive exteriors are only the beginning. Inside, the pyramids are full of
mysterious tombs, hidden rooms, and unbelievable treasures. Designed to be the burial grounds for
three generations of pharaohs, each structure housed an amazing amount of gold, jewels,
and other incredible discoveries. Unfortunately by the time the first legitimate excavation took
place in 1880, looters had already broken in and stolen many of the valuables hidden inside.
In a land full of world-changing structures and archeological discoveries, the pyramids
stand alone as the most recognizable symbols in Egypt. The largest and most impressive,
The Great Pyramid of Giza, is one of the seven wonders of the ancient world - and it’s the only
one of them still intact today. And even though most people only know about the three largest
and most famous pyramids, there are actually over one hundred of them scattered throughout Egypt.
KHUFU’S SHIP
Speaking of the Great Pyramid of Giza, this next discovery
was found right at the foot of it - hidden underground until it was dug up in 1954.
The Khufu ship is an almost completely intact boat that dates back to 2500 BCE.
This amazing vessel is one of the oldest and largest ancient ships ever found.
Kamal el-Mallakh was a famous archeologist who specialized in ancient Egypt. In 1954,
he led an expedition that uncovered the Khufu ship at the base of the Great Pyramid.
The 142 foot long vessel had been disassembled into 1,224 pieces and buried as part of the
“grave goods” for a pharaoh named Khufu. Grave goods are items and valuables that were buried
and meant to be used in the afterlife - usually by royalty and rich people.
What’s really amazing about this ship is that experts say it could be put on the water today and
sail, even though it’s thousands of years old. The Egyptian craftsmen who built it were incredibly
advanced for their time, and many of their techniques are still a mystery today. Even modern
woodworking experts are confused about how they managed to create something that could last this
long. The Khufu ship is simply one of the most important boat-related discoveries in the world.
KING TUT’S TOMB
Today, King Tut is one of the most famous Egyptian pharaohs. But his long-lost tomb wasn’t found
until the early 20th century. An archeologist named Howard Carter located the lost burial
ground in 1922, and his discovery completely changed our understanding of ancient Egypt.
The initial discovery of the tomb was actually due to mostly dumb luck. Carter and his crew were
investigating some ancient huts and his water boy tripped over a rock sticking out of the ground.
That rock turned out to actually be part of the staircase leading to the tomb. The archeologists
immediately started clearing debris out, and Carter made his way into the tomb.
Now keep in mind that King Tut’s tomb was allegedly cursed. According to legends,
the pharaoh’s had the tombs cursed to prevent robbers from breaking in and stealing the
valuables inside. Carter believed there was a chance he would die, but he stepped into
the ancient tomb anyways. He later wrote about his first time seeing King Tut’s final resting place:
“At first I could see nothing,
the hot air escaping from the chamber causing the candle flame to flicker,
but presently, as my eyes grew accustomed to the light, details of the room within emerged slowly
from the mist, strange animals, statues, and gold - everywhere the glint of gold.”
Carter’s discovery of King Tut’s tomb would end up being one of the most
important archeological finds in all of history. Unlike the great pyramids,
this tomb was almost completely untouched and over 8,000 artifacts were recovered from within.
Thanks to this discovery, we know much more about ancient Egypt than we ever would have without it.
ROSETTA STONE
Without this next discovery, we literally wouldn’t know anything about ancient Egypt.
The Rosetta Stone is a large slab of black granite with three different languages inscribed upon it.
It was created for the Egyptian king Ptolemy V, and his royal decree is what is written on it.
The stone features the king’s decree in the Ancient Egyptian language,
hieroglyphics, and Demotic. Thanks to all three languages being used for the same decree,
experts were able to decipher them and actually read the ancient scripts.
Without this stone, all of the secrets of the ancient Egyptian empire would be lost forever.
No other item has ever been responsible for so much knowledge.
THE SILVER PHARAOH
While the tomb of King Tut is probably the most treasure-filled vault ever found,
this next discovery is the only one that comes close to beating it.
During World War II, an archeologist named Pierre Montet was exploring Egypt when he
accidentally found the tomb of Pharaoh Psueness, who ruled over 3,000 years ago.
Inside the tomb, the explorers found an amazing coffin made entirely of silver
with a gold mask on top - along with a hoard of jewels that would make Elon Musk jealous.
Before this discovery, archeologists had no idea that the early Egyptian empire was so wealthy.
The “Silver Pharaoh” proved that Egypt was absolutely loaded even in ancient times.
QUEEN HATSHEPUT’S MUMMY
Egyptian history is full of powerful female rulers,
but Queen Hatsheput was one of the first; and maybe the most important. However,
we knew almost nothing about her until her mummy was identified in 2007.
Howard Carter first found the queen’s sarcophagus all the way back in 1903,
but the interior was empty. A second tomb was eventually found that housed two mummies,
but no one knew that one of them was actually Hatsheput. Modern DNA testing
was used to match one of her teeth to a jar with her organs inside - finally
resolving the mystery behind one of the most important figures in Egyptian history.
VALLEY OF GOLDEN MUMMIES
Speaking of mummies; in the 1990s, archeologists discovered a massive cemetery full of them. When
they first searched the area, they uncovered over two hundred mummies at once. While some of them
were found wearing golden masks and clothing, most of them were simply wrapped in cloth and plaster.
This giant mummy graveyard is one of the largest archeological discoveries
in the world. And experts now believe that the site may contain over 10,000
mummies. Who knows what they’ll uncover as they continue to explore the area.
Let’s just hope that they don’t unleash some kind of ancient mummy curse.
THE MUMMY OF RAMSES II
Thousands of years ago, life expectancy was way lower than it is today. Back then
you would be lucky to make it past the age of 24 before you kicked the bucket.
That’s what makes the rule of Ramses II so impressive. He was born around 1300 BCE,
and he managed to rule as Egypt’s most powerful pharaoh for over sixty years.
Egyptologists knew that Ramses II was the greatest pharaoh in history,
but his body wasn’t found until the late 19th century. Once his mummy was discovered, the
true magnitude of his power was revealed. Ramses II waged war against several other empires and
easily beat them all. He turned Egypt into one of the most wealthy and powerful civilizations
in history. And without him, the Egypt we know today would have never existed.
ABU SIMBEL TEMPLES
Since we’re talking about Ramses II,
let’s take a look at the most important construction project that he started:
the temples at Abu Simbel. These were two massive structures carved into the side of a mountain. The
entrance to the biggest one of them was guarded by four gigantic statues of Ramses II. And while
that might sound impressive, it’s nothing compared to what archeologists found inside.
The larger temple housed a complicated maze of tunnels and rooms that were designed so that
on two days of the year, sunlight would shine in and fall directly on a shrine hidden inside
of the structure. When archeologists discovered the temples in 1817, they were amazed that the
ancient Egyptians were able to build something so intricate. Just think, they built an entire temple
INSIDE a mountain, and they only had hammers and chisels to complete the job. Talk about hard work!
TEMPLE OF BASTET
You might know that house cats were important to the ancient Egyptians,
but I bet you didn’t know that they actually built temples to honor them. The Temple of
Bastet wasn’t found until 2010. It had been buried underground for thousands of years,
and archeologists were shocked by what they found inside.
Over 600 statues of cats were covering the interior - which makes sense once you learn
who it was dedicated to. Bastet was an Egyptian goddess who could turn into a house cat, and her
followers built one of the most beautiful temples in the world to honor her. There are a lot of cat
gods in Egyptian history, but Bastet was easily the most popular. But we never knew just how much
influence she had until this temple was recently unearthed. Imagine how excited the ancient
Egyptians would be to see all of the cat videos we have access to on the internet these days!
THE GREAT PYRAMIDS
This one goes without saying.
When modern explorers discovered the pyramids in the late 19th century, the entire world
changed. No one knew how these massive structures could have possibly been built in ancient times.
In fact, we still aren’t sure how they managed to put them together. The ancient Greek historian
Herodotus thought that the largest pyramid took 100,000 slaves over twenty years to finish.
But the impressive exteriors are only the beginning. Inside, the pyramids are full of
mysterious tombs, hidden rooms, and unbelievable treasures. Designed to be the burial grounds for
three generations of pharaohs, each structure housed an amazing amount of gold, jewels,
and other incredible discoveries. Unfortunately by the time the first legitimate excavation took
place in 1880, looters had already broken in and stolen many of the valuables hidden inside.
In a land full of world-changing structures and archeological discoveries,
the pyramids stand alone as the most recognizable symbols in Egypt. The largest and most impressive,
The Great Pyramid of Giza, is one of the seven wonders of the ancient world - and it’s the only
one of them still intact today. And even though most people only know about the three largest
and most famous pyramids, there are actually over one hundred of them scattered throughout Egypt.
Ok guys, that’s the top ten Egyptian discoveries that changed everything! If you liked this video,
don’t forget to like, subscribe, and ring the notification bell. And check out our
channel for even more interesting content like this. Thanks so much for watching!