The royal tomb of Pharaoh Psusennes I is one of the most spectacular of all the ancient Egyptian treasures – even more remarkable than that of Tutankhamun. So why hasn’t the world heard about it? What mysteries does it contain? And what does it reveal about ancient Egypt?
The tomb was discovered filled with lavish jewels and treasure almost by accident in 1939 by the French archaeologist Pierre Montet while he was in northern Egypt. The royal burial chamber came as a complete surprise – no Egyptologist had anticipated a tomb of such grandeur in this area. Unfortunately, the tomb was found on the eve of World War II in Europe and attracted little attention.
One of the most startling discoveries inside the tomb was the sarcophagus in which the body was held: It was made of silver with exquisite detail and craftsmanship. No other silver sarcophagus has ever been found and it is now recognized by many Egyptologists as one of the most exquisite artifacts of ancient Egypt ever to be found.
The elaborate tribute within the tomb suggested it was the burial site of someone very important. Using the hieroglyphs inside the tomb, they pieced together the identity of the pharaoh: his powerful role in ancient Egypt, and why he received such grand treatment.
The investigation reveals political intrigue, a lost city and a leader who united a country in turmoil and became the Silver Pharaoh.
A BLINK FILMS PRODUCTION FOR THIRTEEN IN ASSOCIATION WITH WNET.ORG, FIVE, ITV GLOBAL ENTERTAINMENT, AND NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL
Narrator: LIEV SCHREIBER
Director: ANDY WEBB
Executive Producer, Blink Films: DAN CHAMBERS
Executive in Charge: WILLIAM R. GRANT
Executive Producer: JARED LIPWORTH
© 2010 WNET.ORG and Blink Films
I normally enjoy watching “Secrets of the Dead”, but I am very disappointed in this specific episode because of the poor analytical reasoning behind why the Pharaoh Psusenness chose silver for his casket. In this episode it is stated the Psusennes chose silver for his casket because he was more concerned with quality and artistry then the cost. Yet if you compare Psusennes casket with Tutankhamun casket, Psusenness casket is extremely simplistic and marred with numerous imperfections were as Tutankhmuns casket is tremendously intricate with no imperfection. Simply because silver is a much more difficult metal to work with then gold it does not necessarily mean that anything made of silver is of much greater quality and artistry then something made of gold. The most likely reason Psusennes chose silver is because he suffered tremendously during the last portion of his life from an abscess that bore a hole in his jawbone and from a debilitating bone disease that caused serious back problems. As such the most important thing he would want in his after life would be to have strong bones. Since silver represents the bones of the pharaohs, an abundant use of silver in the construction of his casket would most likely assure him that he have strong bones in his after life.
I apologies that when I had originally proofreading my previous response to this episode, I made the common error of inadvertently reading a word that wasn’t there. The word was “would” and belonged in the last sentence were it should have said: “he would have strong bones in his after life.”
I agree with Glen Altenberg. Bones of the Gods(Silver) + Bone Disease = Need for strong bones in the afterlife. I really think he is on the right track. Thanks for typing the same thing I was thinking. This was a great episode,Thanks for the great job you all do.
I have unsuccessfully attempted to view your content in video format with feed to the Greensboro North Carolina Public Library for the last two weeks or more via internet feed and have encountered a begin/stop with spinning icon blocking the program feeds and making it impossible to enjoy all of your programs via internet as well as anything on similar “stations” such as YouTube; Is it possible to contact or trace the cause of this problem or inform someone, anyone to correct it. I have only recently returned to the USA from abroad after living many years in Europe and Central America and do not EVER recall this problem or related CENSORSHIP, DENIAL or DESTRUCTION OF PERSONAL VIEWING LISTENING RIGHTS with public or private computers.
Dear Sir I watched the discovery of Psusenne 1st when this documentary was on the TV in the UK can you tell me if this has been published in the UK I would to read it.
Any information would be apprecaited
Yours Brian Bursell (Retired)
Why entice us here with “Watch the full episode” only to be disappointed with “The requested video is unavailable. We apologize for the inconvenience.”? This happens all too often.
fascinating
this the most awsome this man is reaching to us 3000 yrs later pharoe and high priest plus he was smart enouph to hide his stash and burial spot and be the last one to be found out
bones of gods spot on.
What a fascinating account – with one egregious error in anatomical fact! The soundtrack states that Psusenness had a severe injury of the 7th CERVICAL vertebra whilst the Egyptian Anatomist is clearly displaying a THORACIC vertebra; the CG image then shows the 7th THORACIC vertebra highlighted in red. This would be a simple overdub to repair in the audio track – and it would make American Professors who teach Human Anatomy (like me) avoid jumping off the sofa shrieking!
Thank you.
Just watched this show on OPB (Oregon Publis Broadcasting). I then had to go on the internet and do some more research on Psusennes and found this sight. I am so glad Glen Altenberg wrote in with his suggestion regarding the silver casket. I was having a hard time wrapping by brain around the artistic concept of using silver. Using it for strong bones in the after life is perfect – to my way of thinking. Thank you Mr. Altenberg
I came to this page to specifically comment on the question of why silver was chosen over gold. I see others have had the same thoughts. Following the description of Psusennes’ physical condition, and the statement that silver was considered the “bones of the gods,” I thought the answer was quite apparent. As one who suffers from constant pain from spinal arthritis I can tell you that Psusennes wanted relief in the afterlife.
[...] tide you over until then, find out more about Tanis in a Secrets of the Dead episode on PBS called The Silver Pharaoh. I just saw it last week. It describes the discovery of the tomb of Pharaoh Psusennes I in Tanis by [...]
[...] of one of my favorite shows, “Secrets of the Dead,” which took a closer look at Pharaoh Psusennes I, whose Egyptian tomb supposedly rivals (if not exceeds) the treasures and historical significance [...]
concerning why silver instead of Gold is a very good question.
The world historically is two cultures Oriental and Occidental.
The Occidental value Gold over silver.
The Oriental silver over gold.
The bible old testament is writen for and in the oriental culture that is why the scriptures (164) say Silver THEN Gold.
The New Testament is the time of the Roman conquest of the bible lands so the Gospels have silver then gold later in the epistles it changes to gold then silver.
Tutankhamun was a lesser ruler a child so he is gets a gold casket.
While Pharaoh Psusennes held the office of Pharaoh and High priest for 70 years His casket deserves Silver.
P.S. the bible has 167 verses and in the old testament silver ALWAYS is mentioned before gold.
I find it’s more often the case than not that the sponsor plug will run fine and then “The requested video is unavailable. We apologize for the inconvenience.” is displayed when it’s time to run the episode. Very disturbing, PBS. I’ll keep in mind when WGBH starts another of it’s never-ending pledge drives or sends me my membership renewal notice.