All language subtitles for Expedition.Unknown.S17E02.en

[Josh] On this episode of
"Expedition Unknown,"

the epic conclusion of my
mission to tackle the mysteries

of Egypt's Great Pyramid.
-OK, here we go!

[indistinct chanting]

[Josh] On the shores
of the Red Sea,

a long-lost cave contains the
secrets of the pyramid builders

in their own words.

This document is...

The oldest writing on
paper ever found.

Here's somebody telling us how
the pyramids are built.

[Josh] And a daring experiment
could answer, once and for all,

how massive two-ton blocks were
moved by hand to construct

a world wonder.

If this works, you can
build the pyramids.

[Josh]
Then, the stunning secret

behind the pyramids'
perfect alignment.

This is their survey system to
build the Great Pyramid.

[Josh] And the groundbreaking
results of a 3D scan to map

the inside of the Great Pyramid.

I've never seen
anything like this.

[Josh] Could it rewrite history
and reveal the hidden tomb

of a pharaoh?

Where is it?

-It should be right here
behind this rock.
-Yeah.

Find out right now on
"Expedition Unknown."

Oh, my God, that's writing!

-Whoa!
-[indistinct screaming]

It's working!
Wait a minute.

What is that?

We could be looking at a lost
passage in the Great Pyramid.

It is a lost passage.

[Josh]
The past is all around us.

Oh, my God!
It goes on forever!

[Josh]
A world of mystery...

Come on!
Look at that!

-...danger...
-Hang on!

...and adventure.

It's just straight down!

I gotta get a new job.

[Josh] I travel to the far
corners of the Earth to

uncover where legends end...
-Yeah!

[Josh, over radio]
We got it!

-Yes!
-...and history begins.

Whoo-hoo!

Here we go!

I'm Josh Gates.

And this is
"Expedition Unknown."

[Josh
and Dr. El-Maguid talking]

[Josh]
It may not look like it,
but I'm in Egypt on a mission

to solve the mysteries of
the Great Pyramid,

the last standing of the Seven
Wonders of the Ancient World.

It's a monumental quest that's
led me far from the deserts

of Giza all the way here to
the shores of the Red Sea.

Dr. Mohamed Abd El-Maguid has
promised me that the secrets

to the pyramid's construction
can be found here, underwater.

[Josh
and Dr. El-Maguid talking]

[Josh] The man I've been
chasing, the pharaoh Khufu,

was the second ruler of
Egypt's fourth dynasty.

He reigned for 30 years,
and when he was done,

he was to be interred in
the grandest tomb in history,

the most enigmatic
building on Earth.

And that's where
our mystery begins.

When the pyramid was first
broken into by tomb raiders

in the 9th century,
they couldn't find Khufu

or his riches.

There's no shortage of debate
and wild conspiracy theories

about this ancient wonder,

everything from
alien intervention

to lost advanced civilizations.

After all, people continue to
wonder, how on earth was this

45-story skyscraper constructed
without modern tools

or even the wheel?
How is it so perfectly aligned?

And could there be
hidden chambers inside

that might even conceal Khufu's
lost treasure-filled tomb?

To learn the truth, I met with
renowned Egyptologist
Dr. Mark Lehner.

Acquiring exclusive access to
the pyramid, we entered through

the so-called robber's tunnel.

[Josh] Look at this.
Wow.

[Josh] From here,
we tracked our position

in real-time as we mapped
every inch of the labyrinth

of interior passages.

So this is where things
get weird, right?

We've got two passages,
original passages,

moving in two different
directions in the pyramid.

[Josh] We made our way into
the pyramid to the so-called

King's Chamber.

Look at this room.
It is beyond impressive.

[Josh]
But as for the king himself...

So one glaring problem here,

no Khufu.
-Right.

[Josh] From there, we explored
areas of the interior closed off

to the public, descending
almost 100 feet through

the Egyptian bedrock to an
unfinished subterranean chamber.

-[Josh] What the hell
is this room for?
-I don't know.

Really, nobody knows.

[Josh] The room here was clearly
abandoned by the builders.

But is there more to find?

Could there be other chambers
inside the Great Pyramid?

[Mark] You know, Josh,
there was a time

when I would have said
that's doubtful,

but now I'm not so sure.
-Really?

[Josh] Several years ago,
cutting-edge technology

appeared to image a strange
void above a chamber

known as the Grand Gallery.

But short of dynamiting the top
off the Great Pyramid,

there's no way to prove it --
or is there?

Right next to the pyramid,
I met up with my old friend,

Danish archaeologist
Soren Sindbaek,

at a strange set of
tunnels to nowhere.

Does it look familiar?

Look what you're standing
and what we're standing on.

Wait a minute, you're right.

This is like being in
the Great Pyramid.

[Josh]
The ancient builders appeared
to have constructed a model

of the pyramid's tunnels here
before carving the real thing.

[Josh] This is just like being
inside the pyramid.

It's incredible.

[Josh] To determine if these
so-called trial passages

actually match the ones
in the pyramid,

we performed the first ever
3D digital scan inside.

Look at that.
That's amazing.

[Josh] A scan we hope might also
reveal hidden passages

or chambers within
the pyramid itself.

[Soren] We need a few days
to process it.

Once we've done that,
we can go and compare it to

the Great Pyramid.
-Amazing.

While we wait for the results
of the scan, I've driven

150 miles to the Red Sea to
tackle the mystery of

how the architects of
the pyramid carved and moved

more than 2 million two-ton
blocks into the sky,

and now the first puzzle piece
is right in front of me.

[Josh talking]

[Josh] This harbor wall is
more than 500 feet long

and once stood more
than 10 feet high.

I follow Dr. El-Maguid
inside the wall,

where we find more evidence
of an ancient port.

[Josh
and Dr. El-Maguid talking]

[Josh] We get to work cleaning
the growth off this stone,

and soon we can make out
features from when

it was last used.

[Josh
and Dr. El-Maguid talking]

[Josh] Based on its design,
archaeologists have dated

the anchor, along with more
than 100 others that have

been found here to
the time of Khufu.

[Josh
and Dr. El-Maguid talking]

[Josh] Anxious to meet
Mohamed's colleague,

I return to shore and dry off,

then jump into my 4x4
for a short trip back

into the desert.

OK, GPS says it should be
up on the right.

I don't exactly see a road.
It's fine.

Roads are overrated.

This might get bumpy, hang on!

After only a few minutes
in the heat,

I glimpse what appears
to be a mirage.

Look at this,
tent city.

More than 50 of them, dotting
the otherwise barren landscape.

And at the heart of this
compound, a familiar face.

-Hey.
-Hey, Josh.

The Chair of
the Egyptology department at

the Sorbonne University in
Paris, Dr. Pierre Tallet.

-Nice to meet you again.
-Great to see you.

Last time I saw you, we were in
the desert in the Sinai.

Yes.

[Josh] He and I first met
exploring caves in the Sinai

when I was investigating
the story of Moses.

And here we are again at a site
where Pierre is leading

a team of nearly 100 people
in another desert.

You are the man of the desert.

OK, so I have just come from
this ancient harbor,
Khufu's harbor.

Where are we now?

We are still in
Khufu's harbor.

This is part of
the harbor complex?

Wow.
OK, so what's it doing here?

They needed copper to be
able to cut the stone

for the pyramid.

[Josh] Copper mines across
the Red Sea were essential

to making the tools used to
build the Great Pyramid,

so Khufu would send boats from
here at Wadi Al-Jarf across

the Red Sea to the coast of
the Sinai Peninsula,

where mined copper was then
ferried all the way back.

It would then be loaded onto
mules for the 150-mile trip

north to the pyramid at Giza.

To hide them?

[Josh]
Since the boats themselves
were valuable commodities,

between trips, the Egyptians
stored and hid them

inland here to keep
them from being stolen.

And I know that after
you started working here,

my understanding is that
you found something
very special.

We found something that
totally transformed what

we know about the pyramids.
Something extraordinary.

-Can you show me?
-Yeah, of course.

[Josh] We walk out into
the sweltering desert.

In fact, it's so hot, I half
expect to see two suns.

It's like "Star Wars" out here.

Pierre leads me over to a row
of hand-carved caves,

which, when he first found
them, were sealed tightly

by immense blocks of cut
limestone, curiously similar to

the blocks of
the Great Pyramid.

And for people who don't know,
papyrus is basically ancient

paper made of plant material.

Yeah, it's made of
plant material.

[Josh] And where did
you make the find?

-In this pit right there.
-Right here?

-Between the two blocks.
-[Josh] OK.

It was the last place
to excavate.

What did you find?

I brought a copy of what
we found to show you.

[Josh] Oh, my word.
Look at this.

You found a complete
roll of papyrus.

Yes.

Five zero, fifty?

Five zero, fifty,
which was really incredible.

And so, what is it?

[Josh]
And so, who is Merer?

[Pierre talking]

And this papyrus is giving
information about the building

of the Great Pyramid of Khufu.

These documents tell us
about the construction

of the pyramid.
-Yeah.

Do you want to know
what it says?

I'm dying to know
what it says.

[Josh] This is the symbol for
the Great Pyramid?

[Pierre] Yeah,
this is the pyramid.

[Josh] The world's first
pyramid emoji.

[Pierre] Yeah.
Of course.

Awesome.
Awesome.

So that means that this is
being written during

the life of Khufu.

[Pierre talking]

-But it means that...
-So wait a minute.

Wait a minute.

That means that
this document is...

The oldest writing on
paper ever found.

This is --

sorry, this is the oldest
written document on Earth?

Yes, it is.

So this is 2,500 years older
than the Dead Sea Scrolls?

The Red Sea Scrolls.

This is extraordinary, Pierre.

[Josh] And what these scrolls
reveal is historic.

For centuries, one of the great
debates about the pyramid's

construction was how
the building's outer blocks

were transported to Giza from
a remote quarry

in a place called Tura.

It literally tells us
what they're doing,

where they're working,
where they're sleeping.

Yeah.

[Josh]
And the kicker?

Merer's diary solves
the mystery of how these blocks

made it to Giza by revealing
that the limestone was

transported there by boat,
where workers rechanneled

the Nile to build artificial
lakes, allowing them to

float the blocks right up to the
edge of the construction site.

I mean, that's it.
You have everything.

You have everything.

I mean, we know that
they're cutting blocks.

-They're putting them on boats.
-[Pierre] Yeah.

They're moving them
down the Nile.

They're even moving them right
up next to the pyramid.

Everything is here.

[Josh] Including the nature of
the workers themselves.

There's long been a myth
that enslaved people built

the pyramids, but the diary
tells the true story.

It mentions the food allotted
to the workers,

including portions
of dates and honey,

rare commodities
in ancient Egypt.

They were free workers,

and they were really
skilled people.

It's so extraordinary because
so many people like to say,

"We don't know how
the pyramids were built.

"We don't understand how
they were built.

It's such a mystery."

Here's somebody telling us...

-Yeah.
-...how the pyramids are built.

That's right.

That's right.

[Josh]
Now, Pierre and his team are
looking for more puzzle pieces.

In the surrounding hills,
they've completely excavated

31 caves, a feat that has taken
them over a decade.

Teams of workers carefully
excavate and brush sand into

baskets and wheelbarrows
to be removed from

the cave and sifted.

Along the way,
they've discovered pottery

made by Khufu's workers,
museum-quality flint knives,

and even rope from the ancient
boats that looks like

it could still be used today.

Pierre leads me over to meet
archaeologist Séverin Marchi,

who assists as a research
engineer here at the site

investigating another
critical clue to

the pyramid's construction.

OK, so we have caves
here, yeah?

OK, so they built actually
a ramp system up to the caves.

[Pierre talking]

[Josh]
This is a big deal.

These ramps were built by
the same people

who constructed the pyramids.

Hell, the blocks they carved
and moved here are identical to

what we see in Giza.

Soaring nearly 500 feet,
the Great Pyramid was

the tallest skyscraper on Earth
for thousands of years.

And for much of that time,
people have been arguing how

the ancients elevated
all those blocks.

Well, here's your answer.
They built ramps.

We see them here,
and there are remains of ramps

discovered in Giza.

The design of the pyramid ramp
is still up for debate.

Theories range from big old
ramp, to zigzag, to corkscrew,

to whatever you call this.

And while we don't know
the ramp's exact layout,

here at Wadi Al-Jarf,
we can see firsthand

that the actual pyramid workers
themselves absolutely built

and used them.

So you're actually excavating --

this is what, like the core
of the ramp?

Yeah, this is the core
of the ramp.

Incredible.
OK.

All right, let's see
what's here.

OK.

[Josh] We begin examining
the ruined ramp to see

what it might be able to tell us
about the construction of

the Great Pyramid,
and I do mean tell us.

What is that?
Oh, my God, that's writing!

Are you kidding me?

What is that?
Oh, my God, that's writing!

Are you kidding me?

[Pierre talking]

These are actual hieroglyphs
in what, charcoal?

Yeah, it's charcoal.

[Josh]
We're excavating an ancient
ramp at an Egyptian work site

that was once used
by the builders

of the Great Pyramid of Khufu.

And we just stumbled on
a handwritten note

they left behind.

Come on!

[Pierre]
This is a Neb sign.

It's clearly
a designation of Khufu.

And then to finish with,
you have this cross to

designate the Great One,
which is part of workers.

This cross signifies
a group of workers?

-The group of workers --
-Called the Great Ones.

[Pierre]
The Great Ones, yeah.

So, 4,500 years ago,
a worker right here etched on

this for the king, for Khufu.
-[Pierre] Yeah.

That is really amazing.
It really is.

It blows my mind.

To search for more writing,
we leave no stone unturned.

Literally.

-Empty block.
-Yeah.

No.

One cannot
win every time.

-Right.
-You know?

I feel like we're doing
scratch cards at

the liquor store or something.
Nothing.

Zero.
I got nothing on that one.

[Pierre] Nothing.

[Josh] But eventually,
we get lucky.

-Whoa.
-Uh-huh!

-Hey!
-Winner!

-Yeah, yeah, yeah.
-Bravo!

[laughing]

[Josh]
Oh, my gosh.

I'm hired?

[Josh]
They're taking the time to
mark even these small blocks.

To show that they were
doing something.

Why does anyone sign
anything, really?

It's to leave
their mark behind.

-By the way it worked, right?
-It worked.

They left their mark,
they left their signature,

and we now found it.
-Hey, yeah.

We don't have any royal
inscriptions of Khufu,

but the workers that
built the pyramid,

their mark remains.

[Pierre] The team of
the flower is there.

Wow, team of the flower.
Nice work, guys.

Here we have the signatures of
the pyramid builders themselves

on ramps exactly like the ones
they built at Giza.

But one huge,
heavy question remains.

How the hell did they carve
and move millions of two-ton

blocks up ramps like these
without even the use

of the wheel?

One expert on Pierre's team
believes he's discovered

the answer using only
the tools available

to the ancient Egyptians.
-[Josh] Hello.

-Bonjour.
-I'm Josh.

-Clare.
-Clare, nice to meet you.

-I'm Franck.
-Franck, a pleasure.

[Josh] In a nearby quarry,
I meet Franck Burgos

and his colleague,
Dr. Clare Newton.

OK, you are a stonemason.

-Correct?
-Yes.

OK, so I have a lot of
questions for you.

Because people are mystified
by the construction

of the pyramids.

And that really begins with
the question of how all of

these millions of blocks
were cut and moved.

Let's start with tools.

We know that people were coming
to this part of the world

trying to find copper.

What were they doing with
this copper?

[speaking in French]

[Franck's translator]
They are coming out here
to get copper to make these.

So this is a copper chisel
that Franck made.

[Josh] And what were
they hitting this with?

[Franck's translator]
They were hitting it with
wood mallets like this.

So when you came up here with
these tools to try to replicate

this, how did it go?

[Franck's translator]
Not good at all.

Not good?

[Franck's translator]
Every day, the wood mallet
would explode.

OK.

[Franck's translator]
I estimated it would take
80 mallets to carve

a single block.
-That's not good.

-That's not good.
-[Josh] That's a lot of
trips to Home Depot.

-[replies in French]
-That's a problem, yes.

OK, so clearly they must
have been doing

something different.
-Oui.

[Josh] To figure out the answer,
Franck didn't have to look far.

We're standing in an ancient
quarry where workers carved

limestone blocks identical
to those that the Great Pyramid

was built from.

Some of them are still
hanging out of the walls,

ready to be popped out
like ice cubes.

This is an unfinished block.

Yes, they started extracting
it, but they never finished.

It's really something to
see this in situ.

You can imagine people
right here.

[Clare] Yes.

[Josh] And along the bottom of
the block, Franck noticed

strange stone trenches.

OK, so what are these little
reservoirs for?

[Franck's translator]
The reservoirs here gave
me the idea to use water.

Limestone is water-soluble,
meaning water makes it softer.

So what happened when
you added water

and then chiseled?

[Franck's translator]
Once I added water, I was
able to chisel down

five inches in ten minutes,
and the mallet was fine.

It took you 10 minutes?

[replies in French]

Unbelievable.
So, just add water.

That's the secret.

[Josh]
Using this method, Franck was
able to work like an Egyptian.

And further down the hill is
the fruit of his labor.

Franck, what have you done?
Did you carve this?

-Yes.
-This weighs how much?

-[Franck's translator]
It weighs two tons.
-Two tons.

You carved a 4,000-pound block,
and that weight is...

about the average weight
of the blocks inside

the Great Pyramid, right?
-[speaking French]

[Josh] It took Franck four days
with four men to carve

the limestone, but now
they had a building block

of the pyramid.

However, he still didn't know
how the Egyptians could move

two million of these by hand up
the steep incline of a ramp

without use of a wheel.

After several failed attempts,
the possible answer presented

itself from where else
but the ancients themselves,

whispering to Franck through
a famous tomb painting,

which depicts workers moving
a giant statue across the sand

using something
called a sledge.

-And this is our sledge.
-Oui.

[Josh] OK, so now
the block is on a sledge.

Now how do you move it?

[Franck's translator]
I had the idea of pulling
the block on the sledge using

slats on the ground.

[Josh] With this much weight on
top, a sledge will easily sink

into sand and get stuck.

But Franck believed that by
placing wooden slats,

which would have been easily
made by the Egyptians

ahead of the sledge,
that should allow it to move

across the sand without sinking.

But even that wasn't enough

to keep this huge weight
moving uphill.

Fortunately, Franck has
a new plan.

He noticed this detail in
the tomb drawing, a man on

the statue pouring water on
the ground ahead of the sledge.

By wetting down the slats,
Franck hopes it will further

reduce friction that would
slow the block down.

So you're saying that if
we wet these slats down,

that a group of people can pull

a 4,000-pound block up a hill?

[Franck's translator]
I'm confident, 100%.

I mean, look, if this works,
you can build the pyramids.

-[Franck's translator]
Do you want to try it?
-Let's do it.

[Josh] Time for this experiment
to go from being theoretical

to back-achingly real.

We're about to try to build
a pyramid, or at least a tiny

part of one.

Hold here.
Uh-huh, OK.

[Josh] We begin by securing the
block to the sledge with rope.

Like this?
OK.

[Josh] Next, we attach
two parallel ropes

that we'll use to drag
the two tons uphill on

a more than 10 degree angle to
mimic ramps at the pyramid.

Yeah, we're gonna
need a little help.

[speaking foreign language]

OK, high five.
Come on.

We got this.
We got this.

Here we go.
We got it.

Come on!

[Franck's translator]
This gentleman will be
directing the team.

He's setting the pace, OK.

[Josh] Our ragtag 30-man team
lines up into place,

a far cry from the hundreds of
men that likely populated

ancient Egyptian work gangs.

Now, before the starting gun
goes off, we need to apply

our secret ingredient.

Water is poured over the slats
and the runners on the sledge.

Finally, beams are brought in
to lift the sledge out of

the sand as we make
our first pull.

This seems improbable.
It's a pretty steep grade.

-OK, Franck, are we ready?
-[Franck] Ready.

[Josh] We establish a finish
line hundreds of feet away

at the top of the ramp.

But in my mind, there's every
chance this block isn't going

to move an inch --
time to find out.

-[chanting in foreign language]
-OK, here we go!

[chanting continues]

Here goes nothing.

[chanting in foreign language]

[Josh] Oh my God.
It's moving.

[indistinct chatter]

For Khufu!

[Josh] We're on our way to glory
at the Egyptian dig site of

Wadi Al-Jarf, where French
stonemason Franck Burgos

and 30 of his colleagues have
been wondering how thousands of

two-ton limestone blocks could
have been moved uphill to build

the Great Pyramid --
this is us finding out.

-[indistinct chanting]
-[Josh] Whoa.

Ah!

It's working.

Pull, pull.

Ah!
Pull.

Pull, pull.

-Stop!
-Hey!

Whoo!

Yes.

Amazing.
Whoo.

Yes.

[Josh] Against all common sense,
30 untrained men have been able

to run with a 4,000-pound stone
several hundred feet up

a 10-degree ramp, thanks to
ingenious ancient engineering.

Franck.

Amazing!

OK, guys, 2 million more
blocks to go.

[cheering]

[Josh] What we did here at
Wadi Al-Jarf was a big victory.

Using the oldest papyrus ever
found, the crew here has

been able to show that even
just 100 teams like

ours could have been enough to
move the 350 stones a day

necessary to build
the Great Pyramid

in the 30 years of
Khufu's reign.

But before I can
start scouting sites for
the Great Pyramid of Gates,

I'm called back to
the genuine article.

A few days ago back at Giza,
I was working with

archaeologist Soren Sindbaek to
perform the first ever

3D scan of a mysterious
set of subterranean passages

just steps from the base of
the Great Pyramid.

And I just received word from
Soren's team that they are

almost done
processing the data.

In the meantime, there's one
more mystery to unravel.

We now know how the Egyptians
carved and moved the stones,

but how on earth did they align
them by hand to create

the mathematical perfection
that is the Great Pyramid?

It's time to find out.
Let's punch it.

From Wadi Al-Jarf, I drive
150 dusty miles north to Giza

and reconnect with
archaeologist Mark Lehner

and Soren Sindbaek in
the shadow of the Great Pyramid.

OK, so we've talked a lot
about the who, Khufu.

Yep.

And we've talked a lot about
the what, what's going on

inside this pyramid,
and hopefully we'll get some

more answers to that as
the data comes in.

But now we've got to turn to
the other huge mystery

that dominates this pyramid.

We've just learned how they cut
and moved the blocks,

but how did
the ancient Egyptians
arrange them so perfectly?

Because there are people
who would say it's impossible.

-The alignment is too perfect.
-There's no way we could
do that today.

That's right.

There's no way we could
even do it today.

The alignment is too perfect.

[Josh] I mean,
just look at this thing.

The Great Pyramid looms
45 stories above Giza's desert

floor, and yet the whole thing
is oriented to the cardinal

directions of north,
south, east, and west within

one-fifteenth of one degree.

The four sides at the base
are the same length

within two inches.

The vertical alignment from
the center of the base to

the tip is nearly perfect
with almost no deviation.

Oh, and the whole thing sits on
a foundation the size of

10 football fields that is level
from one end to the other

within about one inch.

Did I mention the Egyptians
didn't have algebra,

calculus,
or, you know, the wheel?

It is so impressive that many
people simply aren't willing

to believe that ancient
engineers pulled this off

without alien assistance or some
lost advanced civilization.

But the truth, the real truth,
isn't out there.

It's down here.

[Soren] The building site is
right at your feet here,

and that's where many of
the biggest clues to how

the work was processed.

There's all these things going
on here on the floor.

-[Josh] Like this?
-[Soren] Like this, yeah.

Strange things.
Something was once there.

[Josh] OK.

So once the pyramid was done,
these would have been buried

under a pavement?
-Yes.

-Huh.
-Never meant to be seen.

[Josh] Without the floor that
was once covering all of this,

we're seeing evidence of
the pyramid's

construction everywhere.

Dozens of mysterious square
and round holes

dotting the perimeter.

The long, hidden fingerprints
of the builders

who toiled here.

It is a gold mine
of information.

So the question is,
what were they used for?

[Mark]
They must have something to do
with the layout of the pyramid.

[Josh] Thanks to scanners like
the one we deployed in

the tunnels, Mark and Soren may
be close to learning exactly

how, by building the first ever
3D map of the Great Pyramid's

full foundation,
revealing a complete digital

look at the long ignored marks
of the pyramid builders for

the first time.
-OK, I'm dying to see it.

-Should we look at it?
-Let's go.

OK, what do we got?
Here we go.

Moment of truth.

-Whoa!
-Ooh, look at that.

Look at that!

The detail is extraordinary.

So this scanning didn't just
hit the ground,

you actually scanned the faces
of the pyramid as well.

Yeah, we scanned
the entire pyramid.

-[Mark] It's amazing,
really powerful.
-That's incredible.

[Josh] But it's the scans
of the post holes

that we're here to see.
-Take a look at this.

You barely notice them when
you're out there on the ground,

but here they stand
out very clearly.

[Josh] Oh, look at how
they jump out on the scan.

You can see that's where
we are now.

Yeah.

And we have the holes coming
in, dot, dot, dot, dot.

[Josh] Look at that -- they are
in an almost perfect line there.

Yeah.

So we didn't know for sure,
until we're seeing this.

[Soren] It's a post hole,
so it was carved to hold

a post, presumably.
-So this is evidence of...

-How they did it.
-...a survey.

Yeah.
This is their survey system.

They're inventing
a survey system to build

the Great Pyramid.

-[Soren] It's a post hole.
-This is evidence of...

-How they did it.
-...a survey.

This is their survey system.

They're inventing a survey
system to build

the Great Pyramid.

[Josh]
At the Great Pyramid of Giza,
archaeologists Soren Sindbaek

and Mark Lehner are deciphering
a network of post holes around

the perimeter that appear to
reveal the secret of

its remarkable precision.

What Soren is recording is
the very final layout of

the pyramid, the stake holes,
the lines, when they wanted

to get it just right.

[Josh]
The ancient builders would
place posts beyond the corners

of the pyramid, then use ropes
to connect them,

pulling the lines taut
and using simple measuring

tools to create
a perfect right angle.

The other post holes along
the sides are there to help

that guideline delineate
the entire outline

of the pyramid.

This grid of posts and ropes
were used with other tools

available to the ancients,
like plumb bobs,

chisels, and saws,
to perfectly square, align,

and level the pyramid's base to
within fractions of an inch.

When they got it exactly
right, they put a line there.

That's where they want
the corner to be.

[Josh]
The answer to all the debate
about how the pyramids were

built has been sitting,
quite literally,

under our feet.

What we are seeing here,
in a sense, is somebody

framing a house.
-Exactly.

And to do it more accurately
than anybody had ever done it,

any other pharaoh
or his workers,

nobody had done it
this precisely.

[Josh] Even Khufu's heirs had
trouble repeating his feat.

Next door, his son Khafre's
pyramid exhibits twisting on

the edges as it
approaches its apex.

And as to how Khufu's builders
perfectly leveled the massive

half a million square foot
plaza under and around

the Great Pyramid,
the answer is they didn't.

Examinations reveal they left
a huge raised core of natural

bedrock for the pyramid to be
built on top of,

the way a dentist might prep
a tooth for a crown.

It probably was a way of locking
the pyramid down

onto the bedrock plateau.

[Josh]
All they had to do was level
the walkway around it.

So the Great Pyramid is no gift
from outer space or the work

of Atlanteans, just ancient
Egyptian ingenuity.

And nowhere is the Egyptians'
precision more apparent

than in the so-called trial
passages that Soren

and I explored earlier.

Constructed at the same time
as the pyramid itself,

they're believed to be
a test model

for the tomb's interior.

We scanned them to learn
if the tunnels match,

and more importantly, to see if
any deviations could point us

toward possible hidden passages
or chambers within the pyramid,

such as the pharaoh's
treasure-filled tomb.

Early the next morning,
I receive word that Soren has

finished processing
the scan data,

so I rush to see what
we've uncovered.

Soren has also brought along
Joe Steel, a specialist in

the cutting-edge field of
augmented imaging.

Last time I saw you,
we were in the bowels of

the British Museum.
-And here we are today.

[Josh] Joe and I worked together
to identify a sarcophagus

that might have once held the
body of Alexander the Great.

It's just perfect.

We're meeting in
the best places.

Absolutely.

Soren, a few days ago,
we scanned this so-called

trial passage.

So the million-dollar question,
tell me you have great data.

-We've got great data.
-[Josh] Yes.

So I processed and cleaned what
we had, and then I handed it

over to Joe, who did fantastic
augmented reality visuals

that we can take into the Great
Pyramid and compare directly

to what we see.

OK, so we're going to be
able to compare those passages

to what's inside the pyramid.

Well, we haven't been in there
yet, so I'm excited to see

if it works.

Let's go in and see
what we got.

-Let's go.
-Come on.

[Josh] We quickly make our way
to the robber's tunnel to

re-enter the pyramid.

OK, here we go.
Moment of truth.

OK, here we are at
the main intersection inside

the Great Pyramid of Giza.

We've got our descending
passage that starts at the main

entrance, and this is where it
meets the ascending passage

that goes all the way up to
that King's Chamber.

Exactly, and with those big
granite blocks there.

With those terrifying
granite plug blocks.

Yes.

So is this where we should
check the scan data?

Yeah.
It's the trial passage.

It's a model of something.
This is what it models.

For sure.
OK.

Let's see if it's a match.
Here we go.

All right.
Is this our spot?

OK.

First of all,
everybody comfortable?

-Sure.
-I've been comfier.

A little tight in here.
OK.

All right, Joe.
It's your show.

So I'm going to load in
Soren's data

from the trial passage that you
both scanned together.

Right -- yeah,
why is it Soren's data?

I mean, I was there.
I helped, didn't I?

I like to think of it
as our data, Joe.

OK, fair enough.
I'm going to load in your data.

Thank you.
Thank you, Joe.

-You're going to overlay it.
-Overlay it, exactly.

And we're going to see
if it matches up.

I haven't done this before,
so I hope this works.

Yeah, well, I do too.
Believe me.

-Let's see.
-Let's go.

-[Soren] Wow!
-[Josh] Oh, my God.

-Wait, are you kidding me?
-So it's lining up perfectly.

Wait a minute.

This wireframe is the data
we collected in

the trial passage?
-[Joe] Correct.

-You sure?
-Yeah.

I mean, it looks just like
what we're seeing.

It looks perfect.
Wait, what?

When you look at it,
it's actually hard to tell that

it's two different data sets
because they are directly on

top of each other.
-[Soren] It's literally
the blueprint.

-It is.
-Yeah.

It is the blueprint of what
we are looking at.

[Josh]
This is huge!

Explicit proof that the trial
passages outside were the model

for the pyramid's
interior construction.

They aren't just similar.
They're clones.

I've never seen
anything like this.

If builders today attempted to
do something like this,

to build two identical sets
of passages

that were this exactly aligned,

it would be hard, even with
machinery and computers.

Yeah, and 4,600 years ago,
they just did it.

They just did it.
It is a 100% perfect match.

It's a 100% perfect match,
except for one difference.

-There's a difference?
-There is a difference.

There's something different
in the data?

Absolutely.
We've got to look up...

-[Josh] Wait.
-...to see that.

We have to look up.
OK.

Wait a minute.
What is that?

Egypt may be famous for
the Pyramids, but there is

another feat of balance
and engineering that takes

place on the streets of
Cairo every morning.

How hard could that be?

[Josh] I'll find out soon,
but the bread starts
its journey over here.

-[indistinct exclamation],
ready?

Hyah! Hyah!

How do you say
oven mitt in Arabic?

[Josh]
Then I decide to put it as
close to my scalp as possible.

Just like riding a bike,
but with 200 loaves of bread on

your head.
OK, here we go.

[groaning]

Sir, I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.

Get out of the streets!

I got it.
I got it.

How are you?
Good to see you.

Fresh bread, everybody!
You want some bread?

It's for you as
much as you want.

-Can I have some falafel?
-Thank you.

Oh, yeah.
That was a good trade.

Oh, God!
A speed bump?

A speed bump?
Ah-yah.

Saved it!
Mostly.

We have to look up, OK?

[Josh]
What is that?

[Josh] I'm inside
the Great Pyramid of Giza,

where augmented reality
has just shown us that a tunnel

system dug in the bedrock
outside is a perfect match for

the interior passages.

And that one thing that doesn't
line up, it could be the key

to finding hidden chambers
within the pyramid.

There's a vertical tunnel in
the trial passage scan.

So, this vertical shaft
was there

in the darkness of the
trial passage.

-Oh, yes, it was.
-But it's not here.

So, wait a minute.
Where is it?

-It should be right here
behind this rock.
-Yeah.

We now know that the trial
passage is a model for this

pyramid, and yet there's
a missing passage.

They model something
which is not here.

-Or which is not visible.
-Or which is not visible.

[Josh]
Right, exactly.

We could be looking at a lost
passage in the Great Pyramid.

It is a lost passage,
in a sense.

It was either one that was
never built or one that

we can't see.

I've got another way of
showing you guys how perfectly

matching the trial
passage data is with

the tunnel system we're in.
-OK.

I extrapolated the measurements
that Soren gave me into

a 3D model,
and let's have a look.

So, there it's coming in.

Wow!

So, trial passage in blue,
Great Pyramid in gold.

[Joe] Correct.

It is a 100% match apart
from this one section.

-[Soren] Missing tunnel.
-[Josh] So what the hell
is that?

[Soren]
What the hell is that?

Maybe it was a planned
escape tunnel.

Yeah.

Or it's something
that was changed.

If the trial passage is like
a key to the Great Pyramid,

that key is telling us about
something that we don't see.

[Josh] We know that several
years ago, a non-invasive scan

may have detected a void
within the Great Pyramid,

roughly the size of a bus,
somewhere above

the Grand Gallery.

And here, we have a mysterious
vertical shaft that heads

in that exact same direction.

Given what we've learned about
the Egyptians' exacting

precision, this hardly
feels accidental.

If this does lead somewhere,
it leads up.

Yeah.

Is it possible this is
pointing us to that void?

Yeah, that's very
intriguing, Josh.

[Josh] Somewhere amidst the six
million tons of stone above us

is a potentially immense find,
a possible passage

into the unknown.

But the cutting-edge technology
that revealed this,

as well as the potential void
above, can't yet show us

the full story.

It will have to be the next
technological breakthrough

that will finally tell us what's
inside and possibly unmask

the location of a lost chamber.
-It's incredible.

I've never seen
anything like this.

I've processed thousands of
scans, and they could never,

ever match up as
precisely as this.

And that is emblematic of this
entire building project.

-[Joe] Yes.
-It is all about precision.

This is innovation,
if ever there was.

Yeah.
Unbelievable.

We've answered one big question
here, and directly above

our heads, we have
a new mystery.

That's how it always is
with this pyramid.

Exactly.
The Great Pyramid of Giza.

-Answers and mysteries.
-Well done, Josh.

-Well done, Soren.
-Amazing job.

This is incredible.
Whoo!

Can I get out of here now?

Yeah, let's get some
fresh air.

Come on.

[Josh] The Great Pyramid is
the closest thing to eternity

that humanity has ever created,
bridging the sun and the earth

in a monument which has
endured for millennia.

To move within its passages,
to be humbled in its

Grand Gallery, to stand
within the King's Chamber

is to join for a moment
with that eternity.

The structure seems to radiate
mystery and invite conspiracy,

but thanks to the hard work of
passionate archaeologists,

answers are now
within our grasp.

We've mapped its interior top
to bottom, learned firsthand

how its blocks were carved,
moved, and aligned.

Cutting-edge scans have hinted
at the possibility of unseen

voids and hidden passages
within the pyramid,

tantalizing possibilities for
future explorers.

And thanks to the discovery of
the world's oldest diary

and some long-forgotten
graffiti, we can now reach

across time to meet
the builders themselves.

Not aliens or Atlanteans
or some lost advanced

civilization, but Egyptians.

After 5000 years, it's time to
give them the credit

they so richly deserve.