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NARRATOR: Egypt, the richest source of
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archaeological treasures on the planet.
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SALIMA: Oh, that's a fabulous one.
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NARRATOR: Beneath this desert landscape,
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lie the secrets of this ancient civilization.
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WARD: Wow, you can see why the Pharaohs chose this place.
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NARRATOR: Now, for a full season of excavations,
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our cameras have unprecedented access
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to follow teams on the frontline of archaeology.
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ASHRAF: I'm driving so fast because I'm so excited.
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KATHLEEN: It's an entrance, we can see an entrance.
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NARRATOR: Revealing buried secrets...
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ANTONIO: I have just been told that they have found something.
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DON: Oh my gosh.
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WARD: A sphinx!
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NARRATOR: And making discoveries that could rewrite ancient history.
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This time, Egyptologists are in search of the secrets of the afterlife.
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Alejandro's team discovers a 4000 year-old sealed burial chamber...
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WOMAN: Oh my God! ALEJANDRO: Bingo!
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NARRATOR: John and Colleen decode an ancient guide to the underworld...
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COLLEEN: The texts and the scenes and the hieroglyphs,
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all make this tomb a resurrection machine.
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NARRATOR: And Suzanne makes a shocking discovery.
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SUZANNE: Someone put their fist through in order to get into the cavity.
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NARRATOR: Ancient Egypt.
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One of the most sophisticated societies in history.
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The Egyptians built the great pyramids and giant temples,
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driven by one obsession:
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They dedicated their entire lives to preparing for death.
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For centuries, archaeologists have been trying to decode
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the rituals and techniques that
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the ancient Egyptians used to enter the afterlife.
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Dr. Colleen and Professor John Darnell are heading to the Valley of the Kings.
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JOHN: We're interested in the study and the understanding of the past
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and bringing it into the present, really making it live again.
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There is as of yet no real substitute for the field work.
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NARRATOR: For the past 250 years, the Valley
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has attracted generations of archaeologists.
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The 19th century was a prolific time.
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Archeologists discovered over 40 tombs, each revealing
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more clues about the ancient Egyptian afterlife.
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COLLEEN: The sky is so blue today.
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NARRATOR: In 1817, one explorer uncovered something remarkable,
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the Tomb of King Seti the First.
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.
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COLLEEN: To understand the ancient Egyptian afterlife,
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you have to study the hieroglyphic text and scenes.
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And the tomb of Seti the first is perfect for understanding the
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foundations of the Egyptian belief in the afterlife.
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NARRATOR: Beneath the Valley of the Kings,
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Seti's tomb stretches 450 feet down into the mountain.
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It's the deepest tomb in the Valley.
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Artists decorated ten chambers,
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and seven ornate corridors,
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with elaborate scenes.
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These paintings, combined with this immense tomb,
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played a crucial role in the survival of
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the Pharaoh's soul after death.
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COLLEEN: Wow!
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It's incredible to see how well preserved all the hieroglyphs are.
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NARRATOR: The discovery of Seti's tomb was a turning point in Egyptology.
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At the time, experts were just learning to decode hieroglyphic text,
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and this tomb gave up a wealth of secrets.
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They found the structure of the tomb itself played a role
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in guiding the Pharaoh down to the underworld.
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JOHN: This descending passageway is probably
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one of the most important elements of the tomb.
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We have depicted on the walls a text that shows and describes
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the sloping passage down that would propel the dead
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into the other world.
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COLLEEN: The tomb of Seti the first is so deep in the cliffs,
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it perfectly mimics the architecture of the netherworld.
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NARRATOR: Seti the First reigned for 11 years, expanding his empire by
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crushing Middle Eastern and African rivals.
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He died unexpectedly in his 30s, but despite this,
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Seti's preparations for the afterlife were exceptional.
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He poured his wealth and power into building the most elaborate tomb in the Valley,
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and quickly too.
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COLLEEN: It's really important to keep in mind that this entire tomb
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was excavated, decorated, painted in 12 years.
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NARRATOR: Scribes wrote entire books on these walls,
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instructions that would help Seti make it through the underworld.
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COLLEEN: "Calling This Great God by
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The Netherwordly Gods."
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And that's exactly what we see depicted here, the Sun,
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this great God as they refer in the hieroglyphic text,
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being hauled by, and the hieroglyphs are even repeated here.
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.
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The Netherwordly Gods.
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NARRATOR: The images on these walls reveal Seti the First's map through the afterlife.
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The ancient Egyptians believed immorality could be achieved
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by following the Sun God, Ra,
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who was born in the East every day,
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and died every night and entered the underworld.
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If Seti's soul could successfully navigate the treacherous underworld
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with the Sun God, he too would be reborn again every morning in an eternal cycle.
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So, his tomb contained all the tools and detailed
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instructions for the perilous journey.
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COLLEEN: We have arguably one of the best examples
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of transitioning into the afterlife.
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NARRATOR: Hidden in the inscriptions, Colleen finds evidence that it's not only
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Pharaohs who can make this journey into the Netherworld.
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COLLEEN: Here people from the North East of Egypt,
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Nubians from the South Libyans from the West.
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Apparently, no matter where you came from,
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you could enjoy the same blessed afterlife
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as even the Pharaoh of Egypt.
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NARRATOR: But to find out how Seti would transition into the afterlife,
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the Darnell's will need to decode
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the inscriptions inside the burial chamber itself.
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140 miles south of the Valley of the Kings in Aswan,
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a Spanish archaeological team
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is excavating another ancient necropolis.
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Qubbet El-Hawa was a burial site for elite members of society.
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These 4,500 year-old tombs offer vital clues into burial rituals,
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and how the ancient Egyptians prepared for the afterlife.
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It's the team's tenth season working here,
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but Egyptologist Martina Bardñová
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is still getting used to the 5:00 AM starts.
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MARTINA: I go to bed about midnight or 1:00 AM and now I have to switch.
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It's another kind of jet lag about it, the working jetlag.
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You are here because you love the job, so that's it.
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You wake up.
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NARRATOR: This season, Martina is focusing on a new tomb.
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NARRATOR: She hopes this shaft might lead to a burial chamber.
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NARRATOR: Termites are only found near a food source, usually wood.
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So, these insects are a sign there may be something behind the rock wall.
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Across the hill, Martina's Mission Director, Professor Alejandro Jimenez-Serrano,
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is taking a break.
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ALEJANDRO: It probably is one of the best moments of the day.
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ALEJANDRO: Bingo!
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It seems that we have, uh, another intact chamber, uh, where Martina is digging.
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Let's go!
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NARRATOR: Robbers have ransacked Egyptian tombs for millennia,
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so finding an untouched tomb
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would be an exceptional discovery for the team.
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.
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ALEJANDRO: Ah-ha-ah-ho. Can I step on here?
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MARTINA: Yes, you can. This is okay.
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NARRATOR: If this is an intact chamber,
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it could contain mummies and burial offerings.
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ALEJANDRO: Nobody in the last 4,000 years has seen what is behind this wall.
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NARRATOR: Alejandro now faces a challenge:
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He can't risk smashing open the wall to the burial chamber,
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there may be precious artifacts behind it.
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ALEJANDRO: Tell Jose to bring the computer and the camera.
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NARRATOR: But he does have a plan!
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ALEJANDRO: This big drill we use to inspect before opening any inter-chamber
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because we do not know what we are going to find.
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NARRATOR: He thinks it's about 16 inches thick.
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ALEJANDRO: It seems easy but it's not.
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Uh, Jose.
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MARTINA: Yeah.
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NARRATOR: Alejandro can't see how far this chamber extends,
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there could be tons more debris to remove.
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In the Valley of the Kings,
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Swiss Egyptologist Professor Susanne Bickel
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is returning for her tenth dig season.
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Today, the team is reopening a tomb
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last excavated in the 1970s, tomb number 61.
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SUSANNE: There's a certain excitement, a certain expectation.
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NARRATOR: Susanne hopes to find the original owner of the tomb.
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It could shed new light on how ancient engineers
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tried to propel the dead into the underworld.
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SUSANNE: Oh, this one is not very good.
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Extremely small, and clearly not finished.
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It is just in the middle of being prepared.
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Now why did they not finish it?
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As long as you don't touch it, it doesn't move by its own.
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But erm, err, oops, oh it does.
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But I think getting out would be a good thing.
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The whole package will come down.
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It's really bad.
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NARRATOR: The team must now try to make the tomb safe,
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before they continue excavations.
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Professor Bickel has excavated 11 tombs across the Valley.
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In the onsite lab, her team is documenting and analyzing their finds,
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including human remains.
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SALIMA: Now that's great. That's a fabulous one.
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NARRATOR: Professor Salima Ikram, from the American University in Cairo,
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is an expert in mummification.
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She's investigating how Egyptians prepared for
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the afterlife by performing this technique.
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SALIMA: There are certain things that we already know about mummification from
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different periods, but of course it's a learning process.
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1, 2...
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WOMAN: Yeah.
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SALIMA: And see over here how this goes under.
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I think they wrapped the toes separately and then they put
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a bigger piece of textile on it,
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and then they wrapped it together.
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WOMAN: Yeah.
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NARRATOR: These body parts provide vital new evidence
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on how mummification techniques evolved over time.
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SALIMA: The embalmers didn't always stick to hard and fast rules
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because sometimes things would be trendy for a while,
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they'd die out, then they'd come back.
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You would get different styles of mummification.
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NARRATOR: The ancient Egyptians believed that after death,
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the soul needed to return to the body.
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But if the corpse decayed,
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it would become unrecognizable and the soul would be lost for eternity.
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So, the embalmers mummified the elite of Egypt.
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They ritually washed the deceased, then removed internal organs,
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and used bundles of salt to dry out the corpse.
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They removed the brain through the nose, but they left the heart in place,
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where they believed the soul would live on.
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Finally, they wrapped the mummy in linen, and coated it in resins,
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to ensure its features would remain recognizable for eternity.
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SALIMA: So, this is an excellent example of mummification
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where you can see that this leg looks,
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you know like a living fat leg and that's because
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they made cuts into the flesh and then stuffed it.
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They were making a statue of yourself,
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so after you're dead and you were being disembodied,
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you're all hollow cheeked and sunken,
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and this gives you your full body back and
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to make you in a more permanent and more statue-like better way.
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NARRATOR: After a day of excavation, Tomb 61 is now clear of rubble.
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It's safe for Egyptologist Elina to examine it up close.
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ELINA: I think they started and then they realized no,
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it's not safe to put any coffins in.
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And so, they haven't done, and they went away and looked maybe for another place.
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NARRATOR: Tombs needed to last for eternity in the afterlife.
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In some parts of the Valley, the fine-grained limestone was the perfect material,
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but flaky limestone like this is unstable.
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As sophisticated engineers, ancient tomb builders would have soon realized
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the site was unsuitable.
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With their excavation of the tomb complete,
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the Swiss team packs up and moves on to another site in the Valley.
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In Aswan, Martina's spent two days digging out this shaft,
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in the hope of finding an intact burial chamber.
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MAN: I've got down...
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MARTINA: No, no, no because its small, you are big.
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NARRATOR: Beyond the rocky debris, something catches Martina's eye.
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NARRATOR: What Martina first thought was a corridor,
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is actually the burial chamber.
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ALEJANDRO: This is the burial chamber.
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MARTINA: Yes its...
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ALEJANDRO: So, we have to proceed in a different way with much care.
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Congratulations!
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It's a very nice discovery because you have not documented any kind of err,
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burial like this.
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MARTINA: And he's not eaten by termites.
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NARRATOR: The coffin is extremely fragile.
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Moving the rocks surrounding it could make it collapse,
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but it's the only way to see if there's a body inside.
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MARTINA: Okay, let's continue.
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NARRATOR: North of Qubbet el-Hawa is the necropolis of Qurna.
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It dates from 1500 BC.
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There are over 300 tombs here,
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the resting place of high-ranking ancient Egyptian officials.
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Egyptologist, Laurent Bavay has been excavating this tomb for the last eight years.
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At the bottom of a 60 foot deep shaft,
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he's made a remarkable discovery:
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A rare document called a papyrus, vital for the deceased in the underworld.
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LAURENT: Some of the fragments of this papyrus have been found in the room here.
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Other fragments have been found along the wall in the first room.
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The papyrus sat next to the body of the deceased in the coffin.
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NARRATOR: The tomb is now empty, and Laurent is piecing together the fragments,
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so he can analyze this mysterious text.
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LAURENT: We have here one of the, of the most interesting and exciting discoveries.
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A papyrus that is actually a book of the dead.
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NARRATOR: The Book of the Dead is an ancient travel guide through the underworld.
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LAURENT: This is the document that is placed in the coffin
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next to the mummy to be ready for use,
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like a GPS for a car, it will lead you through the way to your destination.
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NARRATOR: The images in this 3,500 year-old Book of the Dead depict crucial spells.
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These helped the deceased pass tests and challenges
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on their journey through the underworld.
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In life, ancient Egyptians could buy chapters of the book,
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to make up their own personal copies.
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LAURENT: There were workshops producing books of the dead,
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and then leaving in the column of text,
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they were leaving a blank, where the person would complete his name.
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This example is written for a woman, the title and name, Renena,
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mentioned here which in itself is very exceptional.
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She must have had a very important role in this, in this family.
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You never know what you will discover,
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and this makes the thrill of the work here in the field.
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NARRATOR: For Laurent, the most exciting phase is just beginning as
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his team prepares to analyze the text
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and publish their findings.
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In Aswan, at a cemetery for the rich and powerful,
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Martina is preparing to open her newly-discovered coffin.
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MARTINA: Well now I will take this, and I will see.
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We've pulled part of the coffin on the floor and so on,
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we don't want to break or whatever.
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NARRATOR: But first, Martina has to get to the tomb.
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A Saharan sandstorm is blowing in from the South,
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these can last up to five days.
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NARRATOR: The windspeed is picking up, so Martina makes the call to leave now.
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NARRATOR: As the sandstorm reaches gale-force,
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even the 600 foot journey to the burial shaft is a battle.
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MARTINA: Ouch!
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Oh no!
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ALEJANDRO: We are in a very risky moment because
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we have to extract the human remains
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and we want to continue.
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NARRATOR: In the shelter of the tomb, the team can now
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carefully remove the lid of the terracotta coffin.
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MARTINA: It's very heavy.
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Oh my God!
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Careful, ay.
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.
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Careful.
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NARRATOR: This is the first time anyone has seen inside the coffin for 4000 years.
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MARTINA: Careful. Oh my God!
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A very ugly Mummy.
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Well it's not mummy, it looks that it was simply put, but not well bandaged.
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NARRATOR: The terracotta coffin contains no mummy,
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but a skeleton shrouded in black material.
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As the sandstorm blows over, the team removes a single pot,
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the only object discovered with the body.
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NARRATOR: The team will now analyze the pot, to identify its contents.
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It may reveal crucial information about this
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person's preparations for the afterlife.
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ALEJANDRO: It's amazing.
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NARRATOR: This body's tattered remains suggest it was not fully mummified.
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So why in this necropolis for the rich and powerful, is there such a modest burial?
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NARRATOR: Just outside the Valley of the Kings, in Dra' Abu El-Naga,
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American Egyptologist Suzanne Onstine
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00:27:28,923 --> 00:27:32,064
hopes studying mummification methods will reveal how the
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00:27:32,098 --> 00:27:36,655
physical body would play a vital role in the afterlife.
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00:27:38,208 --> 00:27:40,451
SUZANNE: Every day when I come into the tomb,
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I'm reminded of my responsibility for it so that we can
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00:27:44,732 --> 00:27:49,219
consolidate and preserve what's there for future generations.
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00:27:51,635 --> 00:27:56,398
NARRATOR: So far, Suzanne has found the remains of over 200 bodies here.
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00:27:57,158 --> 00:27:59,436
SUZANNE: When a man named Paneshy and his wife Tarenu
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built the tomb they intended it just for them.
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But what we found is that about 1000 years of other people used the tomb
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for their place of burial as well.
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NARRATOR: Suzanne spots something remarkable in the body parts:
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They've been skewered with wooden dowels.
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SUZANNE: The stick has been inserted into the spinal column in order
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to help them to stand up straight in the afterlife.
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00:28:28,603 --> 00:28:32,641
Arthritis would have been a problem, so the afterlife they wanted to be free of that,
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00:28:32,952 --> 00:28:36,991
and this is how they address that situation.
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00:28:39,200 --> 00:28:43,929
NARRATOR: But it wasn't only corrective surgery that was performed after death.
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00:28:45,068 --> 00:28:48,036
SUZANNE: This is a false limb.
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These are prosthetics for the afterlife.
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What they've done is they've mummified a bundle of sticks in order to replace an arm.
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In the afterlife you wanna be whole and complete, that's the whole point of mummification,
344
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is so that your body can be recognized by your soul and so that it's free of ailments.
345
00:29:09,057 --> 00:29:14,131
This is a really good example of how far they're willing to take this practice.
346
00:29:15,650 --> 00:29:20,034
Perhaps this person had a congenital birth defect and was missing an arm,
347
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but for the afterlife he has one.
348
00:29:24,590 --> 00:29:29,215
NARRATOR: Suzanne's discovery reveals the lengths that the ancient Egyptian's went to for
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an improved life after death.
350
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SUZANNE: You know that the embalmer talked to the family and the family said, you know,
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'Dad had some really bad arthritis, could we do something
352
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to help him out in the afterlife?'
353
00:29:43,471 --> 00:29:47,095
They're taking care of their loved ones.
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MAN: Oh... SUZANNE: That fits.
355
00:29:53,688 --> 00:29:54,827
.
356
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SUZANNE: Very nice.
357
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.
358
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NARRATOR: Suzanne has found another burial ritual that aided the deceased.
359
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The tombs were filled with objects that would come to life in the underworld,
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magical servants called Shabti's.
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SUZANNE: When you go to the afterlife you want it to be easy and beautiful,
362
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but if there's work to be done, someone has to do it and that's this guy,
363
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the Shabti figure.
364
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It was the custom to include about 365 of these figures, and all of these figures then
365
00:30:27,653 --> 00:30:31,243
would have been part of a regular burial assemblage.
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NARRATOR: Shabtis would often be inscribed with the name of the departed.
367
00:30:38,491 --> 00:30:42,530
This made them the eternal servants of the deceased.
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SUZANNE: They also have working implements for doing the agricultural labor.
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00:30:49,882 --> 00:30:53,782
So, this guy is ready to go to work at a moment's notice in the afterlife.
370
00:30:54,059 --> 00:30:58,926
NARRATOR: But almost every one of the Shabti figurines has been smashed to pieces,
371
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along with the mummies themselves.
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This can only mean one thing, grave robbers.
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NARRATOR: In Aswan, Martina is investigating the burial of an unknown ancient Egyptian.
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The grave is small and unadorned, highly unusual for burials on this site.
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She's hoping a forensic analysis of the skeleton will reveal more information.
376
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.
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MARTINA: So right now, the work, taking off the bandages, registering what's there.
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00:31:53,359 --> 00:31:54,567
MARTINA: Yeah.
379
00:31:56,466 --> 00:31:57,916
MARTINA: Can you tell me the age?
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00:32:01,954 --> 00:32:03,922
MARTINA: Wow.
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00:32:03,956 --> 00:32:07,960
The average age or life expectance was about 25,
382
00:32:08,512 --> 00:32:12,827
and because far more many women died during the childbirth.
383
00:32:13,932 --> 00:32:16,520
When you have someone who's over 70 it's...
384
00:32:16,555 --> 00:32:19,592
I don't want to say a surprise, but it's nice to know and it's nice to get
385
00:32:19,627 --> 00:32:22,699
finally someone who was really old.
386
00:32:35,574 --> 00:32:39,129
NARRATOR: This woman lived an exceptionally long life,
387
00:32:39,164 --> 00:32:43,237
but it's a mystery why she's not been properly mummified.
388
00:32:43,616 --> 00:32:46,792
They carefully remove the bones, so experts in the lab
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00:32:46,826 --> 00:32:49,312
can continue to analyze the skeleton.
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00:33:02,290 --> 00:33:07,123
NARRATOR: Now the team must find more clues to figure out why in a cemetery for the
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00:33:07,157 --> 00:33:11,023
rich, this lady had such a simple burial.
392
00:33:20,722 --> 00:33:25,313
Back at base, it's a rare opportunity to relax.
393
00:33:30,525 --> 00:33:33,597
For Alejandro, it's a chance to call home.
394
00:33:46,127 --> 00:33:50,476
NARRATOR: Each year, Alejandro spends four months away from home.
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00:33:52,892 --> 00:33:58,415
ALEJANDRO: You miss home, obviously but I have the privilege, err,
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00:33:58,450 --> 00:34:02,178
to work in something that many millions would like to,
397
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to work, and I'm not going to complain,
398
00:34:05,491 --> 00:34:08,736
but at the same time it's hard.
399
00:34:10,703 --> 00:34:16,399
I missed the birth of my eldest daughter and this is something that my wife will
400
00:34:16,433 --> 00:34:19,712
not forgive me, and I will not forgive myself.
401
00:34:33,795 --> 00:34:37,075
NARRATOR: Just outside the Valley of the Kings,
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00:34:37,109 --> 00:34:39,939
Suzanne and her team are cataloging a collection of
403
00:34:39,974 --> 00:34:44,151
mummies that have been ripped apart by ancient looters.
404
00:34:47,671 --> 00:34:51,192
SUZANNE: There would have been probably up to 200 individuals who were buried here in
405
00:34:51,227 --> 00:34:57,198
coffins and very nicely laid out and cared for by their families, err,
406
00:34:57,233 --> 00:35:00,857
and in the, the looting process this was all dismantled.
407
00:35:02,203 --> 00:35:06,069
NARRATOR: Ancient Egyptians believed that to enter the afterlife, the body must
408
00:35:06,104 --> 00:35:10,798
survive whole, but for tomb robbers nothing was sacred.
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00:35:11,695 --> 00:35:15,251
SUZANNE: The looting process is really, really devastating.
410
00:35:15,561 --> 00:35:20,670
Bodies were destroyed, ripped apart, unwrapped and left higgledy-piggledy
411
00:35:20,704 --> 00:35:23,431
everywhere in the tomb.
412
00:35:23,466 --> 00:35:27,435
NARRATOR: These tomb raiders were hunting for something very precious.
413
00:35:28,609 --> 00:35:31,681
The ancient Egyptians believed magical amulets could help
414
00:35:31,715 --> 00:35:35,581
the deceased's soul reach the afterlife.
415
00:35:36,617 --> 00:35:39,551
One of these was shaped like a Scarab beetle,
416
00:35:39,585 --> 00:35:43,727
vital for surviving the trials of the underworld.
417
00:35:44,625 --> 00:35:48,353
Here, the God Anubis would test the dead's worthiness,
418
00:35:48,387 --> 00:35:52,253
weighing their heart against a feather.
419
00:35:53,116 --> 00:35:58,328
If the heart was heavier, it was evidence of an evil life, and would be devoured by a
420
00:35:58,363 --> 00:36:02,263
crocodile-headed monster, trapping the soul forever.
421
00:36:03,575 --> 00:36:06,440
But the scarab amulet could help.
422
00:36:06,474 --> 00:36:09,443
If priests placed it inside the mummified body,
423
00:36:09,477 --> 00:36:13,688
it would ensure success in the heart-weighing trial.
424
00:36:14,310 --> 00:36:16,933
SUZANNE: In trying to protect the body for the resurrection,
425
00:36:16,967 --> 00:36:19,556
they would have put all these magical symbols inside.
426
00:36:19,591 --> 00:36:24,009
NARRATOR: But for robbers, this made the mummies highly-profitable targets.
427
00:36:24,389 --> 00:36:28,876
SUZANNE: They know exactly what should be inside, and they went right for it.
428
00:36:37,850 --> 00:36:42,648
NARRATOR: Suzanne has evidence of an especially gruesome looting attack.
429
00:36:42,683 --> 00:36:46,445
SUZANNE: This individual demonstrates the looting process in a very personal
430
00:36:46,480 --> 00:36:52,486
way, and you can see it's the torso of an individual just with part of the leg attached,
431
00:36:52,520 --> 00:36:55,351
and there's no bandages left on him.
432
00:36:55,972 --> 00:37:00,597
This jagged side is where someone put their fist through in order to get into the
433
00:37:00,632 --> 00:37:04,256
cavity and take out any amulets.
434
00:37:04,291 --> 00:37:09,399
NARRATOR: This poor soul may no longer have protection in the afterlife, but for Suzanne
435
00:37:09,434 --> 00:37:13,023
the looting has created a unique opportunity.
436
00:37:13,058 --> 00:37:16,406
SUZANNE: While its devastating, the amount of information that we can get
437
00:37:16,441 --> 00:37:21,169
from bodies that are already unwrapped is far greater than if they are wrapped because it
438
00:37:21,204 --> 00:37:25,381
allows us to have a really good chance at visual examination.
439
00:37:26,140 --> 00:37:29,971
NARRATOR: Her remarkable discovery of corrective surgery after death, and
440
00:37:30,006 --> 00:37:34,493
mummified prosthetic limbs, is one of the biggest of its kind.
441
00:37:35,114 --> 00:37:41,189
It reveals new levels of obsession with living a better life after death.
442
00:37:45,884 --> 00:37:48,162
In the Valley of the Kings,
443
00:37:48,196 --> 00:37:50,923
deep within the tomb of Seti the First,
444
00:37:50,958 --> 00:37:55,065
experts in ancient inscription, John and Colleen Darnell,
445
00:37:55,100 --> 00:37:58,690
are examining the elaborate hieroglyphs.
446
00:37:59,346 --> 00:38:03,971
They want to find out how Pharaoh Seti planned to reach the afterlife.
447
00:38:04,282 --> 00:38:07,112
JOHN: This is a great text here.
448
00:38:07,146 --> 00:38:10,978
NARRATOR: Each text plays a specific role on the journey.
449
00:38:11,668 --> 00:38:18,088
.
450
00:38:18,848 --> 00:38:20,953
COLLEEN: Yeah that's great.
451
00:38:20,988 --> 00:38:25,268
JOHN: Yeah, then those who are in this gate scream when they hear the door slam shut.
452
00:38:27,857 --> 00:38:31,412
NARRATOR: They've found one of the most important texts for safe passage through the
453
00:38:31,447 --> 00:38:35,347
netherworld, called the "Book of Gates."
454
00:38:36,003 --> 00:38:39,317
JOHN: This is one of the gates in the Book of Gates,
455
00:38:39,351 --> 00:38:41,249
and this shows something of how
456
00:38:41,284 --> 00:38:43,976
Egyptian religious texts really often work.
457
00:38:44,011 --> 00:38:48,015
Absolutely crucial for literally navigating the netherworld.
458
00:38:50,189 --> 00:38:55,367
NARRATOR: The images of the afterlife texts reveal just how treacherous
459
00:38:55,402 --> 00:38:59,337
Seti's voyage through the underworld could be.
460
00:39:00,545 --> 00:39:05,446
The journey was split into 12 gates, representing the 12 hours of the night.
461
00:39:06,344 --> 00:39:10,244
Each held a challenge the dead must overcome.
462
00:39:11,038 --> 00:39:15,387
The Pharaoh's soul used spells and passwords inscribed on the walls,
463
00:39:15,422 --> 00:39:18,770
to continue his journey.
464
00:39:20,219 --> 00:39:25,017
Without the right guidance, Seti's soul could be cast into a sea of fire,
465
00:39:25,052 --> 00:39:28,918
to endure an eternity of torment.
466
00:39:33,371 --> 00:39:37,375
COLLEEN: Everything that these texts are talking about is
467
00:39:37,409 --> 00:39:40,895
ensuring the eternal existence of the King.
468
00:39:41,827 --> 00:39:46,280
NARRATOR: They've now made it to the most sacred of all the chambers in the tomb,
469
00:39:46,314 --> 00:39:50,215
where the Pharaoh's body was finally laid to rest.
470
00:39:50,491 --> 00:39:55,393
JOHN: So here we're in the sarcophagus room in the tomb of Seti the First.
471
00:39:55,807 --> 00:39:58,879
We're in the final major architectural element of the tomb.
472
00:40:00,087 --> 00:40:03,470
This, for the ancient Egyptians is the equivalent for the soul
473
00:40:03,504 --> 00:40:08,647
of sort of a spacecraft, it gets you out of the terrestrial realm and
474
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puts you beyond into this other reality.
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NARRATOR: Pharaoh Seti the First, built his tomb deep underground,
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so his soul could traverse the netherworld.
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Religious texts carved on the walls of the tomb,
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ensured the King had the passwords he needed
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to travel into the afterlife.
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Inside the burial chamber, a giant stone sarcophagus.
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This was inscribed with the Book of Gates, and held Seti's mummy and amulets.
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These gave him the guidance needed to pass through the gates,
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and achieve immortality.
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JOHN: For the Egyptians you have to know all of this information but then you have
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to use it, you have to say the spells, you don't just read the book, you enact it.
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And you don't just have the amulet, you use it in the right way,
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to get the dead King into the afterlife.
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COLLEEN: And the text and the scenes and the hieroglyphs
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all make this tomb a resurrection machine.
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JOHN: The ancient Egyptians would love the fact that modern people were so
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interested in what they did and what they thought.
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They really believed that the memory of the dead,
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thinking about the dead would improve the future existence of the soul.
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NARRATOR: As a Pharaoh, Egyptians spared no expense
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to grant Seti safe passage to the afterlife.
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But even ordinary Egyptians made sure they were prepared.
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In Aswan, Martina and the team have finished analyzing
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the contents of the pot discovered with the elderly lady.
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MARTINA: We found little stone chips, and fragmented insects and that's all.
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NARRATOR: The insect remains indicate it could have contained food,
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as an offering to the deceased.
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MARTINA: The offerings were usually placed near the head.
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It can provide the deceased with the liquids for its use in the afterlife.
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NARRATOR: The remains of bone and fabric show this person was only partially mummified.
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Alejandro has a theory about why,
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in a graveyard for the rich, there was such a modest burial.
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ALEJANDRO: Royal tombs are...
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in the Valley of the Kings are fully decorated with rich and great goods.
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But the absence in this burial seems to indicate that this person did not belong to a
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high position in the, in this society.
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She might be a person who worked for important people and perhaps her position was
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to continue assisting those people after the death.
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NARRATOR: This elderly lady may have been a servant or a nurse
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for one of the powerful families buried here.
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ALEJANDRO: We are working to understand the past.
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The discovery of the intact chamber, it's always a moment to remember.
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But now we have to study all the material that we have,
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and this is exciting, at least for me.
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NARRATOR: Rich or poor, ancient Egyptians did everything they could
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to prepare for the afterlife.
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The relics, rituals and remains they left behind
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are now giving archaeologists
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an insight into this extraordinary society,
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unraveling the mysteries of the afterlife to this day.
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