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Overheard at National Geographic

The Hole Where King Tut’s Heart Used to Be

Overheard at National Geographic

National Geographic

Science, Society & Culture

4.510.1K Ratings

🗓️ 18 October 2022

⏱️ 28 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

One hundred years since the discovery of King Tutankhamun’s tomb, archaeologists are still puzzling over the mysteries of his mummy. Why was he covered in “black goo” and buried without a heart? And how did his tomb remain hidden for so long? To answer these questions, we head to the National Geographic Museum’s King Tut exhibit with Archaeologist in Residence Fred Hiebert to hear his take on what happened to Egypt’s boy king and hear from mummy expert Salima Ikram about how recent excavations of the tomb are helping scientists get closer to the answers. For more information on this episode, visit natgeo.com/overheard. Want more? King Tut’s tomb is one of the most significant archaeological sites ever discovered, but it was almost never found. To learn more about the discovery, take a look at our magazine cover story about the discovery. Want to see National Geographic’s King Tut exhibit for yourself? Information and tickets can be found on the museum website. Also explore: Egyptologist Salima Ikram is one of the leading experts in mummification. Her website is a treasure trove of information. Fred Hiebert once spent two nights in King Tut’s tomb with researchers searching for the mummy of Nefertiti. That story can be found here. If you like what you hear and want to support more content like this, please consider a National Geographic subscription. Go to natgeo.com/exploremore to subscribe today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

When I heard the news of this year's big show with the National Geographic Museum, which

0:08.9

is on the first floor of headquarters, I couldn't wait to see it.

0:12.6

It was going to focus on the world's most famous pharaoh, King Tut, in honor of the hundredth

0:17.3

anniversary of the discovery of his tomb.

0:20.3

And I was going to get a guided tour with National Geographic archaeologists and residents,

0:24.9

Fred Hebert.

0:25.9

Oh my god, it's like a secret tomb door.

0:32.6

The exhibit is dark and mysterious, kind of like a maze with walls of hieroglyphics all

0:37.4

around.

0:39.0

As we move through, there are glimpses of some of the tomb's treasures and photographs

0:42.7

of its discovery.

0:46.0

We can hear voices whispering the spells the Egyptian priests used to protect the King's

0:50.4

journey to the afterlife.

0:53.0

The spell 151B from the book of the dead, when Egyptologists see this inscription, they

1:01.0

know that they're dealing with a mortal who's going to become immortal.

1:05.2

It gives me goosebumps just looking at that.

1:10.0

I'm Amy Briggs, executive editor of National Geographic History Magazine, and you're listening

1:14.5

to Overheard, a show where we eavesdrop on the wild conversations we have at Natcheo and

1:19.1

follow them to the edges of our big, weird, beautiful world.

1:23.3

This week, it's been 100 years since Howard Carter first peered into Tutankham's tomb,

1:28.3

so we're doing a deep dive into the life, death, and afterlife of the Boyking.

1:33.6

All that's coming up after the break.

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