1 00:00:01,160 --> 00:00:03,360 ♪ ♪ 2 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:06,400 NARRATOR: Archaeologists are about to open a coffin, 3 00:00:06,480 --> 00:00:09,120 sealed for more than 2,000 years. 4 00:00:10,200 --> 00:00:11,640 BASEM: It’s very risky 5 00:00:12,120 --> 00:00:14,680 there is a big crack on top of the coffin. 6 00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:18,520 NARRATOR: Inside could be a rare, 7 00:00:18,600 --> 00:00:20,000 undisturbed mummy. 8 00:00:22,160 --> 00:00:23,520 BASEM: Are you ready to open? 9 00:00:26,080 --> 00:00:28,480 Ready? With the utmost care. 10 00:00:31,280 --> 00:00:33,360 TEAM: Oh! 11 00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:45,480 NARRATOR: The Valley of the Kings. 12 00:00:47,160 --> 00:00:51,320 Eternal home to the Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt’s golden age. 13 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:55,480 In these mountains archaeologists have made some 14 00:00:55,560 --> 00:00:58,320 of history’s most extraordinary discoveries. 15 00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:04,160 The bodies of Royals dating back 3,000 years. 16 00:01:05,920 --> 00:01:09,160 The corpses of these kings represent the peak of 17 00:01:09,240 --> 00:01:11,840 the art of mummification, 18 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:14,240 preparing a dead body with oils and 19 00:01:14,320 --> 00:01:16,600 linen wrapping to avoid decay. 20 00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:21,680 But the evolution of this sacred custom is 21 00:01:21,760 --> 00:01:23,480 still shrouded in mystery. 22 00:01:25,280 --> 00:01:29,440 Why, and how, did Egyptians start preserving their bodies? 23 00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:33,120 And what happened to mummification when after 24 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:37,320 more than 2,000 years Ancient Egypt was conquered? 25 00:01:39,120 --> 00:01:43,360 Today, archaeologists across Egypt search for mummies from 26 00:01:43,440 --> 00:01:46,080 the civilization’s earliest days, 27 00:01:46,160 --> 00:01:48,920 and from its final reckoning, 28 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:51,760 to shed light on mummification’s rise, 29 00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:53,200 and fall. 30 00:01:58,560 --> 00:02:02,320 Texas-born Archaeologist Meredith Brand encountered 31 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:05,520 her first mummy in London’s British museum, 32 00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:07,120 aged just seven. 33 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:13,080 Ever since, she’s been desperate to unlock the secrets they contain. 34 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:16,600 MEREDITH: You can hear the silence, 35 00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:19,400 the wind and feel that this was a sacred place. 36 00:02:21,960 --> 00:02:24,880 NARRATOR: Meredith has come to the Pharaohs’ tombs, 37 00:02:24,960 --> 00:02:27,200 because she believes the secrets of the 38 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:31,440 origins of mummification can be found here. 39 00:02:33,080 --> 00:02:36,320 MEREDITH: This site holds vital clues to the mummification process, 40 00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:38,240 both in terms of technology but also 41 00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:41,680 in terms of the ritual and the reasons why Ancient Egyptians 42 00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:44,040 wanted so badly to preserve their bodies. 43 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:47,800 NARRATOR: More than 60 tombs 44 00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:49,520 have been uncovered in the Valley. 45 00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:54,680 Most are decorated floor to ceiling with elaborate imagery. 46 00:02:56,280 --> 00:02:57,280 MEREDITH: Oh the carvings, 47 00:02:57,360 --> 00:03:00,280 the painting is so fresh and vivid. 48 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:03,440 NARRATOR: These artworks were designed to help carry 49 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:06,240 the owner’s mummy safely to the afterlife. 50 00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:11,680 Meredith searches for evidence of the Ancient Egyptians’ 51 00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:14,240 obsession with mummification. 52 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:17,760 MEREDITH: Oh this is the scene I’ve come for! 53 00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:21,160 Okay so, 54 00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:24,560 what I can see here is this jackal-headed god, 55 00:03:24,640 --> 00:03:29,960 Anubis and he’s enacting mummification, 56 00:03:30,040 --> 00:03:31,480 which was his sacred role. 57 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:36,080 NARRATOR: The image represents the very first mummification, 58 00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:37,760 performed by gods. 59 00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:40,880 The embalming of Osiris. 60 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:46,120 According to legend Osiris was one of 61 00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:48,400 the first gods to walk the earth. 62 00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:52,840 But in a feud, he was murdered by his brother, Seth, 63 00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:55,320 who scattered his body parts across Egypt. 64 00:03:57,040 --> 00:04:00,120 Osiris’ wife searched the length and breadth of the Nile 65 00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:02,720 to recover his broken corpse. 66 00:04:05,040 --> 00:04:08,280 With Anubis’ help, she reassembled Osiris and 67 00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:10,440 wrapped him in strips of linen, 68 00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:12,960 resurrecting him for a second life 69 00:04:13,040 --> 00:04:14,640 as ruler of the Underworld. 70 00:04:16,320 --> 00:04:19,240 From then on, powerful Egyptians had their bodies 71 00:04:19,320 --> 00:04:21,360 wrapped and embalmed. 72 00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:23,200 So that just like Osiris, 73 00:04:23,280 --> 00:04:26,120 they could live again in the afterlife. 74 00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:33,240 MEREDITH (off-screen): This scene reveals the ultimate goal of the king, 75 00:04:33,320 --> 00:04:36,520 which was a perfect mummy so that he could successfully 76 00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:38,440 be reborn in the afterlife. 77 00:04:40,200 --> 00:04:44,280 NARRATOR: The image depicts the myth of the origins of mummification, 78 00:04:44,360 --> 00:04:46,360 but it dates to the New Kingdom, 79 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:49,560 more than 1,000 years after wealthy Egyptians began 80 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:51,440 preserving their corpses. 81 00:04:53,720 --> 00:04:57,040 To find out exactly how the earliest Egyptians mummified 82 00:04:57,120 --> 00:05:00,880 their dead, archaeologists need to find one of the rarest 83 00:05:00,960 --> 00:05:03,640 of archaeological treasures. 84 00:05:03,720 --> 00:05:06,120 A mummy from the Old Kingdom. 85 00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:11,920 In Saqqara, 86 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:15,040 World-renowned mummy expert, Salima Ikram, has been 87 00:05:15,120 --> 00:05:19,880 called out to an extraordinary find in one of Egypt’s oldest cemeteries. 88 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:24,160 Born in Pakistan, she fell in love with Egypt on 89 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:26,320 a family visit, aged nine. 90 00:05:27,240 --> 00:05:30,960 She’s spent a career poring over its dried-out corpses, 91 00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:33,480 and not just humans. 92 00:05:33,560 --> 00:05:37,520 She’s examined the mummies of dogs, cats, even a lion. 93 00:05:39,880 --> 00:05:43,560 In a tomb dating back more than 4,000 years, 94 00:05:43,640 --> 00:05:45,840 archaeologist Mohamed Megahed 95 00:05:45,920 --> 00:05:48,640 has uncovered a single human mummy. 96 00:05:50,120 --> 00:05:52,960 If it belongs to the tomb’s original owner, 97 00:05:53,040 --> 00:05:55,440 it would be one of the oldest mummies Salima, 98 00:05:55,520 --> 00:05:57,640 or anyone, has ever seen. 99 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:01,040 SALIMA (off-screen): If we actually do have an Old Kingdom mummy, 100 00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:02,920 then it will be terribly exciting. 101 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:04,680 I’ve worked on one or two others, 102 00:06:04,760 --> 00:06:09,200 and they are so rare, but most of the time, 103 00:06:09,280 --> 00:06:13,120 burial chambers and entire sites have been re-used long 104 00:06:13,200 --> 00:06:18,920 after the Old Kingdom so I hope Mohamed is not in for a disappointment. 105 00:06:22,080 --> 00:06:25,000 NARRATOR: For four years, Mohamed has led investigations 106 00:06:25,080 --> 00:06:26,920 into this mysterious tomb. 107 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:30,880 MOHAMED: Salima, thank you for coming today. 108 00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:35,000 NARRATOR: What he has unearthed has stunned the world of Egyptology. 109 00:06:38,760 --> 00:06:40,520 Under the sand and rubble, 110 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:44,760 Mohamed discovered a corridor leading to an antechamber, 111 00:06:44,840 --> 00:06:47,840 painted in stunning detail and vibrant colors. 112 00:06:49,120 --> 00:06:53,720 Hieroglyphs reveal this is the tomb of a man called Khuwy, 113 00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:57,640 a relation of the royal family who lived over 4,000 years ago. 114 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:02,080 In the burial chamber nearby there were four jars 115 00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:05,240 to hold mummified organs. 116 00:07:05,320 --> 00:07:08,680 A smashed, empty sarcophagus. 117 00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:11,320 And strewn all over the floor, the fragments, 118 00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:13,200 of a mummy. 119 00:07:13,280 --> 00:07:17,040 It could be one of the oldest Egyptian mummies ever found. 120 00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:19,240 But is it the bones of Khuwy, 121 00:07:19,320 --> 00:07:20,680 or an imposter? 122 00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:26,360 Last year, Mohamed’s team found more mummies buried just 123 00:07:26,440 --> 00:07:30,440 outside the tomb’s walls, from a much later era. 124 00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:33,760 If the mummy in the burial chamber is from 125 00:07:33,840 --> 00:07:36,720 the same time, it can’t be Khuwy. 126 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:40,320 Salima is here to examine the mummy, 127 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:42,920 to try to establish a positive ID. 128 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:45,920 SALIMA: It’s rather a lovely and huge and beautifully 129 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:47,000 organized magazine, 130 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:48,200 mashallah. 131 00:07:48,280 --> 00:07:50,560 NARRATOR: If it does turn out to be Khuwy, 132 00:07:50,640 --> 00:07:52,280 the corpse could answer one of 133 00:07:52,360 --> 00:07:55,040 Egyptologists’ oldest questions. 134 00:07:56,040 --> 00:07:59,360 Just how early in their history did Egyptians perfect 135 00:07:59,440 --> 00:08:01,960 the mysterious art of mummification? 136 00:08:05,520 --> 00:08:08,640 Near the oasis city of Faiyum. 137 00:08:08,720 --> 00:08:13,240 Egyptian Archaeologist Basem Gehad has set up camp 138 00:08:13,320 --> 00:08:17,080 on the desolate site of the ancient town of Philadelphia, 139 00:08:17,160 --> 00:08:19,720 to investigate mummification at the end 140 00:08:19,800 --> 00:08:21,480 of the Egyptian empire. 141 00:08:23,720 --> 00:08:27,600 As a child, drawn to Egypt’s archaeological secrets, 142 00:08:27,680 --> 00:08:30,880 Basem begged his father every weekend to take him to 143 00:08:30,960 --> 00:08:34,200 the Pyramids or to Cairo’s Egyptian Museum. 144 00:08:35,520 --> 00:08:39,360 These days he gets to live on his own archaeological site, 145 00:08:39,440 --> 00:08:40,880 for months at a time. 146 00:08:41,680 --> 00:08:44,160 BASEM: These are our sleeping tents 147 00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:47,240 this is our kitchen, small kitchen here, with a chef. 148 00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:48,880 Hello chef! 149 00:08:52,240 --> 00:08:55,760 NARRATOR: Some 2,000 years after the age of the Pyramids, 150 00:08:55,840 --> 00:08:58,800 the time of the Egyptian Kings came to an end. 151 00:09:00,280 --> 00:09:03,360 Ancient Egypt was invaded by Greece. 152 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:08,360 The Greeks had no tradition of preserving their dead. 153 00:09:08,440 --> 00:09:11,920 Basem wants to know how the conquest changed 154 00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:13,600 the practice of mummification. 155 00:09:14,720 --> 00:09:17,280 BASEM: As you can see, there is no evidence of anything 156 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:20,400 on the surface, it’s only sand and desert, that’s it. 157 00:09:21,640 --> 00:09:25,360 NARRATOR: Today, he’s on the hunt for something incredibly rare: 158 00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:27,280 an intact Greek grave. 159 00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:32,040 Now, a new photograph from a satellite has given him a 160 00:09:32,120 --> 00:09:34,000 fresh hint of where to dig. 161 00:09:35,320 --> 00:09:38,640 BASEM: So the shaded area that we could see in the satellite 162 00:09:38,720 --> 00:09:40,560 images is an elevated area 163 00:09:40,640 --> 00:09:42,840 could be an area of interest 164 00:09:42,920 --> 00:09:45,280 for the excavation, so let’s go. 165 00:09:47,360 --> 00:09:50,320 NARRATOR: Basem’s team strips away the thin layer of 166 00:09:50,400 --> 00:09:53,200 windblown sand from the mound, 167 00:09:53,280 --> 00:09:56,240 immediately beneath he finds a promising clue. 168 00:09:56,920 --> 00:09:59,440 BASEM: If it’s looted, there is no compact sand. 169 00:10:00,640 --> 00:10:03,840 In this area the sand is very compact 170 00:10:03,920 --> 00:10:06,080 we have to remove it very carefully and we will see. 171 00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:11,000 NARRATOR: Within minutes, Basem’s workers reveal the 172 00:10:11,080 --> 00:10:14,840 outlines of six separate burials cut into the rock. 173 00:10:16,440 --> 00:10:18,400 It’s a fantastic discovery, 174 00:10:18,480 --> 00:10:20,840 but are these graves undisturbed? 175 00:10:22,320 --> 00:10:24,800 BASEM: We are very curious to see what’s inside. 176 00:10:25,560 --> 00:10:28,560 It could tell a lot of stories, wonderful stories about 177 00:10:28,640 --> 00:10:31,600 how the Greeks and Egyptians lived together in one space. 178 00:10:33,400 --> 00:10:35,720 NARRATOR: The workers clean away loose sand from 179 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:39,040 each burial in search of an untouched grave. 180 00:10:39,920 --> 00:10:42,280 (speaking in native language) 181 00:10:44,920 --> 00:10:46,440 BASEM: It seems that they found something here. 182 00:10:49,160 --> 00:10:53,920 It seems that my team here found a vaulted tomb 183 00:10:54,480 --> 00:10:56,480 and it’s sealed, and we know it’s sealed because 184 00:10:56,560 --> 00:11:00,000 the guy who sealed it 2,000 years ago 185 00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:03,000 left his fingerprints as a seal impression. 186 00:11:03,520 --> 00:11:05,800 NARRATOR: The unbroken mud seal plastered over 187 00:11:05,880 --> 00:11:10,040 the tomb roof proves no-one ever robbed this grave. 188 00:11:10,840 --> 00:11:13,640 Beneath the brickwork should be a coffin, 189 00:11:13,720 --> 00:11:16,680 and its occupant should reveal how the inhabitants of 190 00:11:16,760 --> 00:11:19,760 a Greek town in Egypt buried their dead. 191 00:11:20,920 --> 00:11:23,640 BASEM: Maybe we could find a wooden coffin, if we are lucky 192 00:11:24,280 --> 00:11:26,880 maybe we could find a pottery coffin 193 00:11:26,960 --> 00:11:29,120 maybe we could find a mummy 194 00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:31,360 or a skeleton, we will see. 195 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:42,680 NARRATOR: The sealed tomb could contain an Egyptian, 196 00:11:42,760 --> 00:11:45,160 or a rare Ancient Greek body. 197 00:11:46,800 --> 00:11:48,280 In their homeland, 198 00:11:48,360 --> 00:11:51,480 Ancient Greeks didn’t mummify their dead, 199 00:11:51,560 --> 00:11:54,080 but could their practices have changed when 200 00:11:54,160 --> 00:11:56,000 they settled among Egyptians? 201 00:11:57,560 --> 00:12:01,560 To get inside the tomb, Basem must destroy the seal 202 00:12:01,640 --> 00:12:03,600 and dismantle the mud-brick roof. 203 00:12:06,080 --> 00:12:10,240 BASEM: It seems that it was very tightly closed 204 00:12:10,320 --> 00:12:14,120 so we are removing very carefully brick by brick 205 00:12:14,200 --> 00:12:17,560 the blocking, in order to see what could be inside. 206 00:12:19,360 --> 00:12:22,200 NARRATOR: The structure itself proves the tomb dates 207 00:12:22,280 --> 00:12:24,200 to the era of Greek rule. 208 00:12:25,080 --> 00:12:28,040 The team now has to remove just a few bricks before 209 00:12:28,120 --> 00:12:29,320 they can see inside. 210 00:12:30,200 --> 00:12:34,080 BASEM: We know very well that the larger you go, the older you go 211 00:12:34,160 --> 00:12:36,280 so we could say from the mud brick size 212 00:12:36,360 --> 00:12:38,840 that we are at the second century. 213 00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:40,160 BASEM: Surprise! 214 00:12:40,240 --> 00:12:41,800 (clapping) 215 00:12:44,240 --> 00:12:46,920 NARRATOR: The team breaks through the roof of the tomb, 216 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:50,680 and catch their first glimpse of its contents. 217 00:12:52,560 --> 00:12:53,680 BASEM: Oh... 218 00:12:54,720 --> 00:12:55,880 BASEM: It’s phenomenal! 219 00:12:57,480 --> 00:12:59,120 I’m so excited. 220 00:12:59,840 --> 00:13:01,920 NARRATOR: It’s an undisturbed coffin, 221 00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:05,600 an incredible find, and exactly what Basem hoped for. 222 00:13:06,480 --> 00:13:09,160 The painted wooden casket has a peaked roof, 223 00:13:09,240 --> 00:13:12,200 not the rounded top of Egyptian sarcophagi. 224 00:13:13,040 --> 00:13:16,880 Greeks lived side by side with Egyptians in Philadelphia, 225 00:13:16,960 --> 00:13:20,360 and this is almost certainly a rare Greek burial. 226 00:13:21,880 --> 00:13:24,320 The question is, was the occupant buried in 227 00:13:24,400 --> 00:13:25,680 the Greek tradition, 228 00:13:25,760 --> 00:13:26,800 or Egyptian? 229 00:13:27,360 --> 00:13:28,840 BASEM: Until we open it 230 00:13:28,920 --> 00:13:31,200 we just don’t know if there's a mummy inside 231 00:13:31,280 --> 00:13:33,840 or just a simple skeleton, we just want to wait. 232 00:13:34,760 --> 00:13:38,680 NARRATOR: To find out, Basem needs to extract the coffin, 233 00:13:38,760 --> 00:13:40,840 without crushing it. 234 00:13:44,600 --> 00:13:47,960 In the desert of Gebelein, just south of Luxor, 235 00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:50,160 Meredith searches for evidence 236 00:13:50,240 --> 00:13:52,880 of Egypt’s earliest death rites. 237 00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:56,960 She believes the myths that drove Egyptians to mummify 238 00:13:57,040 --> 00:14:00,040 their own bodies had roots much earlier than 239 00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:02,080 Ancient Egyptian civilization. 240 00:14:06,160 --> 00:14:10,200 Prehistoric rock art depicting wildlife suggests this area 241 00:14:10,280 --> 00:14:12,360 was once a sacred place. 242 00:14:13,560 --> 00:14:17,080 In the 19th century, archaeologists identified 243 00:14:17,160 --> 00:14:18,840 it as a burial ground. 244 00:14:20,120 --> 00:14:23,400 MEREDITH: This is a desolate dry landscape, 245 00:14:23,480 --> 00:14:26,640 nothing much to see on the surface. 246 00:14:26,720 --> 00:14:27,920 But underneath these rocks and 247 00:14:28,000 --> 00:14:31,440 sand there would have been prehistoric tombs. 248 00:14:33,160 --> 00:14:39,120 NARRATOR: In 1896, an Egyptologist from the British Museum received 249 00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:42,160 a tip-off of a momentous discovery. 250 00:14:43,840 --> 00:14:46,840 Buried under a thin layer of desert debris, 251 00:14:46,920 --> 00:14:50,120 local farmers had found a mummified body, 252 00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:53,400 preserved in astonishing detail. 253 00:14:53,480 --> 00:14:58,120 On the upper arm tattoos of horned animals were still visible, 254 00:14:58,200 --> 00:15:02,440 and from the head sprouted tufts of red hair, 255 00:15:02,520 --> 00:15:05,240 earning this mummy its original nickname, 256 00:15:05,320 --> 00:15:06,520 "Ginger." 257 00:15:08,760 --> 00:15:11,360 There was a puncture wound to the left shoulder blade, 258 00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:13,800 and a fractured rib beneath. 259 00:15:14,800 --> 00:15:18,680 Forensic analysis has revealed the body is male and 260 00:15:18,760 --> 00:15:21,200 over 5,000 years old, 261 00:15:21,280 --> 00:15:24,320 but how is this body so perfectly preserved? 262 00:15:27,600 --> 00:15:30,200 For Meredith, the evidence suggests the 263 00:15:30,280 --> 00:15:33,440 man’s mummification was not planned. 264 00:15:33,520 --> 00:15:37,040 Instead, it was an accident of nature. 265 00:15:37,120 --> 00:15:39,200 MEREDITH: In this photo I can see there’s no bandages or 266 00:15:39,280 --> 00:15:42,440 anything that would have preserved this mummy. 267 00:15:42,520 --> 00:15:45,600 So it would seem that this was not an intentional mummification. 268 00:15:45,680 --> 00:15:48,480 He was preserved by the sand. 269 00:15:48,560 --> 00:15:51,160 There was no ritual or magic or anything involved, 270 00:15:51,240 --> 00:15:53,240 just the drying power of nature. 271 00:15:55,840 --> 00:15:58,400 NARRATOR: Hundreds of years before the first Pharaoh, 272 00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:03,000 this man lived around the fertile flood plains along the river Nile. 273 00:16:05,680 --> 00:16:07,920 But around his 20th birthday, 274 00:16:08,000 --> 00:16:10,920 he was brutally stabbed in the back, 275 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:13,160 and left for dead. 276 00:16:13,240 --> 00:16:15,800 He was buried in a shallow grave, 277 00:16:15,880 --> 00:16:18,160 with simple clay grave goods. 278 00:16:18,240 --> 00:16:19,800 And covered with sand. 279 00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:25,000 But the desert sun and hot dry sand quickly evaporated all 280 00:16:25,080 --> 00:16:27,360 the water from his body. 281 00:16:27,440 --> 00:16:31,920 Stopping it from decomposing, freezing him in time until his 282 00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:35,640 discovery 5,400 years later. 283 00:16:39,680 --> 00:16:42,760 Archaeologists have found no papyri that explain the 284 00:16:42,840 --> 00:16:45,720 historical origins of mummification, 285 00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:48,320 but Meredith believes the practice could have evolved 286 00:16:48,400 --> 00:16:50,400 from accidents of nature. 287 00:16:50,480 --> 00:16:52,840 MEREDITH: Natural mummies like the Gebelein man would have 288 00:16:52,920 --> 00:16:55,240 inspired Ancient Egyptians that if they could use 289 00:16:55,320 --> 00:16:57,800 technology to harness the power of nature, 290 00:16:57,880 --> 00:17:01,040 their bodies too could last forever into eternity. 291 00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:04,120 MEREDITH (off-screen): It’s a truly spectacular discovery. 292 00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:07,160 It tells us where mummification started. 293 00:17:12,280 --> 00:17:14,360 NARRATOR: In Aswan. 294 00:17:14,440 --> 00:17:16,840 Across the river from the city, 295 00:17:16,920 --> 00:17:19,760 a team of Egyptian archaeologists scours a 296 00:17:19,840 --> 00:17:23,040 remote hilltop necropolis. 297 00:17:23,120 --> 00:17:26,360 They hope its long-lost tombs will hold evidence of how 298 00:17:26,440 --> 00:17:27,960 ordinary Ancient Egyptians 299 00:17:28,040 --> 00:17:30,640 prepared their dead for the afterlife. 300 00:17:32,640 --> 00:17:36,360 The few tombs that have been found suggest the people of 301 00:17:36,440 --> 00:17:40,760 Aswan used this burial ground some 2,000 years ago, 302 00:17:40,840 --> 00:17:43,560 as Egyptian civilization was in decline. 303 00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:48,640 Born in the town beside the Nile, 304 00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:51,360 Archaeologist Sayed Elrawy has 305 00:17:51,440 --> 00:17:54,280 walked these outcrops since childhood. 306 00:17:55,560 --> 00:17:57,400 High up and inaccessible, 307 00:17:57,480 --> 00:18:00,240 it is an ideal location for a cemetery. 308 00:18:02,240 --> 00:18:05,960 SAYED: The tombs were built on hills to save them from robbers. 309 00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:09,760 I think there are some nobles and some workers here. 310 00:18:11,960 --> 00:18:13,800 NARRATOR: Today, he is investigating the 311 00:18:13,880 --> 00:18:17,000 unmistakable outline of a buried stairwell. 312 00:18:18,560 --> 00:18:20,920 He believes this one will lead to answers to how 313 00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:23,040 the less wealthy treated their dead. 314 00:18:25,440 --> 00:18:28,000 SAYED: I think we have a lot of mummies inside the tomb. 315 00:18:29,120 --> 00:18:30,800 I’m a very lucky archaeologist. 316 00:18:32,960 --> 00:18:35,280 NARRATOR: The only way to test his luck, 317 00:18:35,360 --> 00:18:37,160 is to dig. 318 00:18:43,880 --> 00:18:46,840 NARRATOR: In the Old Kingdom Necropolis at Saqqara, 319 00:18:46,920 --> 00:18:50,680 Salima has been called to examine a mummy found in a 320 00:18:50,760 --> 00:18:52,560 noble’s lavish tomb. 321 00:18:55,000 --> 00:18:57,440 She hopes an X-Ray will help establish if it’s 322 00:18:57,520 --> 00:18:59,720 the original tomb owner. 323 00:18:59,800 --> 00:19:05,160 If it is, it could be one of the oldest intentionally mummified bodies ever found. 324 00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:08,200 SALIMA: Where is Khuwy kept? 325 00:19:10,040 --> 00:19:11,400 - MOHAMED: Here is Mr. - Khuwy. 326 00:19:11,880 --> 00:19:12,880 SALIMA: Hello Mr. Khuwy! 327 00:19:15,280 --> 00:19:16,640 MOHAMED: We will take it down. 328 00:19:17,560 --> 00:19:21,000 SALIMA: Okay, so what we’ll do is, 329 00:19:21,080 --> 00:19:23,080 we'll do the X-Ray of Khuwy right here. 330 00:19:23,160 --> 00:19:24,160 MOHAMED: Okay. 331 00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:25,440 SALIMA: We have electricity, 332 00:19:25,520 --> 00:19:27,200 and then we’ll do the developing in the other room. 333 00:19:27,280 --> 00:19:28,280 MOHAMED: Perfect. 334 00:19:28,360 --> 00:19:30,000 SALIMA: So easy-peasy inshallah. 335 00:19:30,080 --> 00:19:31,320 MOHAMED: Inshallah. Okay. 336 00:19:31,400 --> 00:19:32,400 (laughs) 337 00:19:32,480 --> 00:19:35,040 NARRATOR: Salima’s permit to scan the mummy is 338 00:19:35,120 --> 00:19:37,720 only valid for one day. 339 00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:40,440 She’s turned to a trusted piece of kit, 340 00:19:40,520 --> 00:19:43,440 an archaeologist’s field X-Ray. 341 00:19:43,520 --> 00:19:47,600 SALIMA (off-screen): Our X-Ray machine dates to I think the ‘80s. 342 00:19:48,960 --> 00:19:51,560 I know longer than some of us have been alive. 343 00:19:51,640 --> 00:19:54,680 But it’s tiny it’s easy to move around, um, 344 00:19:54,760 --> 00:19:57,360 the bad thing is though because it’s not digital, 345 00:19:57,440 --> 00:20:02,920 you have to do your photography and then 346 00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:05,360 your developing and then you find out if it was a disaster 347 00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:06,840 or a success. 348 00:20:09,240 --> 00:20:11,840 NARRATOR: Before ‘Khuwy’ goes under the scanner, 349 00:20:11,920 --> 00:20:14,440 Salima will conduct a visual inspection. 350 00:20:17,320 --> 00:20:19,200 SALIMA: The moment of truth. 351 00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:23,040 NARRATOR: It’s the first time she’s met the mummy. 352 00:20:23,120 --> 00:20:25,800 SALIMA: Ah. 353 00:20:27,080 --> 00:20:29,640 NARRATOR: Only fragments of the body remain. 354 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:36,480 SALIMA: So there is no head. ZAINAB: Yeah. 355 00:20:36,560 --> 00:20:40,120 SALIMA: But we have the ribs. 356 00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:43,240 And we have pelvis. 357 00:20:43,320 --> 00:20:45,960 I think he was quite fat. 358 00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:48,720 You know it’s a good solid thigh. 359 00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:52,880 NARRATOR: Thousands of years spent in the tomb of Khuwy, 360 00:20:52,960 --> 00:20:56,920 the Old Kingdom noble, have not been kind to this mummy. 361 00:20:57,000 --> 00:20:58,920 SALIMA: Ah, it looks like a... 362 00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:01,120 I think its rodents have eaten this. 363 00:21:01,200 --> 00:21:02,320 ZAINAB: Yeah, yeah. 364 00:21:02,400 --> 00:21:04,560 NARRATOR: If this is Khuwy’s body, 365 00:21:04,640 --> 00:21:06,480 there’s not much of him left. 366 00:21:06,560 --> 00:21:08,800 But for mummy expert Salima, 367 00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:11,760 there is enough to tell how it was preserved. 368 00:21:11,840 --> 00:21:15,400 That could give her a rough idea of its age. 369 00:21:16,880 --> 00:21:21,120 SALIMA: Right, smells like a nicer quality mummy. 370 00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:26,880 This in particular seems to be very impregnated with resins. 371 00:21:26,960 --> 00:21:28,400 I mean look at that. 372 00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:30,800 It’s extremely high quality. 373 00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:36,360 NARRATOR: Ancient embalmers bathed bodies in expensive resins from tree sap, 374 00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:39,680 preserving the flesh before they wrapped the corpse. 375 00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:42,600 SALIMA: Look at all of this textile it’s beautiful. 376 00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:48,400 This is really very fine quality linen. 377 00:21:48,480 --> 00:21:50,840 Oh wow. 378 00:21:50,920 --> 00:21:53,160 NARRATOR: The mummy seems to have been wrapped in the 379 00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:56,000 highest-grade of bandages. 380 00:21:56,080 --> 00:21:58,120 This matches the detailed picture of 381 00:21:58,200 --> 00:22:02,360 Khuwy’s lavish lifestyle depicted in his tomb. 382 00:22:07,480 --> 00:22:10,120 Khuwy was a high-ranking official, 383 00:22:10,200 --> 00:22:13,880 a member of the Pharaoh’s Royal Court during the Pyramid Age, 384 00:22:13,960 --> 00:22:16,560 near the beginning of Egyptian civilization. 385 00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:21,840 Scenes painted in his tomb show that he could afford the 386 00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:25,320 luxuries of fine food, in vast quantities. 387 00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:30,440 And jars found in the tomb, 388 00:22:30,520 --> 00:22:33,720 made to hold the mummified organs of the deceased. 389 00:22:33,800 --> 00:22:36,480 Are more evidence of a high-status burial. 390 00:22:40,680 --> 00:22:43,320 A man like this could certainly afford to have 391 00:22:43,400 --> 00:22:47,440 his body embalmed in resin and wrapped in the finest linen. 392 00:22:51,440 --> 00:22:56,080 But for Salima, the quality of the linen rings alarm bells. 393 00:22:56,160 --> 00:22:58,440 SALIMA: It’s extraordinary. 394 00:22:58,520 --> 00:23:01,720 The only time I’ve so much of this kind of good quality linen 395 00:23:01,800 --> 00:23:04,240 has been in the 21st dynasty. 396 00:23:04,320 --> 00:23:07,800 NARRATOR: The 21st dynasty of Egyptian Pharaohs reigned more 397 00:23:07,880 --> 00:23:10,640 than 1,000 years after Khuwy lived. 398 00:23:12,760 --> 00:23:14,600 Wrapped in the most delicate linen and 399 00:23:14,680 --> 00:23:16,960 drenched in expensive resin, 400 00:23:17,040 --> 00:23:19,000 if this is Khuwy, 401 00:23:19,080 --> 00:23:21,920 then the art of mummification was far more advanced in the 402 00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:24,680 Pyramid Age than experts believed. 403 00:23:26,840 --> 00:23:30,600 SALIMA: Oh, good, Mohamed, you are here at last. 404 00:23:33,080 --> 00:23:34,080 MOHAMED: So what do you think? 405 00:23:34,560 --> 00:23:36,120 SALIMA: I think it’s a beautiful mummy. 406 00:23:36,960 --> 00:23:38,440 MOHAMED: So do we have any other 407 00:23:38,520 --> 00:23:40,840 human remains from the Old Kingdom mummified like this? 408 00:23:41,200 --> 00:23:42,240 SALIMA: No. 409 00:23:42,320 --> 00:23:45,840 It could change entirely the history of mummification if it 410 00:23:45,920 --> 00:23:48,600 happens to be Old Kingdom. 411 00:23:49,880 --> 00:23:53,080 NARRATOR: If this is Khuwy, Salima will have to re-write 412 00:23:53,160 --> 00:23:56,320 her own textbooks on Egypt’s oldest mummies. 413 00:23:57,240 --> 00:23:59,720 As yet, she’s not convinced, 414 00:23:59,800 --> 00:24:02,160 she will need to see more evidence. 415 00:24:06,360 --> 00:24:10,080 On the cliffs above Aswan, Sayed and his team are into 416 00:24:10,160 --> 00:24:14,000 their second day excavating a fresh tomb. 417 00:24:14,080 --> 00:24:17,320 They hope it will reveal how ordinary Ancient Egyptians 418 00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:21,560 prepared bodies for the afterlife as their civilization faded. 419 00:24:22,760 --> 00:24:26,800 They’ve shifted several tons of sand to expose the stairs. 420 00:24:29,040 --> 00:24:30,920 In the heat of the early afternoon, 421 00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:32,440 the work is punishing. 422 00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:35,520 SAYED: We have no shelter from the sun. 423 00:24:36,760 --> 00:24:40,120 We need to work quickly to excavate the tombs here. 424 00:24:41,320 --> 00:24:42,520 WORKER: Sayed. 425 00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:46,160 SAYED: I think they've found a door. 426 00:24:47,160 --> 00:24:49,240 NARRATOR: If the tomb contains bodies, 427 00:24:49,320 --> 00:24:52,280 they could hold clues to how ordinary Ancient Egyptians 428 00:24:52,360 --> 00:24:54,080 preserved their dead. 429 00:24:54,920 --> 00:24:56,480 SAYED: Can I have some light? 430 00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:04,760 Oh my God! 431 00:25:10,760 --> 00:25:14,040 NARRATOR: Sayed’s team has made an extraordinary discovery. 432 00:25:15,520 --> 00:25:18,320 A rare tomb packed full of mummies. 433 00:25:21,720 --> 00:25:23,720 SAYED: There’s no air in here. 434 00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:28,920 NARRATOR: The remains of a stone sarcophagus suggest the 435 00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:33,960 bodies piled around it are not the tomb’s original occupants. 436 00:25:34,040 --> 00:25:35,840 So who are they? 437 00:25:37,080 --> 00:25:41,000 Team foreman, Abdul, prepares a mummy for initial inspection. 438 00:25:41,880 --> 00:25:43,440 SAYED: The mummy is very delicate. 439 00:25:45,120 --> 00:25:48,040 You can see the mummy is a man. 440 00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:51,520 NARRATOR: Abdul delicately brushes to expose 441 00:25:51,600 --> 00:25:54,080 the ragged remains of the mummy’s bandages. 442 00:25:55,800 --> 00:25:58,760 SAYED: You can see the mummification is cheap mummification. 443 00:25:59,840 --> 00:26:01,800 You can see he is not noble. 444 00:26:02,840 --> 00:26:04,400 He is a poor man. 445 00:26:05,840 --> 00:26:08,200 NARRATOR: The mummy’s condition suggests he was not 446 00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:11,680 wealthy enough to afford a high-quality mummification. 447 00:26:12,640 --> 00:26:16,360 The other bodies buried with him are also badly preserved. 448 00:26:18,200 --> 00:26:20,680 There’s not enough space for Sayed to examine how 449 00:26:20,760 --> 00:26:23,400 this mummy was embalmed. 450 00:26:23,480 --> 00:26:25,960 So he decides to extract the body. 451 00:26:27,320 --> 00:26:30,800 A mummy this poorly preserved could fall apart with 452 00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:32,560 the slightest shock. 453 00:26:36,360 --> 00:26:38,360 In the Necropolis of Ancient Philadelphia, 454 00:26:38,440 --> 00:26:40,720 near Faiyum. 455 00:26:40,800 --> 00:26:44,400 Basem’s search has finally produced an intact grave: 456 00:26:44,480 --> 00:26:46,720 of an Ancient Greek. 457 00:26:47,760 --> 00:26:50,720 Egypt’s conquerors did not practice mummification 458 00:26:50,800 --> 00:26:55,600 in their homeland, but what did they do here in Egypt? 459 00:26:56,480 --> 00:27:01,040 To find out he needs to release the 2000-year-old coffin. 460 00:27:03,240 --> 00:27:06,120 BASEM: So we’re removing now, brick by brick 461 00:27:06,200 --> 00:27:08,160 it’s a very sensitive operation. 462 00:27:09,040 --> 00:27:11,520 NARRATOR: With the top layer of bricks removed, 463 00:27:11,600 --> 00:27:15,320 Basem is able to inspect the full length of the tomb. 464 00:27:16,920 --> 00:27:20,520 Elaborate decorations on the casket confirm his suspicions. 465 00:27:22,080 --> 00:27:24,400 BASEM: I’m 100% sure that this is a Greek coffin 466 00:27:24,720 --> 00:27:26,640 but we have to take it as fast as possible 467 00:27:26,720 --> 00:27:29,640 because we can’t just leave it exposed to the sun. 468 00:27:30,160 --> 00:27:32,560 So we are going to lift it up from the grave. 469 00:27:34,800 --> 00:27:37,560 NARRATOR: The team has no idea how degraded the roof of 470 00:27:37,640 --> 00:27:39,720 the coffin might be. 471 00:27:39,800 --> 00:27:43,120 Any mistake could be catastrophic. 472 00:27:43,840 --> 00:27:46,720 BASEM: It is really stressful. 473 00:27:51,800 --> 00:27:55,960 Any single mud brick that could fall on this wooden coffin 474 00:27:56,040 --> 00:27:59,120 will destroy it, so we need to be sure. 475 00:28:01,680 --> 00:28:04,760 NARRATOR: The crew systematically removes just enough bricks 476 00:28:04,840 --> 00:28:08,440 to open a gap wide enough for the coffin to pass through. 477 00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:12,320 BASEM: It's really tight inside 478 00:28:12,400 --> 00:28:15,360 so we are trying to enlarge the space in order to lift it up 479 00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:18,920 and it’s really delicate, it’s really sensitive. 480 00:28:20,520 --> 00:28:22,960 NARRATOR: Basem doesn’t want to destroy any more of 481 00:28:23,040 --> 00:28:25,880 the precious tomb structure than necessary. 482 00:28:27,440 --> 00:28:29,880 But the coffin has to come out. 483 00:28:30,960 --> 00:28:32,840 (speaking in native language) 484 00:28:32,920 --> 00:28:35,520 (clapping) 485 00:28:38,440 --> 00:28:41,840 Released from the tomb, the intricately painted coffin and 486 00:28:41,920 --> 00:28:45,320 its occupant are in more danger than they ever have 487 00:28:45,400 --> 00:28:47,920 been in the last 2000 years. 488 00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:52,440 BASEM: So now I need to take this coffin in the shade immediately 489 00:28:52,520 --> 00:28:54,120 because it’s very delicate and very sensitive 490 00:28:54,200 --> 00:28:56,160 we have to move it to the car and to the tent. 491 00:28:58,600 --> 00:28:59,640 We’re gonna move it. 492 00:28:59,720 --> 00:29:01,640 Let’s go boys, all together. 493 00:29:02,560 --> 00:29:05,160 NARRATOR: Whether it holds a mummy or a skeleton, 494 00:29:05,240 --> 00:29:07,920 this coffin could reveal how the Greeks, 495 00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:09,640 who seized control of Egypt, 496 00:29:09,720 --> 00:29:11,160 buried their dead. 497 00:29:15,560 --> 00:29:18,440 On the hilltop above Aswan. 498 00:29:18,520 --> 00:29:21,040 Sayed’s mummy has completed its journey to 499 00:29:21,120 --> 00:29:23,720 the safety of the analysis tent. 500 00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:28,400 It’s clear this mummy’s afterlife has been traumatic. 501 00:29:29,960 --> 00:29:33,240 SAYED: The mummy has a hole, it’s from a robbery. 502 00:29:34,400 --> 00:29:37,080 NARRATOR: Embalmers placed carved stones in the wrapping 503 00:29:37,160 --> 00:29:40,640 of wealthier mummies as magical protection. 504 00:29:40,720 --> 00:29:43,920 But it’s unlikely the poor could afford that luxury. 505 00:29:46,080 --> 00:29:48,880 SAYED: Maybe the robbers left empty-handed. 506 00:29:50,200 --> 00:29:53,000 NARRATOR: The secrets of how this man’s body was mummified 507 00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:55,720 are hidden within the bandages. 508 00:29:55,800 --> 00:29:58,720 But Sayed can’t unwrap him for fear the mummy 509 00:29:58,800 --> 00:30:00,840 will crumble into dust. 510 00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:05,040 The team needs to find more lower-class mummies 511 00:30:05,120 --> 00:30:09,160 to figure out how Ancient Egyptians preserved the poor. 512 00:30:12,440 --> 00:30:14,920 Across the site, Sayed’s colleague, 513 00:30:15,000 --> 00:30:17,360 archaeologist Hala Hussein, 514 00:30:17,440 --> 00:30:21,440 has spent weeks uncovering a different tomb. 515 00:30:21,520 --> 00:30:24,600 She has also found mummies. 516 00:30:24,680 --> 00:30:27,040 Or at least, bits of them. 517 00:30:33,760 --> 00:30:38,240 NARRATOR: Hala’s tomb contains the remains of some 20 mummies, 518 00:30:38,320 --> 00:30:40,360 but they’re in terrible condition. 519 00:30:41,360 --> 00:30:45,000 Evidence of wasps’ nests suggest insects may have 520 00:30:45,080 --> 00:30:47,640 played a role in the damage. 521 00:30:47,720 --> 00:30:51,520 But in the destruction lies an opportunity. 522 00:30:51,600 --> 00:30:53,960 The mummies’ bodies are exposed, 523 00:30:54,040 --> 00:30:57,120 allowing Hala to see beneath the bandages, 524 00:30:57,200 --> 00:31:01,560 and search for more clues to how ordinary Ancient Egyptians 525 00:31:01,640 --> 00:31:03,360 tried to preserve their dead. 526 00:31:04,600 --> 00:31:08,520 HALA: I don’t think it’s rich people or nobles 527 00:31:08,600 --> 00:31:13,920 because the mummification doesn’t tell us that. 528 00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:16,800 I think it’s poor people. 529 00:31:18,320 --> 00:31:21,960 NARRATOR: The Necropolis contains almost 300 tombs. 530 00:31:23,280 --> 00:31:25,920 Each could have been the eternal home for dozens of 531 00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:29,000 ordinary Ancient Egyptians. 532 00:31:29,080 --> 00:31:33,000 Now, archaeologists can begin to sketch a picture of 533 00:31:33,080 --> 00:31:34,880 their possible history. 534 00:31:36,960 --> 00:31:40,280 Each tomb was originally cut for a single mummy, 535 00:31:40,360 --> 00:31:42,760 furnished with a sandstone coffin. 536 00:31:45,200 --> 00:31:49,360 Their relatives added bodies to the tomb when they died, 537 00:31:49,440 --> 00:31:52,000 until the family died out or moved away. 538 00:31:58,160 --> 00:32:02,040 Hundreds of years later, poorer Egyptians re-used 539 00:32:02,120 --> 00:32:03,920 the forgotten tombs, 540 00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:07,440 filling them up with badly mummified corpses. 541 00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:11,280 Before the tombs were looted, 542 00:32:11,360 --> 00:32:13,600 and the exposed mummies destroyed. 543 00:32:19,080 --> 00:32:22,720 Most of the mummies in Hala’s tomb are too degraded to tell 544 00:32:22,800 --> 00:32:25,320 much about the way they were mummified. 545 00:32:25,400 --> 00:32:28,240 But one body offers a grisly clue. 546 00:32:28,920 --> 00:32:30,520 In a niche in the wall, 547 00:32:30,600 --> 00:32:33,440 Hala finds the broken mummy of a baby. 548 00:32:34,120 --> 00:32:38,000 HALA: Here, we have remains 549 00:32:39,440 --> 00:32:42,560 just part of a child’s body 550 00:32:43,320 --> 00:32:47,440 it has a stick inside the body. 551 00:32:48,440 --> 00:32:53,160 NARRATOR: The stick was inserted in the body to hold the head. 552 00:32:53,240 --> 00:32:55,840 It suggests the body was already decomposed 553 00:32:55,920 --> 00:32:57,680 when it was embalmed. 554 00:32:58,520 --> 00:33:01,280 Not only were the poor mummified badly, 555 00:33:01,360 --> 00:33:03,480 they were mummified too late. 556 00:33:05,760 --> 00:33:08,840 The bits of them that survive suggest the afterlives of 557 00:33:08,920 --> 00:33:13,000 these ordinary Ancient Egyptians have been far from peaceful. 558 00:33:13,080 --> 00:33:17,160 Destroyed by insects, and desecrated by robbers, 559 00:33:17,240 --> 00:33:20,920 any meagre valuables ripped from their wrappings. 560 00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:23,800 But for Sayed at least, 561 00:33:23,880 --> 00:33:26,400 these mummies are helping piece together 562 00:33:26,480 --> 00:33:29,320 the mysterious fates of the ordinary dead, 563 00:33:29,400 --> 00:33:31,560 at the end of Egyptian civilization. 564 00:33:33,480 --> 00:33:38,040 SAYED: Even though the tomb is built on the top of the hill 565 00:33:38,120 --> 00:33:39,600 the robbers still found them. 566 00:33:43,400 --> 00:33:47,720 But for me as an archaeologist, the mummy is the treasure. 567 00:33:52,320 --> 00:33:54,720 NARRATOR: In Saqqara, 568 00:33:54,800 --> 00:33:57,560 Salima’s team prepares the mummy found in the 569 00:33:57,640 --> 00:34:00,560 Old Kingdom tomb of Khuwy for X-Ray. 570 00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:04,080 They hope to learn more about the body. 571 00:34:04,160 --> 00:34:09,320 To confirm it could actually be the 4400-year-old noble, 572 00:34:09,400 --> 00:34:12,920 and one of the oldest Egyptian mummies ever found. 573 00:34:14,720 --> 00:34:17,800 But Mohamed has more evidence to bring to the case. 574 00:34:18,400 --> 00:34:22,000 High-class mummies had their organs removed to stop them rotting. 575 00:34:23,240 --> 00:34:27,960 These were placed alongside the mummy in vessels called Canopic Jars. 576 00:34:28,040 --> 00:34:31,560 Mohamed found four of these right next to the mummy. 577 00:34:32,480 --> 00:34:34,720 SALIMA: Oh! MOHAMED: See? 578 00:34:34,800 --> 00:34:36,120 SALIMA: They are beautiful! 579 00:34:36,200 --> 00:34:37,360 MOHAMED: They are very nice. 580 00:34:38,480 --> 00:34:39,480 SALIMA: And it was sealed nicely. 581 00:34:39,560 --> 00:34:41,600 MOHAMED: It was sealed, all of them were sealed. 582 00:34:42,440 --> 00:34:44,200 SALIMA: Oh! 583 00:34:44,280 --> 00:34:45,520 Oh, look at that. 584 00:34:45,600 --> 00:34:46,640 MOHAMED: Yes. 585 00:34:48,040 --> 00:34:49,080 SALIMA: Oh I say... 586 00:34:49,880 --> 00:34:52,200 MOHAMED: We know for sure this is Old Kingdom, Salima. 587 00:34:52,280 --> 00:34:53,280 SALIMA: The jars are Old Kingdom. 588 00:34:53,360 --> 00:34:54,880 MOHAMED: The jars are Old Kingdom. 589 00:34:54,960 --> 00:34:57,000 SALIMA: Absolutely I agree 100% Old Kingdom. 590 00:34:57,080 --> 00:34:58,200 MOHAMED: Yes. SALIMA: 100%. 591 00:34:58,280 --> 00:35:00,040 MOHAMED: Yes. SALIMA: Jars Old Kingdom. 592 00:35:00,120 --> 00:35:01,120 Oh you’re kidding me. 593 00:35:01,200 --> 00:35:03,680 Okay, trade. 594 00:35:04,800 --> 00:35:06,200 (gasps) 595 00:35:06,280 --> 00:35:08,200 Oh... 596 00:35:08,280 --> 00:35:11,160 That is nice! 597 00:35:11,240 --> 00:35:14,120 You’ve got lots of bits of, um, 598 00:35:14,200 --> 00:35:15,600 cloth which is impregnated 599 00:35:15,680 --> 00:35:19,600 with resins or oils or whatever this black material is, black goo. 600 00:35:19,680 --> 00:35:21,760 Oh how nice! 601 00:35:23,520 --> 00:35:27,160 NARRATOR: If the resin in jars matches the resin on the mummy, 602 00:35:27,240 --> 00:35:29,800 it means they both date to the Old Kingdom. 603 00:35:29,880 --> 00:35:33,920 The mummy’s exceptionally fine linen dressing could overturn 604 00:35:34,000 --> 00:35:37,880 decades of thinking and prove mummification techniques 605 00:35:37,960 --> 00:35:42,200 4,000 years ago were much more advanced than first thought. 606 00:35:42,880 --> 00:35:44,920 But the cutting-edge chemical test that would prove 607 00:35:45,000 --> 00:35:46,840 it will take months. 608 00:35:48,040 --> 00:35:51,240 An X-Ray could take them a step closer to confirmation 609 00:35:51,320 --> 00:35:54,480 that it is the Old Kingdom noble, Khuwy. 610 00:35:56,040 --> 00:35:58,360 SALIMA: We want it to be Khuwy so much. 611 00:35:58,440 --> 00:36:00,520 Imagine finding someone from the Old Kingdom 612 00:36:00,600 --> 00:36:02,000 in their own tomb! 613 00:36:02,080 --> 00:36:04,000 I mean that’s fantastic. 614 00:36:05,520 --> 00:36:08,240 NARRATOR: If Salima can establish the mummy’s sex and 615 00:36:08,320 --> 00:36:12,280 social status, it could help prove its identity. 616 00:36:12,360 --> 00:36:14,080 SALIMA: One. 617 00:36:14,160 --> 00:36:17,480 NARRATOR: She sends a pulse of X-Rays through the mummified remains, 618 00:36:17,560 --> 00:36:19,680 onto a photographic plate. 619 00:36:19,760 --> 00:36:21,680 SALIMA: Yep, finished! 620 00:36:21,760 --> 00:36:24,600 Celebrate, wahoo! 621 00:36:25,200 --> 00:36:27,480 NARRATOR: But with time running out on the permit, 622 00:36:27,560 --> 00:36:31,760 Salima’s analysis depends on whether her images come out. 623 00:36:31,840 --> 00:36:33,720 SALIMA: Now for the hard part. 624 00:36:41,280 --> 00:36:44,760 NARRATOR: As evening approaches in Saqqara... 625 00:36:44,840 --> 00:36:48,520 Salima hopes the X-Rays she’s taken might help flesh out a 626 00:36:48,600 --> 00:36:51,880 clearer picture of the mummy from Khuwy’s tomb, 627 00:36:51,960 --> 00:36:53,720 and confirm it is male. 628 00:36:55,080 --> 00:36:58,120 To develop the images, she must delicately bathe 629 00:36:58,200 --> 00:37:01,040 the slides in a succession of chemicals. 630 00:37:01,120 --> 00:37:03,080 SALIMA: It’s really quite fabulous because you’re 631 00:37:03,160 --> 00:37:05,000 sitting there with this blank sheet, 632 00:37:05,080 --> 00:37:08,840 and then suddenly something appears by magic. 633 00:37:10,040 --> 00:37:11,840 Don’t open yet. 634 00:37:12,560 --> 00:37:15,200 NARRATOR: She can’t allow the film to be exposed to anything 635 00:37:15,280 --> 00:37:17,680 but dim red light. 636 00:37:17,760 --> 00:37:19,840 SALIMA: I hope that’s not too light. 637 00:37:20,680 --> 00:37:22,560 NARRATOR: The slides must be dipped for exactly 638 00:37:22,640 --> 00:37:25,120 the right time in each chemical bath. 639 00:37:26,720 --> 00:37:30,440 Any misjudgment, and the whole exercise has been a waste. 640 00:37:32,400 --> 00:37:36,280 SALIMA: It’s an adventure each time but it’s a one-shot deal, generally, 641 00:37:36,360 --> 00:37:39,200 and then there is the absolute terror that you 642 00:37:39,280 --> 00:37:42,600 won’t get anything and it’ll just be a blank sheet of film, 643 00:37:42,680 --> 00:37:45,640 which is horrifying. 644 00:37:46,800 --> 00:37:49,800 NARRATOR: Only when the last exposure has been fixed can 645 00:37:49,880 --> 00:37:52,600 Salima begin to assess her work. 646 00:37:52,680 --> 00:37:54,200 SALIMA: Zainab? 647 00:37:54,280 --> 00:37:56,880 I think you could put on the light. 648 00:38:01,080 --> 00:38:03,080 This one looks totally blank. 649 00:38:04,320 --> 00:38:05,320 Oh no! 650 00:38:05,400 --> 00:38:07,240 it’s the vertebrae thank God! 651 00:38:07,320 --> 00:38:08,960 What a relief, oh my God! 652 00:38:09,040 --> 00:38:12,360 (laughing) 653 00:38:12,440 --> 00:38:16,880 I thought we’d messed up quite terribly, oh God. 654 00:38:18,600 --> 00:38:20,480 NARRATOR: Hanging the plates up to dry, 655 00:38:20,560 --> 00:38:23,680 Salima and Mohamed can finally see under the skin of 656 00:38:23,760 --> 00:38:26,000 the mummy they hope is Khuwy. 657 00:38:26,080 --> 00:38:27,760 SALIMA: Look at that! 658 00:38:27,840 --> 00:38:31,880 NARRATOR: Their first job is to confirm the mummy is the right sex. 659 00:38:33,080 --> 00:38:34,080 SALIMA: Yeah. 660 00:38:34,160 --> 00:38:36,040 ZEINAB: And we are sure he is male? 661 00:38:36,120 --> 00:38:37,240 SALIMA: Yep, he’s a he. 662 00:38:37,320 --> 00:38:38,320 He is he! 663 00:38:38,400 --> 00:38:39,400 ZEINAB: He’s a he. MAN: He is he. 664 00:38:39,480 --> 00:38:41,760 SALIMA: He is he! 665 00:38:41,840 --> 00:38:46,040 NARRATOR: A scan of his fragmentary spine provides more evidence. 666 00:38:46,120 --> 00:38:48,800 Growths on the vertebrae suggest the mummy’s frame 667 00:38:48,880 --> 00:38:52,080 carried a lot of weight, a sure sign of nobility in 668 00:38:52,160 --> 00:38:53,560 the ancient world. 669 00:38:54,440 --> 00:38:57,480 SALIMA: He was fat as well as big. 670 00:38:57,560 --> 00:39:00,480 So he was a tall man and a... 671 00:39:00,560 --> 00:39:03,040 Mashallah, it really fits with a nice burial. 672 00:39:03,720 --> 00:39:06,200 MOHAMED: For me it looks like Old Kingdom bones. 673 00:39:06,600 --> 00:39:08,080 (laughter) 674 00:39:08,160 --> 00:39:10,080 NARRATOR: The X-Rays aren’t conclusive, 675 00:39:10,160 --> 00:39:12,920 but a well-mummified, well-fed man in the same 676 00:39:13,000 --> 00:39:17,480 archaeological layer as Old Kingdom jars is too much to ignore. 677 00:39:18,520 --> 00:39:20,960 This really could be Khuwy. 678 00:39:21,040 --> 00:39:24,600 If so, experts will be forced to re-think how 679 00:39:24,680 --> 00:39:28,840 advanced mummification was in Egypt’s most ancient era. 680 00:39:29,480 --> 00:39:32,360 SALIMA (off-screen): It was the only mummy that was found in this tomb. 681 00:39:32,440 --> 00:39:34,480 It should belong to the tomb owner. 682 00:39:34,560 --> 00:39:36,560 Of course, the style of mummification is something 683 00:39:36,640 --> 00:39:38,800 we haven’t seen for the Old Kingdom before, 684 00:39:38,880 --> 00:39:40,960 but there’s always a first time. 685 00:39:41,040 --> 00:39:42,320 This is uh... 686 00:39:42,400 --> 00:39:44,440 (whistles) 687 00:39:44,520 --> 00:39:45,960 Pretty cool! 688 00:39:46,680 --> 00:39:49,360 MOHAMED: We found a very high-class tomb 689 00:39:49,440 --> 00:39:51,120 and inside this high-class tomb 690 00:39:51,200 --> 00:39:54,760 we found a very high-class mummification body. 691 00:39:54,840 --> 00:39:56,120 I think they match together. 692 00:39:58,120 --> 00:40:00,280 I think if it’s really Khuwy 693 00:40:00,360 --> 00:40:03,320 this is a breakthrough in the Ancient Egyptian history. 694 00:40:04,400 --> 00:40:07,480 NARRATOR: The story of the rise of the mummy may need 695 00:40:07,560 --> 00:40:09,120 to be re-written. 696 00:40:12,560 --> 00:40:16,200 Outside Faiyum, at the Necropolis of Ancient Philadelphia... 697 00:40:17,880 --> 00:40:21,080 Basem has gathered his most experienced team members 698 00:40:21,160 --> 00:40:22,840 in the analysis tent. 699 00:40:23,960 --> 00:40:28,120 The body in this coffin could tell Basem what happened to 700 00:40:28,200 --> 00:40:31,240 mummification when the Greeks conquered Egypt. 701 00:40:32,120 --> 00:40:36,200 BASEM: What we are going to do is just clean it with soft brushes 702 00:40:36,280 --> 00:40:39,640 and then we will try to lift up the cover of the coffin. 703 00:40:40,200 --> 00:40:41,960 The point is, it’s very risky. 704 00:40:42,840 --> 00:40:45,560 There is a big crack on top of the coffin 705 00:40:45,640 --> 00:40:48,120 so hopefully we can do it in a good way, inshallah. 706 00:40:50,800 --> 00:40:53,880 NARRATOR: The team removes the dust from the coffin edges. 707 00:40:54,560 --> 00:40:57,320 It means their fingers are less likely to slip as 708 00:40:57,400 --> 00:40:58,880 they lever off the lid. 709 00:40:59,800 --> 00:41:00,800 BASEM: Are you ready to open? 710 00:41:03,680 --> 00:41:06,080 Ready? With the utmost care. 711 00:41:08,280 --> 00:41:10,520 (gasping) 712 00:41:11,880 --> 00:41:13,000 MAN: Wow! 713 00:41:13,440 --> 00:41:15,920 BASEM: It’s my first time to see something like this. 714 00:41:16,840 --> 00:41:20,760 I don’t remember ever seeing it in one of the museums. 715 00:41:21,080 --> 00:41:22,080 It’s amazing. 716 00:41:25,000 --> 00:41:26,840 I’m just speechless. 717 00:41:26,920 --> 00:41:28,920 (laughing) 718 00:41:29,000 --> 00:41:31,640 NARRATOR: Inside the coffin is a small skeleton, 719 00:41:31,720 --> 00:41:35,880 in a basic wrapping, but also, a statue. 720 00:41:36,920 --> 00:41:41,040 The artwork shows a goddess in Greek terracotta, 721 00:41:41,120 --> 00:41:43,840 but the practice of placing a figurine in the coffin 722 00:41:43,920 --> 00:41:45,720 is purely Egyptian. 723 00:41:46,640 --> 00:41:50,440 BASEM: It is an influence between the Egyptian mindset 724 00:41:50,520 --> 00:41:52,720 and the Greek myth and mindset. 725 00:41:53,040 --> 00:41:55,360 So here we can see how 726 00:41:55,440 --> 00:41:58,440 both ethnic groups influenced each other. 727 00:41:59,400 --> 00:42:02,400 NARRATOR: Anthropologist Abdullah examines the body. 728 00:42:04,120 --> 00:42:08,120 ABDULLAH: We have a female skull, one female skull 729 00:42:08,200 --> 00:42:09,800 skin, with hair. 730 00:42:11,600 --> 00:42:15,040 NARRATOR: The skeleton is a young girl and 731 00:42:15,120 --> 00:42:17,600 she bears clear evidence of mummification. 732 00:42:20,280 --> 00:42:22,040 BASEM: And then we have also the wrapping 733 00:42:22,120 --> 00:42:24,560 and what is interesting for us is that 734 00:42:24,640 --> 00:42:26,520 the coffin from outside is Greek 735 00:42:26,600 --> 00:42:28,840 but then they started to learn from Egyptians 736 00:42:28,920 --> 00:42:32,560 how to do wrapping and start mummification. 737 00:42:33,960 --> 00:42:36,200 I’ve never seen something like this before 738 00:42:36,280 --> 00:42:38,120 never seen something like this before. 739 00:42:39,600 --> 00:42:42,680 NARRATOR: The remnants of hair and skin on the mummy show 740 00:42:42,760 --> 00:42:46,160 that 100 years after Greeks had conquered Egypt, 741 00:42:46,240 --> 00:42:50,480 they had begun to change their own sacred burial practices, 742 00:42:50,560 --> 00:42:55,040 and adopt Egyptian ones, including mummification. 743 00:42:56,880 --> 00:42:58,440 BASEM: Within these burials and mummies 744 00:42:58,520 --> 00:43:01,520 there is a lot of emotions, there is a lot of feelings. 745 00:43:02,200 --> 00:43:05,480 Beloved people, beloved families. 746 00:43:05,560 --> 00:43:08,800 You can hear their voice, you can see their faces. 747 00:43:10,400 --> 00:43:11,600 From this site 748 00:43:11,680 --> 00:43:15,120 you can understand how strong this culture was. 749 00:43:15,920 --> 00:43:19,760 Ancient Egyptians invented and pioneered 750 00:43:19,840 --> 00:43:22,080 embalming and mummification 751 00:43:23,000 --> 00:43:25,840 and the Greeks adopted the same tradition. 752 00:43:27,920 --> 00:43:31,000 NARRATOR: With every new body archaeologists unearth, 753 00:43:31,080 --> 00:43:33,840 the story of the mummies of Egypt becomes clearer. 754 00:43:35,200 --> 00:43:39,480 Inspired by corpses preserved by chance in the desert sand, 755 00:43:39,560 --> 00:43:43,360 embalmers in the age of the Pyramids refined techniques 756 00:43:43,440 --> 00:43:45,520 to freeze the body in time. 757 00:43:46,600 --> 00:43:50,720 For 3,000 years the practice evolved and spread, 758 00:43:50,800 --> 00:43:53,680 from the Pharaohs down to ordinary Egyptians. 759 00:43:54,400 --> 00:43:57,640 The myth and magic of the mummy was potent enough to 760 00:43:57,720 --> 00:44:00,640 enchant even the invading Greeks. 761 00:44:00,720 --> 00:44:03,040 All were intent on resurrection, 762 00:44:03,120 --> 00:44:05,240 and the glories of the afterlife.