fox_chat_host: Bill Pullman will be joining us live from Cairo in half an hour! The Opening The Tombs of The Mummies: Live is already broadcasting now on the East Coast. It's a very exciting night in television, as we combine an interactive element with the normal tv experience! Fox.com has been accepting questions from users about this exciting moment in Egypt, and some of the questions will be presented on-air tonight! Bill Pullman, co-hosting this event, along with Hugh Downs, should be here online with us in about twenty minutes.

fox_chat_host: Welcome, Bill Pullman!

bill_pullman_live: Let's rock and roll!

gigawatt_1_21 asks: Hi Mr. Pullman, How's the weather in Egypt?

bill_pullman_live: Right now, there is no wind. That's good. There are sandstorms this time of year, but it's been really quiet, after 5 PM everyday. Now the show is over, and we're trying to figure out how to move equipment and get bodies in the cars. It's been so hectic, but it will be really quiet in about 24 hours.

WindfireWordWeaver asks: how many more tombs do you think are still unopened?

bill_pullman_live: He is really at the beginning of this exploration. There are an estimated 10,000 out there...these aren't exposed yet, but we know they are in there and the system of the tombs extends that far.

belasius asks: How close are the tombs to the great pyramids?

bill_pullman_live: We are about 230 miles away from Giza, where the pyramids are. I took my first visit there this trip, they're pretty close to Cairo, but not too close to here. We're at an oasis in the desert, miles from everything. There is electricity here, but most of the people you see moving around are either on foot or on donkeys.

intimidator_4716 asks: Bill, what has been the most exciting part of this adventure for you?

bill_pullman_live: For me it's the people. I enjoy all of this work. And the people we're working with have such incredible passion for what they are doing. But you can imagine the kind of effort it must have taken to dig out a necropolis, a city of the dead, 40 feet below the desert, you can imagine what kind of people they must have been, what kind of spiritual beliefs they must have had to empower them to build such a thing.

zuley_25 asks: how did you feel inside the tomb?

bill_pullman_live: Well, there were a lot of things that I was seeing. I knew that Dr. Zahi Hawass kept a lot of things away from me. Things he'd been uncovering in the last week they were trying to make available for the show. But he wanted me to get in there fresh, so he didn't even describe what he was doing, so I could be there fresh.

sweetn622 asks: Do you think that it is respectful to to disturb these graves. Are we saying that it is right to just go to the cemetery and just dig up our family.

bill_pullman_live: It's important to see that the religion itself was dedicated to preserving the mummies. And I think that by the really rigorous control the Egyptian government now uses to do the excavations, insures that these mummies will be in better shape than if they had just been left in the desert. And that the linen and everything will be intact for another 5,000 years.

deborah_s11 asks: Are you participating in this dig as the result of a lifetime fascination with Ancient Egypt???

bill_pullman_live: To tell you the truth I had always been, my real focus had been the Egyptian book of the Dead, which I had always thought was an amazing document, the first spiritual writings in human history, the magic spells and all that fascinated me when I was in college. And that was the kind of thing I was thinking when I was coming here.

belasius asks: Were the tombs cataloged and photographed before this live event? How much physical damage is being done by this show?

bill_pullman_live: He probably did a full analysis of every step of the excavation, even before the first grain of sand was removing, he was monitoring. So by the time the sarcaphaguses were fully exposed, they had been fully documented. The breaking of the seals was done in the same way, they are not using lasers or anything to do that. Once they are opened, there is a lot of caution, the doctor yelled at me at one point in the show for touching one of the amulets, he, being a registered archeologist was the only one who was supposed to do that. I really enjoyed doing this!! Thank you very much, I'd love to keep going, but I haven't any water!!

bill_pullman_live: I'd love to be able to stay and tackle some more questions, because these are the kinds of things we would never have gotten to. I hope people will be sparked to pursue their own interests in exploring ancient Egypt.

fox_chat_host: Have a safe trip back home! We appreciate your having taken this time with us! I am told Bill is covered with dust and needs to be hydrated! The entire tombs were all covered in gold dust! He's got to get his lungs cleared out and some hydration! Well, that was a short but sweet chat with Bill... It sounds as if conditions are pretty rough out there on the desert, and Bill was feeling the effects! So sorry that he wasn't able to be with us longer, but I appreciate that he gave us a taste of what it felt like and why he was there! Good night, everybody!

steve_carvelli asks: It was an incredible show!! Congrats.