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Sudan's Nile Valley is home to
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some of the Ancient World's
most magnificent pyramids.
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We have here
the biggest concentration
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of pyramids in the world.
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Early explorers assumed
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they were the work of Sudan's
more famous neighbours,
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the Egyptians.
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The archaeologists did not know
anything about
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Nubia and Sudan in that time.
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But these are the monumental relics
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of an entirely separate
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African civilisation -
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the empire of Kush.
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Their kings would conquer
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and rule Egypt for almost a century.
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But many of Kush's secrets
remain buried
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in the desert sand.
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What we know now about the ancient
history of Sudan is less than 50%.
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Working closely with the Sudanese
authorities,
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archaeologists from
all over the world
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are only now piecing together
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the story of Kush.
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This is the moment of discovery
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that I've been waiting for
all these years.
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Our cameras were given
a rare chance to follow
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this cutting-edge archaeology.
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I've dived down
a lot of unusual sites,
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nothing compares
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to realising that I'm literally
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in the burial chambers of a pyramid!
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Seen as never before,
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these astonishing ancient ruins
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hold the key to unlocking
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a lost empire.
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This site could be an important crux
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in our understanding of
the entire Ancient World.
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For centuries, Egypt was hailed as
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Africa's only truly great
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civilisation - partly because
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the Ancient Egyptians themselves
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told us it was so.
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They depicted
their southern neighbour
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as a primitive backwater,
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calling it "vile Kush".
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But if that were true,
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how were the kings of Kush
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able to conquer Egypt
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and rule the largest empire
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the Nile Valley has ever seen?
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EXPLOSIONS
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To find the answers, archaeologists
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must brave the civil war
and political turmoil
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that have plagued Sudan for decades.
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EXPLOSIONS
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While our cameras were filming
elsewhere in Sudan,
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riots in Khartoum led to the deaths
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of protesters and the military
overthrow of the President.
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Against this backdrop, more than 30
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international teams of
archaeologists
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are collaborating with Sudan's
Department of Antiquities
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to piece together 3,000 years of
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untold history.
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Being Manager of Antiquities
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in this region, every day,
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I receive notes from local people
about new sites and, every day,
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I see new sites, waiting for
archaeologists to discover.
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Located south of Egypt, Kush was
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a vast region of the Nile Valley,
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often referred to by its
Greek name of Nubia.
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The centre of Kushite power,
which gave rise to
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the Black Pharaohs,
was its capital city of Napata.
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Pearce Paul Creasman and his team
from the University of Arizona,
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have come to the Napata region
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on an extraordinary quest.
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Let's go. Let's get set up.
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Their work has brought them to Nuri,
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one of the two royal cemeteries
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of this ancient capital.
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I picked this site because I think
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from an archaeological
point of view,
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the opportunity here is endless.
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Thank you for today. Thank you.
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The team is preparing to enter
the burial chambers
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beneath this 2,300-year-old pyramid,
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the final resting place of
the last of the Napatan kings.
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This pyramid probably dates
to around 320 or 310 BC.
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It belongs to
the Napatan king Nastasen -
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the last of the line of these folks
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who were buried here.
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What little is known about
King Nastasen
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and the site at Nuri comes largely
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from work done a century ago
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by George Andrew Reisner,
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a Harvard professor
and early-20th-century explorer.
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He was an archaeologist,
he was the guy who excavated
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most of the stuff at
the pyramids at Giza.
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And he came down here for
a couple of months a year,
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between 1917 and 1920, and excavated
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the pyramids down here.
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Many of the tombs were robbed
soon after the royal burial,
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but what remained in
George Reisner's day
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was still a historical
treasure trove.
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What he found in every one of
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these individual pyramids would be
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the greatest archaeological find of
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the last ten years, today,
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and he found it 25 times.
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And he did a job roughly equivalent
to the standard of his time -
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go in, find all the pretty
shiny things and take 'em home.
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He published virtually nothing,
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so we know virtually nothing
about this site.
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The left one is good.
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Yours needs to pull some more slack.
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Yeah. Almost there. OK.
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Pearce Paul believes
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that at Nastasen's pyramid,
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the last of the three
burial chambers,
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where the King's body may still lie,
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was left intact by Reisner.
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He excavated the first chamber
of three here. The second chamber
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had a collapse.
So, he was too concerned
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and stopped.
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Probably in 2,300 years,
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there've been a total of two people
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in this tomb before us.
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Reisner sent one workman into
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the far corner of the third chamber,
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and that fella came out with
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a couple of little statues,
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and was petrified,
and no-one wanted to go back in.
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00:06:55,460 --> 00:06:58,620
Other than Nastasen himself,
we're it.
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However, there's
an equally unusual catch.
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The entire burial site at Nuri
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lies less than a mile
from the River Nile.
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When these tombs were built,
the water table below ground
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was considerably lower.
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Sometime in the last 2,500 years,
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it seems that the water level
has risen about four or five metres.
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It's substantial.
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The entire tomb is underwater.
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The only way to get inside now
is to use diving equipment.
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Gloves, check. Mask, check.
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Accompanying Pearce Paul on this
ground-breaking pyramid dive
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will be National Geographic
journalist Kristin Romey.
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To be able to not only
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enter a tomb that really
hasn't been messed with
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for 2,500 years, but to dive in it,
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it's just an incredible experience.
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It seems too absurd to be true,
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but it is.
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It's incredible.
We come out here every day and say,
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is this really happening?
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This is pretty exciting.
Underwater archaeology's
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been around for 50 or 60 years,
but as far as I know,
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no-one's ever dived a tomb anywhere
in the world, and no-one's certainly
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ever dived a pyramid.
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Looks like it's going to be
a good time.
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But diving an ancient monument
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comes with a significant
degree of risk.
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In 1919, when Reisner was excavating
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one of these,
one of the walls fell in
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and killed five workmen.
So, don't touch the walls, please.
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Hopefully, we can do the work
safely enough,
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to not put anybody at risk.
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I'd really like to meet Nastasen.
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Even as he begins
this extraordinary dive,
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Pearce Paul is aware that royal
tombs can only tell us so much.
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While it's nice to learn about
the kings themselves,
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because they help us anchor history,
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we're really hoping we can learn
about the people,
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because then we can understand
more about the culture as a whole.
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To find out more about the ordinary
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Kushite people,
experts need to find and study
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the settlements
where they once lived.
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Heading up a team from
the University of Michigan,
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Geoff Emberling has made this
his personal mission.
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HE SPEAKS LOCAL DIALECT
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Archaeology in the Nile Valley
has a long history of focusing on
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the pyramid burials of the kings
and queens, the big temples,
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but attention to the way that
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ordinary people lived,
how they fed themselves,
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what kind of food they made
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and how they travelled round the
landscape, those kinds of questions
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have always been really interesting
to me personally.
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So, when I first came to work
in Sudan in 2006,
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I wanted to look for settlements.
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Since Napata was the power base
of the Black Pharaohs,
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finding the homes of its
ordinary citizens
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would provide a wealth of
new information.
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Incredibly, however,
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no-one knows the exact location of
this major population centre.
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We knew that there was
this monumental royal
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pyramid burial ground of the
Kings and Queens of Kush,
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and there should be
a royal city somewhere.
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One tantalising clue came from
the work of George Reisner
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who, a century earlier, had explored
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the nearby modern village
of El-Kurru.
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I knew from the notebook that he
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had found elements of a settlement
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all over the village.
There was a big city wall,
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there was another fortification
wall, a couple of temples.
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My challenge was, in his notebooks,
he didn't mention
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where any of these things were.
So, when I arrived here,
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my first job - in looking for
this ancient settlement -
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was to try to find those remains.
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We thought, OK, we'll look at
satellite images and we'll use
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multispectral analysis
to try to pull out
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where the ancient remains are.
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None of that worked.
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HE SPEAKS LOCAL DIALECT
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What worked was, as it turned out,
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asking the local people!
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By tapping into local knowledge,
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Geoff was able to locate
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a 100 metre-section of
fortified wall
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mentioned in Reisner's notebook.
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Believing this could be
the first evidence of
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the long-lost Napatan city,
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Geoff's team began to dig.
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We dug right down onto
a big stone wall
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and it looked exactly like
Napatan-period stonework.
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This looked like a Napatan wall.
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We were really excited.
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But no matter how deep they went,
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the pottery fragments they found
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came from a much later
Christian period.
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We realised that we had dug below
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the bottom of the wall.
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The pottery was
still Christian.
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And then we hit bedrock!
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HE LAUGHS
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So, we had this kind of puzzle,
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that the wall looked like
it was Napatan but, actually,
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all the material
that we were excavating
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was 1,500 years later.
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So, what happened?
We finally, finally worked it out.
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We found one piece of stone
that was, er,
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had a clean edge
that was slanted, like this.
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It was part of a pyramid.
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The stones had come from
the pyramids of Napata's
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other royal cemetery, at El-Kurru -
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part of a medieval recycling scheme.
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The reason why there's only one big
pyramid left at El-Kurru
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is that the Christian population
stripped them all, for use in
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this construction project.
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00:13:05,020 --> 00:13:06,740
Geoff's search for
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00:13:06,740 --> 00:13:09,780
the Napatan city which supported
the Kushite Black Pharaohs
248
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would have to continue elsewhere.
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As an archaeologist, you never know
250
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what you're going to find and, yes,
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this was not what we were
looking for. Interesting,
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but it was not
the end of our search.
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In what is today Sudan,
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the birthplace of the lost
African civilisation of Kush
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lies not at Napata,
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but more than 100 miles north-west
and 2,000 years earlier.
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This is Kerma.
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00:13:56,510 --> 00:14:00,830
Capital city of sub-Saharan
Africa's first major kingdom.
259
00:14:02,230 --> 00:14:06,070
Dr Elghazafi Yousif
spent six seasons here,
260
00:14:06,070 --> 00:14:08,550
helping to excavate
this remarkable site.
261
00:14:11,510 --> 00:14:16,310
I'm very lucky, because
I start my fieldwork in Kerma,
262
00:14:16,310 --> 00:14:21,190
one of the most important sites
that represent all the history
263
00:14:21,190 --> 00:14:23,910
of not only Sudan but also Africa.
264
00:14:26,110 --> 00:14:31,230
The site, it still contains many
archaeological sites and evidence
265
00:14:31,230 --> 00:14:34,550
that showing the date of Kerma.
266
00:14:34,550 --> 00:14:37,910
This is dated to
2500 before Christ.
267
00:14:42,110 --> 00:14:45,270
Kerma owes its discovery
to a lifetime of work
268
00:14:45,270 --> 00:14:48,270
by Swiss archaeologist
Charles Bonnet,
269
00:14:48,270 --> 00:14:51,510
who began excavation there in 1973.
270
00:14:57,710 --> 00:15:02,950
And step by step we understood
that it was a huge town all around,
271
00:15:02,950 --> 00:15:07,950
and we began to dig
systematically all the town.
272
00:15:11,270 --> 00:15:17,550
He discovered this huge city,
and oldest town in Africa.
273
00:15:19,910 --> 00:15:22,590
This is the origin
of Kush civilisation.
274
00:15:28,870 --> 00:15:34,870
What Charles discovered was a highly
sophisticated metropolis of temples,
275
00:15:34,870 --> 00:15:40,350
royal palaces, military
fortifications, and workshops,
276
00:15:40,350 --> 00:15:43,030
far more advanced than
anyone then imagined
277
00:15:43,030 --> 00:15:45,670
the ancient Nubians were capable of.
278
00:15:50,110 --> 00:15:56,230
I was astonished to have
so sophisticated organisation.
279
00:15:56,230 --> 00:15:58,790
We understood that
it was a complex state.
280
00:16:00,710 --> 00:16:05,110
As a startling example of
Sudan's many lost treasures,
281
00:16:05,110 --> 00:16:10,390
in 2003, Charles discovered
these astonishing granite statues
282
00:16:10,390 --> 00:16:13,110
buried in a ditch near Kerma,
283
00:16:13,110 --> 00:16:18,030
depicting five Cushite kings,
including two of the Black Pharaohs.
284
00:16:18,030 --> 00:16:21,270
These statues
are over 2,000 years old,
285
00:16:21,270 --> 00:16:23,990
and are now on display at Kerma.
286
00:16:27,830 --> 00:16:32,350
At the centre of the city
lies this huge mud-brick building
287
00:16:32,350 --> 00:16:33,870
called the Western Deffufa.
288
00:16:35,390 --> 00:16:42,270
Once the spiritual heart of Kerma,
it is at least 4,500 years old -
289
00:16:42,270 --> 00:16:45,910
one of the oldest monumental
constructions in Africa.
290
00:16:48,670 --> 00:16:52,470
It was first excavated by American
archaeologist George Reisner
291
00:16:52,470 --> 00:16:53,870
over a century ago.
292
00:16:56,390 --> 00:17:01,070
This is the remains of
the work of George Reisner.
293
00:17:03,590 --> 00:17:06,310
He had hundreds of workers,
294
00:17:06,310 --> 00:17:10,550
so they cleaned the deffufa itself
very quickly.
295
00:17:15,910 --> 00:17:19,110
Despite Reisner's
frenzied excavation,
296
00:17:19,110 --> 00:17:21,870
he still failed - or refused -
297
00:17:21,870 --> 00:17:24,550
to understand
the deffufa's significance
298
00:17:24,550 --> 00:17:27,150
as a highly important
Cushite monument.
299
00:17:30,110 --> 00:17:33,590
He decides that this monument
was Egyptian,
300
00:17:33,590 --> 00:17:36,390
because so big and so impressive.
301
00:17:36,390 --> 00:17:38,750
Well, Reisner was wrong.
302
00:17:38,750 --> 00:17:43,510
Reflecting blatantly racist,
offensive views common at the time,
303
00:17:43,510 --> 00:17:46,790
in 1918, Reisner wrote...
304
00:17:46,790 --> 00:17:51,470
The native negroid race
had never developed either its trade
305
00:17:51,470 --> 00:17:54,110
or any industry worthy of mention,
306
00:17:54,110 --> 00:17:57,910
and owed their cultural position
to the Egyptian immigrants
307
00:17:57,910 --> 00:18:00,950
and to the imported
Egyptian civilisation.
308
00:18:03,310 --> 00:18:07,710
Reisner, he's Egyptologist,
he studied Egypt civilisation,
309
00:18:07,710 --> 00:18:12,910
but he didn't know that there is
another kingdom south of Egypt.
310
00:18:15,270 --> 00:18:18,030
Reisner simply refused to believe
that Black Africans
311
00:18:18,030 --> 00:18:21,070
could have built
such a sophisticated empire,
312
00:18:21,070 --> 00:18:24,710
spanning 1,000km
along the Nile Valley.
313
00:18:29,830 --> 00:18:33,070
Kerma's wealth came from
harnessing the River Nile
314
00:18:33,070 --> 00:18:35,430
as an ancient superhighway
315
00:18:35,430 --> 00:18:37,630
to trade high-value goods
with Egypt.
316
00:18:39,990 --> 00:18:42,630
But like many
closely matched neighbours,
317
00:18:42,630 --> 00:18:47,030
these two superpowers also
harboured a deep mutual distrust.
318
00:18:48,990 --> 00:18:53,430
In the north-eastern corner,
there is one of the military camp
319
00:18:53,430 --> 00:18:55,790
surrounding by a big wall.
320
00:18:55,790 --> 00:18:59,750
This wall is towards the Nile,
and towards Egypt,
321
00:18:59,750 --> 00:19:04,310
to protect the city
from the Egyptians.
322
00:19:08,990 --> 00:19:13,550
Around 1500 BC,
during Egypt's 18th dynasty,
323
00:19:13,550 --> 00:19:16,550
tension between the two empires
reached its peak.
324
00:19:19,790 --> 00:19:23,430
In an attack led by
Pharaoh Thutmose I,
325
00:19:23,430 --> 00:19:26,030
the Royal Kingdom of Kerma
was destroyed
326
00:19:26,030 --> 00:19:29,950
and its magnificent capital city
burned to the ground.
327
00:19:31,910 --> 00:19:35,230
Thutmose destroyed all the cities.
328
00:19:35,230 --> 00:19:40,070
He burned the palaces and the
deffufa and the rounded temple.
329
00:19:40,070 --> 00:19:43,990
We can see clearly the mark
of this firing,
330
00:19:43,990 --> 00:19:46,590
it still exists in
the building itself.
331
00:19:47,670 --> 00:19:49,710
For the next 500 years,
332
00:19:49,710 --> 00:19:53,150
Kush would be ruled by
the new Kingdom of Egypt.
333
00:20:01,470 --> 00:20:04,750
Back at Napata's royal pyramids,
Pearce Paul Creasman
334
00:20:04,750 --> 00:20:06,790
and his diving partner, Kristin,
335
00:20:06,790 --> 00:20:09,990
are about to enter King Nastasen's
burial chambers,
336
00:20:09,990 --> 00:20:14,310
now submerged under
the water table of the river Nile.
337
00:20:14,310 --> 00:20:16,950
Underwater archaeology, in Sudan,
338
00:20:16,950 --> 00:20:19,150
this is the first time
it's been attempted.
339
00:20:20,910 --> 00:20:23,550
As they prepare to enter
the first chamber,
340
00:20:23,550 --> 00:20:27,950
the small doorway serves
as a reminder of the dangers.
341
00:20:27,950 --> 00:20:30,310
Overnight, a little bit of the door
collapsed.
342
00:20:30,310 --> 00:20:33,470
So it required some protective
efforts to just make sure
343
00:20:33,470 --> 00:20:36,430
our way in and out
is always our way in and out.
344
00:20:36,430 --> 00:20:38,270
Because if something collapses,
345
00:20:38,270 --> 00:20:40,950
there's only two people with a way
to get us out, and that's us.
346
00:20:46,390 --> 00:20:49,190
Cut into the solid rock
beneath the pyramid
347
00:20:49,190 --> 00:20:51,070
lie three burial chambers.
348
00:20:52,630 --> 00:20:55,670
The first, just beyond
the submerged doorway,
349
00:20:55,670 --> 00:20:58,630
was explored by George Reisner
a century ago.
350
00:21:04,670 --> 00:21:07,110
Right from the moment
you hit the water, it's cold,
351
00:21:07,110 --> 00:21:09,470
and you go through
the little entrance way,
352
00:21:09,470 --> 00:21:11,830
and it's essentially
a chute you get shot through,
353
00:21:11,830 --> 00:21:13,190
into the first chamber.
354
00:21:20,910 --> 00:21:22,710
It was just awe-inspiring.
355
00:21:24,710 --> 00:21:29,510
The first chamber has a vaulted
ceiling - you know you're in a tomb.
356
00:21:32,750 --> 00:21:36,150
And then you peer off down into
the tomb and shine your lights
357
00:21:36,150 --> 00:21:38,430
and see exactly what
Reisner described.
358
00:21:44,110 --> 00:21:46,870
The second chamber
is where Reisner had observed
359
00:21:46,870 --> 00:21:48,990
a huge ceiling collapse,
360
00:21:48,990 --> 00:21:51,990
which happened sometime in
the previous 2,000 years.
361
00:21:57,510 --> 00:22:00,950
It was a five-metre, or 15-foot
collapse of material
362
00:22:00,950 --> 00:22:03,310
down on top of the chamber
and you walk into that
363
00:22:03,310 --> 00:22:05,630
and you come out of the water
up on a mound.
364
00:22:07,230 --> 00:22:10,790
You get into the second chamber
that opens up like a big cathedral
365
00:22:10,790 --> 00:22:13,990
and at least there, you can
kind of stand up and take a breath
366
00:22:13,990 --> 00:22:15,710
and get your bearings a little bit.
367
00:22:19,270 --> 00:22:22,590
Coming up out of the water
onto a mound was surreal.
368
00:22:22,590 --> 00:22:23,990
It's exciting.
369
00:22:25,710 --> 00:22:27,710
And then you see
that tiny black entrance
370
00:22:27,710 --> 00:22:30,190
to the third chamber
in front of you.
371
00:22:33,070 --> 00:22:36,310
Looking in the third chamber,
we're looking into the unknown.
372
00:22:36,310 --> 00:22:39,670
The third chamber's a black hole -
we know nothing about it.
373
00:22:39,670 --> 00:22:42,590
We stood there
and considered the possibilities
374
00:22:42,590 --> 00:22:45,750
of what might be on the other side
of the door under the water.
375
00:22:55,830 --> 00:22:58,830
As keen as the team is
to reach the third chamber,
376
00:22:58,830 --> 00:23:01,390
where King Nastasen's body
may still lie,
377
00:23:01,390 --> 00:23:03,150
concern for their own safety
378
00:23:03,150 --> 00:23:06,350
means that this time,
they've stopped short.
379
00:23:08,510 --> 00:23:11,390
So we didn't go into
the third chamber immediately.
380
00:23:11,390 --> 00:23:13,230
We had to set up a guide line.
381
00:23:13,230 --> 00:23:17,550
With lights that are always active,
it's very easy to get disoriented.
382
00:23:17,550 --> 00:23:19,750
It's basically an underwater cave.
383
00:23:28,150 --> 00:23:29,550
There is no light,
384
00:23:29,550 --> 00:23:31,910
there's no air
except what you bring in,
385
00:23:31,910 --> 00:23:34,350
or what little bit
might've been left in an air pocket,
386
00:23:34,350 --> 00:23:36,790
so, first things first, safety.
387
00:23:36,790 --> 00:23:40,510
And then, only then
do you go and you peek in.
388
00:23:44,990 --> 00:23:46,150
WATER GURGLES
389
00:23:52,710 --> 00:23:58,310
The destruction of Kerma in 1500 BC
by Egypt's 18th dynasty
390
00:23:58,310 --> 00:24:01,990
heralded the beginning of
the New Kingdom's rule over Kush.
391
00:24:04,150 --> 00:24:07,150
The Egyptian conquest of Kush
happen in a series of stages,
392
00:24:07,150 --> 00:24:08,510
a series of battles.
393
00:24:10,430 --> 00:24:12,950
They burned cities,
394
00:24:12,950 --> 00:24:14,350
they took captives,
395
00:24:14,350 --> 00:24:16,190
they pushed further south,
396
00:24:16,190 --> 00:24:18,990
and under King Thutmose I,
397
00:24:18,990 --> 00:24:22,070
they reached the southernmost limit
of their conquest.
398
00:24:22,070 --> 00:24:26,110
But it wasn't until Thutmose III
that they actually built settlements
399
00:24:26,110 --> 00:24:29,190
in the most southern parts
of their conquest.
400
00:24:30,670 --> 00:24:32,590
Ultimately,
they were able to conquer
401
00:24:32,590 --> 00:24:34,390
as far south as Jebel Barkal.
402
00:24:40,070 --> 00:24:43,830
Marking the southern frontier
of the 18th dynasty's territory,
403
00:24:43,830 --> 00:24:47,150
this sacred mountain
would become the focal point
404
00:24:47,150 --> 00:24:49,390
of a new religious cult at Napata.
405
00:24:51,030 --> 00:24:54,750
It would also play a pivotal role
in the power struggle
406
00:24:54,750 --> 00:24:58,470
between these two empires
in the centuries that followed.
407
00:25:02,110 --> 00:25:08,550
So this is Jebel Barkal. It's
a 100m-high majestic sandstone mesa,
408
00:25:08,550 --> 00:25:12,470
and on the right side
is this strange rock formation.
409
00:25:19,550 --> 00:25:22,790
We call it the pinnacle today,
but to the ancient Egyptians,
410
00:25:22,790 --> 00:25:26,390
when they arrived here, they thought
that this looked like a uraeus.
411
00:25:26,390 --> 00:25:30,310
A uraeus is a serpent who curls
on the head of the Pharaoh,
412
00:25:30,310 --> 00:25:33,470
and spits fire and poison
at his enemies.
413
00:25:33,470 --> 00:25:38,790
In Egyptian mythology,
the cobra was a sacred serpent,
414
00:25:38,790 --> 00:25:41,630
an emblem of supreme power.
415
00:25:41,630 --> 00:25:44,470
Symbolising the authority
of kingship,
416
00:25:44,470 --> 00:25:46,710
it adorned the crowns
of their pharaohs.
417
00:25:49,550 --> 00:25:52,190
Because the uraeus serpent
was connected
418
00:25:52,190 --> 00:25:56,030
with Egyptian kingship,
when the Egyptians came here,
419
00:25:56,030 --> 00:25:58,870
they thought that this was
a fitting place to establish
420
00:25:58,870 --> 00:26:01,270
a temple, and the worship
of their state god,
421
00:26:01,270 --> 00:26:02,990
the god of their empire, Amun.
422
00:26:04,830 --> 00:26:08,510
By linking the power of kingship
through the symbol of the cobra
423
00:26:08,510 --> 00:26:10,790
to the supreme god Amun,
424
00:26:10,790 --> 00:26:13,350
who lived inside Jebel Barkal,
425
00:26:13,350 --> 00:26:18,230
the pharaohs claimed the divine
right to rule both Egypt and Kush.
426
00:26:20,110 --> 00:26:24,510
Unwittingly, they had sown
the seeds of their own downfall,
427
00:26:24,510 --> 00:26:28,030
that would eventually lead
to the rise of the Black Pharaohs.
428
00:26:39,430 --> 00:26:41,710
3,000 years ago,
429
00:26:41,710 --> 00:26:43,990
in what is today's Sudan,
430
00:26:43,990 --> 00:26:46,310
Egypt's rule over Kush ended.
431
00:26:47,910 --> 00:26:50,270
A new dynasty began to emerge
432
00:26:50,270 --> 00:26:52,670
at Napata,
whose kings would rise again
433
00:26:52,670 --> 00:26:54,870
to become the Black Pharaohs
of Egypt.
434
00:26:58,670 --> 00:27:00,590
After the collapse of
the Egyptian Empire,
435
00:27:00,590 --> 00:27:03,750
you might very well expect
Kushites to throw out
436
00:27:03,750 --> 00:27:06,190
all the elements of
the occupiers' culture
437
00:27:06,190 --> 00:27:08,390
but, in fact,
that's not what happened at all.
438
00:27:09,870 --> 00:27:13,470
At Jebel Barkal,
they revived the cult of Amun
439
00:27:13,470 --> 00:27:16,550
and restored its centuries-old
temple complex.
440
00:27:19,030 --> 00:27:22,790
So, what we're looking at here
are columns from the Temple of Mut.
441
00:27:22,790 --> 00:27:24,590
Mut was the wife of the God Amun.
442
00:27:24,590 --> 00:27:26,550
These columns are all that are left
443
00:27:26,550 --> 00:27:29,390
outside the mountain.
And inside the mountain
444
00:27:29,390 --> 00:27:31,910
is the most important part of
this chamber.
445
00:27:31,910 --> 00:27:33,550
It's the key to understanding
446
00:27:33,550 --> 00:27:35,750
the religious significance of
Jebel Barkal.
447
00:27:37,550 --> 00:27:40,470
Cut into the rock
inside this holy mountain,
448
00:27:40,470 --> 00:27:42,750
Mut Temple is adorned with
449
00:27:42,750 --> 00:27:44,310
painted inscriptions,
450
00:27:44,310 --> 00:27:47,550
currently undergoing
painstaking conservation work
451
00:27:47,550 --> 00:27:49,230
by an Italian team of experts.
452
00:27:54,830 --> 00:27:57,510
But these images are not Egyptian.
453
00:27:57,510 --> 00:27:59,550
They were created during the time of
454
00:27:59,550 --> 00:28:01,190
the Kushite Black Pharaohs.
455
00:28:01,190 --> 00:28:04,750
One in particular shows exactly how
456
00:28:04,750 --> 00:28:06,710
the Napatan kings came to view
457
00:28:06,710 --> 00:28:08,470
the power of Amun.
458
00:28:11,070 --> 00:28:12,830
Here, you can see the god Amun,
459
00:28:12,830 --> 00:28:15,550
which is inside the mountain,
460
00:28:15,550 --> 00:28:17,910
and behind him, the goddess Mut.
461
00:28:19,790 --> 00:28:22,790
The deities are shown inside
Jebel Barkal,
462
00:28:22,790 --> 00:28:25,710
with its pinnacle seen as a uraeus -
463
00:28:25,710 --> 00:28:27,510
the symbol of kingship -
464
00:28:27,510 --> 00:28:29,790
which, centuries earlier,
465
00:28:29,790 --> 00:28:31,230
the Egyptians had used to justify
466
00:28:31,230 --> 00:28:33,910
their right to rule Kush.
467
00:28:33,910 --> 00:28:36,190
The presence of these two gods
468
00:28:36,190 --> 00:28:38,470
inside Jebel Barkal was a way
469
00:28:38,470 --> 00:28:41,350
for the Napatan kings to legitimise
470
00:28:41,350 --> 00:28:43,710
their right to rule
471
00:28:43,710 --> 00:28:46,230
not only in Kush,
but also, in Egypt.
472
00:28:49,150 --> 00:28:51,550
The paintings in the temple of Mut
473
00:28:51,550 --> 00:28:53,990
show that the Kushites were able to
474
00:28:53,990 --> 00:28:56,270
take the Egyptian idea of kingship,
475
00:28:56,270 --> 00:28:58,630
that it was granted by Amun,
476
00:28:58,630 --> 00:29:00,910
and they were able to turn it around
477
00:29:00,910 --> 00:29:03,750
to their own purposes, in justifying
478
00:29:03,750 --> 00:29:07,550
their rule over Egypt. It's a
sort of an ironic twist of history.
479
00:29:10,110 --> 00:29:14,550
By 750 BC, Egypt was in chaos.
480
00:29:14,550 --> 00:29:17,390
No longer under the rule of
a single monarch,
481
00:29:17,390 --> 00:29:19,990
the remnants of power
in this fractured
482
00:29:19,990 --> 00:29:22,470
and weakened empire
were held by its priests.
483
00:29:25,110 --> 00:29:26,830
They looked towards Kush
484
00:29:26,830 --> 00:29:28,950
and welcomed a return to order,
485
00:29:28,950 --> 00:29:32,990
backed by the authority of Amun,
of Jebel Barkal.
486
00:29:32,990 --> 00:29:36,470
And that, in part, made it possible
for the armies of Kush -
487
00:29:36,470 --> 00:29:38,830
with their great training,
their bowmen,
488
00:29:38,830 --> 00:29:43,350
their horsemen, and their navy,
actually - to conquer Egypt.
489
00:29:45,030 --> 00:29:47,470
Kushite warriors swept into Egypt
490
00:29:47,470 --> 00:29:51,110
and, with relative ease,
took control.
491
00:29:51,110 --> 00:29:52,870
As the vanquished became
492
00:29:52,870 --> 00:29:54,550
the victors, the time of
493
00:29:54,550 --> 00:29:56,790
the Black Pharaohs had arrived.
494
00:30:06,030 --> 00:30:08,670
Five miles from Jebel Barkal,
495
00:30:08,670 --> 00:30:11,030
beneath King Nastasen's pyramid,
496
00:30:11,030 --> 00:30:13,390
Pearce Paul Creasman
and his dive partner
497
00:30:13,390 --> 00:30:14,990
have now accessed
the third chamber.
498
00:30:17,030 --> 00:30:18,750
Other than a fleeting visit by
499
00:30:18,750 --> 00:30:21,870
one other George Reisner's workers
a century ago,
500
00:30:21,870 --> 00:30:24,150
they may be the first people
to enter here
501
00:30:24,150 --> 00:30:27,430
in almost 2,500 years.
502
00:30:35,510 --> 00:30:38,070
I've dived on a lot of unusual
503
00:30:38,070 --> 00:30:40,430
sites - in caves, in shipwrecks -
504
00:30:40,430 --> 00:30:43,270
and there's nothing, though,
that compares at all
505
00:30:43,270 --> 00:30:45,070
to realising that I'm literally
506
00:30:45,070 --> 00:30:47,830
in the burial chambers of a pyramid!
507
00:30:52,310 --> 00:30:54,750
It was exciting
and the adrenaline was pumping,
508
00:30:54,750 --> 00:30:57,030
and we were both standing there
grinning ear to air.
509
00:30:59,630 --> 00:31:00,950
This is incredible.
510
00:31:02,910 --> 00:31:05,510
You're sitting there
with this beautiful arched ceiling,
511
00:31:05,510 --> 00:31:07,790
with a little niche
right at the far end,
512
00:31:07,790 --> 00:31:09,470
and you can just imagine
513
00:31:09,470 --> 00:31:11,390
what would've been sitting there
514
00:31:11,390 --> 00:31:13,030
2,500 years ago.
515
00:31:45,270 --> 00:31:47,310
For Pearce Paul,
516
00:31:47,310 --> 00:31:49,350
this initial exploratory dive
517
00:31:49,350 --> 00:31:51,790
has been a triumphant success.
518
00:31:53,470 --> 00:31:56,230
So it was a great dive,
had a really good time.
519
00:31:56,230 --> 00:31:59,510
When you get your hand into
the floor, there's this layer of
520
00:31:59,510 --> 00:32:02,110
what feels like warm jello
that you work through!
521
00:32:02,110 --> 00:32:04,670
And then there's a layer of clay,
522
00:32:04,670 --> 00:32:07,630
and that seems to have been
preserving things well.
523
00:32:07,630 --> 00:32:10,150
We found the skull of a small rodent
of some kind,
524
00:32:10,150 --> 00:32:12,430
and it's still got the teeth in it.
525
00:32:12,430 --> 00:32:14,790
If this little guy preserved,
526
00:32:14,790 --> 00:32:18,030
whatever else is in there that's
organic should have preserved.
527
00:32:18,030 --> 00:32:21,270
Including people,
or other critters and such,
528
00:32:21,270 --> 00:32:22,510
that might have been in there.
529
00:32:22,510 --> 00:32:25,070
We found this, which I'm certain
530
00:32:25,070 --> 00:32:26,830
is part of a shabti.
531
00:32:26,830 --> 00:32:28,630
So, a shabti is the little
blue and green
532
00:32:28,630 --> 00:32:31,190
statues you see in museums
all the time.
533
00:32:31,190 --> 00:32:35,190
And we found this, this is
a piece of a ceramic pot, a vessel,
534
00:32:35,190 --> 00:32:37,310
and this is probably more valuable
535
00:32:37,310 --> 00:32:39,990
than anything else we found
on this dive,
536
00:32:39,990 --> 00:32:42,630
because this is Napatan. This'll be
537
00:32:42,630 --> 00:32:45,310
the thing that we can anchor
other stuff that we find to
538
00:32:45,310 --> 00:32:47,190
that we're not so certain about.
539
00:32:47,190 --> 00:32:49,750
So, this is extremely valuable
to us scientifically.
540
00:32:49,750 --> 00:32:51,430
And then, of course, you can see
541
00:32:51,430 --> 00:32:52,910
all the shiny bits in here.
542
00:32:52,910 --> 00:32:55,270
Little pieces of gold.
543
00:32:55,270 --> 00:32:58,270
Taking the first bucket
out of the ground and finding that
544
00:32:58,270 --> 00:32:59,910
makes for a really good day.
545
00:32:59,910 --> 00:33:01,950
If we're working in the dirt of
546
00:33:01,950 --> 00:33:04,310
somebody else who went in to find
547
00:33:04,310 --> 00:33:07,350
only the pretty stuff,
and this is what they left behind,
548
00:33:07,350 --> 00:33:08,750
I'm pretty encouraged.
549
00:33:11,510 --> 00:33:16,150
20 miles south, at his team's
rented house in El-Kurru,
550
00:33:16,150 --> 00:33:19,590
Geoff Emberling may be
on the verge of a major breakthrough
551
00:33:19,590 --> 00:33:23,830
in his years-long search for
the lost city of Napata.
552
00:33:26,190 --> 00:33:28,830
He's studying the results of
a recent survey
553
00:33:28,830 --> 00:33:32,630
carried out at Jebel Barkal
by one of his team members, using
554
00:33:32,630 --> 00:33:35,230
magnetometry equipment.
555
00:33:35,230 --> 00:33:38,470
One of the techniques we use in
archaeology is called magnetometry.
556
00:33:38,470 --> 00:33:40,590
This is like a fancy metal detector.
557
00:33:40,590 --> 00:33:43,670
It identifies differences
between magnetic fields
558
00:33:43,670 --> 00:33:47,350
in different kinds of materials
that are buried under the ground.
559
00:33:47,350 --> 00:33:49,310
So, it's a very effective way
to identify
560
00:33:49,310 --> 00:33:52,190
if you're looking at a settlement.
561
00:33:52,190 --> 00:33:54,550
We had identified an area
that we thought
562
00:33:54,550 --> 00:33:56,270
might be a settlement,
at Jebel Barkal.
563
00:33:56,270 --> 00:33:59,030
And so, a University of Michigan
graduate student named Greg Tucker
564
00:33:59,030 --> 00:34:01,230
went there for just about two days.
565
00:34:05,710 --> 00:34:09,310
And in just two days,
he found an area of settlement.
566
00:34:11,150 --> 00:34:13,190
The results were so encouraging
567
00:34:13,190 --> 00:34:15,710
that Greg then spent a further month
568
00:34:15,710 --> 00:34:18,550
surveying a much larger area at
Jebel Barkal.
569
00:34:20,430 --> 00:34:23,390
So, here's the image that
Greg's work produced, and
570
00:34:23,390 --> 00:34:25,350
this is the building that we chose
571
00:34:25,350 --> 00:34:27,070
to test first, because its plan
572
00:34:27,070 --> 00:34:28,910
is so clear. But when you look
573
00:34:28,910 --> 00:34:30,830
more carefully at this, you can see
574
00:34:30,830 --> 00:34:32,790
that there's structures
all over the site.
575
00:34:32,790 --> 00:34:36,710
And so, I could see these buildings
emerging, you know, day by day. Er,
576
00:34:36,710 --> 00:34:38,310
there's one, there's one,
577
00:34:38,310 --> 00:34:39,590
there's one.
578
00:34:39,590 --> 00:34:42,070
So, I've been looking for
settlements
579
00:34:42,070 --> 00:34:43,470
here in Sudan for ten years,
580
00:34:43,470 --> 00:34:44,950
and when I saw these results,
581
00:34:44,950 --> 00:34:46,510
I just moved Heaven and Earth
582
00:34:46,510 --> 00:34:47,950
to start this excavation.
583
00:34:47,950 --> 00:34:49,550
I know that this is the place where
584
00:34:49,550 --> 00:34:52,110
I can get answers to these
questions about Ancient Kush.
585
00:34:57,830 --> 00:35:00,110
The Black Pharaohs'
reign over Egypt
586
00:35:00,110 --> 00:35:02,310
would span almost a century.
587
00:35:04,350 --> 00:35:05,830
Known as the Twenty-fifth Dynasty,
588
00:35:05,830 --> 00:35:08,870
a succession of five Kushite rulers
589
00:35:08,870 --> 00:35:11,710
saw themselves as
the sons of the god Amun...
590
00:35:14,870 --> 00:35:17,150
..with a divine duty to reunite
591
00:35:17,150 --> 00:35:20,470
his domain of both Egypt and Kush.
592
00:35:23,630 --> 00:35:25,950
They adopted many aspects of
593
00:35:25,950 --> 00:35:27,910
Egyptian culture, including
594
00:35:27,910 --> 00:35:30,670
pyramid building
and hieroglyphic writing.
595
00:35:32,230 --> 00:35:37,030
But in death, they all returned to
their native land, to be buried.
596
00:35:39,510 --> 00:35:42,230
At Napata, the royal pyramids of
597
00:35:42,230 --> 00:35:44,830
El-Kurru may have disappeared,
598
00:35:44,830 --> 00:35:47,710
but Rachael Dann,
from the University of Copenhagen,
599
00:35:47,710 --> 00:35:51,070
is part of a team
working deep underground
600
00:35:51,070 --> 00:35:54,430
to conserve their magnificently
decorated burial chambers.
601
00:35:55,990 --> 00:35:58,430
This is an image of King Tantamani,
602
00:35:58,430 --> 00:36:00,070
and we know that it's Tantamani
603
00:36:00,070 --> 00:36:02,950
because his name is written here,
in the royal cartouche.
604
00:36:02,950 --> 00:36:05,310
It's also clear that he's a king,
605
00:36:05,310 --> 00:36:07,870
and a king of both Egypt and Kush,
606
00:36:07,870 --> 00:36:09,590
because he's wearing
the golden crown
607
00:36:09,590 --> 00:36:11,150
with the double uraei,
608
00:36:11,150 --> 00:36:13,350
the two snakes, on his forehead.
609
00:36:14,510 --> 00:36:16,390
The double cobra symbolised
610
00:36:16,390 --> 00:36:17,910
the rule of the two kingdoms,
611
00:36:17,910 --> 00:36:19,510
a power which they believed
612
00:36:19,510 --> 00:36:22,390
survived the journey
into immortality.
613
00:36:25,990 --> 00:36:28,550
Tantamani, even as he heads out for
his afterlife,
614
00:36:28,550 --> 00:36:31,150
is still wearing this golden crown,
615
00:36:31,150 --> 00:36:33,070
with the double uraei, and so
616
00:36:33,070 --> 00:36:35,110
he's emphasising that even for
617
00:36:35,110 --> 00:36:37,110
the rest of his eternal life,
618
00:36:37,110 --> 00:36:40,910
he still has the divine right
to rule both Egypt and Kush.
619
00:36:43,430 --> 00:36:47,190
All but one of the Kushite kings
who ruled over Egypt
620
00:36:47,190 --> 00:36:48,750
were buried at El-Kurru.
621
00:36:51,030 --> 00:36:53,310
The exception was the greatest
622
00:36:53,310 --> 00:36:56,470
and longest ruling of all, Taharqa.
623
00:36:58,150 --> 00:37:02,390
His was the very first pyramid to be
built further north, at Nuri.
624
00:37:05,110 --> 00:37:07,950
This is the pyramid of Taharqa,
625
00:37:07,950 --> 00:37:10,750
and this seems to be
his primary monument.
626
00:37:12,070 --> 00:37:13,550
It's at least 50 metres square at
627
00:37:13,550 --> 00:37:15,350
the base, possibly bigger than that,
628
00:37:15,350 --> 00:37:17,710
which makes it
not an insignificant thing.
629
00:37:17,710 --> 00:37:20,070
I mean, this could be a city block
in many places.
630
00:37:21,870 --> 00:37:26,350
Taharqa's pyramid is the largest
ever discovered in Sudan.
631
00:37:26,350 --> 00:37:28,190
A fitting monument for a pharaoh
632
00:37:28,190 --> 00:37:32,990
whose domain was the largest ever
known in the Valley of the Nile.
633
00:37:32,990 --> 00:37:36,230
He ruled everything
from what is today Khartoum,
634
00:37:36,230 --> 00:37:38,670
all the way down the Nile,
to the Mediterranean.
635
00:37:38,670 --> 00:37:40,550
The territory that we believe
636
00:37:40,550 --> 00:37:42,870
he had actual control and power over
637
00:37:42,870 --> 00:37:45,870
was probably more, by volume,
638
00:37:45,870 --> 00:37:50,310
than at any time in
Ancient Egyptian history.
639
00:37:53,190 --> 00:37:55,150
Taharqa's reign would also witness
640
00:37:55,150 --> 00:37:58,110
the beginning of the end of
the Twenty-fifth Dynasty.
641
00:38:00,470 --> 00:38:05,830
In 671 BC, Taharqa was driven out
of Egypt by an Assyrian invasion.
642
00:38:05,830 --> 00:38:08,670
His successor, Tantamani,
643
00:38:08,670 --> 00:38:10,630
briefly regained control,
644
00:38:10,630 --> 00:38:12,470
but was again driven out.
645
00:38:12,470 --> 00:38:14,150
This time, for good.
646
00:38:16,190 --> 00:38:18,190
After almost a century in power,
647
00:38:18,190 --> 00:38:21,230
the reign of the Black Pharaohs
was over.
648
00:38:23,510 --> 00:38:25,470
But Kush would rise again,
649
00:38:25,470 --> 00:38:27,310
with a new capital city,
650
00:38:27,310 --> 00:38:30,390
and an empire spanning
a thousand years.
651
00:38:41,530 --> 00:38:43,530
in what is now Sudan,
652
00:38:43,530 --> 00:38:46,250
was followed by a shift of power
in Kush,
653
00:38:46,250 --> 00:38:50,650
away from Napata to a new capital
200 miles further south.
654
00:38:56,410 --> 00:38:59,690
Meroe's royal cemeteries alone
boast more pyramids
655
00:38:59,690 --> 00:39:02,610
than all of Egypt combined.
656
00:39:02,610 --> 00:39:07,370
But their condition today serves
as a stark reminder of a time
657
00:39:07,370 --> 00:39:11,610
when explorers were less concerned
with preserving ancient monuments.
658
00:39:13,970 --> 00:39:17,490
This pyramid, the upper part
is completely missing,
659
00:39:17,490 --> 00:39:21,970
and because the destruction
of the people looking for gold,
660
00:39:21,970 --> 00:39:25,730
they saw that it's similar
to the pyramids in Egypt
661
00:39:25,730 --> 00:39:30,090
and that the burial chambers
located inside the pyramids there.
662
00:39:33,610 --> 00:39:36,250
One of the main culprits
of this destruction,
663
00:39:36,250 --> 00:39:39,370
who came here in search of gold
in the 1830s,
664
00:39:39,370 --> 00:39:42,770
was Italian explorer
Giuseppe Ferlini.
665
00:39:44,170 --> 00:39:47,650
He's the one really started
trying to look for gold,
666
00:39:47,650 --> 00:39:50,970
and when he didn't get anything
from the others,
667
00:39:50,970 --> 00:39:52,650
he picked the biggest pyramid.
668
00:39:54,130 --> 00:39:56,490
Ferlini did find treasure,
669
00:39:56,490 --> 00:40:00,810
but at great cost to Sudan's
archaeological heritage.
670
00:40:00,810 --> 00:40:03,650
He destroyed the pyramid completely.
671
00:40:03,650 --> 00:40:08,570
We think he used dynamite
and he explode the whole pyramid.
672
00:40:08,570 --> 00:40:11,810
HE CHUCKLES
Yeah, we're missing one pyramid.
673
00:40:11,810 --> 00:40:13,810
It's completely gone.
674
00:40:13,810 --> 00:40:16,170
Back at Jebel Barkal,
675
00:40:16,170 --> 00:40:20,730
Geoff Emberling has also found
what he was looking for.
676
00:40:20,730 --> 00:40:22,490
After a ten-year search,
677
00:40:22,490 --> 00:40:26,850
he has finally located the long-lost
city of the Black Pharaohs.
678
00:40:28,490 --> 00:40:31,170
We've just started our work
at the settlement site.
679
00:40:31,170 --> 00:40:33,530
Already we can see
that this settlement,
680
00:40:33,530 --> 00:40:36,810
that's just five cm under
the surface, is 2,000 years old.
681
00:40:36,810 --> 00:40:38,010
Totally amazing.
682
00:40:38,010 --> 00:40:41,170
Even for an archaeologist, you know,
that thrill never goes away.
683
00:40:46,810 --> 00:40:49,970
All of this that we're standing on
is an ancient city.
684
00:40:53,370 --> 00:40:55,970
It extends for about 100m this way
685
00:40:55,970 --> 00:40:59,330
and about 200m this way -
it's a big area.
686
00:41:00,610 --> 00:41:04,690
This major discovery
could provide valuable information
687
00:41:04,690 --> 00:41:07,770
about the Kushite people
and their way of life
688
00:41:07,770 --> 00:41:11,690
dating back as far as 4,000 years.
689
00:41:11,690 --> 00:41:14,650
The top level of this settlement
is Meroitic period,
690
00:41:14,650 --> 00:41:17,010
but we're finding Napatan material,
691
00:41:17,010 --> 00:41:20,490
and if I were going to guess,
I would say somewhere down here,
692
00:41:20,490 --> 00:41:24,170
there's Egyptian material
and there's material from Kerma.
693
00:41:27,210 --> 00:41:30,050
It's so exciting -
this is the moment of discovery
694
00:41:30,050 --> 00:41:32,730
that I've been waiting for
all these years, you know?
695
00:41:32,730 --> 00:41:36,010
Potentially, this could go back
even to 2,000 BC.
696
00:41:38,290 --> 00:41:41,810
Not proven yet, but that's my guess.
697
00:41:44,450 --> 00:41:47,650
At Nuri, Pearce Paul
and his dive partner
698
00:41:47,650 --> 00:41:49,930
have now had time to
assess the condition
699
00:41:49,930 --> 00:41:51,450
of the third burial chamber.
700
00:41:54,490 --> 00:41:58,210
The third chamber's, uh, it's in
the best condition of the three.
701
00:41:58,210 --> 00:42:01,210
It looks to be essentially intact,
structurally.
702
00:42:03,770 --> 00:42:05,610
From everything
we could see above water,
703
00:42:05,610 --> 00:42:07,810
I mean, the preservation
is excellent.
704
00:42:08,810 --> 00:42:10,690
But the big question remains.
705
00:42:13,050 --> 00:42:17,090
Does the third chamber
still contain the body of Nastasen,
706
00:42:17,090 --> 00:42:19,970
the last of the Napatan kings
to be buried at Nuri?
707
00:42:22,330 --> 00:42:23,850
We were looking around
708
00:42:23,850 --> 00:42:27,170
and we think we see a bunch of
large sandstone blocks.
709
00:42:27,170 --> 00:42:28,610
We felt around the edges
710
00:42:28,610 --> 00:42:31,730
and it feels like
there's a really big slab,
711
00:42:31,730 --> 00:42:34,050
with corners and chisel marks in it.
712
00:42:37,970 --> 00:42:41,570
And it's perfectly cut,
and it's enormous.
713
00:42:41,570 --> 00:42:45,010
It's bigger then we would be able to
deal with, just the two of us,
714
00:42:45,010 --> 00:42:47,610
and we haven't found all four edges
of it yet.
715
00:42:47,610 --> 00:42:51,010
If I were a betting woman, I would
say that's a sarcophagus lid.
716
00:42:51,010 --> 00:42:52,890
That's very, very exciting.
717
00:42:54,410 --> 00:42:58,290
But this is the last day
of the Arizona team's time here.
718
00:42:58,290 --> 00:43:03,490
Now they face an agonising wait
to see if they can return next year.
719
00:43:03,490 --> 00:43:07,250
Even then, they'll only be
scratching the surface.
720
00:43:07,250 --> 00:43:09,970
Oh, my gosh, people could be working
here for the rest of their lives
721
00:43:09,970 --> 00:43:13,370
at Nuri and never uncover
all of its secrets.
722
00:43:13,370 --> 00:43:17,170
This site could be an important crux
in our understanding
723
00:43:17,170 --> 00:43:18,770
of the entire ancient world.
724
00:43:22,210 --> 00:43:24,250
But time may be running out
725
00:43:24,250 --> 00:43:27,330
for Sudan's archaeological treasures
726
00:43:27,330 --> 00:43:30,410
and the lost kingdom
of the Black Pharaohs.
727
00:43:34,130 --> 00:43:38,930
The really big threat is the plan to
build a number of additional dams
728
00:43:38,930 --> 00:43:41,130
right in the heart of ancient Kush.
729
00:43:42,810 --> 00:43:47,250
When Egypt's High Aswan Dam
was constructed in the 1960s,
730
00:43:47,250 --> 00:43:49,690
it required major engineering work
731
00:43:49,690 --> 00:43:53,610
to rescue one of the ancient world's
most iconic monuments.
732
00:43:53,610 --> 00:43:57,450
The world famous ancient Abu Simbel
Temples of Ramses II and his queen
733
00:43:57,450 --> 00:43:59,410
are removed to higher land
734
00:43:59,410 --> 00:44:02,330
in one of the biggest moving jobs
ever attempted.
735
00:44:05,890 --> 00:44:08,370
But the effect on smaller,
736
00:44:08,370 --> 00:44:11,290
less-celebrated sites
is devastating.
737
00:44:11,290 --> 00:44:14,570
I worked in a salvage project
here in Sudan.
738
00:44:14,570 --> 00:44:19,210
With the dam being finished in 2008,
this beautiful, intimate landscape,
739
00:44:19,210 --> 00:44:22,330
archaeologically very rich
and very unknown,
740
00:44:22,330 --> 00:44:23,570
and then just one day...
741
00:44:23,570 --> 00:44:25,410
HE SNAPS FINGERS
..underwater.
742
00:44:25,410 --> 00:44:27,210
And so the whole thing was lost.
743
00:44:30,290 --> 00:44:33,330
Now an even bigger project
744
00:44:33,330 --> 00:44:37,930
threatens to engulf much of
the heartland of Cushite territory.
745
00:44:40,810 --> 00:44:44,570
In fact, people proposed
12 different dams
746
00:44:44,570 --> 00:44:46,930
around the Nile Valley.
747
00:44:46,930 --> 00:44:50,570
It will be the destruction
of the past of the Sudan.
748
00:44:52,650 --> 00:44:57,050
Even without these dams,
Sudan's archaeological treasures
749
00:44:57,050 --> 00:45:00,210
are becoming increasingly
vulnerable every year.
750
00:45:00,210 --> 00:45:04,010
There are so many threats
to our ancient heritage.
751
00:45:04,010 --> 00:45:06,410
War is a constant threat.
752
00:45:07,890 --> 00:45:11,210
We have all the time this conflict
between development
753
00:45:11,210 --> 00:45:14,210
and destruction
of the archaeological heritage.
754
00:45:16,890 --> 00:45:19,250
It's agriculture,
it's people building houses,
755
00:45:19,250 --> 00:45:21,770
it's all the normal things
that people do in life.
756
00:45:23,170 --> 00:45:26,210
All the archaeological sites
are in danger.
757
00:45:28,810 --> 00:45:31,930
Robbed of its place in history
by the Egyptians,
758
00:45:31,930 --> 00:45:34,330
overlooked by early explorers,
759
00:45:34,330 --> 00:45:37,010
and obscured by decades of war,
760
00:45:37,010 --> 00:45:39,650
there is still much to learn
about Kush,
761
00:45:39,650 --> 00:45:42,370
Africa's first Black superpower.
762
00:45:45,010 --> 00:45:49,330
At every site, in every period,
there's major new discoveries
763
00:45:49,330 --> 00:45:50,850
being made every season.
764
00:45:53,130 --> 00:45:55,610
Every year we discover a new site,
765
00:45:55,610 --> 00:45:58,930
so that the empire
is becoming larger and larger.
766
00:46:00,970 --> 00:46:02,610
All this needs investigation.
767
00:46:02,610 --> 00:46:05,250
Everywhere you turn, everywhere
you put a shovel in the ground,
768
00:46:05,250 --> 00:46:07,570
there's a question
that needs to be addressed.
769
00:46:09,930 --> 00:46:12,850
This is a complete chapter,
a critical chapter
770
00:46:12,850 --> 00:46:16,570
in understanding society
in that time, in this region,
771
00:46:16,570 --> 00:46:20,010
and we are just at the tip
of the iceberg.
772
00:46:20,010 --> 00:46:24,410
Just as it's being rediscovered,
it's possible that soon,
773
00:46:24,410 --> 00:46:29,930
the kingdom of the Black Pharaohs
could be lost...forever.
774
00:46:40,370 --> 00:46:43,850
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