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00:00in the heart of a sacred necropolis we're going to have to remove this very slowly
00:08archaeologists discover a unique tomb inside a sarcophagus that has been sealed for over
00:162 000 years this is very important for us be careful be careful be careful they are trying
00:26to uncover clues about how the ancient egyptians used spells and magic to protect both the body and
00:33soul the mummy has part of the face with gold leaf and has gold leaf here the neck really this is
00:43amazing the tomb of tutankhamun the final resting place of egypt's most famous pharaoh
01:00the discovery of this treasure trove captivated the globe and the mysterious death of some of those
01:08who opened tutankhamun's tomb sparked rumors of a dangerous magic the curse of the mummy
01:15what lay behind this story
01:19today archaeologists hunt for clues to how the ancient egyptians used curses and spells to protect the dead
01:30and their tombs investigating why this magic was so important in ancient egypt and whether it had
01:39any hand in the fate of those who opened the tomb of tutankhamun
01:44230 miles north of luxor at the vast necropolis of oxyrhynchus
01:55spanish archaeologists and egyptologists esther pons mayado and maite mascot roca are excavating a
02:04complex series of tombs
02:05esther and maite have worked together for over two decades
02:13they hope to uncover evidence of the many ways this community sought to protect their dead
02:25both physical and mystical for this they need to find well-preserved tombs but underground here
02:34conditions are damp and humid causing mummies and artifacts to deteriorate
02:39despite this esther and maite have had some astonishing success
02:45last season the duo made one of the most incredible discoveries ever found at oxyrhynchus
02:58this is amazing a richly decorated mummy wow beautiful stunningly wrapped in beautifully preserved
03:06colored material known as cartonnage
03:09very good very very good
03:14the cartonnage showed evidence of how the ancient egyptians believed in the magic of a protective god
03:22on the abdomen was the winged goddess newt
03:27for them it's very important to be protected with the gods and with the goddess
03:34it's very important in the afterlife
03:35this year they want to uncover more of these tombs
03:45that might reveal how the people here protected the deceased
03:48and help guide their souls to the afterlife
03:51the team has discovered a shaft which they hope leads to a burial chamber
04:01it's taken esther's team 12 hours to reach a depth of seven and a half feet
04:12but there's still no sign of a tomb
04:21finally a stone lintel emerges from the sand
04:28an indication that this could be a doorway
04:31we want to find a drawing a picture a decoration on the wall and inscriptions and why not objects
04:42of course mummies and perhaps some sarcophagi
04:49the key moment will be when we open the door and to see what happened inside
04:53in the valley of the kings
05:03egyptologist arto belegdanian is investigating the truth behind the popular idea of the curse of the mummy
05:13by the early 20th century western explorers had unearthed 62 tombs of pharaohs and noble families in this valley
05:23however there was still one king in particular that howard carter and his sponsor lord carnarvon
05:32suspected was buried here in the valley of the kings but whose tomb remained yet undiscovered
05:40they were searching for it they were searching for the boy king pharaoh tutankhamun
05:50when carter and his colleagues finally unearthed an entrance in november 1922
05:55there was an immediate sense that they weren't alone
06:01in utter darkness humid air howard carter and lord carnarvon stood here in front of this doorway
06:10carter carter writes in his diary i widened the breach the hot air escaping caused the candle to flicker
06:22you have to remember you have to imagine them in this setting almost
06:28witnessing the tomb breathing exhaling for the first time in three thousand years
06:34when they finally entered the burial chamber they made one of the most spectacular archaeological
06:42discoveries of all time
06:43but just weeks later carnarvon died suddenly in cairo the world's press went wild with
06:53speculation that carnarvon had fallen victim to the pharaoh's curse
06:58arto searches the tomb walls to see if there is any reference to a curse
07:08everyone who comes in here they're awestruck by these beautiful paintings
07:13but what they miss is hiding in plain sight
07:20carved into the walls are niches that held sacred bricks covered with powerful protective spells
07:29the northern niche held a shabti a bodyguard to wrestle attackers
07:36in the west a figure of anubis guardian of the dead and their bodies
07:43in the south a jed pillar a powerful talisman to aid rebirth into the afterlife
07:52and in the east a figure of osiris the all-powerful lord of the underworld
07:59together they were intended to repel tutankhamun's enemies from all directions as his soul journeyed
08:06through the underworld
08:09the focus is to protect the king against supernatural malevolent forces that would disturb the king in
08:17his slumber and his journey to the afterlife while tutankhamun was clearly well protected by magic and spells
08:27there are no mentions of a curse on the walls of the tomb
08:30so where did this idea come from arto thinks clues may be hidden in other tombs here in the valley of the kings
08:39in the heart of the oxyrhynchus necropolis
08:51esther and maite's team has dug down 11 feet to reach the base of the shaft
08:55now the workers go up and now maite and i go down to see what happened
09:03they can now look in through the entrance of the newly opened tomb
09:13through the gap they catch a glimpse of a remarkable inner chamber
09:27unseen for over 2 000 years it's incredible the picture of this wall the decoration
09:36esther needs to get into the tomb only then will she see the full extent of the decoration and treasures
09:43inside and learn more about what magic has been invoked here
09:47really this is amazing it's the first time that we have found this kind of decoration
09:59at dear el bahari on the west bank of the nile stands the vast theban necropolis dominated by the
10:08huge temple of queen hatshepsut
10:10polish egyptologist patrick hujik first began working at this site 12 years ago
10:21and this season he's tracking down the lost burial place of another important egyptian queen
10:28i'm looking for the tomb of queen mary tamen the wife and sister of
10:32pharaoh amenhotep the first from the early 18th dynasty just like tutankhamun queen mary tamen's tomb
10:41was discovered in the early 20th century by a contemporary of howard carter called herbert winlock
10:52acting on a hunch in early 1929 winlock and his team started digging through the hillside
10:59next to hatshepsut's temple after six weeks of toil they found it tucked away beneath the temple
11:14although the riches had been robbed in antiquity winlock found a vast cedarwood coffin over 10 feet long
11:23inside it a second coffin half the size of the first and almost as lavish
11:30and inside that the mummy of the queen herself
11:38despite the stories at this time of a mummy's curse winlock survived unscathed
11:45but without modern gps technology the tomb's location was lost under debris falling from the cliffs
11:52now patrick is hoping to find it once again to see what winlock may have missed and add to the story of
12:01this magnificent temple complex i'm privileged to uncover the history from the ancient times but also
12:08the uncovered steps taken by the early archaeologist we will try to find out where the tomb is located
12:17and we will try to re-explore it once again patrick has studied the records of winlock's dig
12:24and he's found a clue to help him get started a photograph from the time identifying the excavation site
12:33so looking at the middle portico and the edge of the northern colonnade i think that the roughly the tomb
12:41should be located just to the north of the edge of the bedrock i have a rough location so
12:50now i'm gonna ask the workers to start to dig there hoping that soon we will find the mouth of the shaft
12:57in the valley of the kings arto has found no evidence of a curse written anywhere in tutankhamun's tomb
13:15so he's come to one of the most magnificent burial sites in the valley the tomb of ramses the sixth
13:21is lavish decorations hold clues to how the ancient egyptians believed magic could protect the body
13:30and soul after death the ancient egyptians believed that upon death the soul and the body would part ways
13:42but they would rejoin each other at night time and the tomb well it was as a home for the body
13:52so all this decoration here it is not intended for human visitors but in fact for the soul of the
14:00deceased king among the many inscriptions left here to be read by the pharaoh's soul
14:07are further hints as to what he was protecting himself from this is from the book of caverns and this is
14:17in fact a depiction of what one might call hell this was a guide a map that the soul of the deceased king
14:27would use to reach the afterlife overcoming the dangers along the way and the enemies of the gods as well
14:37ancient egyptians imagined the underworld as a series of caves
14:42where brutal deities were waiting to punish the wicked
14:48a goddess called the slaughterer would have the damned dismembered and boiled in huge cauldrons
14:56for those who strayed from the path death and destruction waited at every turn
15:01like torrents of water that would drown the sinful
15:05but for the righteous cavern deities could offer light and food guiding them through this hellish
15:12landscape inching ever closer to eternal life
15:16but looking after the soul alone wasn't enough in order to be reborn into the afterlife for all
15:27eternity the soul needed an intact body to return to
15:33so it was vital the deceased physical form was kept safe too
15:37this is the king's sarcophagus its role was to contain and protect the body of the deceased king
15:48if anything were to happen to the burial chamber the sarcophagus or the body within well this would
15:58disrupt the entire cycle of death and rebirth of the soul resulting in a second and final death
16:09the ancient egyptians believed magic and spells were essential
16:13to get through the underworld and into the afterlife
16:15next arthur wants to investigate the role magic played in protecting the body of the deceased from intruders
16:31at the oxyrhynchus necropolis it's the day esther and maite have been waiting for
16:37the war finally after three days shifting tons of sand rocks and debris they have access to the tomb
16:48they hope it will tell them more about how the ancient egyptians believed magic spells and curses
16:54protected the body and guided the soul so they could reunite in the afterlife
16:59esther is the first to enter for over 2 000 years
17:16oh i think it's really amazing this tomb is a very good construction
17:23esther first ventures into one of the two smaller side chambers
17:27this ceiling vaulted ceiling is complete there are three room and this hole the floor is of stones
17:39these rooms are plain and undecorated wow here many many movies quite unlike the main funerary chamber
17:50which lies ahead it's amazing really i can't say what i feel in this moment
18:07just over the river from luxor at dear el bahari patrick is searching for the lost tomb of queen merita moon
18:17discovered in the 1920s a few years after carter found the tomb of tutankhamun
18:25we are clearing the debris until we reach the level of the bedrock then following the bedrock
18:30we'll try to find the edges of the shaft that's going to be the sign that finally we found the tomb
18:37it's hardly surprising patrick's team is having difficulty locating the ancient queen's burial chamber
18:46it was never meant to be found
18:48akmos merita moon lived around 1500 bce the great wife and sister of pharaoh amenhotep the first
19:04the pair amassed great wealth and wanted to take it with them to their graves
19:08it's thought that to keep their riches safe from looters amenhotep built his tomb not in a pyramid
19:17but in a secluded secret valley and merita moon was buried in an unmarked crypt
19:24dug deep into the rocks just outside of thebes in the hope she would never be disturbed
19:31although the ancient egyptians believed magic and spells would protect a tomb
19:41they knew that physically hiding it would help
19:47patrick's team must sift through all this rubble searching for any sign they might be getting close
19:53i see that we are about 30 centimeters beneath the mouth of the shaft on the western edge and it is
20:02still filled with more than rubbish so i didn't expect that they will go so deep
20:09the workers have been digging for eight days and have shifted many tons of rock
20:16we reached the level of something really strange something which looks like a seal of the shaft made of
20:23rocks mixed with cement so it seems to be something like a protection of the shaft which might be beneath
20:30of it sometimes after finishing their excavations archaeologists like winlock and carter would
20:39carefully seal the mouth of a tomb ensuring that anything they'd stored inside would remain protected
20:47it's more exciting because if it was left by winlock
20:49it can mean that something important was left by him inside the tomb
20:57but before he can uncover what secrets are hiding underneath patrick must clean and document the slab
21:05the question is what is beneath the seal
21:15in oxyrhynchus
21:19esther is finally able to explore the newly discovered elaborately decorated tomb
21:24it's really amazing to see this decoration with inscription with the images of god's goddess
21:39we can see a nudist in front with the disease from the entrance esther had only seen one image
21:51this is the owner the name is beneath anubis guardian of the dead is the holder of the tomb
22:03their face covered in gold leaf it seems to be the burial chamber of a wealthy family
22:10it's the first time that you have this ceiling totally decorated with this color blue color
22:19with the boats and with the goddess and the condition of the decoration is very good
22:27the painted figure is the mystical sky goddess newt who the ancient egyptians believed would magically
22:34protect the deceased this is the same goddess they found on the cartonnage in a neighboring tomb last year
22:46it's a unique this funeral chamber we are very very happy really and beneath the decorated walls
22:55another essential source of evidence for the archaeologists
22:59we have four sarcophagi of stones one is open but the other three are closed and this is very important
23:09for us because we'll be the first time that we open after more or less 2400 years
23:19lying on top of the four sarcophagi are six more mummies four adults and two children
23:26the tomb has been reused on a mass scale sometime after the initial burial
23:35and the hot humid conditions have deteriorated these bodies
23:43the unit is very very high it is more than 90 percent it's very difficult to to work here
23:49the atmosphere also forces esther to leave but this is one of the most incredible finds of her career
24:00we are very excited and we think will be amazing and very emotional to see the diseases inside the
24:08sarcophagi
24:09on the west bank of the nile in the ancient necropolis at dear el bahari
24:21patrick is searching for the tomb of queen merita moon
24:27this mysterious burial was uncovered in the years after the curse of tutankhamun frenzy
24:33but then it was lost to the sands of time we reached very strange level of a few limestone slabs
24:42covered with a thin layer of cement and then we have a few mad bricks and something which looks like a
24:50hidden pipe in the ground his team clears the red mud bricks to expose the bigger slabs beneath
24:58so it's not easy to remove them they were fitted perfectly here
25:13so sand sand beneath
25:19one second because it seems that we reached the level of the bedrock
25:23so this is not the tomb of merita moon patrick sees his discovery go from the magical to the mundane
25:34the pipe and the floor and the sand beneath was the foundation of something like a bathroom
25:42this is just a bathroom
25:49oh gosh this is part of a modern structure built in the years after winlock's original excavation
26:00merita moon's tomb may not be protected by spells but the team is still no closer to finding it
26:06patrick patrick's only choice is to go back to winlock's photograph and start again
26:16so many things has been changed here around and it is hard to to find the precise location
26:24of the gentleman who stood next to the shaft in the time of winlock
26:28he gets one of his team to recreate the position of the man in the picture
26:35so the guy is standing much farther to the west
26:45so it might be the place patrick's team immediately starts digging in the new location
26:52we still have a hope that in the next days we'll be able to find the shaft it must be somewhere here
27:04in luxor
27:07arto is investigating how the ancient egyptians used spells to guide and protect their souls on the
27:14treacherous journey through the underworld
27:16now he wants to investigate how magic was used to deter people from entering a tomb and interfering with the body of the deceased
27:28these gigantic statues known as the colossi of memnon represent king amenhotep the third the probable grandfather of tutankhamun himself
27:41the vast temple that once stood here was built for amenhotep the third by the overseer of the king's works
27:52outside his tomb was this stela a limestone block it is inscribed with potent words cursing would-be intruders
28:02the sea will engulf their bodies the water of the nile will not be poured for them as a libation
28:13their sons will not inherit their places they will be condemned to the knife on the day of massacre
28:21their bodies will decay because they will suffer from hunger and have no food and their bodies will perish
28:33this threat was the worst curse that could be cast against an ancient egyptian
28:39the soul needs the body as a home for it so if the body is destroyed as the curse here threatens
28:49well that means no afterlife the threat of magic against any disturbance of the dead was intended as a
28:58powerful deterrent spells and curses weren't only reserved for tombs they were an important part of
29:06everyday life too ancient egyptians believed magical objects like the stone of horus could be used to heal
29:15the sick and protect the living and magic could also have a darker purpose it could be invoked to destroy a
29:24person's afterlife by writing spells and the names of their enemies on clay objects now imbued with dark magic
29:34ancient egyptians would violently destroy these objects
29:39and then bury them in the dirt so the name of the cursed would be forgotten dooming their soul for all
29:48eternity
29:54in the minds of the ancient egyptians magically potent words had effective purpose actually real life
30:05consequences
30:08when egyptologists discovered evidence that the ancient egyptians used spells and curses
30:14it caught the imagination of the public this reached a peak with the discovery of tutankhamun's tomb
30:22you can imagine why the journalists in the 1920s were so excited about the potential idea that maybe
30:31lord carnarvon was killed by a curse of tutankhamun lord carnarvon died just months after opening the tomb
30:41so what did kill him and was his death in any way linked to the discovery of tutankhamun's tomb
30:57just outside the hatshepsu temple terminus at dear el bahari after an extra month of digging
31:05patrick has finally uncovered what he thinks is the passageway that leads to the lost tomb of queen
31:13ahmos merita moon it was not easy because we had to remove tons of rock rubble but we didn't give up
31:25when winlock first entered this tomb in 1929 it was an astonishing discovery
31:31today nearly 100 years later patrick is following in his footsteps
31:42right below the northern colonnade of hatshepsut's temple
31:46the tomb of merita moon extends only 55 feet into the hillside
31:51the descending passage leads directly to an antechamber and finally the queen's crypt just a few paces from the entrance
32:03child's play for any robber to reach
32:05the abyss tomb has a classic ancient egyptian feature
32:15a shaft dug deep down into the rock blocking the only path to merita moon's burial chamber
32:23the ancient egyptian archdioces they tried to do everything to protect the body it had to remain intact forever
32:37the shaft posed a formidable obstacle for intruders trying to get to the burial chamber beyond
32:44but it was also an ingenious feat of engineering
32:48designed to trap flood water and prevent it from reaching the queen's coffin
32:53years ago the heavy rains were coming to egypt every year so they decided to to
33:00carry it out this well here to collect all the water to not let the water to go inside
33:07the ancient egyptians took no chances in keeping the physical body safe from harm
33:13as well as spells and magic to protect the deceased they carefully engineered their tombs to give the soul
33:21the best chance of recognizing the body and reuniting in the afterlife
33:31and these protections are still working patrick will have to wait until next season
33:37to finally enter the burial chamber of queen merita moon we'll have to build a construction inside
33:45to get an access to the burial crypt it's going to be not easy and it will take a lot of time
33:56deep underground in the oxyrhynchus necropolis
33:59alexis esther continues her investigation into this complex burial site
34:09she wants to uncover how the occupants of this tomb believed magic and spells would protect both
34:15their bodies and their souls after death there are these small circles of gold leaf esther and
34:24anthropologist francesca are meticulously collecting fragments of gold leaf before they open the lid
34:33it's a delicate work now and after in the laboratory also this gold leaf was once part of a mummy's
34:42cartonnage an elaborate painted funerary wrapping the gold is a very expensive and this tell us that
34:50the people that what's buried here are important people in the community the gold was more than just
35:00an indicator of wealth it held symbolic and magical significance too
35:08for the ancient egyptians gold's natural properties its resistance to corrosion and incorruptible luster
35:15were linked to immortality and the divine and they believed it also possessed magical properties
35:23when used on funerary masks it would ensure the deceased safe passage to the afterlife
35:32this is difficult to take out the earth that is on the later because the humidity is very very high
35:38the hot sticky conditions in the tomb make progress slow and esther is anxious to get on with removing the limestone cover
35:51the mummies found here so far have been badly affected by the humidity
35:57this is not what the ancient egyptians wanted
36:01they believed the soul needed to be able to recognize the body so they could magically reunite in the afterlife
36:08it's no longer
36:10esther hopes this sarcophagus will contain a mummy in a better state of preservation
36:17we know that first we must do other things not open very quickly we must do the things
36:23little by little but we are waiting we are waiting to open
36:31finally the team can begin
36:34Ibrahim, do you want to start?
36:37But the stakes are high.
36:42As they open the first sarcophagus,
36:45the fragile limestone lid could crumble in their hands,
36:49destroying the mummy below.
36:54We're going to have to remove this very slowly.
36:57Esther's team carefully inches the brittle slab
37:00across onto the neighboring sarcophagus.
37:03Deep in the Oxyrhynchus necropolis,
37:23finally, these archaeologists reveal the secrets of this sarcophagus.
37:28Well, it's difficult to say what I feel in this moment.
37:34The mummy has part of the face with gold leaf
37:37and has gold leaf here, the neck,
37:41and of the arm, the chest,
37:44and the area of the feet also.
37:48The condition is very bad because
37:49the mummification perhaps was not good,
37:52and then the humidity damaged this arm.
37:56But it's very interesting, of course.
37:58Very, very interesting.
38:00The presence of gold indicates this was likely a very wealthy person.
38:05And despite the poor condition of the mummy,
38:08Esther and Maite can still gain a wealth of information.
38:14The gold leaf on the face of the tomb owner
38:16matches the gold leaf on the face of the mummy.
38:19It's possible this was intended to help the soul find the body,
38:25even though it had deteriorated.
38:28I think this is very good for us
38:30because we can study how in the past
38:34they mummified the individuals in this period.
38:37This tomb dates to more than a thousand years after Tutankhamun.
38:45Ancient Egyptian beliefs were clearly still important
38:48to the people buried here.
38:51They did everything they could,
38:53including using spells and magic,
38:56to get to the afterlife.
38:58I think it's more than amazing.
39:00In the first moment, I cry
39:03because I am very emotional.
39:08This tomb is unique, really.
39:10Not only because there are four sarcophagi with mummy,
39:14but the more important are the decoration of the world.
39:17It's a different relation with the funerary rites and all this,
39:21and then many, many gods.
39:23And this isn't the end for Esther and Maite.
39:27They're hoping this amazing discovery
39:29will reveal more secrets
39:30about the beliefs held by the people here.
39:34We need more time to study all this.
39:37We need a lot of work, more than now.
39:44In Luxor,
39:46Ato is back at the boy king's tomb,
39:49investigating the truth behind the curse of Tutankhamun.
39:53While few people really believe
39:56that a curse killed Lord Carnarvon,
39:58for years there was another theory
40:00that something in the tomb
40:01could have led to his death.
40:06Its roots lie in a story
40:08spookily similar to this one.
40:11In Poland, in 1973,
40:14a team of scientists
40:15opened the tomb of a Polish king.
40:19Four of the team died
40:21over the following two years.
40:23Was this a creepy coincidence?
40:26Or could it be connected
40:28to the fate of Carnarvon?
40:32Could both the Polish scientists
40:34and the team entering the tomb
40:36of Tutankhamun
40:37have indeed released something deadly?
40:41The theory went
40:42that they may have disturbed
40:43not a curse,
40:44but a fungus,
40:47Aspergillus,
40:48which produces hardy spores
40:50that can survive for centuries.
40:52When the spores enter the lungs,
40:56they can reactivate
40:57and colonize the tissue,
41:00releasing toxins
41:01that can cause cancer
41:03or pneumonia.
41:05There's a theory
41:06that the Polish scientists
41:07were killed
41:08by this deadly fungus.
41:11So could this murderous mushroom
41:12have also sealed
41:14the fate of Lord Carnarvon?
41:16The Aspergillus fungus
41:22often grows on cereal crops,
41:24both in the fields
41:25and in storage.
41:27The ancient Egyptians
41:29believed that the body,
41:31the soul,
41:32still needed nutrition
41:33for the afterlife.
41:36Well, that's exactly
41:37what they found down here.
41:38Howard Carter
41:39and Lord Carnarvon
41:41found a feast.
41:42Roast gazelle,
41:44honey,
41:45wine,
41:46and
41:46hundreds of baskets
41:49holding grain
41:51and wheat.
41:54It's possible
41:55that some of the grains
41:56buried here
41:57in Tutankhamun's tomb
41:58were colonized
41:59by Aspergillus fungus
42:01when the tomb
42:02was sealed.
42:02Lord Carnarvon,
42:05upon entering the tomb,
42:07may have succumbed
42:08to an invisible killer
42:10sealed in the tomb
42:11for millennia.
42:14However,
42:15the accepted explanation
42:16is that Carnarvon
42:18died from blood poisoning,
42:20the result of
42:20an infected mosquito bite.
42:23And only six
42:24of the 26 people
42:25who were present
42:26for the tomb opening
42:27had died within a decade.
42:29Although the curse
42:33of the mummy
42:33was a 1920s media frenzy
42:35of fake news,
42:37it's clear
42:38ancient Egyptians
42:39from all levels
42:40of society
42:41used spells,
42:43magic,
42:43and curses
42:44in their everyday lives.
42:47They played
42:48a central role
42:49in their understanding
42:50of the afterlife
42:51to safely guide the soul
42:53and protect the body
42:55so they could be
42:56reunited
42:57for eternity.
42:59For more information,
43:00visit www.fema.org
43:01and visit www.fema.org
43:02and visit www.fema.org
43:03for more information.
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