Did you really think that the pyramids of Egypt were old news? Fox network wants to try to prove it is not, when it takes its television audience live to the blistering desert of the eastern Sahara to present "Opening the Lost Tombs: Live from Egypt." Not too far west of Cairo and the lush Nile River Valley lies Giza, the most well known archaeological site in the world. The arid plateau encompasses the three Great Pyramids and the Sphinx among other monuments from one of the world's most ancient civilizations. In reality, the Giza site is not very well known at all as only 15 percent of the plateau has been excavated to date. "Opening the Lost Tombs" will mark the first time an Egyptian tomb has been excavated live on TV.
The tomb to be opened is the pyramid of Queen Khamerernebty II, the wife of the Pharaoh Menkaure who built the third pyramid at Giza. Also to be explored is the recently discovered Tomb of the Unknown located near the burial place of High Priest Kai which has not been opened since it was sealed four thousand years ago. The entrance of the tomb has been in the process of excavation for the past six months. In addition, the mummy of Nefer will be examined at the even more ancient Saqqara site. Nefer is the oldest mummy to be found in its original resting place. None of the places that will be shown on television have ever been open to tourists. Hosting "Opening the Lost Tombs" will be Zahi Hawass, renown egyptologist and the supervisor of the entire Giza site, as well as Gaballa Ali Gaballa, the chief of antiquities for all of Egypt. Robotics, digital video technology, and state of the art archaeological techniques will all be employed in this expedition.
Producing a live show in the Egyptian desert is no easy task. "They (the Egyptian government) approached us and have been very helpful" said Production Assistant Michele Schneider who is a University alum. "Opening the Lost Tombs" has been a six month long project, and in these last few weeks she and the rest of the production crew have been taking care of the last details before they take off for north Africa. "We need as much possible done before hand, we need to be detailed down to the minute." One of the most difficult aspects of working in the desert is the harsh environment. "March is sandstorm season and we've been hearing a lot about that ... we hopefully won't have to worry about rain." said Schneider who also plans to contend with a significant time difference, language barriers, and the controversy that constantly surrounds archaeology. "A lot of people think we should not even be excavating." To compensate for the time difference, it will be late night in Egypt during the show.
For those of you who are Near Eastern Civilization majors or are looking forward to a hard hitting academic analysis, this is a warning! Be prepared for plenty of Hollywood schmaltz in "The Lost Tombs." If you are one who has always been fascinated by the ruins of the ancients, don't get up tight if this presentation brings up ridiculous superstitions and ideas of the lost civilization of Atlantis building the pyramids. Just sit back, relax, and enjoy what should prove to be an interesting and entertaining presentation. As Schneider said, "This is not just a dry documentary, its a totally Fox production."
02-26-99
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