1 00:00:00,960 --> 00:00:02,793 Announcer: The following program 2 00:00:02,878 --> 00:00:06,255 contains disturbing subject matter and images. 3 00:00:06,340 --> 00:00:08,507 Viewer discretion is advised. 4 00:00:11,429 --> 00:00:13,512 William shatner: A pharaoh's tomb 5 00:00:13,556 --> 00:00:14,847 with a deadly curse. 6 00:00:16,726 --> 00:00:18,058 A dictator 7 00:00:18,144 --> 00:00:20,310 who gets younger with time. 8 00:00:20,396 --> 00:00:22,521 And life-sized dolls 9 00:00:22,606 --> 00:00:25,190 made from human remains. 10 00:00:29,655 --> 00:00:31,739 For thousands of years, 11 00:00:31,824 --> 00:00:35,826 people around the world have practiced mummification 12 00:00:35,870 --> 00:00:37,536 in the belief that one day... 13 00:00:39,623 --> 00:00:41,707 ...The dead will rise again. 14 00:00:41,751 --> 00:00:45,961 Today we consider such views to be preposterous. 15 00:00:46,047 --> 00:00:48,839 Irrational. Unbelievable. 16 00:00:49,925 --> 00:00:51,884 But what if we're wrong? 17 00:00:51,969 --> 00:00:54,803 What if the ancient art of mummification 18 00:00:54,889 --> 00:00:58,390 could somehow, someday... 19 00:00:58,476 --> 00:01:00,893 Bring back the dead? 20 00:01:00,936 --> 00:01:02,561 Well... 21 00:01:02,605 --> 00:01:05,314 That is what we'll try and find out. 22 00:01:05,399 --> 00:01:07,399 ♪ ♪ 23 00:01:26,629 --> 00:01:30,672 a young boy working for a british excavation team 24 00:01:30,758 --> 00:01:33,467 led by archaeologist howard carter 25 00:01:33,552 --> 00:01:36,595 is riding his donkey home one night, 26 00:01:36,639 --> 00:01:38,555 when suddenly the animal's hoof slips 27 00:01:38,641 --> 00:01:40,933 into a hole below the sand. 28 00:01:42,561 --> 00:01:46,480 Carter and his team later excavate the site 29 00:01:46,565 --> 00:01:49,316 and discover a mysterious chamber 30 00:01:49,401 --> 00:01:51,610 hidden deep beneath the shifting sands. 31 00:01:51,654 --> 00:01:53,237 Peering inside, they lay their eyes 32 00:01:53,322 --> 00:01:56,240 upon one of the most incredible 33 00:01:56,283 --> 00:01:59,034 archaeological finds in history. 34 00:01:59,120 --> 00:02:02,287 A massive treasure trove 35 00:02:02,331 --> 00:02:05,249 of gold and ebony artifacts, 36 00:02:05,292 --> 00:02:07,251 all laid out before another chamber 37 00:02:07,336 --> 00:02:09,920 guarded by two imposing statues 38 00:02:10,005 --> 00:02:11,922 and sealed shut 39 00:02:12,007 --> 00:02:16,802 with an intricate combination of rope knots and clay. 40 00:02:16,887 --> 00:02:18,804 The long-lost tomb 41 00:02:18,889 --> 00:02:22,266 of king tutankhamen. 42 00:02:22,351 --> 00:02:24,977 It was absolutely a magnificent discovery, 43 00:02:25,062 --> 00:02:26,979 made headline news all over the world, 44 00:02:27,064 --> 00:02:29,398 and really sort of captured public imagination 45 00:02:29,483 --> 00:02:31,150 at-at just the right time. 46 00:02:33,195 --> 00:02:36,029 Unlike most of the other tombs that had been discovered 47 00:02:36,115 --> 00:02:37,573 of the ancient egyptian pharaohs, 48 00:02:37,658 --> 00:02:40,284 king tut's tomb was untouched. 49 00:02:40,369 --> 00:02:42,786 It had not been plundered, it had not been destroyed, 50 00:02:42,872 --> 00:02:46,039 and so there was a tremendous wealth of archaeological data 51 00:02:46,125 --> 00:02:49,293 as well as just a stunning display of artifacts. 52 00:02:49,378 --> 00:02:53,005 Shatner: After spending nearly three months cataloguing 53 00:02:53,090 --> 00:02:55,132 the more than 5,000 relics 54 00:02:55,176 --> 00:02:57,593 found within the tomb's antechamber... 55 00:02:59,221 --> 00:03:01,805 ...On February 16, 1923, 56 00:03:01,891 --> 00:03:04,808 at just after 2:00 in the afternoon, 57 00:03:04,894 --> 00:03:08,103 members of the press gathered to watch howard carter 58 00:03:08,189 --> 00:03:10,314 finally break the seal 59 00:03:10,399 --> 00:03:13,108 protecting king tut's burial chamber, 60 00:03:13,194 --> 00:03:16,153 which had lain undisturbed 61 00:03:16,238 --> 00:03:18,280 for more than 3,000 years. 62 00:03:20,284 --> 00:03:23,285 Nicholas brown: Carter started excavation of the burial chamber 63 00:03:23,370 --> 00:03:25,162 within tutankhamen's tomb 64 00:03:25,247 --> 00:03:27,873 and he found the intact burial of tutankhamen, 65 00:03:27,958 --> 00:03:29,958 which was contained, essentially, 66 00:03:30,044 --> 00:03:32,044 within nine protective layers. 67 00:03:33,255 --> 00:03:35,380 The sarcophagus is very elaborate. 68 00:03:35,466 --> 00:03:38,217 It's got gold, it's inlaid with precious stones, 69 00:03:38,302 --> 00:03:40,093 and there's several layers of it 70 00:03:40,179 --> 00:03:42,721 before you get down to the central layer, 71 00:03:42,806 --> 00:03:44,681 which is, of course, the mummy 72 00:03:44,767 --> 00:03:46,433 of king tutankhamen himself. 73 00:03:47,811 --> 00:03:50,229 Brown: Once carter began unwrapping the mummy of tutankhamen 74 00:03:50,272 --> 00:03:52,564 and removed the funerary death mask 75 00:03:52,650 --> 00:03:54,358 and made his way through 76 00:03:54,401 --> 00:03:56,568 the different mummy bandages and the bundle itself, 77 00:03:56,612 --> 00:03:59,613 he was able to see the face of tutankhamen, 78 00:03:59,698 --> 00:04:02,449 which hadn't been seen by any living person 79 00:04:02,534 --> 00:04:04,576 for nearly 3,500 years. 80 00:04:05,746 --> 00:04:09,081 So in a way, the opening of the tomb of tutankhamen 81 00:04:09,124 --> 00:04:10,749 is a kind of a resurrection. 82 00:04:30,145 --> 00:04:32,604 Shatner: The discovery of king tut's mummy 83 00:04:32,690 --> 00:04:35,107 launched an international media frenzy, 84 00:04:35,150 --> 00:04:38,902 making headlines in every major newspaper around the world. 85 00:04:38,946 --> 00:04:41,238 But howard carter and his team 86 00:04:41,323 --> 00:04:43,657 had barely begun enjoying their success 87 00:04:43,742 --> 00:04:46,743 when several strange things 88 00:04:46,829 --> 00:04:49,454 started happening to them. 89 00:04:49,540 --> 00:04:52,291 That evening howard carter is having his dinner 90 00:04:52,334 --> 00:04:54,668 and hears a commotion in the next room. 91 00:04:54,753 --> 00:04:57,337 Goes in, and his pet canary 92 00:04:57,423 --> 00:04:59,089 is being attacked 93 00:04:59,133 --> 00:05:02,968 inside its cage by a king cobra. 94 00:05:03,053 --> 00:05:05,929 Now, the king cobra is a symbol for the pharaoh. 95 00:05:06,015 --> 00:05:07,597 And a canary, the symbolism. 96 00:05:07,641 --> 00:05:10,017 The canary is the first to go. 97 00:05:10,102 --> 00:05:12,561 The canary is the weakest and a warning. 98 00:05:14,064 --> 00:05:15,731 After that, lord carnarvon, 99 00:05:15,816 --> 00:05:17,649 the financier of the whole expedition, 100 00:05:17,693 --> 00:05:20,610 was there on site. 101 00:05:20,696 --> 00:05:23,822 And then, while they're inventorying the treasures, 102 00:05:23,907 --> 00:05:26,325 he gets a mosquito bite. 103 00:05:26,368 --> 00:05:30,370 A few days later, accidentally nicks the bump with his razor. 104 00:05:30,456 --> 00:05:32,456 The bump gets infected. 105 00:05:32,541 --> 00:05:33,999 It leads to blood poisoning, 106 00:05:34,043 --> 00:05:36,084 and he dies of it. 107 00:05:38,756 --> 00:05:41,673 A prominent british radiologist came out to the site 108 00:05:41,717 --> 00:05:43,508 to x-ray king tut, 109 00:05:43,552 --> 00:05:45,510 and shortly after handling the mummy, 110 00:05:45,554 --> 00:05:47,721 he catches a mysterious disease 111 00:05:47,806 --> 00:05:49,639 that cannot be diagnosed, cannot be treated, 112 00:05:49,725 --> 00:05:51,141 and it kills him. 113 00:05:51,226 --> 00:05:54,019 Shatner: All told, the deaths of no fewer 114 00:05:54,063 --> 00:05:57,314 than seven members of howard carter's expedition 115 00:05:57,358 --> 00:05:59,816 took place shortly after the reopening 116 00:05:59,860 --> 00:06:02,319 of tutankhamen's burial chamber. 117 00:06:02,404 --> 00:06:04,363 While it was certainly possible 118 00:06:04,448 --> 00:06:07,699 their untimely deaths were nothing more than coincidences, 119 00:06:07,785 --> 00:06:12,037 many believed that by disturbing king tut's mummy, 120 00:06:12,081 --> 00:06:14,498 the archaeologists had somehow triggered 121 00:06:14,583 --> 00:06:16,458 a deadly curse. 122 00:06:19,505 --> 00:06:22,130 To the ancient egyptians, 123 00:06:22,216 --> 00:06:23,924 death was not the end. 124 00:06:24,009 --> 00:06:29,721 But in order to guarantee yourself eternal life, 125 00:06:29,765 --> 00:06:33,016 you actually had to preserve your earthly body 126 00:06:33,102 --> 00:06:36,228 for the spirit to be able to function properly. 127 00:06:37,564 --> 00:06:39,064 The idea of a mummy curse 128 00:06:39,149 --> 00:06:41,066 is to keep those people out of the tombs. 129 00:06:41,110 --> 00:06:43,819 The egyptians said 130 00:06:43,904 --> 00:06:46,738 if you bothered these mummies, 131 00:06:46,782 --> 00:06:48,949 you would have a problem. 132 00:06:49,034 --> 00:06:51,952 And people who have discovered those tombs 133 00:06:52,037 --> 00:06:54,704 actually ended up dying weird ways. 134 00:06:54,790 --> 00:06:57,207 If that's not a curse, what would be? 135 00:07:14,393 --> 00:07:18,353 The ancient egyptians prepared the body for mummification by 136 00:07:18,439 --> 00:07:20,564 removing the internal organs. 137 00:07:20,649 --> 00:07:23,692 They would remove the brain through the nose 138 00:07:23,777 --> 00:07:24,943 with a metal hook 139 00:07:24,987 --> 00:07:27,237 and clean out all of the organs 140 00:07:27,322 --> 00:07:29,948 and put them in jars, except for the heart, 141 00:07:29,992 --> 00:07:33,118 because for them the heart was the key to the afterlife. 142 00:07:33,203 --> 00:07:35,036 And then, at that point, 143 00:07:35,122 --> 00:07:37,205 they'd wrap the body in linen, 144 00:07:37,291 --> 00:07:40,876 and then they'd put them in sarcophagi 145 00:07:40,961 --> 00:07:42,961 that looked like human beings 146 00:07:43,046 --> 00:07:45,589 and they were made to resemble the deceased. 147 00:07:45,632 --> 00:07:49,593 The egyptians thought the soul had multiple parts. 148 00:07:49,636 --> 00:07:52,471 Upon death, certain parts of the soul 149 00:07:52,514 --> 00:07:54,097 went down into the earth, 150 00:07:54,183 --> 00:07:56,433 certain parts went up into the sky, 151 00:07:56,518 --> 00:07:59,769 and then other parts remained with the actual body. 152 00:07:59,855 --> 00:08:04,107 If you want that person perpetuated for eternity, 153 00:08:04,193 --> 00:08:06,234 you need to maintain 154 00:08:06,320 --> 00:08:09,154 all aspects of the soul together. 155 00:08:09,198 --> 00:08:12,157 That can happen if the body is preserved. 156 00:08:12,201 --> 00:08:14,993 Thompson: The idea was that at some point 157 00:08:15,078 --> 00:08:16,495 you will face the gods 158 00:08:16,580 --> 00:08:17,954 and those who are unworthy 159 00:08:17,998 --> 00:08:19,623 would be obliterated for all time. 160 00:08:19,708 --> 00:08:22,584 So these tombs were meant to be there 161 00:08:22,669 --> 00:08:24,294 until the day of judgment. 162 00:08:24,379 --> 00:08:27,088 You were not supposed to open these. 163 00:08:27,174 --> 00:08:29,090 Shatern: Is it possible that the ancient egyptians 164 00:08:29,176 --> 00:08:30,842 were able to preserve 165 00:08:30,928 --> 00:08:34,888 the soul of king tut within his mummified remains, 166 00:08:34,973 --> 00:08:38,475 effectively keeping his spirit alive for thousands of years? 167 00:08:38,560 --> 00:08:42,020 And if so, could the pharaoh's spirit have unleashed a curse 168 00:08:42,064 --> 00:08:44,314 upon the men responsible for disturbing 169 00:08:44,358 --> 00:08:46,858 his sacred burial chamber? Perhaps. 170 00:08:46,944 --> 00:08:49,528 But there are some researchers 171 00:08:49,613 --> 00:08:53,031 who claim that even before king tut's tomb was disturbed, 172 00:08:53,116 --> 00:08:56,701 there was already a pharaoh's curse in place. 173 00:08:56,745 --> 00:09:00,997 A curse that was associated not with king tut 174 00:09:01,083 --> 00:09:04,834 but with his father, akhenaten. 175 00:09:04,878 --> 00:09:07,629 Young: Akhenaten was controversial 176 00:09:07,714 --> 00:09:10,674 because he used his considerable power as pharaoh 177 00:09:10,759 --> 00:09:12,717 to change the religious system. 178 00:09:12,803 --> 00:09:17,013 Ancient egypt had always been polytheistic, 179 00:09:17,099 --> 00:09:19,015 many gods, 180 00:09:19,101 --> 00:09:21,768 and then there is a new pharaoh with a new idea. 181 00:09:21,853 --> 00:09:25,939 Akhenaten announces there will be one god, 182 00:09:26,024 --> 00:09:29,192 they will be a monotheistic people. 183 00:09:29,278 --> 00:09:31,194 Aten, the sun god, 184 00:09:31,280 --> 00:09:33,238 would be the one divinity 185 00:09:33,282 --> 00:09:34,781 they all worshipped. 186 00:09:34,866 --> 00:09:36,283 The sun disc. 187 00:09:36,368 --> 00:09:40,912 It shook the empire in really terrible ways. 188 00:09:43,125 --> 00:09:45,584 Brown: Part of this religious revolution 189 00:09:45,669 --> 00:09:47,919 included purposely erasing 190 00:09:48,005 --> 00:09:49,754 the names of older gods, 191 00:09:49,798 --> 00:09:51,756 closing down their temples, 192 00:09:51,800 --> 00:09:54,134 erasing their names from monuments, 193 00:09:54,219 --> 00:09:56,803 and trying to obliterate these other deities 194 00:09:56,888 --> 00:09:58,763 that the egyptians used to worship. 195 00:09:58,807 --> 00:10:00,807 Shatner: Before the reign of akhenaten, 196 00:10:00,892 --> 00:10:03,101 the most sacred deity of the ancient egyptians 197 00:10:03,186 --> 00:10:04,894 was known as amun-ra, 198 00:10:04,980 --> 00:10:07,606 the chief of all egyptian gods. 199 00:10:07,649 --> 00:10:11,401 According to legend, amun-ra was angered 200 00:10:11,445 --> 00:10:13,862 by akhenaten's acts of heresy 201 00:10:13,947 --> 00:10:16,406 and took vengeance upon the pharaoh. 202 00:10:17,659 --> 00:10:21,703 For his offense, akhenaten was cursed by amun-ra, 203 00:10:21,788 --> 00:10:27,417 a curse unique to religious views in egypt. 204 00:10:27,502 --> 00:10:32,213 He would be cursed after death to wander endlessly. 205 00:10:32,299 --> 00:10:35,508 His soul would never be reunited with his body, 206 00:10:35,594 --> 00:10:39,471 which was the point of all those funerary practices. 207 00:10:39,556 --> 00:10:43,475 He would be disconnected and dislodged forever. 208 00:10:43,560 --> 00:10:46,936 Shatner: If akhenaten's soul was doomed 209 00:10:46,980 --> 00:10:49,272 to never reach the afterlife, 210 00:10:49,316 --> 00:10:51,358 was king tut's body mummified 211 00:10:51,443 --> 00:10:54,152 and placed within a sealed burial chamber 212 00:10:54,237 --> 00:10:56,738 so that he could escape the fate of his father? 213 00:10:59,534 --> 00:11:03,286 And is that why breaking the seals on the tomb of king tut 214 00:11:03,372 --> 00:11:06,956 brought a curse upon howard carter and his team? 215 00:11:07,042 --> 00:11:09,793 If the ancient egyptians were right about the power 216 00:11:09,878 --> 00:11:12,337 of mummification, then it might be possible. 217 00:11:12,381 --> 00:11:15,298 But the egyptians weren't the only ancient civilization 218 00:11:15,384 --> 00:11:19,219 that believed mummies held the secret of eternal life. 219 00:11:19,304 --> 00:11:22,472 Some were so convinced of the power of mummification, 220 00:11:22,516 --> 00:11:25,350 they didn't even bother to wait... 221 00:11:25,435 --> 00:11:27,435 Until death. 222 00:11:36,196 --> 00:11:38,029 Shatner: Every three years, the villagers 223 00:11:38,115 --> 00:11:39,698 in this mountainous region 224 00:11:39,783 --> 00:11:42,534 gather to celebrate with members of their families. 225 00:11:42,577 --> 00:11:46,913 But what's odd about this party is that the guests of honor 226 00:11:46,998 --> 00:11:48,998 are all dead. 227 00:11:50,877 --> 00:11:54,295 Thompson: We look at these corpses and say that's a dead person. 228 00:11:54,381 --> 00:11:55,880 They look at that same corpse 229 00:11:55,924 --> 00:11:58,174 and say, "no, no, that spirit's still there." 230 00:11:58,218 --> 00:11:59,884 and if the spirit's still there, well, then that's 231 00:11:59,928 --> 00:12:02,095 the person, that-- the person is still there. 232 00:12:02,180 --> 00:12:05,265 Shatner: While the idea of having a get-together 233 00:12:05,350 --> 00:12:08,184 with your dead relatives might sound unnerving, 234 00:12:08,270 --> 00:12:11,771 the truth is ritual preservation and 235 00:12:11,857 --> 00:12:14,315 personification of the dead is actually 236 00:12:14,401 --> 00:12:16,568 very common around the world. 237 00:12:18,113 --> 00:12:20,029 When we think of mummies, we often go 238 00:12:20,115 --> 00:12:21,406 directly to ancient egypt. 239 00:12:21,450 --> 00:12:23,408 But we find mummies in other cultures 240 00:12:23,452 --> 00:12:25,660 around the world in various forms. 241 00:12:25,746 --> 00:12:29,038 So we find this sort of very elaborate mummification 242 00:12:29,082 --> 00:12:31,708 preparals in the aztec empire 243 00:12:31,752 --> 00:12:34,043 and the incan empire. 244 00:12:34,129 --> 00:12:35,879 And in asia, there is an interesting 245 00:12:35,964 --> 00:12:37,714 history of mummification. 246 00:12:39,134 --> 00:12:40,967 Shatner: But of all the forms of mummification 247 00:12:41,052 --> 00:12:42,761 that have been practiced, 248 00:12:42,846 --> 00:12:44,888 the one that is perhaps the most extraordinary 249 00:12:44,973 --> 00:12:47,432 and the most unsettling 250 00:12:47,476 --> 00:12:50,268 involves turning people into mummies 251 00:12:50,353 --> 00:12:54,189 while they're still alive. 252 00:12:59,738 --> 00:13:02,864 Just outside the tsuruoka city limits, 253 00:13:02,949 --> 00:13:04,783 sits churen-ji temple. 254 00:13:04,826 --> 00:13:08,119 Surrounded by 200-year-old cherry blossom trees, 255 00:13:08,205 --> 00:13:11,080 churen-ji is similar to many other 256 00:13:11,166 --> 00:13:12,916 rural temples throughout the region, 257 00:13:13,001 --> 00:13:15,585 with one notable exception. 258 00:13:15,670 --> 00:13:17,587 The monk who presides here 259 00:13:17,672 --> 00:13:20,048 has been seated in meditative prayer 260 00:13:20,133 --> 00:13:23,426 for almost 200 years. 261 00:13:23,512 --> 00:13:25,303 Jeremiah: Among the mummified monks 262 00:13:25,347 --> 00:13:29,140 of yamagata, japan, sunada tetsu is perhaps the most famous. 263 00:13:29,184 --> 00:13:33,228 And his body is currently located at churen temple, 264 00:13:33,313 --> 00:13:35,647 in northern yamagata prefecture. 265 00:13:35,690 --> 00:13:39,108 Sunada tetsu is an 18th-century buddhist monk, 266 00:13:39,194 --> 00:13:41,569 who wasn't a religious person at all. 267 00:13:41,655 --> 00:13:44,656 He didn't plan on entering religion. 268 00:13:44,699 --> 00:13:47,325 However, he ended up killing two samurai. 269 00:13:52,624 --> 00:13:54,624 And at the time, 270 00:13:54,709 --> 00:13:57,502 19th-century japan, if you kill two samurai 271 00:13:57,546 --> 00:14:01,506 and you're a commoner, you're gonna be killed. 272 00:14:01,550 --> 00:14:04,801 But local temples were exempt from that law. 273 00:14:04,886 --> 00:14:06,970 So he joined churen temple, 274 00:14:07,055 --> 00:14:08,972 and over time became a believer 275 00:14:09,057 --> 00:14:11,808 and one of the most holy people 276 00:14:11,852 --> 00:14:13,852 in japan, traveling throughout 277 00:14:13,895 --> 00:14:16,354 the japanese countryside, repairing bridges, 278 00:14:16,439 --> 00:14:18,147 doing anything he could to help people. 279 00:14:18,233 --> 00:14:20,525 Shatner: Sunada tetsu 280 00:14:20,610 --> 00:14:23,152 was so dedicated to serving the japanese people 281 00:14:23,238 --> 00:14:25,530 that the onetime outlaw earned a reputation 282 00:14:25,574 --> 00:14:26,948 as a miracle worker. 283 00:14:27,951 --> 00:14:30,159 But as old age began approaching, 284 00:14:30,245 --> 00:14:32,871 sunada tetsu realized there was only one way 285 00:14:32,956 --> 00:14:36,207 for him to continue his good works well into the future. 286 00:14:36,293 --> 00:14:40,253 The ancient art of self-mummification, 287 00:14:40,338 --> 00:14:42,881 known as sokushinbutsu. 288 00:14:43,925 --> 00:14:45,884 In this particular tradition 289 00:14:45,969 --> 00:14:48,887 of, uh, buddhism that we find in japan, 290 00:14:48,972 --> 00:14:52,015 there's this practice of sokushinbutsu, 291 00:14:52,100 --> 00:14:55,226 which is basically a mummification practice 292 00:14:55,312 --> 00:14:58,646 the practitioner undertakes when they're still alive. 293 00:14:59,941 --> 00:15:03,359 People who engaged in the process of self-mummification, 294 00:15:03,403 --> 00:15:05,403 they wanted to preserve the flesh 295 00:15:05,447 --> 00:15:07,697 because they thought there was a divine merit 296 00:15:07,741 --> 00:15:11,034 that could be of use of people who are still alive. 297 00:15:11,119 --> 00:15:14,245 Shatner: In order for a monk's soul to shed his body 298 00:15:14,289 --> 00:15:18,082 in the proper manner, the practitioners of sokushinbutsu 299 00:15:18,126 --> 00:15:21,085 were required to undergo a very specific process. 300 00:15:21,171 --> 00:15:23,254 A process which, 301 00:15:23,298 --> 00:15:25,089 as one can imagine, 302 00:15:25,133 --> 00:15:27,091 isn't exactly pleasant. 303 00:15:29,471 --> 00:15:31,095 Jeremiah: The process of self-mummification 304 00:15:31,181 --> 00:15:34,098 is to gradually decrease the amount of food 305 00:15:34,142 --> 00:15:36,726 you're ingesting, and in place, 306 00:15:36,811 --> 00:15:40,104 start ingesting things that are preservative in nature. 307 00:15:40,148 --> 00:15:41,606 And in the case of the self-mummified monks, 308 00:15:41,691 --> 00:15:43,107 they were pine bark, 309 00:15:43,193 --> 00:15:44,734 pine resin... 310 00:15:44,819 --> 00:15:47,278 And urushi tea. 311 00:15:47,322 --> 00:15:49,948 Urushi tea, which comes from the lacquer tree, 312 00:15:49,991 --> 00:15:52,784 is considered to be extremely toxic, 313 00:15:52,869 --> 00:15:57,455 but it also lacquers the body from inside out, and it removes 314 00:15:57,499 --> 00:15:59,916 moisture at the same time from the organs 315 00:16:00,001 --> 00:16:02,961 and presents some kind of embalming faculties. 316 00:16:03,004 --> 00:16:06,923 When the monks have completed their pre-mummification diet, 317 00:16:07,008 --> 00:16:11,260 they would be placed into a box made of pinewood 318 00:16:11,304 --> 00:16:13,638 and buried underground 319 00:16:13,682 --> 00:16:15,974 with a little bell. 320 00:16:17,727 --> 00:16:19,602 Once the bell stopped ringing, 321 00:16:19,646 --> 00:16:23,356 the other monks would know that the self-mummifying 322 00:16:23,441 --> 00:16:26,943 practitioner had, uh, deceased inside the box. 323 00:16:27,028 --> 00:16:29,737 Shatner: According to historical accounts, 324 00:16:29,823 --> 00:16:32,949 sunada tetsu spent 3,000 days, 325 00:16:33,034 --> 00:16:34,993 which is more than eight years, 326 00:16:35,078 --> 00:16:38,496 starving himself in preparation for his living burial. 327 00:16:38,540 --> 00:16:41,749 After his body was eventually unearthed, 328 00:16:41,835 --> 00:16:44,919 it showed no decay whatsoever, 329 00:16:45,005 --> 00:16:47,714 signifying that his spirit was indeed pure. 330 00:16:47,799 --> 00:16:51,467 But as morbid as sunada tetsu's tale may be, 331 00:16:51,553 --> 00:16:53,803 he was not the first to attempt 332 00:16:53,847 --> 00:16:56,347 the extreme ritual of sokushinbutsu. 333 00:16:56,433 --> 00:16:58,683 Nor the last. 334 00:16:58,768 --> 00:17:00,893 The founder of esoteric buddhism in japan 335 00:17:00,979 --> 00:17:03,438 was believed to have, uh, studied in china, 336 00:17:03,523 --> 00:17:06,149 and, uh, learned about this practice there. 337 00:17:06,234 --> 00:17:09,235 And subsequently brought it to japan, 338 00:17:09,320 --> 00:17:11,863 upon which some japanese monks, the most intrepid amongst them, 339 00:17:11,948 --> 00:17:14,907 would have picked it up and applied it. 340 00:17:14,993 --> 00:17:17,326 But the self-mummification practice 341 00:17:17,370 --> 00:17:19,328 was outlawed in the 19th century 342 00:17:19,414 --> 00:17:21,914 because it was rarely successful. 343 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:25,960 Shatner: Today, the mummies of only 24 monks who underwent 344 00:17:26,046 --> 00:17:29,714 the ritual of sokushinbutsu remain known, 345 00:17:29,799 --> 00:17:32,759 although historians estimate that hundreds 346 00:17:32,844 --> 00:17:36,179 underwent the journey before it was declared illegal. 347 00:17:36,264 --> 00:17:41,142 But why would so many willingly attempt what was essentially 348 00:17:41,227 --> 00:17:43,728 a slow and agonizing suicide? 349 00:17:43,772 --> 00:17:46,856 As it turns out, there was a very good reason. 350 00:17:46,941 --> 00:17:50,985 They wanted to become what are referred to as... 351 00:17:51,071 --> 00:17:53,654 "living buddhas." 352 00:17:53,740 --> 00:17:56,074 jeremiah: They actually wanted to cause their own death 353 00:17:56,159 --> 00:17:58,534 so they could be in meditative posture 354 00:17:58,620 --> 00:18:00,078 so they could direct their soul 355 00:18:00,163 --> 00:18:01,746 where they wanted it to go afterwards. 356 00:18:01,790 --> 00:18:04,415 That's why they're considered living buddha. 357 00:18:04,501 --> 00:18:07,418 These mummies are still alive because 358 00:18:07,504 --> 00:18:10,254 they are in between the realm of life and death 359 00:18:10,298 --> 00:18:12,423 and perhaps they can influence the two of them. 360 00:18:13,802 --> 00:18:17,095 Shatner: Could dying by self-mummification 361 00:18:17,138 --> 00:18:20,848 actually be the secret to living forever? 362 00:18:20,934 --> 00:18:23,226 Gauging by the number of visitors who come 363 00:18:23,269 --> 00:18:25,561 to seek his blessing every year, 364 00:18:25,605 --> 00:18:28,022 it would appear sunada tetsu certainly has achieved 365 00:18:28,108 --> 00:18:30,316 a form of eternal life. 366 00:18:30,401 --> 00:18:33,945 Just like another mummy who was also put on display. 367 00:18:33,988 --> 00:18:36,656 One who achieved immortality 368 00:18:36,741 --> 00:18:39,117 not by ending his own life, 369 00:18:39,160 --> 00:18:41,452 but someone else's. 370 00:18:52,799 --> 00:18:57,093 Shatner: The st. Louis world's fair opens to packed crowds. 371 00:18:57,178 --> 00:18:59,428 Over the course of the next six months, 372 00:18:59,514 --> 00:19:02,181 more than 19 million people stroll down 373 00:19:02,267 --> 00:19:05,643 a mile-long midway lined with exhibitions 374 00:19:05,687 --> 00:19:08,646 showcasing the world's most advanced science, 375 00:19:08,690 --> 00:19:10,273 technology, art... 376 00:19:10,316 --> 00:19:13,860 And one rather bizarre attraction: 377 00:19:13,945 --> 00:19:17,989 The alleged mummy of john wilkes booth, 378 00:19:18,074 --> 00:19:21,617 the man who assassinated president abraham lincoln. 379 00:19:22,745 --> 00:19:24,954 Nate orlowek: Encountering a mummy that is being 380 00:19:24,998 --> 00:19:26,497 claimed to be john wilkes booth, 381 00:19:26,541 --> 00:19:29,792 the man who killed who I think most people think 382 00:19:29,836 --> 00:19:33,004 was our greatest president, would be pretty mind-boggling. 383 00:19:33,089 --> 00:19:37,550 Young: So it was a high point of many people's lives to see 384 00:19:37,635 --> 00:19:41,012 the mummy of the dark figure of american history, 385 00:19:41,055 --> 00:19:43,222 john wilkes booth. 386 00:19:43,308 --> 00:19:46,017 To see some part of that story, 387 00:19:46,102 --> 00:19:47,894 even the horrific part of it, 388 00:19:47,979 --> 00:19:50,271 is still an expression of grief 389 00:19:50,356 --> 00:19:52,690 and attachment to abraham lincoln. 390 00:19:52,734 --> 00:19:57,528 Shatner: For nearly three decades, the mummy of john wilkes booth, 391 00:19:57,614 --> 00:20:00,573 america's most infamous assassin, 392 00:20:00,658 --> 00:20:03,409 drew eager crowds around the world. 393 00:20:03,494 --> 00:20:06,037 Which was extraordinary, 394 00:20:06,122 --> 00:20:08,372 because according to the united states government, 395 00:20:08,458 --> 00:20:10,208 the body of john wilkes booth 396 00:20:10,251 --> 00:20:12,376 had been buried in a baltimore cemetery 397 00:20:12,462 --> 00:20:14,378 since 1865. 398 00:20:16,674 --> 00:20:20,218 According to most historical accounts, 399 00:20:20,261 --> 00:20:22,845 after john wilkes booth shot 400 00:20:22,931 --> 00:20:25,097 president lincoln during a performance at ford's theatre 401 00:20:25,183 --> 00:20:29,727 in washington, d.C. On April 14, 1865... 402 00:20:29,771 --> 00:20:31,562 (gunshot) 403 00:20:31,648 --> 00:20:34,315 ...Booth fled on horseback to virginia, 404 00:20:34,400 --> 00:20:37,068 eluding union soldiers that were stationed 405 00:20:37,153 --> 00:20:40,071 at the city exits by vice president andrew johnson 406 00:20:40,114 --> 00:20:42,698 with orders to kill anyone attempting to leave. 407 00:20:42,784 --> 00:20:45,534 Booth was eventually cornered inside a barn 408 00:20:45,620 --> 00:20:48,579 just south of port royal, virginia, 409 00:20:48,665 --> 00:20:51,082 where-- after he refused to surrender-- 410 00:20:51,167 --> 00:20:56,087 union troops shot and killed him on April 26, 1865. 411 00:20:59,133 --> 00:21:00,591 Orlowek: The barn was set on fire. 412 00:21:00,635 --> 00:21:04,971 The traditional version is that the body was identified 413 00:21:05,056 --> 00:21:07,306 and eventually the government released the body 414 00:21:07,392 --> 00:21:08,849 to the booth family. 415 00:21:08,935 --> 00:21:11,102 Shatner: After receiving the body, 416 00:21:11,187 --> 00:21:15,147 booth's family supposedly buried him in the family plot 417 00:21:15,233 --> 00:21:17,650 at a baltimore cemetery. 418 00:21:17,735 --> 00:21:19,610 But if that's the case, 419 00:21:19,654 --> 00:21:21,946 how did his preserved remains end up 420 00:21:22,031 --> 00:21:24,615 as a traveling sideshow attraction? 421 00:21:24,659 --> 00:21:27,118 According to some researchers, it was all due 422 00:21:27,161 --> 00:21:32,039 to a chance encounter involving a man named finis l. Bates 423 00:21:32,125 --> 00:21:35,876 that occurred 12 years after booth's supposed death 424 00:21:35,962 --> 00:21:38,337 in 1865. 425 00:21:38,423 --> 00:21:42,800 Mark ebner: Bates was this lawyer slash carney barker, 426 00:21:42,885 --> 00:21:45,970 slash showman. 427 00:21:46,055 --> 00:21:49,557 He was living in a town called granbury, texas, 428 00:21:49,642 --> 00:21:53,102 and befriended a guy named john st. Helen. 429 00:21:53,146 --> 00:21:57,815 Orlowek: One night, st. Helen became very ill 430 00:21:57,900 --> 00:21:59,525 and called bates to his bedside. 431 00:21:59,610 --> 00:22:03,487 And he gasped out to bates that in fact, 432 00:22:03,573 --> 00:22:06,073 he was really john wilkes booth. 433 00:22:06,159 --> 00:22:09,035 Bates, of course, thought the man was hallucinating, 434 00:22:09,120 --> 00:22:10,828 because everybody had been told that john wilkes booth 435 00:22:10,913 --> 00:22:13,581 had been killed 12 years earlier. 436 00:22:13,666 --> 00:22:16,042 Booth slash st. Helens, 437 00:22:16,127 --> 00:22:19,670 he recovers from this illness and he skips town. 438 00:22:19,714 --> 00:22:24,133 Years later, in enid, oklahoma, 439 00:22:24,177 --> 00:22:26,677 there is a guy, david george. 440 00:22:26,763 --> 00:22:30,681 George had enough of this world and he killed himself. 441 00:22:30,767 --> 00:22:33,142 And there was no next of kin, 442 00:22:33,186 --> 00:22:34,852 but he did leave word, 443 00:22:34,896 --> 00:22:39,357 "please call finis l. Bates," and that they did. 444 00:22:41,069 --> 00:22:42,693 Shatner: As the story goes, 445 00:22:42,779 --> 00:22:45,821 when finis l. Bates arrived in enid, oklahoma 446 00:22:45,907 --> 00:22:48,532 and viewed the dead body of david george, 447 00:22:48,576 --> 00:22:51,369 he made two startling observations. 448 00:22:51,454 --> 00:22:53,913 The first was that david george's appearance 449 00:22:53,998 --> 00:22:56,707 closely matched that of john st. Helen's, 450 00:22:56,793 --> 00:23:00,878 the man who had claimed to be john wilkes booth. 451 00:23:00,922 --> 00:23:03,756 And the second was that george's body 452 00:23:03,841 --> 00:23:07,051 had been strangely preserved. 453 00:23:09,847 --> 00:23:12,056 Young: The undertaker, 454 00:23:12,141 --> 00:23:14,558 having no money for a burial, 455 00:23:14,602 --> 00:23:17,561 puts arsenic in the veins to preserve the body, 456 00:23:17,647 --> 00:23:19,146 mummified the body, 457 00:23:19,232 --> 00:23:21,732 and then puts it in a store window as a gag 458 00:23:21,818 --> 00:23:23,067 holding a newspaper. 459 00:23:23,111 --> 00:23:24,902 So they get ahold of bates, 460 00:23:24,987 --> 00:23:26,737 who puts two and two together, 461 00:23:26,781 --> 00:23:31,117 realizes it's the man who claimed to be john wilkes booth, 462 00:23:31,202 --> 00:23:33,994 takes possession of this mummy, 463 00:23:34,080 --> 00:23:37,123 he goes into the sideshow business 464 00:23:37,208 --> 00:23:38,916 and for a small price, 465 00:23:39,001 --> 00:23:43,796 you could see the mummy of john wilkes booth. 466 00:23:43,881 --> 00:23:48,217 Shatner: If finis l. Bates's story is true, 467 00:23:48,261 --> 00:23:50,970 and john wilkes booth lived under 468 00:23:51,055 --> 00:23:53,764 at least two other identities before dying 469 00:23:53,850 --> 00:23:56,934 in enid, oklahoma in 1903, 470 00:23:57,019 --> 00:24:01,105 the question is: How did booth escape the barn 471 00:24:01,149 --> 00:24:05,025 where he was supposedly killed by union troops? 472 00:24:05,111 --> 00:24:07,945 Orlowek: In 1919, the granddaughter of one of the soldiers 473 00:24:08,030 --> 00:24:09,613 who was at the barn 474 00:24:09,699 --> 00:24:11,407 gave a sworn affidavit 475 00:24:11,451 --> 00:24:13,159 saying that man was not john wilkes booth 476 00:24:13,244 --> 00:24:14,493 who was killed in the barn. 477 00:24:14,579 --> 00:24:15,953 That man had red hair and ruddy features. 478 00:24:16,038 --> 00:24:17,496 John wilkes booth had black hair 479 00:24:17,582 --> 00:24:19,081 and smooth features. 480 00:24:19,167 --> 00:24:20,749 Ebner: If revisionist history 481 00:24:20,793 --> 00:24:24,503 is to be believed, john wilkes booth 482 00:24:24,589 --> 00:24:29,133 was given a password to freedom 483 00:24:29,218 --> 00:24:34,013 and this was done by the original conspirator 484 00:24:34,098 --> 00:24:36,640 in abraham lincoln's death, 485 00:24:36,726 --> 00:24:38,976 supposedly... 486 00:24:39,061 --> 00:24:42,938 Vice president andrew johnson. 487 00:24:42,982 --> 00:24:45,191 Young: John st. Helen is apparently 488 00:24:45,276 --> 00:24:48,986 on his deathbed and he made kind of a deathbed confession. 489 00:24:49,071 --> 00:24:50,654 He tells the whole story 490 00:24:50,698 --> 00:24:53,199 of how it was plotted not by himself, 491 00:24:53,284 --> 00:24:55,784 but by the vice president, andrew johnson, 492 00:24:55,870 --> 00:24:57,495 who was, of course, the beneficiary, 493 00:24:57,580 --> 00:24:59,163 became president because of the death. 494 00:24:59,248 --> 00:25:02,124 Shatner: Is it possible john wilkes booth 495 00:25:02,210 --> 00:25:04,376 lived as john st. Helen 496 00:25:04,462 --> 00:25:08,339 before dying as david george in 1903, 497 00:25:08,424 --> 00:25:12,176 only to be reborn as a mummified curiosity? 498 00:25:12,261 --> 00:25:15,888 While this may seem like a far-fetched notion, 499 00:25:15,973 --> 00:25:18,974 according to researchers, we may never know 500 00:25:19,018 --> 00:25:20,935 what really happened, 501 00:25:21,020 --> 00:25:23,521 because authorities are preventing anyone 502 00:25:23,606 --> 00:25:26,357 from finding out the truth. 503 00:25:26,442 --> 00:25:29,818 In the 1990s, the booth family was 504 00:25:29,904 --> 00:25:32,571 convinced that john wilkes booth really got away 505 00:25:32,657 --> 00:25:36,367 and they agreed to authorize the excavation of the body. 506 00:25:36,452 --> 00:25:38,577 There are all sorts of tests that would compare it 507 00:25:38,663 --> 00:25:41,330 with dna from anyone of john wilkes booth's 508 00:25:41,415 --> 00:25:42,498 immediate family members. 509 00:25:42,583 --> 00:25:45,459 Unfortunately, the cemetery fought it 510 00:25:45,545 --> 00:25:47,670 and the booth family was denied permission. 511 00:25:47,713 --> 00:25:50,381 Shatner: Now you might be thinking, 512 00:25:50,466 --> 00:25:53,217 if officials at the cemetery are preventing booth's grave 513 00:25:53,261 --> 00:25:55,636 from being exhumed, 514 00:25:55,721 --> 00:25:59,348 why not simply do a dna test on his supposed mummy? 515 00:25:59,433 --> 00:26:03,269 Not surprisingly, researchers agree that a dna test 516 00:26:03,354 --> 00:26:05,312 would solve the mystery, 517 00:26:05,398 --> 00:26:10,276 if only they knew where to find the mummy. 518 00:26:10,361 --> 00:26:12,570 Orlowek: So unfortunately, it's uncertain where it is. 519 00:26:12,655 --> 00:26:15,197 So unless we can either find the mummy 520 00:26:15,283 --> 00:26:18,742 or dig up the body in the booth plot, 521 00:26:18,786 --> 00:26:21,620 this will forever be a mystery. 522 00:26:21,706 --> 00:26:24,873 Does john wilkes booth really lie buried 523 00:26:24,917 --> 00:26:27,293 in a baltimore cemetery? 524 00:26:27,378 --> 00:26:31,589 Or did he somehow escape death at the hands of union soldiers 525 00:26:31,674 --> 00:26:36,051 and his mummified remains are out there somewhere, 526 00:26:36,137 --> 00:26:39,096 collecting dust in someone's attic? 527 00:26:39,181 --> 00:26:43,225 Either way, it seems that mummies do, in a sense, 528 00:26:43,269 --> 00:26:46,437 keep the memory of the dead alive. 529 00:26:46,522 --> 00:26:50,232 But there are some mummies whose place in history 530 00:26:50,318 --> 00:26:53,611 is preserved, not just in our minds, 531 00:26:53,696 --> 00:26:57,615 but right before our eyes. 532 00:27:08,669 --> 00:27:11,253 Shatner: Near the center of this ancient city 533 00:27:11,339 --> 00:27:15,049 rise the soaring twin spires of the cologne cathedral. 534 00:27:15,134 --> 00:27:17,593 Every day, more than 20,000 people 535 00:27:17,637 --> 00:27:19,762 flock through its arched doors 536 00:27:19,847 --> 00:27:23,641 to visit one of catholicism's most important sites, 537 00:27:23,684 --> 00:27:26,101 the tomb of the three kings. 538 00:27:26,187 --> 00:27:28,312 Those who pray at this ancient shrine 539 00:27:28,356 --> 00:27:30,648 believe that they will be divinely favored, 540 00:27:30,691 --> 00:27:34,985 because it contains the bones of the three biblical wise men 541 00:27:35,071 --> 00:27:38,280 who visited jesus shortly after his birth, 542 00:27:38,366 --> 00:27:42,409 and whom the catholic church considers to be saints. 543 00:27:44,664 --> 00:27:47,956 Jeremiah: After death, a lot of the so-called 544 00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:50,668 saints in catholic christianity, 545 00:27:50,753 --> 00:27:54,129 their body parts were distributed. 546 00:27:54,215 --> 00:27:56,298 And the reason for that was 547 00:27:56,384 --> 00:27:58,759 there was this idea that they were a source 548 00:27:58,844 --> 00:28:00,969 of divine power 549 00:28:01,055 --> 00:28:04,473 that could affect people, that could affect miracles. 550 00:28:04,558 --> 00:28:07,851 Shatner: For the faithful, being in the presence 551 00:28:07,937 --> 00:28:11,689 of even a tiny portion of a holy figure's body 552 00:28:11,732 --> 00:28:14,274 is a powerful reminder of god's promise 553 00:28:14,360 --> 00:28:16,235 of eternal life in heaven. 554 00:28:16,320 --> 00:28:19,530 So imagine how they must feel when in the presence 555 00:28:19,615 --> 00:28:22,991 of not merely the body parts of a saint, 556 00:28:23,077 --> 00:28:25,536 but the entire body of one, 557 00:28:25,621 --> 00:28:29,665 like in the case of the remains of st. Bernadette of lourdes, 558 00:28:29,750 --> 00:28:33,669 which lie perfectly preserved in a chapel in France, 559 00:28:33,754 --> 00:28:37,297 more than a century after her death. 560 00:28:37,383 --> 00:28:42,344 St. Bernadette was born in France in 1844, 561 00:28:42,430 --> 00:28:49,017 and she saw an apparition of the virgin mary 18 times. 562 00:28:49,103 --> 00:28:51,895 And it started when she was 14. 563 00:28:53,190 --> 00:28:56,900 The spring that st. Bernadette saw the virgin mary in 564 00:28:56,944 --> 00:29:00,070 is now a point of healing for many people, 565 00:29:00,114 --> 00:29:04,450 and many people go to lourdes just to obtain the water. 566 00:29:04,535 --> 00:29:08,078 Jeremiah: St. Bernadette ended up dying 567 00:29:08,122 --> 00:29:10,414 in 1879 of tuberculosis 568 00:29:10,499 --> 00:29:12,583 and the church decided 569 00:29:12,668 --> 00:29:15,544 that her claim that she visited with the virgin mary 570 00:29:15,588 --> 00:29:18,881 in lourdes, France was trustworthy 571 00:29:18,924 --> 00:29:21,717 and decided to make her a saint. 572 00:29:21,802 --> 00:29:26,805 And as such, they had to remove her body from the current tomb, 573 00:29:26,891 --> 00:29:29,600 identify it, and then relocate it 574 00:29:29,685 --> 00:29:31,101 closer to the church. 575 00:29:31,187 --> 00:29:33,395 And when they were doing that, 576 00:29:33,439 --> 00:29:36,440 they found out that she was in a perfect state of preservation. 577 00:29:36,484 --> 00:29:38,776 She looked as though she was still alive. 578 00:29:38,819 --> 00:29:41,278 Shatner: To this day, st. Bernadette 579 00:29:41,363 --> 00:29:45,741 appears as youthful in death as she did in life. 580 00:29:45,826 --> 00:29:49,745 Could it be possible that st. Bernadette's lack of decay 581 00:29:49,830 --> 00:29:53,457 is actually the result of divine intervention? 582 00:29:53,542 --> 00:29:56,376 An incorruptible saint 583 00:29:56,462 --> 00:30:02,132 symbolizes that god has blessed that particular saintly person 584 00:30:02,176 --> 00:30:05,969 so that their body that so many people have loved in life 585 00:30:06,013 --> 00:30:11,642 is still recognizable and becomes a focus for devotion. 586 00:30:11,685 --> 00:30:14,019 Shatner: Despite the symbolic miracle 587 00:30:14,104 --> 00:30:16,480 such incorruptible bodies represent 588 00:30:16,565 --> 00:30:19,817 for the faithful, according to many researchers, 589 00:30:19,902 --> 00:30:22,986 there's nothing miraculous about them. 590 00:30:23,072 --> 00:30:26,281 Jeremiah: A lot of the so-called incorruptibles 591 00:30:26,367 --> 00:30:29,785 were blatantly mummified. 592 00:30:29,829 --> 00:30:32,788 St. Bernadette was enclosed in two 593 00:30:32,873 --> 00:30:34,873 hermetically sealed caskets. 594 00:30:34,959 --> 00:30:39,002 Once exposed to air, she started to decay, 595 00:30:39,088 --> 00:30:41,338 so they covered her face and hands with wax. 596 00:30:41,423 --> 00:30:46,009 Shatner: To the millions of faithful who visit the small chapel 597 00:30:46,053 --> 00:30:48,345 where st. Bernadette's body now lies, 598 00:30:48,430 --> 00:30:52,808 her uncanny appearance remains proof of the power of faith. 599 00:30:52,852 --> 00:30:55,936 Unlike another incorruptible mummy 600 00:30:56,021 --> 00:30:58,021 which many consider to be evidence 601 00:30:58,107 --> 00:30:59,773 of a much different power, 602 00:30:59,859 --> 00:31:03,277 the power of the state. 603 00:31:12,246 --> 00:31:14,329 More than one million mourners stand for hours 604 00:31:14,373 --> 00:31:16,206 in below-freezing temperatures 605 00:31:16,250 --> 00:31:19,209 to pay their final respects to vladimir lenin, 606 00:31:19,295 --> 00:31:23,380 the bolshevik leader who ushered in the communist revolution. 607 00:31:23,424 --> 00:31:25,841 Alexei yurchak: When lenin died in 1924, 608 00:31:25,926 --> 00:31:29,177 he was associated in the minds of millions of people-- 609 00:31:29,221 --> 00:31:31,388 not everyone, but the majority-- 610 00:31:31,432 --> 00:31:34,683 with a radical transformation of human history. 611 00:31:36,729 --> 00:31:40,063 Lenin and, uh, especially his family, 612 00:31:40,149 --> 00:31:41,773 wanted him to be buried, 613 00:31:41,859 --> 00:31:45,402 but stalin decided to create a symbolism 614 00:31:45,487 --> 00:31:49,656 of an utopia that was created. 615 00:31:49,742 --> 00:31:52,451 So the idea was to keep him preserved 616 00:31:52,536 --> 00:31:54,870 for future generations. 617 00:31:54,955 --> 00:31:58,749 Shatner: According to reports, soviet scientists devised 618 00:31:58,834 --> 00:32:02,169 an entirely new method for creating lenin's mummy, 619 00:32:02,254 --> 00:32:05,505 one intended to preserve his body for eternity, 620 00:32:05,591 --> 00:32:09,301 as though he were frozen in time. 621 00:32:09,386 --> 00:32:12,220 It had to be the exact likeness of lenin. 622 00:32:12,306 --> 00:32:14,389 It also had to feel like lenin. 623 00:32:14,475 --> 00:32:16,308 The so-called presence had to be there. 624 00:32:16,393 --> 00:32:18,769 Shatner: Almost 100 years later, 625 00:32:18,854 --> 00:32:22,189 lenin's mummy still remains on display in his mausoleum 626 00:32:22,274 --> 00:32:24,608 near red square in moscow, 627 00:32:24,652 --> 00:32:27,069 and it appears as though his body hasn't decayed 628 00:32:27,154 --> 00:32:30,197 in the slightest. 629 00:32:30,282 --> 00:32:33,408 Every few months, they give him a recharge, you know, 630 00:32:33,452 --> 00:32:35,243 they hydrate him a little bit. 631 00:32:35,329 --> 00:32:38,080 They put fake eyelashes on him. 632 00:32:38,123 --> 00:32:44,795 As the art of mummification advances, so, too, does lenin. 633 00:32:44,838 --> 00:32:47,589 He's looking better every year. 634 00:32:47,675 --> 00:32:49,132 Stonehill: For many people, 635 00:32:49,218 --> 00:32:52,260 it was more than just a mere body that was being preserved, 636 00:32:52,304 --> 00:32:54,137 it was the spirit of the era. 637 00:32:54,181 --> 00:32:56,473 And stalin was gone, 638 00:32:56,558 --> 00:32:59,309 khrushchev was gone, but lenin was always there. 639 00:32:59,395 --> 00:33:02,896 Is it really possible for a dead body 640 00:33:02,982 --> 00:33:04,898 to remain perfectly preserved, 641 00:33:04,984 --> 00:33:09,277 untouched by decay, ageless for all eternity? 642 00:33:09,321 --> 00:33:13,448 In any case, the very public fate of some corpses 643 00:33:13,492 --> 00:33:17,995 reminds us that, regardless of what arrangements we make, 644 00:33:18,080 --> 00:33:22,416 the fate of our remains is no longer ours to control. 645 00:33:22,501 --> 00:33:24,209 There's even a chance we could end up becoming 646 00:33:24,294 --> 00:33:29,423 unwitting participants in someone's bizarre attempt 647 00:33:29,508 --> 00:33:32,175 to bring us back to life. 648 00:33:43,564 --> 00:33:47,024 Shatner: Police investigating a series of grave desecrations 649 00:33:47,109 --> 00:33:50,068 trace them back to the home of local history professor 650 00:33:50,154 --> 00:33:55,157 anatoly moskvin, where they make a gruesome discovery. 651 00:33:56,910 --> 00:33:59,995 A collection of eerie, life-sized dolls 652 00:34:00,039 --> 00:34:03,206 that upon closer examination turn out to be 653 00:34:03,292 --> 00:34:07,711 the mummified remains of young girls. 654 00:34:09,923 --> 00:34:13,884 Moskvin was a very intelligent person 655 00:34:13,927 --> 00:34:19,931 who had phenomenal memory, who could speak 13 languages. 656 00:34:20,017 --> 00:34:22,559 His colleagues said he was mild-mannered, 657 00:34:22,644 --> 00:34:28,315 kind and loved cemeteries and anything related to death. 658 00:34:28,400 --> 00:34:30,400 He was commissioned, at some point, 659 00:34:30,486 --> 00:34:32,861 to research, uh, cemeteries 660 00:34:32,946 --> 00:34:37,282 in a very large area of nizhny novgorod, 661 00:34:37,367 --> 00:34:41,369 when he started digging up the graves of young girls. 662 00:34:41,455 --> 00:34:43,413 Ebner: His poor parents, 663 00:34:43,499 --> 00:34:45,582 they thought he was a little craftsman 664 00:34:45,626 --> 00:34:47,876 sewing together these little dolls. 665 00:34:47,961 --> 00:34:51,588 They honestly had no idea 666 00:34:51,632 --> 00:34:55,592 what was going on behind the closed door of this guy's room. 667 00:34:58,680 --> 00:35:01,264 Hickey: He spent some serious time 668 00:35:01,350 --> 00:35:03,850 in mummification of these corpses. 669 00:35:03,936 --> 00:35:07,104 To preserve them, he used fragrances 670 00:35:07,189 --> 00:35:08,688 to make them smell better. 671 00:35:08,774 --> 00:35:10,774 He clothed them. 672 00:35:10,859 --> 00:35:14,444 He inserted things inside them so they wouldn't shrink. 673 00:35:14,488 --> 00:35:16,446 And he took very good care of them. 674 00:35:16,490 --> 00:35:19,282 Shatner: All in all, moskvin collected the bodies 675 00:35:19,368 --> 00:35:21,576 of 29 young girls, 676 00:35:21,620 --> 00:35:25,372 earning him the nickname "lord of the mummies." 677 00:35:25,457 --> 00:35:28,333 but when authorities asked moskvin 678 00:35:28,418 --> 00:35:31,294 why he assembled his ghoulish collection, 679 00:35:31,338 --> 00:35:34,798 his motive was more disturbing than they ever imagined. 680 00:35:36,802 --> 00:35:39,469 Moskvin was a firm believer that he actually was able 681 00:35:39,513 --> 00:35:41,304 to speak to the dead and that the dead 682 00:35:41,390 --> 00:35:42,806 were able to speak back. 683 00:35:44,518 --> 00:35:47,185 Picknett: He claimed that he only ever dug them up 684 00:35:47,271 --> 00:35:53,150 when they'd given him permission to do so, in some spiritual way. 685 00:35:53,235 --> 00:35:56,653 And some of them were crying out, he said, to be rescued. 686 00:35:58,198 --> 00:36:00,532 Ebner: So at one point, he said to himself, 687 00:36:00,617 --> 00:36:02,993 "well, it's cold out here in these cemeteries. 688 00:36:03,078 --> 00:36:05,495 "why don't I take these kids home 689 00:36:05,581 --> 00:36:11,459 and they can keep me company in the comfort of my own home?" 690 00:36:11,545 --> 00:36:15,172 he actually treated them like they were living human beings. 691 00:36:15,215 --> 00:36:17,507 Uh, he would have parties for them. 692 00:36:18,594 --> 00:36:20,010 He had birthday parties. 693 00:36:20,095 --> 00:36:21,845 He watched television with them. 694 00:36:21,930 --> 00:36:23,847 He talked to them. 695 00:36:23,932 --> 00:36:26,516 He interacted with them like they were alive. 696 00:36:26,560 --> 00:36:29,311 And to anybody else, that would be crazy, but to him, 697 00:36:29,354 --> 00:36:30,854 it made perfect sense. 698 00:36:30,898 --> 00:36:32,230 (bell tolls) 699 00:36:32,316 --> 00:36:34,482 so moskvin has indicated 700 00:36:34,526 --> 00:36:36,067 if he's ever released from prison, 701 00:36:36,153 --> 00:36:37,652 he's going to go back to those specific corpses 702 00:36:37,738 --> 00:36:40,989 and dig them up again, because he truly believes 703 00:36:41,074 --> 00:36:43,033 that these girls can be brought back to life. 704 00:36:44,369 --> 00:36:46,119 Shatner: Anatoly moskvin's belief 705 00:36:46,205 --> 00:36:48,872 that he can bring dead people back to life 706 00:36:48,916 --> 00:36:51,499 certainly seems like a misguided fantasy. 707 00:36:51,585 --> 00:36:55,962 But on the other hand, who knows what might happen in the future? 708 00:36:56,048 --> 00:36:59,382 What if scientific breakthroughs actually make it possible 709 00:36:59,426 --> 00:37:04,221 for us to resurrect dead bodies that have been preserved? 710 00:37:04,306 --> 00:37:06,348 So, you don't believe in miracles, 711 00:37:06,391 --> 00:37:08,350 uh, but what you can, uh, hope for 712 00:37:08,435 --> 00:37:10,560 is a scientific breakthrough, a scientific miracle. 713 00:37:11,647 --> 00:37:13,313 Like, the idea of cryogenics. 714 00:37:13,398 --> 00:37:15,607 You can freeze yourself and maybe someday 715 00:37:15,692 --> 00:37:18,944 science will be able to get you back alive. 716 00:37:19,029 --> 00:37:20,820 Picknett: A lot of people have had the idea 717 00:37:20,906 --> 00:37:24,407 that one day advanced science can reanimate them. 718 00:37:24,451 --> 00:37:26,952 But that presupposes many things. 719 00:37:27,037 --> 00:37:28,828 It presupposes that there isn't an afterlife 720 00:37:28,914 --> 00:37:30,664 that you don't automatically go to. 721 00:37:30,749 --> 00:37:34,376 Or they could bring you back, but you could have lost 722 00:37:34,419 --> 00:37:36,253 everything that made you you. 723 00:37:37,547 --> 00:37:39,297 So it's the idea of-of preserving the body 724 00:37:39,383 --> 00:37:42,592 for reanimation through science. 725 00:37:42,678 --> 00:37:45,553 It still gets us right back to that elemental question 726 00:37:45,639 --> 00:37:47,055 that so many people have: 727 00:37:47,099 --> 00:37:49,266 If there is a soul, if there is an afterlife, 728 00:37:49,351 --> 00:37:51,476 what is the relationship between that soul 729 00:37:51,561 --> 00:37:53,186 and the physical body? 730 00:37:53,272 --> 00:37:57,524 If the body is still somehow connected to the soul, 731 00:37:57,609 --> 00:38:01,278 maybe someday science will be able to save all of us. 732 00:38:03,115 --> 00:38:06,408 Shatner: Could new technology offer us the ability 733 00:38:06,451 --> 00:38:09,953 to revive our bodies after we die? 734 00:38:10,038 --> 00:38:12,289 It's a fascinating notion. 735 00:38:12,374 --> 00:38:15,166 One that raises an even more profound question: 736 00:38:15,252 --> 00:38:18,128 If science can bring a recently mummified body 737 00:38:18,213 --> 00:38:19,963 back from the dead, 738 00:38:20,007 --> 00:38:22,549 might there also be a way for modern technology 739 00:38:22,634 --> 00:38:26,303 to bring ancient mummies back to life as well? 740 00:38:39,443 --> 00:38:43,987 Shatner: Scientists publish the results of an extraordinary study. 741 00:38:44,031 --> 00:38:48,325 By ct-scanning the mummy of an ancient egyptian priest 742 00:38:48,368 --> 00:38:51,202 known as nesyamun, and using this information 743 00:38:51,288 --> 00:38:55,999 to recreate his vocal tract using a 3d printer, 744 00:38:56,043 --> 00:38:59,127 the scientists were able to engineer an approximation 745 00:38:59,212 --> 00:39:01,379 of the dead priest's voice 746 00:39:01,465 --> 00:39:04,758 which hadn't been heard for 3,000 years. 747 00:39:04,843 --> 00:39:08,094 (low groaning) 748 00:39:08,180 --> 00:39:09,888 michio kaku: "hear dead people speak." 749 00:39:09,973 --> 00:39:12,265 that was the headline. 750 00:39:12,351 --> 00:39:14,351 Because it was such an interesting concept, 751 00:39:14,436 --> 00:39:17,020 using modern technology to understand 752 00:39:17,064 --> 00:39:18,688 what the person may have sounded like. 753 00:39:18,774 --> 00:39:20,690 (low groaning) 754 00:39:22,903 --> 00:39:27,405 as a priest of amun, nesyamun was responsible 755 00:39:27,491 --> 00:39:30,408 for guiding the mummy from the realm of the living 756 00:39:30,494 --> 00:39:32,118 into the realm of the dead. 757 00:39:32,204 --> 00:39:34,079 (low groaning) 758 00:39:34,164 --> 00:39:37,540 and the very fact that his voice seems to echo 759 00:39:37,584 --> 00:39:40,210 through the centuries perhaps is proof 760 00:39:40,295 --> 00:39:42,462 of the egyptian belief 761 00:39:42,547 --> 00:39:46,216 that the soul remains connected to the body 762 00:39:46,301 --> 00:39:49,219 for eternity through the afterlife. 763 00:39:49,304 --> 00:39:52,889 Shatner: Thus far, the team working to restore nesyamun's voice 764 00:39:52,933 --> 00:39:55,809 has only managed to reproduce a single sound. 765 00:39:55,894 --> 00:39:58,770 (low groaning) 766 00:39:58,855 --> 00:40:01,064 in time, it is believed they may be able 767 00:40:01,108 --> 00:40:04,526 to make him speak words, or even entire sentences. 768 00:40:04,611 --> 00:40:07,195 And if some researchers are correct, 769 00:40:07,280 --> 00:40:10,407 scientists may even soon be able to recreate 770 00:40:10,492 --> 00:40:12,784 his entire body. 771 00:40:12,869 --> 00:40:15,412 Steavu: We could technically 772 00:40:15,455 --> 00:40:18,331 extract dna from a mummy and then clone it, 773 00:40:18,417 --> 00:40:22,293 and reanimate the deceased person. 774 00:40:22,379 --> 00:40:26,089 So we could grow king tut once more. 775 00:40:27,259 --> 00:40:29,717 Shatner: Regrow king tut? 776 00:40:29,803 --> 00:40:33,096 While the possibility of reviving 3,000-year-old mummies 777 00:40:33,181 --> 00:40:35,056 may in fact be within our reach, 778 00:40:35,142 --> 00:40:38,601 there are those who believe that just because we can 779 00:40:38,687 --> 00:40:43,148 doesn't necessarily mean we should. 780 00:40:43,233 --> 00:40:45,775 The ancient egyptians, it was really important for them 781 00:40:45,819 --> 00:40:49,279 to have a peaceful, uh, burial and existence. 782 00:40:49,364 --> 00:40:52,949 So they might perceive these scientific investigations 783 00:40:53,034 --> 00:40:56,953 to try to clone a mummy or try to recreate a mummy's voice 784 00:40:57,038 --> 00:40:59,080 as perhaps invasive, uh, 785 00:40:59,166 --> 00:41:02,125 to their actual religious afterlife beliefs. 786 00:41:02,210 --> 00:41:05,503 Jeremiah: We have two major mysteries in life, 787 00:41:05,589 --> 00:41:08,298 and one is the nature of life itself, the other is death. 788 00:41:08,341 --> 00:41:13,011 And mummified bodies serve kind of as a conduit between the two. 789 00:41:13,096 --> 00:41:17,974 And the truth is maybe they still are influencing reality. 790 00:41:19,269 --> 00:41:22,353 So, uh, what do you think? 791 00:41:22,439 --> 00:41:24,481 Would you like to try getting yourself mummified 792 00:41:24,566 --> 00:41:27,484 after you die, and then be brought back to life? 793 00:41:27,569 --> 00:41:29,277 It's a tantalizing concept. 794 00:41:29,362 --> 00:41:32,447 But then again, maybe we should heed 795 00:41:32,491 --> 00:41:35,492 the lesson of king tut's tomb, and remember 796 00:41:35,577 --> 00:41:40,163 that it might be better to let mummies rest in peace, 797 00:41:40,207 --> 00:41:43,500 leaving the question of whether they will ever rise again 798 00:41:43,585 --> 00:41:49,506 to remain, at least for now... Unexplained. 799 00:41:49,591 --> 00:41:52,842 Captioning provided by a+e networks