Ramesses II’s Wooden Coffin and Khufu’s Secret Door

Inside Cairo's Egyptian Museum, we uncover why Ramesses II lay in wood and what hides behind Khufu's mysterious pyramid door.

At first glance, a plain wooden sarcophagus seems unworthy of the great builder Ramesses II. Guided by Egyptologist Nigel Strudwick, we trace his empty tomb in the Valley of the Kings and the emergency reburial of royal mummies to a hidden cliffside cache at Deir el-Bahari. Sparked by a goat vanishing into a shaft, German Egyptologist Emil Brouche found dozens of kings and queens huddled in haste - explaining Ramesses' journey in a sturdy, portable coffin and the vanished treasures of his original burial.

In the Royal Mummy Room, 2nd Enrih Tao II’s shattered skull raises a harder question: battle, assassination, or execution? Historian Gary Shaw and combat expert Rob Mason test Hyksos-era weapons and conclude the wounds fit a public execution rather than a chariot melee or bedroom ambush, revealing why the fallen ruler earned the name 2nd Enrih the Brave.

At Tannis, Dr. Philippe Briseau follows Pierre Montay’s trail to secret chambers where a glittering silver coffin and gold for King Sosenys bear erased names. Inscriptions reveal earlier owners, including Mernepta, son of Ramesses the Great - evidence that Sosenys’ riches came from reusing wealth from older royal tombs during economic collapse.

Beneath Saqqara, we enter vast baboon and falcon galleries packed with millions of animal mummies. X-rays expose ancient fakes sold as sacred offerings, shortcuts to a 70-day process of natron drying, oils, and linen wrappings intended to grant divine life.

Ramadan Hussein deciphers the Black Pyramid of Amenemhat III and its capstone, the Benbenet or Promedian, linking king and sun in a solar-powered rebirth. And with Zahi Hawass inside Khufu’s Great Pyramid, we revisit the robot’s live discovery of a tiny door with copper handles and the plan to probe what lies beyond.

From wooden coffins to hidden doors, the museum’s artifacts reveal how Egypt guarded its dead - and how their secrets still surface from sand and stone.