All language subtitles for Ultimate Treasure Countdown Series 1 1of6 The Story of Cleopatra 1080p

Narrator: Ancient egypt,
this land of the pharaohs

Has captured our
imaginations for
thousands of years.

Bettany: It's one of the
greatest civilizations
the world has ever known

And it's left us with some
truly astonishing treasures.

Narrator: I am professor
bethany hughes.

I'm a historian and I spend
my life travelling the world

To investigate the
stories of the cultures
and civilizations

Of the past and I love
having the chance to share
what I found with you.

Ancient egypt, a land
ruled by pharaohs.

Bettany: Selecting just
10 treasures from this
stunning civilization

Is seriously tough.

Narrator: But I've
pulled together a top 10
countdown that reveals

Some of the world's most
breath-taking monuments,

First, we'll be heading to
cairo, today the capital

Of egypt for number
10 in my countdown
top 10 treasures.

It's a gruesome tale of a
3,000-year-old cold case,

A royal assassination and
our treasure number 10,

The mummified body of an
almighty egyptian king

That was discovered
somewhere rather surprising.

Bettany: The trail starts
here in the ancient city
of luxor when some rather

Curious things started
to appear on the
antiquities market.

Narrator: Incredibly valuable
riches belonging to some of
egypt's most famous pharaohs

But no one knew where
they were coming from.

In the spring of 1881,
the suspicious authorities
started to make enquiries.

They discovered that they
were being sold by a local
farmer called abdel rasoul.

He was immediately taken
in for questioning.

Bettany: Under torture,
abdel rasoul revealed the
source of his treasures.

He led investigators out
here to this rocky cliff face
overlooking the nile valley.

Narrator: Back then
this remote location
was entirely unexplored.

Bettany: He led them to
this spot and to a shaft
in the sheer cliff face,

Which is now known as tt320.

The terrified suspect claimed
that one of his goats had
fallen down this hole

And that he'd scrambled
down to rescue it.

Narrator: Rasoul had made
a remarkable discovery.

When the investigators
lowered themselves
into the shaft,

30 metres deep no one
was prepared for what
they found.

Bettany: Down there, there
were over 40 mummies, um,

They were pharaohs and
queens and other members
of the royal family

And the story of how
they got there is truly
extraordinary.

Narrator: Close on to 3,000
years earlier a priest
called pinedjem discovered

That robbers were
raiding tombs in the
valley of the kings

And valley of the queens
where egypt's pharaohs and
super rich were buried.

And the robbers weren't
just stealing all the
tomb treasure,

Pinedjem realised they were
taking the bodies too.

Bettany: For him, this
wasn't just robbery
this was desecration.

This was destroying
their chances of an
eternal afterlife.

So he knew he had
to act fast.

Narrator: Pinedjem
summoned trusted followers
for a high-risk mission,

To break into the tombs,
steal the royal bodies,

Smuggle them up this
mountainside and then
stash them in this shaft.

They hid here undisturbed
for close on 3,000 years
until abdel rasoul's goat

Gave away their hiding place.

Today, the pharaoh mummies
found in the shaft are all
together in cairo

And it's a truly
extraordinary sight.

Bettany: What you've got
here is basically a roll call
of ancient egyptian power.

Many of the great pharaohs
are here, there's seti I
and rameses the great

And even that quick thinking
priest who rescued these
bodies over 3,000 years ago.

Narrator: But one
particular pharaoh here is
number 10 in our countdown.

Bettany: Meet rameses iii.

Narrator: Rameses was a
man with lots of enemies,

He had to fight off invading
armies from the middle east
to defend egypt.

Bettany: But the real
trouble came from
within the kingdom.

His wife queen tiye wanted
her son on the throne so
she hatched a plot

To assassinate her husband.

Uh, now we know all about
this because it's recorded
on a papyrus that's now

In turin and this
historical event is known
as the harem conspiracy.

We're told that the
plot failed.

The conspirators were arrested
and were sentenced to death
but what happened to rameses?

Narrator: The papyrus doesn't
let on and rameses simply
disappears from the history

Books sparking a theory that
he died of natural causes.

For over a century, the
mystery remained until a
few years ago a group

Of forensic scientists
carried out a post mortem

And subjected the dead
pharaoh to a ct scan.

Ahmad samir a curator
at the egyptian museum was
stunned by what they found.

Bettany: Is there any
evidence on this mummy

That tells us exactly
what happened to rameses?

Bettany: Wow. So that
was definitely so this
was a mortal wound.

So he, he couldn't
have survived it?

Bettany: That's the incredible
thing about history

Is that it's constantly
changing.

There are, there are
constantly new stories, new
chapters being written in.

Samir: Without doubt.

Narrator: But the story
doesn't quite end there.

In the horde of mummies,
there also appears to
have been rameses' son

Prince pentawere the man
who conspired to replace
his father on the throne.

Now known as the screaming
mummy this body shows
signs of strangulation.

Most likely he was
hanged for his part in
the assassination plot.

We can tell he was in
disgrace because his
mummy was crudely wrapped

In a rough sheepskin
instead of the
traditional linen.

So now the guilty son
and his murdered father
rameses lie side by side.

The mummy of rameses iii is
number 10 in my treasures
of egypt because

It reminds us that
ancient egyptians were
people with real lives,

Full of scandals and
tragedy and intrigue.

And that modern science is
at last allowing us to
tell their incredible

Sometimes gruesome stories.

Bettany: Egyptian mummies
are obviously humans

And so have to be treated
with huge respect.

Um, the mummification
process was designed to
give individuals immortal

Afterlife and in some
ways that is exactly
what's happening.

Uh, the mummies here
are slowly revealing
their secrets

So we know intimate
details about how the
ancient egyptians

Lived and in the case
of rameses iii,
exactly how he died.

Narrator: Next in our
countdown, it's number nine,

A brilliant discovery that
brought a dead language

Back to life and helped us
to decode the secrets of
this ancient civilization.

At number 10, we've met
the mummy of rameses iii.

And now we're exploring
the nile delta in search

Of number nine in our
countdown of great
egyptian treasures.

Bettany: The story starts
here with the discovery
of a modest bit of stone

That's probably the
best-known stone fragment
in human history,

The rosetta stone.

Narrator: This slab of rock
is just three and a half
feet tall but the intricate

Writing on it has given
us a key to unlock the
secrets of ancient egypt.

In 1799, it was discovered
here at this fort that
protects the town

Of rashid that was
better-known back
then as rosetta.

Narrator: This fort was
on the front line of a
power struggle for egypt

Between the british, the
french and the turks of
the vast ottoman empire.

Bettany: A small french
garrison was based here
and they received reports

That an ottoman army
had landed just 20
miles up the coast.

Uh, this fort was all
there was that stood
between the attackers

And the glittering city of
rosetta and so soldiers
and military engineers

Immediately set to, to
try to repair these
dilapidated walls.

As they were working one
french officer noticed
that a number

Of the stones in the
fort had carvings on.

You can still see some here.

But there was one
particular one that
caught his eye.

Narrator: It was a stone
covered in egyptian
hieroglyphs

But that's not all.

Underneath there was what
seemed to be a translation
in ancient greek.

It was incredibly
tantalizing.

Egyptian hieroglyphs had
been a total mystery for
1,500 years.

The greek translation
could help decode
this lost language.

But before they could make
a start on the translation,

The french suffered a
shattering defeat and
the precious stone

Fell into the hands of
the victorious british army.

Shipped back to london
it ended up at the
british museum.

International experts got
to work, desperate to
decode egypt's hieroglyphs

And to explore ancient
egypt's secrets.

Bettany: So what you're
looking at here, um,
are two languages.

There are ancient egyptian
hieroglyphs at the top and
greek at the bottom

And in the middle there's
a kind of street form of
ancient egyptian.

Narrator: The experts began
by looking at the greek which
they could still read

And they found the world
ptolemy which they knew
was a pharaoh's name.

The challenge was to
find the ancient
egyptian equivalent.

Bettany: What they did was
they looked in the hieroglyphs
to try to find a cartouche,

It's a bullet-shaped thing
and inside that's where

The pharaoh's name
was always written.

Narrator: This was the
very first word they
were able to read

In ancient egyptian
hieroglyphs.

The first step in
deciphering a language

That had been dead
for 1,500 years.

Bettany: So down here,
you've got the name ptolemy
in greek and then up here

Is the name ptolemy
in ancient egyptian

But this is how they
managed to decode it.

So what you have is
a square that stands for a
p, a semi- circle for a t,

That kind of rope shape is
an o, the lion is an l,

Underneath here you've
got an m and then these
two reeds are a y.

So slowly, slowly it meant
that they could start to
piece together an ancient

Egyptian alphabet and that
meant they could suddenly
translate ancient egyptian.

Narrator: A dead
language had been
brought back to life.

And ancient egypt's temple
walls, tombs, scrolls and
treasures all of them

Covered in hieroglyphs
could suddenly speak
to us once again.

For the first time,
we discovered intimate
secrets of the pharaohs.

We could learn about murders
and love affairs that shaped
the story of the world

But we also heard about the
ordinary people who built

These monuments and
painted these walls.

Bettany: Suddenly, ancient
egypt was filled with real
people and their real voices.

Narrator: And our
understanding of how the
ancient egyptians lived

And loved and fought
and died was completely
revolutionized.

Bettany: The rosetta stone
is possibly not the most
beautiful or spectacular

Of our treasures but
arguably it is the
most important.

Writing was power in ancient
egypt so by being able to
read the ancient egyptians

Words we can really
understand the lives
of not just the great

And the good but also
ordinary women and
men on the street

And that is why it
deserves to be in our
list of top 10 treasures.

Narrator: Rediscovering
how to read hieroglyphs

Transformed our relationship
with ancient egypt.

The walls of temples
and tombs became like
the pages of a book,

Packed with myths and
fabulous history.

And next, we're going to
investigate a lost treasure
that was plastered

In so many hieroglyphs
it took 40 years just
to copy them down.

When they were finally all
translated, they told tales
of incest and murder

And at the center of it all
the family of egypt's most
famous queen, cleopatra.

To get there, we're
travelling more than 600
miles up the river nile

To a city in upper egypt
for treasure number eight.

Bettany: If you'd come here
in the middle of the 19th
century then the whole place

Would've looked like this.

Just a very typical bustling
egyptian market town.

But if you knew where to
look you could've spotted
a rather intriguing clue.

Just the very tip of a massive
ornamental gateway poking out
of centuries' worth of sand.

Narrator: But this
wasn't any old gateway.

This was a gateway that once
belonged to queen cleopatra.

That was enough to entice
explorers and treasure
hunters to the town of edfu

And they began to dig.

Bettany: It took them
seven whole years to
excavate this site

And if you follow me
you'll understand why.

It is absolutely vast.

It's one of the
biggest temples in
the whole of egypt

And it is beautifully
well preserved.

I mean it really is in
the most fantastic state.

There's a very particular
reason for that.

It was abandoned when it
was relatively new, only a
few hundred years or so old

And slowly it was buried in
the desert sands and then a
town you can see the remains

Of it up there was built
right on top of it so its
secrets were kept secure.

Narrator: This splendid
temple was built by a
single royal family

Known as the ptolemys who
ruled egypt from the 4th
century bc until the last

And most famous of the
whole dynasty, cleopatra.

The entire building tells the
story of the great egyptian
queen and her family

Through the words and
pictures carved into
the stone walls.

Bettany: This whole
gateway was built by
cleopatra's dad,

Ptolemy and you can see
ptolemy there rather
graphically shown

Slaying his enemies
and sacrificing prisoners.

Narrator: But ptolemy's
enemies weren't all
outsiders.

His own daughter,
cleopatra's older sister,

Led an armed rebellion
against him which he
brutally crushed.

He had her killed
leaving little
cleopatra as his heir.

With a family like that you
could say that for cleopatra
this temple wasn't a symbol

Of royal harmony but a nest
of snakes as generation
after generation

Of close family members
engaged in a deadly game

Of intrigue, murder
and incest.

Bettany: Obviously incest
is illegal and taboo today
but for the pharaohs,

It was completely normal.

The royals believed that
they had divine and pure
blood that should never be

Contaminated by that of
mere mortals but the thing
was these incestuous

Relationships often
caused more problems
than they solved.

Narrator: Cleopatra's
parents were probably
also brother and sister

And the entire family was
a vicious web of personal
alliances and rivalries,

A bloody ancient
egyptian soap opera.

In fact, out of these 12
ancestors of cleopatra
every single one was

In an incestuous marriage
and at least seven came
to a sticky end.

So when cleopatra herself
came to the throne in 51bc,

She inherited a tricky
family legacy to say
the least.

But also this stunning
temple, a family power base.

Bettany: In its heyday,
this place would've been
an absolute riot of color.

We're told there were
flagpoles outside that
were 130 foot high

Made of cedars of
lebanon with flags
fluttering on the top

And that many of the
surfaces were decorated
with polished copper.

Narrator: And I can't help
but imagine what it would've
been like if cleopatra

Had walked through here.

There was an aviary
where falcons were bred
and a perfume factory

Filling the air with
gorgeous scents.

Bettany: Oh my god. It
must have been the
most incredible sight.

Narrator: But behind all that
sensuous glory, the gruesome
soap opera continued.

Cleopatra's main rival to the
throne was her own husband
ptolemy xiii who was also,

True to form, her
younger brother.

They started off as
co-rulers of egypt

But their sibling rivalry
soon broke out into open
warfare.

Bettany: Cleopatra finally
won out but only with the
help of a certain roman

General called julius caesar.

These two were the power
couple of the ancient world

And the result of their
liaison is hidden just
over here.

This is almost certainly
caesarion who was the son of
julius caesar and cleopatra

And a product of their
celebrated love affair.

Narrator: When the boy
was just three years old

His father julius caesar
was assassinated.

Cleopatra tried to survive
but even egypt wasn't
a match for rome's power.

Soon emperor augustus would
overthrow her kingdom

To become the first
roman ruler of egypt.

In despair, cleopatra
took her own life.

Now no one was safe
not even her son.

Bettany: Caesarion was
another who met a
violent end.

Augustus' assassins pursued
him to alexandria where
they strangled him to death.

The age of egypt's true
pharaohs was over and rome
had tightened its grip

On this glorious
civilization.

(music)

Revealing the secrets
of my favourite wonders
of ancient egypt

And there's still so
much more to come.

Just outside egypt's capital
cairo is one of the most
famous treasures in egypt,

It's our treasure
number seven.

Bettany: It's over 240
feet long and 70 feet
high, part lion,

Part man it radiates
mystery.

At number seven on our
list of treasures it's
the great sphinx at giza.

Narrator: The sphinx
crouches at the entrance
to one of the busiest

Tourist sites in the world,
the giza plateau.

Famous for its
mindblowingly huge pyramids

But even in this epic
setting the sphinx is
a showstopper.

Bettany: I always find the
sheer scale of this
incredible creature

Absolutely jaw-dropping.

It was the biggest sculpture
made in ancient egypt

And it's still one of
the largest anywhere
in the world.

Narrator: But that wasn't
obvious when explorers first
encountered the sphinx.

The giant statue was
buried neck-deep in sand.

All they could see
poking out was an
enormous stone head.

They were mystified.

But once they'd cleared the
sands they could appreciate

The sphinx in all
its crazy glory.

A human head and shoulders
on the body of a lion, taller
than a six-storey building.

The sphinx was built on such
a massive scale because it
had an incredibly important

Job to do basically to
be a giant guard dog,

Carved out of the rock to
keep watch over the pharaoh

Buried in the pyramid behind.

Egyptologist clare
malleson loves this
incredible sculpture.

Bettany: For us, it's
very weird that this
is half animal,

Half human but this
would've been
completely normal

In the minds of the
ancient egyptians.

Malleson: Yeah
absolutely. The sphinx
with the lion's body,

The pharaoh is taking
on board the attributes
of a lion,

The fiercesomeness, the
awesomeness, the strength
of the lion in himself.

Bettany: Why do you
think we should care
about this monument?

What does the sphinx
tell you about the
ancient egyptians?

Malleson: It really
encapsulates the ambition
of the ancient egyptians.

Bettany: They certainly never
did anything by halves.

Malleson: No, not at all.

Narrator: Generations of
ancient egyptians came

To respect and fear this
otherworldly creature,

Really believing that it
had supernatural powers.

And the fascination
with the sphinx shows
no sign of letting up.

Archaeologists are
investigating under
the statue

Because there are
tantalizing clues that
the sphinx sits right on top

Of an ancient network
of chambers and tunnels.

Usually hidden from view, a
deep hole near the sphinx's
tail is thought

To be connected with a
large chamber beyond.

Bettany: And there's
actually another smaller one

Right at the front
underneath the paws.

The truth is we have
absolutely no idea what
these were used for

But it's a mystery that
researchers are currently
trying to solve.

Narrator: And some are
hopeful that these hidden
tunnels may lead us

To new undiscovered
treasures.

Bettany: The sphinx deserves
to be on our countdown of
top 10 treasures because

It has such an incredible
life story.

It starts out basically as
a monumental guard dog

Watching over a
pharaoh's tomb.

It comes to be worshipped
as a god with
supernatural powers

And now it's a guardian of
ancient egypt's secrets.

Narrator: To get to my next
treasure, you need to
travel hundreds of miles

From giza across the egyptian
desert all the way beyond
egypt's far-flung southern

Border but it's a journey
that's worth every moment
to reach number six

In our countdown of
top 10 treasures.

Bettany: It's a wild remote
landscape here, um, and
you'd be forgiven

For thinking there's not
much to write home about.

I mean it's certainly nothing
on the scale of the monuments
that we've already seen

But actually beyond the
desert here there is
something truly spectacular,

Uh, it's the most
extraordinary place with
an extraordinary story

Because it was built
not once but twice.

When you finally get here to
abu simbel it is impossible
not to be awestruck.

Narrator: This temple
was built by rameses ii

Probably the greatest of
all egyptian pharaohs.

He ruled for an astonishing
66 years one of the longest
reigns in history

And boy he loved to build.

This whole temple is a
monument to his reign and
out here beyond the southern

Border he's also giving
a powerful warning to
the neighbors.

It's saying I'm in charge,
don't mess with me.

This is rameses' ego
built in stone and
it has left us

With the most
awe-inspiring place.

Narrator: The temple walls
are covered with ferocious
images of the pharaoh

Defeating his enemies.

Bettany: But there are
actually two temples here
at abu simbel

And I've got a particular
soft spot for the other one.

Let me show you why.

Narrator: The second temple
here reveals another much
more gentle side of rameses.

It was built in honor of his
favorite wife nefertari.

Bettany: Nefertari actually
means beautiful companion
but rameses described her

As the woman for whom
the sun rises and he
built this temple,

This divine abode for
the wife whom he loves.

I really love this place
but at one point there
was a real possibility

That all of this was
going to be lost.

Narrator: You'd be forgiven
for thinking these giant
statues have stood here

For thousands of years
but you'd be wrong.

Today abu simbel stands
beside one of the largest
manmade lakes in the world,

Lake nasser.

In the 1960s, the government
launched a plan to build

A giant dam to create
the enormous lake.

But there was a problem,
the thousands of square
miles of land to be flooded

Included the site
of these temples.

If rameses' temples
were to survive they
would have to be moved.

So a team of archaeologists
and engineers worked against
the clock to dismantle

The temples and transport
them 200 metres to safety
on higher ground.

There they painstakingly
reassembled them block
by block.

It took four whole years but
there was another challenge.

In their original site, the
temples were built into the
side of a mountain

So the engineers didn't just
have to move the temples they
had to build a new mountain.

Today a nondescript door
in the side of the hill

Is the only outward clue to
this amazing achievement.

Bettany: As a historian,
I'm used to investigating
hidden doorways, um,

But I'm promised
something particularly
special in here.

Narrator: Thanks to
abdelmanem said, the regional
director of antiquities

I'm getting rare access to
this extraordinary place deep
inside the temple mountain.

Bettany: Ah. Amazing,
that's extraordinary.

And ge can we get further up?

Said: Why not?
Bettany: Oh, I love it.

Said: Thank you.
Bettany: I love why not.

Narrator: What looks from
the outside like a desert
mountain turns out

On the inside to be
completely hollow.

This hollow dome is so
big you could stack

Five double-decker
buses underneath it.

Bettany: That is remarkable.
Said: Have a look from here.

Bettany: Because when you're
inside you've got absolutely
no idea you come here

And it's this kind of
futuristic construction.

Said: You never feel at home
when you are inside the great
temple, that temple was moved.

Bettany: Yeah.
Said: That temple was cut.

Bettany: No.
Said: All that was, uh,
a manmade concrete dome.

Bettany: Amazing. What an
enormous project it must

I tell you what I love
about it, rameses never
did anything by halves he,

He liked his projects
to be big what,

What do you think rameses ii
would think of all of this?

Said: Well if he could
hear about something
huge like that

I'm sure that he would
be happy more and more.
Bettany: Yeah exactly.

I think he'd definitely
approve of the scale.

So this should be
called the rameses dome.
Said: Nowadays yes.

-Nowadays yes.
Bettany: The ram rameses'
great dome. It's amazing.

Honestly, thank you so much
for bringing me in here.

This is a real
privilege to be here.

It's the future helping
the past isn't it?

Said: Exactly.

Bettany: Abu simbel is one of
my top treasures of egypt

And deserves to be
on our countdown.

It was truly remarkable
when it was first built

And then its move and its
rebuild makes it double
extraordinary.

Uh, this place is a
testament to the power
of human ingenuity

Right across the centuries.

In the punishing desert on
the edge of cairo, number
five in our countdown.

It's an egyptian
city of the dead.

Bettany: This is the
incredible site of saqqara

And the whole place is
an archaeological
treasure trove.

Um, it's dominated by
that brilliant building,
the step pyramid.

Narrator: It might not look
that impressive now but
appearances are deceptive.

The step pyramid
is revolutionary.

The world's first ever
pyramid 150 years older
than the sphinx

And the famous great
pyramid at giza.

Bettany: It's not what's above
ground that gets saqqara onto
our list of treasures

But what lies underneath
my feet because down here

There is a whole subterranean
world and not only

That but here there are
thousands, possibly millions
of mummified bodies.

Narrator: This is the final
resting place for 16 of
egypt's earliest pharaohs

But it was also a graveyard
for queens and nobles

And ordinary egyptians
for 3,000 years.

So many mummies were buried
here that saqqara became
egypt's biggest city

Of the dead stretching
over 4 square miles.

All these mummies are
remarkable enough,

But archaeologists have also
discovered something else.

There aren't just
humans hidden here

But animals too in numbers
that beggar belief.

8 million mummified dogs in
one mass grave, 4 million
ibis birds in another.

The necropolis was
also home to cats,
baboons, crocodiles,

Fish and some well
it's anyone's guess.

People mummified and
buried these animals
as gifts to the gods

Hoping their prayers would
be answered in return

And there's one particular
tomb here hiding something
really extraordinary

Which for me beats
the bizarreness of
everything else.

When it first came to
light 150 years ago, it
was a sensational find.

Bettany: In the middle of
the 19th century, the
french archaeologist

Auguste mariette discovered
a rather promising clue.

It was a sphinx
buried in the sand.

Narrator: Intrigued, he
and his team began to dig
and soon they found

A second sphinx and then a
third until there were
over 100 sphinxes

Lined up along a
grand roadway.

Bettany: All leading
to this spot here.

Narrator: Mariette spent
months clearing the path
packing the sphinxes off

To paris and on the 12th
of November 1851

He finally reached a
mysterious subterranean
entrance.

Bettany: Now that was all
pretty exciting but nothing

Could prepare him for
what was down here.

Narrator: The sphinxes had
led him to a labyrinth of
underground passages

Carved deep into the rock.

Bettany: Just imagine what
it would've been like to
have been the first

To explore down here,
um, when all you had
were flame torches

Or lamp light and no
idea what was round
the next corner.

Narrator: There are hundreds
of meters of tunnels built to
create something incredible.

Bettany: This is an
underground palace and
it's no ordinary palace.

This is a palace of the dead.

What you're looking at here
is the most enormous coffin.

Um, it's made of solid
granite and together this
weighs around 90 tonnes.

So you have to ask yourself,
what creature would be buried
in something like this?

Narrator: The archaeologists
had never seen anything

Like this before and were
desperate to find out
what was hiding inside.

Bettany: All of the
coffins had been robbed

But then they realized
there was just one intact.

The team used dynamite to
open it up and what they
discovered inside

Was a massive mummified bull.

Narrator: They realized that
the ancient egyptians had
built these huge coffins

And this entire site as an
underground cemetery for
enormous prized bulls.

The bulls were worshipped
by the ancient egyptians

Who thought that they
were supernatural beings
with magical powers.

While alive, each
bull was treated to a
five-star lifestyle.

Bettany: It was given a
special diet and even had
its own harem of cows.

And in death it was buried
with all the pomp and
circumstance of a pharaoh.

Narrator: In total,
there are 24 of these
monstrous stone coffins.

Just think of the
superhuman effort to
get them all down here.

And with only a fraction
of saqqara's city of the
dead excavated so far

Who knows what might be
discovered next?

Bettany: The site at saqqara
is brilliantly rich and
beautifully bizarre

And that's why it's one
of our top 10 treasures.

This was a place where
the world of the dead

Was as important as the
world of the living.

And it's a fantastic reminder
that although the ancient
egyptians are very like us

They often did things that
are frankly completely weird,

Um, and that's why I
love it and them.

Narrator: Next time, I'll be
counting down my final four.

Male: Look at that.
Bettany: No way.
Look at this.

It's extraordinary down here.

Narrator: As we reveal
my top treasure of egypt.

Bettany: That is
truly special.

That is something
I'm gonna treasure.

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