1 00:00:01,585 --> 00:00:03,879 On this episode of "Expedition Files"... 2 00:00:05,005 --> 00:00:06,507 In 1696... 3 00:00:06,590 --> 00:00:08,132 Fire! 4 00:00:08,217 --> 00:00:12,095 [Josh] ...Captain Henry Avery is hailed King of the Pirates when 5 00:00:12,179 --> 00:00:15,682 he pulls off an estimated 400-million-dollar heist 6 00:00:15,766 --> 00:00:17,100 on the high seas. 7 00:00:18,727 --> 00:00:22,856 But after the raid, Avery and his loot disappear. 8 00:00:22,981 --> 00:00:25,943 Now, experts may have finally cracked the code, 9 00:00:26,026 --> 00:00:29,154 revealing the fate of this legendary buccaneer 10 00:00:29,238 --> 00:00:30,531 and his vast treasure. 11 00:00:31,949 --> 00:00:36,787 Then, around 1153 BC, Egyptian pharaoh Ramses III 12 00:00:36,870 --> 00:00:39,081 dies under mysterious circumstances. 13 00:00:40,874 --> 00:00:44,545 Ancient records hint at a deadly palace conspiracy led 14 00:00:44,670 --> 00:00:46,755 by his own queen. 15 00:00:46,880 --> 00:00:51,051 More than 3,000 years later, modern scientific technology 16 00:00:51,176 --> 00:00:54,388 could solve one of history's oldest cold cases. 17 00:00:57,057 --> 00:01:01,728 And since the 8th century BC, mythological female warriors 18 00:01:01,812 --> 00:01:05,065 known as Amazons have inspired everything from 19 00:01:05,147 --> 00:01:06,900 South American rivers 20 00:01:06,984 --> 00:01:09,570 to the iconic superhero, Wonder Woman. 21 00:01:10,904 --> 00:01:12,906 But did the Amazons really exist? 22 00:01:14,908 --> 00:01:18,537 New evidence suggests these legendary fighters were real. 23 00:01:24,251 --> 00:01:25,669 In the corridors of time... 24 00:01:28,213 --> 00:01:30,924 are mysteries that defy explanation. 25 00:01:32,634 --> 00:01:35,929 Now, I'm traveling through history itself... 26 00:01:38,765 --> 00:01:40,309 on a search for the truth. 27 00:01:42,769 --> 00:01:43,770 New evidence. 28 00:01:45,771 --> 00:01:46,898 Shocking answers. 29 00:01:48,942 --> 00:01:49,985 I'm Josh Gates. 30 00:01:51,194 --> 00:01:52,195 And these... 31 00:01:54,531 --> 00:01:56,199 are my "Expedition Files." 32 00:02:00,871 --> 00:02:03,457 Have you ever met someone who's larger-than-life? 33 00:02:03,582 --> 00:02:05,834 I'm talking about a person whose charisma could be 34 00:02:05,959 --> 00:02:08,753 measured in megawatts, lighting up every room 35 00:02:08,836 --> 00:02:10,047 they walk into. 36 00:02:10,130 --> 00:02:13,425 Well, tonight, you'll need your sunglasses to investigate some 37 00:02:13,508 --> 00:02:16,553 of the most powerfully captivating characters in 38 00:02:16,637 --> 00:02:19,765 history, squinting to discover the real people 39 00:02:19,848 --> 00:02:23,477 and real mysteries behind their luminous lives. 40 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:29,107 We begin in 1696 aboard a ship called The Fancy. 41 00:02:29,191 --> 00:02:31,568 But don't let the sweet-sounding name fool you. 42 00:02:31,652 --> 00:02:34,029 It's manned by a crew of killers. 43 00:02:34,154 --> 00:02:37,115 The captain here is Henry Avery, the so-called 44 00:02:37,199 --> 00:02:38,825 King of the Pirates. 45 00:02:38,950 --> 00:02:41,620 And right now, he's divvying up the score that earned him 46 00:02:41,703 --> 00:02:43,997 that name, a massive treasure 47 00:02:44,081 --> 00:02:46,625 snatched from the Mughal Empire of India. 48 00:02:46,708 --> 00:02:50,837 It will go down as the largest pirate heist in history, 49 00:02:50,962 --> 00:02:52,923 estimated to be worth a staggering 50 00:02:53,006 --> 00:02:55,676 $400 million today. 51 00:02:55,759 --> 00:02:59,012 But Captain Avery and all this loot will soon vanish, 52 00:02:59,096 --> 00:03:00,972 never to be seen again. 53 00:03:01,056 --> 00:03:04,142 So what happens to these incredible spoils? 54 00:03:04,226 --> 00:03:06,895 The long-buried secrets of Henry Avery 55 00:03:07,020 --> 00:03:08,522 are about to be revealed. 56 00:03:15,612 --> 00:03:17,864 [ocean waves swishing] 57 00:03:20,742 --> 00:03:25,122 Henry Avery is born around 1659 near Plymouth, England, 58 00:03:25,204 --> 00:03:27,165 the same rugged port where the Pilgrims 59 00:03:27,249 --> 00:03:29,668 had departed from just a few decades earlier. 60 00:03:31,878 --> 00:03:33,922 The ocean is in his blood from the start. 61 00:03:35,006 --> 00:03:37,050 As a young man, Avery goes to sea, 62 00:03:38,385 --> 00:03:39,928 earning his place as he learns 63 00:03:40,053 --> 00:03:41,722 the ropes of life aboard a ship. 64 00:03:44,558 --> 00:03:47,060 He begins his career the respectable way, 65 00:03:47,185 --> 00:03:48,978 serving in the Royal Navy, 66 00:03:49,062 --> 00:03:51,273 then he moves on to privateering. 67 00:03:51,398 --> 00:03:54,942 That is, piracy with a government stamp of approval. 68 00:03:55,067 --> 00:03:57,738 As long as you fly the right flag, the crown is happy to 69 00:03:57,821 --> 00:03:59,781 let you rob its enemies blind. 70 00:04:00,907 --> 00:04:05,078 For a while, Avery plays by those rules, but rules at sea 71 00:04:05,162 --> 00:04:06,246 have a way of slipping. 72 00:04:10,625 --> 00:04:14,921 By 1694, Avery is a hardened sailor and the chief mate 73 00:04:15,046 --> 00:04:18,884 aboard the Charles II, a sleek, heavily-armed vessel 74 00:04:18,966 --> 00:04:21,762 tasked with hunting French ships across the Atlantic. 75 00:04:26,600 --> 00:04:28,602 But before long, the voyage stalls 76 00:04:28,685 --> 00:04:30,312 due to bureaucracy. 77 00:04:30,437 --> 00:04:33,106 The ship sails into a Spanish port to receive important 78 00:04:33,190 --> 00:04:35,984 legal documents authorizing their mission. 79 00:04:36,109 --> 00:04:37,110 And there it sits. 80 00:04:38,570 --> 00:04:41,281 The documents fail to arrive, and the crew is all 81 00:04:41,364 --> 00:04:44,284 but trapped, unpaid, restless, and forbidden 82 00:04:44,409 --> 00:04:46,036 from going ashore. 83 00:04:46,119 --> 00:04:49,414 The captain promises that money is coming, but tensions are 84 00:04:49,498 --> 00:04:51,957 on the rise. Avery has had enough. 85 00:04:54,628 --> 00:04:58,131 One night, he leads a mutiny, seizing the ship, 86 00:04:58,215 --> 00:04:59,966 renaming her The Fancy, 87 00:05:00,091 --> 00:05:02,219 and cutting all ties to the British crown. 88 00:05:03,261 --> 00:05:05,430 From this moment on, Henry Avery is 89 00:05:05,514 --> 00:05:08,308 no longer a privateer. He's a pirate. 90 00:05:13,647 --> 00:05:15,649 The Fancy leaves port, setting course 91 00:05:15,774 --> 00:05:17,818 for the richest waters on Earth. 92 00:05:17,943 --> 00:05:19,861 [indistinct battle cries] 93 00:05:19,986 --> 00:05:23,365 Along the way, Avery and his crew raid and loot roughly 94 00:05:23,490 --> 00:05:27,494 a dozen ships as they sweep down the West African coast, 95 00:05:27,619 --> 00:05:31,164 round the Cape of Good Hope, and push into the Indian Ocean, 96 00:05:31,289 --> 00:05:34,501 the vital trading artery of the mighty Mughal Empire. 97 00:05:36,253 --> 00:05:39,631 The Mughals are a powerful Islamic dynasty that rules 98 00:05:39,714 --> 00:05:41,925 across much of what is now India. 99 00:05:42,008 --> 00:05:45,679 And their ruler at this time, Aurangzeb, is quite possibly 100 00:05:45,804 --> 00:05:48,139 the richest man on Earth. 101 00:05:48,223 --> 00:05:51,142 Naturally, that makes his trade route irresistible for 102 00:05:51,226 --> 00:05:53,436 the eyepatch and cutlass crowd. 103 00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:55,981 But Mughal ships are famously well-armed 104 00:05:56,064 --> 00:05:58,024 and fiercely protected. 105 00:05:58,108 --> 00:06:01,444 And as a vital trading partner with Avery's former employers, 106 00:06:01,528 --> 00:06:05,574 the British Crown, an attack on a Mughal ship would make Avery 107 00:06:05,699 --> 00:06:07,409 the most wanted pirate on Earth. 108 00:06:10,871 --> 00:06:14,416 September of 1695, as The Fancy sails toward 109 00:06:14,541 --> 00:06:17,544 the Arabian Peninsula, Captain Avery launches 110 00:06:17,669 --> 00:06:19,754 a high-seas heist so bold, 111 00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:23,383 it would make the "Ocean's 11" crew seasick. 112 00:06:23,508 --> 00:06:27,679 He convinces other nearby pirate captains to join forces 113 00:06:27,762 --> 00:06:30,932 and attack not just one vessel, but a whole fleet, 114 00:06:31,057 --> 00:06:33,226 25 Mughal ships. 115 00:06:33,351 --> 00:06:35,937 But Avery and his crew set their sights on 116 00:06:36,062 --> 00:06:38,607 one particular target -- a massive, 117 00:06:38,732 --> 00:06:41,860 heavily-armed treasure ship called the Ganj-i-Sawai. 118 00:06:43,278 --> 00:06:48,575 It's a floating fortress with 62 guns and 400 guards aboard. 119 00:06:48,658 --> 00:06:50,911 It's armed to the teeth for good reason. 120 00:06:50,994 --> 00:06:53,663 The ship is owned by the Mughal emperor himself, 121 00:06:53,747 --> 00:06:56,041 filled with his vast personal riches. 122 00:07:00,086 --> 00:07:01,254 [explosion bangs] 123 00:07:02,422 --> 00:07:03,924 Fire! 124 00:07:04,007 --> 00:07:06,051 [explosions continue] 125 00:07:11,890 --> 00:07:14,392 [Josh] After a volley of Avery's cannonballs takes out 126 00:07:14,476 --> 00:07:17,687 the Indian ship's mast, the pirates storm the decks. 127 00:07:18,772 --> 00:07:20,398 [grunting] 128 00:07:20,482 --> 00:07:21,483 [splash] 129 00:07:24,235 --> 00:07:26,988 [Josh] When the battle comes to an end, Avery's men claim 130 00:07:27,113 --> 00:07:31,117 a treasure estimated to nearly half a billion dollars today. 131 00:07:32,409 --> 00:07:35,830 As captain, Avery gets the lion's share, receiving not 132 00:07:35,956 --> 00:07:39,209 just hundreds of thousands of gold and silver pieces, 133 00:07:39,292 --> 00:07:41,503 but priceless artifacts too. 134 00:07:41,628 --> 00:07:45,298 Suffice to say, Avery is now a very, very rich man. 135 00:07:46,591 --> 00:07:49,594 With this victory, his reputation grows rapidly, 136 00:07:49,678 --> 00:07:52,138 earning him the nicknames the Arch Pirate 137 00:07:52,263 --> 00:07:53,848 and the King of the Pirates. 138 00:07:57,686 --> 00:07:59,980 But before we break out the celebratory rum, 139 00:08:00,063 --> 00:08:02,816 it should be mentioned that no treasure is valuable enough 140 00:08:02,941 --> 00:08:05,819 to merit what Avery and his men do to claim it. 141 00:08:06,820 --> 00:08:10,281 The pirates torture and butcher everyone aboard the ship, 142 00:08:10,365 --> 00:08:12,659 allegedly including women and relatives of 143 00:08:12,742 --> 00:08:14,035 the royal family. -[indistinct shouting] 144 00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:16,663 [Josh] The Ganj-i-Sawai becomes a bloodbath. 145 00:08:16,788 --> 00:08:18,331 [indistinct shouting] 146 00:08:21,167 --> 00:08:24,087 [Josh] The fallout is swift and worldwide. 147 00:08:24,170 --> 00:08:27,757 Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb is outraged and mistakenly blames 148 00:08:27,841 --> 00:08:30,593 his trading partners in Great Britain for the attack. 149 00:08:31,720 --> 00:08:34,054 He threatens to shut down all trade with 150 00:08:34,179 --> 00:08:36,057 the British East India Company, 151 00:08:36,182 --> 00:08:39,727 a move that would spell economic disaster for England. 152 00:08:39,852 --> 00:08:42,856 The Brits promise to pay Aurangzeb what he's owed 153 00:08:42,938 --> 00:08:45,275 and to bring the pirates to justice. 154 00:08:46,568 --> 00:08:48,069 The search for Henry Avery is 155 00:08:48,194 --> 00:08:50,947 the first global manhunt in history. 156 00:08:51,031 --> 00:08:53,658 The navies of the British and Mughal empires 157 00:08:53,742 --> 00:08:57,537 independently scour the seas for any sign of Avery's ship, 158 00:08:57,662 --> 00:09:00,040 The Fancy, but the King of the Pirates 159 00:09:00,165 --> 00:09:01,291 somehow escapes them. 160 00:09:04,502 --> 00:09:07,589 Avery sets The Fancy on a course for the Bahamas, 161 00:09:07,714 --> 00:09:09,799 at that time a sparsely populated, 162 00:09:09,883 --> 00:09:12,135 loosely-governed British colony. 163 00:09:12,218 --> 00:09:15,388 It's believed that Avery and about 100 crewmen arrive in 164 00:09:15,513 --> 00:09:18,558 New Providence in April of 1696. 165 00:09:18,641 --> 00:09:20,977 [metal clinking] 166 00:09:27,317 --> 00:09:30,528 There, Avery allegedly split shares of the treasure 167 00:09:30,612 --> 00:09:31,613 between his men. 168 00:09:34,866 --> 00:09:38,661 As for The Fancy, her fate is also unknown. 169 00:09:38,745 --> 00:09:41,414 Some say Avery handed her over to the authorities in 170 00:09:41,498 --> 00:09:43,083 New Providence. 171 00:09:43,165 --> 00:09:45,376 Others believe he may have scuttled her. 172 00:09:45,460 --> 00:09:48,963 But either way, Avery and his crew scatter to the winds. 173 00:09:52,634 --> 00:09:54,010 Some stay in the Caribbean, 174 00:09:54,094 --> 00:09:57,055 some head for the American colonies. 175 00:09:57,138 --> 00:10:00,600 Others head for home in hostile British waters. 176 00:10:00,725 --> 00:10:03,436 Where Avery went, well, that's the mystery. 177 00:10:05,897 --> 00:10:08,858 As many as 24 of The Fancy's crew are arrested 178 00:10:08,942 --> 00:10:10,068 within the year. 179 00:10:10,151 --> 00:10:14,280 Five are hanged at London's infamous Execution Dock. 180 00:10:14,364 --> 00:10:16,116 Avery isn't one of them. 181 00:10:16,241 --> 00:10:19,744 After 1696, the so-called Pirate King 182 00:10:19,828 --> 00:10:23,581 appears to simply vanish, along with any trace of 183 00:10:23,665 --> 00:10:25,458 his stolen fortune. 184 00:10:25,542 --> 00:10:28,920 So what became of history's most successful pirate? 185 00:10:29,003 --> 00:10:30,964 Over the last 300 years, there have been 186 00:10:31,089 --> 00:10:32,423 numerous theories. 187 00:10:32,507 --> 00:10:36,427 One of the oldest dates to 1709, when a printed pamphlet 188 00:10:36,511 --> 00:10:39,556 circulates a rumor that Henry Avery took his riches 189 00:10:39,639 --> 00:10:41,683 to Madagascar, married the daughter of 190 00:10:41,808 --> 00:10:44,978 a local ruler, and established a pirate kingdom. 191 00:10:46,604 --> 00:10:49,899 Another enduring theory, drawn from the 1724 book, 192 00:10:49,983 --> 00:10:52,944 "A General History of the Pirates," says Avery 193 00:10:53,027 --> 00:10:56,114 returned to England only to be cheated by merchants 194 00:10:56,197 --> 00:10:59,784 who refused to pay fair value for his treasure. 195 00:10:59,868 --> 00:11:03,121 Stripped of his riches, he allegedly dies a beggar. 196 00:11:05,373 --> 00:11:08,168 But there's zero evidence to back up either of 197 00:11:08,251 --> 00:11:09,919 these bold theories. 198 00:11:10,003 --> 00:11:12,839 In the centuries since, the legend of Henry Avery 199 00:11:12,922 --> 00:11:15,175 and his massive undiscovered treasure 200 00:11:15,258 --> 00:11:17,260 has only continued to grow. 201 00:11:17,343 --> 00:11:19,846 He's been the subject of books, stage plays, 202 00:11:19,929 --> 00:11:22,182 even video games like "Uncharted." 203 00:11:22,265 --> 00:11:23,892 And while his myth has heated up, 204 00:11:24,017 --> 00:11:26,686 his trail has remained ice cold. 205 00:11:26,769 --> 00:11:29,522 But now, an incredible string of discoveries 206 00:11:29,606 --> 00:11:31,191 is quickly changing that. 207 00:11:38,615 --> 00:11:43,286 In 1695, Henry Avery pulls off the greatest heist in 208 00:11:43,411 --> 00:11:48,458 pirate history, when he steals $400 million worth of treasure. 209 00:11:48,583 --> 00:11:52,170 For the next 300 years, the fate of the stolen riches 210 00:11:52,253 --> 00:11:53,796 remains a mystery. 211 00:11:53,922 --> 00:11:56,090 But then comes a remarkable find. 212 00:11:57,592 --> 00:12:01,137 In 2014, a metal detectorist scanning an orchard in 213 00:12:01,262 --> 00:12:02,931 Middletown, Rhode Island, 214 00:12:03,056 --> 00:12:05,600 discovers something extraordinary -- 215 00:12:05,683 --> 00:12:08,603 a silver coin engraved with Arabic script 216 00:12:08,728 --> 00:12:12,774 and minted in Yemen in 1693. 217 00:12:12,857 --> 00:12:15,902 Over the next few years, similar coins turn up across 218 00:12:15,985 --> 00:12:19,322 New England and as far south as North Carolina. 219 00:12:19,447 --> 00:12:22,075 All of them are dated before 1695, 220 00:12:22,158 --> 00:12:24,118 which means they could have been 221 00:12:24,244 --> 00:12:26,496 on the Ganj-i-Sawai when Avery raided it. 222 00:12:28,081 --> 00:12:30,792 In other words, this could be part of the lost loot. 223 00:12:32,418 --> 00:12:34,629 The find was compelling, but it was far from 224 00:12:34,754 --> 00:12:37,090 definitive proof that Avery and his treasure 225 00:12:37,173 --> 00:12:38,675 made it to America. 226 00:12:38,800 --> 00:12:42,470 And meanwhile, other leads elsewhere in the world emerged 227 00:12:42,553 --> 00:12:45,306 as to where the Pirate King may have ended up. 228 00:12:45,390 --> 00:12:48,810 In 2023, I joined an expedition to find the treasure, 229 00:12:48,893 --> 00:12:51,187 not in the New World, but in the Old one. 230 00:12:53,106 --> 00:12:55,441 I traveled to Cornwall, England to meet a team of 231 00:12:55,525 --> 00:12:57,944 treasure hunters following cryptic clues from 232 00:12:58,027 --> 00:12:59,904 an old letter that may reveal 233 00:12:59,988 --> 00:13:01,990 some of Avery's long lost fortune. 234 00:13:03,157 --> 00:13:06,369 "On his return from India, either landed or was 235 00:13:06,494 --> 00:13:10,206 "shipwrecked near the Lizard, where he buried three chests 236 00:13:10,331 --> 00:13:14,377 or boxes full of treasure in the sands of the seashore." 237 00:13:14,502 --> 00:13:15,545 We're off to a good start. 238 00:13:15,670 --> 00:13:17,297 We're literally talking about buried treasure here. 239 00:13:18,339 --> 00:13:20,800 I also explored a sea cave straight out of "The Goonies." 240 00:13:22,593 --> 00:13:24,887 And narrowly avoided a one-way trip to 241 00:13:25,013 --> 00:13:26,014 Davy Jones' locker. 242 00:13:28,516 --> 00:13:31,811 And I dived a shipwreck site rumored to have ties to 243 00:13:31,894 --> 00:13:33,813 the Pirate King's lost fortune. 244 00:13:33,896 --> 00:13:35,648 The results? 245 00:13:35,732 --> 00:13:36,733 [explorer speaking] 246 00:13:39,569 --> 00:13:40,862 [Josh speaking] 247 00:13:41,863 --> 00:13:43,323 [explorer] This is just amazing. 248 00:13:43,406 --> 00:13:44,699 [Josh] This is Arabic script here, yes? 249 00:13:44,782 --> 00:13:45,908 [explorer] This is, isn't it? Yeah. 250 00:13:46,034 --> 00:13:48,036 This is definitely Mughal. There's no two ways about it. 251 00:13:48,119 --> 00:13:50,038 -This is a Mughal coin? -That is a Mughal coin. 252 00:13:50,121 --> 00:13:51,789 [Josh] This is as good close to a smoking gun... 253 00:13:51,873 --> 00:13:53,082 -[explorer] That is. -...as we've seen. 254 00:13:55,376 --> 00:13:59,339 We may have found some of Avery's treasure, but if so, 255 00:13:59,422 --> 00:14:00,798 it raises a question. 256 00:14:00,882 --> 00:14:03,551 Could Henry really have returned to the country that 257 00:14:03,634 --> 00:14:04,719 he'd made his enemy 258 00:14:04,802 --> 00:14:08,014 and be allowed to live there happily ever after? 259 00:14:08,097 --> 00:14:11,768 Well, a remarkable new theory developed by Dr. Sean Kingsley 260 00:14:11,893 --> 00:14:13,394 may be able to explain how 261 00:14:13,478 --> 00:14:15,897 the Pirate King managed to make peace. 262 00:14:16,898 --> 00:14:21,277 [Sean] In December 2020, I was doing some writing about pirates. 263 00:14:21,402 --> 00:14:23,780 I hook up with an old friend, Rex Cowan. 264 00:14:23,905 --> 00:14:26,449 He's a wreck hunter, an encyclopedia. 265 00:14:26,574 --> 00:14:30,453 So he gets super excited and gives me this letter that 266 00:14:30,578 --> 00:14:34,082 says, "Avery the Pirate, December, 1700." 267 00:14:34,207 --> 00:14:35,625 And I go, "Hello!" 268 00:14:35,750 --> 00:14:37,919 You know, this is very clearly four years since he was 269 00:14:38,044 --> 00:14:41,214 last seen in November 1696. 270 00:14:41,297 --> 00:14:42,548 And it's shocking. 271 00:14:42,632 --> 00:14:46,511 You know, if this letter is real, the Pirate King is back 272 00:14:46,594 --> 00:14:47,595 from the dead. 273 00:14:49,097 --> 00:14:52,266 [Josh] The letter is a copy of an older document and therefore 274 00:14:52,392 --> 00:14:55,061 hard to authenticate, but Kingsley suspected 275 00:14:55,144 --> 00:14:56,979 it might be the real deal, 276 00:14:57,105 --> 00:14:59,107 calling it a once-in-a-lifetime 277 00:14:59,232 --> 00:15:02,735 historical treasure and one that may totally rewrite 278 00:15:02,819 --> 00:15:05,196 the final chapter of Henry Avery. 279 00:15:07,073 --> 00:15:09,742 [Sean] Henry Avery says he's just come back from a journey. 280 00:15:09,826 --> 00:15:11,494 He's incredibly wary. 281 00:15:11,619 --> 00:15:13,704 He's about to go off on another mission. 282 00:15:13,788 --> 00:15:15,957 He's waiting to receive his instructions 283 00:15:16,040 --> 00:15:18,167 and he'll report back imminently. 284 00:15:18,292 --> 00:15:21,546 But all these lines are kind of intercut with this sort of code 285 00:15:21,629 --> 00:15:25,091 in numbers and letters, so it makes it impossible to 286 00:15:25,174 --> 00:15:28,302 actually realize what the content is about. 287 00:15:28,386 --> 00:15:31,055 In the late 17th century, codes like this were only used 288 00:15:31,139 --> 00:15:33,808 by ambassadors, diplomats, and spies. 289 00:15:33,933 --> 00:15:37,103 I think we can cut out the possibility that he became 290 00:15:37,186 --> 00:15:40,773 an ambassador or a diplomat, which really only points 291 00:15:40,857 --> 00:15:43,943 in one specific direction -- Henry Avery, 292 00:15:44,986 --> 00:15:46,988 on His Majesty's Secret Service, a spy. 293 00:15:48,739 --> 00:15:51,367 [Josh] Kingsley is arguing something remarkable. 294 00:15:51,492 --> 00:15:54,495 He's saying that Henry Avery, the pirate who was England's 295 00:15:54,579 --> 00:15:57,540 enemy number one, had an about-face and was now 296 00:15:57,665 --> 00:16:01,043 part of a British spy ring that included, of all people, 297 00:16:01,169 --> 00:16:04,297 the guy who wrote "Robinson Crusoe," Daniel Defoe, 298 00:16:04,380 --> 00:16:06,174 and the Archbishop of Canterbury, 299 00:16:06,299 --> 00:16:10,011 all to protect the country from a French Catholic invasion. 300 00:16:10,136 --> 00:16:13,097 But if so, how had Avery managed to get back on 301 00:16:13,181 --> 00:16:14,932 good terms with England? 302 00:16:15,016 --> 00:16:18,269 Well, it turns out everybody's got a price. 303 00:16:18,352 --> 00:16:21,856 I think that Henry Avery gave a large chunk 304 00:16:21,981 --> 00:16:25,860 of his Mughal treasure to pay for his "freedom." 305 00:16:25,943 --> 00:16:27,278 Avery's got all this cash, 306 00:16:27,361 --> 00:16:29,113 but there's no way of spending it. 307 00:16:29,197 --> 00:16:31,908 The authorities are gonna find him and eventually hang him 308 00:16:32,033 --> 00:16:33,451 by his neck. 309 00:16:33,534 --> 00:16:35,495 He's in his 30s, he's a young man, 310 00:16:35,578 --> 00:16:38,498 and he's got this incredible resume of skills 311 00:16:38,581 --> 00:16:39,999 which are transferable. 312 00:16:40,082 --> 00:16:41,209 What's he gonna do? 313 00:16:41,334 --> 00:16:44,212 I imagine that he fixed it with the King of England, 314 00:16:44,337 --> 00:16:47,423 that he could come on His Majesty's Secret Service as 315 00:16:47,548 --> 00:16:51,135 a spy in return for these incredible life skills 316 00:16:51,219 --> 00:16:54,805 which he'd developed and for a king's ransom pile of cash. 317 00:16:56,265 --> 00:16:57,934 [Josh] There was a big problem, though. 318 00:16:58,059 --> 00:17:00,728 He couldn't make heads or tails of the code. 319 00:17:00,853 --> 00:17:04,106 Could it be the location of Avery's lost treasure? 320 00:17:04,232 --> 00:17:06,733 The only way to find out would be to crack it. 321 00:17:06,817 --> 00:17:08,402 Easier said than done. 322 00:17:08,486 --> 00:17:11,280 I contacted academics, mathematician, 323 00:17:11,405 --> 00:17:13,366 even an advisor to the FBI. 324 00:17:13,449 --> 00:17:16,993 And they all told me one thing, that there are ciphers 325 00:17:17,078 --> 00:17:18,287 and there are codes. 326 00:17:18,412 --> 00:17:22,083 Ciphers, you can actually hope to read them, 327 00:17:22,208 --> 00:17:24,085 because there's an internal logic 328 00:17:24,167 --> 00:17:25,752 within the rhythm of a letter. 329 00:17:25,877 --> 00:17:28,172 And if there is enough repetition of words and letters 330 00:17:28,256 --> 00:17:31,300 and sequences, you can crack the cipher. 331 00:17:31,425 --> 00:17:34,428 But this was not a cipher, it was a code. 332 00:17:34,512 --> 00:17:37,431 And to be able to crack that, you had to have a code book. 333 00:17:37,557 --> 00:17:39,934 And you'd have your book, and you'd go down it, 334 00:17:40,059 --> 00:17:43,104 and you'd look at a number, and it would revert to a word. 335 00:17:44,105 --> 00:17:49,277 For instance, 131 might mean the French king, 249 might mean 336 00:17:49,402 --> 00:17:51,904 Secret Service. Those are real examples. 337 00:17:51,988 --> 00:17:54,949 So you've got to be really lucky to actually find one of 338 00:17:55,032 --> 00:17:57,577 the original keys to the code. 339 00:17:57,660 --> 00:18:00,621 [Josh] The way these codes work is that the author would reference 340 00:18:00,705 --> 00:18:04,125 a standalone codebook to disguise sensitive messages 341 00:18:04,208 --> 00:18:05,751 in the correspondence. 342 00:18:05,835 --> 00:18:08,921 The recipient would have been issued an identical codebook, 343 00:18:09,005 --> 00:18:11,757 so the secret message could be deciphered. 344 00:18:11,841 --> 00:18:14,176 That way, if the document fell into the wrong hands, 345 00:18:14,302 --> 00:18:16,512 it would be impossible to understand. 346 00:18:18,055 --> 00:18:20,725 [Sean] The largest collections of these codebooks exist in 347 00:18:20,808 --> 00:18:22,476 the British Library in London. 348 00:18:22,602 --> 00:18:26,439 And I spent many days and weeks stuck in the archives going 349 00:18:26,522 --> 00:18:30,026 through these volumes, hoping to discover 350 00:18:30,151 --> 00:18:33,154 the Holy Grail, uh, but without luck. 351 00:18:33,237 --> 00:18:36,157 The hunt for the elusive codebook continues. 352 00:18:36,282 --> 00:18:39,327 Unless it turns up, the letters' strangest passages 353 00:18:39,410 --> 00:18:42,163 will remain secret. My personal favorite? 354 00:18:42,288 --> 00:18:45,583 Quote, "I'm not the least concerned for tank 29 355 00:18:45,666 --> 00:18:50,630 of B26 being out of the T9211597." 356 00:18:50,713 --> 00:18:52,173 Whatever the hell that means. 357 00:18:52,298 --> 00:18:55,509 One thing we do know is that if the letter is authentic, 358 00:18:55,593 --> 00:18:58,346 it rewrites Avery as less Jack Sparrow 359 00:18:58,471 --> 00:19:00,181 and more James Bond. 360 00:19:00,306 --> 00:19:03,392 Kingsley believes more clues could be buried in archives 361 00:19:03,517 --> 00:19:05,519 across Europe, and he's still on the trail 362 00:19:05,645 --> 00:19:08,022 of the world's most wanted pirate. 363 00:19:08,105 --> 00:19:10,399 So watch this space, because who knows, 364 00:19:10,524 --> 00:19:13,152 maybe the next treasure isn't sunk beneath the waves, 365 00:19:13,235 --> 00:19:16,113 but locked away in a forgotten filing cabinet, 366 00:19:16,197 --> 00:19:17,865 just waiting to be plundered. 367 00:19:23,120 --> 00:19:26,499 It's around 1153 BC. The place? 368 00:19:26,582 --> 00:19:27,875 Ancient Egypt. 369 00:19:27,958 --> 00:19:31,879 And the pharaoh, Ramses III, has held his empire together 370 00:19:31,962 --> 00:19:34,715 for three decades with an iron fist. 371 00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:38,552 But tonight, this warrior king's grip is slipping. 372 00:19:38,678 --> 00:19:41,889 Before the sun rises, Ramses will be dead. 373 00:19:41,972 --> 00:19:42,973 How does he die? 374 00:19:43,057 --> 00:19:45,768 And was it, as many will argue, murder? 375 00:19:45,893 --> 00:19:47,728 Well, that will become the foundation of 376 00:19:47,853 --> 00:19:49,897 history's oldest cold case. 377 00:19:50,022 --> 00:19:53,401 But 3,000 years on, modern science will help 378 00:19:53,526 --> 00:19:56,612 explain the death of the last great pharaoh. 379 00:20:06,580 --> 00:20:09,917 Ramses III grows up during one of the most dangerous moments 380 00:20:10,042 --> 00:20:11,544 in Egypt's history. 381 00:20:11,627 --> 00:20:16,090 His father, Setnakhte, seizes the throne around 1186 BC, 382 00:20:16,215 --> 00:20:19,510 at a moment when Egypt is coming apart. 383 00:20:19,593 --> 00:20:20,594 [horse neighing] 384 00:20:20,678 --> 00:20:22,138 [Josh] Foreign rulers are chipping away 385 00:20:22,263 --> 00:20:23,305 at its borders. 386 00:20:23,431 --> 00:20:26,016 Vital trade routes are under attack. 387 00:20:26,100 --> 00:20:27,727 The kingdom is in chaos. 388 00:20:30,271 --> 00:20:32,565 While his father struggles to restore order, 389 00:20:32,648 --> 00:20:34,859 the young Prince Ramses is sent to govern 390 00:20:34,942 --> 00:20:36,610 the Sinai Peninsula, 391 00:20:36,694 --> 00:20:38,237 Egypt's volatile frontier. 392 00:20:39,363 --> 00:20:43,075 There, he learns how to command troops, protect trade routes, 393 00:20:43,159 --> 00:20:47,204 and defend the fragile empire he may one day inherit. 394 00:20:47,288 --> 00:20:50,374 It's a harsh training ground, but Ramses proves himself 395 00:20:50,458 --> 00:20:52,710 a strong leader and fierce warrior. 396 00:20:59,216 --> 00:21:02,178 His father saves the kingdom, but his reign is brief, 397 00:21:02,303 --> 00:21:03,804 just three years. 398 00:21:03,929 --> 00:21:06,682 And when he dies around 1184 BC, 399 00:21:06,807 --> 00:21:09,310 Ramses III, as he'll come to be known, 400 00:21:09,435 --> 00:21:11,479 assumes the throne. 401 00:21:11,562 --> 00:21:15,232 He inherits a kingdom restored by force, but surrounded by 402 00:21:15,316 --> 00:21:17,109 enemies on every side. 403 00:21:18,986 --> 00:21:21,197 The young pharaoh now carries the responsibility 404 00:21:21,322 --> 00:21:23,449 of holding Egypt together. 405 00:21:23,532 --> 00:21:26,327 And almost immediately, he is tested. 406 00:21:26,452 --> 00:21:29,246 Libyan tribes invade from the west. 407 00:21:29,330 --> 00:21:32,875 Then an even greater threat arrives from the sea. 408 00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:36,670 Mysterious maritime raiders known as the Sea Peoples, 409 00:21:36,796 --> 00:21:39,965 whose attacks are helping to topple civilizations 410 00:21:40,049 --> 00:21:41,801 across the ancient world. 411 00:21:41,884 --> 00:21:43,677 Ramses fights back. 412 00:21:43,803 --> 00:21:44,929 [horse neighing] 413 00:21:45,012 --> 00:21:48,182 Against overwhelming odds, his armies defeat the invaders 414 00:21:48,307 --> 00:21:50,810 in one of the most decisive battles of the age. 415 00:21:52,520 --> 00:21:53,896 The victory is immortalized 416 00:21:54,021 --> 00:21:56,816 on temple walls, showing the pharaoh as 417 00:21:56,899 --> 00:22:00,194 Egypt's defender, standing between his civilization 418 00:22:00,277 --> 00:22:02,029 and destruction. 419 00:22:02,112 --> 00:22:04,740 But decades of war takes its toll. 420 00:22:04,865 --> 00:22:07,910 The treasury is drained. Workers go unpaid. 421 00:22:09,829 --> 00:22:13,040 Nearly 30 years into his reign, laborers building 422 00:22:13,123 --> 00:22:16,794 the royal tombs lay down their tools in protest. 423 00:22:16,877 --> 00:22:19,421 It is the first recorded labor strike in history. 424 00:22:19,547 --> 00:22:20,548 [indistinct shouting] 425 00:22:20,673 --> 00:22:23,717 [Josh] The empire Ramses fought so hard to defend 426 00:22:23,843 --> 00:22:24,969 is beginning to weaken. 427 00:22:26,011 --> 00:22:30,099 And inside the royal palace, an even more dangerous threat 428 00:22:30,224 --> 00:22:31,433 begins to emerge. 429 00:22:32,768 --> 00:22:35,312 The pharaoh has designated his eldest son, 430 00:22:35,396 --> 00:22:38,065 Ramses IV, as his successor. 431 00:22:38,190 --> 00:22:41,527 But that plan doesn't sit well with some of the royal family, 432 00:22:41,610 --> 00:22:44,405 particularly with one of Ramses' three wives. 433 00:22:44,488 --> 00:22:46,073 A betrayal is brewing. 434 00:22:49,994 --> 00:22:53,247 Queen Tiye believes her own son, Prince Pentawer, 435 00:22:53,372 --> 00:22:55,332 should take the throne instead. 436 00:22:55,416 --> 00:22:57,751 But Tiye is only a secondary wife 437 00:22:57,877 --> 00:23:00,254 with far less power at court. 438 00:23:00,337 --> 00:23:02,506 She does not hold the prestigious title of 439 00:23:02,590 --> 00:23:03,924 Great Royal Wife, 440 00:23:04,008 --> 00:23:05,885 the rank reserved for a pharaoh's 441 00:23:05,968 --> 00:23:08,429 principal queens, whose sons typically 442 00:23:08,554 --> 00:23:11,265 had the strongest claim to rule. 443 00:23:11,348 --> 00:23:14,768 Born a commoner, Queen Tiye lacks royal blood, 444 00:23:14,894 --> 00:23:17,354 and her lower status leaves her son far down 445 00:23:17,438 --> 00:23:19,315 the line of succession. 446 00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:23,235 But that doesn't stop her from trying to seize power. 447 00:23:23,319 --> 00:23:27,281 According to surviving papyrus records, Tiye begins secretly 448 00:23:27,364 --> 00:23:30,618 organizing a plot to assassinate Ramses III... 449 00:23:31,660 --> 00:23:33,412 Kill the Pharaoh. 450 00:23:33,495 --> 00:23:36,123 [Josh] ...and place Prince Pentawer on the throne. 451 00:23:37,374 --> 00:23:40,544 If she can gather enough support, she could overturn 452 00:23:40,628 --> 00:23:42,171 the royal line of succession. 453 00:23:46,508 --> 00:23:49,803 Tiye and Pentawer recruit several of Ramses' inner circle 454 00:23:49,887 --> 00:23:51,347 to aid their plot, 455 00:23:51,472 --> 00:23:54,308 including a chef, a butler, 456 00:23:54,391 --> 00:23:56,435 and an overseer of his harem, 457 00:23:56,518 --> 00:23:58,520 exploiting growing dissatisfaction with 458 00:23:58,646 --> 00:24:00,981 the pharaoh from within his own household. 459 00:24:01,982 --> 00:24:05,319 History will remember this as the Harem Conspiracy. 460 00:24:06,570 --> 00:24:09,490 Some loyal officials may have tried to warn the king. 461 00:24:12,117 --> 00:24:14,536 But if they did, the warning came too late. 462 00:24:17,831 --> 00:24:21,794 Not long after, Ramses III, the warrior pharaoh who spent 463 00:24:21,877 --> 00:24:24,672 his life defending Egypt is found dead. 464 00:24:26,840 --> 00:24:29,009 Father! 465 00:24:31,303 --> 00:24:34,223 [Josh] Whispers of betrayal spread through the palace. 466 00:24:34,348 --> 00:24:37,017 Had the king been murdered by his own family? 467 00:24:42,481 --> 00:24:46,151 His body is embalmed and wrapped in layers of linen, 468 00:24:46,235 --> 00:24:49,697 then buried in a tomb in the Valley of the Kings. 469 00:24:49,822 --> 00:24:53,283 For more than 3,000 years, the truth about what happened 470 00:24:53,367 --> 00:24:56,787 to Ramses III remains buried with him. 471 00:24:56,870 --> 00:24:59,957 Thanks to modern science, we now have the answers. 472 00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:01,333 All will be revealed. 473 00:25:10,300 --> 00:25:14,888 Egyptian pharaoh Ramses III is dead, but was it murder? 474 00:25:14,972 --> 00:25:18,851 And if so, was his plotting wife, Queen Tiye, responsible? 475 00:25:18,976 --> 00:25:21,645 Well, there is a fascinating document that's key to 476 00:25:21,770 --> 00:25:23,313 understanding the truth. 477 00:25:23,439 --> 00:25:26,817 Writings known as the "Judicial Papyrus of Turin," 478 00:25:26,900 --> 00:25:30,112 which describe the trial of assassins of Ramses in 479 00:25:30,195 --> 00:25:32,531 the so-called Harem Conspiracy. 480 00:25:32,656 --> 00:25:35,367 But it is frustratingly vague on the details. 481 00:25:35,492 --> 00:25:36,660 Here's what we do know. 482 00:25:38,037 --> 00:25:41,331 The trial consists of 12 judges and is overseen by 483 00:25:41,457 --> 00:25:44,001 21-year-old Ramses IV, 484 00:25:44,084 --> 00:25:47,046 the late pharaoh's designated heir. 485 00:25:47,171 --> 00:25:49,923 The fact that he presides and not Pentawer, 486 00:25:50,007 --> 00:25:52,134 tells us that although Queen Tiye 487 00:25:52,217 --> 00:25:54,845 may have succeeded in arranging Ramses' death, 488 00:25:54,970 --> 00:25:58,348 her plot to install Pentawer as ruler failed. 489 00:26:00,267 --> 00:26:02,311 The new pharaoh, Ramses IV, 490 00:26:02,394 --> 00:26:05,939 shows little mercy in exacting revenge on those 491 00:26:06,023 --> 00:26:08,859 who are seemingly implicated in his father's death. 492 00:26:10,277 --> 00:26:14,531 The papyrus lists an astounding 28 people who were executed for 493 00:26:14,615 --> 00:26:16,200 their roles in the conspiracy. 494 00:26:21,872 --> 00:26:25,459 As for Tiye and Pentawer themselves, the papyrus states 495 00:26:25,542 --> 00:26:28,921 Pentawer is allowed to take his own life. 496 00:26:29,046 --> 00:26:31,131 Though the method of execution isn't mentioned, 497 00:26:32,800 --> 00:26:35,427 scholars believe he most likely hanged himself. 498 00:26:37,054 --> 00:26:39,973 But the papyrus tells us nothing about what happened to 499 00:26:40,057 --> 00:26:42,392 Queen Tiye, the apparent instigator of 500 00:26:42,518 --> 00:26:44,269 the Harem Conspiracy. 501 00:26:44,394 --> 00:26:46,271 Many believe she was executed, 502 00:26:46,396 --> 00:26:49,441 perhaps by burning, erased from royal memory. 503 00:26:52,903 --> 00:26:56,907 The papyrus was discovered in the 1820s by Italian diplomat 504 00:26:56,990 --> 00:27:00,119 and antiquities collector Bernardino Drovetti, 505 00:27:00,244 --> 00:27:02,746 who shipped the documents and crates of Egyptian 506 00:27:02,830 --> 00:27:05,082 treasures to the Turin Museum. 507 00:27:05,165 --> 00:27:07,042 The papyrus sat there for decades 508 00:27:07,126 --> 00:27:10,587 until Egyptologist, Adolf Erman finally translated it 509 00:27:10,712 --> 00:27:12,840 around the turn of the century. 510 00:27:12,923 --> 00:27:15,175 And while the details it revealed gave us 511 00:27:15,259 --> 00:27:18,595 a revolutionary look into the Harem Conspiracy, 512 00:27:18,720 --> 00:27:21,306 some key questions remain a mystery, 513 00:27:21,431 --> 00:27:25,018 namely how Ramses III died and who killed him. 514 00:27:26,186 --> 00:27:29,022 But then in 2012, a team of researchers 515 00:27:29,106 --> 00:27:32,109 led by Dr. Zahi Hawass decides to take another look 516 00:27:32,234 --> 00:27:33,777 at the pharaoh's remains 517 00:27:33,902 --> 00:27:36,196 using modern forensic techniques. 518 00:27:36,280 --> 00:27:38,031 When archaeologist Nicholas Brown 519 00:27:38,115 --> 00:27:40,117 saw the results, he was stunned. 520 00:27:42,828 --> 00:27:44,913 The findings that Dr. Zahi Hawass 521 00:27:44,997 --> 00:27:48,125 and his team made broke open this whole mystery. 522 00:27:48,250 --> 00:27:51,378 They actually used modern technologies like CT scanning 523 00:27:51,461 --> 00:27:54,923 to virtually unwrap the mummy of Ramses III. 524 00:27:55,007 --> 00:27:57,467 Underneath the bandages, the king's throat had actually 525 00:27:57,593 --> 00:27:59,261 been slit with a knife. 526 00:27:59,344 --> 00:28:01,138 This wasn't just a surface wound that 527 00:28:01,221 --> 00:28:02,556 the king had experienced. 528 00:28:02,639 --> 00:28:04,600 This cut had run deep and actually severed 529 00:28:04,683 --> 00:28:06,476 his windpipe and several arteries. 530 00:28:07,769 --> 00:28:11,273 [Josh] Nearly 3,200 years after the brutal deed, 531 00:28:11,356 --> 00:28:13,734 we finally know how the pharaoh died. 532 00:28:17,487 --> 00:28:20,657 This new forensic evidence now proves the pharaoh was 533 00:28:20,741 --> 00:28:24,161 assassinated, just as Queen Tiye had planned. 534 00:28:24,244 --> 00:28:25,746 But one question remains. 535 00:28:27,164 --> 00:28:29,583 Who could have gotten close enough to Egypt's most 536 00:28:29,666 --> 00:28:32,294 protected man to slit his throat? 537 00:28:32,377 --> 00:28:34,546 The ancient Egyptians' access to the king would have been 538 00:28:34,671 --> 00:28:38,008 really limited and restricted, which means it must have been 539 00:28:38,091 --> 00:28:40,510 somebody close to the king, either in his court 540 00:28:40,636 --> 00:28:44,056 or even his harem, who was able to accomplish something like 541 00:28:44,181 --> 00:28:45,766 an assassination plot. 542 00:28:45,849 --> 00:28:48,393 [Josh] Dr. Hawass's team believed they may have found 543 00:28:48,518 --> 00:28:51,980 the murderer by examining another mummy discovered near 544 00:28:52,064 --> 00:28:54,358 Ramses in the pharaoh's tomb. 545 00:28:54,441 --> 00:28:57,945 At first, this mummy appeared to be an anonymous young man 546 00:28:58,028 --> 00:29:01,365 who had been mummified without the usual care and respect 547 00:29:01,448 --> 00:29:03,200 afforded to royalty. 548 00:29:03,325 --> 00:29:08,872 But then DNA analysis showed he was far from unknown. 549 00:29:08,956 --> 00:29:13,252 The DNA analysis that Zahi performed on this unknown mummy 550 00:29:13,377 --> 00:29:16,922 and the mummy of Ramses III found that the two 551 00:29:17,047 --> 00:29:18,507 were very closely related. 552 00:29:18,590 --> 00:29:22,511 It's possible that this mummy could, in fact, be Pentawer, 553 00:29:22,594 --> 00:29:26,181 the son of Ramses III and Queen Tiye. 554 00:29:26,265 --> 00:29:29,226 Some Egyptologists have suggested that the way this 555 00:29:29,309 --> 00:29:32,145 mummy looks, right, with its mouth wide open 556 00:29:32,229 --> 00:29:35,941 and it looks like he's screaming in pain, that perhaps this 557 00:29:36,066 --> 00:29:40,070 indicates that he was killed by hanging. 558 00:29:40,153 --> 00:29:44,074 38 people are accused as being involved with the assassination 559 00:29:44,157 --> 00:29:46,785 attempt against Ramses III. 560 00:29:46,910 --> 00:29:50,414 It's really unlikely that all 38 of those individuals 561 00:29:50,539 --> 00:29:53,583 actually had direct access to Ramses and therefore 562 00:29:53,709 --> 00:29:55,419 would have been the one to kill him. 563 00:30:05,262 --> 00:30:06,263 [groan] 564 00:30:10,600 --> 00:30:12,102 Access to the king would have been really 565 00:30:12,185 --> 00:30:13,395 limited and restricted. 566 00:30:13,478 --> 00:30:16,982 It's more likely that as the son of Ramses III, 567 00:30:17,107 --> 00:30:20,944 Pentawer would have had closer access to the king than most 568 00:30:21,028 --> 00:30:23,530 other people in the court, and could have been the one 569 00:30:23,613 --> 00:30:24,990 who actually assassinated him. 570 00:30:29,536 --> 00:30:33,290 Modern forensics has unwrapped the millennia-old mystery of 571 00:30:33,373 --> 00:30:35,500 the death of Ramses III. 572 00:30:35,625 --> 00:30:37,794 We now know that his throat was slit. 573 00:30:37,878 --> 00:30:41,048 There's even circumstantial evidence suggesting Ramses' own 574 00:30:41,131 --> 00:30:43,133 son carried out the deed. 575 00:30:43,216 --> 00:30:44,301 Not bad analysis for 576 00:30:44,426 --> 00:30:47,637 a 3,000-plus-year-old crime scene. 577 00:30:47,721 --> 00:30:50,682 Today, visitors to Ramses' temple can still see 578 00:30:50,807 --> 00:30:52,267 the magnificent reliefs 579 00:30:52,351 --> 00:30:55,395 showing him as a triumphant warrior king. 580 00:30:55,479 --> 00:30:58,648 But it now seems this famed pharaoh's greatest battle 581 00:30:58,774 --> 00:31:02,486 wasn't against foreign armies, but with his very own family, 582 00:31:02,611 --> 00:31:04,196 who thirsted for the throne. 583 00:31:13,497 --> 00:31:16,666 Welcome to the ancient world, and a place made famous 584 00:31:16,792 --> 00:31:19,336 by the Greeks. We're not in Greece, though. 585 00:31:19,419 --> 00:31:21,505 We're in a place beyond its borders, 586 00:31:21,588 --> 00:31:23,465 a place where women rule. 587 00:31:23,548 --> 00:31:27,511 This young fighter is training to join an all-female army in 588 00:31:27,636 --> 00:31:31,264 a society said to be so powerful its name will echo 589 00:31:31,348 --> 00:31:34,017 through time, inspiring everything from 590 00:31:34,142 --> 00:31:38,021 the name of a mighty river to our most iconic superheroine, 591 00:31:38,105 --> 00:31:42,192 Wonder Woman, because this warrior is an Amazon. 592 00:31:42,275 --> 00:31:46,196 Now, in time, scholars will say these fearsome females are 593 00:31:46,321 --> 00:31:48,031 simply the stuff of myth. 594 00:31:48,156 --> 00:31:51,868 That is, until new evidence suggests something incredible, 595 00:31:51,952 --> 00:31:54,496 that the Amazon might just be real. 596 00:32:02,087 --> 00:32:03,547 [horse neighing] 597 00:32:11,138 --> 00:32:13,974 The Amazons are first mentioned by name in "The Iliad," 598 00:32:15,016 --> 00:32:16,935 written in the 8th century BC. 599 00:32:18,311 --> 00:32:21,398 In Homer's famous epic, King Priam of Troy mentions 600 00:32:21,523 --> 00:32:25,402 that he, quote, "Once fought alongside the Amazons, 601 00:32:25,527 --> 00:32:27,737 women the equal of men." 602 00:32:27,863 --> 00:32:30,449 It's barely more than a name drop, but their mystique 603 00:32:30,574 --> 00:32:32,117 is firmly established. 604 00:32:35,829 --> 00:32:39,082 Over the next few centuries, Greek storytellers return to 605 00:32:39,166 --> 00:32:40,750 the stories of the Amazons. 606 00:32:43,128 --> 00:32:46,339 They write about a tribe of fierce warriors existing in 607 00:32:46,423 --> 00:32:50,177 a female-only society beyond the borders of Greece in 608 00:32:50,260 --> 00:32:51,761 the area of the Black Sea. 609 00:32:53,054 --> 00:32:55,932 They procreate with men from neighboring communities, 610 00:32:56,057 --> 00:32:58,101 then raise only the daughters, 611 00:32:58,185 --> 00:33:00,437 sending male children back to their fathers. 612 00:33:01,730 --> 00:33:04,024 According to legend, Amazon women are, 613 00:33:04,107 --> 00:33:07,402 almost from birth, trained in hand-to-hand combat, 614 00:33:07,486 --> 00:33:10,030 as well as horseback riding and archery. 615 00:33:11,448 --> 00:33:15,452 They also expertly wield battle axes and spears. 616 00:33:15,535 --> 00:33:19,247 Their strength is beyond compare, warriors so fierce 617 00:33:19,331 --> 00:33:22,125 they blur the line between mortal and mythic. 618 00:33:25,253 --> 00:33:28,173 Ultimately, the Amazons are said to go head-to-head 619 00:33:28,298 --> 00:33:31,384 with the greatest heroes of Greek mythology. 620 00:33:31,468 --> 00:33:34,804 And I promise you, this is a fight you don't want to miss. 621 00:33:42,145 --> 00:33:44,981 [Josh] Legends of female fighters known as Amazon warriors have 622 00:33:45,065 --> 00:33:48,902 endured for thousands of years, stemming from stories left by 623 00:33:49,027 --> 00:33:53,281 the ancient Greeks, known for their lethal skills as archers. 624 00:33:53,406 --> 00:33:55,742 Some stories even describe them cutting off one of 625 00:33:55,825 --> 00:33:59,120 their breasts to better steady their bows or hurl 626 00:33:59,246 --> 00:34:02,415 deadly javelins. They're nearly unstoppable. 627 00:34:02,499 --> 00:34:04,751 That is, unless they're squaring off against 628 00:34:04,876 --> 00:34:06,086 mythical Greek heroes. 629 00:34:09,005 --> 00:34:11,757 In tales recorded in the 8th century BC, 630 00:34:11,841 --> 00:34:14,177 Queen Penthesilea of the Amazons 631 00:34:14,261 --> 00:34:17,097 faces off alone against the Greeks 632 00:34:17,179 --> 00:34:20,433 and the greatest warrior in Greek mythology, Achilles. 633 00:34:21,518 --> 00:34:23,562 [guttural screams] 634 00:34:23,645 --> 00:34:25,563 [Josh] They engage in a savage battle. 635 00:34:27,899 --> 00:34:30,443 And while she's a nearly even match for Achilles, 636 00:34:32,320 --> 00:34:33,989 he ultimately slays her. 637 00:34:34,989 --> 00:34:38,784 Afterward, he's struck by Penthesilea's valor and beauty, 638 00:34:38,868 --> 00:34:43,164 ironically falling in love with the very foe he kills. 639 00:34:43,290 --> 00:34:46,418 In another famous story, the queen of the Amazons, 640 00:34:46,501 --> 00:34:50,045 Hippolyta, sister of the slain Queen Penthesilea, 641 00:34:50,130 --> 00:34:52,674 is about to come face to face with the one man in 642 00:34:52,799 --> 00:34:55,969 Greek mythology you don't want to pick a fight with, 643 00:34:56,094 --> 00:34:58,555 because sailing into the harbor, is Hercules. 644 00:35:07,856 --> 00:35:11,401 As the half-mortal, half-divine son of Zeus, 645 00:35:11,484 --> 00:35:15,572 Herc is on a roll, tackling 12 lethal labors, 646 00:35:15,655 --> 00:35:18,533 including the slaying of a giant lion, 647 00:35:18,658 --> 00:35:22,912 a pesky Hydra, and the infamous Minotaur. 648 00:35:22,996 --> 00:35:25,457 It's the ninth of these deadly missions which pits 649 00:35:25,540 --> 00:35:28,043 him toe-to-toe, or sandal-to-sandal, 650 00:35:28,168 --> 00:35:30,003 against the Amazons. 651 00:35:30,128 --> 00:35:31,921 Hercules is tasked with claiming 652 00:35:32,005 --> 00:35:36,176 the queen's golden war belt, the symbol of her power. 653 00:35:36,301 --> 00:35:39,179 To his surprise, Hippolyta doesn't resist. 654 00:35:39,304 --> 00:35:42,265 She meets him peacefully and even offers the belt as 655 00:35:42,349 --> 00:35:46,353 a gift and a show of mutual respect between warrior equals. 656 00:35:50,190 --> 00:35:53,318 Believing it too good to be true, Hercules turns on 657 00:35:53,401 --> 00:35:55,570 the queen and strikes her down dead. 658 00:35:59,574 --> 00:36:02,535 He escapes with the belt and his life. 659 00:36:02,619 --> 00:36:04,037 Notice a pattern? 660 00:36:04,162 --> 00:36:07,374 In myth after myth, an Amazon queen dies by 661 00:36:07,457 --> 00:36:09,668 the hand of a Greek male hero. 662 00:36:14,339 --> 00:36:17,550 It is no coincidence that the stories of Amazon warriors 663 00:36:17,676 --> 00:36:21,680 being defeated by Greek heroes were written by Greek men, 664 00:36:21,763 --> 00:36:25,392 men with a patriarchal worldview to defend. 665 00:36:25,517 --> 00:36:30,397 So were the Amazons just a myth shaped by male imagination? 666 00:36:30,522 --> 00:36:32,774 Or is there any truth to the stories of 667 00:36:32,899 --> 00:36:34,734 these proud warrior women? 668 00:36:34,859 --> 00:36:37,278 Well, there's at least one historical source which 669 00:36:37,404 --> 00:36:40,031 suggests they may have actually existed. 670 00:36:41,908 --> 00:36:44,369 In the 5th century, the historian Herodotus 671 00:36:44,452 --> 00:36:47,706 documented an account of Amazon warriors captured by 672 00:36:47,789 --> 00:36:51,918 the Greeks, who later escaped by seizing their captors' ships 673 00:36:52,001 --> 00:36:54,796 and settling among the Scythians in what is now 674 00:36:54,921 --> 00:36:55,922 Ukraine and Russia. 675 00:36:57,716 --> 00:36:59,801 For millennia, Herodotus' account is 676 00:36:59,926 --> 00:37:03,430 written off by scholars as imaginative storytelling, 677 00:37:03,513 --> 00:37:05,348 not credible history. 678 00:37:05,432 --> 00:37:09,352 But now there's extraordinary new evidence that the Amazons 679 00:37:09,436 --> 00:37:11,438 may have been so much more than myth. 680 00:37:19,112 --> 00:37:20,864 For centuries, historians have debated, 681 00:37:20,947 --> 00:37:23,616 were the Amazon warriors of Greek legend 682 00:37:23,742 --> 00:37:25,577 real or fantasy? 683 00:37:25,660 --> 00:37:28,455 In the 5th century, Herodotus claimed they hailed 684 00:37:28,538 --> 00:37:31,708 from the ancient region of Scythia, a vast swath of 685 00:37:31,791 --> 00:37:34,961 territory stretching from Ukraine to Turkey around 686 00:37:35,044 --> 00:37:36,796 the edge of the Black Sea. 687 00:37:36,880 --> 00:37:39,257 Professor of anthropology Marin Pilloud 688 00:37:39,340 --> 00:37:42,719 reveals that recent discoveries about the Scythians 689 00:37:42,802 --> 00:37:45,013 may help solve the mystery of the Amazons. 690 00:37:48,308 --> 00:37:50,727 So, some 30 years ago, some interesting discoveries 691 00:37:50,810 --> 00:37:53,271 were found in the Caspian Pontic steppe region. 692 00:37:53,354 --> 00:37:57,484 They found around 19 mounds that were large burial tombs. 693 00:37:58,568 --> 00:38:02,655 And in 2019, in one mound, they found the remains of 694 00:38:02,739 --> 00:38:04,491 four female skeletons. 695 00:38:05,867 --> 00:38:08,495 And it's dated to around 2,500 years ago. 696 00:38:09,954 --> 00:38:14,751 This date of about 2,500 years is important because it places 697 00:38:14,834 --> 00:38:16,252 the culture in the area. 698 00:38:16,336 --> 00:38:19,088 So, we know that around that time, the Scythians were in 699 00:38:19,172 --> 00:38:23,510 this region, and we know the Scythians to be a group 700 00:38:23,593 --> 00:38:25,845 that had women warriors that 701 00:38:25,929 --> 00:38:28,181 predominantly traveled around via horseback. 702 00:38:31,226 --> 00:38:33,520 Within this mound, with the skeletons of these 703 00:38:33,645 --> 00:38:39,776 four women, were multiple iron arrowheads, spears, 704 00:38:39,859 --> 00:38:43,488 artifacts associated with horse riding, and knives. 705 00:38:44,906 --> 00:38:48,159 The oldest woman also had a golden headdress 706 00:38:48,243 --> 00:38:49,619 around her head. 707 00:38:49,702 --> 00:38:53,706 It was intricate and could have also suggested something about 708 00:38:53,832 --> 00:38:55,375 her position in society. 709 00:38:55,500 --> 00:38:58,878 Not only was she the oldest individual, but also had 710 00:38:58,962 --> 00:39:01,714 the most elaborate grave goods with her, 711 00:39:01,798 --> 00:39:03,466 with the golden headdress. 712 00:39:03,550 --> 00:39:05,635 These were things that were placed there to honor 713 00:39:05,718 --> 00:39:07,345 the dead amongst the living. 714 00:39:08,388 --> 00:39:11,057 The women who were buried in these mounds would have held 715 00:39:11,140 --> 00:39:12,684 an elevated place in society. 716 00:39:14,853 --> 00:39:17,689 Just like the Amazons of legend, these women from 717 00:39:17,772 --> 00:39:19,649 the late 4th century BC, 718 00:39:19,732 --> 00:39:22,569 were apparently part of a family dynasty, 719 00:39:22,694 --> 00:39:26,239 buried with the honor one would expect for revered warriors. 720 00:39:28,825 --> 00:39:31,953 [Marin] In fact, there is some skeletal analysis of other 721 00:39:32,078 --> 00:39:34,497 Scythian remains that suggests that there could be 722 00:39:34,581 --> 00:39:38,585 battle wounds on women that's very similar to men. 723 00:39:38,668 --> 00:39:42,088 Based on some of these recent archaeological findings, 724 00:39:42,171 --> 00:39:45,300 we can see that it was quite normal for women to engage in 725 00:39:45,425 --> 00:39:48,219 warfare activities amongst the Scythians. 726 00:39:48,303 --> 00:39:51,598 As a nomadic tribe, they would need to, at times, 727 00:39:51,723 --> 00:39:52,807 defend their areas. 728 00:39:55,768 --> 00:39:57,770 [Josh] Trained from youth in horseback riding 729 00:39:57,854 --> 00:40:01,024 and mounted combat, much like the Amazons of legend, 730 00:40:01,107 --> 00:40:04,402 Scythian women were adorned with animal tattoos 731 00:40:04,485 --> 00:40:05,904 meant to imbue them with 732 00:40:05,987 --> 00:40:09,282 magical protection and strength in battle. 733 00:40:09,365 --> 00:40:12,535 These tattoos mimicked the striking gold and bronze 734 00:40:12,619 --> 00:40:14,996 animal art also found in their graves. 735 00:40:17,206 --> 00:40:22,295 This find adds to growing evidence that women had 736 00:40:22,420 --> 00:40:25,006 strong roles in the past. 737 00:40:25,131 --> 00:40:28,635 This is a notion that we have been at times reluctant to 738 00:40:28,718 --> 00:40:31,512 embrace based on our own sort of conceptions of 739 00:40:31,638 --> 00:40:33,306 gendered roles in the present. 740 00:40:33,431 --> 00:40:36,684 And so, we infer those onto the past, but there's such 741 00:40:36,809 --> 00:40:40,897 a growing body of evidence to suggest that women were in fact 742 00:40:40,980 --> 00:40:44,525 engaged in all levels of society, including warfare. 743 00:40:46,152 --> 00:40:50,657 And with discoveries like this one in 2019 of women buried 744 00:40:50,782 --> 00:40:54,661 with grave goods indicative of being a warrior, 745 00:40:54,786 --> 00:40:58,831 it seems highly probable that the Scythian warrior women were 746 00:40:58,915 --> 00:41:00,833 the inspiration for the Amazon women 747 00:41:00,917 --> 00:41:02,210 that the Greeks wrote about. 748 00:41:07,632 --> 00:41:10,885 The archaeological findings are revealing that the Amazons 749 00:41:11,010 --> 00:41:15,223 may be a legendary echo of historic female fighters. 750 00:41:15,348 --> 00:41:18,351 The very name, Amazon, is now attributed to the old 751 00:41:18,434 --> 00:41:22,563 Persian word Hamazan, meaning "equal warrior." 752 00:41:22,689 --> 00:41:24,357 After all, who needs Wonder Woman 753 00:41:24,482 --> 00:41:26,693 when you've got the real-life action heroines 754 00:41:26,776 --> 00:41:28,528 of the Scythians? 755 00:41:28,653 --> 00:41:31,823 I'm Josh Gates, and I'll see you on the next expedition.