1 00:00:03,360 --> 00:00:06,040 Deep beneath Egypt's eastern desert... 2 00:00:09,040 --> 00:00:10,400 Here we go. 3 00:00:11,880 --> 00:00:13,720 That's so narrow! 4 00:00:13,800 --> 00:00:18,360 ...archaeologists discover a section of an ancient emerald mine, 5 00:00:18,440 --> 00:00:20,920 untouched for 2,000 years. 6 00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:24,520 It could be like a kind of photograph 7 00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:27,080 a mining workday inside the mines. 8 00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:31,400 The team follows the perilous trail of miners 9 00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:34,640 who risked their lives to find precious resources 10 00:00:34,720 --> 00:00:37,720 made Egypt wealthy and powerful. 11 00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:40,920 Hola! 12 00:00:41,040 --> 00:00:42,640 What is it? 13 00:00:42,720 --> 00:00:44,120 Look, Joan. 14 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:45,840 It's perfect. 15 00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:47,720 Oh, oh! 16 00:00:58,080 --> 00:01:02,240 Over 2,000 years, Egypt was ruled by dynasties 17 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:05,160 of native-born Egyptian pharaohs. 18 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:08,680 Khufu, Tutankhamun, 19 00:01:09,320 --> 00:01:10,800 Ramesses the Great. 20 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:15,240 For centuries, these pharaohs also controlled 21 00:01:15,320 --> 00:01:18,240 the resource-rich lands of their southern neighbors, 22 00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:20,320 the Nubians. 23 00:01:22,440 --> 00:01:24,400 Then, everything changed. 24 00:01:25,960 --> 00:01:28,680 A Nubian dynasty, the Kushites, 25 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:31,480 took control of Egypt for a hundred years. 26 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:39,360 Today, archaeologists hunt for clues to how these Nubians wrested power 27 00:01:39,440 --> 00:01:41,600 from the mighty Egyptian pharaohs. 28 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:46,000 Look at that. This is really cool, actually. 29 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:49,480 They investigate the complex relationship 30 00:01:49,560 --> 00:01:52,440 between the Egyptians and their southern conquerors. 31 00:01:52,520 --> 00:01:54,960 So here's my treasure. 32 00:01:55,960 --> 00:01:57,800 And explore the legacy 33 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:01,680 the Kushite kings left on this great civilization. 34 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:05,600 Unbelievable. 35 00:02:08,280 --> 00:02:12,880 Deep in the Eastern Desert, in an area known as Wadi-Sikait... 36 00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:19,720 Spanish archaeologist Joan Oller Guzmán and his team 37 00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:22,440 are just beginning their dig season. 38 00:02:26,320 --> 00:02:28,240 I am in love with this desert. 39 00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:30,040 It's an amazing, amazing place. 40 00:02:31,840 --> 00:02:33,960 They're driving up into the mountains, 41 00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:36,520 to a vast warren of emerald mines 42 00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:39,360 that were on the border between Egypt and Nubia. 43 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:42,960 In the mines, the idea is to continue 44 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:45,800 increasing our knowledge to how they extracted the emeralds. 45 00:02:45,880 --> 00:02:48,320 Any stuff that we can find inside the mine is interesting. 46 00:02:48,920 --> 00:02:53,280 Joan wants to understand what life was like for the miners here, 47 00:02:53,360 --> 00:02:56,120 and what it took to supply the Egyptian empire 48 00:02:56,200 --> 00:02:59,320 with the vast quantity of emeralds it demanded. 49 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:05,600 To the Ancient Egyptians, 50 00:03:05,680 --> 00:03:09,400 the vivid green of emeralds symbolized fertility... 51 00:03:10,600 --> 00:03:14,000 allegedly making them a favorite of Queen Cleopatra. 52 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:21,200 The richest source was Emerald Mountain in the Eastern Desert, 53 00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:24,200 which was riddled with hundreds of mines... 54 00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:27,520 like the one Joan has come to explore. 55 00:03:32,120 --> 00:03:33,240 Are we ready? 56 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:34,640 -Yalla? - Yalla. 57 00:03:36,080 --> 00:03:39,640 This area has at least 150 mines. 58 00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:43,960 Their shafts stretch for miles beneath the mountains. 59 00:03:45,560 --> 00:03:48,760 Joan is mapping each mine one by one. 60 00:03:50,960 --> 00:03:53,120 The view is amazing as you can see. 61 00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:56,040 It's totally amazing because you have all these mountains, all these wadis. 62 00:03:56,120 --> 00:03:58,880 So it's worth it to come here, I think, for sure. 63 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:03,080 In the largest mine they've found so far, 64 00:04:03,160 --> 00:04:08,240 it's taken two full seasons to document half a mile of the winding tunnels. 65 00:04:09,280 --> 00:04:13,080 Today, they will enter a completely unexplored section. 66 00:04:14,720 --> 00:04:16,520 In the mines it's always exciting, 67 00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:18,160 because you never know what will you find inside. 68 00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:21,320 What we need to do is... 69 00:04:21,400 --> 00:04:24,520 First, we throw the stones to one side. 70 00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:28,160 In 80-degree heat, 71 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:32,880 they begin by digging out the 10-by-5-foot entrance to the mine. 72 00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:37,200 Hey, hold on, hold on, hold on! 73 00:04:38,960 --> 00:04:41,920 This one! This is an inscribed papyrus. 74 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:43,640 An inscribed papyrus! 75 00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:44,760 Look! 76 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:47,080 We just found here in the rubble 77 00:04:47,160 --> 00:04:49,520 two fragments of papyrus with some letters, 78 00:04:49,600 --> 00:04:51,000 which is really, really amazing 79 00:04:51,080 --> 00:04:53,440 because we haven't anything like that in all the area. 80 00:04:54,760 --> 00:04:57,800 This confirms that this is a really special mine. 81 00:04:58,440 --> 00:04:59,480 Here it is. 82 00:05:01,080 --> 00:05:02,480 Oh, it's amazing. 83 00:05:04,600 --> 00:05:05,960 Wow! 84 00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:11,360 In Luxor, 85 00:05:12,200 --> 00:05:16,680 Egyptologist Arto Belekdanian is traveling across the Nile 86 00:05:16,760 --> 00:05:18,600 to the Theban Necropolis. 87 00:05:20,400 --> 00:05:21,880 He's searching for clues 88 00:05:21,960 --> 00:05:24,720 to how the Egyptians ruled over the Nubians. 89 00:05:26,640 --> 00:05:31,880 Tomb TT40 dates to Egypt's golden age, the New Kingdom, 90 00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:36,320 a period of total domination over their southern neighbors. 91 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:40,480 Look at this place! 92 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:46,760 The preservation is remarkable. The colors are so vibrant. 93 00:05:47,520 --> 00:05:49,440 And so many cool details. 94 00:05:51,520 --> 00:05:52,960 The walls of the tomb 95 00:05:53,040 --> 00:05:56,880 depict stunning scenes of life in the Egyptian Royal Court. 96 00:05:58,640 --> 00:06:02,040 And for Arto, one scene stands out. 97 00:06:02,600 --> 00:06:04,320 In Ancient Egyptian art, 98 00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:09,360 you can always tell who's Egyptian and who is not. 99 00:06:09,440 --> 00:06:13,360 And these guys are clearly not Egyptians. 100 00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:15,760 And they are bringing gifts, 101 00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:20,360 the products of their lands, including cattle... 102 00:06:21,360 --> 00:06:22,880 shields... 103 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:25,800 a chariot. 104 00:06:25,880 --> 00:06:28,720 Very prized kind of possession indeed. 105 00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:32,920 The procession appears to end at the feet of the king. 106 00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:38,400 And that king is none other than the famous Tutankhamun. 107 00:06:38,960 --> 00:06:44,640 These are all clearly tribute bearers. And right here, 108 00:06:44,720 --> 00:06:46,520 look at that. 109 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:49,200 The inscription reads "Nbw." 110 00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:54,080 That is the Egyptian word for gold. 111 00:06:55,720 --> 00:06:57,600 Who are these foreigners 112 00:06:57,680 --> 00:07:00,760 bringing gold to the feet of the Egyptian king? 113 00:07:03,720 --> 00:07:06,440 Arto searches the ceiling for clues. 114 00:07:08,640 --> 00:07:10,560 Look at that! 115 00:07:10,640 --> 00:07:12,720 Oh, absolutely beautiful. 116 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:17,120 And we have here the name of the deceased, the tomb owner, 117 00:07:17,200 --> 00:07:19,240 Amenhotep-Huy. 118 00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:25,440 And right there, his most prominent title. "The King's Son of Kush." 119 00:07:25,520 --> 00:07:32,400 In other words, he was responsible for the governance of the land of Kush 120 00:07:32,480 --> 00:07:35,000 on behalf of the king. 121 00:07:35,080 --> 00:07:38,280 So the tribute bearers over there, therefore, 122 00:07:39,040 --> 00:07:41,000 they're Kushites. 123 00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:47,240 Kush was a small but highly developed kingdom south of Egypt 124 00:07:47,320 --> 00:07:50,760 in the region known as Nubia, modern-day Sudan. 125 00:07:52,040 --> 00:07:56,280 Rich in gold and the highly valued products of inner Africa, 126 00:07:56,360 --> 00:07:59,040 Kush was ruled by the Egyptian pharaohs, 127 00:07:59,120 --> 00:08:02,240 who demanded these resources in return for peace. 128 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:09,480 As viceroy to Kush, Amenhotep-Huy was the pharaoh's diplomat in Nubia, 129 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:13,040 a physical reminder of the might of Egypt. 130 00:08:14,640 --> 00:08:20,080 In the time of Amenhotep-Huy, Kush was the main source of Egypt's gold. 131 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:23,960 And it was part of his job to make sure it stayed that way. 132 00:08:26,520 --> 00:08:30,240 These images depict a time when the Egyptian pharaohs 133 00:08:30,320 --> 00:08:32,760 were at the height of their power. 134 00:08:33,720 --> 00:08:37,720 But they were right to keep a close eye 135 00:08:37,800 --> 00:08:41,680 on their neighbors to the south because, well, 136 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:46,360 500 years later, they would be the ones in charge. 137 00:08:47,600 --> 00:08:50,360 So how did the smaller kingdom of Kush 138 00:08:50,440 --> 00:08:54,320 manage to turn the tables on the mighty Egyptians? 139 00:08:55,440 --> 00:08:57,760 Next, Arto wants to explore 140 00:08:57,840 --> 00:09:01,120 how the pharaohs lost their grip on power. 141 00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:11,600 The island of Elephantine, close to Aswan, on the River Nile. 142 00:09:13,560 --> 00:09:16,040 It is pharaonic Egypt in a nutshell. 143 00:09:16,120 --> 00:09:17,880 Privileged to work on such a site 144 00:09:17,960 --> 00:09:21,080 because compared within Egypt, it is unique. 145 00:09:22,280 --> 00:09:25,160 German archaeologist Martin Sählhof 146 00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:28,160 is investigating a settlement on the island 147 00:09:28,240 --> 00:09:30,040 that sits on the southern border 148 00:09:30,120 --> 00:09:33,080 between Ancient Egypt and the kingdom of Nubia. 149 00:09:36,400 --> 00:09:41,040 His team is excavating a massive 13-foot-thick mudbrick wall 150 00:09:41,120 --> 00:09:46,840 that dates to the earliest pharaohs, 2,000 years before the Kushite takeover. 151 00:09:49,040 --> 00:09:53,400 The wall might be comparable to medieval town walls in Europe. 152 00:09:53,480 --> 00:09:55,240 It is defining a space, 153 00:09:55,320 --> 00:09:58,720 and also controlling the space inside and also outside. 154 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:06,440 The island of Elephantine would have been highly prized 155 00:10:06,520 --> 00:10:09,400 by both the ancient Egyptians and the Nubians. 156 00:10:11,480 --> 00:10:15,600 Trade routes up and down the River Nile could be controlled from here. 157 00:10:18,080 --> 00:10:20,960 A forensic examination of the perimeter wall 158 00:10:21,040 --> 00:10:24,560 could tell Martin's team more about how the relationship 159 00:10:24,640 --> 00:10:27,640 between the Egyptians and the Nubians developed. 160 00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:33,320 They plan to investigate the materials used to build the wall. 161 00:10:34,200 --> 00:10:39,240 We're just taking one mudbrick out to analyze its recipe. 162 00:10:44,960 --> 00:10:46,280 In Luxor, 163 00:10:47,840 --> 00:10:53,560 Arto wants to find out how the Kushites who ruled Egypt's southern neighbor Nubia, 164 00:10:53,640 --> 00:10:57,160 managed to seize control of the land of the pharaohs. 165 00:10:59,640 --> 00:11:04,480 He's come to Karnak temple complex in the ancient capital of Thebes. 166 00:11:05,720 --> 00:11:10,360 Over the course of the thousands of years of history here, 167 00:11:10,440 --> 00:11:13,120 every pharaoh who could, 168 00:11:13,200 --> 00:11:17,960 would add to this place in a show of wealth, 169 00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:20,280 power, and piety. 170 00:11:21,440 --> 00:11:25,760 Although most of this temple was constructed during the New Kingdom 171 00:11:25,840 --> 00:11:28,280 when pharaonic power was at its height, 172 00:11:28,800 --> 00:11:33,920 there is still astonishing evidence here of how this power began to crumble. 173 00:11:38,080 --> 00:11:42,920 In the small Temple of Khonsu, built towards the end of this period, 174 00:11:43,800 --> 00:11:45,080 he finds a clue. 175 00:11:47,760 --> 00:11:49,120 Look at that. 176 00:11:50,720 --> 00:11:52,880 This is really cool, actually. 177 00:11:52,960 --> 00:11:55,600 The figure on the right, that's the god Amun. 178 00:11:55,680 --> 00:11:58,480 The one with the tall, twin plumes on his head. 179 00:11:59,920 --> 00:12:05,600 In front of him, normally you would have the king presenting offerings, 180 00:12:05,680 --> 00:12:07,880 coming into the presence of a god. 181 00:12:07,960 --> 00:12:13,440 One of his peers, essentially. But that's not what we have here, in fact. 182 00:12:14,160 --> 00:12:18,440 A different figure is depicted where the pharaoh usually stands. 183 00:12:19,120 --> 00:12:20,720 It reads, 184 00:12:20,800 --> 00:12:27,640 "the Chief Priest of Amun, Herihor, the son of Amun." 185 00:12:28,520 --> 00:12:32,360 Herihor, by placing himself in these scenes here, 186 00:12:32,440 --> 00:12:38,160 being portrayed as the one physically giving the offerings to the gods, 187 00:12:38,240 --> 00:12:41,480 he is portraying himself as king. 188 00:12:44,600 --> 00:12:49,200 In 1069 BCE, Pharaoh Ramesses XI, 189 00:12:49,280 --> 00:12:52,520 facing declining harvests and famine in Egypt, 190 00:12:52,600 --> 00:12:54,680 was losing his grip on power. 191 00:12:55,920 --> 00:12:58,160 A high priest called Herihor, 192 00:12:58,240 --> 00:13:01,240 leader of a cult called the Priests of Amun, 193 00:13:01,320 --> 00:13:06,160 challenged the authority of Ramesses, vying for control of the kingdom. 194 00:13:09,960 --> 00:13:11,640 Egypt was now ruled 195 00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:14,960 by the pharaohs in the north and the priests in the south. 196 00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:20,320 The split threw the empire into three centuries of chaos. 197 00:13:21,200 --> 00:13:25,000 And this instability gave Egypt's oppressed southern neighbors, 198 00:13:25,080 --> 00:13:28,560 the Kushites, an opportunity to take control. 199 00:13:31,280 --> 00:13:37,600 Around 750 BCE, for the first time, a Kushite king took southern Egypt 200 00:13:37,680 --> 00:13:38,880 without a fight. 201 00:13:39,760 --> 00:13:45,640 Soon after, his successor, King Piankhy, marched his army further north, 202 00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:48,000 all the way to the Mediterranean. 203 00:13:49,760 --> 00:13:52,360 A six-foot-high victory stele 204 00:13:52,440 --> 00:13:55,680 reveals the many Egyptian rulers he vanquished. 205 00:13:56,480 --> 00:13:58,360 Djedamuniuefankh, 206 00:13:59,000 --> 00:14:00,280 Sheshonq, 207 00:14:00,920 --> 00:14:02,240 Osorkon, 208 00:14:02,320 --> 00:14:05,320 and finally here... 209 00:14:06,560 --> 00:14:07,720 Tefnakht. 210 00:14:08,240 --> 00:14:11,480 It was by exploiting this sort of division 211 00:14:11,560 --> 00:14:15,600 and having his own allies as well, that Piankhy, 212 00:14:15,680 --> 00:14:19,520 this Kushite ruler, a non-Egyptian ruler, 213 00:14:19,600 --> 00:14:25,480 managed to step in and claim the title of kingship pharaoh. 214 00:14:26,160 --> 00:14:27,240 Quote... 215 00:14:28,160 --> 00:14:33,360 "I am the king, the representation of God." 216 00:14:33,840 --> 00:14:38,880 Piankhy, the Kushite Dynasty, was now the one in control. 217 00:14:40,800 --> 00:14:43,920 Piankhy was one of six Kushite kings 218 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:47,240 who ruled over Egypt for almost 100 years. 219 00:14:48,320 --> 00:14:53,000 So how did an invading foreign force hold on to power in a kingdom 220 00:14:53,080 --> 00:14:56,520 as steeped in ancient tradition as Egypt? 221 00:14:57,400 --> 00:15:02,400 To find out, Arto needs evidence of how the Kushite kings ruled 222 00:15:02,480 --> 00:15:04,840 once they held the Egyptian throne. 223 00:15:10,560 --> 00:15:13,520 In the Eastern Desert at Wadi-Sikait... 224 00:15:15,720 --> 00:15:18,320 Joan and his team are clearing an entrance 225 00:15:18,400 --> 00:15:20,440 to this vast emerald mine. 226 00:15:21,720 --> 00:15:23,600 This is a really good start. 227 00:15:23,680 --> 00:15:27,520 Analysis of the papyrus fragments they've discovered 228 00:15:27,600 --> 00:15:30,600 shows they are inscribed with Greek letters, 229 00:15:30,680 --> 00:15:33,040 the language of Roman Egypt. 230 00:15:34,560 --> 00:15:39,080 The team has uncovered evidence that the Romans held these mines 231 00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:42,640 sometime after the fall of the last Egyptian pharaoh, 232 00:15:42,720 --> 00:15:44,160 Queen Cleopatra. 233 00:15:45,240 --> 00:15:47,320 This is one of the questions we had in there, 234 00:15:47,400 --> 00:15:51,080 was there some kind of recording system for the emerald extraction there? 235 00:15:51,160 --> 00:15:54,760 Well, it seems that probably yes. So hopefully, we will find more of those. 236 00:15:56,360 --> 00:15:58,240 The mine entrance is clear 237 00:15:58,320 --> 00:16:03,040 and the archaeologists venture inside for the first time this season. 238 00:16:07,120 --> 00:16:08,400 Here we go. 239 00:16:09,880 --> 00:16:11,600 That's so narrow! 240 00:16:13,200 --> 00:16:18,320 They squeeze through holes, some as tight as 15 inches in diameter, 241 00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:20,720 dug by the ancient miners. 242 00:16:22,600 --> 00:16:27,120 In the tunnels, they find small ledges chiseled into the walls. 243 00:16:27,720 --> 00:16:29,800 This is a "lucernario." 244 00:16:29,880 --> 00:16:34,200 Where the Roman miners balanced their oil lamps as they worked. 245 00:16:37,720 --> 00:16:40,720 Joan's team reaches one of the main chambers. 246 00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:44,080 From here, tunnels lead off in all directions. 247 00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:47,400 There's all these veins of mineral, 248 00:16:47,480 --> 00:16:51,720 which are where the guys were actually trying to find the emeralds. 249 00:16:53,840 --> 00:16:57,600 The tunnel walls reveal the working methods of the miners. 250 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:03,120 Scrape marks are left where they used iron chisels and picks 251 00:17:03,200 --> 00:17:06,360 to carve out the rock as they followed the veins. 252 00:17:08,360 --> 00:17:10,800 The miners were digging through schist, 253 00:17:10,880 --> 00:17:13,600 a flaky stone that's easy to split, 254 00:17:13,680 --> 00:17:17,800 so it's inherently weak and prone to collapse. 255 00:17:20,360 --> 00:17:22,080 -David? -Yes? 256 00:17:22,160 --> 00:17:23,960 We'll wait for you, David. 257 00:17:28,720 --> 00:17:30,920 Come up and that's it. 258 00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:38,240 After almost an hour of crawling through the narrow tunnels... 259 00:17:39,400 --> 00:17:41,160 Joan reaches a blockage. 260 00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:42,520 Okay. 261 00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:51,880 I can see the veins that they were following in there. 262 00:17:52,640 --> 00:17:55,640 They dug too much, and the ceiling collapsed. 263 00:17:56,880 --> 00:17:58,960 The tunnel behind the collapse 264 00:17:59,040 --> 00:18:02,200 may have been sealed off for almost 2,000 years. 265 00:18:04,680 --> 00:18:09,800 If this is the case, the team wants to see what the miners may have left behind 266 00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:12,160 if they escaped the collapse. 267 00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:14,600 We have everything untouched inside. 268 00:18:14,680 --> 00:18:19,200 It could be like a kind of photograph of a mining workday inside of the mines. 269 00:18:19,280 --> 00:18:24,000 They've worked over two seasons documenting this vast mine. 270 00:18:24,080 --> 00:18:27,720 This is the first sealed section they have discovered. 271 00:18:27,800 --> 00:18:29,200 Oh! 272 00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:31,000 -David? -Don't worry, don't worry. 273 00:18:31,080 --> 00:18:32,320 Yes, yes. 274 00:18:39,840 --> 00:18:41,760 Hola! 275 00:18:42,120 --> 00:18:43,760 What is there? 276 00:18:43,840 --> 00:18:45,120 Look, Joan. 277 00:18:45,200 --> 00:18:46,840 It's perfect! 278 00:18:47,480 --> 00:18:48,640 Oh, oh! 279 00:18:50,600 --> 00:18:51,720 Whoo! 280 00:18:54,680 --> 00:18:59,440 On the island of Elephantine, at Egypt's border with ancient Nubia... 281 00:19:01,680 --> 00:19:04,160 archaeobotanist Jessica Izak 282 00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:07,840 is removing a mudbrick from the vast perimeter wall. 283 00:19:09,320 --> 00:19:12,560 Her analysis of mudbricks on this island so far 284 00:19:12,640 --> 00:19:17,600 suggests the materials used could indicate the status of a structure. 285 00:19:18,280 --> 00:19:20,880 I'm looking for the organic material in it, 286 00:19:20,960 --> 00:19:22,320 and also the inorganic ones 287 00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:25,080 so I know what kind of a mixture it was. 288 00:19:25,680 --> 00:19:29,400 The recipe changes in mudbricks, depending on the structure. 289 00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:36,320 For smaller buildings like houses, 290 00:19:36,400 --> 00:19:40,360 ancient Egyptians mixed mud from the Nile with sand, 291 00:19:40,440 --> 00:19:42,960 straw, and small pieces of ceramic. 292 00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:49,360 As this mixture dried in the molds, it could shrink and crack... 293 00:19:50,640 --> 00:19:52,240 weakening the bricks. 294 00:19:54,520 --> 00:19:59,480 Bricks made with extra organic material like dung and grass 295 00:19:59,560 --> 00:20:02,760 were more flexible so produced fewer cracks. 296 00:20:04,680 --> 00:20:07,680 These bricks were stronger and more durable, 297 00:20:07,760 --> 00:20:11,280 ideal for military or royal structures. 298 00:20:15,080 --> 00:20:16,560 Thank you. Shukran. 299 00:20:16,640 --> 00:20:19,160 Jessica's analysis of the brick 300 00:20:19,240 --> 00:20:22,640 could tell her more about how the resources on this island 301 00:20:22,720 --> 00:20:25,280 were used in the construction of this wall. 302 00:20:25,840 --> 00:20:27,680 Okay, that's enough. Perfect. 303 00:20:27,760 --> 00:20:30,200 What we do is we just soak it in water. 304 00:20:33,080 --> 00:20:36,800 The island of Elephantine had limited organic resources. 305 00:20:38,040 --> 00:20:39,880 It's founded on granite, 306 00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:43,040 making it hard to grow crops on most of the island. 307 00:20:44,840 --> 00:20:48,560 It's possible that the island's precious organic material 308 00:20:48,640 --> 00:20:52,760 would have been prioritized for larger state-run building projects, 309 00:20:52,840 --> 00:20:54,080 like a city wall. 310 00:20:55,120 --> 00:20:56,280 Okay. 311 00:20:57,160 --> 00:20:59,240 So the mudbrick dissolved now. 312 00:21:01,120 --> 00:21:02,680 They sieve the mud, 313 00:21:02,760 --> 00:21:07,000 separating it into two grades of material, heavy and light. 314 00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:11,880 I'm trying to also figure out how did the landscape look, 315 00:21:11,960 --> 00:21:15,800 because the mudbrick captured like a little time capsule, 316 00:21:15,880 --> 00:21:19,120 all the information from the environment around it. 317 00:21:19,200 --> 00:21:22,200 For me, it's information about how people lived, 318 00:21:22,280 --> 00:21:23,800 how the environment looked, 319 00:21:23,880 --> 00:21:26,520 how they managed and adapt to the environment. 320 00:21:27,720 --> 00:21:30,160 Tomorrow, these bags will be dry 321 00:21:30,240 --> 00:21:34,640 and Jessica can analyze the brick recipe which might give clues 322 00:21:34,720 --> 00:21:38,320 to the purpose of this settlement on the frontier with Nubia. 323 00:21:42,080 --> 00:21:45,240 In the Eastern Desert at Wadi-Sikait... 324 00:21:46,560 --> 00:21:48,800 Whoa! My goodness. 325 00:21:48,880 --> 00:21:50,360 ...Joan and his team 326 00:21:50,440 --> 00:21:53,440 are the first to enter this area of the emerald mine 327 00:21:53,520 --> 00:21:58,160 on the border of Egypt and Ancient Nubia for almost 2,000 years. 328 00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:02,920 Look, Joan, a Roman basket. 329 00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:05,040 Oh! 330 00:22:05,600 --> 00:22:07,960 I told you it must be some basket. 331 00:22:08,040 --> 00:22:10,520 It's perfect. It's totally preserved. 332 00:22:10,600 --> 00:22:12,680 And there are three more in sight. 333 00:22:12,760 --> 00:22:14,160 Three more, yes. 334 00:22:14,240 --> 00:22:16,360 Two of them are in a pretty good state, 335 00:22:16,440 --> 00:22:18,280 but this one is the best one of all. 336 00:22:18,360 --> 00:22:20,160 The best one. Look at that. 337 00:22:20,240 --> 00:22:21,880 The team has uncovered 338 00:22:21,960 --> 00:22:26,280 a cache of stunning handwoven baskets from the Roman period. 339 00:22:27,480 --> 00:22:31,480 There are no skeletons, which suggests the miners escaped, 340 00:22:31,560 --> 00:22:34,800 hurriedly leaving their baskets as the roof collapsed. 341 00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:39,160 Ooh! 342 00:22:42,880 --> 00:22:44,640 Extracting these fragile 343 00:22:44,720 --> 00:22:48,080 2,000-year-old baskets will take great care. 344 00:22:52,960 --> 00:22:55,600 Need to be very careful. 345 00:22:55,680 --> 00:22:57,480 It's very fragile. 346 00:22:59,240 --> 00:23:01,560 But it seems also intact. 347 00:23:02,760 --> 00:23:04,560 Basically, it's perfect. 348 00:23:04,640 --> 00:23:07,600 You can see the handles and everything. 349 00:23:07,680 --> 00:23:09,440 Unbelievable. 350 00:23:10,120 --> 00:23:15,520 This is clear that they were made not to carry heavy things. 351 00:23:16,200 --> 00:23:19,200 You see, thin handles, 352 00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:24,000 just to carry precious things like emeralds, for instance. 353 00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:28,000 Not to carry the debris or stones, of course. 354 00:23:29,320 --> 00:23:33,200 The veins of mineral containing the emerald were too hard 355 00:23:33,280 --> 00:23:35,160 for the miners' hand tools, 356 00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:38,640 so they dug out the softer schist around the veins 357 00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:41,880 to extract the emerald carried in these baskets. 358 00:23:44,160 --> 00:23:47,320 The three baskets are too large and too fragile 359 00:23:47,400 --> 00:23:51,080 to safely maneuver through the narrow tunnels to the surface. 360 00:23:52,720 --> 00:23:56,760 The team has no choice but to carefully document them in situ 361 00:23:56,840 --> 00:24:00,280 and leave them in this safe, dry environment. 362 00:24:05,360 --> 00:24:06,480 Wow! 363 00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:12,200 There are names here. 364 00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:15,440 Amazing. It was clear that they were attaching 365 00:24:15,520 --> 00:24:17,240 these tags to the baskets. 366 00:24:17,920 --> 00:24:22,280 It was the property or the work of Elis... 367 00:24:23,120 --> 00:24:24,240 Elis... 368 00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:27,320 and Phibis. 369 00:24:28,280 --> 00:24:29,720 Even the miners' lunch 370 00:24:29,800 --> 00:24:32,080 has been preserved in these dry conditions. 371 00:24:32,160 --> 00:24:34,640 Remains of onions. 372 00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:38,200 They find the stopper of an amphora 373 00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:39,920 for water or wine, 374 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:42,680 and a harness for carrying the amphora. 375 00:24:43,760 --> 00:24:46,040 This is a photograph of a mining day. 376 00:24:46,120 --> 00:24:47,200 Exactly. 377 00:24:47,600 --> 00:24:50,600 This is what they were using while they were working. 378 00:24:50,680 --> 00:24:52,480 It's everything in there, untouched. 379 00:24:52,560 --> 00:24:55,160 It's like mining Pompeii, 380 00:24:55,240 --> 00:25:01,120 you know, because they left all as was one day 2,000 years ago. 381 00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:04,600 This undisturbed area 382 00:25:04,680 --> 00:25:09,640 of the emerald mine is shedding new light, not only on the ancient working practices, 383 00:25:09,720 --> 00:25:12,480 but also on the people who worked here. 384 00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:16,960 And the incredible finds keep coming. 385 00:25:17,040 --> 00:25:18,240 Whoa! 386 00:25:18,320 --> 00:25:21,520 -What happened? -It's a ring! 387 00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:22,960 Whoa! 388 00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:29,560 In Luxor, 389 00:25:30,360 --> 00:25:35,280 Arto is searching for evidence of how Egypt's new Kushite rulers, 390 00:25:35,360 --> 00:25:40,640 having overthrown the great pharaohs, held on to power for almost 100 years. 391 00:25:42,480 --> 00:25:45,960 He's come to the vast temples of Medinet Habu, 392 00:25:46,040 --> 00:25:48,920 where the Kushite kings might have left clues. 393 00:25:50,240 --> 00:25:53,040 Now you might think that an invading force 394 00:25:53,120 --> 00:25:56,760 would want to erase evidence of past glories. 395 00:25:56,840 --> 00:26:00,520 But that's not what the Kushite kings seemed to have done. 396 00:26:03,880 --> 00:26:09,920 Ramesses III built Medinet Habu around 1175 BCE 397 00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:12,320 as a temple to the god Amun. 398 00:26:16,480 --> 00:26:19,960 A maze of giant halls and spacious courtyards... 399 00:26:22,040 --> 00:26:25,600 it featured monumental gates adorned with scenes 400 00:26:25,680 --> 00:26:27,760 of the king's victories in battle. 401 00:26:31,400 --> 00:26:34,800 Instead of demolishing this monument to the Egyptian god, 402 00:26:34,880 --> 00:26:37,040 the Kushites added to it, 403 00:26:38,040 --> 00:26:39,520 building chapels... 404 00:26:40,720 --> 00:26:43,680 and dedicating them to the wives of Amun. 405 00:26:47,920 --> 00:26:52,760 The god's wives of Amun were not themselves goddesses. 406 00:26:52,840 --> 00:26:57,560 They were real people with real economic power. 407 00:26:58,440 --> 00:27:02,880 Kind of like a female equivalent to the high priest. 408 00:27:04,600 --> 00:27:08,720 The office of Wife of Amun had existed since the beginning 409 00:27:08,800 --> 00:27:10,720 of Egypt's golden age. 410 00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:18,280 But by the time of Kushite rule, their influence had increased to the point 411 00:27:18,360 --> 00:27:21,000 where they were almost on a par with the king. 412 00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:24,920 Look at this one right here. 413 00:27:26,840 --> 00:27:30,520 This is the God's wife of Amun, Amenirdis. 414 00:27:31,160 --> 00:27:35,040 Even though she's depicted as an Egyptian, 415 00:27:35,120 --> 00:27:38,320 we know that she was the sister of King Piankhy. 416 00:27:39,560 --> 00:27:42,800 So she was, in fact, Kushite. 417 00:27:42,880 --> 00:27:49,000 And she was installed into this position by her brother as a power play. 418 00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:54,080 The invading Kushites 419 00:27:54,160 --> 00:27:57,040 did not want to destroy Egyptian traditions. 420 00:27:58,560 --> 00:28:03,160 Instead, they worked inside the structures of Egyptian politics, 421 00:28:03,240 --> 00:28:05,120 seizing power from within. 422 00:28:07,160 --> 00:28:09,320 They didn't want the Egyptians 423 00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:10,800 to see them as conquerors, 424 00:28:10,880 --> 00:28:14,600 but rather as the rightful inheritors of power. 425 00:28:15,880 --> 00:28:18,000 From her position of power, 426 00:28:18,080 --> 00:28:22,520 Amenirdis could wield influence on Piankhy's behalf. 427 00:28:24,880 --> 00:28:26,800 But with Egypt secured, 428 00:28:26,880 --> 00:28:30,480 what did the Kushite kings do with their power? 429 00:28:34,840 --> 00:28:36,840 On the island of Elephantine, 430 00:28:36,920 --> 00:28:40,400 at the ancient border between Egypt and Nubia... 431 00:28:42,680 --> 00:28:43,920 This is fine. 432 00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:46,160 ...the mud from the brick is dry 433 00:28:46,240 --> 00:28:48,520 and ready for Jessica to analyze. 434 00:28:48,600 --> 00:28:51,200 So, here's my treasure. 435 00:28:54,040 --> 00:28:58,440 The lightest sediment is most likely to contain organic material. 436 00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:04,440 We have fragments of straw, grasses, and little seeds. 437 00:29:04,520 --> 00:29:08,040 Chard seeds, also. It's a lot. 438 00:29:08,920 --> 00:29:12,320 This mudbrick was very rich in organic material. 439 00:29:12,400 --> 00:29:15,040 They used the processed chaff from bakeries 440 00:29:15,120 --> 00:29:18,440 and from also... Um, we have dung. 441 00:29:20,560 --> 00:29:23,560 It's clear this was no ordinary mudbrick. 442 00:29:24,440 --> 00:29:28,560 The plant material allowed the brick to flex as it dried, 443 00:29:28,640 --> 00:29:31,360 reducing cracks and strengthening the wall. 444 00:29:34,120 --> 00:29:37,000 The limited organic resources on this island 445 00:29:37,080 --> 00:29:40,040 appear to have been prioritized for this wall, 446 00:29:41,280 --> 00:29:44,560 suggesting it was part of a state-run building program, 447 00:29:45,200 --> 00:29:49,280 perhaps to protect against attacks from Nubia to the south. 448 00:29:51,040 --> 00:29:52,840 What I love about working in Egypt 449 00:29:52,920 --> 00:29:56,480 is that the material is so perfectly preserved 450 00:29:56,560 --> 00:29:58,280 due to the dry conditions. 451 00:29:58,840 --> 00:30:02,680 I sometimes find onion skins, 3,000-years-old onion skins. 452 00:30:02,760 --> 00:30:04,640 But they look like the ones that I threw away 453 00:30:04,720 --> 00:30:05,840 in my apartment two weeks ago. 454 00:30:05,920 --> 00:30:08,240 It's breathtaking, in my opinion. 455 00:30:09,400 --> 00:30:13,480 If this was a military outpost on the frontier with Nubia, 456 00:30:13,560 --> 00:30:16,040 what can the other buildings here tell them 457 00:30:16,120 --> 00:30:19,600 about what went on within the fortress walls? 458 00:30:20,920 --> 00:30:23,440 -Martin! - Yes, I'm coming. 459 00:30:25,080 --> 00:30:26,160 Oh, wow. 460 00:30:32,320 --> 00:30:34,520 On the island of Elephantine, 461 00:30:34,600 --> 00:30:38,520 the ancient gateway on the Nile between Egypt and Nubia... 462 00:30:39,760 --> 00:30:43,120 If we open the ground, we don't know exactly what will come out. 463 00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:46,320 ...the team is now digging down to the bedrock 464 00:30:46,400 --> 00:30:49,200 to investigate the earlier structures here. 465 00:30:50,520 --> 00:30:53,000 This is like the goal of this season, 466 00:30:53,080 --> 00:30:55,080 to find as much as possible 467 00:30:55,160 --> 00:30:58,000 for the first building phases in this area. 468 00:30:59,040 --> 00:31:03,160 Martin's team has uncovered the bases of two grain silos, 469 00:31:03,240 --> 00:31:05,520 built to store barley and emmer, 470 00:31:05,600 --> 00:31:09,040 to make bread and beer for the inhabitants of the town. 471 00:31:09,680 --> 00:31:11,720 The silo, which is already founded 472 00:31:11,800 --> 00:31:14,280 on top of the granite over there, 473 00:31:15,120 --> 00:31:18,680 we can say, okay, this is the first phase of building. 474 00:31:20,200 --> 00:31:22,080 Just wanted you to see what we've found. 475 00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:23,480 What do we have? 476 00:31:24,160 --> 00:31:26,760 Embedded in these earlier structures, 477 00:31:26,840 --> 00:31:29,640 archaeologist Fernanda is finding pottery 478 00:31:29,720 --> 00:31:32,880 that allows the team to date the beginnings of the settlement. 479 00:31:33,880 --> 00:31:36,760 Seems we have a marred clay vessel. 480 00:31:36,840 --> 00:31:38,680 -Storage vessel. - Oh, wow. 481 00:31:40,800 --> 00:31:43,400 The rim and other bits of the vessel 482 00:31:43,480 --> 00:31:46,320 tell us about the form, the type, and thus the dating. 483 00:31:47,080 --> 00:31:52,520 So it is, for us, like the safest way of how to date within a layered. 484 00:31:55,760 --> 00:31:58,680 The earliest structures date to shortly before 485 00:31:58,760 --> 00:32:00,960 the oldest sections of the wall, 486 00:32:01,040 --> 00:32:05,120 confirming the wall was built around a preexisting settlement. 487 00:32:06,040 --> 00:32:09,280 They also uncover the base of an ancient furnace. 488 00:32:10,040 --> 00:32:13,280 At the bottom, there was not so much heat. 489 00:32:13,360 --> 00:32:17,000 It started somewhere from here, 490 00:32:17,080 --> 00:32:20,160 it's getting to orange color. 491 00:32:20,240 --> 00:32:21,840 This here is probably reworking. 492 00:32:21,920 --> 00:32:23,800 You have old copper tools, 493 00:32:23,880 --> 00:32:26,120 and you melt it again to make a new copper tool. 494 00:32:27,720 --> 00:32:30,200 These discoveries seem at odds with the theory 495 00:32:30,280 --> 00:32:31,960 that this was a fortress. 496 00:32:33,200 --> 00:32:37,280 The furnace could not produce heat high enough to forge weapons. 497 00:32:37,880 --> 00:32:40,560 And they can only find two grain silos. 498 00:32:41,200 --> 00:32:43,080 Not enough to feed an army. 499 00:32:46,080 --> 00:32:48,000 Although the thick perimeter wall 500 00:32:48,080 --> 00:32:50,720 appears it might have had a defensive function... 501 00:32:51,520 --> 00:32:53,400 inside the perimeter, 502 00:32:53,480 --> 00:32:57,120 Martin has found no evidence of military activity. 503 00:32:58,560 --> 00:33:01,880 Instead, he thinks this was a place of trade 504 00:33:01,960 --> 00:33:03,840 between Egypt and Nubia. 505 00:33:05,440 --> 00:33:08,720 A lot of objects which came from south of Egypt. 506 00:33:08,800 --> 00:33:13,240 Ivory, ebony wood, pearls, and also ostrich feathers. 507 00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:17,320 They must have been traded here through Elephantine. 508 00:33:19,760 --> 00:33:22,200 The wall and settlement inside 509 00:33:22,280 --> 00:33:25,840 date to the earliest years of a unified Egyptian state. 510 00:33:26,320 --> 00:33:30,640 The fortified wall is likely to have been a royal effort 511 00:33:30,720 --> 00:33:32,960 to distinguish an Egyptian border, 512 00:33:33,560 --> 00:33:37,480 laying claim to the island of Elephantine as a trading post. 513 00:33:37,560 --> 00:33:40,440 Both sides benefited from that exchange. 514 00:33:40,520 --> 00:33:45,600 But the pharaonic culture taking here the island of Elephantine, 515 00:33:45,680 --> 00:33:49,560 in order to have the control of what is going in and what is going out. 516 00:33:50,840 --> 00:33:53,520 Martin's work is adding valuable evidence 517 00:33:53,600 --> 00:33:56,320 to our picture of this ancient border. 518 00:33:58,120 --> 00:34:01,520 Over 2,000 years from the earliest pharaohs 519 00:34:01,600 --> 00:34:03,960 until the reign of the Kushite kings, 520 00:34:04,040 --> 00:34:09,160 the Egyptians dominated the Nubians, using diplomacy and trade 521 00:34:09,240 --> 00:34:12,440 to exert control over their southern neighbors. 522 00:34:18,440 --> 00:34:20,160 In Wadi-Sikait, 523 00:34:20,240 --> 00:34:23,200 150 feet below the Eastern Desert... 524 00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:26,600 I can't believe it! 525 00:34:26,680 --> 00:34:27,880 It's a ring! 526 00:34:27,960 --> 00:34:29,520 - A ring? - No way. 527 00:34:29,600 --> 00:34:31,200 No way. You are kidding. 528 00:34:31,280 --> 00:34:33,440 The ring is here, it's here. 529 00:34:33,520 --> 00:34:35,000 Whoa, a ring! 530 00:34:35,080 --> 00:34:37,040 Be careful, there's a chain attached. 531 00:34:37,120 --> 00:34:38,280 OK. 532 00:34:38,360 --> 00:34:40,120 Look at that. Unbelievable. 533 00:34:45,480 --> 00:34:48,680 Joan's team has found a stunning silver ring 534 00:34:48,760 --> 00:34:51,880 in this untouched area of the emerald mine. 535 00:34:51,960 --> 00:34:54,680 It's amazing. Never found anything like that. 536 00:34:55,880 --> 00:34:57,840 This is typical for miners 537 00:34:57,920 --> 00:34:59,560 to work with these tools. 538 00:34:59,640 --> 00:35:05,440 With a ring, it's dangerous. So it was hanging on a tiny rope, you see. 539 00:35:05,520 --> 00:35:08,320 The ring was clearly precious to the miner, 540 00:35:08,400 --> 00:35:12,360 unable to stop to find it as they escaped the collapsing tunnel. 541 00:35:13,160 --> 00:35:15,480 There is like an inscription. 542 00:35:16,280 --> 00:35:19,000 To understand the significance of this find, 543 00:35:19,080 --> 00:35:22,840 Joan will make a close analysis of the objects back at camp. 544 00:35:23,680 --> 00:35:26,280 It's the most amazing find we've made in a mine so far. 545 00:35:26,360 --> 00:35:29,160 All these things together in the same spot, 546 00:35:29,240 --> 00:35:31,920 because probably they were running away and leaving everything. 547 00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:36,240 This opens a whole new prospective in this area, of course. 548 00:35:36,320 --> 00:35:37,600 Unbelievable. 549 00:35:39,160 --> 00:35:40,720 In just one morning, 550 00:35:40,800 --> 00:35:44,080 Joan and his team have made their greatest discovery 551 00:35:44,160 --> 00:35:47,120 in the seven years they have been exploring these mines. 552 00:35:49,160 --> 00:35:52,000 A mining moment, frozen in time. 553 00:35:52,680 --> 00:35:54,440 The increasing in the knowledge 554 00:35:54,520 --> 00:35:56,400 of how these people work and live in there, 555 00:35:56,480 --> 00:35:57,600 it's completely astonishing. 556 00:35:57,680 --> 00:36:00,360 So, yeah, for sure we will dedicate the rest of the season 557 00:36:00,440 --> 00:36:02,440 just in this part of the mine, for sure. 558 00:36:06,640 --> 00:36:09,520 I have enjoyed so much. 559 00:36:09,600 --> 00:36:10,840 That was hard. 560 00:36:12,400 --> 00:36:14,240 In the team's research tent, 561 00:36:14,720 --> 00:36:18,680 Joan and his wife Delia are logging and analyzing 562 00:36:18,760 --> 00:36:21,400 the mining treasure trove they have uncovered. 563 00:36:21,920 --> 00:36:24,680 Okay, so this is an amazing piece. 564 00:36:24,760 --> 00:36:26,480 It is a silver ring. 565 00:36:26,560 --> 00:36:29,080 It was found just, uh, close to the baskets. 566 00:36:29,160 --> 00:36:30,800 And at some point, he lose it. 567 00:36:30,880 --> 00:36:34,000 Uh, and, of course, probably this was at this moment 568 00:36:34,080 --> 00:36:36,160 where the ceiling collapsed, 569 00:36:36,240 --> 00:36:39,880 and this guy had to run out from-- For his life. 570 00:36:39,960 --> 00:36:42,800 And he left the ring in there and never came back. 571 00:36:43,400 --> 00:36:46,240 The detail on the ring is exquisite. 572 00:36:46,320 --> 00:36:48,880 At the beginning, we thought it was some kind of horseman, 573 00:36:48,960 --> 00:36:51,280 but now that it's cleaner, we think it's probably a lion. 574 00:36:51,360 --> 00:36:54,440 A lion eating someone or some animal. 575 00:36:54,520 --> 00:36:57,600 And this is interesting because it's not a typical ring 576 00:36:57,680 --> 00:36:59,880 that you should expect on a guy working on a mine. 577 00:36:59,960 --> 00:37:04,560 It's a silver ring. It's a good ring. So it gives some ideas about that. 578 00:37:04,640 --> 00:37:07,600 Maybe another general idea of poor people as slaves 579 00:37:07,680 --> 00:37:09,760 working in the mines, and maybe it's not the case. 580 00:37:12,000 --> 00:37:13,360 Joan and Delia 581 00:37:13,440 --> 00:37:16,760 hope the ceramic name tags found with the baskets 582 00:37:16,840 --> 00:37:20,240 can tell them more about the individual miners. 583 00:37:20,320 --> 00:37:22,200 They have written names on them. 584 00:37:22,280 --> 00:37:26,480 So we think that those were kind of tags attached to the basket 585 00:37:26,560 --> 00:37:29,960 to know who was the person that was extracting these emeralds 586 00:37:30,040 --> 00:37:31,680 and taking them out. 587 00:37:31,760 --> 00:37:33,120 And this is extremely interesting 588 00:37:33,200 --> 00:37:36,520 because it is showing that it was a strict register 589 00:37:36,600 --> 00:37:38,800 of all the work that they were doing inside. 590 00:37:38,880 --> 00:37:42,360 So they can get paid in relation with this amount of emeralds. 591 00:37:43,680 --> 00:37:45,760 The discovery of these name tags 592 00:37:45,840 --> 00:37:49,160 challenges modern views of this type of work. 593 00:37:50,160 --> 00:37:53,480 We have here Phibis, and these two are from Elis. 594 00:37:53,560 --> 00:37:55,760 We think that maybe this could be a female. 595 00:38:02,440 --> 00:38:05,880 In the Eastern Desert at Wadi-Sikait, 596 00:38:05,960 --> 00:38:10,720 these name tags suggest women once worked in the emerald mines here. 597 00:38:11,560 --> 00:38:14,080 If we can confirm that, that would be extremely interesting 598 00:38:14,160 --> 00:38:17,040 because it would help to break another of these typical ideas 599 00:38:17,120 --> 00:38:20,320 about the people working in the mines, that they could only be men. 600 00:38:21,040 --> 00:38:25,320 Until today's discovery, it was generally assumed only men 601 00:38:25,400 --> 00:38:28,160 braved the harsh conditions in these emerald mines. 602 00:38:29,560 --> 00:38:35,400 But it looks like women also came here to get their share of the riches. 603 00:38:37,360 --> 00:38:39,000 It's a remarkable find. 604 00:38:41,720 --> 00:38:44,200 We could show that, in fact, 605 00:38:44,280 --> 00:38:46,400 there were female working inside of the mines. 606 00:38:47,800 --> 00:38:51,840 Joan thinks these finds date to after the last great pharaoh, 607 00:38:51,920 --> 00:38:55,480 Queen Cleopatra, when the Romans ruled Egypt. 608 00:38:57,080 --> 00:38:58,520 Now, he wants to find out 609 00:38:58,600 --> 00:39:02,280 if the Nubians ever challenged the mighty Roman Empire 610 00:39:02,360 --> 00:39:04,240 for these valuable borderlands. 611 00:39:07,280 --> 00:39:09,480 So he's come to the Temple of Sikait, 612 00:39:09,560 --> 00:39:14,280 a huge complex of chapels and shrines carved into the rock. 613 00:39:16,720 --> 00:39:19,240 It was important for them to have the protection of the gods, 614 00:39:19,320 --> 00:39:21,640 so they created his building. 615 00:39:21,720 --> 00:39:23,880 One of the most impressive religious structures 616 00:39:23,960 --> 00:39:25,680 probably in all the Eastern Desert. 617 00:39:26,320 --> 00:39:28,760 We have materials coming from the Egyptian tradition, 618 00:39:28,840 --> 00:39:30,800 we have materials from the Greco-Roman tradition, 619 00:39:30,880 --> 00:39:33,720 and we have also materials from these Nubian Blemmyian tradition, 620 00:39:33,800 --> 00:39:36,240 which means that these Blemmyes arrived here, 621 00:39:36,320 --> 00:39:40,200 and they reused this temple again as a religious base. 622 00:39:41,440 --> 00:39:46,080 The evidence here shows it was a Nubian tribe called the Blemmys 623 00:39:46,160 --> 00:39:48,440 who finally conquered this region 624 00:39:48,520 --> 00:39:51,280 after a power struggle lasting hundreds of years. 625 00:39:58,040 --> 00:40:01,480 The Blemmys were nomads from Lower Nubia 626 00:40:01,560 --> 00:40:06,280 who took over the emerald mines from the Romans around 400 CE. 627 00:40:08,520 --> 00:40:11,600 While the Romans had greatly expanded the mines, 628 00:40:11,680 --> 00:40:15,840 the Blemmys continued to mine emeralds from the existing tunnels. 629 00:40:17,200 --> 00:40:20,200 They wanted to control probably the economic resources 630 00:40:20,280 --> 00:40:21,960 of the area, which were huge. 631 00:40:22,040 --> 00:40:24,480 Probably still with an important relationship 632 00:40:24,560 --> 00:40:26,160 of trading with Romans for sure. 633 00:40:26,240 --> 00:40:29,160 But being, let's say, the bosses in the area. 634 00:40:30,760 --> 00:40:34,720 The Blemmys patiently waited until the Roman Empire weakened 635 00:40:34,800 --> 00:40:37,720 before claiming the riches of the Eastern Desert. 636 00:40:39,400 --> 00:40:43,920 Just as a thousand years earlier, their Nubian cousins, the Kushites, 637 00:40:44,000 --> 00:40:48,000 had taken on the Egyptian Empire and won the throne. 638 00:40:51,880 --> 00:40:53,360 Back in Luxor... 639 00:40:55,080 --> 00:40:59,720 Arto has returned to Karnak Temple in his search for evidence 640 00:40:59,800 --> 00:41:03,680 of the Nubian Kushite kings' approach to ruling Egypt. 641 00:41:06,160 --> 00:41:10,720 Deep in the heart of the temple complex, he finds an immense column. 642 00:41:11,840 --> 00:41:18,120 This here is both beautiful and awe-inspiring in equal measure. 643 00:41:19,520 --> 00:41:26,360 This gigantic column of stone is shaped like a graceful papyrus plant. 644 00:41:26,440 --> 00:41:33,280 It was built by King Taharqa, and I can see his cartouche right there. 645 00:41:33,360 --> 00:41:37,680 Taharqa was the fourth Kushite king to rule Egypt. 646 00:41:37,760 --> 00:41:39,520 By building this here, 647 00:41:39,600 --> 00:41:43,760 Taharqa was showing his reverence to Egyptian gods. 648 00:41:43,840 --> 00:41:47,200 So clearly, the Kushite kings were very big 649 00:41:47,280 --> 00:41:50,360 on respecting Ancient Egyptian religion. 650 00:41:52,320 --> 00:41:54,240 During Taharqa's reign, 651 00:41:54,320 --> 00:41:57,880 Karnak was the most sacred temple complex in Egypt. 652 00:41:58,560 --> 00:42:01,480 And it's here that he decided to make his mark. 653 00:42:03,040 --> 00:42:06,240 The Kushite king erected two rows of columns 654 00:42:06,320 --> 00:42:11,760 shaped like papyrus plants, symbolizing youth, life, and vigor. 655 00:42:12,440 --> 00:42:16,240 He paved the area with luxurious rose-colored granite. 656 00:42:17,160 --> 00:42:20,840 In the center, he placed a polished calcite shrine, 657 00:42:21,480 --> 00:42:24,000 perhaps to support the boat of Amun... 658 00:42:24,880 --> 00:42:28,200 part of an Ancient Egyptian religious ceremony. 659 00:42:28,920 --> 00:42:33,280 This was quite possibly all part of the Kushite's grand plan. 660 00:42:37,040 --> 00:42:41,760 Egypt was in crisis for most of the 300 years 661 00:42:41,840 --> 00:42:43,920 since the collapse of the New Kingdom. 662 00:42:44,480 --> 00:42:49,080 So when the Kushite kings came in, they did not see themselves as conquerors, 663 00:42:49,160 --> 00:42:51,440 but restorers. 664 00:42:52,560 --> 00:42:57,040 Rather than impose Nubian culture on their Egyptian subjects, 665 00:42:57,120 --> 00:43:01,880 the Kushites chose instead to reboot Egyptian traditions, 666 00:43:01,960 --> 00:43:04,640 breathing new life into the kingdom. 667 00:43:05,960 --> 00:43:10,200 The Nubians have come to adopt Ancient Egyptian theology. 668 00:43:10,280 --> 00:43:14,280 They had begun to worship Ancient Egyptian deities. 669 00:43:14,760 --> 00:43:16,920 It was a renaissance. 670 00:43:18,040 --> 00:43:19,840 One question remains. 671 00:43:19,920 --> 00:43:22,920 If the Kushites brought back stability and tradition 672 00:43:23,000 --> 00:43:24,640 to Ancient Egypt, 673 00:43:24,720 --> 00:43:28,480 why have they been so overlooked by historians? 674 00:43:29,200 --> 00:43:34,240 There was this prejudice by early archaeologists. 675 00:43:34,320 --> 00:43:38,080 How could these black pharaohs from the south of Egypt, 676 00:43:38,160 --> 00:43:41,760 how could they possibly match the Ancient Egyptians? 677 00:43:41,840 --> 00:43:43,560 But here's the thing. 678 00:43:43,640 --> 00:43:47,400 The more that people have studied Nubian culture, 679 00:43:47,480 --> 00:43:49,920 the more of an appreciation 680 00:43:50,000 --> 00:43:53,360 has evolved for these great kings. 681 00:43:54,200 --> 00:43:58,760 So maybe it is time to give them a bit more credit.