All language subtitles for Valley.of.the.Kings.The.Lost.Tombs.2019.720p.WEBRip.X264-KOMPOST

♪♪

Narrator: It's Egypt's biggest
excavation in 100 years.

Archeologist Dr. Zahi Hawass.

Is here to explore the last
great tract of wilderness.

In the valley of the kings.

His mission...
To find a missing tomb

from Tutankhamun's royal line
filled with treasure.

Hawass:
We are looking for a royal tomb

hidden in the silence

and the mystery
of this unique valley.

Finding an intact tomb
would be absolutely spectacular,

mind blowing.

It would be the biggest thing
in the history of Egyptology.

Narrator: 150 workers will dig
for six months...

We really haven't seen anything
on this scale before.

Narrator: ...In temperatures
over 100 degrees.

They need to move thousands
of tons of rock and rubble

in sweltering desert heat.

And they'll do it all by hand

to realize Zahi's
ultimate ambition.

It is my dream
to discover that tomb

of the famous magical Queen,
Nefertiti.

It's like a wall
to hide something.

The marks.

This is an entrance of a tomb.

There is something here.

Nefertiti.

♪♪

Narrator:
The valley of the kings...

The world famous burial ground

of the greatest pharaohs
of ancient Egypt.

And the setting
for the archeological

find of the 20th century.

Hawass:
Carter found the golden tomb,

the tomb of Tutankhamun.

Look, this is the steps.

When Carter found the steps,

he was not sure
that this tomb was intact.

He excavated this
corridor step by step.

And he came to the second door.

And that is the moment
that Carter was sure

that the tomb is intact.

Narrator: What Howard Carter
found inside stunned the world.

Bianchi: My perception is that
when Tutankhamun died,

they hired the Egyptian
equivalent of a packing company,

and anything and everything that
was associated with him in life

was packed
and then crammed into that tomb.

Narrator: Over 5,000 treasures,

worth millions of dollars today.

Epic stories
of Carter's discovery

inspired the young Zahi.

Hawass: I live in the past
every minute in my life

thinking about something
in archeology.

This is because of the passion
to continue that adventure.

Bianchi: The name of Zahi Hawass

is synonymous
with Egyptian archeology.

Ikram: If he were to find
an intact tomb,

he would go down
in the history books

much as Howard Carter has done.

Narrator: For 40 years,

Zahi has dreamt of finding
one of the missing tombs

from Tutankhamun's royal family.

But where to start?

64 tombs have already
been found here,

and archeologists have been
scouring the area

around the tomb of Tutankhamun
for the last few decades...

Without success.

Zahi's idea... to search a place
that has been overlooked.

Only a few hundred feet away
over a plateau

lies a little known branch
of the valley of the kings,

the west valley.

Virtually unexplored
by archeologists,

and no wonder.

Remote,

hostile,

and buried deep
in centuries of rubble,

it's a forbidding place and the
ultimate test of perseverance.

But Zahi is convinced

that this is where
the last royal tombs are hidden.

Hawass: The reason
that they came here,

scholars never excavated here,

everyone wanted to go
to the east valley

because the east valley
had the faith,

the tomb of Tutankhamun.

Narrator: Zahi believes he has
found a clue

that could lead him
to a missing tomb.

An archeologist map from 1830
marks the outline of three huts

to the north of the valley.

Hawass: This map,
it is the starting point

for a big discovery
in the west valley of the kings.

Narrator: But first, his team

has to dig
through 3,000 years of debris.

Zahi suspects these huts
could have been used by workers

on a tomb-building project.

A rule for archeologists...

If you find worker huts,
that is tombs.

♪♪

Narrator:
But Zahi needs evidence.

His team will have to sift
through the materials

around the huts for clues,

Hawass: The music of excavation.

Looking, removing, discovering.

Only two finished tombs

have been discovered
in the west valley.

Both of them belong to pharaohs
from Tutankhamun's royal line.

The first, the tomb of
his grandfather Amenhotep III,

and the second, the tomb
of tut's successor, king ay.

Bianchi:
The west valley is interesting

because we've got
two identifiable tombs

you have the tomb
of Amenhotep III

almost immediately as you enter.

You walk in a little bit
of a circuitous route,

and then at the very end,
you have the tomb of ay.

There's an enormous expanse
of space

between the bookends
that any number of tombs

could still possibly be found.

Narrator: Out of Tutankhamun's
royal family,

there are several members whose
tombs are yet to be discovered.

Zahi has his heart set
on finding one in particular,

the tomb of Egypt's
most famous Queen Nefertiti,

an iconic Queen who married
the son of Amenhotep III

and became stepmother
to king Tutankhamun.

Nefertiti ruled
during Egypt's golden age

and became famed
for her legendary beauty.

Ikram: She's referred to
as a living God,

and she really was one
of the most powerful women

ever to be a Queen
in the 18th dynasty.

Narrator: Could she have been
laid to rest here

in this hidden branch
of the valley?

It's absolutely conceivable
that Nefertiti was buried

in the western valley
near the tomb of Amenhotep III.

Narrator: Zahi is convinced.

I am sure Nefertiti
is here, 100%

but where? This is the question.

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: Were the huts marked
on the map

in use in Nefertiti's time?

[ Man shouts ]

Before long, a clue.

Fragments of ancient pottery.

Their provenance can reveal
vital information

about this site.

Pottery is very important
in archeology.

Pottery can lead us
to understand

the function of any place.

Narrator: As the team peel
back the layers,

more pottery is unearthed,

suggesting there
were workmen here.

Zahi brings in his
right hand man...

Field director and
fellow archeologist Afifi Rahim.

All this stuff belonged to
the daily life of the workers,

so it means there is
a big activity in this area.

Thank you.

Aisha Mohammod and her team
catalog every item.

I receive the material here
to draw it...

And record it...

And prepare everything
for the study.

Narrator: Each fragment will be
dated and sent to the lab.

The dig throws up
more and more pottery,

typical of the 18th dynasty.

We have to be patient,
and we have to keep digging

to get answers
for our questions.

Narrator:
The team wants to find out

if the huts date
from the time of Nefertiti.

And then among
all the plain fragments...

...Afifi spots
something significant,

it's a blue pigment.

A smoking gun.

This ethereal shade
of pale blue wasn't developed

until the 18th dynasty.

Hawass: All this pottery,
all of this is from Nefertiti.

Narrator: This shade of blue
is not only rare and expensive,

it is associated with one of
Nefertiti's closest relatives,

her father-in-law,
Amenhotep III.

The largest of the two finished
tombs in the western valley

belongs to Amenhotep III.

He was the wealthiest
and most powerful pharaoh

Egypt had ever seen.

Hawass: This king wanted to have
a unique place for his family

by choosing the west valley
for his period tomb.

Hartwig: Amenhotep III chose
the western valley for his tomb

because he wanted
to start a new dynasty.

He wanted to build his tomb
as far away

from the tombs of predecessors

and also Mark out a landscape
where his sons and his daughters

and the rest of the generations
would be buried

narrator:
At several thousand square feet,

Amenhotep's tomb is
one of the largest

in the valley of the kings
and reflects his great wealth.

A thin, long tomb in the rock

covered with beautiful seats

of the king
in front of many Gods.

Narrator: It's a labyrinth
of corridors and chambers.

On the walls,
a distinctive color...

...pale blue,

resembling the prized pottery
associated with Amenhotep reign.

Based on the pottery,

all of it that's found
in these huts is from Nefertiti.

No one single pottery,
19th or the 20th,

and therefore, I really
considered this valley

as a place exclusive for
Amenhotep III and his family.

Narrator: It appears the huts
were servicing

the build of an undiscovered
royal tomb nearby.

And there's more exciting news

next to the original three huts.

The shape of several more
is emerging from the dust.

There are still huts.

I didn't expect that I will find
a huge number of huts.

Narrator: So, what was thought
to be 3 huts is now, in fact, 10.

So, it means that the number
of the workers

who were in this area
was a huge number.

Narrator:
But what were they building?

Could these workers have been
constructing a tomb

worthy of a Queen?

♪♪

Zahi Hawass and his team
are four weeks

into Egypt's
biggest archeological dig.

Hartwig: If anybody can find
a tomb in the western valley,

Zahi Hawass can.

Narrator: They've uncovered
what looks like ancient huts.

Could these structures
have been used by workers

building a royal tomb for one
of Tutankhamun's family members?

Zahi hopes it will lead him
to the ultimate prize,

the lost tomb of Nefertiti,

the most iconic Queen
of ancient Egypt's golden age.

As excavators dig
around the structures,

more and more huts are revealed.

It's now looking more like
a street of stone dwellings,

up to an incredible 30 in total.

Hawass: The three houses are
only three in the map,

then we thought
this could be more huts,

but never anyone knew
this big extension

of the discovery of 30 houses.

So, exciting
to find something like this.

The walls are connected
together like a street.

Narrator: But to Afifi,

the structures don't appear
to be ordinary workers' huts.

Rahim: First, we saw that
all of this is just a hut,

but it is not normal
to find another doorway

and another subset of rooms
connected with main rooms,

Hawass:
The houses are different.

For all the workmen
have found in the east

or the west valley.

They're bigger.

Zahi thinks the structures
are too extensive

and sophisticated
to be simple workers' huts.

Could they be the remains
of a workmen's village?

Only one such settlement
has been found nearby.

One mile south of the dig
lies a unique site.

3,000-year-old Deir El-Medina.

It's isolated desert
setting is no accident.

For almost 400 years,

this was home to an elite group
of skilled builders

dedicated to a single task...
Constructing the royal tombs

in the valley of the kings.

This village is unique.

It started on dynasty 18.

It has 68 houses.

Look... the 68 houses,
each house

consists of four rooms
and a kitchen.

Hartwig: The village of Deir El-Medina
was inhabited by the workmen

who worked on
the valley of kings,

and it was a community.

It wasn't just the workmen,

but it was also their families
and their children.

Narrator: Pharaohs didn't want
to risk workers

sharing the secret location
of royal tombs with outsiders.

Hawass: This is how they cook,
they eat, they love,

they hate... everything is here.

The rooms are really big,

the houses are built
from mud brick.

Narrator: Are the 30 structures
uncovered in the west valley

a second Deir El-Medina?

Zahi is not convinced.

The 13 houses that were found

in the west valley
are completely different.

They're not rooms for
the workmen to live permanent.

I don't think that the workmen
lived in the west valley.

Narrator: If they're not
dwellings big enough for workers

and their families,

then what were these
mysterious structures for

and how might they relate
to a royal tomb?

♪♪

Afifi and the team have
uncovered an unusual feature,

a limestone slab with a hole

which almost certainly
held a door post.

This was no workman's shelter.

What was going on inside
these huts

that was so important,

it needed to be kept
under lock and key?

The answer may lie
in the artifacts

being recovered from the site.

♪♪

This is a needle.

We found it
in the house number 16.

It's made of bronze,
would be used

for making some clothes
for the king

to put it inside the tomb.

It's so rare
to find something like this.

I think there's only one needle
in a museum.

Narrator: There is even jewelry
that might have been crafted

to grace the royal mummy itself.

We have a group of beads,
different colors.

And also, we have a big bead,

but without completing
the hole inside it,

so it means unfinished.

So, maybe they were
preparing a necklace

for the Princess or the Queen.

Narrator: Finally, a piece of
evidence which takes the purpose

of the lockable huts
to a whole new level,

a tiny chip of black rock.

This represented the pupil
inside the eye in the statues.

In the old kingdom, it appeared
rounded like a circle,

but it in 18th dynasty,
this shape.

I think it's obsidian.

Narrator: A volcanic rock,
obsidian was used to craft

the eyes of Tutankhamun
in his famous death mask.

It was the greatest treasure
recovered from his tomb

and remains the most famous
Egyptian artifact in the world.

To Afifi, obsidian
can only mean one thing.

Someone was making
a royal mask in these huts.

If he's right, these stone
structures were a workshop

making luxury items
for a royal tomb.

So, we have called
these structures workmen's huts.

I think better to call them
workmen's ateliers

or perhaps artists studios
where fine-crafted work

is being conducted
like a jeweler's shop

or like a great ceramic studio.

It's very important
for the tomb to be equipped

with artifacts that the king
would use in the beyond.

Bianchi:
What makes that discovery

a little bit more momentous
is that we've now found

material in them that tell us
the function of the building.

Narrator: This is the first funerary
workshop ever found in Egypt.

Not only that, teams of artisans

were crafting funeral items
on an industrial scale...

You would have 30, 40 rooms
that are all linked together

and each room would be
in charge of a specific facet.

Narrator:
...Suggesting luxury goods

were being created for a ruler,
a king or a Queen.

♪♪

Of all the members
of Amenhotep's royal line

whose tombs are yet
to be discovered,

only one of them was a ruler...

Queen Nefertiti.

Narrator: In the search for the
missing tomb of Queen Nefertiti,

Zahi's team has made
a monumental discovery...

...the first funerary workshop
ever found in Egypt.

Hartwig: Finding this
industrial workshop,

it is unique, and it is unique
for the valley of the kings.

Narrator: 3,000 years ago,

this would have been
a buzzing hive of industry.

Teams of artisans would have
crafted luxury items

for a royal tomb.

Furniture...

Vases...

Jewelry...

Items a king or Queen
would need in the afterlife.

Hawass: Artifacts like
gold and silver

would be stored and sealed
by a door in a house like this.

Rahim: We found
many things that tell us

that they finished
funeral stuff here

before it gets
into the tomb directly.

Narrator: News of the discovery
has attracted the world's press

to this forgotten branch
of the valley.

Hawass: For the first time,
we made major discoveries.

Number one, we found
an industrial area.

30 houses were found.
Inside the houses.

We found workshops
for making pottery,

workshop for making furniture.

Narrator:
The discovery is a world first,

a game-changer
for Egyptian archeology.

And for Zahi,

it signals a crucial step
towards his ultimate dream.

♪♪

Narrator: To work out where
the tomb is in relation

to the funerary workshop,

Zahi needs to get in the mind
of an Egyptian tomb builder.

And to do that,
he has uncovered clues

written in the cliff faces
of this ancient landscape.

Geologist John Paul Zonneveld
has analyzed

how Egyptian tomb builders
use natural features in the rock

when choosing a tomb site.

The valley of the kings has
large-scale vertical fractures

that occur at regular intervals
and fault systems,

most of which are related
to the natural weakness

of the rocks themselves.

Narrator: The natural process
that formed the valley

left its limestone cliffs
riddled with fractures.

Zonneveld: The ancient Egyptians
clearly understood

the orientations
of these fractures,

and when they picked sites
for their tombs,

they are very, very careful
to find the orientation

of the fractures in the area.

Narrator: Tomb builders knew
that multiple fractures

made the rock
dangerously unstable.

Zonneveld: They avoided what we
refer to as fracture swarms.

When you have a whole bunch of
small fractures near each other,

your rocks
break into small chunks.

Finding the right
sort of fracture

could make the colossal task

of carving a tomb
out of solid rock

a whole lot easier,

as an unfinished
18th dynasty tomb

in the east valley demonstrates.

Zonneveld: It's apparent that
the ancient Egyptians

used the natural fracture
system in this mountain

to aid with tomb construction.

In this case right here,

we could see a major
fracture network

that runs all the way
along the roof right here

towards the edge
of that secondary doorway.

This is really quite amazing.
As they came down the shaft,

they clearly use
this next fracture system

as a way of creating
this beautiful tabular wall

right here,
this beautiful straight wall.

Narrator: To help him identify
which fracture patterns

could lead him to a tomb,

Zahi must get a bird's eye view
of the landscape.

And for that, he needs
to bring in technology.

Specialists will conduct

an aerial photogrammetric
survey of the valley

to produce
a highly accurate 3-d map,

Downes: We're into new territory
of accuracy

on the scale that we're at.

If we needed to,
we could go down

and you'll you'll see you'll see
small, small stones in this.

Giant model, extremely
high-resolution model.

Narrator: The data will be used
to produce

the first 3-d model
of the west valley.

It's something really amazing.

This accuracy,
it didn't exist before.

This is cutting-edge technology,

so, they think this is right?

Yeah, it's looking good to me.

Yeah, me too. Let's go.

♪♪

Narrator: The drone takes
one photo per second

of the entire valley,

from the tops of its cliffs
to its desert floor.

♪♪

It's not long before the team
can analyze the results.

The 3-d model highlights
several key fracture points

around the site
of the funerary workshops.

But Zahi is honing in
on one particular area.

It's a point where
the valley forks

only 150 feet
from the workshops.

Here, a wall of evenly
spaced large fractures,

the type favored
by tomb builders.

Could this be the final
resting place of Egypt's

most famous Queen?

He relocates his
150-strong excavation team.

It's a huge gamble.

When you deal
with Dr. Zahi Hawass,

it makes me feel pressure,

because Dr. Zahi trusts in me.

You can't say no to him.

[ Chuckles ]
You will just take his orders.

Take a breath.

[ Laughs ]

♪♪

Narrator:
Egyptologist Zahi Hawass

has just three months left

before the west valley's
brutal summer heat

will end the digging season.

♪♪

He has discovered the first
ever workshop

crafting grave goods
for a pharaoh.

But now he needs
to locate the lost tomb

they were destined for.

When you think about it
in a forensic way,

truly exciting,
because where you find huts,

you find tombs.

Narrator: To find a tomb
entrance or cut means digging

right down to the bedrock.

It won't be easy.

Parched desert canyons

are among the most
challenging places on earth

for archeologists to work...

...not because of
the lack of rain,

but what happens
to the landscape when it does.

Zonneveld: When rain starts, it
dampens the upper level of the sediment,

Clay minerals swell,
and they create a surface

that nothing can penetrate.

There's no vegetation
to hold back that water

it's a dry landscape.

And, so, everything comes
coating down these canyons.

Even if only a centimeter
of rain falls,

we're still getting around
10 liters of water

for every square meter
of surface behind us.

There are thousands
of square meters of landscape

feeding into every one
of these canyons.

It creates an amazing
erosional force

that comes through these canyons
transporting everything with it.

Narrator: Repeated flooding
over 3,000 years

has transported millions of tons
of rubble down the valley,

burying the entrances
to any hidden tombs.

In the east valley,
Howard Carter

spent seven years
clearing the valley floor

before he had any chance
of locating Tutankhamun's tomb,

the west valley remains
how the east valley

looked a century ago,

barely excavated
virgin territory.

Zahi must follow in
Carter's footsteps

and clear
three millennia of rubble

using the same method...
Muscle power.

Heavy machinery is forbidden.

It could destroy
crucial evidence.

It needs a brave archeologist,

we are brave.

The Egyptian, when they came
to the new kingdom

to choose this valley, they
thought the valley is difficult.

It's away from the people.
You have hidden areas.

It's a perfect hiding place.

Narrator: A successful dig

relies on a well-organized team
of excavators.

Leading this team,
Reis Ali is one man

who has archeology in his blood.

He's from a family
that all their lives

are connected with archeology.

[ Shouts in foreign language ]

♪♪

Narrator: After only a few days
digging at the new location,

Reis Ali stumbles on something.

I think it's not gold.

Not gold.

Maybe bronze? Maybe bronze.

During the 18th dynasty,

bronze was a highly
valued material.

Can the hieroglyphic engraving
reveal its origin?

We can't say anything now
about the owner of this ring.

We just need more cleaning.

Rahim: I was so happy.

It was really amazing
to find a big ring in this area.

A specialist
in jewelry restoration

reveals the hieroglyphs.

Zahi's first interpretation
is tantalizing.

Could this be the signature ring

of the famous Queen
of Egypt's golden age?

Nefertiti was a pivotal figure
at the heart of the royal family

of Amenhotep III.

She married
Amenhotep son, Akhenaten,

and ruled alongside him

before becoming stepmother
to Tutankhamun.

Hartwig: She was definitely
Akhenaten's partner in crime

and was part
of his religious revolution,

stood by his side
through thick and thin.

She's part of this long line
of Egyptian Queens

during the 18th dynasty
who really held their own.

Bianchi: She becomes a major,
major player

in any discussion
of the development

of that historical period,
and that's undeniable.

Hartwig: Nefertiti most likely
ruled in her own right.

We also think that
after Akhenaten died,

Nefertiti ruled for three years
before tut took the throne.

Narrator: Did this ring once
adorn the finger of a Queen?

Could the ring have been
dropped in the dust

on the way to a tomb?

Narrator:
In the remote western branch

of the valley of the kings,

Zahi's search
for the tomb of Nefertiti

is making slow progress.

It's taken several weeks
to clear 15 feet of rubble...

By hand.

♪♪

But the hard work has paid off.

Reis Ali has made
an incredible discovery.

If the ring is inscribed
with Nefertiti's royal insignia,

then this will be
a game changer,

but it's not conclusive.

The second part of the symbol
is a hieroglyph

Zahi hasn't seen before.

Nobody can translate
the title of this ring

because it's a strange title.

And nobody see
this title before.

Narrator: Afifi sends
a photograph of the ring

to hieroglyph experts.

We asked many specialists in
the ancient Egyptian language.

Narrator: Could this be the
royal crest of Queen Nefertiti?

Later that day,
one of Afifi sources

responds with a translation
of the hieroglyphs.

The one who is united
with the two masters.

Narrator: It's not Nefertiti,
but it is a royal title.

And it is from her family.

It celebrates the reign
of her father-in-law,

Amenhotep III,

the wealthiest and most powerful
pharaoh Egypt had ever known.

He commissioned more statues
and temples than any king

before him,
including the Luxor temple.

But this wasn't
his greatest influence.

He would be the catalyst
for a religious revolution.

Pharaohs were semi-divine
in life and divine and death.

What does he do? He makes
himself divine while alive.

This is a whole new game.

Narrator: Amenhotep was to
become Egypt's first living God.

Here we have the God Amun-Ra
seated on a throne,

and we've got Amenhotep III
kneeling beside him.

What Amun-Ra was doing
is he's bestowing his blessing

on the coronation
of Amenhotep III.

And you'll also note
Amenhotep III is wearing

the ram's horn that's associated
with the God Amun-Ra.

He has already joined
with the God

and is now divine while alive.

Narrator: The Luxor temple
celebrates this unification,

a powerful symbol
of his divine status.

Hartwig: Before, temples were
smaller. They were enclosed.

There wasn't as much space
as you have here,

we're in the middle
of the sun court.

This is about the celebration of
the king joining with the sun.

What Amenhotep III brings to us

is a sense of theatricality
of the king

presenting himself
in front of the throng

and proclaiming his divinity
while alive.

Narrator: 3,000 years ago,

this Godlike pharaoh would have
commanded a loyal following.

Many of Amenhotep's family
members may have worn a ring

to show their devotion
to their God king.

Hawass: People in that time,
royal and nobles,

could have the name of Amenhotep
III to be touched with him.

Narrator: It's proof that the
ring is from the right dynasty.

It also confirms that workers
have reached

beneath the flood deposits
to the precise era.

Hawass:
The west valley, in my opinion,

is the place that could contain
all the people

who are related
to Amenhotep III,

and this type of people
should have this ring.

♪♪

♪♪

As workers sift through
the dust for more clues,

they find something unusual,

a dark layer
that looks like ash.

Reis Ali: Doctor.

Narrator: Amid the ash,
Reis Ali makes a discovery.

Gold.

♪♪

He's discovered items

that Zahi thinks were destined
for a royal tomb.

It was a big surprise
to discover

these beautiful artifacts.

For example, oh,
this is very interesting.

This is gold. It's beautiful.

When the king goes to war.

He will wear a vest.

In the vest, it has decoration.

Imagine that this vest has
all these tiny bits here.

This is very rare
that you can see it.

It has a hole in here
and a hole here

for tying them
on the vest of the king.

A royal piece. Very interesting
and very important.

Let us see what else is here.

Now, in my opinion, this is
a very important discovery.

Narrator: Dozens of exquisite
glass inlays in the shape

of teardrops and arrowheads.

3,000 years ago, glass was
a highly prized material,

its manufacture was regulated
by royalty

and used to create ornaments
and decorate jewelry.

Hawass: This represents
the wings of Horus

because when you put this
on the coffin as a decoration,

it means that the king
is connected with Horus.

Narrator: The God Horus was
depicted as a falcon

and one of the most
important Egyptian deities.

As God of both
the heavens and kingship,

he was seen as the protector
of the pharaoh

and was often represented
on coffins.

Zahi wants to find out
if these glass inlays

are a match for other royal
coffins from the 18th dynasty,

confirming his hunch
means a journey to Cairo.

The Cairo museum houses
one of the largest collections

of ancient Egyptian coffins
in the world,

if Zahi can find a match
to the glass inlays,

it's further evidence that he's
on the trail to a royal tomb.

On the coffin of Nefertiti's
husband, Akhenaten,

the inlays
are virtually identical.

But what about the sarcophagus
of Nefertiti's stepson,

the most famous pharaoh of all?

It's amazing when I look
at the coffin of Tutankhamun.

If you look
at what we discovered,

you have the blue arrow
and you have the red arrow.

It's the same style,
the same color,

and actually the blue is
a typical color

dated from Amenhotep III.

Narrator: The inlays
aren't just similar,

they are an exact match
in every way.

It's proving it's royal.

I am not losing the hope
the tomb is there.

Narrator:
The next big question is where.

Narrator: It's Egypt's biggest
dig in a century.

Bianchi: We know that archeology

doesn't always have
a "Eureka" moment.

I mean, it takes time...

Patience...

Dedication...

Determination...

To be able to reach
an objective.

Zahi's determined
that he will find

whatever may be hidden
in the west valley.

The west valley,
it's a perfect place

to fit with the mind
of the ancient Egyptian.

Their mind is to hide a tomb...
Security.

It could be protected.
It could be intact.

Narrator: Perhaps even the tomb
of the most iconic Queen

of the 18th dynasty.

The location of Queen
Nefertiti's missing tomb

is one of Egypt's
greatest unsolved mysteries,

Bianchi: The imagination runs
wild when one tries to predict

what would be found
in the tomb of Nefertiti.

The expectation is, yes,

let's hope
that if it is complete,

we'll find beautiful objects

because we know dynasty 18,
the reign of Amenhotep III

to ay is the high
watermark of Egyptian art.

That's why it's so highly prized

by museums and collectors.

Zahi is not the only one
on the hunt for the tomb.

Back in 2015,
a new twist to the tale.

British archeologist
Nicholas Reeves

suggested that her remains
might lie in a chamber

hidden inside
Tutankhamun's tomb.

I go where the evidence
takes me,

and the evidence
at the moment suggests

there may be another doorway

behind the west wall
of the burial chamber.

Narrator:
But no such chamber was found,

Zahi has his own theory.

He thinks the Nefertiti hunters
are looking in the wrong place

and that her tomb
lies in the west valley.

Zahi believes that when tut's
powerful grandfather

Amenhotep III
sited his tomb here,

he was making a statement,

inaugurating the west valley
as the new burial ground

for all his family.

He wanted to start
a new dynasty.

He wanted to build his tomb

as far away from the tombs
of predecessors

and also Mark out a landscape
where his sons and his daughters

and the rest of the generations
would be buried.

Narrator: Supporting this theory

is one of the dynasty's
final rulers,

king ay, king tut's successor.

Ay located his tomb at the other
end of the west valley,

not far from Zahi's dig site.

Hawass: I really love this tomb.

The scenes here are beautiful.

Daily life scenes.
Ay is in his boat.

Narrator: But if the west valley
was the family burial ground,

why wasn't Tutankhamun
laid to rest here?

King ay's tomb holds a clue.

I believe that this tomb was
originally made for Tutankhamun.

The reason that I think
it is connected

with the tomb of Tutankhamun
is this scene...

The same scene
of the 12 baboons.

It's exactly the same
in the tomb of Tutankhamun.

Most of us believe
that this tomb

was originally made for him.

He wanted to be
beside his grandfather,

and therefore he built this tomb
in this area.

The sudden death
of Tutankhamun meant

this tomb was not ready for him.

Ikram: The fact that Tutankhamun
was buried

in the small,
awkwardly shaped tomb for a king

in the valley of the kings
has led to endless speculation

that he died very quickly,

and so he had to be
hastily buried.

His successor, ay, decided,

"oh, I'll put you
in the small tomb

and to take the tomb
in the west valley

that's been cut for you,
and I will take that over."

Narrator:
And there's another reason

why Zahi thinks that the
missing tomb of Queen Nefertiti

will be found like ay's tomb
in the west valley.

She is widely believed to have
been king ay's daughter.

[ Shouting in foreign language ]

Back at the dig site...

A worker sifting through layers

of ancient debris
raises the alarm.

He's found a second ring,

Afifi and jewelry
specialist Mahmood

take a closer look.

After you clean this ring,

which material do you
think it's made of?

The material may be silver.

The ring will need testing
to confirm it is made of silver,

but if Mahmood is right,

it would be
a highly significant find.

Silver is so rare
in ancient Egypt,

so it is more valuable
than the gold.

Ancient Egypt was rich in gold.

There were plenty of mines
in the eastern desert.

But silver had to be imported
from Syria and Greece,

making it more precious
to Egyptian kings than gold.

Bianchi: We have commodity lists
from ancient Egypt,

silver is habitually
listed above gold.

So, the Egyptians believed
that silver

was the more precious
of the precious materials.

Did you work in something like
this before in other sites.

No. No. No.

I worked in many sites before.

I never find
any silver object before.

This is the first time
to find something silver.

Narrator: It's not just its rarity
that makes this ring exciting.

And from the shape,
we can say it is a female ring.

I think it is something
special to find this ring here.

If silver is the most
precious material,

and we find a ring,
small diameter

to be able to fit what we think
is a petite hand,

not a masculine hand,

we might suggest
that the ring belonged

to a royal female
member of the court.

Narrator: Could this precious
ring have belonged to a Queen?

Could it even have adorned
the finger of Nefertiti herself?

Narrator:
Egyptologist Zahi Hawass

is on the mission of a lifetime.

To find the lost tomb
of an 18th dynasty Queen.

His search has
just been boosted.

By the discovery
of a woman's ring

which looks like silver.

Silver was more valuable
than gold in ancient Egypt

and so rare that it was often
intermixed with other metals.

Time to see whether
the ring silver content

is pure enough for a Queen.

An X-ray fluorescence machine

will analyze the ring's
chemical composition.

X-rays beamed onto the ring

will detect how much silver
it contains.

♪♪

The ring is 97% pure silver.

A ring of such high silver
content is an incredible find.

Silver was a really rare
commodity in Egypt

because it needed
to be imported.

Gold was literally
in the backyard.

We think about tut and all the
objects that he was buried with.

Only five were silver.

Narrator: This vase is one
of those five silver items

found in Tutankhamun's tomb.

It is now housed
in the research labs

of Cairo's
grand Egyptian museum.

Narrator: It's the first time
since its discovery in 1922

that this 3,000 year old vase

has been analyzed
with X-ray technology.

Okay, start.

[ Device beeps ]

Hawass: 81% silver.

Yes, there's a difference
between them.

Okay.

Incredibly, the silver vase
discovered in king tut's tomb

is not as pure
as the silver ring

uncovered by Zahi.

The design of the ring

also gives a clue
to its provenance.

It mimics a painting discovered

in the palace of Amenhotep III.

Bianchi:
A ring decorated with spirals...

That is a particular royal motif

that is associated
with the court of Amenhotep III.

I think we have
a smoking gun here.

Maybe we do have the tomb

of a female member
of the dynasty

still to be discovered
in the valley.

This is a major boost
to Zahi's theory.

Hawass: It seems that
this person was important enough

to be able to have
a silver ring.

The ring was being used for
the deceased Queen to wear it

in the afterlife.

♪♪

Narrator: Months into the dig,

Zahi has found plenty
of fascinating artifacts...

But no sign of a tomb.

And the temperature is rising.

In a few weeks,
the heat will bring an end

to the digging season.

Under pressure to discover
a royal tomb,

the team widens their dig area.

But before long,
they encounter a problem,

excavators uncover the opening
to what looks like a shaft,

but there is something
blocking their path.

And if you look
at the shape of the stone,

it looks like the shape
of the pit itself.

So, it means this was used
as a cover for this pit.

Narrator: Before Zahi and Afifi
can be totally sure,

they need to keep digging.

But first, workers have to move
the huge Boulder

without it rolling back
into the shaft.

We need to excavate all the area
underneath of this huge stone.

But our problem now...
How to move this stone.

No, I have special workers.
[ Laughs ]

Very strong and very smart

they have a good experience
with this kind of work.

[ Men chanting ]

They will do it.

All the work that you see here,
moving stones, digging.

It is ancient
Egyptian technique.

Pushing the stone
with wooden sledges,

ropes to pull,

and they're singing,
"push... Push... Push!"

[ Men chanting ]

[ Shouts in foreign language ]

And it's done.

[ Cheers and applause ]

It is ancient
Egyptian technique,

narrator: Only 100 feet from
the excavation,

Afifi calls Zahi to the scene
of an eerie discovery.

It looks like a mummy.

♪♪

♪♪

This looks like part of a body.

[ Conversing
in foreign language ]

Narrator:
It looks like human remains.

Clues found in the same layer

allows Zahi to estimate
the date.

You look at the pottery
that we found near this mummy,

the blue-decorated pottery
is a typical dynasty 18.

I think you are in front
of an important discovery

that will reveal
important evidence for us,

narrator: But are these mummified
remains from the 18th dynasty?

If they are,
Zahi could be on the verge

of a huge breakthrough.

Narrator: Zahi Hawass is
on a quest to find tombs

of the lost female members
of Tutankhamun's royal line.

Really, he's leaving
no stone unturned.

So, if there is a tomb
to be found,

I am sure that he would find it,

narrator: The discovery
of what looks like

a mummified body
part poses more questions.

What's it doing here
out in the open?

Afifi calls in an expert.

Dr. Zeinab hasheesh
is a specialist

in analyzing
ancient mummy remains.

It's easy to record
a complete mummy,

but it's very difficult
to record tiny pieces of bones

and mummified remains.

Narrator:
There's not much to go on,

but Zeinab establishes
the remains are a hip, thigh,

and knee joint
belonging to an adult.

Hasheesh: In this case,
this is the left side.

And, also, this
is very interesting here.

There is flesh and ligaments.

This is the skin.

And on the top of the skin,
a soft layer of resin.

The ancient Egyptians
believed that a person's Ka,

their spirit,

could survive death
and live on in the afterlife

if their body
was perfectly preserved.

Ikram: Mummification was one
of the most important parts

of the funerary rituals

because, of course, you needed
your body to be preserved

so your soul could animate it,
and you could enjoy

all the benefits
of this world in the next.

Narrator: Mummification was
a long and expensive process

that used a mineral salt
called natron.

Ikram: They would take out
your internal organs,

wash you out with palm wine,

and then using this natron,
they would dry you.

And then after 40 days
when you were dry,

they'd remove you from the
natron, sort of dust you off.

And it makes you really stiff.

So, after that,
they would have to take

some oils and unguents,

massage them into the body
to give you some flexibility.

And also wrap you in multiple,

multiple layers of pure linen.

And they put amulets
and jewelry,

so after the total of 70 days,
you are a mummy.

Narrator: And the more
important you were,

the more time and money
was spent on the process,

providing a critical clue
to this money, social status.

Hasheesh: They spent a lot
of money to get this result

of mummification.

From the treatment of the body,

I assume it's elite royalty.

But to be sure,
we should do analysis.

It looks likely that the mummy
fragment could be royal,

and the pottery found
nearby dates it to broadly

the right era, but Afifi saved
the big question till last.

Is it male or female?

If we take the width
of this wall,

we can know
if it's a female or male.

So, she's female.

She's female. Good.

I hope so.

Narrator: For Zahi,
it's another boost to his theory

that the west valley
is home to the missing tombs

of Tutankhamun's wife, sisters,

and his illustrious
stepmother, Nefertiti.

But it's a bittersweet
discovery,

finding what could be the mummy
of a royal female

out in the open

proves that the tomb it
was buried in has been looted.

The lure of treasure-
filled royal tombs

made the valley of the kings
a magnet

for ancient Egyptian
tomb raiders.

After stripping the tomb
of its valuables,

they would abandon anything
they couldn't sell,

including the mummified body.

This was the sad state

that befell Tutankhamun's
own grandmother.

In 1898, archeologists
came across 12 mummies stored

in a side chamber of someone
else's tomb in the east valley.

They had been reburied there

after their original
resting place was looted.

Among them, a mummy with the
chest and abdomen torn open,

possibly by tomb raiders
searching for ritual amulets.

She was later found
to be Queen Tiye,

the great royal wife
of Amenhotep III.

She now lies
in the Cairo museum.

This mummy was found
behind a wall in KV35.

We did compare DNA
with Yuya and Tjuyu

the father
and the mother of Queen Tiye,

and we found they're identical.

This proves that this lady

was actually Queen Tiye.

If you look at her statues,

that she's almost equal
to the king,

and this to show her power
on Amenhotep III.

He loved her.

Narrator: Even found
in the wrong tomb,

recovering her mummy
allowed archeologists

to correctly identify
Queen Tiye.

Could the mummy fragments
found by Zahi's team

belonged to another
of tut's female relatives,

even Nefertiti herself?

Zeinab, you are sure
that this is a female?

Hasheesh: Yes, I am sure.

Okay. Now, in your opinion,
what dynasty?

I think it's from 18 dynasty

because the mummification
techniques is perfect.

The layers that they used
to wrap this mummy,

it has 15 layers of linen,
three different kinds of linen.

What does this mean?

This means it's a royal

because they use
a lot of techniques

to take care of this mummy.

And I really believe
when I saw this

the mummification is perfect.

Do you think that this piece
could be of a Princess, a lady?

Yeah.

Because this is
beautifully mummified.

It could be belonged to a Queen.

Yeah.

Narrator:
It's all just as Zahi hoped.

But Zeinab has observed
something else intriguing

about the mummy.

She was overweight.

Because we have here
folded in in the skin here

and here and here.

Towards the end
of the 18th dynasty,

king Akhenaten and his wife,
Queen Nefertiti,

brought sweeping changes
to Egyptian culture,

introducing what's called
the Amarna period.

Hartwig: Akhenaten was known
as the heretic pharaoh.

He took all of the Egyptian Gods
and boiled them down to one,

the sun disc, the Aton.

Narrator: As well as making the
sun God Aton the prime deity,

there was a new ideal of beauty.

Royal women,
previously portrayed as slender,

became noticeably
more curvaceous,

their hips and thighs
growing fatter,

this pear shaped
Queen is Nefertiti herself.

Could the fat-hipped mummy
be Nefertiti?

If so, Zahi could be
within touching distance

of Egyptologists
most elusive prize,

the tomb of Egypt's
most iconic Queen.

♪♪

Narrator: Zahi is returning to
the west valley

with incredible news.

Experts have confirmed that
the mummy fragment found here

belongs to a royal female
from the right period.

It may even be the remains
of Nefertiti herself.

Work has been intensified
on the area

around the mummy find
to reach the bedrock.

Zahi's hopes lie
on finding a cut

leading to a tomb's entrance.

But Zahi is met with bad news.

The workers have reached the
bedrock with no sign of a tomb.

It's a huge blow.

I think this area is
finished now,

but in our work,
you shouldn't give up.

Narrator: Zahi reassesses the
mysterious ash layers found here

alongside gold artifacts
and glass inlays.

He comes to the conclusion the
area was a tomb raiders' camp.

They would bring
looted sarcophagi here

and burned them down to recover
precious metals and gems,

which means the fragment
of female mummy

could have originated
anywhere in the valley.

It's time to move the dig.

But where? The west valley
is a vast area.

Rahim: If we wanted to check
all the valley,

it will need many years.

Hawass: We have to be patient.

We have to wait until
the right moment comes,

then we'll discover it.

A great discovery,
in my opinion, will happen.

Narrator:
There are only 10 days left

until the end
of the digging season.

But Zahi has a plan.

Until now, he's focused
his search for the tombs

of the missing royal women

close to the tomb
of Nefertiti's father, king ay.

Now he's moving closer
to the valley's other royal tomb

built for Amenhotep III,

the 18th dynasties
greatest king.

Now, the important area
for us to concentrate

is the area of Amenhotep III,

the perfect place to host
all the tombs of his family.

Narrator: The new dig site
is a location

where the valley widens up
to a width of 450 feet.

In one last throw of the dice,

Zahi splits his 150-strong
workforce into 10 groups

and assigns
each of them a patch.

They start to dig test trenches

where the valley floor
meets the cliffs,

the place where tomb builders

would have sited
a tomb entrance.

Reis Ali, is on the lookout

for the telltale signs
of tool marks in the rock.

Narrator: In just a few days,

the summer heat
will become unbearable,

and they must pack up.
And leave.

Then, with just three days
to go, a breakthrough.

♪♪

Ancient chisel marks
gouged into the rock.

Further digging reveals a site

that gives Zahi goose bumps.

Look at the chisels here,
the marks that you see,

evidence of the cutting,

then this is only cut
in the rock.

Then all of this,
it's completely clear

it was made by the ancient
Egyptian and dynasty 18.

Compared it with
what Howard Carter found

at the entrance
of the tomb of Tutankhamun.

It was completely identical.

And I did not sleep at all.

The entrance is
an entrance of a tomb.

Narrator: Artifacts found
at the bottom of the cut

support Zahi's theory...

Including a pottery fragment
that hints at royal secrets.

What's here? Seated monkey.

He's raising his hands,
and he's closing his mouth.

It means the monkey
is giving directions.

No one can talk
about the royal tomb.

It's hidden
in a very special place

that no one can talk about it.

Narrator: The monkey drawing

echoes imagery found
in the tombs

of king ay and Tutankhamun.

And there's more.

This ancient tool
had a very specific purpose.

Amazing... a tool
that captured my heart.

The Egyptian will use this
for carving scenes

and inscriptions in the tombs

that they could take the paint
from this pottery vessel.

They put it in the wall,
and they smooth the wall.

Was this, tool.

We have one tool like this found
in the valley of the kings.

It is now
with the British museum.

We are in front
of an important discovery.

We are revealing history
and history can be seen

that this was used
3,000 years ago

in the time of dynasty 18
for constructing a royal tomb.

Look at this animal skin.

This has been hidden
under the sand for 3,000 years.

Narrator:
So, what are they doing here?

Zahi believes that the builders
completed a tomb

before ritually
burying their tools

and other materials
in the abandoned cut.

Suggesting a royal tomb
lies close by,

the strongest evidence of all

is this pair
of unassuming wooden Poles.

This is important evidence,
which is a clue

to tell us
what we're going to discover.

Narrator: They look like
carrying Poles

similar to ones found
in Tutankhamun's tomb

where they were used
to carry a shrine.

Even more intriguing is the
hieroglyph carved into the wood.

It's a word called "nb twy,"

meaning the king
of the two lands,

upper and lower Egypt.

The title, nb twy,
refers to a ruler

and could be male or female.

So, when you find
an inscription that says,

lord of the two lands,

as we found
on a wooden artifact,

the possibility that it could
refer to a female is plausible.

Narrator: Could the Poles belong
to the royal tomb

of Queen Nefertiti?

To Zahi, it means he could be
just yards from the lost tomb

of the most elusive Queen
of the 18th dynasty, Nefertiti.

Hawass: We are in front of
a major important discovery.

We are going to make
the whole world to wait

until we show another tomb

similar to the tomb
of Tutankhamun.

[ Cheers and applause ]

Narrator: The digging season is
over, but Zahi and his team

can leave the mysterious
west valley feeling optimistic.

They have revealed a royal mummy
ripped from her tomb by raiders,

priceless rings
worthy of royalty,

rare glass inlays
and gold jewelry,

the first ever workshop complex
making treasure for royal tombs,

and a ritual burial of workers'
tools revealing that Zahi is

tantalizingly close
to discovering a royal tomb.

In four months,
they will resume their quest

for the 3,000-year-old tomb
of Egypt's Queen Nefertiti.