1 00:00:01,040 --> 00:00:04,880 (overlapping chatter) 2 00:00:05,200 --> 00:00:08,480 NARRATOR: In Egypt's ancient sandstone quarries, 3 00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:15,080 archeologists search for traces of mighty Pharaohs. 4 00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:17,960 WORKERS: Yeah! 5 00:00:19,160 --> 00:00:22,720 NARRATOR: The Holy Grail is hieroglyphs that shed light 6 00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:26,000 on the mysterious kings who built the pyramids. 7 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:31,200 We've got hieroglyphs. 8 00:00:32,440 --> 00:00:33,480 JOHN: Oh! 9 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:35,840 MARIA: Oh, this is wonderful. 10 00:00:35,920 --> 00:00:37,040 JOHN: Look at that! 11 00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:48,040 NARRATOR: The pyramids of Giza, 12 00:00:48,840 --> 00:00:51,880 ancient Egypt's most iconic monuments. 13 00:00:53,640 --> 00:00:58,040 Egyptian civilization spanned nearly 3,000 years. 14 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:01,240 But their great age of pyramid-building 15 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:03,640 lasted just over four centuries. 16 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:08,920 Some 20 huge pyramids date from this time, 17 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:13,600 concentrated on the desert plateaus of the Nile's west bank, 18 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:17,800 each built to house the body of a mighty pharaoh. 19 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:25,000 Now, archeologists across Egypt are trying to unlock 20 00:01:25,080 --> 00:01:28,560 the secrets of who these mysterious kings were, 21 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:33,920 how they persuaded the people of Egypt to build their giant monuments, 22 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:39,280 and how they influenced pharaohs for thousands of years after they died. 23 00:01:41,280 --> 00:01:45,840 Thirty years ago, American Egyptologist, Steve Harvey, 24 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:49,880 excavated the very last pyramid built by an Egyptian king. 25 00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:55,160 He has spent a career exploring these royal monuments. 26 00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:58,720 Today he's come to the most famous one of all, 27 00:01:59,320 --> 00:02:01,440 to investigate the legendary pharaoh 28 00:02:01,520 --> 00:02:05,480 who built it 4,500 years ago. 29 00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:09,840 STEPHEN: The Great Pyramid of Khufu here at Giza 30 00:02:10,400 --> 00:02:15,240 is the culmination of hundreds of years of trial and error in pyramid building, 31 00:02:15,600 --> 00:02:17,800 but it's not only the perfect shape, 32 00:02:17,880 --> 00:02:21,960 it's the largest ever built, and it's never surpassed. 33 00:02:22,600 --> 00:02:24,840 NARRATOR: The Great Pyramid was a fortress 34 00:02:24,920 --> 00:02:27,760 designed to protect the pharaoh's tomb. 35 00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:33,080 Twenty-four feet off center, the entrance would have been tricky to find. 36 00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:37,520 At the top of a 130 foot passage, 37 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:42,680 a pulley system of ropes dropped three enormous granite slabs, 38 00:02:42,760 --> 00:02:45,480 sealing off the entrance to the burial chamber. 39 00:02:46,640 --> 00:02:50,360 Next, three giant blocks slid down the shaft, 40 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:53,680 closing off a grand staircase. 41 00:02:54,720 --> 00:02:58,080 This pyramid was a masterpiece of engineering. 42 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:01,440 Capped with a layer of flawless white limestone, 43 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:05,680 it was an unmistakable symbol of the pharaoh's supreme authority. 44 00:03:08,960 --> 00:03:13,400 The Great Pyramid was one of the first true pyramids ever built. 45 00:03:13,720 --> 00:03:18,200 None of the Pyramid Age Kings that followed Khufu would match it. 46 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:21,600 The incredible scale of his tomb 47 00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:25,000 suggests Khufu wielded remarkable power, 48 00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:28,200 but very little is known about the king himself. 49 00:03:29,920 --> 00:03:32,560 Steve has been granted special access 50 00:03:32,640 --> 00:03:36,160 to explore the restricted areas inside the pyramid, 51 00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:39,200 to hunt for any clues to the life, 52 00:03:39,280 --> 00:03:42,560 and death, of this mysterious pharaoh. 53 00:03:45,560 --> 00:03:47,600 STEPHEN: I'm gonna have to stop for a minute, guys. 54 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:53,840 Really is getting dark, hard to see anything. 55 00:03:58,760 --> 00:04:02,120 It's not meant for coming and going, that's for sure. 56 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:05,280 NARRATOR: Steve heads to the king's burial chamber 57 00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:07,480 at the very heart of the pyramid 58 00:04:07,880 --> 00:04:11,800 where mourners laid the Pharaoh's body for his eternal rest, 59 00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:15,560 tightly secured behind giant rock barriers. 60 00:04:17,280 --> 00:04:20,360 The chamber is almost entirely bare. 61 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:24,920 STEPHEN: Even though this space was protected by blocking, 62 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:26,960 it was completely robbed out, 63 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:29,200 and when archeologists came to the sarcophagus, 64 00:04:29,280 --> 00:04:31,200 they found nothing inside. 65 00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:34,280 NARRATOR: For Steve, evidence of the king himself 66 00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:36,800 survives in the only thing that does remain, 67 00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:39,080 the chamber walls. 68 00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:42,880 STEPHEN: What really excites me is that you can see 69 00:04:42,960 --> 00:04:47,760 this incredible granite that's been smoothed to a very high degree 70 00:04:47,840 --> 00:04:51,240 and this one block is something like 100 tons 71 00:04:51,320 --> 00:04:53,560 brought all the way from Aswan. 72 00:04:53,640 --> 00:04:56,800 This is an exotic stone, it's not the natural limestone, 73 00:04:56,880 --> 00:05:02,480 so really, we have this amazing box within this huge mountain of limestone. 74 00:05:03,200 --> 00:05:07,040 NARRATOR: Ancient quarrymen cut the precious granite in Upper Egypt, 75 00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:10,600 then floated it 600 miles down the Nile. 76 00:05:11,240 --> 00:05:15,840 Khufu spared no expense to ensure his resurrection to the afterlife, 77 00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:18,440 not as a mortal, but as a God. 78 00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:24,160 Steve heads deeper into the pyramid, 79 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:27,080 in search of a closed-off second chamber 80 00:05:27,160 --> 00:05:31,280 which legend has it, Khufu built this to hold his soul. 81 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:35,520 On the other side of the necropolis, 82 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:39,040 Archeologist John Ward has come to Giza 83 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:41,640 to explore the monuments of Khufu's dynasty. 84 00:05:42,120 --> 00:05:46,720 He's spent a decade unearthing the stonework of New Kingdom pharaohs, 85 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:50,080 who lived 1,000 years after the Pyramid Age ended. 86 00:05:51,440 --> 00:05:53,840 JOHN: Watch your toes, guys! Watch your toes! 87 00:05:54,160 --> 00:05:58,640 NARRATOR: His discoveries include an 11 foot tall Sphinx statue, 88 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:02,040 a representation of a God with the body of a lion, 89 00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:05,840 an animal revered by Egyptians as a symbol of strength. 90 00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:11,600 It echoes the famous giant sculpture guarding the Giza Pyramids. 91 00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:16,120 John wants to know what was so special about these kings 92 00:06:16,200 --> 00:06:20,080 that pharaohs 1,000 years later still mimicked their statues. 93 00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:28,160 These iconic monuments are just shouting, screaming at us, 94 00:06:29,280 --> 00:06:31,880 power, dominance, control. 95 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:36,520 I feel like this, I feel so insignificant. 96 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:41,200 Together these pyramids and the Sphinx 97 00:06:41,280 --> 00:06:44,360 and the temples create a landscape of power. 98 00:06:46,960 --> 00:06:50,120 NARRATOR: The huge sculpture protects the necropolis, 99 00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:53,880 a giant symbol of supremacy, 100 00:06:53,960 --> 00:06:57,800 believed by many to have the face of Khufu's son, Khafre, 101 00:06:57,880 --> 00:07:00,840 owner of Giza's second largest Pyramid. 102 00:07:01,640 --> 00:07:05,680 Despite many visits here, John has never been up close. 103 00:07:07,080 --> 00:07:11,480 Today, he's been granted special access to explore its enclosure. 104 00:07:13,880 --> 00:07:18,880 JOHN: It's absolutely inspiring I mean it's just, jaw dropping. 105 00:07:19,840 --> 00:07:22,720 I've waited 50 years to be here 106 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:27,160 and now I'm here, it's just, wow. 107 00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:32,240 NARRATOR: Sixty-six feet high, the Sphinx gazes east, 108 00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:34,360 toward the rising sun. 109 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:37,480 JOHN: I know what it's like to work with the living rock 110 00:07:37,560 --> 00:07:39,000 and how to carve it. 111 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:44,440 This would have been a monumental challenge. 112 00:07:46,360 --> 00:07:49,760 They only had copper chisels, wooden mallets, 113 00:07:49,840 --> 00:07:51,640 it would have been a harsh environment, 114 00:07:51,720 --> 00:07:53,840 this dust would have been everywhere 115 00:07:54,480 --> 00:07:58,400 and yet the workmen, the craftsmen, the masons, 116 00:07:58,480 --> 00:08:02,560 they were all willing participants loyal to Pharaoh. 117 00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:07,080 NARRATOR: It would have taken thousands of people, 118 00:08:07,160 --> 00:08:10,760 decades to construct the epic monuments of Giza, 119 00:08:12,240 --> 00:08:15,960 but there's no evidence the pharaohs enslaved people to build them. 120 00:08:16,840 --> 00:08:20,360 They didn't draw their power over the people from force. 121 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:26,520 John believes what stood these kings apart was that they inspired devotion. 122 00:08:28,400 --> 00:08:34,280 JOHN: The sheer volume of stone that has gone into building this 123 00:08:34,360 --> 00:08:37,280 and each individual block, 124 00:08:37,360 --> 00:08:41,920 represents the loyalty that they had for Pharaoh. 125 00:08:43,680 --> 00:08:46,800 NARRATOR: The huge monuments of Giza represent the peak 126 00:08:46,880 --> 00:08:48,680 of the Pyramid Age. 127 00:08:48,760 --> 00:08:51,960 So why was nothing built on this scale again? 128 00:08:54,960 --> 00:08:57,080 At the height of Khufu's reign, 129 00:08:57,160 --> 00:09:02,040 reliable seasonal rains fed the crops that ensured Egypt's prosperity. 130 00:09:05,480 --> 00:09:07,440 For three months every year, 131 00:09:07,520 --> 00:09:10,720 the Nile flooded and inundated the farmland, 132 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:13,320 so farmers couldn't work the fields. 133 00:09:15,240 --> 00:09:19,280 The farmers were free to help build the king's enormous tomb. 134 00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:24,160 They believed he kept the Gods content and the country fed. 135 00:09:24,880 --> 00:09:27,920 But soon after Khufu completed his pyramid, 136 00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:30,560 Egypt began to suffer drought. 137 00:09:35,760 --> 00:09:39,240 As crop yields crashed, so did the taxes 138 00:09:39,320 --> 00:09:43,360 coming into the state's treasuries and despite the free labor, 139 00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:46,760 the Giza monuments almost bankrupted Egypt. 140 00:09:47,480 --> 00:09:50,080 The people's loyalty began to falter. 141 00:09:50,160 --> 00:09:53,360 The kings' tombs that followed got smaller 142 00:09:53,920 --> 00:09:56,680 while Khufu's Great Pyramid remained, 143 00:09:56,760 --> 00:09:59,680 dominating the Nile's west bank. 144 00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:03,760 The sheer power that he held. 145 00:10:05,000 --> 00:10:08,360 It's absolutely unbelievable. 146 00:10:10,240 --> 00:10:12,960 NARRATOR: It was a power his struggling successors 147 00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:15,040 were desperate to replicate. 148 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:24,000 At Abu Ghurab, Italian archeologist Massimiliano Nuzzolo 149 00:10:24,360 --> 00:10:27,360 wants to know how the kings of the Pyramid Age 150 00:10:27,440 --> 00:10:30,680 held on to power as their wealth and status declined. 151 00:10:32,120 --> 00:10:35,040 He's spent his entire career trying to understand 152 00:10:35,120 --> 00:10:37,800 a very different monumental structure, 153 00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:42,720 an enigma whose mysteries captured his imagination 154 00:10:42,800 --> 00:10:45,920 in his very first student course in Egyptology. 155 00:10:48,480 --> 00:10:53,080 This enormous scatter of ancient rubble was once a Sun Temple, 156 00:10:53,160 --> 00:10:56,920 dedicated to the most powerful God of the Pyramid Age. 157 00:10:59,120 --> 00:11:02,560 NUZZOLO: Each king wanted a pyramid for achieving his resurrection. 158 00:11:02,640 --> 00:11:04,760 But this was not enough for the fifth dynasty kings. 159 00:11:04,840 --> 00:11:06,400 They wanted something more. 160 00:11:07,280 --> 00:11:10,960 The king built this place to turn himself into a God. 161 00:11:11,560 --> 00:11:13,120 The sun God. 162 00:11:13,920 --> 00:11:16,040 NARRATOR: The pharaoh, Nyuserra, 163 00:11:16,120 --> 00:11:18,600 didn't just want to become divine in death. 164 00:11:19,840 --> 00:11:22,840 He built this temple because he wanted to be worshiped 165 00:11:22,920 --> 00:11:24,960 as a God while he was still alive. 166 00:11:27,640 --> 00:11:31,360 Rising from the desert was an enormous obelisk, 167 00:11:31,440 --> 00:11:33,480 the centerpiece of the temple. 168 00:11:35,120 --> 00:11:40,400 It was not a traditional stone needle but shaped more like a pyramid. 169 00:11:41,640 --> 00:11:45,280 Monumental walls enclosed it, creating a courtyard, 170 00:11:45,360 --> 00:11:48,080 where people could come to worship the sun. 171 00:11:49,120 --> 00:11:52,400 The temple aligned perfectly on an east-west axis 172 00:11:52,480 --> 00:11:54,160 with the path of the sun. 173 00:11:55,600 --> 00:11:57,960 So on the Summer Solstice every year, 174 00:11:58,040 --> 00:12:00,560 the sun rose through the entrance, 175 00:12:00,640 --> 00:12:03,240 traveled directly over the obelisk, 176 00:12:03,320 --> 00:12:05,440 and set at the western end. 177 00:12:06,600 --> 00:12:10,400 This alignment is identical to that of the pyramids. 178 00:12:14,560 --> 00:12:18,280 Records suggest that six of the pharaohs who followed Khufu 179 00:12:18,360 --> 00:12:21,760 decided to build a Sun Temples as well as their pyramid 180 00:12:21,840 --> 00:12:25,680 to underline their divine status to the people of Egypt. 181 00:12:27,480 --> 00:12:30,880 But almost all of these temples are lost. 182 00:12:31,320 --> 00:12:32,440 We know that there were six sun temples 183 00:12:32,520 --> 00:12:35,000 and we actually, so far, have discovered only two. 184 00:12:35,320 --> 00:12:39,240 NARRATOR: Max hopes excavating this sun temple will shed light 185 00:12:39,320 --> 00:12:43,200 on these kings' power, and perhaps help him crack 186 00:12:43,280 --> 00:12:46,000 one of the biggest mysteries in Egyptology, 187 00:12:46,080 --> 00:12:49,240 and find the other missing sun temples. 188 00:12:50,360 --> 00:12:53,480 The problem is Max is not the first 189 00:12:53,560 --> 00:12:57,120 to decode this structure's secrets. 190 00:12:57,200 --> 00:13:01,560 Early Egyptologists excavated here more than 100 years ago 191 00:13:01,640 --> 00:13:05,040 and left a mess of archeological confusion in their wake. 192 00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:11,880 Well, this find is amazing because it's a cover of matches 193 00:13:11,960 --> 00:13:14,320 left by the archeologists during their work. 194 00:13:15,240 --> 00:13:17,840 NARRATOR: Along with their discarded matchboxes, 195 00:13:17,920 --> 00:13:23,160 early 20th century excavators left 4,500 year old pottery 196 00:13:23,240 --> 00:13:24,960 scattered across the site. 197 00:13:25,560 --> 00:13:29,000 As you can see here this area of the temple is full of pot shards. 198 00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:32,160 But unfortunately, this material is completely useless for us 199 00:13:32,240 --> 00:13:34,600 because it's out of a secure context. 200 00:13:34,680 --> 00:13:36,960 It cannot tell us anything about the life of the temple. 201 00:13:37,560 --> 00:13:41,040 NARRATOR: If Max can find undisturbed artifacts, 202 00:13:41,120 --> 00:13:44,760 they might reveal clues the first archeologists missed. 203 00:13:45,440 --> 00:13:49,480 Even the smallest of finds could be crucial in the hunt 204 00:13:49,560 --> 00:13:52,880 for the lost Sun Temples of the Pyramid Age. 205 00:13:57,640 --> 00:14:01,040 NARRATOR: The team is excavating an area of the Sun Temple 206 00:14:01,120 --> 00:14:03,440 earlier archeologists never touched. 207 00:14:04,280 --> 00:14:07,080 The missing Sun Temples could hold the secrets 208 00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:11,480 of how the later Pyramid Kings who followed Khufu held onto power. 209 00:14:12,440 --> 00:14:16,600 Their location remains one of Egyptology's greatest mysteries. 210 00:14:17,440 --> 00:14:21,720 Untouched pottery here in Abu Ghurab could help solve it. 211 00:14:22,200 --> 00:14:25,560 Mohamed Osman is a senior archeologist here. 212 00:14:25,640 --> 00:14:29,760 We think that we found a jar, a beer jar. 213 00:14:30,400 --> 00:14:35,200 NARRATOR: Wheat beer was a major source of nutrition for ancient Egyptians, 214 00:14:35,280 --> 00:14:39,560 but they used the same ceramic containers in religious rituals. 215 00:14:39,920 --> 00:14:42,520 If you put it like this, this one. 216 00:14:42,600 --> 00:14:43,960 Yeah, it fits. 217 00:14:44,320 --> 00:14:48,200 NARRATOR: This could be an offering made in worship of a Pharaoh 218 00:14:48,280 --> 00:14:51,640 or an ancient builder's discarded lunch! 219 00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:55,600 Even after 4,500 years, 220 00:14:55,680 --> 00:14:58,200 the answer could lie in its contents. 221 00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:03,240 So it seems that it's not an actual beer jar 222 00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:05,480 there was no actual beer inside. 223 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:09,040 It was filled with mud to be used in rituals. 224 00:15:09,640 --> 00:15:11,720 NARRATOR: For Ancient Egyptians, 225 00:15:11,800 --> 00:15:14,360 mud was a symbolic replacement for food, 226 00:15:14,440 --> 00:15:16,720 which they would offer to the Gods. 227 00:15:17,360 --> 00:15:22,200 The jar is buried not far from a curious row of stone basins. 228 00:15:23,560 --> 00:15:27,480 Max and Mohamed believe they were all part of an elaborate ritual, 229 00:15:27,560 --> 00:15:29,960 presided over by the pharaoh. 230 00:15:32,920 --> 00:15:35,720 Priests filled the stone basins with water, 231 00:15:35,800 --> 00:15:39,000 which flowed out across the temple's limestone floor, 232 00:15:39,080 --> 00:15:41,640 along 28 shallow grooves. 233 00:15:42,480 --> 00:15:46,480 The sacred liquid washed over jars placed in the channels, 234 00:15:46,560 --> 00:15:48,880 purifying the offerings within. 235 00:15:50,680 --> 00:15:53,960 The priests brought the symbolic offerings to the altar 236 00:15:54,040 --> 00:15:58,160 and left them to be consecrated by the sun God's heat and light. 237 00:16:00,920 --> 00:16:03,880 They then climbed through a passage in the obelisk, 238 00:16:03,960 --> 00:16:05,480 to emerge on the platform, 239 00:16:05,560 --> 00:16:08,560 facing east to bless the rising sun. 240 00:16:12,400 --> 00:16:17,920 The purification basins have survived 4,500 years intact, 241 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:22,000 but the floor of Nyuserra's Sun Temple has disintegrated. 242 00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:28,240 Mohamed and the team explore underneath its fragmented remains. 243 00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:33,080 Just inches down, they find a mysterious layer. 244 00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:39,320 What we have here is the foundation of the stone pavement of the stone temple. 245 00:16:39,880 --> 00:16:44,280 And beneath that, there is an older structure that used to be here. 246 00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:49,480 We still don't know when exactly but it was built out of mud bricks. 247 00:16:50,120 --> 00:16:53,320 NARRATOR: Mohamed has found mud bricks in several places 248 00:16:53,400 --> 00:16:55,040 beneath the Sun Temple floor. 249 00:16:56,240 --> 00:16:59,120 It suggests a large building existed here 250 00:16:59,200 --> 00:17:01,760 before Nyuserra's Sun Temple was built. 251 00:17:03,480 --> 00:17:07,560 If they find evidence that the earlier mudbrick structure was sacred, 252 00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:13,840 it could even be a missing Sun Temple of another king of the Pyramid Age. 253 00:17:19,200 --> 00:17:23,640 At Abusir on a desolate plateau 254 00:17:23,720 --> 00:17:25,760 within sight of Max's dig, 255 00:17:25,840 --> 00:17:29,520 are the pyramids of the pharaohs who built the Sun Temples. 256 00:17:30,320 --> 00:17:34,520 Little more than a century after Khufu had built his Great Pyramid, 257 00:17:34,600 --> 00:17:37,160 the Egyptian state was weakened by drought. 258 00:17:37,960 --> 00:17:41,160 The later pharaohs' treasuries were emptied by the cost 259 00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:43,760 of the previous kings' giant tombs. 260 00:17:44,840 --> 00:17:48,800 We have in front of us a history of more than 2,000 years 261 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:53,560 and most of the secrets of this vast stretch of land 262 00:17:53,640 --> 00:17:55,720 remain, uh, still unlocked. 263 00:17:55,800 --> 00:17:58,920 NARRATOR: Czech archeologist, Miroslav Barta, 264 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:01,840 has spent three decades stripping back the sand 265 00:18:01,920 --> 00:18:03,640 from this necropolis. 266 00:18:04,200 --> 00:18:09,240 Twenty years ago, he pioneered the study of pyramids as viewed from space. 267 00:18:09,720 --> 00:18:13,600 Today, he's firmly on the ground in search of the secrets 268 00:18:13,680 --> 00:18:17,120 that explain how the later kings of the Pyramid Age 269 00:18:17,200 --> 00:18:21,160 clung to power as their wealth and status drained away. 270 00:18:22,960 --> 00:18:25,600 On this spot in 2018, 271 00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:31,960 he discovered the tomb of a legendary wiseman, Ka-Irsu. 272 00:18:34,920 --> 00:18:38,160 Ka-Irsu was a powerful royal court official 273 00:18:38,240 --> 00:18:41,800 and close advisor to one of the later Pyramid Kings. 274 00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:47,200 As "Overseer of Royal Works," he designed the king's pyramid, 275 00:18:47,280 --> 00:18:50,920 and the temples that brought the pharaoh closer to the Gods. 276 00:18:53,640 --> 00:18:56,720 But he was also the head of the "House of Life," 277 00:18:57,640 --> 00:19:01,760 a philosopher bringing the king's message to the people of Egypt. 278 00:19:03,680 --> 00:19:08,280 His writings preached the importance of complete loyalty to the pharaoh, 279 00:19:08,360 --> 00:19:12,800 a message that was still being repeated a 1,000 years later. 280 00:19:16,400 --> 00:19:19,720 Miroslav is digging in the very heart of the cemetery, 281 00:19:19,800 --> 00:19:22,560 in search of more elite tombs. 282 00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:26,200 He wants to know how much the later Pyramid Kings relied 283 00:19:26,280 --> 00:19:29,520 on powerful officials, like Ka-Irsu, 284 00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:32,960 to improve their public relations and promote loyalty. 285 00:19:34,160 --> 00:19:36,200 Test pits have revealed a tomb 286 00:19:36,280 --> 00:19:41,200 right next to the pyramid of Neferikara, one of the later Pyramid Kings. 287 00:19:41,880 --> 00:19:44,920 It could be exactly what he's looking for. 288 00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:48,800 Only very important persons 289 00:19:48,880 --> 00:19:51,320 most of them coming from the Royal family 290 00:19:51,400 --> 00:19:54,880 could be, or had the privilege, to be buried here. 291 00:19:56,120 --> 00:19:58,040 NARRATOR: After three weeks of digging, 292 00:19:58,120 --> 00:20:01,040 the team uncovers the exterior structure. 293 00:20:02,680 --> 00:20:07,440 But a crucial clue is missing, the walls are bare. 294 00:20:09,560 --> 00:20:14,080 Without inscriptions, Miroslav can't identify the tomb owner. 295 00:20:15,240 --> 00:20:19,040 If he's to uncover the secrets of the Pyramid Kings' power, 296 00:20:19,360 --> 00:20:22,000 Miroslav will have to dig deeper, 297 00:20:22,080 --> 00:20:24,960 and find the burial chamber. 298 00:20:33,120 --> 00:20:35,320 Archeologist John Ward 299 00:20:35,400 --> 00:20:38,920 has returned to the ancient quarry of Gebel El-Silsila, 300 00:20:39,760 --> 00:20:42,920 to join the Director of the Swedish Archeological Mission, 301 00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:45,200 his wife, Maria Nilsson. 302 00:20:48,560 --> 00:20:52,000 Last season, they excavated an incredible monument, 303 00:20:52,320 --> 00:20:56,040 a Sphinx similar in form to the Great Sphinx at Giza. 304 00:20:56,760 --> 00:21:00,400 This year, Maria and John want to investigate the connection 305 00:21:00,480 --> 00:21:04,200 between the kings who built the mighty monuments at Giza 306 00:21:04,280 --> 00:21:08,320 and the pharaohs who carved out Sphinxes 1,000 years later. 307 00:21:08,960 --> 00:21:11,880 MARIA: Are you ready for some more fun, Carter? 308 00:21:13,920 --> 00:21:17,480 NARRATOR: They believe the site still hides stone monuments 309 00:21:17,560 --> 00:21:21,960 that could reveal the Great Pyramid Kings' impact on Egyptian history. 310 00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:26,800 A large pile of rock not far from last season's statue, 311 00:21:26,880 --> 00:21:30,600 is exactly the right size to hide another Sphinx. 312 00:21:31,480 --> 00:21:33,800 Today, they're going to try and dig it up, 313 00:21:34,320 --> 00:21:36,400 but they're making a slow start. 314 00:21:37,480 --> 00:21:40,760 JOHN: It's now coming up ten to eight, and I've got absolutely no men here. 315 00:21:42,280 --> 00:21:44,120 (shouting) 316 00:21:44,200 --> 00:21:47,360 NARRATOR: Maria and John have just under five hours digging time 317 00:21:47,440 --> 00:21:50,280 to move hundreds of wheelbarrows full of stone. 318 00:21:52,240 --> 00:21:55,680 JOHN: My hypothesis is that we've got another sphinx underneath. 319 00:21:56,120 --> 00:21:58,440 NARRATOR: But the team cannot afford to rush, 320 00:21:58,520 --> 00:22:01,240 as they dig out the mountain of loose rock. 321 00:22:03,160 --> 00:22:06,280 JOHN: It's unstable spoil, and if that came down on you, 322 00:22:06,360 --> 00:22:08,720 then you're just-- you're just buried. 323 00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:11,120 NARRATOR: With time already against them, 324 00:22:11,200 --> 00:22:15,520 the operation is a fine balance between reward and risk. 325 00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:21,160 JOHN: Be careful, boys, be careful. 326 00:22:25,680 --> 00:22:28,840 NARRATOR: At Abusir, in between the pyramids 327 00:22:29,160 --> 00:22:33,080 Miroslav's team has reached the bottom of the burial shaft. 328 00:22:33,560 --> 00:22:36,080 The chamber below could contain the body 329 00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:39,120 of a high-ranking member of a pharaoh's court. 330 00:22:40,480 --> 00:22:45,320 Two years ago, he discovered the tomb of a wiseman called Ka-Irsu, 331 00:22:45,400 --> 00:22:48,240 an official whose job was to promote loyalty 332 00:22:48,320 --> 00:22:50,840 to the king among the people of Egypt. 333 00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:56,280 But was Ka-Irsu a one of, or did all the later kings of the Pyramid Age 334 00:22:56,360 --> 00:22:59,960 have a dedicated official to help them cling to power? 335 00:23:02,440 --> 00:23:05,240 (in native language) Where are the lights, Osama? 336 00:23:08,440 --> 00:23:09,600 (in English) So here we are. 337 00:23:11,240 --> 00:23:13,880 NARRATOR: It's clear that ancient robbers have ransacked 338 00:23:13,960 --> 00:23:15,800 the tomb of treasures. 339 00:23:16,560 --> 00:23:18,360 But though the tomb's been looted, 340 00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:21,680 it may still contain evidence of how the Pyramid Kings 341 00:23:21,760 --> 00:23:26,120 held their power over Egypt, even as their wealth declined. 342 00:23:27,920 --> 00:23:31,960 The state of the sarcophagus confirms Miroslav's fears, 343 00:23:32,320 --> 00:23:34,400 the robbers did a thorough job. 344 00:23:34,840 --> 00:23:39,120 They just set up fire 345 00:23:39,720 --> 00:23:41,480 on the corner of the lid 346 00:23:41,800 --> 00:23:44,880 then splashed it with water 347 00:23:44,960 --> 00:23:49,240 so that the limestone started to break into pieces. 348 00:23:49,320 --> 00:23:52,000 Lifted the lid, grabbed the mummy, 349 00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:56,320 pulled it out and searched it for small valuables. 350 00:23:57,040 --> 00:23:59,680 That's how he ended up his journey. 351 00:23:59,760 --> 00:24:00,840 Sad story. 352 00:24:01,440 --> 00:24:03,640 NARRATOR: The mummy may be destroyed, 353 00:24:03,720 --> 00:24:07,160 but Miroslav's team has alerted him to some faint red markings 354 00:24:07,240 --> 00:24:09,440 on the back of the sarcophagus. 355 00:24:09,960 --> 00:24:11,760 It's a crucial clue. 356 00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:14,760 It could be the one piece of information he needs 357 00:24:14,840 --> 00:24:16,560 to identify the owner. 358 00:24:17,920 --> 00:24:19,920 So here it is. 359 00:24:23,200 --> 00:24:27,640 The only clue as to his identity and social standing here. 360 00:24:29,200 --> 00:24:33,000 NARRATOR: Was he, like Ka-Irsu, an official propping up 361 00:24:33,080 --> 00:24:34,600 a weakened Pyramid King? 362 00:24:35,680 --> 00:24:38,880 The script is too degraded to read with the naked eye, 363 00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:42,600 but to an Egyptologist, the general message is clear. 364 00:24:43,720 --> 00:24:45,240 Here we have the name 365 00:24:45,880 --> 00:24:49,880 and we have the principal title. 366 00:24:50,920 --> 00:24:53,560 NARRATOR: A title means the man was important. 367 00:24:53,960 --> 00:24:57,920 He had a role in the Pharaoh's court, but what? 368 00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:00,720 Miroslav can't brush the dust off the inscription 369 00:25:00,800 --> 00:25:02,800 in case the paint flakes away. 370 00:25:03,680 --> 00:25:06,680 Instead, he takes high-resolution photographs 371 00:25:06,760 --> 00:25:08,160 of every character. 372 00:25:08,480 --> 00:25:12,440 We will use special filters, software filters. 373 00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:15,520 Um, we do... 374 00:25:18,200 --> 00:25:19,520 general shots 375 00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:24,240 and then we do details. 376 00:25:24,880 --> 00:25:28,520 NARRATOR: Miroslav must now process the images and determine 377 00:25:28,600 --> 00:25:31,680 if enough detail survives to read the script. 378 00:25:32,720 --> 00:25:34,640 The signs are promising. 379 00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:37,600 We are good, we are happy. 380 00:25:37,680 --> 00:25:41,360 We can have no doubts about the social standing of the guy. 381 00:25:41,680 --> 00:25:45,760 NARRATOR: This man was honored with a burial amongst the pharaohs. 382 00:25:45,840 --> 00:25:48,760 So, could he have played a role in consolidating 383 00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:50,920 the ailing Pyramid Kings' power? 384 00:25:51,600 --> 00:25:57,360 To find out, Miroslav must decipher exactly what his titles were. 385 00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:06,240 NARRATOR: In Abu Ghurab Max and Mohamed's investigation 386 00:26:06,320 --> 00:26:10,560 has thrown up surprising evidence beneath Nyuserra's Sun Temple. 387 00:26:11,720 --> 00:26:14,720 The mud brick structure below its foundations, 388 00:26:14,800 --> 00:26:17,760 could help them find the lost sun temples 389 00:26:17,840 --> 00:26:19,960 built by the later Pyramid Kings. 390 00:26:20,840 --> 00:26:26,960 It's a delicate task, just identifying the 4,500 year old bricks, 391 00:26:27,040 --> 00:26:30,960 relies on technique honed through years of experience. 392 00:26:31,960 --> 00:26:34,840 MOHAMED: Finding mud bricks is not an easy thing. 393 00:26:34,920 --> 00:26:38,840 As it is actually buried in the same material, the mud. 394 00:26:38,920 --> 00:26:44,440 So the archaeologist has to listen to the sound of the metal 395 00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:48,680 because they really can recognize it only by listening to the trowel. 396 00:26:49,720 --> 00:26:52,760 So, uh, it's an amazing thing, it's an amazing skill. 397 00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:56,080 NARRATOR: They've uncovered bricks all over the site. 398 00:26:56,720 --> 00:27:01,560 It suggests this older mud structure is far larger than expected. 399 00:27:02,720 --> 00:27:05,360 At the edge of the site, the team foreman, 400 00:27:05,440 --> 00:27:07,680 Reis Khaled, makes a discovery. 401 00:27:08,280 --> 00:27:10,480 NUZZOLO: We are cleaning this area where we found 402 00:27:11,360 --> 00:27:14,000 a base of a column which is pretty unexpected 403 00:27:14,080 --> 00:27:15,720 because it was never found before 404 00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:17,160 in previous excavation. 405 00:27:17,760 --> 00:27:19,720 NARRATOR: It's a huge breakthrough, 406 00:27:19,800 --> 00:27:23,600 a column could be evidence that the mudbrick structure 407 00:27:23,680 --> 00:27:25,840 had a grand entrance made of stone. 408 00:27:26,560 --> 00:27:29,960 It's a really white, high quality of white limestone 409 00:27:30,040 --> 00:27:32,480 that means of course that the building was quite impressive. 410 00:27:32,560 --> 00:27:35,720 NARRATOR: The column base goes down more than two feet, 411 00:27:35,800 --> 00:27:39,960 suggesting it must have supported a huge entrance arch. 412 00:27:40,040 --> 00:27:42,640 I'm really excited because we knew that there was something 413 00:27:42,720 --> 00:27:45,000 below the stone temple of Nyuserra 414 00:27:45,080 --> 00:27:49,520 but we don't know now if it is just another building phase of the same temple 415 00:27:49,600 --> 00:27:51,080 or if it is a new building. 416 00:27:51,160 --> 00:27:54,920 Actually the fact that there is such a huge monumental entrance 417 00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:57,200 would point to a new building. 418 00:27:57,280 --> 00:28:00,640 So why not another sun temple, one of the missing four sun temples? 419 00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:03,480 NARRATOR: If there is a lost Sun Temple underneath 420 00:28:03,560 --> 00:28:07,760 Nyuserra's Sun Temple, it would be a career-defining discovery 421 00:28:07,840 --> 00:28:09,720 for both Max and Mohamed. 422 00:28:11,480 --> 00:28:15,120 This makes me feel excited and also confused. 423 00:28:15,560 --> 00:28:18,920 Uh, and a little bit frustrated because, um, 424 00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:24,520 what I would like to do now is actually to dismantle the stone floor of Nyuserra 425 00:28:24,600 --> 00:28:27,400 and go down to the next level 426 00:28:27,480 --> 00:28:30,720 where I can find the rest of the architecture. 427 00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:33,760 NARRATOR: To prove the huge mudbrick structure 428 00:28:33,840 --> 00:28:38,080 is one of the legendary lost Sun Temples of the later Pyramid Kings, 429 00:28:38,160 --> 00:28:40,640 they still need more evidence. 430 00:28:43,400 --> 00:28:48,000 On the Giza plateau Egyptologist Steve Harvey 431 00:28:48,080 --> 00:28:51,160 is trying to reach a mysterious second chamber 432 00:28:51,240 --> 00:28:54,560 in the heart of Pharaoh Khufu's Great Pyramid. 433 00:28:54,880 --> 00:28:57,000 STEPHEN: Oh, it's difficult. 434 00:28:57,080 --> 00:28:59,120 NARRATOR: He's hunting for clues to the mysterious 435 00:28:59,200 --> 00:29:01,760 king's life, and death. 436 00:29:01,840 --> 00:29:05,320 But deep in the Pyramid, the tunnels get tighter 437 00:29:05,400 --> 00:29:07,600 and more treacherous. 438 00:29:08,920 --> 00:29:10,640 STEPHEN: What happened there? 439 00:29:12,360 --> 00:29:14,160 (in native language) There's no light at all! 440 00:29:15,760 --> 00:29:17,520 STEPHEN: (in English) I guess the power went out. 441 00:29:21,600 --> 00:29:24,400 NARRATOR: In an ancient tunnel riddled with pits, 442 00:29:24,480 --> 00:29:26,840 the lack of light is a real threat. 443 00:29:28,240 --> 00:29:33,520 STEPHEN: The echo and the dark certainly really reinforce 444 00:29:33,600 --> 00:29:36,000 the fact you're in a hidden tomb. 445 00:29:39,040 --> 00:29:40,560 NARRATOR: At the bottom of a tunnel 446 00:29:40,640 --> 00:29:45,160 little more than three feet square, Steve finds the second chamber. 447 00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:48,680 It's extraordinary. 448 00:29:52,800 --> 00:29:57,080 Just huge ceiling with this vault. 449 00:29:57,720 --> 00:30:03,440 You almost feel the weight of millions of tons of stones above you. 450 00:30:04,560 --> 00:30:06,960 NARRATOR: Like Khufu's burial chamber, 451 00:30:07,040 --> 00:30:10,600 archeologists found this room entirely bare. 452 00:30:11,880 --> 00:30:14,120 It was designed with a niche 453 00:30:14,200 --> 00:30:17,960 believed to hold the giant statue that housed Khufu's soul. 454 00:30:18,560 --> 00:30:20,960 Even this stood empty. 455 00:30:21,720 --> 00:30:25,480 But when archeologists explored the finely polished walls, 456 00:30:26,120 --> 00:30:30,880 they found small, secret passages that led out from the chamber. 457 00:30:31,760 --> 00:30:33,960 STEPHEN: These are really interesting features, 458 00:30:34,040 --> 00:30:35,760 kind of mysterious features. 459 00:30:35,840 --> 00:30:41,840 They go all the way to the exterior of the pyramid and head up towards the sky, 460 00:30:41,920 --> 00:30:44,640 so what's most likely is that they have 461 00:30:44,720 --> 00:30:49,560 some kind of symbolic connection to the night sky and to the stars. 462 00:30:51,880 --> 00:30:55,440 NARRATOR: Ancient Egyptians were dedicated astronomers, 463 00:30:56,040 --> 00:30:59,400 who religiously charted the movements of the night sky. 464 00:31:02,560 --> 00:31:05,920 Priests particularly revered two bright stars, 465 00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:07,920 ever-present in the north, 466 00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:11,520 whose permanence they associated with eternal life. 467 00:31:13,840 --> 00:31:17,720 Khufu aligned his pyramid directly with these stars, 468 00:31:18,600 --> 00:31:21,320 believing that's where the Gods resided. 469 00:31:23,760 --> 00:31:27,200 He may have built the shafts to allow his soul to rise 470 00:31:27,280 --> 00:31:32,520 to the heavens to join the ever-present stars and become a God. 471 00:31:36,760 --> 00:31:39,480 What still confounds archeologists, 472 00:31:39,560 --> 00:31:41,840 is the Pharaoh's final mystery. 473 00:31:42,800 --> 00:31:46,880 He didn't leave a single inscription to celebrate his life. 474 00:31:47,720 --> 00:31:49,400 They haven't decorated with images, 475 00:31:49,480 --> 00:31:52,280 they haven't put hieroglyphs on the wall and that's a choice 476 00:31:52,360 --> 00:31:54,320 and a decision they made. 477 00:31:55,480 --> 00:31:57,320 And we have to think about why. 478 00:31:58,480 --> 00:32:02,760 NARRATOR: The greatest Pyramid King left no lasting clue to his life, 479 00:32:02,840 --> 00:32:05,000 except his giant monument. 480 00:32:05,360 --> 00:32:10,200 His plan was to put life behind him and become a God in death. 481 00:32:11,200 --> 00:32:14,880 The weaker Pyramid Kings who followed him wanted more. 482 00:32:14,960 --> 00:32:18,480 They needed the power of the Gods in life. 483 00:32:23,600 --> 00:32:28,600 NARRATOR: At Abu Ghurab, Max and Mohamed are uncovering a vast mudbrick 484 00:32:28,680 --> 00:32:33,600 structure beneath the foundations of the Pharaoh Nyuserra's Sun Temple. 485 00:32:34,240 --> 00:32:37,720 It might be small steps going up. 486 00:32:38,480 --> 00:32:42,480 NARRATOR: If it is one of the four legendary missing Sun Temples, 487 00:32:42,560 --> 00:32:46,720 it could help Max explain how the struggling Pyramid Kings 488 00:32:46,800 --> 00:32:50,160 held on to power as their status began to fade. 489 00:32:50,880 --> 00:32:54,080 But he needs evidence that the building was sacred. 490 00:32:55,080 --> 00:32:58,200 In the northeast corner of the mudbrick structure, 491 00:32:58,600 --> 00:33:01,080 workers unearth an astonishing find. 492 00:33:02,240 --> 00:33:04,240 This is a huge accumulation of beer jars 493 00:33:04,320 --> 00:33:06,240 which we found on the wall. 494 00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:08,400 On the main enclosure wall 495 00:33:08,480 --> 00:33:10,880 of the previous mud brick building. 496 00:33:10,960 --> 00:33:12,360 Completely preserved. 497 00:33:13,240 --> 00:33:16,280 NARRATOR: They delicately brush the pottery to free the jars 498 00:33:16,360 --> 00:33:17,720 from the surrounding earth. 499 00:33:20,440 --> 00:33:21,520 It's heavy 500 00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:25,520 and intact 501 00:33:25,600 --> 00:33:27,880 and full of mud. 502 00:33:27,960 --> 00:33:32,520 NARRATOR: Ancient priests used jars full of mud as ritual offerings, 503 00:33:33,440 --> 00:33:37,400 so these could be proof this structure was a sacred temple. 504 00:33:38,760 --> 00:33:40,080 You think they were all deposited? 505 00:33:40,160 --> 00:33:45,400 I think they were deposited and also very, like, carefully laid. 506 00:33:45,480 --> 00:33:48,120 The deposit might reflect some respect 507 00:33:48,200 --> 00:33:50,440 to the older building that used to be here. 508 00:33:51,320 --> 00:33:54,080 NARRATOR: Even single ritual offerings in the foundations 509 00:33:54,160 --> 00:33:57,200 of such old buildings are incredibly rare. 510 00:33:57,560 --> 00:34:00,040 This is a huge cache. 511 00:34:00,960 --> 00:34:05,080 Every time we remove a full jar, we find another one. 512 00:34:06,200 --> 00:34:08,240 NARRATOR: For Max, they're crucial. 513 00:34:08,320 --> 00:34:11,920 They show the mudbrick building was a religious site. 514 00:34:14,520 --> 00:34:17,320 MOHAMED: Very exciting moment, very exciting moment. 515 00:34:17,400 --> 00:34:19,320 I'm pretty sure that what we're excavating here 516 00:34:19,400 --> 00:34:20,800 is a previous sun temple 517 00:34:20,880 --> 00:34:24,800 on which Nyuserra built his own new sun temple. 518 00:34:25,520 --> 00:34:28,840 NARRATOR: By building on top of a previous king's temple, 519 00:34:28,920 --> 00:34:32,960 Nyuserra was making his Sun Temple all the more sacred. 520 00:34:33,840 --> 00:34:38,280 Max's decade-long search has finally born fruit. 521 00:34:39,040 --> 00:34:42,040 You have to imagine that a few years ago when we arrived here for the first time 522 00:34:42,120 --> 00:34:46,120 all this area was completely covered, nothing was visible. 523 00:34:47,000 --> 00:34:50,960 I have now many proofs that what we are excavating here 524 00:34:51,040 --> 00:34:52,840 is one of the lost sun temples. 525 00:34:53,560 --> 00:34:57,440 NARRATOR: It's a huge discovery and unlocks a new chapter 526 00:34:57,520 --> 00:35:00,360 in the story of the kings of the Pyramid Age. 527 00:35:01,400 --> 00:35:05,480 The Pharaohs who followed Khufu were weak shadows of the man 528 00:35:05,560 --> 00:35:06,880 who built the Great Pyramid. 529 00:35:07,560 --> 00:35:11,120 But whichever king built this newly discovered Sun Temple, 530 00:35:11,560 --> 00:35:16,680 did something Khufu did not, he ensured he was worshiped 531 00:35:16,760 --> 00:35:20,160 as the offspring of the sun God while he was still alive. 532 00:35:21,400 --> 00:35:24,320 His Pyramid may not have rivaled Khufu's, 533 00:35:24,400 --> 00:35:28,920 but with his Sun Temple, he claimed the power of a living God. 534 00:35:33,320 --> 00:35:36,240 In the quarry at Gebel El-Silsila 535 00:35:37,160 --> 00:35:40,040 Maria and John are searching for a new Sphinx 536 00:35:40,120 --> 00:35:43,160 to match the statue they unearthed last season. 537 00:35:44,440 --> 00:35:46,760 They're trying to understand the link 538 00:35:46,840 --> 00:35:49,440 between the legendary Pyramid Kings of Giza, 539 00:35:49,520 --> 00:35:52,640 and the pharaohs who ruled 1,000 years after. 540 00:35:54,120 --> 00:35:59,760 JOHN: As a symbol of power, the Sphinx is everything. 541 00:36:00,920 --> 00:36:04,440 And when I look at the sphinx, I can put myself 542 00:36:04,520 --> 00:36:09,520 into-- into the sandals of the craftsman chiseling this one away. 543 00:36:10,120 --> 00:36:13,560 And he did it for the love of Pharaoh. 544 00:36:16,360 --> 00:36:19,640 NARRATOR: John's team strips away the top of a rockpile 545 00:36:19,720 --> 00:36:22,360 beneath a quarried pillar of stone. 546 00:36:22,960 --> 00:36:25,040 JOHN: We're gonna clear this area, level off, 547 00:36:25,120 --> 00:36:28,200 we'll keep on cutting into the sand because there's a lot of sand here. 548 00:36:29,120 --> 00:36:32,400 NARRATOR: The mound of spoil has a core of ancient sand. 549 00:36:32,920 --> 00:36:36,960 For John, it suggests the pile could hide another find, 550 00:36:37,040 --> 00:36:38,440 perhaps a sphinx. 551 00:36:38,880 --> 00:36:41,520 JOHN: What happens is when sand is blown in as you can see now 552 00:36:41,600 --> 00:36:42,680 the wind is blowing, 553 00:36:42,760 --> 00:36:45,760 coming from the north and when it hits something, 554 00:36:45,840 --> 00:36:47,920 of course, it starts to build up and build up and build up, 555 00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:49,480 and that's what we've got here. 556 00:36:50,440 --> 00:36:54,080 NARRATOR: Just moments after exposing the sand beneath the spoil, 557 00:36:54,560 --> 00:36:56,720 the team hits something solid. 558 00:36:59,520 --> 00:37:01,960 - (speaking in native language) - MAN: Yeah! 559 00:37:02,040 --> 00:37:04,240 (speaking in native language) 560 00:37:04,320 --> 00:37:05,520 JOHN: It's always the sand. 561 00:37:05,840 --> 00:37:07,640 Wherever there's a sand build-up. 562 00:37:08,520 --> 00:37:10,600 You always guarantee there's something there. 563 00:37:11,240 --> 00:37:14,760 NARRATOR: The team delicately works around the chunk of stone. 564 00:37:15,440 --> 00:37:20,160 It could be a Sphinx, or a precious part of another monument. 565 00:37:21,240 --> 00:37:23,920 JOHN: One has to be patient, that's archeology at the end of the day, 566 00:37:24,000 --> 00:37:26,920 we don't rush things, it's not a race, 567 00:37:27,000 --> 00:37:28,800 there's no reward for coming first. 568 00:37:28,880 --> 00:37:29,880 MARIA: Isn't there? 569 00:37:31,560 --> 00:37:33,800 We race to learn! 570 00:37:34,280 --> 00:37:35,960 Knowledge is the key. 571 00:37:43,960 --> 00:37:47,600 NARRATOR: In the field lab, near the necropolis of Abusir... 572 00:37:48,360 --> 00:37:51,480 Miroslav's computer software has sharpened the script 573 00:37:51,560 --> 00:37:53,600 from the high official's tomb. 574 00:37:54,560 --> 00:37:59,040 The inscriptions should tell him the tomb owner's name and titles. 575 00:37:59,640 --> 00:38:03,240 If he played the same role as the wiseman Ka-Irsu, 576 00:38:03,320 --> 00:38:05,840 it could prove he was not unique, 577 00:38:06,200 --> 00:38:09,520 and that other kings of the Pyramid Age also depended 578 00:38:09,600 --> 00:38:12,760 on their officials to maintain the people's loyalty. 579 00:38:13,760 --> 00:38:18,040 It's actually, um, a great result because we have 580 00:38:18,120 --> 00:38:20,840 two very important titles of the owner 581 00:38:20,920 --> 00:38:26,160 and we have his full name so we can congratulate ourselves. 582 00:38:26,240 --> 00:38:27,880 We were extremely lucky, we have it. 583 00:38:27,960 --> 00:38:29,360 We have the full story. 584 00:38:30,800 --> 00:38:34,040 NARRATOR: In Ancient Egypt, having a title meant power, 585 00:38:34,120 --> 00:38:37,080 and sometimes, access to the pharaoh. 586 00:38:37,760 --> 00:38:40,960 The inscription opens with a very strange title. 587 00:38:41,040 --> 00:38:43,280 The one with wonderful arm. 588 00:38:43,360 --> 00:38:45,240 We understand what it says 589 00:38:45,320 --> 00:38:47,720 but we have no idea, simply, what it meant. 590 00:38:47,800 --> 00:38:52,200 Followed by another very important ranking title in this case. 591 00:38:52,280 --> 00:38:57,120 Semer Wah'ty, "the only friend" or the "sole friend of the king." 592 00:38:57,200 --> 00:39:02,400 And then the name, the personal name of the tomb owner which reads as Ka-Ires. 593 00:39:02,480 --> 00:39:04,240 Ka-Ires. 594 00:39:05,120 --> 00:39:08,920 NARRATOR: For Miroslav, it's a highly significant combination. 595 00:39:09,400 --> 00:39:13,720 Not only was the tomb owner a close confidant of the Pyramid King, 596 00:39:14,360 --> 00:39:17,760 but his name is similar in form to the legendary wiseman, 597 00:39:17,840 --> 00:39:23,800 Ka-Irsu, whose teachings of loyalty to the pharaoh lasted 1,000 years. 598 00:39:25,120 --> 00:39:30,240 Miroslav believes the owner of the new tomb must be a direct descendant. 599 00:39:31,080 --> 00:39:35,680 If so, Ka-Ires may have had the same role in the royal court, 600 00:39:35,760 --> 00:39:38,120 spreading word of the pharaoh's power. 601 00:39:40,200 --> 00:39:43,840 It's a very rare opportunity to really get in touch 602 00:39:43,920 --> 00:39:48,040 with somebody who was venerated for centuries, you know. 603 00:39:48,560 --> 00:39:50,840 Now we can say that we've got at least 604 00:39:50,920 --> 00:39:54,480 two generations of this famous sage. 605 00:39:54,880 --> 00:39:56,760 So this is quite a feat. 606 00:39:58,960 --> 00:40:03,000 NARRATOR: The pharaohs who followed Khufu may not have had his wealth, 607 00:40:03,080 --> 00:40:06,920 but they masterminded ways to bolster their fragile power. 608 00:40:08,400 --> 00:40:11,120 They used officials to promote loyalty, 609 00:40:11,200 --> 00:40:14,320 and they cast themselves as living Gods. 610 00:40:14,840 --> 00:40:19,200 So what legacy did they leave to the Pharaohs 1,000 years later? 611 00:40:23,480 --> 00:40:25,640 At Gebel El-Silsila... 612 00:40:26,760 --> 00:40:30,480 Just a few feet from an unfinished sphinx statue, 613 00:40:30,560 --> 00:40:33,880 Maria and John's search for more buried monuments 614 00:40:33,960 --> 00:40:37,520 has turned up a stone, embedded in windblown sand. 615 00:40:38,360 --> 00:40:42,840 They hope it will reveal clues to the legacy of the Pyramid Kings. 616 00:40:44,520 --> 00:40:49,360 JOHN: It's nicely in the sand so the sand is always a nice indication. 617 00:40:51,240 --> 00:40:55,560 NARRATOR: The flat edges and sharp corners suggest it's not another sphinx. 618 00:40:56,080 --> 00:40:58,480 But it could be something even better. 619 00:41:00,640 --> 00:41:02,120 MARIA: We got hieroglyphs. 620 00:41:03,280 --> 00:41:04,320 JOHN: Oh! 621 00:41:04,400 --> 00:41:07,080 NARRATOR: An inscribed stone could reveal 622 00:41:07,160 --> 00:41:10,800 more about the pharaoh who carved the sphinx out of this quarry. 623 00:41:11,720 --> 00:41:13,440 MARIA: Oh this is wonderful. 624 00:41:13,520 --> 00:41:14,720 JOHN: Look at that. 625 00:41:15,920 --> 00:41:17,840 NARRATOR: Decorated with engravings, 626 00:41:17,920 --> 00:41:21,200 the block appears to be a missing piece of a monument 627 00:41:21,280 --> 00:41:24,880 John and Maria have been trying to piece together for nearly a decade, 628 00:41:26,200 --> 00:41:30,120 a shrine to the, New Kingdom pharaoh who owned this quarry, 629 00:41:30,800 --> 00:41:33,120 Amenhotep III. 630 00:41:34,120 --> 00:41:35,840 JOHN: This really is beautiful. 631 00:41:37,120 --> 00:41:41,080 We've worked with this monument for years and when you find a piece like this, 632 00:41:41,160 --> 00:41:44,040 it just... it makes your heart go. 633 00:41:44,480 --> 00:41:46,760 MARIA: This is the crowning detail, 634 00:41:47,880 --> 00:41:53,320 it makes it all worth it, the-- the sweat, the-- the tears, the-- the hassle. 635 00:41:54,960 --> 00:41:57,160 NARRATOR: As the crew begins the clean-up 636 00:41:57,240 --> 00:42:00,200 after five solid hours of digging in the sun, 637 00:42:00,280 --> 00:42:03,520 Maria and John begin to analyze their discovery. 638 00:42:04,560 --> 00:42:07,880 MARIA: Well, I have to say that with or without sphinx, 639 00:42:07,960 --> 00:42:09,920 this has made my day. 640 00:42:10,640 --> 00:42:15,920 It says the "great God, and then you've got the son of Ra". 641 00:42:16,000 --> 00:42:19,320 It is a real statement 642 00:42:19,400 --> 00:42:24,400 - that Amenhotep III was the living God. - Hmm. 643 00:42:25,000 --> 00:42:28,200 NARRATOR: The shrine stood above Amenhotep's quarry, 644 00:42:28,280 --> 00:42:30,640 proclaiming him offspring of the Sun God, 645 00:42:31,440 --> 00:42:33,840 exactly as the later Pyramid Kings had done 646 00:42:33,920 --> 00:42:37,080 to rescue their status as supreme rulers. 647 00:42:38,000 --> 00:42:42,320 MARIA: By claiming to be the great God, and the son of Ra, 648 00:42:42,400 --> 00:42:47,480 the sun disk, Amenhotep III is following a tradition 649 00:42:47,560 --> 00:42:51,440 all the way back from the great pyramid builders. 650 00:42:52,200 --> 00:42:53,400 I love it. 651 00:42:53,760 --> 00:42:56,720 JOHN: It's a major part of the jigsaw. 652 00:42:56,800 --> 00:43:00,240 It's history. Wonderful. 653 00:43:01,760 --> 00:43:05,200 NARRATOR: By carving sphinxes and inscribing monuments 654 00:43:05,280 --> 00:43:07,280 with statements of divine power, 655 00:43:07,360 --> 00:43:09,960 Amenhotep III connected himself 656 00:43:10,040 --> 00:43:12,960 to his predecessors who claimed to be Gods on earth, 657 00:43:13,360 --> 00:43:14,920 The Pyramid Kings. 658 00:43:16,880 --> 00:43:20,040 Every season, archeologists draw these 659 00:43:20,120 --> 00:43:23,440 ancient pharaohs further out from the shadows of history. 660 00:43:23,800 --> 00:43:25,560 Mysterious figures, 661 00:43:25,640 --> 00:43:29,560 whose power rested not on force, but devotion. 662 00:43:30,000 --> 00:43:33,520 Their officials promoted loyalty through teachings 663 00:43:33,600 --> 00:43:35,680 that echoed down through the ages. 664 00:43:36,440 --> 00:43:39,880 And their temples helped cast them as divine descendants 665 00:43:39,960 --> 00:43:44,640 of the life-giving God of the sun, but they couldn't hold on forever. 666 00:43:45,280 --> 00:43:48,960 Five hundred years after they built the first pyramids, 667 00:43:49,040 --> 00:43:52,400 Pyramid Age civilization collapsed. 668 00:43:52,480 --> 00:43:54,600 When Egypt rose again, 669 00:43:54,680 --> 00:43:57,960 the Pyramid Kings' extraordinary monuments remained, 670 00:43:58,400 --> 00:44:00,400 their ideas survived, 671 00:44:00,480 --> 00:44:05,000 and their legacy inspired pharaohs a 1,000 years later.