All language subtitles for Expedition.Unknown.S14E02.en

[Josh] This brings us
to the mystery of
Alexander the Great.

His body and his tomb
are missing.

Crazy though it seems,
we don't know where it is.

Look at this place.

What have you found here?

-This was the foundation of
a building.
-Yeah.

This part is the south end
of the building.

[Josh]
Whatever this building was,
it must have been important.

This base was made for
a building very tall

and very big.

[Josh]
But is it big enough to be
the tomb of Alexander?

We can't tell the dimensions
because the north wall

is hidden somewhere under
that apartment complex.

We are very close
to the modern street

and this huge building.

But recently,
we found a tunnel.

You found a tunnel?

We can use the tunnel to see
where the building goes?

Yes.

Okay, here we go.

Oh, boy.

This, this is about as tight
as it gets.

-Josh, look at this.
-So more stones.

This is the western wall,
yeah?

The end of western wall.

-Aha.
-And this.

-Oh, this is the corner.
-Yes.

-This is the northern wall.
-Yeah.

Oh, my word.

Josh, look to the side.

We've got ceramics
and, oh, this is painted.

Look at this.

Look at this.

This is painted plaster
and more.

We have a red, blue,
and yellow plaster.

So I have seen these colors
before in Greece

in the tomb of Philip II,
Alexander's father

and you have found many of
these?

-Many.
-This whole thing was painted.

[laughs]

This feels deeper than before.
Why is this deeper?

[alarm blaring]

[yells in foreign language]

[all exclaiming]

-There is a problem. Fix!
-Please, hurry,
tell anyone to fix it?

Tunnel's filling with water.
Get Josh out now.

The pumps are down.
You have to get out of
the tunnel.

The pump is broken.

-Water's coming up.
-This is flooding.

This is flooding.

-Oh.
-Yes, we go, we go.

Come on, come on.
Let's get out of here.

[speaking other language]

[in English] Here we go, guys.
Come on, come on, come on.

Keep moving.

We are about to be underwater.
Come on.

[bleep]

Come on.
We're going to drown in here.

I see them.
They're coming out.

We're coming.

Okay.

-You guys okay?
-Yeah. Yeah. What happened?

The line broke.
Are you okay?

Yeah, I'm okay.

-You're okay?
-I'm okay.

We're okay.

This is the first time I see
the tunnel like that.

-First time it's this flooded?
-Yes.

-We saw the north wall
and the painted plaster.
-Great.

-Now we know the size, yeah?
-Yes, exactly.

Okay.

Can I get out of here now?

It's about time.

Come on, come on.
Let's go.

Oh, my word.

That was close.

The past is all around us.

Oh, this is crazy.

A world of mystery.

This is a plane.

Yeah.

[Josh] Danger.

We are about
to be underwater.

Whoa!

And adventure.

It's just straight down!

[exclaiming]

I travel to the far corners
of the Earth

to uncover where legends end.

And history begins.

Okay, let's punch it.

I'm Josh Gates,
and this is
Expedition Unknown.

Oh, my God.

[sighs]

Okay.

Maybe a lunch break?

What lunch break?
It's two o'clock.

-We have more to do.
-Oh, man.

Mahmoud.

She's relentless.

That shouldn't be a surprise.

A person needs to be
determined if they're going

to find Alexander the Great.

The last resting place of
history's greatest conqueror

is also the greatest missing
persons case in history,

not to mention
a treasure-filled tomb
beyond compare,

one that has eluded scholars
and adventurers for centuries.

My own search kicked off
in Vergina, Greece,

in what were once
the rolling hills of Macedon,

a small tribal kingdom
that grew into

a lethal fighting force,
thanks to Philip II,

who began a revolution
in warfare that his son,

Alexander, turned into
a fun hobby called

taking over the world,
spreading his empire

from Macedon into Europe
and as far as
the edge of India.

Using honed military skills
and innovative,

long-handled spears
known as sarissas,

Alexander crushed
the competing powers of
his day.

And how would you describe
his reign?

The most successful military
campaign in world history.

[Josh] In Egypt,
he was welcomed as a pharaoh

and pronounced a living god.

It could be argued
that no person changed

the world as much
as Alexander.

Oh, and he did it all
by age 32.

I've never felt
less accomplished.

But then, a sudden
and mysterious death

from illness turned
the game board upside down.

It was probably
the most devastating

piece of news that the world
had seen up to that point.

[Josh]
Philip's subterranean tomb
in Greece glitters with

ancient treasures and is
adorned with the royal emblem

known as the Vergina Star.

This gave me a good idea
of the even more valuable
treasure

that assuredly lies with
his son, Alexander.

Except, slight wrinkle,
we don't know exactly
where he is.

After Alexander died in
the conquered city of Babylon,

his massive funeral
procession was hijacked by

one of his successors,
the pharaoh Ptolemy,

who arranged for his body
to be brought

to the harbor city Alexander
founded, Alexandria, Egypt.

2,000 years ago,
the geographer Strabo

described the tomb as
an immense structure

with a pyramid roof
surrounded by

a large fortification wall.

But after 20 centuries
of earthquakes, tsunamis

and modern construction,
Alexandria is now

the largest city on
the Mediterranean.

And that's where archaeologist
Calliope Papakosta comes in.

She's used ancient sources
to unearth roads

that Alexander the Great
himself designed.

Those landmarks led her to dig
a very big hole,

30 feet beneath
modern Alexandria.

You're like excavating
a city down here.

In this sprawling site,
we dug down

to the so-called Hellenistic
or Greek layer

and found a coin
from the period right
after Alexander's death.

You know, just
a 2,000-year-old coin,

no big deal.

As well as the top of
an ancient pillar.

The question is,
a pillar from what?

Calliope has also discovered
part of the foundation

of a building from
the same period.

By exploring and escaping
from a flooded tunnel,

we now know that
the mystery building

was 140 feet long
and 110 feet wide,

massive enough to be
Alexander's long-lost tomb.

But it's still circumstantial.

Calliope will need to uncover
more secrets about

the structure before
she's able to declare victory.

-So let me show you this.
-[Josh] This is painted.

-[Calliope] It is painting.
-[Josh] These red bands
on here.

-Yes.
-This is similar to decoration
we find in tombs.

So this may be like
a funerary painting.

I think it's
a funerary painting.

[Josh]
These colors match those
that I saw deep under

the street on the other side
of the building.

So does this convince you
that somebody was buried here?

No, it's not enough.
We must find much more
to be sure about this.

Yes.

One of those things
is something that appears

just outside
the mystery building.

You see these line of blocks?

-Yes, these big
limestone blocks.
-Yes.

These look like
the big limestone blocks

from the foundation
of the building.

The same size
and material with

the stones of the building.

But it's not the only line
of blocks.

We have one here.

-Oh, behind us.
-See?

-One and second one.
-Running parallel.

Quite parallel to this line.

So this is maybe a wall
with fill in between.

We have to continue
the excavation
to confirm that.

[Josh]
The ancient writer Strabo
says that Alexander's tomb

was surrounded by a peribelos,
or a large wall.

Could that be
what we're seeing here?

Just the fact that
this building might have
a wall

around it further reinforces
that the building

must have been
very important.

-Yes.
-You don't build
a huge fortification wall

around an insignificant
building.

So if this is a wall
and it's running parallel

to the building
and maybe wraps around it,

-that would be huge.
-Exactly.

Do we see more blocks
on the other side?

We have found a few,
but we must see
if they continue.

Okay. Can you show me?

-Of course.
-Yeah.

To determine if this wall
was constructed to surround

the building here on the site,
we go to see how far
it extends.

So here we are.

Yes, and you see that
we found the continuation
of the stones.

The stones continue,
at least for a little bit.

Yes, but not only here.

-There is the other line also.
-Oh, the big stone over here.

-See this big block.
-Yes.

[Calliope] So we have
the two lines of stones.

[Josh] So two lines of stones
continuing,

and maybe the fill in
the middle.

And it's headed
in the direction of
the building,

which is over there.

The mystery building is here,
and Calliope has discovered

what looks like a run of
blocks that could be signs of

a double-sided wall.

Now, if those blocks continue
and truly run parallel

to the building,
she could prove that

this is a wall matching
the one that surrounded

Alexander's tomb.

So we need to go deeper.

Deeper in the same layer with
the stones, with the blocks.

-Okay, so we dig?
-Of course.

[Josh] Calliope's team
is ready to search for

the critical evidence
below our feet,

which means...

it's time to get to work.

Step one, move dirt.

Along with my friend from
the tunnel, Mahmoud Samir,

I join the dig team
and we start progressing

further and further
back in time.

-Calliope, when do we get
a break again?
-Twelve o'clock.

-Is that okay?
-Midnight, you mean?

[laughs] You are
already tired?

No, no, no. Not at all.

Why am I the only one digging?

-[speaking other language]
-[laughs]

[in English] He said that
you don't work,
you make jokes with me.

[Josh] Step two, stop joking
and examine dirt.

-We start sifting now.
-Sifting the soil.

Yes, okay, let's do it.

The soil we've moved could
contain priceless artifacts

from the distant past,
and we don't want
to miss them.

Okay, so what will
we keep here?
What are we looking for?

Sometimes we found coins
or charcoal like this.

-Ah, there's charcoal, yeah.
Look at that.
-Yes.

-So evidence of burning here.
-Yes.

Like this layer.

[Josh]
Alexandria has fallen victim
to earthquakes and conflict,

I join the is most likely
how the tomb became lost

in the first place.

Calliope,
this burning layer here,

is that like
a destruction layer?

I suppose so.

We know that Alexandria
had been burned many times.

So this is
a very interesting element.

-Most of our coins,
we found it like that.
-Yeah?

-Most of them you found
in the sifting?
-Yes.

-See.
-Pottery?

My God. There's just
material everywhere.

So bone here?

-Bone?
-Yes, bones.

So small animal bones here.

We keep digging,
our eyes peeled

for telltale blocks of stone.

Stone isn't the only
thing here that tells tales.

[speaking other language]

[Josh in English]
Oh, something green?

Coin?

Ah, another coin!

It's corroded,
but you can almost

already make out something
on there.

-So what do
you think, Calliope?
-Yeah.

-It can be cleaned more,
but it's in a good condition.
-Yeah.

Okay, so maybe we can date
the coin.

That would be huge.

Help give us an idea
of when we are here.

Just above the site is
a makeshift lab

where Mahmoud catalogues
the team's discoveries,

including several other coins
that have been unearthed

in the past few days.

With him is Khalid Ismail,
a numismatist, or coin expert,

who can hopefully tell us
about the loose change

we've pulled out of
the ground.

So these are all
bronze coins, right?

So we have this corrosion,
this kind of blue-green
corrosion on them.

So how do we get them
to a point where we can read

what's on the coin?

We have to completely
cover coin by solution.

Got it.

The solution is 5% formic acid
mixed with distilled water,

designed to eat away at
the thick crust of corrosion

formed over
thousands of years.

Even after a few seconds here,

we see this water's
turning blue.

Yes, it means we have
active corrosion.

-Active corrosion.
-Active corrosion.

So that's being pulled out
of the coin?

-Yes.
-Okay.

Next up,
a little elbow grease.

Our expert applies
a motorized copper brush

to the face of the coin.

This is delicate because
you want to get rid of

the corrosion,

but not the markings
on the coin.

Okay, let's see what
we can see.

Khaled, you're up.

An eagle.

Yeah.

-May I? Look at that.
You can see the eagle here.
-Yes.

-Isn't that beautiful?
-Yes, it's amazing.

And can we see anything
on the front side?

A face?

And?

-It's Alexander the Great.
-That's Alexander.

Yes.

Oh, it's Alexander the Great.

-That's Alexander?
-Yes.

-This is
the head of Alexander.
-Yes.

[Josh] I'm in Alexandria,
Egypt, at a dig site searching

for evidence of
a fortification wall

that we hope once surrounded
a mysterious building

that could be the tomb
of Alexander the Great.

Right now, though,
we found some cold, hard,

and historic cash.

-He's looking to the right.
-Yeah.

You can see his nose
and mouth.

Alexander the Great.

Yes.

[Josh] As we can see with
a slightly less
weathered coin,

Alexander's very face
was currency here
in Alexandria,

but surprisingly,
not in his lifetime.

-It's a coin that Ptolemies
minted, not Alexander.
-Right.

That means that Ptolemies
continued to make coins

with the head of Alexander.

This tells you everything
you need to know about

his influence, his power.

[Calliope] Yes, of course.

That's why Ptolemy wanted
to bring his body
in Alexandria.

Whoever had the body
of Alexander should be

the greatest king.

Incredible.

Well, it's not the tomb of
Alexander, but it's Alexander.

At least we have a coin.

Yes, that's history
right there.

The coin stamped with
Alexander's face is likely

from the centuries after
his death,

when the pharaohs
that followed him co-opted

his image to consolidate
their power.

But it's a huge sign that
our dig is getting close to

the layer from the time of
Alexander's burial.

We return to the trench,
knowing from the coin

that we're likely right above
the layer where

the fortification wall
should be.

On our way down,
we find the remains of
ceramic wine vessels.

Look.

It's very beautiful, huh?

So we can see,
we can get a sense here

of the size of
these containers.

A lot of them.

Look at that.

Big piece of the neck.

Ooh, part of the handle
down there.

-[Calliope] Yeah.
-Here we go.

-Broken but beautiful.
-Yes.

Why do you think all
these vessels were here?

Because there were people
working or living here.

Something else?

-So this would be the very top
of the vessel.
-Yes, yes.

Look at that.

Beauty.

But no wine left.
This is a tragedy.

-Yeah.
-This is a tragedy.

And speaking of wine,
I'm going to start drinking

if we don't find something
soon to confirm that

this line of stones
was once a wall.

Of course we will continue.

We have to excavate
all this area.

-Right.
-I hope that in another spot

-we'll find also this line
to be continued.
-Right.

Calliope has been
in this position before,

but doesn't give up easily.

So we cross our fingers
and keep going,

finding only small pieces
of broken stone.

Look how many pieces
there are.

-[Josh] Limestone everywhere.
-Yeah.

Wow.

-But we could...
-[speaking other language]

-[in English] Oh, no.
-Really?

-Did you find a stone?
-Yes.

-Yes.
-It continues.

-Yes.
-Ha!

This is for sure another one
of these big limestone blocks

that continues right
through here.

-This is just broken up
in here.
-Oh, my God.

I will start crying now.

No, I was disappointed
when I didn't see this area

having the same stones.
I said, maybe I'm wrong.

But now you see.
Look at it.

-You see?
-It's amazing.

-It means I'm right.
-Yeah.

[Calliope] Great, great.

[Josh] Let's go in and take
a look. Come here.

So up close and personal here,
we can see

this big limestone block,

which looks exactly
the same dimensions

as the one leading up
to it here.

So this does continue.

This is a long, continuous
foundation of some kind in

a parallel line with
another one over here.

So I mean, that's pretty cool.

We measure the stone
to see if it matches the width

of the previously
found section.

-How wide?
-60.

-60 centimeters, okay?
-Okay.

Let's check this one now.

-60.
-60.

-Exact same width.
-Yes.

-Okay.
-Great, great, great.

[Josh] This could be it.

We've confirmed that there was
likely a fortification wall

that surrounded our building,
a wall like the one

mentioned in
the ancient account
of Alexander's tomb.

We have this huge building
with massive foundations

right in the middle of
the city,

maybe surrounded by
a large wall.

In the royal quarter
of ancient Alexandria.

Do you think that could be
his tomb?

For sure, it is
a very important building

of the royal area,
of the royal court.

We need more evidence,
more clues to understand
the identity.

Are you hopeful?

Of course, hope is everything
in our work.

Alexander is one of the most
towering figures in history.

It is kind of remarkable
that he's lost in a way.

Yes, that's why
it's so important
to find the tools.

So now we just need
to excavate all of this

all the way to the end of
the site today.

I don't promise you this.

We can do it.
Come on, guys.

Let's get digging.

Got a lot of work to do.

Calliope has invested
decades into this dig,

and I rest easy knowing
that she won't stop

until she's turned over
every stone to confirm

whether this is
Alexander's tomb.

But while she continues
to investigate here,

another theory has emerged
from an expert

who believes Alexandria
was not the final stop

for the conqueror's remains.

In fact, he's got
a wild theory that, if true,

would change everything
we think we know about
Alexander.

To meet this researcher,
I bid farewell to Egypt

and fly 2,000 miles to London?

[majestic music playing]

The River Thames
is flanked by some

quintessentially
English landmarks.

This is not one of them.

Cleopatra's Needle
is a 70-foot tall,

180-ton Egyptian obelisk.

Here to tell me
how this 3,500-year-old
monument

ended up here is historian
and author of five books

on Alexander the Great,
Andrew Chugg.

How wild is that to see
an ancient Egyptian monument

right in the middle of London?

Yes.

It's migrated its way from
Heliopolis in Egypt
to Alexandria,

and from Alexandria eventually
to here.

Yeah.

We actually have one of these
as well right in the middle of

-Central Park
in New York City.
-That's right.

They used to stand together
in the middle of Alexandria

-outside the Caesarean temple.
-Right.

So this was, at one point,

where I've just come from,
Alexandria, Egypt.

And I guess it's
a good reminder

that many treasures from
the ancient world

had a way of migrating
to other empires.

Yes, things didn't always
stay put.

Exactly.

And that brings me
to Alexander.

You know, I've just seen
these incredible excavations

happening in Alexandria.

What do you think?

Do you believe Alexander
and his tomb

are still buried somewhere
in the city?

Well, I think it's more likely
that they too have migrated.

Like The Needle here?

Like The Needle here, exactly.

Okay, and what about his tomb?

Part of his tomb may also
have migrated.

Not just that,
but I'm hoping to show you

-the proof.
-Okay, I'm ready to be
convinced.

-Where do we go?
-It's not far from here,
just down the street.

-Okay.
-Follow me.

Down the street.

I follow Andrew to
a very famous address.

As the sun begins to set,
I'm geeking out

because we're about to get
an after-hours pass

to spend a night at
the British Museum.

Welcome to the greatest
collection of antiquities

in the Western world
and for a few hours,

we have it all to ourselves.

Absolutely stunning.

Over eight million objects
spanning all of human history

including a classic bust of
Alexander the Great

and this little beauty,
the Rosetta Stone.

A tablet inscribed in
three languages,

Egyptian, Greek
and Demotic.

This was the key
to deciphering
the hieroglyphics

of ancient Egypt
and changed our understanding

of their world forever.

[Andrew] One of the world's
great museums designed

to inspire awe.

And that it does.

I'm just trying to keep
from doing cartwheels

as Andrew leads me
into the Egyptian wing

and one often
overlooked object.

Josh, I present to you
my candidate for

the sarcophagus of
Alexander the Great.

You're saying this could be
the sarcophagus of Alexander?

-I think it very probably is.
-Very probably is?

That's a big claim, Andrew.

Absolutely, but all
the evidence points that way.

[Josh] I've joined historian
Andrew Chugg on his quest

for the last resting place
of the conqueror
Alexander the Great.

Which he believes
is connected to this relic

in the British Museum.

There's only one problem
with it that I can see.

All right,
let's start with this.
It's empty.

-Yeah.
-So let's talk about this.

This is a huge
granite sarcophagus,

and it looks
very Egyptian, right?

Covered in hieroglyphics.

So any chance these say,
here lies Alexander the Great?

If only it were that easy.

We can read the hieroglyphs
thanks to the Rosetta Stone,

and they identify
the sarcophagus as that of

a preceding pharaoh
called Nectanebo II.

[Josh] Okay, buckle up.

Nectanebo II was the last
native-born pharaoh of Egypt,

driven out of the country by
the invading Persian Empire.

And when he blew town,
he left all of his stuff
behind,

and I do mean all of it.

In the deserts of Saqqara
in Egypt,

historian James Rahm showed me
where Nectanebo's

unused funerary temple
once stood.

Since it was empty
when Alexander died,

it may have been
the perfect place to
temporarily store his body.

And what about
the sarcophagus?

Does this stay in Saqqara?
Is that where it was found?

No, the sarcophagus is
discovered in Alexandria.

Wait a second.

This sarcophagus,
which weighs what?

-Seven tons.
-Seven tons.

Was moved hundreds of miles
to Alexandria.

Exactly, yes.

So why move this thing?

He would only move this thing
in order to carry the body

of somebody really important.

Like Alexander the Great?

Such as Alexander the Great,
specifically Alexander
the Great.

[Josh] Andrew believes that
this sarcophagus containing

the gold-lined mummy of
Alexander was brought
to Alexandria,

where it was used to hold
the body inside his tomb

and where it remained until
the tomb itself disappeared

around the year 400.

Okay, this part sounds
plausible,

but now things get murky.

Andrew also believes that
the body and the sarcophagus

go their separate ways
because of a major
religious shift in Egypt.

What happens historically
is that the emperor of Rome

decrees that Christianity
will now be

the only legal religion.

-Right.
-And Alexander is
a pagan god

by order of the Senate,
so this is a big problem.

[Josh] Andrew contends that
the sarcophagus

and the body within
were hidden to keep them safe

from the threat of
a newly dominant religion.

And what of this sarcophagus?
Where does it go?

We know that it must have been
moved from the tomb

'cause it turns up in
a rather unusual place.

[Josh]
And just as I'm starting
to think that Andrew has read

too many Dan Brown novels,
he shows me this.

A map of Alexandria from 1575.

On it is a structure known
as the Attarine Mosque,

depicted by a minaret
and a small octagonal
building.

And Josh, can you see
what's written underneath

that small octagonal building?

[Josh reading]

[Andrew] Exactly.

And that is Latin for
the House of
Alexander the Great.

[Josh] Andrew explains that
by the late 1500s,

the sarcophagus had moved to
the mosque for safekeeping.

And he's got the receipts.

-We know that because
of Napoleon.
-Napoleon?

Yes.

Napoleon came to Egypt in 1798
with an invasion fleet,

and he took Alexandria.

-[Josh] Right.
-[Andrew] And that's when he
found the sarcophagus.

If you look here on
the next view...

Uh-huh.

This is an engraving made by
Napoleon's scholars.

And now, are we inside
this mosque?

We're inside the courtyard
of the mosque.

You can see the minaret
again here.

And you can see
the small octagonal building.

And inside, if you look
very carefully...

[Josh] Get out of here.

You can see the sarcophagus
that stands right behind us.

-It's here in the mosque?
-Yes.

[Josh]
Once the British took Egypt
from Napoleon in 1801,

the sarcophagus was
brought here to London.

This means,
though it sounds crazy,

this seven-ton chunk of
granite may actually have held

none other than
Alexander himself.

But Andrew is sitting
on an even bigger bombshell,

the true location of
Alexander's body.

Right around the time

that Alexander's tomb
disappears,

we have the appearance
of another really
important tomb,

the tomb of St. Mark
the Evangelist, no less.

As in the Book of Mark,
as in from the Gospels
of The Bible?

Exactly that Mark.

[Josh]
Saint Mark the Evangelist
was not only the source

for a New Testament gospel,
he was the founder of

the Christian church
in Alexandria.

And it is true that
his tomb conveniently

materializes there just as
Alexander's disappears.

So what about the body?
Where does the body go?

Andrew thinks that the body of
Alexander

and the magnificent Soma,
his lavish tomb,

were simply repurposed.

Instead of belonging to
the founder of Alexandria,

they were rebranded as
belonging to the founder

of Alexandria's church,
St. Mark.

Now, wait a minute.
I thought that St. Mark's body
was in Venice.

Isn't it in Italy
in this giant basilica there?

Yes, that's because...

uh, in 828 AD,
when the Christians
in Alexandria

were under pressure
from Islam,

they allowed some
Venetian traders to take

the body back to Venice
and rebury it there

as the patron saint of
the city.

Wait a minute. Are you saying
that the body of

Alexander the Great
is in the tomb of
St. Mark in Venice?

That's certainly the idea.

[Josh] We are now in full
Da Vinci Code territory.

This theory, if it's true,

would be like dropping
a grenade into history,

a revelation that
the long-lost body of
Alexander the Great

has been lying in Venice
since the ninth century,

masquerading as
Saint Mark the Evangelist.

And how could you possibly
prove that?

The body of St. Mark used
to be in a crypt in Venice,

but the body in 1811
was moved upstairs

because of the threat of
continual flooding
in the crypt.

Uh-huh.

Then, in 1960,
an archaeologist discovered

embedded in the wall
of the crypt

an astonishing artifact,

a block of sculpted
ancient limestone depicting

a long-handled spear,
as well as a shield bearing

the Star of Vergina,
the same Macedonian symbol

that appears on
the funerary box of
Alexander's father, Philip.

What is it?

Well, Andrew believes
that Alexander's sarcophagus

was wrapped in
a custom casing,

a Macedonian layer
covering the original
Egyptian inscriptions,

meaning that the block
in St. Mark's Crypt

was once mounted on
the sarcophagus

that is currently here
in London.

It's a jigsaw puzzle.

If we could prove that
this star shield block fits

the sarcophagus,
it would prove the theory.

It's unlikely that the church
will allow us to bring

the block here,
but if we could get

a scan of the block, then...

If it interlocks with
the sarcophagus,

we would have proved
the theory.

It would demonstrate
that Alexander's body

was in this sarcophagus,
and it would demonstrate that

the body that was brought
to St. Mark's originally

was also Alexander.

Exactly.

Okay.

Does this mean
we're going to Venice?

-You're going to Venice.
-All right, off to Venice.

You just wait here,
and I'll be right back.

Maybe don't wait here.
It's going to take a few days.

-But I will be back.
-Bon voyage.

Okay.

I'll be back.

To investigate
Andrew's theory,

I rush to Heathrow
and fly from London,

700 miles, to Venice, Italy.

This place has many names.

City of bridges,
city of canals,
the floating city.

Take your pick.
They all fit the bill.

That's because while Earth
has plenty of perfectly

good land to build on,
at some point in history,

somebody said, nah,
let's do something
much harder.

And well, here we are.

Believe it or not,
this is my very first visit
to Venice.

That's right,
I've been to over
100 countries,

but I've never been to one of
the most popular

tourist destinations on Earth.

126 islands connected
by 472 bridges.

It is as improbable
as it is beautiful.

There's just no place else
like it on the planet.

And at the center
of this floating dream

is the Square of St. Mark's,
lorded over by

its stunning basilica.

When you first see St. Mark's,
it literally takes
your breath away.

And whether you find it
majestic or a little gaudy

or divine,
one thing's for sure,

it is unforgettable.

Subtle it is not.

Beneath the domes of
the church are

86,000 square feet of mosaics,
marble, and gold,

enough to cover nearly
two football fields.

It is one of the most
opulent houses of worship

in the world,
and it is all to honor
St. Mark.

In particular,
take a look at the mosaics

on the outside of
the basilica.

So St. Mark's remains
were allegedly brought here

in the year 828,
when Venetian sailors
stole his body

from a church in Alexandria.

They smuggled him out in
a barrel of pork fat,

which, judging by
the reactions,

probably didn't smell
very good.

What's really weird, though,
is the condition of his body.

So they brought him here
700 years after his death,

but do those look like
700-year-old remains?

The mosaic shows
onlookers gathered around

a fully intact corpse.

Not a skeleton or
a box of bones

as one might assume
after so many centuries,

which could suggest
the body was preserved

or even mummified.

Now, there is one really
easy way we could solve
this mystery.

A scientific analysis of
whoever's entombed inside

could certainly help identify
the individual.

But unsurprisingly,
the Catholic Church

is not all that jazzed about
the possibility of

a St. Mark, Alexander
switcheroo.

So I've probably got
a better chance

of being made a saint
than getting access

to whoever's inside.

But lucky for me,
the thing I'm here
to investigate

isn't inside
the church at all.

Far from the crowded square,
tucked away

in the labyrinth of
Venice's canals,

is a place most
visitors never see,

the Cloister of St. Apollonia.

It's here that the church
has stored

the mysterious block
discovered in the crypt of

St. Mark.

I'm meeting with
imaging expert Pietro Meloni,

who leads me to the relic.

-Well, Josh, this is it.
-This is the piece?

Yeah.

[Josh] That's the symbol
of Alexander.

Right away,
you can see that

this is something
really special.

This is clearly that
star shield that is like

the symbol of Macedonia.

I'm in Venice, Italy,
home to St. Mark's Basilica,

in whose crypt
this ancient casing block
was discovered.

One researcher believes
it once adorned

the sarcophagus of
Alexander the Great,

which, if true,
could tell us where

his long-lost remains
lie today.

And this shield with
the Macedonian symbol

known as the Vergina Star
isn't the only thing

that connects to Alexander.

-And have you seen the spear?
-Oh, yes, this is a spear.

This is the tip,
and then it actually

is broken off where
the stone is broken,

but clearly a long spear.

-It was a sarissa spear.
-It does.

It looks like a sarissa spear,
like the exact spear

that Alexander's army used
to great effect.

Sarissas were
long-handled spears

pioneered by
Alexander's father,

which helped Alexander conquer
most of the known world.

And then we have
something else here that

can't really tell
what this is.

Could be an arm,
somebody holding the spear.

Could be a leg,
the way that it tapers.

But these are very evocative
of Macedonia.

Like, this is
a very weird thing to find

in the tomb of
a Christian saint.

Sure.

-We have to get a scan of this
so that I can bring...
-Yeah.

...that data back to
the British Museum

and see if this somehow
links in with the sarcophagus

-they have there.
-No problem.

-I have a scanner with me.
-Let's get into it.

Pietro breaks out
an Artec Leo scanner.

It takes 40 photos a second,
which are knitted together

to create an ultra-detailed
3D image of the block,

accurate to within fractions
of a millimeter.

We start scanning every
square inch of the stone,

making sure to grab data
from multiple angles.

It's painstaking work.

For those hard-to-reach spots,
I stand atop a step ladder

to scan above
and behind the artifact.

Eventually, though,
we manage to cover
the entire thing.

Okay, moment of truth.

Do we have a good scan?

Yes, and it looks great.

[Josh] Oh, look at that!

-[Pietro] Yes.
-[Josh] Amazing.

All of these features
really jump out.

We can even see,
to some extent, behind it.

[Pietro speaking]

Wow. But that's really
interesting,

because you get
a lot of highlights.

[Pietro] Yes. More details.

[Josh] Much more detail when
you look at it
monochromatically.

[Pietro] Sure.

This looks awesome.
Thank you so much.

-No problem.
-Okay.

Well, back to London.

With the scan complete,
I hurry back to
the British Museum,

where I reconnect
with historian Andrew Chugg.

-Hi, Josh.
-Right where I left you.

Hi, welcome back.

[Josh] To see if the block
from St. Mark's in Venice

once belonged on
this sarcophagus found

in Alexandria.

I'd like to introduce to you
Joe Steel,

director and co-founder
of Visualskies.

-Great to meet you.
-Nice to meet you, Josh.

It's a 3D scanning company
that can help us

with our reconstruction.

-Terrific.
-That's right.

And you got the data that
I sent from Venice?

Absolutely.
I have it loaded here now.

-Did I do okay?
-Fantastic scan.

I've never seen better.
I'm out of a job almost.

Oh, come on now.

-You're laying it on
too thick, Joe.
-Yeah, I know. Sorry.

So let's take a look at it.

Yeah, so here we go.
Here's the scan you did.

[Josh] This is amazing.
It's like floating in
free space here.

[Joseph] Yeah, that's right.
This is augmented reality.

[Josh] Augmented reality
will allow us

to virtually place
the casing block in real space

and to see if it fits onto
the sarcophagus
in front of us.

And I have to say,
Andrew, it really is,
as you described it,

this looks so Macedonian.

This looks like that
classic star shield.

Absolutely.

It has the symmetries
and the spareness
in the design.

It has life-size weapons.

We can see a Macedonian
cavalry sarissa.

We can see
the star shield itself.

With the famously emblazoned
Star of Vergina.

And that very badly damaged
feature there

is a pair of greaves,
lower leg armor.

So you think this would
have been like battle armor?

It's what we see in
the same kinds of scenes
in other contexts.

Right.

In fact, the greaves,
or leg armor,

of Alexander's father
were prominently placed

in his tomb back in Greece.

On the side, if we rotate it
around a bit,

we can see that
there's a Macedonian
kopis sword,

and it's suspended diagonally
from a tasseled belt,

which is hung around a peg.

[Josh] And this is also
a Macedonian symbol?

Absolutely pure Macedonian
symbol seen in

other Macedonian tombs
of high status.

[Josh] Okay, so now
the big question is,

does this fit on top of
the sarcophagus?

So how do we figure that out?

So what we can do is layer
this on top of the sarcophagus

as it exists today
using augmented reality.

We can actually walk around it
and see if it fits.

-Correct, exactly.
-Wow, the future's amazing.

-Okay, let's do it.
-Yeah.

[Josh] It is so cool to see
this digital scan projected

into the real world here.

First thing I notice is that
the block and the sarcophagus

are really similarly sized.

Yeah, I noticed
the same thing,

and the block
and the sarcophagus

are the same size within
a centimeter,

which is just crazy.

Andrew,
that's really promising

right out of the gate.

That's absolutely incredible.

But it doesn't quite work
with this on the end, though,
right?

It would kind of
be hovering off there

in free space.

That's right.
Let's try it over here.

-Yeah, down here?
-Yeah, let's go.

What do you think?

This doesn't work either
because there's no
real indication

that this stone connected
to a curved segment.

If anything, it seems like
a straight piece
came in there.

Okay, we keep looking?

We continue to test the block
all around the sarcophagus.

Andrew's theory is on
the line here.

What if it doesn't fit
anywhere?

Oh, I think it will.
I have faith.

You have faith?

-All right.
-Absolutely.

Well, I hope that works out
for us.

Otherwise, we're all going
to be at the pub in about
a half an hour.

If the block doesn't fit,
then the body in
St. Mark's Basilica

may only be St. Mark,
not Alexander the Great.

And how boring would that be?

So this also seems like
a bad fit.

We're not quite there yet.

Could it have fit in
the center somewhere,

or you think
it's an end piece?

It's an end piece, I'd say,

because of the sword
on the side.

Come on, come on.

-There you go, yeah.
-Oh. It fits.

-That's it.
-That is it.

Absolutely.

Oh, my God.

[Josh] At Calliope Papakosta's
dig in Alexandria,

her supervisor, Hosni,
is in charge of

keeping everything moving.

That, I quickly learn,
includes me.

[speaking other language]

[in English] Okay, wait.

What is yalla, yalla?

-And then what is
the other one?
-[speaking other language]

What is
[speaking other language]

-[in English]
Quickly, quickly.
-Quickly, quickly.

-Quickly, quickly?
-Yes.

-What is yalla, yalla?
-The same.

Same, same.

It's all just you screaming
at me.

Okay, I got it.
I got it. Okay.

Okay, I got it.
Back to work. I got it.

[speaking other language]

-[in English] It's all just
being screamed at.
-[speaking other language]

Okay.
[speaking other language]

-Yalla, yalla.
-[speaking other language]

[in English] Help me.

-There you go. Yeah.
-Oh!

-It fits.
-[Andrew] That's it.

That is it.

-Absolutely.
-Oh, my God.

-That is a perfect fit.
-That's where it fits.

Bang on.

[Josh] In the British Museum
in London,

we're using augmented reality
and have just matched

a Macedonian funerary block
found in the crypt of St. Mark

to a sarcophagus found
in Alexandria, Egypt.

It means the body inside
may have been none other than

the conqueror
Alexander the Great.

Look at how perfectly
that sits there.

[Andrew]
It's an excellent fit.

I mean, right down to
this almost seems like
it interlocks

into the very edge of
the corner here.

So the next step here
is we can actually try

to reconstruct the blocks
that we're missing.

Okay.

Andrew and Joseph
have worked together,

and using Andrew's decades of
research on ancient Macedon,

they've managed
to visually reconstruct

the rest of the casing
that surrounded
the sarcophagus,

so that we can view what
the complete tomb

might have looked like for
the very first time.

-If this stone wasn't broken,
it would look like what?
-Let's go. Exactly.

There we go.

That's incredible.

We need to test that
the corner of the spear hits

the bottom right-hand corner
of the block.

[Josh] Get out of here.
Oh, my word.

There it goes. Yep.

It's through exactly the spot.

And this goes right
to the edge of the curve

of the sarcophagus.

[Joseph] Exactly where there
would have been another block.

This is like magic.

It means we have a fit between
the casing

and the sarcophagus in length
as well as in height.

And can you reconstruct
the other sides?

-Yeah, absolutely.
And the end. Let's go.
-Okay, what's that look like?

Unbelievable.
That is incredible.

And can we see
the long side over here?

Yeah, let's go.

Okay, so now this side.

-There we go.
-Unreal.

-[Andrew] A mirror of
the opposite side.
-[Josh] Yeah.

They were big into
symmetry, yes?

[Andrew] Absolutely.

Symmetry was the whole thing.

Look at that.

That is unbelievable.

-It just looks so perfect
wrapped around it.
-Perfect.

Just perfect in every way.

That's the way it fits.

Perfectly.

Okay, so, Andrew,
I don't want to say that
I doubted you,

but when you first hear
this story,

it sounds far-fetched, right?
It sounds wild.

But when you step through it,
it sounds incredibly logical.

We have followed the evidence.

We've ignored opinions
and followed the evidence

at every step.

And we've unwound what
you're correct is

a very tortuous story.

And at the end,
we found that

we can bring the two parts
of the story together,

the sarcophagus in
the British Museum

and the body that went
to Venice.

And when we bring them
together,

we find they click together
precisely,

and they're literally
a physical fit.

-Literally.
-We've seen it today,
haven't we?

We have.

Are you convinced?

I'm absolutely convinced
this is definitely

Alexander's tomb.

I have to say
I'm really gobsmacked by
all of this.

I just can't believe
how compelling the data is

and how well this fits.

And the digital picture
painted here is just really,

really hard to ignore.

-Incredible.
-Incredible.

Thank you so much.

-You're welcome.
-Cheers. Thank you.

-Awesome work.
-Thank you.

[Josh] The world has been
around for quite a while.

Don't take my word for it.

Just dig down into
the soil of Egypt

and you'll see centuries
and empires reduced to
an inch of earth.

Or as a better writer
than I once put it,

"Look upon my works
ye mighty and despair."

Well, not to contradict
Mr. Shelley,

but Alexander the Great
is eternal.

Not just a player
within history,

but one of its guiding forces.

His brilliant military mind
brought millions of lives

under his control,
and his singular vision

married cultures.

There is likely nobody before
or since who has had such

a lasting impact on the world.

In death, his body became
a symbol of power,

and his tomb a sacred place.

Through the millennia,
many have searched for

his remains,
for his mausoleum,

and for the treasure that
may lie with them.

Perhaps his soma,
the temple where he rested,

is only a few layers
of dirt away,

hidden beneath a modern city.

And it's possible that
his sarcophagus lies in

a country he never knew,
as his remains

inspire millions in
an unprecedented case

of mistaken identity.

One thing, though, is certain.

Alexander the Great
will never be forgotten.