All language subtitles for Ultimate Treasure Countdown Series 1 2of6 Riches of the Pharaohs 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.

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.

Narrator: Last time in my
top ten treasures of egypt,

We counted down from number
10 to number five.

First, at number 10, the mummy
of ramesses iii, the pharaoh
murdered by assassins.

At number nine, the
famous rosetta stone,

Which gave us the
knowledge to decode
egypt's hieroglyphs.

Number eight, the
massive temple of edfu,

Built by the incestuous
family of cleopatra.

And number seven,
we came face to face with
the great sphinx of giza.

At number six, ramesses
the great's colossal
temples at abu simbel,

Rescued from oblivion.

At number five, we
explored the city of
the dead at saqqara,

Home to millions of mummies.

And on our next stop,
let's go to one of the most
famous places in egypt,

An ancient city on the banks
of the nile, to discover
treasure number four.

Over 4000 years ago, the
pharaohs raised a new capital
here next to the mighty river.

It grew to become one of the
biggest and most magnificent
cities in the world.

Today, it's known as luxor.

Bettany: As the beating
heart of their capital,
they built two new temples.

The temple of karnak, down
there, and then connected by
this amazing ceremonial avenue

That runs a mile and a
half long and is lined
with sphinxes, up here,

The temple of luxor.

Narrator: The complex
was huge.

Twice the size of
st. Paul's in london.

About the same
length as three football
pitches laid end to end.

It was so much more
than just a temple.

Bettany: This was the place
in luxor, um, the, kind
of, capital of the capital.

The engine of the
ancient egyptian world.

Narrator: For centuries,
this was one of egypt's
most splendid temples.

But if you're imagining
somewhere silent and
serious, think again.

This was party central.

Bettany: The really brilliant
thing about this place, um,
isn't just its architectural

Splendor but the fact that
it would've been absolutely
pulsing with life.

Um, so here you'd have had
priests with their heads
and their bodies shaved.

Um, all these columns,
you can see some of
the traces there,

They'd have been
absolutely bright with a,
kind of, riot of color

And then when you came out
into the courtyards there
were plates of electrum,

Which was a, a mixture of
gold and silver that
would've reflected back

The sun's rays, so it
would've, kind of,

Ricocheted out as an
extraordinary light show.

Narrator: During
festivals, luxor was the
ultimate party venue.

All of life was here
indulging in wild
drunken blowouts.

Singers, magicians and
dancers like these gorgeous
back-flipping acrobats.

So, what better place than
luxor for the pharaohs of egypt
to boast about their potency.

For the egyptians, power
and sexual power were
closely linked

And three pharaohs used
this temple to show off
about both.

Bettany: The first of these
rulers was amenhotep,

Who was the original
builder of this temple.

Um, and there's a rather
startling clue as to

How he cemented his
hold on power deep
inside the complex.

Narrator: To boost his claim
to the throne, amenhotep
claimed that his mum

Had had sex with an
egyptian god and that
he was the result

And he had that juicy
story recorded right
here on the walls.

Archaeologist mina megalla
is going to reveal how the
ancient egyptians showed

The pharaohs mum making
love with a god.

Bettany: Ahh.

Bettany: Yes.

Bettany: I mean, I think
it's, it's quite explicit

Because some of the
inscriptions tell us that
she was suffused

With desire and that she
cries out in delight and
that her limbs stiffen

With love for the god.
I mean, so it's, it's
very sexy this.

The ancient egyptians were
very good at, at just
accepting the fact

That making love is
a gorgeous thing.

Narrator: The second of our
pharaohs to use this temple
to show off about his potency

Was the most powerful
man in egyptian history.

Ramesses the great.

He was the ambitious
builder pharaoh who
we've met once already

At the temple of abu simbel.

Ramesses was another
ruler who wasn't shy of
boasting about fertility.

He claimed to have fathered
at least a hundred children

And rarely missed an
opportunity to erect a
monument to his manliness.

Bettany: He absolutely left
his mark on this temple, um,

He put statues of himself
everywhere and he built

This monumental gateway
and set up two giant
obelisks,

Although there's
only one left now.

Narrator: Another almost
identical obelisk stood just
here for more than 3000 years.

But, in 1832, it was
presented as a gift by
the ruler of egypt

To the king of France.

The 250 tonne, 75-foot tall
pillar made its way, by sea,

All the way to paris
where today it stands
as the centrepiece

Of the place de la
concorde in the centre
of the french capital.

But the story of luxor
temple doesn't end there.

A thousand years after
the age of ramesses,

A third great ruler of
egypt carved his story
into the temple of luxor.

He was alexander the
great from ancient greece.

One of the most ambitious
conquerors in history.

Alexander invaded egypt
in 332bc, and we're told
he chose to be crowned

On this spot in the heart
of this mighty temple.

Bettany: So this
is extraordinary.

So, this is alexander
the great.
Megalla: That's right.

Bettany: He's one of the
most powerful men on earth

And he's being represented
here as an egyptian.

Narrator: Even though
alexander was greek,
he was determined

To portray himself as a
powerful egyptian pharaoh

And he knew that luxor was
a great place to do that.

And, just look, he's standing
next to a rather eye-catching
egyptian fertility god.

A clever marketing ploy
to boost alexander's
image of manly virility.

Bettany: It does really tell
you something about the
magnetic pull of this place

That, that he's coming
here, he's coming to
this temple in luxor.

Bettany: Yeah. This place
is a treasure for us,

But it was obviously
a treasure for them too.

The temple of luxor makes it
into our top ten because it
is such a treasure trove

Of experiences and
stories and because
it's cast a spell

Over the powerful for
centuries.

Narrator: We're now down
to the final three of my
top ten treasures of egypt.

We've already experienced
some astonishing
discoveries.

The mummy of a murdered
pharaoh, the codebreaking
rosetta stone,

The great sphinx of giza
and the spectacular
temple of abu simbel

Built by the all-powerful
pharaoh, ramesses.

This time, we're leaving
behind the great cities and
heading into rocky mountains

Not far from luxor for
treasure number three.

At first glance, this place
seems rugged and remote,

But I'm tracking an old route
to one of the most legendary
locations in all of egypt.

Bettany: These
paths haven't changed for
thousands of years, um, um,

They were used in the
ancient times, um,

A whole host of people
would've come down here.

There'd have been
craftsmen and traders and
builders and even pharaohs.

Narrator: They came
here to build
something very special

Among the mountains
in strict secrecy.

Bettany: Where they
were heading, they
called the place of truth

Or the great necropolis
of millions of years of
the pharaohs

And it's number three on
our list of top treasures.

Uh, today, we simply
describe it as the
valley of the kings.

Narrator: From around 1600bc
the mummified bodies of
pharaohs were brought here

To be buried in tombs
cut into the steep
sides of the valley.

Bettany: This might seem
like a, a rather remote,
random patch of desert

To bury some of the most
influential and powerful
people on earth

But actually this place
has huge symbolic and
practical significance.

Um, you can probably see that
the sun's just risen over
there behind me in luxor,

Which means that it
sets here behind
these mountains, um,

And that really mattered
to the ancient egyptians

Because this was where
your mortal life ended

And your journey into
the afterlife began.

The valley of the kings.

They include the tombs of
the most famous pharaohs
in egyptian history.

Tutankhamun, the boy king,
ramesses the great, builder
of abu simbel and our royal

Assassination
victim, ramesses iii.

But the grandest tomb
of all belonged to
pharaoh seti I,

And that's the one I
want to show you now.

Bettany: Seti was the father
of our old friend ramesses
ii, ramesses the great,

And he was a hugely
successful pharaoh and his
tomb is suitably magnificent.

Narrator: For years
the tomb's been closed to
make it safe for visitors.

Now, I'm being given
special access to this
spectacular resting place

By archaeologist bahaa gaber.

Bettany: Gosh you, I
can already tell this
is going really,

Really deep down indeed.

Bahaa: It's a very long
tomb, it's about 138 metre.

Narrator: Not surprising,
since seti I was one of the
most powerful men on earth.

Bettany: I mean, it is
incredible because everywhere
you look there's a decoration,

There's painting,
there's inscription,

It's an it's a huge amount
of information actually.
Bahaa: Yes.

Bettany: That's been
given here.
Bahaa: That's right.

And even the columns here,

You will see they have
beautiful decoration
representing the king

With the different
gods and goddesses.
Bettany: Yeah.

Bahaa: That is horus
bettany: Yeah. Yeah.

Bahaa: The god, the
son of isis and osiris.
Bettany: Yeah.

Bahaa: And look at
the relation between the
king and the god himself.

He dreamed one day that
he will be alive again
bettany: Yeah.

Bahaa: With the god osiris.
Bettany: Yeah.

You know, that's why these
places are so important
because people talk about

The egyptians being obsessed
with death and they're not,

They're obsessed with
continuing their life,

Only it's happening
in an afterlife.

Bahaa: When they decided
to build a tomb,

They cut the tomb out of
rock to live forever.

So, he dreamed that his
second life would be here.

All the inscription, all
these beautiful details, talk
about food, drinks, oh wow,

He said I will live
here in my paradise.

Bettany: I love that.

I love the idea that this is
an underground paradise here.
Bahaa: Yes. Yeah.

Narrator: As we enter
deeper into the tomb,

There are even more marvels
inside seti I burial chamber.

Bahaa: Look at that.
Bettany: Look at this.

It's extraordinary down here.
Bahaa: Yes.

Bettany: That is incredible.
It's just like a riot of,

Of colour and
images, isn't it?
Bahaa: Yeah.

Narrator: When explorer
adventurers first discovered
this tomb in 1817,

They were blown away
by these paintings.

So fresh and vivid,
they said, as if they'd
been drawn yesterday.

They even found paint
pots and brushes lying
on the floor.

And, what's extra exciting
about the valley of the
kings is that there's still

More waiting to be
discovered.

D'you know, we think that
we found less than half
of what was buried here.

Bahaa: We're working
here on this beautiful
mountain, inside the tombs,

Outside the tombs
expecting every day that
we'll find something.

Bettany: Please ring me.
Bahaa: Of course.

Bettany: When you do. Let
me be the first to be there
because it's brilliant

Because they're all these
treasures that we know about
bahaa: Exactly.

Bettany: And these
treasures that are waiting
to be discovered.

Narrator: Sadly, some
treasures will never
be found including

The priceless possessions
of seti I that once
crammed this tomb.

They were all looted
across thousands of
years by tomb raiders.

Robbers were a key reason
egyptians began to bury

Their rulers in this
remote location.

Bettany: Up until now, um,
pharaohs have been buried in
great big pyramids a bit like

The step pyramid that we saw
at saqqara, um, these were
fantastic demonstrations

Of their might and their
power but they were also huge
signs saying that treasure

Was buried there so they
were incredibly tempting
for robbers and raiders.

Narrator: And that's why
the ancient egyptians began
to bury their kings far

From prying eyes in
this valley.

So remote, they hoped
it would keep them and
their tombs safe forever.

But the robbers weren't put
off even though they risked
being brutally punished,

Sometimes executed.

It was a constant fight
between the tomb builders
officially keeping

The thieves out and the
tomb raiders desperate
to break in.

And there's one tomb in the
valley where you can really see
how that battle played out.

Bettany: Just up here
on the cliff face, um,

Is the entrance to the tomb
of pharaoh thutmose iii,

Uh, obviously in ancient
times this, um, handy
staircase wasn't there

So even if you knew where
the entrance was, it
would've been really,

Really tricky to get to.

Narrator: And this was just
the start of the measures they
took to keep thutmose iii

And his treasure safe.

B a'harr's given me special
privileged access and has
agreed to show me what lay

In store for would-be thieves.

Bettany: Thank you
for making the climb.

Bahaa: Oh, it's a long way.
Bettany: Up here.

It's a long way, but
great to get here.

Narrator: We're now
following in the footsteps
of ancient tomb robbers.

Those robbers came here three
and a half thousand years ago
trying to reach the gold,

The jewels and the
unique treasures buried
here with the pharaoh.

But deeper in, the thieves
found a trap straight
out of indiana jones.

Bettany: Wow.

Narrator: The passageway
comes to a sudden end
above a deep dangerous pit.

Bettany: How far down
does it go down here?

Bahaa: It's about six metres.
Bettany: Oh, my god.

Oh, yeah, so it is. So,
that's a sheer drop,
bahaa: Mm-hmm.

Bettany: Down there.

Narrator: This room would've
seemed to be a dead end, but
across the pit,

The rest of the tomb lay
hidden behind a false wall
until it was smashed open

By ancient tomb raiders.

Bettany: That decoration
would've originally gone just
all the way along the wall?

Bettany: Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, yeah.

So, you'd arrive here,
you'd think that that
was just, you know,

It'd be impossible to
get across, obviously,

There wasn't a walkway
here originally.

So, how, how did they
work out that you
could actually, um,

Hack through an
entrance up there?

How did they find
that entrance?

Bettany: So, they
would've been tapping
on the walls then

Bahaa: Right.
Bettany: To see if
it sounded different.

Bahaa: Right.
Bettany: Okay.

Can, can we get in there?
Bahaa: Course. Let's go.

Bettany: After you.
Bahaa: Yeah.

Just be careful.
Bettany: Oh, thank okay.

It's getting much hotter,
isn't it? Actually

Narrator: The tomb designers
used every trick they could
think of the deter the thieves.

Bettany: Is this, is this
the burial chamber now?

Bettany: Oh, I see in
the okay, so it's like
a concealed staircase?

Bettany: Yeah.

Bahaa: Watch your heads.
Bettany: Okay.

Bahaa: Okay.

Bettany: He really,
really doesn't want to be
found thutmose, does he?

Bettany: Okay. So, you've
got to put in a real effort,
bahaa: Yeah.

Bettany: To get this
far if you're a robber.

It's beautiful, look
at that ceiling, that's
so lovely, isn't it?

Narrator: These simple
sketches show the pharaoh
standing alongside

One of his daughters
and three of his wives.

I just love these images.

They feel as though the
artist's brushes have
just left the stone.

Bettany: You know, it's so
moving seeing these
sketches because

You really get a sense of,
of the ordinary men

And sometimes women who
would've made these.

I mean, that's an
incredible thing.

Narrator: Tragically, the
dead ends and false floors
weren't enough to fool

The thieves who looted all
the fantastic treasures
that once filled this tomb.

Bettany: Amazing.

Narrator: But this treasure
was just too heavy to shift.

The stone sarcophagus, which
once contained the mummified
remains of thutmose iii.

Bettany: What's it made of?

Bettany: Hmm. Was
his body inside?

Bettany: Yeah.

Narrator: Thutmose iii was
one of the mummies recovered
from that shaft in the desert

Alongside number 10 in
our countdown, the mummy
of pharaoh ramesses iii.

Today, he rests with
the others in cairo.

So, the robbers didn't
make off with quite
everything and, for sure,

There are many more treasures
still buried here just
waiting to be discovered.

Bettany: The valley
of the kings makes it
into my top three

Because there is nowhere
else like it on earth.

You've got these incredibly
rich tombs in this beautiful
wild landscape and although

In theory what happens
here is all about death,

It actually feels like
a celebration of life.

Narrator: But there was
one tomb in the valley of
the kings that did escape

The attention of
the tomb robbers.

What they found inside
astonished the world and it's
our treasure number two.

It's been a really hard
job sticking to just 10
because ancient egyptians

Have left us with so many
astonishing treasures.

From vast stone monuments
to the mummified remains
of powerful kings.

But there is one treasure
that was always going to
be as near as damn it

The top of the list.

We're staying right here
in the valley of the kings
for treasure number two.

Bettany: From the outside,
this looks pretty much
like any other tomb

In the valley of the kings,

But for thousands of
years it was kept
buried and secret

And it's what's inside that
makes this number two on our
top 10 treasures of egypt.

Narrator: When this tomb
was first opened in 1922,

By the english archaeologist
howard carter,

Very few had heard of
the pharaoh whose body
lay inside.

But he was soon to become a
household name, tutankhamun,

And that was because
unlike the other tombs
in the valley,

This tombs treasures had
been kept safe from thieves

And what fabulous
treasures they are.

This is one of three
spectacular gold
coffins found here,

Each lying inside the
other like russian dolls.

The outer two were made of
wood covered in gold but the
inner one was solid gold,

Weighing 100 kilos.

Today, that gold alone
would be worth over three
million pounds.

Bettany: Getting up this
close, um, you really
understand why they used gold,

Uh, to make these amazing
coffins, um, because

The idea was that
covered in gold the gods

Would realise that these
pharaohs, these god-men,
are actually divine.

Narrator: And inside the
inner gold coffin lay
the body of the pharaoh.

Bettany: So, here he is.

This is the mummified body of
the teenager, tutankhamun.

Narrator: I really feel for
him. He looks so fragile.

Mind you, he's the only
mummy in the entire valley
still in his original tomb,

Lying all alone in
an empty chamber.

Bettany: But originally the
rooms of this tomb were
jam-packed with what carter

Described as wonderful things.

Narrator: When carter and
his team first entered
tutankhamun's tomb,

They took these photographs.

The chambers were
stacked to the ceiling
with royal treasure.

This was the greatest
archaeological find
of all time.

But to see this
world-famous collection
today we need to travel

To giza on the outskirts of
cairo, where the treasures of
tutankhamun are being brought

Together once more in a
brand new museum.

I can't tell you how lucky I
am to have been given special
behind the scenes access.

Bettany: Amazing.
Eissa: Yes.

Bettany: Amazing. And
you're working on it
right now.

Bettany: That's really
delicate work, isn't it?

Eissa: Delicate work, yes.
Bettany: Incredible.

Narrator: Any one of these
artefacts on their own would
be a priceless treasure.

4000 of them all together is
hard to get your head round.

Today, conservation work is
taking place to make sure
every precious piece

Is ready for the
museum's display.

Many show signs of use,
quite possibly by
tutankhamun himself.

Bettany: Look at that, the
detail is amazing, isn't it?

So it's so fine the work.

This gold. I think they
thought it was like the
sweat. Eissa: Yes.

Bettany: Of, of the sun god.
Eissa: The sun, sun god, yes.

Bettany: So, it was
magical, they thought
gold was magical

And the fact it
didn't tarnish in
the, in the ground.

Narrator: The boy king was
buried with a dizzying
array of treasures all,

Don't forget, close
on 3500 years old.

Gilded furniture and
no fewer than six fully
functioning chariots.

Bettany: So, I don't know
if you can see this,

It looks like this would
definitely have been used,

This chariot, because
it's, it's, the wood
is slightly worn here

And that would've been
the, kind of, friction

From the wheels as
it was going around.

Bettany: Oh, my god.

So, imagine tutankhamun
could've been in this
chariot going out on a hunt

To prove his power
to his people.

Or personal items that tut
would need in the afterlife.

Doctor eissa zidan has agreed
to show me some of them.

Bettany: This is the
first time I've seen
these, um, outside glass.

This is so extraordinary.
Eissa: Yeah.

Bettany: I've got to
put my glasses on to see
it because it's just

I mean, my head is spinning
with this because, I mean,

I've read so much about
these things but just look
at the detail on that.

Bettany: Yeah.

Bettany: That, sorry, I'm just
my it's all coming to focus,
so this incredible head,

Which is a, a big cat,
is it a leopard or
something? This, this,

Bettany: The face.
Eissa: Yes. Yes.

Bettany: Because there
are images of, of tut

And he would've worn a
leopard skin, I think.

Eissa: Yes, yes, you
are right.

Bettany: Yeah. It's
so beautiful and
this, he wasn't even,

Bettany: A particularly
special pharaoh.

Bettany: It's very beautiful.

Narrator: The pharaoh was also
buried with more practical
items for the afterlife.

Bettany: Day beds.

Bettany: Gosh. So, he
would've just had

A rest here or a nap in
the middle of the day.

Bettany: Quite right
he had ten beds.

You know, he is the
pharaoh of egypt after all.

Narrator: The king was even
provided with ready meals.

Bettany: So, this is, like,
a box for a roast chicken?

Eissa: Yes.

Bettany: Oh, gosh.
Look at that.

Eissa: Can you see?
Bettany: Yeah.

It looks like there's some

There's definitely
something else organic
in there, isn't there?

That's I never thought in
my life I would get to open
tutankhamun's lunch box.

Narrator: Some of this stuff
was clearly really personal.

Bettany: So, his actual toys?

Eissa: Yes, yes.

Bettany: That's
just so touching.

His courtiers or he might
even have asked for them,

Eissa: Yes.
Bettany: To be,

To be buried with him for the
afterlife. That's amazing.

Narrator: To everyone's
surprise, they found well
over a hundred walking sticks

In the tomb, supporting
theories that tutankhamun
had some form of disability.

Bettany: Amazing. Huh.

Bettany: It's beautiful.

That's so beautiful.

Bettany: Amazing.

Narrator: The greatest and
most famous treasure of all
wasn't discovered until 1925,

Three years after howard
carter first entered
the tomb of tutankhamun.

Once he removed the lid from
tut's third and final coffin,

Carter came face to face
with something truly
extraordinary and that,

Today, takes pride of place
in cairo's central museum.

Bettany: I'd say it's the
most famous ancient treasure
anywhere in the world,

It's the mask of
tutankhamun.

Narrator: The mask is pure
gold decorated with coloured
glass and precious stones

And weighs more than
10 kilos.

On his forehead
are a cobra and a vulture,
symbols of royal authority.

Bettany: I remember
first seeing this mask
when I was just five, um,

At the amazing blockbuster
exhibition at the british
museum and being completely

Blown away, um, because
suddenly all those fairy tales
and myths about hidden tombs

And boy kings buried with
gold and secret mysterious
deaths, they were true.

They were staring back
out at me and it's just
beautiful, isn't it?

I mean, this truly is the
most extraordinary treasure.

Narrator: Today, tutankhamun
is a global megastar and
the museum's top attraction.

Bettany: The tutankhamun
collection is number two
on our list of treasures

Not just because it's so
exquisite and so remarkable,

But for another
deeper reason too.

Howard carter's discovery of
that tomb launched ancient
egypt into the mainstream

And sparked a global
passion for all
things egyptian.

Um, you could argue that if
tut had stayed buried then
many of these people

Wouldn't be here, I wouldn't
be a historian and you might
not be watching this show.

Narrator: Coming up, I get
privileged access to one of
the world's most famous

Monuments, number one in our
top 10 treasures of egypt.

Bettany: Oh, god.

From breathtaking monuments
and the all- powerful
pharaohs to gruesome tales

Of incest and murder.

At number three, we
investigated the world's
greatest burial ground,

The valley of the kings.

At number two, we got
up close and personal

With the unforgettable
treasures of tutankhamun.

Now it's time to finally
reveal number one in our
top 10 countdown

Of egypt's brilliant
treasures.

We're going back to giza on
the outskirts of cairo

For an egyptian treasure
that never fails to impress.

Bettany: Number one on
our countdown of egyptian
treasures

Is the great pyramid
at giza.

Narrator: Rising almost 150
metres out of the ground,

It remains one of the most
gobsmacking constructions
in the world.

Bettany: It took over
20 years, uh, to build
this pyramid

And it's been estimated that
each one of these blocks,

Which weighs between
one and two and a half
tonnes each,

Would've been put in place
every two minutes every
day of that 20 years.

Narrator: The stone
was brought from all
across egypt,

Including granite from more
than 500 miles away in the
south of the country.

The entire giza plateau
would've been teaming
with activity.

Over 10,000 workers toiling
at the greatest building
site the world had ever seen.

When the great pyramid was
finally completed, it was the
tallest man-made structure

Anywhere in the world.

A record it held for
4000 years.

Bettany: But the mad truth
about this remarkable massive
monument is that it was built

To house a body of
just one man.

Narrator: Pharaoh khufu.

He made this, one of
the biggest tombs in
human history,

To keep his body and his
treasures safe for eternity.

Bettany: So, in order
to discover the secrets
that are walled up here,

I've got to brave the actual
interior of the pyramid.

Narrator: The original
entrance was sealed four and
a half thousand years ago.

After khufu's body was
placed inside, no-one
was ever meant to enter.

So, now we have to clamber in
through a hole smashed open
by medieval tomb robbers

And what you find inside
is a labyrinth of secret
passages and hidden tunnels.

After twisting and
turning for 30 metres, you
find this steep hallway.

Here the robber's
tunnel meets the
original access route,

Known as the ascending
passage.

This then opens up into
an amazing stairway,
the grand gallery.

It's eight meters high
and 46 metres long,

Leading up to the very
centre of the pyramid.

This was all built not just
to house the pharaoh's body,

But also his soul and his
spirit was thought to roam

Around in these
tunnels and chambers.

It's spooky even for me
and I don't believe in
the afterlife.

Bettany: So, this is the
king's chamber where the
king was buried

And it's always been
considered the beating
heart of this pyramid

But by the time that
modern-day explorers came
here in the 19th century,

This room had been completely
stripped of all its treasure.

All that was left
was this sarcophagus.

But I've got access
to other secret spaces
within the pyramid itself.

Narrator: Below the king's
chamber, deep underground
under the base of the pyramid,

Is a little known secret.

Accessible only down this
narrow 70 metre long tunnel
not normally open to visitors,

It's one of the most
eerie and unsettling
places in all of egypt.

Bettany: This is where it
gets really interesting
because you have to,

You have to crawl
from here on in.

Narrator: Thousands of tonnes
of rock were dug out by hand
as the pyramid was being built

Above ground, an incredible
task in what must've been
appalling conditions

In this cramped tunnel.

Bettany: I can't believe
I'm doing this because I'm
very claustrophobic so, um,

I am doing this in
the name of history.

Oh, god. Oh, god.

So, I've read about this
place, but I've never
been down here before.

I've just got to adjust
for a moment because, um,
we're 30 metres beneath

The surface of the bedrock
here and there's 140 metres
worth of pyramid above me,

So that is a whole lot
of stone bearing down.

Perhaps the king's original
burial chamber abandoned
after a change of plan?

Or a decoy designed to
fool tomb robbers looking
for the real thing?

Or could it just be an
underground kingdom for the
dead pharaoh khufu to haunt?

Bettany: What an effort it
must've taken to, to make
this but we don't know why.

We don't know what
it was for.

I mean, down here
there's a shaft that
goes down 30 metres,

No idea what they
used this for.

Oh, god.

This, oh, apart from the
fact the ceiling seems to
be falling in on me here.

Oh, this is amazing.

So, everywhere here you've
got thousands and thousands
and thousands

Of these chisel marks and
these were made by workers

Probably women as
well as men, well
over 4000 years ago,

So that is an amazing thing.

When I touch that, I'm
touching where their
hands were.

That is truly special.

That is something I'm
going to treasure.

Narrator: And, elsewhere in
the guts of the pyramid,

A brand new discovery has
been made that transforms

Our understanding
of the whole structure.

At the end of this long,
low passage, hidden near the
base of the grand gallery,

Lies a room that is out of
bounds to most visitors.

It may hold the key to
one of the pyramids
greatest mysteries.

Bettany: Now, this is the
queen's chamber, um,

But it's got nothing at
all to do with the queen,

There was no queen
buried here.

But, if anything, there's
actually something even
more exciting currently

Being stored here and
what this is, is
scanning equipment

And there's a team of
international scientists

Who are collaborating on
something called the
scans pyramid project

And they are scanning
the entire interior
of this pyramid

And what they've discovered
is truly remarkable.

So, directly above
me, there's a whole
central chamber

That we knew absolutely
nothing about.

Narrator: The scans, taken
in 2017, revealed this huge
void thought to be

At least 30 metres long.

It's been described as the
discovery of the century.

Bettany: And it is
perfectly possible
that stored in there,

There is still the
treasure of the pharaoh.

It's just amazing.

Narrator: The chamber's
surrounded by metres
of solid masonry,

So it's unlikely that anyone
will find out anytime soon.

It's an archaeological
riddle waiting to be solved.

The new discovery is a
reminder that even a monument
as ancient and iconic

As this great pyramid still
has deeply hidden secrets
and surprises.

Bettany: The great pyramid
at giza deserves to be our
number one egyptian treasure.

For starters, it's the only
one of the seven wonders of
the ancient world

That still stands intact.

It's wowed visitors
for thousands of years

And it looks set to be here
for a thousand years more.

Narrator: In our top
10, we've visited fabulous
tombs and stunning temples,

We've cracked secret
codes and witnessed
gruesome murders,

Ending our journey with
the soaring grandeur of
khufu's great pyramid.

Bettany: Majestic and
mysterious and mind-blowing,

The treasures of egypt
are proof of the power
of human imagination

And human achievement and
they'll still be standing

Long after all of us
have turned to dust.

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Captioned by subtitlepro llc