1 00:00:03,360 --> 00:00:05,040 NARRATOR: Egypt, 2 00:00:05,120 --> 00:00:07,440 the richest source of archaeological treasures 3 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:10,320 on the planet. 4 00:00:10,400 --> 00:00:12,480 MAN: Oh, wow. Look at that! 5 00:00:15,080 --> 00:00:18,720 NARRATOR: Hidden beneath this desert landscape 6 00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:21,960 lie the secrets of this ancient civilization. 7 00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:27,000 MAN: I've never seen something like this. 8 00:00:27,080 --> 00:00:30,280 NARRATOR: Now, for a full season of excavations, 9 00:00:30,360 --> 00:00:33,680 our cameras have been given unprecedented access 10 00:00:33,760 --> 00:00:38,360 to follow teams on the front line of archaeology... 11 00:00:38,440 --> 00:00:40,160 WOMAN: This is the most critical moment. 12 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:41,920 [men grunting] 13 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:43,800 NARRATOR: ...revealing buried treasures... 14 00:00:43,880 --> 00:00:44,800 WOMAN: Oh! 15 00:00:44,880 --> 00:00:46,880 MAN: Very lucky today. 16 00:00:46,960 --> 00:00:49,040 MAN: Wow, lots of mummies. 17 00:00:49,120 --> 00:00:51,200 WOMAN: The smell is horrible. 18 00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:52,680 NARRATOR: ...and making discoveries 19 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:54,800 that could rewrite ancient history. 20 00:00:54,880 --> 00:00:58,720 MAN: We've never had the proof until now. 21 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:01,760 WOMAN: This is where it all started. 22 00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:03,880 MAN: My goodness. I never expected this. 23 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:06,760 [applause] 24 00:01:06,840 --> 00:01:09,280 NARRATOR: This time, archaeologists hunt 25 00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:12,920 for evidence of the death of the pyramids. 26 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:16,160 MAN: My god, these pieces are huge. 27 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:18,600 NARRATOR: Claire follows the tracks of the craftsmen 28 00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:21,400 tasked with building the giant monuments. 29 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:22,760 CLAIRE SOMAGLINO: You can see very clearly 30 00:01:22,840 --> 00:01:25,400 that this site was abandoned here. 31 00:01:25,480 --> 00:01:27,280 NARRATOR: Myriam uncovers the mysteries 32 00:01:27,360 --> 00:01:29,040 of the pharaoh's temples. 33 00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:31,720 MYRIAM SECO ALVAREZ: This is from Tomb 22, 34 00:01:31,800 --> 00:01:33,480 the mummy deposit. 35 00:01:33,560 --> 00:01:35,640 NARRATOR: And Alejandro comes face-to-face 36 00:01:35,720 --> 00:01:37,160 with the afterlife... 37 00:01:37,240 --> 00:01:38,760 ALEJANDRO JIMENEZ-SERRANO: It's incredible. 38 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:40,680 NARRATOR: ...in the long forgotten tombs 39 00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:42,400 of Egypt's far south. 40 00:01:42,480 --> 00:01:43,960 ALEJANDRO: I have no words. 41 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:48,560 ♪ ♪ 42 00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:56,520 NARRATOR: The west bank of the River Nile, 43 00:01:56,600 --> 00:01:59,960 home to the world's most iconic monuments-- 44 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:03,320 the mighty Pyramids of Giza. 45 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:07,200 The pyramids once housed the bodies of the pharaohs. 46 00:02:07,280 --> 00:02:09,600 But though ancient Egyptian civilization 47 00:02:09,680 --> 00:02:12,520 lasted for nearly 3,000 years, 48 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:18,120 its kings only built huge tombs like these for a few centuries. 49 00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:20,920 Egyptologists are still trying to piece together 50 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:26,360 why the pharaohs stopped constructing giant pyramids. 51 00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:28,960 For Egyptologist Chris Naunton, 52 00:02:29,040 --> 00:02:31,400 the majesty of the ancient structures makes the fact 53 00:02:31,480 --> 00:02:35,400 that Egyptians gave up building them all the more incredible. 54 00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:41,160 Ten miles south of the legendary Pyramids of Giza 55 00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:43,160 is Saqqara. 56 00:02:43,240 --> 00:02:44,400 CHRIS NAUNTON: When we think about pyramids, 57 00:02:44,480 --> 00:02:46,160 we tend to think of Giza, I think, 58 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:48,200 and the Great Pyramid of Khufu, in particular, 59 00:02:48,280 --> 00:02:50,920 but actually this is where it all began. 60 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:53,680 NARRATOR: Chris has come to the birthplace of pyramid building 61 00:02:53,760 --> 00:02:56,440 to search for clues to why Egyptians built 62 00:02:56,520 --> 00:03:01,440 giant pyramids for less than 500 years. 63 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:05,640 Constructed a century before the iconic pyramids at Giza, 64 00:03:05,720 --> 00:03:09,960 Egypt's first pyramid is a 200-foot-tall mausoleum 65 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:13,160 of six huge limestone platforms, 66 00:03:13,240 --> 00:03:16,040 carefully engineered to spread the weight of rock 67 00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:17,920 and prevent collapse. 68 00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:24,040 Deep inside is a giant shaft, 69 00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:28,160 26 feet wide and 82 feet deep. 70 00:03:28,240 --> 00:03:31,320 At the bottom, the intended final resting place 71 00:03:31,400 --> 00:03:33,880 of the pharaoh Djoser. 72 00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:35,760 CHRIS: Ultimately, that's what it's all about. 73 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:38,040 It's where the body of the king is going to rest in eternity. 74 00:03:38,120 --> 00:03:40,200 And to have gone to all this trouble to create 75 00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:44,040 this incredible monument around the body of that person 76 00:03:44,120 --> 00:03:46,280 is pretty amazing. 77 00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:49,280 NARRATOR: To house his mummy, huge chunks of granite 78 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:52,680 were slid down a passage into the shaft and stacked, 79 00:03:52,760 --> 00:03:58,800 creating a giant sarcophagus 19 feet long and 11 feet high. 80 00:03:58,880 --> 00:04:03,120 CHRIS: My god, these pieces are huge. 81 00:04:03,200 --> 00:04:05,240 Wow, it's amazing. 82 00:04:05,320 --> 00:04:07,440 Pfff. 83 00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:09,360 NARRATOR: But this wasn't just a tomb designed 84 00:04:09,440 --> 00:04:13,880 to secure the pharaoh's physical body for eternity. 85 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:16,320 Crucially, for success in the afterlife, 86 00:04:16,400 --> 00:04:22,160 the pyramid ensured the king was remembered by the living. 87 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:26,280 Completed around 2650 B.C., 88 00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:28,960 it sparked an architectural revolution. 89 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:36,120 Djoser's six-tier giant wasn't just the first pyramid. 90 00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:38,480 It was the world's first monumental structure 91 00:04:38,560 --> 00:04:40,920 built in stone. 92 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:44,400 Over the next century, Egypt's kings developed the concept, 93 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:48,280 building monumental tombs all along the Nile's west bank, 94 00:04:48,360 --> 00:04:51,560 including the first geometrically true pyramid, 95 00:04:51,640 --> 00:04:53,280 the Red Pyramid, 96 00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:58,000 and a misshapen experiment, the Bent Pyramid. 97 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:00,040 Then a dynasty of pharaohs 98 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:02,960 built the most iconic monuments in Egypt, 99 00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:06,080 the Pyramids of Giza. 100 00:05:06,160 --> 00:05:08,000 But just a few short centuries 101 00:05:08,080 --> 00:05:11,400 after the Great Pyramid of Khufu rose from the desert, 102 00:05:11,480 --> 00:05:13,760 a new era was on the horizon. 103 00:05:17,320 --> 00:05:22,160 400 miles south of the pyramids in modern-day Aswan 104 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:27,280 is the heart of ancient Egypt's southernmost province. 105 00:05:27,360 --> 00:05:30,080 Professor Alejandro Jiménez-Serrano 106 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:32,200 has spent 11 seasons here, 107 00:05:32,280 --> 00:05:36,520 unearthing the burials of the region's wealthy governors. 108 00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:42,360 He believes they played a part in the pyramids' demise. 109 00:05:42,440 --> 00:05:44,800 The pyramids were symbols of power, 110 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:47,600 separating the kings from the rest of society, 111 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:51,280 offering them privileged access to the afterlife. 112 00:05:51,360 --> 00:05:54,560 But as the pharaohs erected their pyramids in the north, 113 00:05:54,640 --> 00:05:57,200 southern elites were becoming richer 114 00:05:57,280 --> 00:06:00,000 and making their own plans for eternity, 115 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:05,160 digging increasingly elaborate tombs deep into the cliffs. 116 00:06:05,240 --> 00:06:08,600 Today Alejandro's excavating a new area 117 00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:10,480 of their ancient necropolis. 118 00:06:22,520 --> 00:06:23,920 NARRATOR: It's 8:00 A.M., 119 00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:28,160 and his team has already called in a find. 120 00:06:28,240 --> 00:06:30,200 ALEJANDRO: We will see if we are lucky 121 00:06:30,280 --> 00:06:32,800 with this discovery. 122 00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:34,160 Not every day you discover a tomb, 123 00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:38,080 so finger crossed. 124 00:06:38,160 --> 00:06:42,240 NARRATOR: A smooth area of rock excites the crew. 125 00:06:42,320 --> 00:06:46,600 ALEJANDRO: In this area, you can see the ancient carving 126 00:06:46,680 --> 00:06:49,280 trying to make a plane that was going to be 127 00:06:49,360 --> 00:06:51,640 the facade of the tomb. 128 00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:53,520 NARRATOR: The naturally jagged rock face 129 00:06:53,600 --> 00:06:56,720 has been smoothed with ancient chisels. 130 00:06:56,800 --> 00:07:00,680 If this is an elite tomb, it could have inscriptions 131 00:07:00,760 --> 00:07:03,480 which shed light on the role the governors played 132 00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:06,120 in the pyramids' decline. 133 00:07:06,200 --> 00:07:09,880 ALEJANDRO: This is the typical tomb of members 134 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:13,160 of the elite here in Qubbet el-Hawa. 135 00:07:13,240 --> 00:07:15,960 So, what we are looking for is the door. 136 00:07:20,560 --> 00:07:25,120 NARRATOR: 400 miles downriver on the Nile's west bank, 137 00:07:25,200 --> 00:07:26,920 Chris has come to Giza 138 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:30,400 to explore the peak of pyramid building. 139 00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:33,320 He wants to understand how these monuments evolved 140 00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:36,200 from the early pyramids at Saqqara 141 00:07:36,280 --> 00:07:37,840 and to search for clues 142 00:07:37,920 --> 00:07:41,040 to explain why they were abandoned. 143 00:07:41,120 --> 00:07:43,840 These stone giants included new designs 144 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:46,040 to protect the body of the pharaoh from robbers 145 00:07:46,120 --> 00:07:47,800 after his death. 146 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:54,040 On the outside of Khufu's Great Pyramid, 147 00:07:54,120 --> 00:07:57,880 a seamless cover of gleaming limestone slabs and blocks 148 00:07:57,960 --> 00:08:01,160 conceal the only way into the pyramid, 149 00:08:01,240 --> 00:08:05,240 a narrow tunnel 60 feet above the ground. 150 00:08:05,320 --> 00:08:08,600 But this passage, too, was sealed. 151 00:08:08,680 --> 00:08:10,880 Intruders would have to break through 152 00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:14,000 huge, six-foot-deep granite blocks 153 00:08:14,080 --> 00:08:19,040 to reach a steep shaft leading to the center of the pyramid. 154 00:08:19,120 --> 00:08:20,480 At the top, they would face 155 00:08:20,560 --> 00:08:25,320 three more massive granite slabs 156 00:08:25,400 --> 00:08:28,080 before they finally reached the tomb chamber, 157 00:08:28,160 --> 00:08:31,520 where the king and his riches lay buried. 158 00:08:35,960 --> 00:08:37,800 Alongside the Great Pyramid, 159 00:08:37,880 --> 00:08:42,440 Khufu's son, Khafre, built his own pyramid, 160 00:08:42,520 --> 00:08:46,080 and below it, a complex of monuments and temples 161 00:08:46,160 --> 00:08:50,080 designed to aid his successful resurrection. 162 00:08:50,160 --> 00:08:52,240 Priests would come here to make offerings 163 00:08:52,320 --> 00:08:54,160 in the shadow of the pyramid, 164 00:08:54,240 --> 00:08:57,120 ensuring the pharaoh's name was kept alive. 165 00:09:00,200 --> 00:09:02,800 One of these monuments carefully positioned 166 00:09:02,880 --> 00:09:06,600 is the ancient world's most enigmatic sculpture, 167 00:09:06,680 --> 00:09:08,840 the Great Sphinx. 168 00:09:08,920 --> 00:09:12,040 CHRIS: The Egyptians were very interested in alignment, 169 00:09:12,120 --> 00:09:13,840 and one of the great achievements here 170 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:16,760 at Giza Plateau is in their ability 171 00:09:16,840 --> 00:09:20,720 to lay out monuments like this on a vast scale. 172 00:09:20,800 --> 00:09:22,600 The Sphinx and the temple in front of it 173 00:09:22,680 --> 00:09:24,240 and the pyramid behind 174 00:09:24,320 --> 00:09:27,400 are actually all very carefully aligned with one another. 175 00:09:27,480 --> 00:09:29,320 NARRATOR: Chris searches for evidence 176 00:09:29,400 --> 00:09:33,640 of when the pharaohs abandoned their monuments. 177 00:09:33,720 --> 00:09:35,520 Between the creature's paws, 178 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:38,360 he finds a slab of a different stone 179 00:09:38,440 --> 00:09:41,880 added 1,000 years later, 180 00:09:41,960 --> 00:09:46,400 the Dream Stele. 181 00:09:46,480 --> 00:09:48,720 CHRIS: It's called the Dream Stele 182 00:09:48,800 --> 00:09:52,720 because the text describes a story in which, 183 00:09:52,800 --> 00:09:56,360 before he was king, Thutmosis IV had a dream 184 00:09:56,440 --> 00:09:59,480 in which the Sphinx spoke to him, and the Sphinx says, 185 00:09:59,560 --> 00:10:01,960 "I am not in terribly good condition. 186 00:10:02,040 --> 00:10:04,680 I've fallen into disrepair." 187 00:10:04,760 --> 00:10:06,560 NARRATOR: The hieroglyphs claim the Sphinx 188 00:10:06,640 --> 00:10:09,840 had been allowed to drown in the desert sands 189 00:10:09,920 --> 00:10:12,120 but that Thutmosis would be rewarded 190 00:10:12,200 --> 00:10:16,280 for restoring the sculpture to its former glory. 191 00:10:16,360 --> 00:10:20,600 CHRIS: If Thutmosis IV to-be could make the repairs 192 00:10:20,680 --> 00:10:23,080 that are necessary and clear the sand away, 193 00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:25,920 then in exchange, the Sphinx itself 194 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:30,040 will bestow the kingship upon the young prince, 195 00:10:30,120 --> 00:10:31,960 so in other words, the deal is 196 00:10:32,040 --> 00:10:35,680 if Thutmosis IV does what the Sphinx wants, he'll become king. 197 00:10:35,760 --> 00:10:38,440 NARRATOR: Thutmosis believed that to become pharaoh, 198 00:10:38,520 --> 00:10:41,960 he had to please his glorious ancestors 199 00:10:42,040 --> 00:10:44,600 and make sure the ancient pharaohs' monuments 200 00:10:44,680 --> 00:10:47,960 were remembered and respected. 201 00:10:48,040 --> 00:10:50,080 When he became pharaoh, 202 00:10:50,160 --> 00:10:53,320 Thutmosis did renovate the Sphinx 203 00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:56,880 during a period known as the New Kingdom, 204 00:10:56,960 --> 00:10:58,800 the pinnacle of Egyptian power 205 00:10:58,880 --> 00:11:03,120 in a history stretching back thousands of years. 206 00:11:03,200 --> 00:11:06,240 The first small settlements sprang up on the Nile 207 00:11:06,320 --> 00:11:10,360 around 5000 B.C., farming the fertile land 208 00:11:10,440 --> 00:11:14,360 and eventually growing into the state of Egypt. 209 00:11:14,440 --> 00:11:19,080 Around 2700 B.C., the Old Kingdom began, 210 00:11:19,160 --> 00:11:22,600 the time of the great pyramid builders. 211 00:11:22,680 --> 00:11:25,960 But in 2175 B.C., 212 00:11:26,040 --> 00:11:29,280 their civilization came crashing down 213 00:11:29,360 --> 00:11:34,920 as rule disintegrated and Egypt descended into chaos. 214 00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:38,920 500 years later, the New Kingdom was born-- 215 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:42,400 the golden age of Tutankhamun, Queen Nefertiti, 216 00:11:42,480 --> 00:11:44,880 and Ramses the Great. 217 00:11:44,960 --> 00:11:48,560 But these pharaohs built no pyramids at all. 218 00:11:50,760 --> 00:11:52,720 By the time Thutmosis IV 219 00:11:52,800 --> 00:11:55,120 had rescued the Sphinx from the sands, 220 00:11:55,200 --> 00:11:58,400 the pharaoh's construction of Egypt's most iconic monuments 221 00:11:58,480 --> 00:12:00,840 had been totally abandoned. 222 00:12:00,920 --> 00:12:04,280 But why? 223 00:12:04,360 --> 00:12:07,240 75 miles to the east of the pyramids 224 00:12:07,320 --> 00:12:12,240 is Ain Sokhna on Egypt's Red Sea coast. 225 00:12:12,320 --> 00:12:14,600 French archaeologist Claire Somaglino 226 00:12:14,680 --> 00:12:19,280 has been digging up ancient structures here for nine years. 227 00:12:19,360 --> 00:12:21,640 She believes this remote outpost 228 00:12:21,720 --> 00:12:27,840 holds secrets that explain the pyramids' boom and bust. 229 00:12:27,920 --> 00:12:30,360 Many of the structures she has found 230 00:12:30,440 --> 00:12:33,440 date to the peak of pyramid construction. 231 00:12:43,800 --> 00:12:46,040 NARRATOR: But of all the buildings she unearths, 232 00:12:46,120 --> 00:12:49,720 none shows any sign of long-term occupation. 233 00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:52,760 Ain Sokhna appears to be an encampment. 234 00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:05,680 NARRATOR: Claire searches for clues 235 00:13:05,760 --> 00:13:07,480 to what this camp could reveal 236 00:13:07,560 --> 00:13:11,720 about Egypt's age of the pyramid builders. 237 00:13:11,800 --> 00:13:14,720 Graffiti carved into a nearby rock face 238 00:13:14,800 --> 00:13:16,760 could provide evidence. 239 00:13:20,760 --> 00:13:23,680 NARRATOR: In the cliffs above Ain Sokhna, 240 00:13:23,760 --> 00:13:26,720 the dry environment has preserved etchings in the rock 241 00:13:26,800 --> 00:13:29,640 made by people who passed through. 242 00:13:29,720 --> 00:13:33,640 Some of the carvings date back only half a century, 243 00:13:33,720 --> 00:13:36,920 but others are thousands of years old. 244 00:14:03,720 --> 00:14:06,080 NARRATOR: The graffiti suggests the camp of Ain Sokhna 245 00:14:06,160 --> 00:14:09,360 was a staging post in a supply chain, 246 00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:12,160 one providing the resource that the pharaohs needed 247 00:14:12,240 --> 00:14:15,320 more than any other for their pyramid building, 248 00:14:15,400 --> 00:14:19,280 the must-have metal for ancient stone carving-- 249 00:14:19,360 --> 00:14:20,960 copper. 250 00:14:21,040 --> 00:14:23,440 Claire believes it came from the mines of Sinai 251 00:14:23,520 --> 00:14:25,080 across the Red Sea. 252 00:14:28,760 --> 00:14:30,800 When the pharaoh needed more copper, 253 00:14:30,880 --> 00:14:34,760 he sent an army of workers east across the desert. 254 00:14:36,240 --> 00:14:38,920 Some of them carried flat packed boats, 255 00:14:39,000 --> 00:14:41,240 which were assembled at the coast 256 00:14:41,320 --> 00:14:44,120 and sailed across the Red Sea. 257 00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:47,040 The men spent two months 258 00:14:47,120 --> 00:14:49,240 laboring in the mines of the Sinai, 259 00:14:49,320 --> 00:14:53,760 digging out hundreds of pounds of copper ore. 260 00:14:53,840 --> 00:14:55,880 And once they'd filled up the ships, 261 00:14:55,960 --> 00:14:59,360 they returned with the ore to the mainland, 262 00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:02,920 ready to haul back to the Nile and to the pyramids. 263 00:15:07,480 --> 00:15:10,440 The discoveries reveal the Port of Ain Sokhna 264 00:15:10,520 --> 00:15:13,560 was critical to building the largest structures 265 00:15:13,640 --> 00:15:15,360 the world had ever seen. 266 00:15:31,720 --> 00:15:33,640 NARRATOR: If Claire's to find evidence here 267 00:15:33,720 --> 00:15:37,440 of the pyramids' downfall, she needs to dig. 268 00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:41,440 On the west bank of the Nile, 269 00:15:41,520 --> 00:15:44,880 Egypt's ancient Land of the Dead, 270 00:15:44,960 --> 00:15:47,880 hieroglyphics expert Christelle Alvarez 271 00:15:47,960 --> 00:15:50,480 is at the pyramid archaeologists consider 272 00:15:50,560 --> 00:15:55,240 to be the last built in the great age of pyramids. 273 00:15:55,320 --> 00:15:58,960 The tomb of Pharaoh Pepi II was built 400 years 274 00:15:59,040 --> 00:16:02,360 after the original step pyramid at Saqqara. 275 00:16:12,840 --> 00:16:15,080 NARRATOR: She hunts for clues to why the obsession 276 00:16:15,160 --> 00:16:18,440 with pyramid building began to end here. 277 00:16:20,760 --> 00:16:23,480 Hieroglyphs cover almost every surface, 278 00:16:23,560 --> 00:16:25,840 including the royal sign 279 00:16:25,920 --> 00:16:27,240 bearing the pharaoh's name. 280 00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:40,600 NARRATOR: The walls of Khufu's tomb 281 00:16:40,680 --> 00:16:44,520 in the Great Pyramid at Giza were left blank. 282 00:16:44,600 --> 00:16:47,200 But here in Pepi's tomb, 283 00:16:47,280 --> 00:16:49,280 they're filled with incantations 284 00:16:49,360 --> 00:16:53,080 designed to help the pharaoh enter the underworld safely. 285 00:17:06,120 --> 00:17:08,000 NARRATOR: As the age of the pyramids progressed, 286 00:17:08,080 --> 00:17:09,920 the pharaohs filled their tombs 287 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:11,920 with more and more magical protection 288 00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:14,680 for their bodies and souls. 289 00:17:14,760 --> 00:17:16,600 The texts kept their faith 290 00:17:16,680 --> 00:17:19,800 in the power of the pyramids alive, 291 00:17:19,880 --> 00:17:23,120 just as their power over the kingdom of Egypt 292 00:17:23,200 --> 00:17:25,360 was about to collapse. 293 00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:31,600 Pepi II's rule was marred 294 00:17:31,680 --> 00:17:35,480 by droughts, famine, and civil unrest. 295 00:17:35,560 --> 00:17:38,920 [arguing and shouting] 296 00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:40,960 Worried about his afterlife, 297 00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:43,520 he covered his tomb in magical inscriptions 298 00:17:43,600 --> 00:17:46,320 to guarantee his spirit's security. 299 00:17:48,520 --> 00:17:53,280 When Pepi died without an heir, a power struggle ensued, 300 00:17:53,360 --> 00:17:56,520 resulting in a century of weak, short-lived kings. 301 00:17:58,720 --> 00:18:02,640 Lacking wealth and resources, their pyramids were tiny 302 00:18:02,720 --> 00:18:04,800 compared to the mighty structures 303 00:18:04,880 --> 00:18:06,880 of the great pyramid age. 304 00:18:21,720 --> 00:18:23,360 NARRATOR: The pyramid, 305 00:18:23,440 --> 00:18:25,640 a tradition that defined a civilization, 306 00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:28,800 was effectively extinct. 307 00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:30,760 At Qubbet el-Hawa, 308 00:18:30,840 --> 00:18:34,040 near the southern Egyptian city of Aswan, 309 00:18:34,120 --> 00:18:36,080 Alejandro hopes the burials 310 00:18:36,160 --> 00:18:39,000 of ancient Egypt's most powerful elite 311 00:18:39,080 --> 00:18:43,320 could help explain the death of the pyramids. 312 00:18:43,400 --> 00:18:46,680 If this chiseled flat rock wall is a tomb, 313 00:18:46,760 --> 00:18:50,920 their secrets could be just below his feet. 314 00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:55,960 He spots another clue that a door is nearby. 315 00:18:56,040 --> 00:19:00,040 ALEJANDRO: We have here remains of termites. 316 00:19:00,120 --> 00:19:05,000 They used to eat the fresh wood of the coffins. 317 00:19:05,080 --> 00:19:08,680 We are following the pathway of the insects. 318 00:19:08,760 --> 00:19:11,520 NARRATOR: With delicate artifacts potentially close, 319 00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:15,080 the team needs Alejandro's experienced hand. 320 00:19:15,160 --> 00:19:20,160 ALEJANDRO: Here we have the, the entrance. 321 00:19:20,240 --> 00:19:21,960 Amazing. 322 00:19:24,280 --> 00:19:26,440 Ah-ha! The end of the door. 323 00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:34,040 [exhales] 324 00:19:37,400 --> 00:19:38,720 It's amazing. 325 00:19:41,480 --> 00:19:42,960 Yeah. 326 00:19:43,040 --> 00:19:45,240 I have no words. 327 00:19:45,320 --> 00:19:47,920 Probably we are the first that see this door 328 00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:51,080 in more than 4,000 years. 329 00:19:51,160 --> 00:19:52,600 NARRATOR: The neatly cut opening 330 00:19:52,680 --> 00:19:54,520 matches the style for elites 331 00:19:54,600 --> 00:19:58,280 in southern Egypt at the end of the pyramid age. 332 00:19:58,360 --> 00:20:01,040 It's a huge moment for the entire team. 333 00:20:01,120 --> 00:20:04,160 [speaking Arabic] 334 00:20:04,240 --> 00:20:06,960 NARRATOR: The race is on to open up the doorway 335 00:20:07,040 --> 00:20:10,720 before the site closes for the day in just a few hours' time. 336 00:20:16,960 --> 00:20:18,800 NARRATOR: It's already mid-morning 337 00:20:18,880 --> 00:20:21,040 on Alejandro's dig at Qubbet el-Hawa, 338 00:20:21,120 --> 00:20:24,760 and the workers' shift ends at 1:00 P.M. 339 00:20:24,840 --> 00:20:27,520 Termites may have led him to an elite burial, 340 00:20:27,600 --> 00:20:29,440 but to expose the doorway, 341 00:20:29,520 --> 00:20:32,120 the team must excavate not just the opening, 342 00:20:32,200 --> 00:20:35,560 but the entire area in front of the tomb. 343 00:20:35,640 --> 00:20:39,720 If they don't, the sand will just flow right back in. 344 00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:45,520 It allows Alejandro a moment 345 00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:48,080 to remind himself what he's looking for-- 346 00:20:48,160 --> 00:20:51,440 evidence of powerful Egyptian nobles 347 00:20:51,520 --> 00:20:56,040 whose rise spelled the end of the age of the pyramids. 348 00:20:56,120 --> 00:20:58,160 ALEJANDRO: In the period that we are excavating, 349 00:20:58,240 --> 00:21:00,360 the head of the state was the king, 350 00:21:00,440 --> 00:21:02,800 and under him was the vizier, 351 00:21:02,880 --> 00:21:07,360 and below the vizier, we have the provincial governors. 352 00:21:07,440 --> 00:21:09,640 So these people, we might say 353 00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:13,880 that they were the number three in the state. 354 00:21:13,960 --> 00:21:16,280 NARRATOR: Over 11 seasons working here, 355 00:21:16,360 --> 00:21:18,120 Alejandro has found evidence 356 00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:20,640 that in this era of Egyptian history, 357 00:21:20,720 --> 00:21:23,520 the pharaohs were losing their grip on power. 358 00:21:25,440 --> 00:21:27,640 While the kings got weaker, 359 00:21:27,720 --> 00:21:31,640 the governors of Egypt's provinces got richer. 360 00:21:31,720 --> 00:21:34,760 Alejandro discovers that just as Pharaoh Pepi II 361 00:21:34,840 --> 00:21:39,440 was building what would prove to be the last great pyramid, 362 00:21:39,520 --> 00:21:42,240 the tombs of a governor at Qubbet el-Hawa 363 00:21:42,320 --> 00:21:44,520 were expanding. 364 00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:46,680 Over the course of Pepi's reign, 365 00:21:46,760 --> 00:21:50,480 they increased in size fivefold. 366 00:21:50,560 --> 00:21:53,320 The afterlife wasn't just for pharaohs, 367 00:21:53,400 --> 00:21:56,000 and pyramids weren't the only kind of tomb 368 00:21:56,080 --> 00:21:58,360 that could get you there. 369 00:21:58,440 --> 00:22:00,680 ALEJANDRO: This is what we hope to find 370 00:22:00,760 --> 00:22:04,320 in the tomb that we have just discovered. 371 00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:07,160 It is a false door, and it was the magic door 372 00:22:07,240 --> 00:22:11,400 that the dead used to receive their offerings. 373 00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:14,440 NARRATOR: Egyptians believed the spirit of the deceased 374 00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:17,040 would reveal itself to visitors, 375 00:22:17,120 --> 00:22:21,840 taking offerings of food to sustain it in the afterlife. 376 00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:24,320 If the new tomb has a false door, 377 00:22:24,400 --> 00:22:27,360 it could hold a wealth of hieroglyphic information 378 00:22:27,440 --> 00:22:29,880 about how powerful the governors had become 379 00:22:29,960 --> 00:22:33,000 at the end of the pyramid age. 380 00:22:33,080 --> 00:22:36,120 ALEJANDRO: What we are hoping to find in the new tomb 381 00:22:36,200 --> 00:22:39,040 is inscriptions showing us not only the name, 382 00:22:39,120 --> 00:22:43,000 but also his position in the society. 383 00:22:43,080 --> 00:22:44,920 NARRATOR: With the site ready to close 384 00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:46,760 for the day at 1:00 P.M., 385 00:22:46,840 --> 00:22:51,680 they've excavated just far enough for one person to enter. 386 00:22:51,760 --> 00:22:55,120 Alejandro gives in to temptation. 387 00:22:59,400 --> 00:23:00,680 MAN: In? 388 00:23:02,880 --> 00:23:04,920 ALEJANDRO: We have a lot of sand. 389 00:23:07,920 --> 00:23:11,880 And there is no trace of plundering. 390 00:23:11,960 --> 00:23:15,320 NARRATOR: Looting was rife in ancient Egypt. 391 00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:17,440 [grunts] 392 00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:19,600 Even the giant Pyramids at Giza 393 00:23:19,680 --> 00:23:24,640 were ransacked and cleared of valuables. 394 00:23:24,720 --> 00:23:26,520 With no evidence of robbery, 395 00:23:26,600 --> 00:23:29,320 there's good reason for Alejandro to be optimistic 396 00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:34,240 about the treasures that may lie beneath the tons of sand. 397 00:23:34,320 --> 00:23:36,240 ALEJANDRO: Archaeology is patience. 398 00:23:36,320 --> 00:23:41,480 It's patient work that sometimes has lucky strikes. 399 00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:48,560 NARRATOR: At Ain Sokhna on Egypt's Red Sea coast, 400 00:23:48,640 --> 00:23:50,760 Claire's team opens a new trench 401 00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:53,120 at the ancient encampment. 402 00:23:53,200 --> 00:23:54,760 [speaking French] 403 00:23:54,840 --> 00:23:57,360 Her colleague, archaeologist Adeline Bats, 404 00:23:57,440 --> 00:23:59,040 is piecing together the history 405 00:23:59,120 --> 00:24:01,640 of the pharaoh's copper expeditions. 406 00:24:12,880 --> 00:24:15,840 [speaking French] 407 00:24:20,040 --> 00:24:22,720 NARRATOR: She notices a gap in the record. 408 00:24:40,040 --> 00:24:41,840 NARRATOR: A thick layer of mud, 409 00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:44,400 laid down over decades by winds and flooding, 410 00:24:44,480 --> 00:24:46,600 covers the ashes of the workers' cooking fires 411 00:24:46,680 --> 00:24:49,320 from the age of the pyramids. 412 00:24:49,400 --> 00:24:51,720 The discovery shows no one came here 413 00:24:51,800 --> 00:24:54,280 for a century or more. 414 00:24:54,360 --> 00:24:57,240 It's critical evidence of the death of the pyramids, 415 00:24:57,320 --> 00:24:59,160 revealing that the pharaohs gave up 416 00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:01,960 their copper expeditions. 417 00:25:02,040 --> 00:25:04,160 The decline in their wealth meant they could no longer 418 00:25:04,240 --> 00:25:07,560 afford to build giant pyramids. 419 00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:13,120 As quickly as it had begun, the pyramid age was over. 420 00:25:13,200 --> 00:25:15,000 But the pharaohs' belief in the afterlife 421 00:25:15,080 --> 00:25:17,360 was stronger than ever, 422 00:25:17,440 --> 00:25:20,560 so how did later kings protect their bodies 423 00:25:20,640 --> 00:25:24,240 and secure their passage to eternity? 424 00:25:31,280 --> 00:25:34,200 NARRATOR: 700 years after the pharaoh Pepi II 425 00:25:34,280 --> 00:25:36,800 built the last great pyramid, 426 00:25:36,880 --> 00:25:38,800 the pharaohs of the New Kingdom 427 00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:42,880 had re-established their supreme power in Egypt 428 00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:47,560 and moved their capital south to Thebes, modern-day Luxor. 429 00:25:50,080 --> 00:25:52,880 Chris crosses the Nile River here to investigate 430 00:25:52,960 --> 00:25:54,640 how the New Kingdom rulers 431 00:25:54,720 --> 00:25:57,840 sought to guarantee their afterlife. 432 00:25:57,920 --> 00:26:00,800 These wealthy pharaohs could have afforded tombs 433 00:26:00,880 --> 00:26:04,280 as grand as Khufu's Great Pyramid, 434 00:26:04,360 --> 00:26:06,520 but during the chaos following 435 00:26:06,600 --> 00:26:08,960 the end of the old pharaoh's reign, 436 00:26:09,040 --> 00:26:12,520 the ancient pyramids were ransacked. 437 00:26:12,600 --> 00:26:15,080 Ancient texts describe the turmoil 438 00:26:15,160 --> 00:26:17,320 as bodies were cast out from tombs 439 00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:20,520 and funerary goods disappeared. 440 00:26:20,600 --> 00:26:23,080 The pharaohs' mummies were stolen or destroyed, 441 00:26:23,160 --> 00:26:26,600 along with their dreams of eternal life. 442 00:26:26,680 --> 00:26:28,480 Desperate to avoid that fate, 443 00:26:28,560 --> 00:26:32,360 the pioneering New Kingdom pharaoh, Thutmosis I, 444 00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:37,120 embarked on a revolution in royal tomb building. 445 00:26:37,200 --> 00:26:39,960 Echoing the governors in the south, 446 00:26:40,040 --> 00:26:43,120 he decided to cut his tomb into the rock. 447 00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:47,320 His plan to protect his mummy was to hide. 448 00:26:50,720 --> 00:26:53,160 In a valley west of Thebes, 449 00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:56,240 the king picked a spot and dug a shaft 450 00:26:56,320 --> 00:27:00,440 over 600 feet deep into the mountain. 451 00:27:00,520 --> 00:27:02,760 It had subterranean chambers 452 00:27:02,840 --> 00:27:06,400 for the riches he'd take into the afterlife. 453 00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:09,320 And in a lavish tomb at the bottom of the tunnel, 454 00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:13,600 a sarcophagus would keep his body safe. 455 00:27:13,680 --> 00:27:16,240 Following his example, 456 00:27:16,320 --> 00:27:19,400 nearly every pharaoh for the next 500 years 457 00:27:19,480 --> 00:27:21,880 dug tombs into the mountain here 458 00:27:21,960 --> 00:27:25,080 to provide underworld palaces, 459 00:27:25,160 --> 00:27:28,920 creating a subterranean city of dead royals 460 00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:33,720 that became known as the Valley of the Kings. 461 00:27:33,800 --> 00:27:37,000 One of the best preserved tombs in the valley 462 00:27:37,080 --> 00:27:43,000 belonged to one of Egypt's greatest pharaohs, Ramses III. 463 00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:44,040 CHRIS: As soon as you enter 464 00:27:44,120 --> 00:27:46,040 this tomb, you're really struck 465 00:27:46,120 --> 00:27:48,120 by the sort of monumental scale. 466 00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:49,960 All the surfaces are decorated. 467 00:27:50,040 --> 00:27:51,920 Hieroglyphic inscriptions everywhere. 468 00:27:52,000 --> 00:27:53,880 Large images of the king. 469 00:27:56,200 --> 00:27:59,080 Really, really impressive. 470 00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:02,680 NARRATOR: Just as Pepi II covered the last great pyramid 471 00:28:02,760 --> 00:28:05,040 with hieroglyphic spells, 472 00:28:05,120 --> 00:28:07,320 Ramses hoped magical art would secure 473 00:28:07,400 --> 00:28:11,200 his dangerous passage to resurrection. 474 00:28:11,280 --> 00:28:12,880 CHRIS: It's a very perilous journey, 475 00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:14,760 it's a very hazardous journey, 476 00:28:14,840 --> 00:28:16,760 and he encounters all kinds of demons along his way. 477 00:28:16,840 --> 00:28:18,360 But with the help of the gods, 478 00:28:18,440 --> 00:28:20,160 who accompany him throughout the tomb, 479 00:28:20,240 --> 00:28:23,240 he's able to make that journey successfully. 480 00:28:23,320 --> 00:28:25,280 NARRATOR: The New Kingdom pharaohs 481 00:28:25,360 --> 00:28:27,960 believed their rock-cut tombs would protect their mummies 482 00:28:28,040 --> 00:28:30,480 where the pyramids had failed. 483 00:28:30,560 --> 00:28:33,840 But Ramses' architects left nothing to chance, 484 00:28:33,920 --> 00:28:37,920 designing precipitous shafts as they tunneled into the rock. 485 00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:39,800 CHRIS: This is a pretty important part of the tomb. 486 00:28:39,880 --> 00:28:42,000 It's a well shaft, which is a characteristic feature 487 00:28:42,080 --> 00:28:43,800 of tombs in the Valley of the Kings 488 00:28:43,880 --> 00:28:45,680 designed to deter robbers, 489 00:28:45,760 --> 00:28:48,840 beautifully decorated with images of gods. 490 00:28:48,920 --> 00:28:50,560 NARRATOR: Even buried hundreds of feet 491 00:28:50,640 --> 00:28:52,600 down in the heart of the mountain, 492 00:28:52,680 --> 00:28:55,800 Ramses feared his tomb would be pillaged. 493 00:28:55,880 --> 00:28:58,080 CHRIS: Even though the tomb would have been sealed 494 00:28:58,160 --> 00:28:59,880 and the idea would have been, of course, 495 00:28:59,960 --> 00:29:03,240 that nobody would ever, ever come in here again, 496 00:29:03,320 --> 00:29:06,600 it's still incredibly beautifully decorated. 497 00:29:08,360 --> 00:29:10,760 For the eyes of the gods only perhaps. 498 00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:15,440 NARRATOR: There was just one problem. 499 00:29:15,520 --> 00:29:17,200 To live on in eternity, 500 00:29:17,280 --> 00:29:20,080 a king needed not just to preserve his body, 501 00:29:20,160 --> 00:29:23,280 he had to be remembered by the living. 502 00:29:23,360 --> 00:29:25,800 The pyramids had monuments and temples attached 503 00:29:25,880 --> 00:29:29,960 where priests celebrated the memory of the dead pharaoh. 504 00:29:30,040 --> 00:29:32,320 Ramses did not want to advertise the location 505 00:29:32,400 --> 00:29:36,040 of his body and his riches with a pyramid, 506 00:29:36,120 --> 00:29:41,000 but he still needed a monument to keep his name alive. 507 00:29:41,080 --> 00:29:45,000 On the west bank of the Nile, near Thebes, 508 00:29:45,080 --> 00:29:48,760 Ramses erected a gigantic 80-foot gate 509 00:29:48,840 --> 00:29:52,880 on which he carved huge images of himself smiting his foes. 510 00:29:55,560 --> 00:29:58,240 Behind it, his mortuary temple, 511 00:29:58,320 --> 00:30:01,560 two courtyards lined with his statues 512 00:30:01,640 --> 00:30:05,480 led to a series of chapels and a false door, 513 00:30:05,560 --> 00:30:09,240 where priests would make offerings and repeat his name. 514 00:30:11,920 --> 00:30:13,520 Surrounding the temple, 515 00:30:13,600 --> 00:30:16,200 he built mud brick walls 30 foot thick, 516 00:30:16,280 --> 00:30:19,440 stretching more than half a mile 517 00:30:19,520 --> 00:30:23,200 to turn his temple into a fortress of worship. 518 00:30:27,240 --> 00:30:29,960 Just a mile from Ramses' temple 519 00:30:30,040 --> 00:30:34,440 lies another great monument to a New Kingdom pharaoh, 520 00:30:34,520 --> 00:30:38,840 Thutmosis III's Temple of Millions of Years. 521 00:30:38,920 --> 00:30:42,240 The temple has crumbled since ancient times, 522 00:30:42,320 --> 00:30:44,600 but Dr. Myriam Seco Alvarez 523 00:30:44,680 --> 00:30:47,960 is leading a project to resurrect the site. 524 00:30:48,040 --> 00:30:51,600 MYRIAM: When we started the project in 2008, 525 00:30:51,680 --> 00:30:54,560 all this was a mountain of sand. 526 00:30:54,640 --> 00:30:57,000 Nothing was visible. 527 00:30:57,080 --> 00:31:00,120 NARRATOR: She wants to discover exactly how these new monuments 528 00:31:00,200 --> 00:31:03,600 were intended to secure the pharaoh's afterlife 529 00:31:03,680 --> 00:31:05,800 without a pyramid. 530 00:31:05,880 --> 00:31:09,800 Archaeologist Manuel Abelleira searches outside the walls 531 00:31:09,880 --> 00:31:12,240 for clues to how the temple was used. 532 00:31:15,920 --> 00:31:18,920 He meticulously records every find workers unearth 533 00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:21,760 around the temple walls. 534 00:31:24,440 --> 00:31:25,920 MANUEL ABELLEIRA: Nice. 535 00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:28,040 [speaking Arabic] 536 00:31:28,120 --> 00:31:30,160 NARRATOR: Ancient Egyptians made offerings of food, 537 00:31:30,240 --> 00:31:33,960 like dates, to the memory of the pharaoh, 538 00:31:34,040 --> 00:31:37,000 but among the 3,500-year-old fruit, 539 00:31:37,080 --> 00:31:39,600 he finds more valuable objects. 540 00:31:51,120 --> 00:31:52,800 NARRATOR: The beer jar offerings mean 541 00:31:52,880 --> 00:31:55,520 archaeologist Javier Martinez-Babón 542 00:31:55,600 --> 00:31:58,120 can track the temple's history. 543 00:31:58,200 --> 00:32:01,640 Some bear the signature hieroglyphs of later pharaohs. 544 00:32:18,440 --> 00:32:20,440 NARRATOR: The jars prove that for centuries, 545 00:32:20,520 --> 00:32:23,680 Egypt's rulers made offerings at this temple 546 00:32:23,760 --> 00:32:27,200 to keep Thutmosis III's name alive, 547 00:32:27,280 --> 00:32:29,720 while his mummy lay safely hidden 548 00:32:29,800 --> 00:32:31,800 in the Valley of the Kings. 549 00:32:31,880 --> 00:32:34,800 But Myriam is discovering that Egyptians didn't just leave 550 00:32:34,880 --> 00:32:37,640 offerings of beer and food at the temple. 551 00:32:39,600 --> 00:32:42,400 With just minutes before the site closes for the day, 552 00:32:42,480 --> 00:32:45,560 Myriam's team unearths a burial. 553 00:32:45,640 --> 00:32:47,080 [speaking foreign language] 554 00:32:47,160 --> 00:32:49,120 The site has strict time curfews, 555 00:32:49,200 --> 00:32:53,720 and a skeleton can't be left exposed overnight. 556 00:32:53,800 --> 00:32:57,600 MYRIAM: If we find a body, we have to remove in the same day. 557 00:32:57,680 --> 00:33:03,600 If we find something special, we have to remove to be secure. 558 00:33:03,680 --> 00:33:06,720 NARRATOR: The team scrambles to move the ancient skeleton 559 00:33:06,800 --> 00:33:09,680 before the site shuts down. 560 00:33:09,760 --> 00:33:11,800 MYRIAM: In 20 minutes, we will finish, 561 00:33:11,880 --> 00:33:15,720 so that's why we are a little in a hurry. 562 00:33:15,800 --> 00:33:18,800 [speaking Spanish] 563 00:33:18,880 --> 00:33:21,360 NARRATOR: With minutes to go before the gates slam shut, 564 00:33:21,440 --> 00:33:25,040 the skeleton is safe and ready for analysis. 565 00:33:25,120 --> 00:33:28,160 It could hold clues to how well the temple 566 00:33:28,240 --> 00:33:31,040 safeguarded the pharaohs' afterlife 567 00:33:31,120 --> 00:33:33,920 in the era after the death of the pyramids. 568 00:33:38,560 --> 00:33:39,880 NARRATOR: The skeleton unearthed 569 00:33:39,960 --> 00:33:42,560 outside Thutmosis III's temple 570 00:33:42,640 --> 00:33:46,200 is not the first Myriam's team has discovered. 571 00:33:46,280 --> 00:33:49,840 It's one of more than 125 ancient bodies 572 00:33:49,920 --> 00:33:52,440 they've unearthed around the site, 573 00:33:52,520 --> 00:33:55,120 many from a single tomb. 574 00:33:55,200 --> 00:33:57,960 Why they are here is a mystery, 575 00:33:58,040 --> 00:34:02,280 but some are preserved in almost pristine condition. 576 00:34:02,360 --> 00:34:06,040 The bodies could shed light on how Thutmosis' temple 577 00:34:06,120 --> 00:34:08,800 was supposed to function after his death. 578 00:34:08,880 --> 00:34:10,800 Myriam has made it her mission 579 00:34:10,880 --> 00:34:14,160 to search every ancient body for clues. 580 00:34:14,240 --> 00:34:17,920 Next in line is a fully wrapped mummy. 581 00:34:18,000 --> 00:34:20,520 She can't risk removing the linen bandages, 582 00:34:20,600 --> 00:34:24,240 so dental expert Dr. Roger Seiler uses x-rays 583 00:34:24,320 --> 00:34:26,640 to scan for information. 584 00:34:26,720 --> 00:34:32,280 MYRIAM: We want to see who was this individual, 585 00:34:32,360 --> 00:34:34,520 if it's a male or female. 586 00:34:34,600 --> 00:34:37,520 We want to see their age, 587 00:34:37,600 --> 00:34:39,080 what they eat, 588 00:34:39,160 --> 00:34:42,480 as much as possible about this person. 589 00:34:46,960 --> 00:34:48,960 We have a head. 590 00:34:49,040 --> 00:34:50,560 WOMAN: Mm-hmm. 591 00:34:50,640 --> 00:34:53,120 NARRATOR: Roger examines the skull to determine 592 00:34:53,200 --> 00:34:57,040 the skeleton's sex and age at death. 593 00:34:57,120 --> 00:35:01,200 ROGER SEILER: So, the individual was about 18, 20, 25 years old. 594 00:35:01,280 --> 00:35:03,560 The teeth are in good health. 595 00:35:03,640 --> 00:35:05,040 So it's a young individual. 596 00:35:05,120 --> 00:35:06,200 MYRIAM: Ah, okay. 597 00:35:06,280 --> 00:35:07,680 ROGER: But that's important for-- 598 00:35:07,760 --> 00:35:09,440 MYRIAM: We know if it's male or female? 599 00:35:09,520 --> 00:35:14,160 ROGER: The angle here could say that it's female. 600 00:35:14,240 --> 00:35:15,280 MYRIAM: Female. Maybe female? 601 00:35:15,360 --> 00:35:17,040 ROGER: Maybe female, 602 00:35:17,120 --> 00:35:20,320 together with the form of the chin. 603 00:35:20,400 --> 00:35:24,200 NARRATOR: The x-ray suggests the body is of a young woman. 604 00:35:24,280 --> 00:35:27,560 MYRIAM: This is from Tomb 22, from the late period, 605 00:35:27,640 --> 00:35:29,200 where we found the mummy deposit? 606 00:35:29,280 --> 00:35:30,720 ROGER: Yes. 607 00:35:30,800 --> 00:35:32,520 NARRATOR: The tomb she was buried in 608 00:35:32,600 --> 00:35:34,200 dates to a time nearly 1,000 years 609 00:35:34,280 --> 00:35:36,720 after the temple was built. 610 00:35:36,800 --> 00:35:39,880 It's a hint that the temple was considered sacred 611 00:35:39,960 --> 00:35:43,640 long after Thutmosis III had died. 612 00:35:43,720 --> 00:35:48,200 If he was still remembered, then his afterlife was secure. 613 00:35:48,280 --> 00:35:53,400 MYRIAM: Now we have to go deeper to get more information. 614 00:35:53,480 --> 00:35:56,200 NARRATOR: Myriam needs to discover who these people were 615 00:35:56,280 --> 00:35:59,480 to shed light on why they were buried here. 616 00:35:59,560 --> 00:36:03,440 They work through the dozens of mummies found at the site. 617 00:36:03,520 --> 00:36:05,560 ROGER: The head is missing. 618 00:36:05,640 --> 00:36:08,440 But this is a, I think it's an organ package, 619 00:36:08,520 --> 00:36:11,120 so they took out the inner organs, 620 00:36:11,200 --> 00:36:15,160 they mummified them separately, and put them back. 621 00:36:15,240 --> 00:36:17,240 Good mummification technique. 622 00:36:17,320 --> 00:36:20,760 MYRIAM: So, some of the mummies in this mummy deposit 623 00:36:20,840 --> 00:36:23,640 were high quality. 624 00:36:23,720 --> 00:36:24,680 ROGER: High quality mummification. 625 00:36:24,760 --> 00:36:26,880 MYRIAM: Mummification, yes. 626 00:36:28,200 --> 00:36:29,680 NARRATOR: The mummies suggest 627 00:36:29,760 --> 00:36:31,480 that high-status ancient Egyptians 628 00:36:31,560 --> 00:36:33,280 were burying their dead here 629 00:36:33,360 --> 00:36:38,120 almost to the end of ancient Egyptian civilization. 630 00:36:38,200 --> 00:36:40,120 They believed this site held a power 631 00:36:40,200 --> 00:36:45,160 that would help propel their souls to the afterlife. 632 00:36:45,240 --> 00:36:47,080 The team will need to keep examining 633 00:36:47,160 --> 00:36:49,480 and comparing the finds, 634 00:36:49,560 --> 00:36:51,200 but with this analysis complete, 635 00:36:51,280 --> 00:36:57,080 Myriam can return the body to its eternal rest. 636 00:36:57,160 --> 00:36:59,080 They carefully lower the precious remains 637 00:36:59,160 --> 00:37:02,880 15 feet down the vertical shaft. 638 00:37:02,960 --> 00:37:04,680 MYRIAM: This is the most critical moment, 639 00:37:04,760 --> 00:37:08,440 and always we are worried. 640 00:37:08,520 --> 00:37:12,240 [speaking foreign language] 641 00:37:12,320 --> 00:37:14,720 NARRATOR: The mummy is safely in the burial chamber. 642 00:37:14,800 --> 00:37:16,400 MYRIAM: Well done. 643 00:37:16,480 --> 00:37:19,720 NARRATOR: The team lays it to rest. 644 00:37:19,800 --> 00:37:24,320 MYRIAM: We have one more individual in peace. 645 00:37:24,400 --> 00:37:26,560 NARRATOR: Myriam's discoveries suggest the temple 646 00:37:26,640 --> 00:37:29,040 remained sacred for nearly 1,000 years 647 00:37:29,120 --> 00:37:33,200 after Thutmosis III's death, 648 00:37:33,280 --> 00:37:35,640 preserving his memory and his eternal life 649 00:37:35,720 --> 00:37:37,560 just as long as his body lay safe 650 00:37:37,640 --> 00:37:40,160 in the Valley of the Kings. 651 00:37:40,240 --> 00:37:43,080 The New Kingdom pharaohs' afterlife plan 652 00:37:43,160 --> 00:37:44,920 appeared to be working. 653 00:37:47,240 --> 00:37:49,400 On the hillside of Qubbet el-Hawa, 654 00:37:49,480 --> 00:37:52,520 near modern-day Aswan, 655 00:37:52,600 --> 00:37:54,440 Alejandro and his team have removed 656 00:37:54,520 --> 00:37:57,000 more than 1,000 cubic feet of sand 657 00:37:57,080 --> 00:38:01,120 from the newly discovered tomb. 658 00:38:01,200 --> 00:38:05,160 ALEJANDRO: We have been working outside and inside, 659 00:38:05,240 --> 00:38:07,920 and we have the possibility to have access 660 00:38:08,000 --> 00:38:12,960 to check if we have some remains of the original burials. 661 00:38:13,040 --> 00:38:15,800 NARRATOR: If the tomb contains hieroglyphic inscriptions 662 00:38:15,880 --> 00:38:21,000 or grave goods, it could help him identify the owner 663 00:38:21,080 --> 00:38:23,440 and uncover the burial practices of the nobles 664 00:38:23,520 --> 00:38:26,800 challenging the pyramid building pharaohs' power. 665 00:38:30,160 --> 00:38:34,240 ALEJANDRO: I can see several fragments of bones. 666 00:38:34,320 --> 00:38:37,560 NARRATOR: The bones survive, but whose are they? 667 00:38:44,960 --> 00:38:46,600 NARRATOR: Alejandro's discovery of human remains 668 00:38:46,680 --> 00:38:49,080 proves beyond doubt that he's found a new tomb 669 00:38:49,160 --> 00:38:51,080 at Qubbet el-Hawa. 670 00:38:51,160 --> 00:38:53,040 But what he needs is hieroglyphs 671 00:38:53,120 --> 00:38:57,280 to identify the tomb owner and their status. 672 00:38:57,360 --> 00:38:59,920 If a mummy once lay in this chamber, 673 00:39:00,000 --> 00:39:02,400 perhaps the valuable funerary artifacts 674 00:39:02,480 --> 00:39:04,400 remain in an adjacent cavity. 675 00:39:07,480 --> 00:39:11,880 ALEJANDRO: It's incredible. 676 00:39:11,960 --> 00:39:13,720 We have just the same material 677 00:39:13,800 --> 00:39:16,400 as we found in the other chamber. 678 00:39:16,480 --> 00:39:19,200 NARRATOR: The tomb's second chamber is empty. 679 00:39:19,280 --> 00:39:22,960 It has almost certainly been entered by thieves, 680 00:39:23,040 --> 00:39:26,320 but Alejandro finds that it hasn't just been robbed. 681 00:39:26,400 --> 00:39:29,560 Telltale tracks on the walls show it has been ravaged 682 00:39:29,640 --> 00:39:32,760 by an even more destructive force. 683 00:39:32,840 --> 00:39:34,800 ALEJANDRO: We can guess that here there were coffins. 684 00:39:34,880 --> 00:39:37,400 There were perhaps boxes. 685 00:39:37,480 --> 00:39:41,760 And everything was eaten by the termites. 686 00:39:44,760 --> 00:39:46,720 I've never seen something like this. 687 00:39:48,520 --> 00:39:51,160 [sighs] 688 00:39:51,240 --> 00:39:55,240 It's wherever you look. 689 00:39:55,320 --> 00:39:56,960 Look at that. 690 00:39:57,040 --> 00:39:59,240 These are termites. 691 00:39:59,320 --> 00:40:01,640 I hate termites. 692 00:40:04,320 --> 00:40:06,360 Quite disappointing. 693 00:40:08,360 --> 00:40:11,200 The deception. 694 00:40:11,280 --> 00:40:14,240 But it's part of the game. 695 00:40:14,320 --> 00:40:17,040 Let's go. 696 00:40:17,120 --> 00:40:18,920 NARRATOR: Like the pyramids, 697 00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:20,760 the tombs cut into the rock here 698 00:40:20,840 --> 00:40:24,640 couldn't always save the owners from destruction. 699 00:40:24,720 --> 00:40:27,880 Their carefully laid plans to secure their afterlife 700 00:40:27,960 --> 00:40:30,200 were thwarted. 701 00:40:30,280 --> 00:40:33,320 But the rich necropolis at Qubbet el-Hawa 702 00:40:33,400 --> 00:40:35,080 may one day reveal yet more 703 00:40:35,160 --> 00:40:37,440 about the path the governors of the south played 704 00:40:37,520 --> 00:40:40,240 in the pyramids' decline. 705 00:40:40,320 --> 00:40:42,320 ALEJANDRO: We have been very lucky 706 00:40:42,400 --> 00:40:45,200 during all the seasons that we have been working 707 00:40:45,280 --> 00:40:47,040 in Qubbet el-Hawa, 708 00:40:47,120 --> 00:40:49,000 we have discovered three new tombs, 709 00:40:49,080 --> 00:40:52,680 nine intact burial chambers, 710 00:40:52,760 --> 00:40:55,760 but we have discovered also that, 711 00:40:55,840 --> 00:41:00,800 that sometimes the story has not the same ending. 712 00:41:00,880 --> 00:41:02,400 NARRATOR: He may not have found 713 00:41:02,480 --> 00:41:04,800 hieroglyphic treasures this time, 714 00:41:04,880 --> 00:41:08,360 but next time, Alejandro could be luckier. 715 00:41:11,360 --> 00:41:14,800 In the Valley of the Kings, the New Kingdom pharaohs 716 00:41:14,880 --> 00:41:17,320 dug their tombs deep into the mountains 717 00:41:17,400 --> 00:41:20,920 to protect them from robbers. 718 00:41:21,000 --> 00:41:23,440 Chris has come to the most iconic tomb of all 719 00:41:23,520 --> 00:41:27,720 to find out how well they succeeded-- 720 00:41:27,800 --> 00:41:30,280 the tomb of Tutankhamun, 721 00:41:30,360 --> 00:41:32,920 discovered deep beneath layers of rubble 722 00:41:33,000 --> 00:41:37,160 by archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922. 723 00:41:40,200 --> 00:41:43,880 CHRIS: So, this is the exact spot where Carter would, 724 00:41:43,960 --> 00:41:46,240 for the first time, have made a little hole 725 00:41:46,320 --> 00:41:47,880 in this blocking here 726 00:41:47,960 --> 00:41:50,360 and been able to see through into the antechamber. 727 00:41:50,440 --> 00:41:53,080 So this is the moment where famously he's asked, 728 00:41:53,160 --> 00:41:56,200 "Can you see anything?" And he says, "Wonderful things." 729 00:41:56,280 --> 00:41:59,880 That's because he's looking into this chamber, the antechamber, 730 00:41:59,960 --> 00:42:02,400 which is absolutely stuffed full of objects, 731 00:42:02,480 --> 00:42:05,280 as the whole of the tomb was. 732 00:42:05,360 --> 00:42:07,920 NARRATOR: Carter had uncovered the richest collection 733 00:42:08,000 --> 00:42:11,680 of artifacts ever discovered from Egypt's golden age, 734 00:42:11,760 --> 00:42:15,480 including the pharaoh's famous mask. 735 00:42:15,560 --> 00:42:17,880 But for Chris, the modern mythology 736 00:42:17,960 --> 00:42:20,240 of the riches of Tutankhamun's tomb 737 00:42:20,320 --> 00:42:23,040 is not the full story. 738 00:42:23,120 --> 00:42:25,800 It did contain wonderful things, 739 00:42:25,880 --> 00:42:29,320 but the tomb was not undisturbed. 740 00:42:29,400 --> 00:42:31,800 Tutankhamun's funerary furniture 741 00:42:31,880 --> 00:42:35,360 was piled up chaotically as if ready to be removed. 742 00:42:35,440 --> 00:42:37,040 CHRIS: The tomb was robbed, 743 00:42:37,120 --> 00:42:39,040 perhaps just a few days after the funeral, 744 00:42:39,120 --> 00:42:40,680 when Tutankhamun's body was introduced to the tomb 745 00:42:40,760 --> 00:42:42,520 for the first time. 746 00:42:42,600 --> 00:42:44,840 NARRATOR: Small valuables seem to have been taken 747 00:42:44,920 --> 00:42:47,360 by opportunistic looters. 748 00:42:47,440 --> 00:42:51,480 They had left the larger items, perhaps intending to come back, 749 00:42:51,560 --> 00:42:54,160 but something stopped them. 750 00:42:54,240 --> 00:42:57,040 CHRIS: We now know there was a flash flood in the valley, 751 00:42:57,120 --> 00:42:59,560 which deposited a mass of material 752 00:42:59,640 --> 00:43:01,440 on top of the entranceway to the tomb, 753 00:43:01,520 --> 00:43:02,920 and once it dried out, 754 00:43:03,000 --> 00:43:06,080 it solidified to the consistency of cement. 755 00:43:06,160 --> 00:43:09,320 It was impenetrable, and the location of the tomb was lost 756 00:43:09,400 --> 00:43:13,040 until Howard Carter excavated the tomb in 1922. 757 00:43:13,120 --> 00:43:15,000 That was the first time anybody had seen it 758 00:43:15,080 --> 00:43:18,720 since the late 18th dynasty. 759 00:43:18,800 --> 00:43:21,360 NARRATOR: Tutankhamun's tomb wasn't the only tomb 760 00:43:21,440 --> 00:43:26,160 in the Valley of the Kings plundered by ancient thieves. 761 00:43:26,240 --> 00:43:28,600 All the tombs discovered so far 762 00:43:28,680 --> 00:43:32,440 were robbed of their treasures long ago. 763 00:43:32,520 --> 00:43:34,440 They offered no better protection 764 00:43:34,520 --> 00:43:37,800 than the mighty monuments they replaced. 765 00:43:37,880 --> 00:43:40,680 The pyramids, too, had been no match 766 00:43:40,760 --> 00:43:43,080 for determined grave robbers. 767 00:43:43,160 --> 00:43:46,080 And after years of drought and conflict, 768 00:43:46,160 --> 00:43:50,440 the pharaohs could no longer afford to build them. 769 00:43:50,520 --> 00:43:52,080 But the pharaohs achieved 770 00:43:52,160 --> 00:43:55,880 a different kind of immortality. 771 00:43:55,960 --> 00:43:59,760 Their astonishing pyramids remain as an iconic reminder 772 00:43:59,840 --> 00:44:04,000 of the greatest civilization of the ancient world. 773 00:44:07,480 --> 00:44:09,760 Captioned by Side Door Media Services