All language subtitles for Secrets.in.the.Sand.S02E04.1080p.WEB.h264-FREQUENCY_track3_[eng]

[narrator]
Archaeologists make
a remarkable discovery

in Egypt's Valley of the Kings.

They discovered
the burial chamber,

to an undiscovered tomb.

But instead of finding
the remains of a burial,

the tomb was mostly empty.

Is it possible
that this mysterious,

empty burial ground

was once
the final resting place

of a female member
of the Egyptian royal family?

Extraordinary structures
are revealed

in the Jordanian desert.

[Anthea]
The sheer scale of them shows

that they were
clearly important.

But what were they for?

On the outside
of an Israeli town,

excavations unearth
a strange complex.

[Teddy]
At first glance,

it looks like just a low,
crumbling wall

sticking out of the sand.

But after some digging around,

they discover that it's actually
part of a bigger complex.

[Dr. Amma]
All told, the complex covers
roughly 10,000 square feet.

So what was this place?

Ancient lost cities,

forgotten treasures,

mysterious structures.

As new technology
uncovers remarkable tales,

hidden beneath
the deserts of the world,

The "Secrets in the sand"
will finally be revealed.

Spreading over 160 square miles
of the Egyptian desert,

just east of the Nile River,

the city of Luxor is one
of the hottest and driest

urban centers in the world.

[Dr. Alison]
Summer temperatures

frequently hit
104 degrees Fahrenheit,

and its low annual precipitation

is on par with the driest
sections of the Sahara.

[Dr. Anthony] Luxor has
a special place in history

as the former city of Thebes,

the religious capital
of ancient Egypt.

It's famous for its ruins
of 4,000-year-old temples,

palaces, and monuments.

Some of those are
still standing today,

making the city one
of the largest open-air museums

in the world.

But the most renowned landmarks

are the series of tombs,
west of the Nile

in an area called
the Valley of the Kings.

[Dr. Dan]
The Valley of the Kings
was the chosen necropolis

for most of Egypt's
New Kingdom rulers and pharaohs.

The Valley of the Kings
is a small valley

surrounded by these
steep limestone cliffs,

that is a topography
that is perfect

for carving individual tombs
into the hillside.

And of the 62 tombs
that have been found so far,

the most famous

is that of the Boy King,
Tutankhamun,

discovered with most
of its artifacts intact in 1922.

A team of archaeologists

is working near
the western edge of the Valley,

about a mile from where
most of the rulers' tombs lay,

when they come across
a surprising discovery.

They found an entrance
to a 32-foot passageway,

which was almost
entirely filled with debris,

so it took a long time to clear.

When they finally got through,

they discovered
the burial chamber

to an undiscovered tomb.

But instead of finding
the remains of a burial,

the tomb was mostly empty.

[Dr. Alison]
There were fragments
of clay vessels

scattered on the chamber floor.

One of the pottery pieces
bore a label indicating

it had contained
the substance "natron,"

which was commonly used
for embalming.

So that confirmed
a burial did take place,

at least initially.

[Dr. Anthony]
The tomb was
discovered in an area

mostly reserved for the wives,

mothers, and daughters
of the pharaohs,

the Valley of the Queens.

So it was suggested
that it belonged to a woman.

After all, the closest tombs
in the vicinity

belonged to the wives
of King Thutmose III.

Is it possible
that this mysterious,

empty burial ground

was once the final resting place

of a female member
of the Egyptian royal family?

A detailed survey

and investigation
of the inner tomb

leads to some critical clues.

In addition
to the broken shards of pottery,

there were fragments of tiling

that had fallen
from the ceiling.

After piecing them together,
like an ancient jigsaw puzzle,

a pattern emerged.

It was a painted blue night sky

decorated with yellow stars,

a design traditionally
associated with the pharaoh.

[Dr. Dan]
More significantly,

the walls were decorated

with hieroglyphic scenes
from the Amduat.

That's this sacred funerary text

that describes the sun god, Ra,

as it makes this nightly journey

through the 12 regions
of the underworld.

It symbolizes
death and rebirth.

And as with the painted
night sky,

the Amduat
was typically reserved

for Egyptian rulers only.

Putting two and two together,

this undiscovered tomb

was in a section
of the necropolis

populated mostly by women.

And yet it
bore the distinct hallmarks

of a pharaoh's funeral rites.

So is it possible
that this is the secret tomb

of a female pharaoh?

Most of Egypt's rulers
were men.

One of the few exceptions
was Queen Hatshepsut.

Hatshepsut
was the eldest daughter

of the 18th dynasty king,
Thutmose I.

She was married
to her half-brother,

Thutmose II,

who inherited the throne
around 1500 BCE.

Now, when Thutmose II
died 13 years later,

the throne normally
would've just gone

straight on to his son,
Thutmose III,

but Thutmose III
was still an infant,

so his wife
and half-sister, Hatshepsut,

acted as regent
for the young king.

[Dr. Amma]
By most accounts,

her reign was a successful
and peaceful one.

She defended Egypt's borders

and her foreign policy
was based on trade, not war.

Seven years into her reign,

Hatshepsut was given
a full royal title,

essentially making her
a female king.

Interestingly,
it was at this point

that she stopped
being depicted as a female.

In paintings and sculptures,

she began to appear wearing
male clothes and regalia,

including a beard.

Scholars believe
this wasn't an attempt

on anyone's part
to pass her off as a man,

but rather to indicate

she deserved
the respect of a king.

The continued examination

and analysis
of the tomb's walls and floor

results in a breakthrough.

[Dr. Dan]
There were small pictures
of a broken alabaster jar

that probably once
contained ointment.

Now, the same jigsaw
puzzle approach

was used to piece
this jar together,

but this time,
it revealed a name.

King Thutmose II.

The assembled jar
also included his wife,

Queen Hatshepsut's name.

And the full inscription
clearly indicates

Hatshepsut buried
her husband right here.

[Dr. Amma]
This was an incredible
turn of events.

First discovery of a royal tomb

in the Theban necropolis
in 100 years.

The implications were enormous.

Egypt was at the peak
of its power in the New Kingdom

as it continued
to amass great wealth

along with its growing empire.

Plus, this discovery
presented an opportunity

to study a pharaoh

about whom
very little was known.

[Dr. Alison]
Thutmose II was
an 18th dynasty pharaoh

who came to power
in the second millennium BCE.

Some historical records
state that during his reign,

he squashed
a rebellious uprising in Nubia,

what is now northern Sudan.

There was also an indication
that he may have campaigned

with his armies
to the eastern Mediterranean,

as far as Syria.

[Dr. Anthony]
But Thutmose II was best known

for being the king who married

the future
female pharaoh of Egypt.

So was Queen Hatshepsut

truly instrumental
in selecting her husband's tomb

as the inscription suggests?

If that's the case,

why did she select
an area over a mile away

from the traditional
burial ground?

The Valley of the Kings
was the main burial ground

of the Theban necropolis
for New Kingdom pharaohs

for just under 500 years.

According to tradition,
the pharaohs,

including future pharaohs
in line for the throne,

planned their own
funerary rites,

sometimes while
they were still children.

This included choosing
the location

and overseeing

the full construction
of the tomb.

[Dr. Amma]
So Hatshepsut may have
overseen the actual burial,

but it was likely Thutmose

who had the tomb
constructed here.

It also appeared

that Hatshepsut had planned
to be buried close by,

since an uncompleted tomb
just over 1,500 feet away

was discovered with inscriptions

stating it was intended for her.

[Dr. Alison]
But in another twist
to the story,

when Hatshepsut
eventually did pass away,

20 years after Thutmose's death,

she was interred
in the Valley of the Kings,

along with the other
male pharaohs.

This was likely
because she had acquired

the official title
and status of king.

There were
likely several factors

that played a role in Thutmose's
unusual tomb location,

and we may never know
all of them.

But one thing was noticeable.

Unlike King Tut's tomb,

which was discovered
overflowing with trinkets,

jewels, and other grave goods,

Thutmose's tomb was empty.

So you have to wonder,

was it looted by grave robbers?

Tomb raiders
were a persistent problem

in New Kingdom Egypt,

and their precious stolen goods

were a normal part
of the local economy.

In some cases,
they were professionals,

organized gangs
who knew the tomb's layout,

how to access them,

and how to sell them
on the black market.

In other cases,

it was it was the families
of the deceased

who stole from their tombs.

The problem was so widespread

that officials took
a range of steps to prevent it,

such as carving curses on doors

to scare would-be looters away.

But it seldom worked,

and the tomb raiders
were frequently brazen

and highly destructive,

smashing sarcophagi

and tearing through
the mummies' wrapped textiles

to access jewels and amulets.

After a thorough
assessment of the tomb,

the possibility
of a raid was ruled out.

There's no evidence of looting,

no signs of forced entry,

so if the grave goods
aren't there

and they weren't stolen,

they must have been moved
to a different location.

So the question is, why?

A closer look at the history

of ancient Egypt's
funerary practices

reveals a possible answer.

[Dr. Amma]
During the Old Kingdom,

from approximately
2700 to 2200 BC,

the Pharaoh's preoccupation
with death and the afterlife

led to the creation
of the Great Pyramids.

The more
valuable artifacts

and offerings within the tomb,

the better prepared
for the afterlife.

[Dr. Alison]
But this came at a cost.

The mere sight of a pyramid

essentially announced
the location and the opportunity

for tomb raiders to plunder.

Eventually, officials were
unable to protect the mummies

of the Old Kingdom rulers.

This, in part, is what led
New Kingdom rulers

to opt for concealment
and secrecy

by digging hidden tombs
deep in the hills

of the Theban necropolis.

[Dr. Anthony]
Despite the authorities'
best efforts

to keep the new location
of the tombs a secret,

looters eventually caught on.

Officials were bribed,

and many of the workers
who built the graves

got conscripted
by gangs to help them.

In response,

New Kingdom priests and royalty

began to secretly
remove the mummies

from the underground
tombs

and take them to a second,

even more hidden location,

referred to as the Royal Cache.

But the Royal Cache
was intended

as a temporary hiding place
for the mummies.

This wasn't an attempt

to reconstruct
entirely new tombs

for each of the pharaohs.

In the case of Thutmose II,

it's hypothesized that
an undiscovered second tomb,

likely does exist somewhere,

and that all those missing
valuable grave goods

are probably
just sitting somewhere,

waiting to be uncovered.

An extended search
of the surrounding area

leads to a curious discovery.

An enormous man-made
mound was discovered

not far from
the original empty tomb,

made up of piles
of limestone rubble

reaching 75 feet in height.

[Dr. Alison]
It appeared that the mound
was deliberately constructed

to conceal
something underneath.

Could it be the opening

to Thutmose's second
tomb location?

The excavation
of the limestone mound

is still pending.

In the meantime,

the discovery
of Thutmose II's original tomb

represents a crucial
missing piece

in the history
of Egypt's 18th dynasty.

And while it helps solve
one enduring mystery

about the ancient pharaoh,

it continues
to pose new questions

about his fate and his legacy.

The basalt flats
of the Arabian Peninsula

extend tens of thousands
of miles

across the borders
of Jordan, Syria,

and Saudi Arabia.

[Dr. Anthony]
These basalt fields
are known as harrats,

which comes
from the Arabic for "stony area"

or "lava field."

They formed millions
of years ago,

when the Arabian plate
began to shift away

from the African plate,

along the Red Sea Rift.

This gradual movement thinned
the Earth's crust

and allowed magma
to rise from the Earth's mantle

to the surface.

An archaeologist
conducting aerial surveys

above the sprawling
lava deserts of Jordan

spots something strange.

[Dr. Anthony]
He began to notice
enormous structures,

stretching across the harrats.

They were relatively
uniform in shape

and clearly man-made.

But what stood out the most
was their size.

[Dr. Amma]
The structures are
essentially huge rectangles

formed of two thick bands,

connected by much longer,

thinner rows of rock.

Today, we know
these structures

as mustatils,
or gates,

because of their unique shape.

[Teddy]
Early surveys of the harrats

showed that the gates
were often clustered

in groups of two or three,

but the total number
remained a bit of a mystery

until Google Earth
changed everything.

With mainstream satellite images
available to the public,

archaeologists around the world

could explore the desert
from their own homes.

So far, more than a thousand
of these gates have been found.

We can't be sure,

but we believe they were
built by nomadic tribes

thousands of years ago,

the ancestors of the modern-day
Bedouin people.

The sheer scale of them shows

that they were
clearly important.

But what were they for?

These extraordinary gates

aren't the only
monumental sculptures

on the Arabian Peninsula.

South of the Jordanian
basalt flats

lies the Harrat Khaybar,

one of Saudi Arabia's
largest lava fields.

Among the volcanic cones,

vast stone shapes
known as kites,

have been sculpted
into the landscape.

Over 900 of these kites

have been have been spotted
in Harrat Khaybar alone.

These structures are
even larger than the gates,

with some measuring
over a quarter of a mile long.

Many of these structures
date back,

roughly to the Holocene
humid period,

which spanned
roughly 9000 to 5500 BCE.

Back then, the desert belt
of North Africa and Arabia

was far greener
and more fertile,

an ideal hunting ground
for people living in the area.

And these structures
weren't just random formations.

They were built with a clear
and deliberate purpose.

These kites have been
referred to as megatraps,

and that's exactly
what they were.

It's believed the ancient nomads

used the kites'
long walls or strings

to drive herds
of prey toward the head,

where they would
become trapped.

[Anthea]
The traps would
have taken weeks

or even months to build

and would have required
a huge amount of manpower.

Just like the gates,

they demonstrate
an advanced early engineering,

which makes us wonder

whether they served
a similar function.

Could the gates farther north

have also served
as huge hunting traps?

When archaeologists
on the ground

get a closer look
at the desert gates,

they see just how intricate
these structures are,

and they discover
a hidden feature.

Taking a closer look
at the mustatils,

we can get a sense
of how much care was taken

in their construction.

Each of the gates' long bars

is made of two parallel lines

of specially chosen flat stones

placed on their edges
facing each other.

The space
between these larger rocks

was then filled in with rubble.

At the top of the mustatils,
we find the head,

a platform filled with rocks

that once stood several feet
high

and formed the thickest band
in the structure.

At the very center
of the heads of most gates

lies a hidden chamber.

These chambers
are relatively small,

typically 10 to 30 feet wide.

While excavating
the walls of one mustatil,

a team of archaeologists
makes a shocking discovery.

While excavating
the walls of one mustatil,

a team of archaeologists
makes a shocking discovery.

They began to uncover
human bone fragments.

The bones belong
to nine separate individuals,

two infants,
one child,

a teenager,
and five adults.

So could these structures

be something
other than animal traps?

Could they actually be
elaborate funerary monuments?

The search for answers leads
to another nearby site,

where ancient roadways
in Northwest Arabia

are flanked by mysterious
stone sculptures.

[Anthea]
These aren't gates
or kites, but keyholes.

As the name suggests,

they're made up
of two main components,

a circular section at one end
placed at the point

of an elongated triangle.

Nearly 18,000 of these keyholes
have been found

over roughly
100,000 square miles
of the Arabian desert.

[Dr. Amma]
Like the gates,

the keyholes are often grouped
in elaborate formations

leading away
from a central corridor.

It's believed that they
may have been used

to shepherd animals
into specific pastures.

But they also serve
another more symbolic function.

Inside the circular ends
of these structures,

we find piles
of stones called cairns.

These aren't decorative.

They actually mark tombs.

Looking at them from above,

you can see that the tombs
have been deliberately organized

with a central roadway,

running through them

near the widest point
of the triangle.

Today, we now know
these arrangements

as funerary avenues.

It could be that people
wanted to bury their loved ones

on frequently traveled routes

so that their memory
would be kept alive

by people passing by.

Could the monumental
gates in Jordan

have served a similar function?

Excavations of ancient gates
in Saudi Arabia

unearthed yet
more skeletal remains.

But these bones point
to a different possibility.

It turns out that many
of these mustatils

contain thousands
of bone fragments.

But the vast majority
of these bones

aren't actually human.

They're animal bones.

There's evidence
that some of these animals

were wild,
like gazelles,

but most appear
to have been domesticated.

[Dr. Amma]
Radiocarbon dating shows us

that they're up
to 7,000 years old,

which makes
these stone monuments

about 2,000 years older

than both Stonehenge

or the earliest
Egyptian pyramids.

[Teddy]
Cattle herding would have
played a central role

in the lives of ancient people

living in the region
at the time,

providing a vital
source of food.

But why were they buried here?

Why go to the trouble

of building such
an elaborate burial ground

for animals?

As work
on the mustatils continues,

researchers working a site
at Yemen's Wada'ah sub-district

within the Sana'a government,

come across another
remarkable cattle burial.

We found a ring of more
than 40 cattle skulls

that had been planted
nose-down in the earth.

At the center of the ring,
there was one more skull,

also buried facing downwards.

This deliberate
arrangement suggests

the skulls represented
some kind of ritual

or symbolic significance.

The cattle remains
were found near a stone platform

and surrounded
by several hearths.

The skulls and hearths combined

paint a vivid picture
of some kind of ritual feast,

one that seemingly involved

the sacrifice
of domestic animals.

The discovery of ritual cattle
sacrifice in Yemen

leads to a revelation
for experts

working on Arabia's
colossal stone gates.

We now believe
that these huge stone gates

were built to host
similar rituals.

Each of the gates has a narrow
entrance built into its base.

These are typically less than
three feet wide,

which may have been
to encourage people

to enter the structure
in single file.

[Dr. Amma]
We can't be sure,

but the large courtyards
inside the gate

could have accommodated
lots of people,

perhaps an audience
for the animal sacrifices.

It's thought
that these mustatils

are some of the oldest
monuments built

by these Neolithic cattle cults.

They've been found over an area

of just under
80,000 square miles,

which tells us
that their beliefs and rituals

were extremely widespread
during the late Stone Age.

Over time, the ritual
significance of these sites

appears to have changed
with animal sacrifices

slowly giving way
to human burials.

There isn't
any evidence to suggest

that the humans buried here
were sacrificed themselves.

Instead, the continued use
of these monuments as graveyards

only emphasizes how important
these spiritual landmarks were

to the people who built them.

Today, work continues
to excavate and date

even more of these enigmatic
gates to chart the lives

of the ancient Arabian
cattle cults.

But who or what
these cults worshiped

remains an enduring mystery.

Around 35 miles southwest
of Jerusalem,

in Israel's Negev desert,

lies the Bedouin town of Rahat.

With a population
of just over 75,000,

it's the largest
of the Bedouin cities,

but roughly 60%
of the people who live there

are under the age of 18,

so its nickname
is the City of Children.

[Dr. Alison]
It's on the edge of a desert,

so it has a hot,
semi-arid climate

and sees only about ten inches
of rain each year.

The city is surrounded
by small rolling hills

made up of loess,
a fine material comprised

mostly of silt and dust
distributed by the wind.

On the southern
outskirts of town,

a team of archaeologists
is carrying out excavations

in advance of a future
construction project

when they unearth
something surprising.

[Teddy]
At first glance, it looks like
just a low, crumbling wall

sticking out of the sand.

But after some digging around,

they discover that it's actually
part of a bigger complex.

[Dr. Amma]
It consists of several rooms

of varying sizes
joined together,

some rectangular,
others more square.

And they're
all separated by walls

made up of stones
cemented together.

All told, the complex covers
roughly 10,000 square feet,

a large area,

and looks to be very old.

So what was this place?

Another stone structure
was discovered

not too far from the complex
of Rahat.

Researchers determined it to be

one of the oldest
rural mosques ever found.

It's mostly just
one small square room,

around 65 square feet,

but one of the walls
isn't a straight line.

It has a half-circle jutting out

of the middle of it
facing south,

the direction of Mecca,

the holy city of Islam.

The half-circle is
a prayer niche called a mihrab.

[Dr. Dan]
Using pottery and coins
discovered at the site,

researchers figured this dates
to the late 7th century

or early 8th century CE.

Now, it's known
that Islam did originate

about 100 years before that
in what is now Saudi Arabia,

but it didn't become
the dominant religion

in this region
for at least 200 years.

So finding
a mosque this old is rare.

Given the mosque's proximity
to the complex

and the similarities
in construction style,

I think it's safe to assume
that the complex

was from around the same period,

around 1,200 years ago.

But what was it?

As the team explores
the complex further,

something strange happens.

When they knock
on some of the stones,

they hear an echo emanating
from beneath the ground.

They're able
to create a small hole

to lower a camera down

and are shocked
at what they see.

There's an incredible
underground complex of vaults.

They're built out
of limestone blocks

about 18 feet under the ground

and measuring
roughly eight feet tall.

The compartments
are linked by tunnels

and have arched ceilings,

also constructed out of stone.

These vaults were probably
used as storage areas,

but for what?

The area around Rahat

was once an ancient
farming community.

There's evidence to suggest

that the Negev
had large-scale agriculture

between the 4th
and 11th century CE.

[Dr. Dan]
This was no easy task,

considering
the environmental factors.

I mean, there was always
the threat of a drought,

and a drought
could last for several years,

but the people who lived here

had extremely clever ways
of managing water.

[Dr. Alison]
They used a damming technique,

building stone terraces
into hillside plots of farmland,

and also had
a system of channels

for collecting runoff
from slopes.

Using these methods,
they were able to grow

various legumes and grains,
including wheat and barley.

So maybe the structure
discovered at Rahat

was used for storing
food supplies,

or even a produce
marketplace of some kind.

Further investigation
of the site

reveals architectural details

that may just support
this theory.

The western area
has a series of big rooms,

and the eastern side contains
a large open hall.

These spaces would be ideal
for conducting commerce

or further storage
beyond the underground vaults.

[Dr. Amma]
But if the complex was
for storing food products

or used as a marketplace,

there would probably
be evidence left behind.

But all they found in the vaults

were some clay shards
from oil lamps.

So I think it's unlikely

that the structure was used
for that purpose.

It must have been
for something else.

[Dr. Alison]
Given its size and location
on the outskirts of the city,

maybe the building
had a military function

for protecting Rahat
from invading armies.

The vaults could have been
for storing weapons

or a system of defense.

In central Turkey's
historic Cappadocia region

is Derinkuyu,

an ancient city with extensive
underground complexes

that some believe
were vital to its defense.

During the Byzantine period,

Christians were
under constant threat of attack

from the Romans.

And it's thought
that these tunnels

were built to hide the people
of the city from persecution.

[Dr. Amma]
Some of the tunnels
are not very big,

which might appear
to be a design flaw.

But it was likely
done on purpose

so that if attackers
tried to enter,

they would have to be
in a single row

and hunched over,
making it easier

for defending soldiers
to kill them.

Maybe the underground
system at Rahat

served a similar purpose.

[Teddy]
But there's no historical
documentation

to indicate that this was
an important town

that needed defending back then.

It was a simple, rural,
agricultural community.

And there's also
no archaeological evidence

of conflict.

No military artifacts
were discovered.

As the team continues
to investigate the site,

they find certain items

that may just provide
some answers.

As the team continues

to investigate
the site around Rahat,

they find certain items

that may just provide
some answers.

[Dr. Alison]
They came across two ovens.

Now, that might
not sound like a big deal

because people
had to cook, right?

But these ovens are way bigger
than conventional ones.

Too big to be just for preparing
regular family meals.

And right next to one of them
is a water cistern.

Olive pits were
also found at the site.

All of this adds up
to one thing.

On top of being a residence,

this complex was probably used

to manufacture soap.

The ovens were likely used

to cook up
a mixture of ingredients.

They would have
needed olive oil,

which explains
all the olive pits,

and they would have
needed water.

And lo and behold,

one of the ovens
is right next to a cistern.

[Dr. Amma]
This was the perfect
location for soap-making,

with all the necessary
ingredients found

in the surrounding region.

Old soap recipes
require saltwort plants,

which are indigenous
to the Negev desert,

and olives were
extensively available

in the nearby
South Hebron Hills.

Soap-making
in the ancient world

goes back much farther
than the early Islamic period.

Soap first being
used for personal hygiene

dates back
to the ancient Egyptians,

around 1550 BCE.

They created
a soap-like substance

by combining animal
and vegetable oils

with alkaline salts

for both cleaning their bodies

and treating skin conditions.

As Islam spread to become
the primary religion

in the Middle East,

an emphasis on hygiene
and cleanliness emerged.

Islam is a very
ritualistic religion,

and certain
hygiene-related customs

are expected to be followed.

Muslims are encouraged
to perform ablution,

known as Wudu,

before prayers,

which involves washing the face,

hands, arms, feet,

and rinsing the mouth and nose.

[Dr. Alison]
Good grooming
and the use of perfumes,

Tayyib, are also expected.

A devout Muslim
should show loyalty to God

and respect for his fellow
Muslims by smelling good,

particularly at group prayer.

The cleanliness of clothing,
living spaces,

and the body
are a high priority.

Researchers believe
that the complex at Rahat

may be the oldest
soap-making facility

ever discovered in Israel.

At the time, family recipes
were heavily guarded secrets,

handed down
from generation to generation.

And as Islam grew
in popularity,

the demand
for soap grew with it

and made some people
extremely wealthy,

including whoever lived

in this once
magnificent complex.

Tucked into the northern
reaches of Egypt's

lies the Faiyum Basin,

a vast limestone depression

spanning more
than 6,000 square miles.

The Faiyum Basin
is incredibly unique,

because it's home to an oasis.

For thousands of years,

humans have been diverting water

from the nearby Nile River

into the basin
to irrigate the land.

These irrigation systems
supported large towns

during the ancient Egyptian
Middle Kingdom

and the Roman period.

There are dozens
of well-preserved Egyptian,

Greek, Roman,
and Coptic Christian sites

dotted around the oasis,

making it an archaeological
treasure trove.

As extraordinary as these
ancient settlements are,

the oldest remains in the basin

predate humans
by millions of years.

One of the best examples
is Wadi Al-Hitan,

or Whale Valley,

a stretch of land,
roughly 100 miles from Cairo,

where archaeologists
have found fossils

dating back more
than 40 million years

to the earliest aquatic whales

in the final stages
of losing their hind legs.

For years, archaeologists
have carefully cataloged

the marine mammals
of the Faiyum depression.

But during a dig
in the arid desert,

one team spots an entirely
different set of remains.

[Anthea]
They had been digging
for several days

when they spotted
a set of huge teeth

sticking out
of the desert floor.

They quickly realized
the teeth were attached

to a nearly
perfectly preserved skull.

[Dr. Dan]
It's some kind of mammal,

and this thing
is clearly a predator.

It's got these teeth
that are sharp

and look like they're
perfect for slicing into prey.

Plus, it's got these
big crests on the skull

that suggest it
had really powerful jaws.

Based on the skull's size,

we can estimate this animal

was about the size
of a modern-day leopard.

So what was it,

and how long ago did it roam
the Faiyum Basin?

The discovery
of the predator's skull

prompted comparisons
to a set of remains

unearthed in the region
120 years earlier.

These fossils belong
to a creature

known as Sekhmetops.

Sekhmetops was
a formidable predator,

roughly the size
of a modern-day lion

with a large, heavy head.

It shares many qualities
with the newly discovered skull,

including its razor-sharp teeth,

specially adapted
to bring down large prey.

So could the creature found
in the Faiyum Basin

be from the same species
as Sekhmetops?

Searching for answers,

the team performs a detailed
analysis of the skull

in the hopes
of establishing its age.

And the results
are rather surprising.

The skull is
around 30 million years old.

This means that this creature
is from the Oligocene period,

which spanned from approximately
34 to 23 million years ago,

the same timeframe
as Sekhmetops.

So it's entirely possible

that the two animals
are closely related.

[Anthea]
While it might be tempting
to think Sekhmetops

and the newly discovered animal
belong to the same species,

there are differences
between them.

Besides being smaller
than Sekhmetops,

the skull has
distinctly feline features

with a shorter cat-like snout.

The differences
between the remains

tell us that we're
looking at two distinct species

of an order known
as Hyaenodonta,

extinct,
hypercarnivorous mammals

that lived on virtually
every continent.

These animals
varied widely in size and shape,

from 11 pounds to over 1,000.

The new skull represents
an entirely new species

of Hyaenodon

that lived
alongside Sekhmetops.

Following the tradition

of naming these
ancient carnivores

after Egyptian deities,

this new species
was named Bastetodon

in honor of Bastet,

the cat-headed goddess
of protection and fertility.

Further analysis
of the Sekhmetops

alongside the Bastetodon
leads to a breakthrough.

When Sekhmetops
was first discovered,

they originally
placed the species

within a group
of European Hyaenodons

and assumed that that's where
Sekhmetops originated

before migrating to Africa.

But using
the Bastetodon fossils,

that family tree has painted
a very different picture.

The results
of the analysis prove

that the opposite
of what we once believed

was actually true.

Sekhmetops and the Bastetodon
weren't European in origin.

They represented
an entirely new group

of African Hyaenodons

that originated right where
they were found, in Egypt.

Hyaenodons lasted as an order

for approximately
50 million years.

To survive that long,

they had
to successfully survive

some of the Earth's most
dramatic climactic changes.

[Teddy]
One of these extreme changes

occurred around
34 million years ago,

when the planet began to cool.

Ice sheets expanded,

sea levels dropped,

and forests slowly
transformed into grasslands.

Today, we know this period

as the Eocene-Oligocene
boundary.

[Dr. Alison]
This boundary is also known
as the Grande Coupure,

or Big Break,

because of its
devastating effects

on species across the world.

On the African and Arabian
peninsulas alone,

approximately 60%
of mammal species vanished,

but Hyaenodons survived,

with new species emerging in
the wake of the disaster

and adapting
to the changing environments.

[Dr. Dan]
Throughout the Oligocene
and the Miocene,

African Hyaenodons
maintained their position

at the very top
of the food chain.

And this was in part

because of their
ability to adapt

and in some cases
become supersized.

The global extinction
of the Hyaenodons

remains an enduring mystery.

But some experts believe
that the answer may lie

in dramatic
environmental shifts.

During the Oligocene,
about 26 million years ago,

tectonic shifts
pushed the Arabian

and Eurasian plates
closer together.

Over millions of years,

these shifts created
new land bridges

for ancient species
to spread between continents.

So creatures that were
previously isolated in Europe

migrated south into Africa.

During the Miocene,

this faunal exchange
really picked up,

and we start to see
modern-looking predators

like cats, dogs, and hyenas
appear on the African continent.

Unlike Hyaenodons,

these predators
had flexible wrists and forearms

that allowed them to adopt
new hunting techniques.

We now believe
that these new predators

began to compete
with Hyaenodons for prey.

The very same attributes
that once made the Hyaenodon

so formidable may have
accelerated its downfall.

Its dentition was extremely
specialized,

and the predators' rigid bodies

meant that they
relied almost exclusively

on their huge jaws and heads
to bring down their prey.

When competition increased,

these animals may
have been physically unable

to adapt
to different food sources.

Eventually, they went extinct,

leaving cats and dogs

to take their place
at the top of the food chain.

The exact cause
of the Hyaenodon's extinction

remains a complex web
of unanswered questions.

But with every
new species that emerges,

our understanding
of this ancient apex predator

grows a little clearer.