We know that ancient Egyptians entombed pharaohs with great wealth. We know that ancient Egyptians broke in and looted many of the tombs.
How did they get away with it? If Sherif and Ramy started buying drinks for everyone in the village, or built nice houses, or otherwise exhibited wealth beyond the means afforded to a sheep-herder or farmer, The Powers That Be (or Were, at any rate) would surely take notice.
Did ancient tomb raiders just take their ill-gotten booty (or ill-booten gotty) and get the hell out of Dodge? Did they pay hush money? Were the burglaries contracted by already-wealthy people, who paid henchmen to do the dirty work; and, already possessing wealth, would not have to explain a bit more? Were the tomb raiders foreigners who spirited their loot back to their homelands?
I think that it was the sort of thing that just got a tacit wink and a nod in the small towns the tomb raiders came from. Everyone knew where they were getting their wealth, and nobody actually cared that much, but if the authorities asked, nobody knew a thing.
Do we? Or is that just an incorrect trope? I was reading the contents of Tut’s tomb, and I was pretty surprised – yes, he was buried in a gold mask inlaid with lapis. But many of his tomb objects were glided over wood. He even had glass beads imitating lapis, it seemed to me like the inventory was constantly mentioning that.
Also, didn’t Carver find that looting was attempted, and then abandoned – a scrap of cloth with a few gold rings inside. That’s the sort of thing a secret thief stole. Only the next king or other ruler could say, “Alright boys, empty 'em out, and stack it all in my treasury”
One thing to keep in mind with Tut is that pharaohs accumulated the wealth for their tomb over their lifetime, and Tut died young. He hadn’t ruled long enough to accumulate much wealth. His tomb was kinda crappy and low-budget compared to many of the others.
There would have been a whole huge grave goods industry in ancient Egypt. It wasn’t just the pharaoh who wanted to go out in style. Presumably there would have been enough middle men and small artisans that it wouldn’t be too difficult to fence the stuff, or present yourself as some sort of broker if you were making a career of it.
Another thing to consider is that even though I think the consensus is that the tombs were mostly looted during antiquity, antiquity was a long freakin’ time. If you were looting a tomb of some pharoah who died 200 years ago, nobody is going to remember the guy let alone what particular brickabrack he was buried with.
You have to suspect that the current Pharaoh who is busy building a pyramid and sorting out the grave goods to take with him when he goes, would be in the market for Great Grandaddy’s stuff after it got looted.
I’m curious if the “death trapped tomb” is purely a Hollywood invention or if it has any basis in fact. While elaborate mechanisms are implausible, I could see a tomb having deadfalls or pit traps.
