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NARRATOR: Abu Simbel,

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the most breathtaking temple of
Ancient Egypt.

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A colossal monument,

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shaped from stone to honour the man

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who ordered its construction...

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.. Ramses II, also known as
Ramses the Great,

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his image carved into
the temple's entrance.

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Ramses II is Ancient Egypt's
most well-known pharaoh.

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Even his face seems familiar,

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thanks to his astonishingly
well-preserved mummy.

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In addition to Abu Simbel,

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Egypt has Ramses to thank
for dozens of temples

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and hundreds of statues.

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And he left his mark at Karnak

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where his memorial temple was
described in antiquity

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as "the most majestic of all".

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But it was said that according to
the ancient texts,

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the most magnificent achievement
of this builder and pharaoh

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was his capital, Pi-Ramses...

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..a forgotten city whose splendour
can only be imagined

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through the words of ancient texts.

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There stood extravagant temples
and palaces,

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testaments to the power
of a monarch.

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The walls of his monuments
documented his conquests,

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but his legacy is far greater.

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The exact location of this city
remained unknown

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until the 20th century.

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And today, thousands of years
after its peak,

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the remains of ancient Pi-Ramses

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are being meticulously excavated
by archaeologists

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who are gradually revealing
the secrets

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of this legendary lost city.

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Qantir is a farming village
located in the Nile Delta,

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about three hours' drive
northeast of Cairo.

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It is a long way from the more
well-known archaeological sites

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at Giza or the Valley of the Kings,

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which are located further south.

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Here, there are no ruins of temples,
no monuments.

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Only a mix of open fields
and assorted residential areas .

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And yet it is here that
archaeologists are unearthing

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the remains of Pi-Ramses.

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German professor
Henning Franzmeier

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leads this international team.

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Henning first visited this site
in 2005

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while he was still a student.

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He has participated in each of
the excavation campaigns since.

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(assistant speaking Arabic)

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- When we excavated here
five years ago,

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with a very small excavation
on the other side of this field,

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we found also sand like this,

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but we did not really understand
what it was.

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Just by excavating now here,
we really know what is it.

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It's actually a wall or what is left
of it, it's a foundation trench.

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NARRATOR: Foundations which are
anything but ordinary.

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Their width and depth are
surprisingly large,

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suggesting the existence of
a significant building.

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A temple perhaps?
Or even a palace.

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- It's a very huge wall, it's more
than two and a half meters wide

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and this already shows that
it's a huge building.

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And it's the first such huge and
monumental building

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that we ever excavated
here in Qantir

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over the past 40 years.

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NARRATOR: Since the beginning of
the 1980s,

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excavation campaigns have
continued here, one after another.

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Excavations which have revealed
a multitude of objects

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that all link Qantir to the pharaoh
Ramses II.

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Most of the artefacts
are kept here,

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a few kilometres from the site,

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in a secure warehouse under
the custody of the Egyptian police.

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(both speak Arabic)

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NARRATOR: Typically, no-one
is allowed to enter this space,

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not even archaeologists.

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But Henning Franzmeier has been
granted special permission

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to make an inventory of some of
the objects,

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which will later be exhibited
in the Cairo Museum.

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Many of the objects were discovered
before he began working on the site,

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so this will be his first
opportunity to see them up close.

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- It's some of the best finds of
the last 40 years.

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This is also very special kind of
sparrow arrowhead.

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NARRATOR: Remarkably preserved
pieces of weaponry, pottery,

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as well as bas-reliefs
and sculptures.

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The objects unearthed at Qantir
over the decades

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are exceptional in their variety.

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They are irreplaceable

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and priceless.

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This is a goddess in the shape of
a snake with a human head.

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And it might have been part of
a little shrine

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or something like that.

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For me it's a bit like Christmas.

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Opening presents
and such wonderful objects, it's...

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This is objects that I know myself
often from publications.

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Ramses is here on the left
and that is the god Amun.

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So here we have a typical stela
of a king smiting an enemy.

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Actually, every Egyptian king
is shown like this,

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holding by his hand some enemy.

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So it's not depicting something
that actually happened,

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but something that the king has
to do as part of his job.

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NARRATOR: All of the objects
unearthed by archaeologists in Egypt

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are the property of
the Egyptian State,

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and they are preserved onsite.

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But this was not always the case.

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In the 19th century, and during
the first decades of the 20th,

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archaeological treasures belonged to
those who discovered them.

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They were then often sold to
the highest bidder.

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This is how the Roemer and Pelizaeus
Museum

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in Hildesheim, northern Germany,

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was able to build up a collection of
Egyptian antiquities,

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many of which came from Qantir,

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and almost all of which are
directly related to Ramses II.

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The Hildesheim Museum is now
partly financing

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the excavations at Pi-Ramses.

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Among the most striking pieces
exhibited here

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is this series of steles
honouring the great pharaoh.

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- One thing about this stele

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is that they all show Ramses II.

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And indeed on this stele,
we found often persons

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with this particular kind of skirt,

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very much related to military
persons.

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And the king himself
in these statues

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is somehow referring to a warrior
aspect somehow

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because he was named
Montu-Ta-Uhi.

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So what is meant here is
a god Mont,

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he is a warrior god.

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So therefore the statues
he made of himself

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connected to this warrior god,

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to a mighty god who is protecting
Egypt.

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But also is an aggressive god
who frightens the enemies.

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NARRATOR: A great warlord
crushing his enemies

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and terrorising his rivals.

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This is how Ramses II is
most often represented.

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The walls of the temples
built during his reign

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are adorned with accounts of
his military exploits.

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But this is a misleading portrayal.

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Ramses was much more than
the battle-hardened king

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that his legend describes.

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He was an accomplished monarch,
as benevolent in peace

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as he was formidable in battle.

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FRANZMEIER: I think Ramses
was a very pragmatic type.

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He was definitely very smart
in acting.

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He stayed king for 67 years.

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And he must have been a good
politician in a certain kind of way.

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NARRATOR: Ramses II died
at the age of 92,

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probably in 1213 BCE.

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It was the longest reign
in Egyptian history.

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The longest, and in the minds of
the Ancient Egyptians,

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the most prosperous.

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During his 67-year reign,

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Egypt enjoyed 46 years of peace.

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Under Ramses II, there was
no debating Egypt's power.

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And the most obvious manifestation
of this power was its capital,

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Pi-Ramses.

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When arriving in Egypt
from the east or the north,

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Pi-Ramses was the first big city
one would encounter.

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There were tracts of housing,

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surrounding numerous temples
dedicated to the gods,

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and colossal statues of
the pharaoh.

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FRANZMEIER: After just
one day of going into the river,

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you already arrive at what
you would have thought is Egypt.

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Big monumental buildings.

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You would immediately arrive
in the centre of power.

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The first thing that
a foreigner sees

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when coming into Egypt
from the north

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is the new capital.

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NARRATOR: The city was built
between two branches of the Nile,

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intersected by canals that irrigated
its many terraced gardens.

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And in the middle,
the palace of Ramses II.

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And yet this spectacular city,
built in just 15 years,

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was occupied for less than
two centuries,

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and no traces of its former grandeur
can be found on Earth today.

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Every year, Henning Franzmeier
and his team return to Qantir

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and, plot by plot, try to uncover
the remains of this lost city.

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This year, it was this section of
land that they chose to excavate,

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a few hundred square metres,
covering the foundations

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of a building that must have been
particularly impressive.

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FRANZMEIER: What we have here,
in fact, is the foundation trench

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of the walls of this building.

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It's about 2.5 metres wide

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and between 60 and 80cm deep,

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filled with kind of pure sand.

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This means you have something like
80 or 90 cubic metres of sand.

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They just put in the foundation
trenches of the wall here.

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So in total they had like six or
eight modern trucks of sand,

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which, even though it doesn't look
that impressive anymore now,

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you will be able to understand
what kind of effort it took.

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And they must have transported it
from at least a bit of distance

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because directly here
we don't have sand.

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NARRATOR: At first sight,
it's hard to imagine

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what kind of building could have
required such a quantity of sand

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and such large foundations.

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But in the keen eyes
of the archaeologists,

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these trenches already provide
some clues.

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(camera shutter)

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NARRATOR: Seen from above,

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the sand-filled trenches seem
to trace the outline of a room,

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in which the foundations of six
enormous columns can be seen.

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On one side of the room,
a smaller room

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with only four columns can be seen.

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At the end of the first room, other
columns seem to form two rows

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which extend beyond
the excavation site.

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(camera shutter)

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NARRATOR: Matthieu Goetz
is the team's architect.

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For him, these are the remains
of a pharaoh's palace.

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- (speaks French)

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NARRATOR: What Matthew is hoping
to find in the palace foundations

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is something like this - a brick,

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bearing the signature and
royal titles of Ramses II,

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like this one, discovered at Qantir

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and preserved in
the Hildesheim Museum.

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- It's made from faience.

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So that means this was never used
as a real brick in a wall.

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The purpose of this model brick

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potentially was, it was used in the
foundation ritual

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where the king was somehow
performing himself as a builder,

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and we have scenes where
the king depicted himself

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performing foundation rituals,

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and we assume other kings
did so as well.

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(lively chatter)

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NARRATOR: Conducting
excavations in the Nile Delta

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is always very challenging.

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More than half of the population
of Egypt lives in this region,

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in an area that represents barely 3%
of the country's territory.

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Urban development is rampant

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and often conceals ancient remains
hidden in the earth.

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(general chatter)

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NARRATOR:
Surrounding the settlements,

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farmers grow wheat or rice
according to the season.

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This agricultural production is
vital for a country

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that is 96% desert and needs to feed
100 million inhabitants.

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Each year, the archaeologists have
to negotiate with the farmers

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and rent the plots
they intend to excavate.

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And, each year,
they have to change plots.

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00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:06,400
One might think that this expansion
of agricultural land

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throughout the 20th century
is the reason

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why no visible traces of
Pi-Ramses' splendour remain.

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Yet this is not the case.

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It was the Ancient Egyptians
themselves who,

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less than two centuries after
the end of the reign of Ramses II,

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destroyed the city.

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To understand this, we must travel
to San el-Hagar,

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20 kilometres north of Qantir,
to Tanis,

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one of the Nile Delta's
most beautiful archaeological sites.

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00:16:51,200 --> 00:16:52,720
Tanis was the capital of
the pharaohs

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of the 21st and 22nd dynasties,

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approximately two centuries
after the death of Ramses II.

245
00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:03,040
However, for decades,

246
00:17:03,200 --> 00:17:05,240
Egyptologists thought that Tanis
was Pi-Ramses.

247
00:17:09,760 --> 00:17:12,480
This archaeological misunderstanding
lasted

248
00:17:12,640 --> 00:17:14,760
until the middle of
the 20th century.

249
00:17:17,280 --> 00:17:20,760
Today, a French team,
led by Francois Leclere,

250
00:17:20,920 --> 00:17:24,079
is excavating the remains of Tanis.

251
00:17:28,200 --> 00:17:29,680
- (speaks French)

252
00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:46,040
NARRATOR:
His cartouche is engraved in stone.

253
00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:51,920
His silhouette adorns
several bas-reliefs.

254
00:17:54,880 --> 00:17:56,920
And many monumental statues
dedicated to him...

255
00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:00,480
have been discovered here.

256
00:18:02,920 --> 00:18:05,840
More than enough to mislead
the first Egyptologists

257
00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:08,040
who came to work here..

258
00:18:09,680 --> 00:18:12,760
- (speaks French)

259
00:18:47,200 --> 00:18:51,120
NARRATOR: The Bible mentions
the name Pi-Ramses several times,

260
00:18:51,280 --> 00:18:52,280
notably in Exodus .

261
00:18:53,520 --> 00:18:55,960
But it never specifies its location.

262
00:18:58,480 --> 00:19:00,960
The region of Tanis is also
mentioned in the Bible

263
00:19:01,120 --> 00:19:03,200
and associated with the Exodus.

264
00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:09,560
For a long time, this ambiguity
contributed to the confusion

265
00:19:09,720 --> 00:19:11,840
between the two ancient cities.

266
00:19:12,840 --> 00:19:16,440
Then, when several inscriptions
mentioning Ramses II were discovered

267
00:19:16,600 --> 00:19:19,040
in Tanis in the 19th century,

268
00:19:19,200 --> 00:19:21,040
the question seemed to be settled:

269
00:19:22,080 --> 00:19:25,280
Tanis and Pi-Ramses were
one and the same.

270
00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:28,480
- (speaks French)

271
00:20:00,600 --> 00:20:03,160
NARRATOR:
From a 21st-century perspective,

272
00:20:03,320 --> 00:20:06,400
the idea of dismantling
ancient monuments to build new ones

273
00:20:06,560 --> 00:20:08,280
may seem sacrilegious.

274
00:20:08,440 --> 00:20:12,240
But in ancient times,
it was a common practice.

275
00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:18,440
- (speaks French)

276
00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:49,680
NARRATOR: One of the most striking
examples, at Tanis, is found here,

277
00:20:50,680 --> 00:20:55,000
on the remains of a temple gate,
erected by Pharaoh Sheshonk III,

278
00:20:55,160 --> 00:20:57,880
four centuries after the death
of Ramses II.

279
00:21:01,360 --> 00:21:04,400
This granite block bears the mark of
Pharaoh Cheops,

280
00:21:04,560 --> 00:21:09,520
who reigned in the 26th century,
1400 years before Ramses.

281
00:21:10,880 --> 00:21:12,720
This quartzite block is signed
by Teti,

282
00:21:14,200 --> 00:21:16,080
who reigned 1,000 years
before Ramses II.

283
00:21:18,840 --> 00:21:20,640
These three granite blocks
are marked

284
00:21:20,800 --> 00:21:22,360
with the cartouche of Rameses II.

285
00:21:24,320 --> 00:21:26,120
As for this limestone block,

286
00:21:26,280 --> 00:21:27,360
it is signed Sheshonk I,

287
00:21:28,440 --> 00:21:31,480
who reigned three centuries
after Rameses II.

288
00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:35,200
Most of these blocks were removed
from Pi-Ramses.

289
00:21:38,480 --> 00:21:40,160
- (speaks French)

290
00:22:06,600 --> 00:22:08,720
NARRATOR: In the middle of
the 20th century,

291
00:22:08,880 --> 00:22:11,240
archaeologists realised that
Ramses' successors

292
00:22:12,440 --> 00:22:14,040
had built the city of Tanis

293
00:22:14,200 --> 00:22:15,800
by dismantling his capital
stone by stone.

294
00:22:18,160 --> 00:22:19,440
This reopened the mystery.

295
00:22:20,880 --> 00:22:22,840
Where was the original site
of Pi-Ramses?

296
00:22:31,080 --> 00:22:32,960
- And there..

297
00:22:33,120 --> 00:22:37,160
NARRATOR: Regine Schulz is
director of the Hildesheim Museum.

298
00:22:37,320 --> 00:22:38,800
She is also an Egyptologist

299
00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:42,040
and is responsible for monitoring
the excavations at Pi-Ramses.

300
00:22:44,360 --> 00:22:48,560
REGINE: We had no idea where
this place originally would be.

301
00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:52,640
There was no clear understanding
where originally this city was,

302
00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:54,960
which was mentioned
in several texts.

303
00:22:55,120 --> 00:23:00,240
We have a very clear understanding
that it must have been a big area

304
00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:02,840
where this city was located.

305
00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:05,160
NARRATOR: As early as the 1930s,

306
00:23:05,320 --> 00:23:07,400
Egyptian archaeologists
were suggesting

307
00:23:07,560 --> 00:23:11,280
that Qantir was the most likely
location of Ramses' capital.

308
00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:12,680
But it was not until the 1970s,

309
00:23:14,240 --> 00:23:16,120
with the systematic excavations

310
00:23:16,280 --> 00:23:18,960
carried out by the
German archaeologist Edgar Pusch,

311
00:23:19,120 --> 00:23:22,240
that the site of Qantir was
definitively identified

312
00:23:22,400 --> 00:23:23,400
as Pi-Ramses.

313
00:23:25,120 --> 00:23:27,760
REGINE: The idea was to find out
how big this area might be.

314
00:23:29,080 --> 00:23:30,480
And he talked to Helmut Becker,

315
00:23:30,640 --> 00:23:33,880
who was a specialist for
magnetic analysis.

316
00:23:34,040 --> 00:23:37,400
And he was the first one who really
worked in Egypt

317
00:23:37,560 --> 00:23:38,840
with this methodology.

318
00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:42,200
Areas they looked at was very big,

319
00:23:43,320 --> 00:23:45,840
altogether two square kilometres.

320
00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:48,040
NARRATOR:
These magnetometric analyses,

321
00:23:48,200 --> 00:23:52,560
derived from the then-most advanced
medical imaging technologies,

322
00:23:52,720 --> 00:23:54,880
first appeared on excavation sites
in the 1990s.

323
00:23:56,760 --> 00:23:59,440
They allow archaeologists to map
the subsoil of the areas

324
00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:02,120
they wish to excavate.

325
00:24:03,160 --> 00:24:06,280
To do this, the device measures
minute variations

326
00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:09,160
in the magnetic field
at ground level.

327
00:24:10,680 --> 00:24:14,240
These variations are caused by
the presence of materials

328
00:24:14,400 --> 00:24:16,600
buried within the natural soil...

329
00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:21,440
..the remains of walls, for example,
or sand-filled foundation trenches.

330
00:24:24,440 --> 00:24:28,400
REGINE: Looking at the results of
the geometric analysis,

331
00:24:28,560 --> 00:24:31,760
they tried to think a bit about how
big the city could have been,

332
00:24:31,920 --> 00:24:34,320
and most probably
ten to 12 square kilometres.

333
00:24:36,680 --> 00:24:38,320
it's an unbelievable huge
ancient city,

334
00:24:39,920 --> 00:24:42,640
the biggest one which we know so far
from this time period,

335
00:24:43,800 --> 00:24:46,080
not only in Egypt,
in the Mediterranean.

336
00:24:47,800 --> 00:24:50,720
NARRATOR: The dimensions of the
structures revealed by magnetometry

337
00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:52,240
left no room for debate.

338
00:24:54,000 --> 00:24:55,800
This colossal city had to be
Pi-Ramses.

339
00:24:58,880 --> 00:25:02,280
Three decades later, Henning
Franzmeier and his team

340
00:25:02,440 --> 00:25:05,280
are still working
from this original map.

341
00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:07,200
It helped them locate what
they believe

342
00:25:07,360 --> 00:25:09,560
to be Ramses II's palace,

343
00:25:09,720 --> 00:25:13,960
where they are currently carrying
out their excavation campaign.

344
00:25:14,120 --> 00:25:16,360
- (speaks German)

345
00:25:37,240 --> 00:25:39,640
NARRATOR: According to the data
from the magnetometer,

346
00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:44,080
the city of Pi-Ramses was enormous
for its time.

347
00:25:44,240 --> 00:25:46,960
It is therefore likely that Ramses
had multiple palaces there,

348
00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:51,280
each serving a different purpose.

349
00:25:51,440 --> 00:25:54,640
What kind of role could the palace
on which Henning and his team

350
00:25:54,800 --> 00:25:57,360
are currently working, have played?

351
00:25:58,480 --> 00:26:01,160
REGINE:
Until now it has been speculation.

352
00:26:01,320 --> 00:26:04,040
It's a very very huge palace

353
00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:05,920
and therefore it's a little unusual.

354
00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:09,680
It is one of the biggest palaces
we know from Egypt.

355
00:26:11,800 --> 00:26:14,520
On the other side, if you are
looking how big the city was,

356
00:26:14,680 --> 00:26:17,280
there's no doubt there had been
other palaces

357
00:26:19,720 --> 00:26:22,280
and also there must have been
some temples.

358
00:26:22,440 --> 00:26:27,040
So this means what we have
in the moment at different areas,

359
00:26:27,200 --> 00:26:29,600
we know some things about the living
areas,

360
00:26:29,760 --> 00:26:32,160
we know some things about
the production areas

361
00:26:32,320 --> 00:26:34,760
and now the idea of is to look at
a very different area.

362
00:26:39,080 --> 00:26:41,160
NARRATOR: To better understand
the nature of the building

363
00:26:41,320 --> 00:26:42,680
they are excavating,

364
00:26:42,840 --> 00:26:44,520
the archaeologists meticulously
catalogue

365
00:26:45,720 --> 00:26:47,840
everything they find on the site...

366
00:26:48,920 --> 00:26:51,240
A tiny fragment of pottery could be
a decisive clue,

367
00:26:53,680 --> 00:26:58,960
depending on the context in which
it was found..

368
00:26:59,120 --> 00:27:01,000
Where exactly was it discovered?

369
00:27:01,160 --> 00:27:02,720
At what depth?

370
00:27:02,880 --> 00:27:06,160
What else is nearby?

371
00:27:07,200 --> 00:27:10,280
Each section of the site
is carefully photographed,

372
00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:12,720
drawn and mapped
as the excavations proceed.

373
00:27:14,720 --> 00:27:17,440
- (speaks Italian)

374
00:27:22,560 --> 00:27:24,320
NARRATOR: Each discovery
is geolocated

375
00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:26,520
using what's called
a total station...

376
00:27:26,680 --> 00:27:28,320
-196.

377
00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:31,400
..a surveyor's tool, accurate to
the nearest centimetre.

378
00:27:33,200 --> 00:27:35,240
- 191.5.

379
00:27:35,400 --> 00:27:36,960
NARRATOR:
Even tiny fragments of pottery

380
00:27:37,120 --> 00:27:41,120
are thoroughly described, measured
and referenced.

381
00:27:41,280 --> 00:27:44,640
This work must be carried out
as close to the field as possible,

382
00:27:44,800 --> 00:27:46,240
so that no information is lost.

383
00:27:47,720 --> 00:27:52,680
HENNING: Like this, we can put this
find slip in a special bag

384
00:27:52,840 --> 00:27:55,080
with the pottery, with the find,

385
00:27:55,240 --> 00:27:59,160
so we will also after a very long
time still know where it comes from.

386
00:27:59,320 --> 00:28:01,400
We don't have the need to always
keep up with data.

387
00:28:02,440 --> 00:28:04,040
Even if we are not here
for 20 years,

388
00:28:05,040 --> 00:28:07,200
we will still be able to identify
what we have.

389
00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:14,200
NARRATOR: But in addition to
this old-fashioned work,

390
00:28:14,360 --> 00:28:17,280
the archaeologists also rely on
modern techniques

391
00:28:17,440 --> 00:28:19,600
to create the most complete record
possible.

392
00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:26,160
And one technique that has emerged
over the last decade

393
00:28:27,200 --> 00:28:30,040
has completely revolutionised
the work of archaeologists...

394
00:28:31,880 --> 00:28:34,360
Photogrammetry.

395
00:28:37,640 --> 00:28:39,400
(camera shutter)

396
00:28:46,840 --> 00:28:49,040
- (speaks French)

397
00:28:55,480 --> 00:28:57,000
NARRATOR:
The principle is simple:

398
00:28:57,160 --> 00:28:59,280
You take as many high-definition
photos as you need

399
00:29:00,280 --> 00:29:02,400
to capture the surface you want
to model in 3D,

400
00:29:03,520 --> 00:29:04,960
varying the angles of the shots.

401
00:29:06,240 --> 00:29:09,440
An exercise that sometimes leads
the archaeologist

402
00:29:09,600 --> 00:29:11,920
to perform a strange kind of dance.

403
00:29:24,320 --> 00:29:25,680
- You mustn't forget anything.

404
00:29:25,840 --> 00:29:29,040
That's why it's good to have
a certain rhythm,

405
00:29:29,200 --> 00:29:31,080
a certain way to do it.

406
00:29:31,240 --> 00:29:35,160
Especially around the corners, you
have to go back and forward again.

407
00:29:41,600 --> 00:29:44,400
NARRATOR: Frank is a digitalisation
specialist on the team.

408
00:29:47,280 --> 00:29:50,760
He is responsible for modelling
the photogrammetric images.

409
00:29:55,960 --> 00:29:57,280
(loudspeaker announcement)

410
00:29:59,240 --> 00:30:02,040
NARRATOR: It's noon. The whole team
is about to go to the Dig House,

411
00:30:04,960 --> 00:30:08,640
a home base rented by Henning
in the centre of Qantir.

412
00:30:11,080 --> 00:30:14,520
This is where the archaeologists
gather to work, sleep

413
00:30:14,680 --> 00:30:15,800
and have their meals.

414
00:30:23,880 --> 00:30:25,400
Working through his lunch break,

415
00:30:25,560 --> 00:30:28,960
Frank Stremke begins to assemble
the photos taken the day before.

416
00:30:31,840 --> 00:30:34,680
- The most important thing is
to move the camera in between shots.

417
00:30:34,840 --> 00:30:38,040
You cannot just stay like this
because then there is no baseline

418
00:30:38,200 --> 00:30:40,880
between photographs which you need
to triangulate the distance

419
00:30:41,040 --> 00:30:42,440
to the object.

420
00:30:45,160 --> 00:30:46,960
NARRATOR: To produce this image,
for example,

421
00:30:47,120 --> 00:30:48,280
448 photos were taken.

422
00:30:51,400 --> 00:30:53,480
The software analyses them

423
00:30:53,640 --> 00:30:57,800
and identifies all the elements
that are common to several photos.

424
00:30:57,960 --> 00:31:02,240
Using a trigonometric formula,
it then stitches them together.

425
00:31:02,400 --> 00:31:06,920
In this case, it detected
ten million overlapping points.

426
00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:13,680
- This one is used to calculate
the camera positions.

427
00:31:13,840 --> 00:31:17,000
So the blue area here,
the blue patches,

428
00:31:17,160 --> 00:31:19,200
is where the camera was positioned.

429
00:31:19,360 --> 00:31:21,680
And in the next step it reverses
the calculation

430
00:31:23,280 --> 00:31:26,720
and calculates outside world points
based on the camera position.

431
00:31:29,000 --> 00:31:33,040
It's a circle. It's magic,
but it works! (laughs)

432
00:31:33,200 --> 00:31:36,560
Over the last ten years or so,
it has really changed archaeology.

433
00:31:39,880 --> 00:31:42,600
NARRATOR: Thanks to the
photogrammetric modelling,

434
00:31:42,760 --> 00:31:45,520
archaeologists can now view
all the physical data from the field

435
00:31:47,360 --> 00:31:49,160
on a computer screen.

436
00:31:52,560 --> 00:31:56,160
They can observe a wall,
an object or a trench

437
00:31:56,320 --> 00:31:59,480
from angles that would be difficult
to achieve in real life.

438
00:32:00,480 --> 00:32:04,560
With a few clicks, they can make
every possible measurement

439
00:32:04,720 --> 00:32:06,280
with pinpoint accuracy...

440
00:32:06,440 --> 00:32:10,200
- (speaks French)

441
00:32:54,840 --> 00:32:58,240
NARRATOR: Material evidence
such as the base of a column,

442
00:32:58,400 --> 00:33:00,600
which could have helped
the archaeologists,

443
00:33:00,760 --> 00:33:03,280
is missing from the excavation site.

444
00:33:03,440 --> 00:33:07,320
But based on what has been
found in other palaces in Egypt,

445
00:33:07,480 --> 00:33:09,840
Henning Franzmeier offers
a hypothesis.

446
00:33:13,080 --> 00:33:18,760
- The idea is that we have
such big walls, such large walls

447
00:33:18,920 --> 00:33:22,480
because the rooms inside the
building might have been vaulted.

448
00:33:22,640 --> 00:33:26,320
It was one the one hand a high
building, a really tall building

449
00:33:26,480 --> 00:33:29,440
where the room inside must have
reached six, seven meters of height,

450
00:33:32,160 --> 00:33:34,360
but also there might have been
vaults as a ceiling.

451
00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:40,520
NARRATOR: If Henning's hypothesis
is correct,

452
00:33:40,680 --> 00:33:43,720
the throne room of the palace
must have looked like this.

453
00:33:43,880 --> 00:33:48,800
Above the six sand-filled foundation
holes, domed column bases,

454
00:33:48,960 --> 00:33:50,560
like this.

455
00:33:50,720 --> 00:33:53,240
Above them, the columns themselves,
carved in stone

456
00:33:54,520 --> 00:33:56,960
and topped with a rounded capital.

457
00:33:57,120 --> 00:34:00,840
The whole thing was probably
seven metres high.

458
00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:07,680
The monumental columns may have
resembled this one, found in Tanis,

459
00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:12,120
one which perhaps may have come
from the palace itself.

460
00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:18,639
Above the columns, decorated with
painted motifs,

461
00:34:18,800 --> 00:34:21,120
a triple vault..

462
00:34:21,280 --> 00:34:24,960
According to Henning, the massive
pressure exerted by this vault

463
00:34:25,120 --> 00:34:26,639
and the height of the building

464
00:34:26,800 --> 00:34:29,120
justify the thickness of
the 2.5-metre walls,

465
00:34:33,800 --> 00:34:38,120
walls decorated with bas-reliefs,
featuring the king and the gods,

466
00:34:38,280 --> 00:34:39,480
like these, also from Tanis.

467
00:34:50,520 --> 00:34:54,600
Imagine the feeling of entering
this imposing throne room

468
00:34:54,760 --> 00:34:57,640
and walking between these columns
toward the king.

469
00:35:10,560 --> 00:35:13,200
The power of Ramses, embodied by
this dramatic architecture,

470
00:35:14,560 --> 00:35:16,240
overwhelmed everyone he received.

471
00:35:26,560 --> 00:35:30,680
Everything confirms
what the ancient texts describe.

472
00:35:30,840 --> 00:35:33,040
it was here that Ramses II chose
to establish

473
00:35:34,080 --> 00:35:35,560
the central hub of his rule.

474
00:35:44,400 --> 00:35:47,280
But why choose
such an unconventional location,

475
00:35:47,440 --> 00:35:49,360
compared to Thebes,
the ancient capital?

476
00:35:50,400 --> 00:35:52,480
And why choose a place so far
from Upper Egypt

477
00:35:52,640 --> 00:35:54,120
and its architectural treasures?

478
00:35:56,400 --> 00:35:57,960
Some answers have been provided

479
00:35:58,120 --> 00:36:01,120
since the initial excavations
carried out by Edgar Pusch

480
00:36:01,280 --> 00:36:03,320
at Qantir...

481
00:36:03,480 --> 00:36:07,800
Evidence of an extensive
weapons manufacturing industry

482
00:36:07,960 --> 00:36:09,880
REGINE: What was here is so unusual,

483
00:36:10,040 --> 00:36:14,160
it's something that Pusch defined
as assembly line workshops.

484
00:36:14,320 --> 00:36:17,000
This means it's not one small
workshop besides the other.

485
00:36:18,680 --> 00:36:21,040
It's really huge production area
planned as a unit.

486
00:36:24,680 --> 00:36:27,880
And that showed us also
that it was very essential

487
00:36:28,040 --> 00:36:30,080
to have a huge production for
the army,

488
00:36:31,160 --> 00:36:33,720
to protect the influence of
the Ramses emperors

489
00:36:35,640 --> 00:36:37,320
through this area.

490
00:36:39,400 --> 00:36:41,200
- 252. This is here.

491
00:36:43,320 --> 00:36:45,320
NARRATOR:
This hypothesis is confirmed

492
00:36:45,480 --> 00:36:48,080
by a number of artefacts discovered
by archaeologists

493
00:36:48,240 --> 00:36:51,040
in the remains of these workshops.

494
00:36:51,200 --> 00:36:55,320
- What we have here is objects,
for instance relating to workshops

495
00:36:55,480 --> 00:36:57,520
where arms were produced,

496
00:36:57,680 --> 00:37:00,240
and so what we can see is the metal
weapons

497
00:37:01,560 --> 00:37:07,360
that are amongst the best
that were found in Egypt.

498
00:37:07,520 --> 00:37:10,920
Here we have a kind of harpoon,
really a beautiful piece,

499
00:37:12,600 --> 00:37:17,520
and an arrowhead,
a kind of winged arrowhead

500
00:37:17,680 --> 00:37:20,720
made of bronze, and this is really
hi-tech of the late Bronze Age.

501
00:37:23,640 --> 00:37:24,720
We in fact have evidence now

502
00:37:27,320 --> 00:37:30,840
that not for the troops themselves,

503
00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:33,120
but for the production of weapons

504
00:37:33,280 --> 00:37:35,200
that these troops might have used.

505
00:37:37,680 --> 00:37:40,040
NARRATOR: Another relic is even
more significant -

506
00:37:40,200 --> 00:37:44,160
a remnant from an exceptional
military building.

507
00:37:44,320 --> 00:37:48,320
- So this is a fragment of
a door lintel from the royal stable.

508
00:37:48,480 --> 00:37:49,680
so what we see here is a horse

509
00:37:55,040 --> 00:37:57,120
and the names of Ramses II.

510
00:37:57,280 --> 00:38:00,640
Ra-me-su...

511
00:38:00,800 --> 00:38:02,720
There's s missing,
but it's the God Amun.

512
00:38:05,880 --> 00:38:07,200
So it's Ramses beloved of Amun.

513
00:38:08,960 --> 00:38:11,120
Over every box in the stables,
boxes of six horses

514
00:38:13,480 --> 00:38:15,280
and there were dozens of these.

515
00:38:15,440 --> 00:38:18,080
Over every box
there was a door lintel like this

516
00:38:20,160 --> 00:38:25,200
with a horse, kind of adoring
the names of the king, of Ramses.

517
00:38:28,640 --> 00:38:31,480
NARRATOR: Once again, magnetometry
was used to discover these stables.

518
00:38:33,320 --> 00:38:35,560
And it took Edgar Pusch 12 years
to uncover them.

519
00:38:37,240 --> 00:38:41,520
REGINE: Nothing like this had been
discovered before in Egypt

520
00:38:41,680 --> 00:38:43,240
or in other places.

521
00:38:43,400 --> 00:38:45,360
So everyone was very excited

522
00:38:45,520 --> 00:38:47,560
and this was also one of the reasons

523
00:38:47,720 --> 00:38:49,680
why then immediately
the idea came up

524
00:38:49,840 --> 00:38:51,480
to start excavation in this place.

525
00:38:55,000 --> 00:38:58,040
NARRATOR: These stables, the largest
ever discovered in Egypt,

526
00:38:58,200 --> 00:39:02,360
covered an area of
14,000 square metres.

527
00:39:02,520 --> 00:39:04,640
They were divided into five rows
of ten stalls.

528
00:39:06,360 --> 00:39:08,040
Each row ended with
a 250 square metre room,

529
00:39:10,080 --> 00:39:11,520
which was used by the stablemen.

530
00:39:13,000 --> 00:39:16,760
The ceiling of this room
was supported by ten columns,

531
00:39:16,920 --> 00:39:19,080
modelled after palm trees.

532
00:39:20,760 --> 00:39:23,600
The stables were accessed through
an impressive entrance,

533
00:39:23,760 --> 00:39:25,600
supported by four columns,

534
00:39:25,760 --> 00:39:27,800
decorated with the cartouche of
Ramses II,

535
00:39:29,240 --> 00:39:32,760
and bas-reliefs representing
the pharaoh conquering his enemies.

536
00:39:38,480 --> 00:39:41,480
Each stall could hold six horses.

537
00:39:42,520 --> 00:39:44,920
Their urine was collected
and used to tan leather.

538
00:39:47,960 --> 00:39:50,520
At the back of the stalls,
a rough sleeping area

539
00:39:50,680 --> 00:39:52,880
could accommodate a stablehand.

540
00:39:53,040 --> 00:39:55,800
When full, these stables could house
up to 460 horses.

541
00:40:13,040 --> 00:40:15,760
When Edgar Pusch excavated this
site,

542
00:40:15,920 --> 00:40:19,560
he discovered several objects
related to the horses,

543
00:40:19,720 --> 00:40:22,880
such as this bronze bridle,
incredibly well preserved

544
00:40:23,040 --> 00:40:24,720
after 3,000 years underground.

545
00:40:28,880 --> 00:40:32,200
As well as these parts
carved in stone -

546
00:40:32,360 --> 00:40:35,160
ornaments, decorating the war
chariots pulled by...

547
00:40:37,760 --> 00:40:38,840
the horses of Ramses II.

548
00:40:41,840 --> 00:40:44,120
REGINE: We have not found
full chariots,

549
00:40:44,280 --> 00:40:46,280
but we did find a lot of parts
of the chariot,

550
00:40:47,320 --> 00:40:50,320
parts which were made on one side of
course from stone,

551
00:40:51,760 --> 00:40:53,880
but also from other materials.

552
00:40:54,040 --> 00:40:55,640
And by looking for
all this material,

553
00:40:57,360 --> 00:41:00,920
we could find out that they belonged
to a huge production of chariotries,

554
00:41:02,080 --> 00:41:04,360
and we also could reconstruct them.

555
00:41:04,520 --> 00:41:06,680
This was also very interesting,

556
00:41:06,840 --> 00:41:08,920
because they look
a little bit different.

557
00:41:09,080 --> 00:41:11,640
NARRATOR: War chariots were
the weapons of choice

558
00:41:11,800 --> 00:41:13,800
for the pharaoh's shock troops.

559
00:41:13,960 --> 00:41:17,160
It was a fearsome weapon,
designed for battle.

560
00:41:17,320 --> 00:41:18,480
But to battle whom?

561
00:41:19,640 --> 00:41:22,120
In this case, the geographical
location of Pi-Ramses

562
00:41:23,120 --> 00:41:24,880
provides some clues.

563
00:41:27,000 --> 00:41:28,680
REGINE:
Besides the Egyptian empire,

564
00:41:28,840 --> 00:41:31,560
there was a second huge empire,
the empire of the Hittites.

565
00:41:32,920 --> 00:41:34,040
They were opponents of course

566
00:41:35,200 --> 00:41:38,880
and both interested in the eastern
Mediterranean area,

567
00:41:39,040 --> 00:41:41,120
particularly in the east.

568
00:41:41,280 --> 00:41:43,720
They wanted to have influence
to this area,

569
00:41:43,880 --> 00:41:47,880
not only for trade, but also
for their natural resources,

570
00:41:48,040 --> 00:41:50,760
and therefore there was a strong
competition

571
00:41:50,920 --> 00:41:52,440
and this was really dangerous.

572
00:41:55,040 --> 00:41:57,440
NARRATOR: When Ramses II
ascended the throne of Egypt,

573
00:41:58,440 --> 00:42:02,560
the Hittites already controlled the
territories of present-day Syria

574
00:42:02,720 --> 00:42:04,320
and Lebanon.

575
00:42:04,480 --> 00:42:07,320
If they succeeded in conquering
Palestine,

576
00:42:07,480 --> 00:42:11,080
Egypt would soon be under
their control as well.

577
00:42:13,960 --> 00:42:16,680
REGINE: I think this is one of
the main reasons

578
00:42:16,840 --> 00:42:18,960
why it became so important to have
a capital

579
00:42:20,000 --> 00:42:21,480
which is more near to this area,

580
00:42:22,760 --> 00:42:24,120
a capital in the east part of Egypt,

581
00:42:25,640 --> 00:42:28,400
a place where any kind of arms,

582
00:42:28,560 --> 00:42:31,840
any kind of chariots,

583
00:42:32,000 --> 00:42:34,800
the horses are available
as quick as possible

584
00:42:36,280 --> 00:42:38,400
if there is any kind of danger
from the Hittites

585
00:42:39,800 --> 00:42:44,920
to influence this area in a way
the Egyptians don't like.

586
00:42:46,800 --> 00:42:49,320
(clamour)

587
00:42:49,480 --> 00:42:52,720
NARRATOR: We now know why Ramses II
chose to build his capital

588
00:42:52,880 --> 00:42:57,440
so far away from the traditional
centres of Pharaonic power:

589
00:42:58,520 --> 00:43:02,560
He wanted to block the threatening
advance of the Hittite empire.

590
00:43:03,920 --> 00:43:06,520
But archaeologists are only just
beginning

591
00:43:06,680 --> 00:43:09,320
to unravel the mysteries of Ramses'
forgotten city.

592
00:43:11,840 --> 00:43:13,080
Was it only a garrison town?

593
00:43:14,840 --> 00:43:16,040
And if so, why was it so large?

594
00:43:18,480 --> 00:43:21,760
Why did Ramses build a palace there?

595
00:43:22,760 --> 00:43:25,280
In Qantir, Henning Franzmeier's team

596
00:43:25,440 --> 00:43:27,320
continues to dig
in search of answers.

597
00:44:06,720 --> 00:44:09,080
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