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00:00:02the Valley of the Kings an ancient burial ground for Egypt's greatest
00:00:11pharaohs it never gets old it's truly a really special place and the most famous
00:00:20archaeological site in the world now for the first time in over a hundred years
00:00:28an elite team of archaeologists will excavate the tomb of one of the most powerful kings to have
00:00:37ever lived Ramses the third the story of Ramses the third is sensational even the tiniest clues
00:00:46about Ramses the third tomb would be an incredible find shield a lot more with unprecedented access
00:00:54the team will dig for three months to unearth clues I'm very excited and find lost treasures
00:01:04wow this is a very incredible find unraveling a 3,000 year old murder mystery this is terrifying
00:01:13wow that exposes one of the most treacherous conspiracies of the ancient world the idea
00:01:20that the pharaoh was assassinated is extraordinary in the burial chamber of Ramses the third new
00:01:29evidence will be revealed and 3,000 year old secrets discovered only in ancient Egypt can you actually
00:01:41really do this sort of thing
00:02:00the Valley of the Kings is some place of promise of excitement
00:02:10it is silent it is mysterious it's like you in another world
00:02:18the Valley of the Kings lies in the very heart of Egypt hundreds of miles south from the great pyramids
00:02:26of Giza
00:02:28three and a half thousand years ago the pharaohs stopped building giant pyramids to transport their mummies into the afterlife
00:02:36instead they moved to the valley to build incredible underground tombs
00:02:46the tombs are absolutely stunning and they served as this kind of resurrection machine to help the king enter the
00:02:56afterlife
00:02:57in their tombs the king's mummies were buried in nested coffins with everything they would need in another world
00:03:05food furniture clothing little magical artifacts that are supposed to help you and lots and lots of gold
00:03:14the wealth of ancient Egyptian kings was the stuff of legend
00:03:19it's the reason that archaeologists have scoured this unique and exclusive location for centuries
00:03:26and its secrets
00:03:28continue to be revealed
00:03:31it's an extremely challenging place
00:03:33but the idea that archaeology of the Valley of the Kings is finished is not correct
00:03:42now an elite team of archaeologists is beginning an excavation they hope will change history
00:03:51in charge of the mission is Dr. Anka Weber
00:03:59for more than 10 years I always imagined what could be below my feet
00:04:06this is the history of humankind
00:04:10it's an honour to become part of this
00:04:14Anka has negotiated exclusive access to dig for three months in one of the most prestigious tombs in the valley
00:04:36beneath the valley floor lie over 60 tombs cut into the rocky landscape
00:04:44in the center the final resting place of the legendary boy pharaoh King Tut
00:04:52but just 100 feet away is the site of Anka's mission to KV-11
00:05:01inside decorated corridors plunge deep into the rock
00:05:06leading to a secret dig site piled high with debris
00:05:13this is the unexcavated burial chamber of King Ramses the third
00:05:21Ramses the third is one of the towering figures from ancient Egyptian history
00:05:27he defended Egypt at a crucial pivotal time of not just Egyptian history but in fact the entire Mediterranean world
00:05:40Ramses the third is considered Egypt's last great warrior king
00:05:46Hieroglyphics revealed he ruled for 31 years building vast temples
00:05:52and battling marauding armies that threatened to destroy Egypt's empire
00:06:02incredibly Ramses mummy exists today kept in a museum in Cairo
00:06:09he was found almost 150 years ago
00:06:13half a mile from his tomb high in the mountains above the valley of the kings
00:06:19and it was really one of the most earth-shattering finds
00:06:23you get to actually look at Ramses the third not just a statue but at him
00:06:31the story of the Ramses the third is sensational
00:06:34any sort of information no matter how little we can glean from all of this
00:06:39it would be very exciting
00:06:44now for the very first time
00:06:47Anka's team will fully excavate inside the great king's tomb
00:06:57its entrance has already been beautifully restored
00:07:00filled with hieroglyphic text designed to transport the king into the afterlife
00:07:11but deeper down lies the tomb's secret
00:07:15an ancient scene of destruction
00:07:18off limits for over a century
00:07:21and never fully excavated before
00:07:25Ramses burial chamber
00:07:28it's absolutely incredible to be inside his burial chamber
00:07:33where Ramses the third and the sarcophagus once rested
00:07:37to revive him for the afterlife
00:07:40Anka's mission is to clear away the debris
00:07:44to unearth the tomb's lost artifacts
00:07:48and finally unravel the mysteries of this great pharaoh's life and death
00:07:54this is our task now
00:07:56bringing back the magic of the burial chamber
00:08:01the more we reveal and uncover from the sand
00:08:05the more we will know about the person himself
00:08:08and find something that was last seen by our ancestors
00:08:19first the team must haul out the surface debris
00:08:22and search for any ancient artifacts that lie beneath
00:08:26today we are very excited
00:08:28this is the day we were waiting for
00:08:31I hope that we are lucky
00:08:33the team works quickly
00:08:35but the burial chamber is a danger zone
00:08:39massive chunks of rock have tumbled 20 feet from the ceiling above
00:08:43leaving the tomb incredibly fragile
00:08:47Anka believes it's the result of violent flash floods
00:08:51around 100 years ago
00:08:53we are looking to get more information about the flooding events
00:08:59but the area is very unstable
00:09:04to avoid further damage
00:09:06the workers must wrestle the 500 pound boulders by hand
00:09:12as they clear away the debris
00:09:14something begins to appear
00:09:17it seems as if this would be a piece of metal
00:09:23it's actually it's very unusual
00:09:25to find metal
00:09:26say we try our best to get it out in one piece
00:09:30in order to see what it actually was
00:09:32but as the team clears away the sand
00:09:35there's a surprise
00:09:36this is not metal
00:09:39it's a piece of wood
00:09:41going into this direction
00:09:43and what we have here
00:09:45are parts of the spine
00:09:49of the living being
00:09:52so for now it looks as if it is covered
00:09:56with linen a little bit
00:09:58so this would tell us that some kind of mummification took place
00:10:03a piece of mummified human spine
00:10:06is an intriguing clue
00:10:08and a mystery
00:10:10because Anka believes it shouldn't be here
00:10:13in tomb KV-11 at all
00:10:16the mystery is actually
00:10:19why do we have any kind of remains inside KV-11
00:10:24we would never expect it here
00:10:26because we know that the mummy of Ramses III
00:10:29is not placed in KV-11 anymore
00:10:32who does this mummified spine belong to
00:10:35and why is somebody else buried inside Ramsey's tomb
00:10:50clues could lie less than two miles away at Ramsey's temple
00:10:55Egyptologist Meredith Brand
00:10:58investigates the site to decode the mysteries of the king's reign
00:11:05it's one of the most famous monuments in Egypt
00:11:09Medinet Habu
00:11:15I love Medinet Habu Temple
00:11:18it's really stunning because it's so complete
00:11:23inside there's amazing colours
00:11:25it's so well preserved
00:11:29this is one of my favourite temples from ancient Egypt
00:11:34this temple was built for Ramses III
00:11:36so that people could give him offerings
00:11:38and celebrate him during his life and after his death
00:11:42so what was celebrated about Ramses III's reign?
00:11:47on almost every façade
00:11:49is a scene of terror
00:11:53spilled blood
00:11:56severed hands
00:11:59and captured victims
00:12:02glorify the battles of the Pharaoh
00:12:04looking at these walls
00:12:07it's clear that Ramses III wanted to show himself
00:12:10fighting enemies
00:12:11smiting everyone
00:12:12this temple says
00:12:13I'm Ramses III and I'm a warrior king
00:12:17so who was Ramses fighting against?
00:12:21on the side of the temple
00:12:23Meredith finds a fierce conflict at sea
00:12:28it's quite faint
00:12:29but I can make out this massive image of Ramses III
00:12:32shooting a bow and arrow
00:12:34at this melee of a battle
00:12:35we have ships and soldiers
00:12:37and everyone's falling over into the water
00:12:40it's pure fighting and chaos
00:12:43the chaos reveals a group of marauding tribes
00:12:46known as the Sea Peoples
00:12:49and they aren't the only adversaries threatening
00:12:52the borders of Egypt
00:12:55there's battles of him fighting the Nubians
00:12:58there's two separate battles fighting the Libyans
00:13:01Ramses III was enmeshed in warfare
00:13:04Ramses Temple records his astonishing victories
00:13:08over the enemies of the Egyptian Empire
00:13:13Ramses III was not a warrior pharaoh necessarily by choice
00:13:19this was thrust upon him
00:13:22he truly, truly lived at one of the most difficult times
00:13:27in which a king could reign
00:13:28and the fact that he managed to make out of it
00:13:31what he did is a true testament
00:13:34to how great a king he was
00:13:38Ramses was a celebrated and successful warrior king
00:13:43so how did he die?
00:13:45and why are the mummified remains of someone else
00:13:49he was buried inside his tomb
00:14:00inside the tomb of Ramses III
00:14:06the team has unearthed a piece of human spine
00:14:10and soon even more ancient bones emerge
00:14:14including what looks like a mummified limb
00:14:19we found here a large part of a mummy very clearly
00:14:24we can see the layers of linen
00:14:28that was soaked with resin
00:14:32in order to preserve this body for eternity
00:14:36so for now we can't tell exactly which part of the mummy this is
00:14:42however it's very exciting
00:14:45because it's somehow like coming closer to all these people
00:14:52who once were part of the history of KV-11
00:14:58Ramses III's mummy is no longer inside his tomb
00:15:01now preserved in a museum
00:15:04so who do these body parts belong to?
00:15:07and why are they here?
00:15:12Anka spots a new clue nearby
00:15:16what we have here are parts of an ancient Egyptian coffin
00:15:20there are remains of a plaster on top of the surface
00:15:25you can see these dowels inside dowel holes
00:15:28an expensive plaster-covered coffin
00:15:31suggests the mummies were once members of the elite
00:15:35Anka believes they were probably buried here
00:15:38hundreds of years after Ramses' death
00:15:40when Egypt was weak and fractured
00:15:43they won't be able to precisely date the burials
00:15:47until a lab analysis
00:15:49but Anka has a theory on why they were here
00:15:52everybody wants to be something special
00:15:56everybody wants to become part of the history of something
00:16:00so it is most likely that the people
00:16:03high-ranking officials decided
00:16:06oh yeah, why not being buried inside the tomb
00:16:10of one of Egypt's most interesting and greatest pharaohs of all time
00:16:17ancient elites chose to be buried in the valley's magnificent tombs
00:16:21to pay homage to the kings that came before them
00:16:25and Ramses III was one of the greatest kings of them all
00:16:31so what was it that killed him?
00:16:41Meredith Brand has come to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization to investigate
00:16:47it's such a unique and special aspect of ancient Egyptian culture
00:16:51that they preserve the dead
00:16:54and that now for us we can look into the face
00:16:57of some of the greatest kings and queens of ancient Egypt
00:17:02the pharaoh queen
00:17:05Hatshepsut
00:17:07Ramses II
00:17:09and none other than Ramses III himself
00:17:15it's so remarkable to stand here and see this very important and very powerful king
00:17:24this mummy is beautifully preserved
00:17:27you can see his facial features even his teeth and his hair
00:17:32the ancient Egyptians mummified the dead to preserve their bodies
00:17:38they believed it would allow their body and soul to reunite in the afterlife
00:17:44and they strived for perfection
00:17:48a mummy like Ramses III was done with such care and attention
00:17:54the embalmers would have removed his internal organs
00:17:56washed him with oils and perfumes
00:18:01packed his body with salt
00:18:04and then wrapped his entire body up in linens
00:18:08if something was wrong
00:18:09the embalmers could fix it
00:18:11so that when the deceased got to the afterlife
00:18:14not only would their body be there
00:18:16but it would be more perfect
00:18:19on the surface
00:18:20Ramsey's mummy looks completely intact
00:18:25but x-ray scans reveal a different and shocking story
00:18:33beneath the bandages
00:18:36six healing amulets are packed around Ramsey's foot
00:18:40that conceal a missing toe
00:18:43cut off with a heavy blade
00:18:49on Ramsey's neck
00:18:51embalming resin fills a deep gash
00:18:55that splits the throat right down to the bone
00:19:02the cut on Ramsey's the third's neck
00:19:04this severed the trachea and the esophagus
00:19:07and even nicked the bone in his vertebrae
00:19:11this is a mortal wound
00:19:15this kind of gash
00:19:18makes it clear that his death wasn't some kind of accident
00:19:21or a result of old age
00:19:23he met a violent end
00:19:25and all the evidence points to murder
00:19:31the idea that the pharaoh was assassinated
00:19:34and by something as violent as that
00:19:37is extraordinary
00:19:38it is an extraordinary and terrifying thought
00:19:42it would have been almost unthinkable
00:19:45in ancient Egypt to try to assassinate the pharaoh
00:19:50can you imagine how difficult kind of an undertaking that would be
00:19:55first of all it's not a one-man job
00:19:57you need allies in this sort of thing
00:20:00you also need a motive
00:20:02why are you killing the king
00:20:04surely you must have a really good reason
00:20:08to actually undertake something so incredibly risky
00:20:12risky
00:20:13who killed Ramsey's the third
00:20:17and why did they want him dead
00:20:28deep inside Ramsey's burial chamber
00:20:32Anka and the team search for clues
00:20:37but the surface of the tomb is a chaotic
00:20:40jumbled mess of finds
00:20:42making this mystery difficult to unravel
00:20:46we have pieces of pottery
00:20:48that belong to larger vessel
00:20:51all these finds are mixed
00:20:53both ancient robbers and colonial era explorers
00:20:57have rummaged through the debris
00:21:00like a crime scene that has been revisited for centuries
00:21:03we know that this area is disturbed
00:21:06it's always puzzling for us to say what actually happened
00:21:10but step by step we will investigate what happened here in KV 11
00:21:18but hidden within the debris
00:21:20Anka spots something that may have belonged to Ramsey's the third himself
00:21:24we have here the lower part of a wooden Ushapti
00:21:29it's rather destroyed
00:21:30however you can still see here
00:21:33this is the beginning of the lower part of the feet
00:21:36it could be over 3,000 years old
00:21:39across the chamber the team finds the missing head
00:21:43this definitely belongs together
00:21:45they must have been disconnected somehow
00:21:49that's amazing
00:21:52Ushaptis are ancient figurines
00:21:55often around a foot tall
00:21:57that were buried with the deceased
00:22:00a king like Ramsey's would have had hundreds
00:22:06they acted as servants
00:22:09inscribed with magic spells
00:22:14so that if the dead was made to work in the afterlife
00:22:19the Shapti will say
00:22:20here I am
00:22:22and do the work for him
00:22:27the team analyzes the statue pieces searching for inscriptions
00:22:31that could reveal a name
00:22:33we have the hope that they belonged to the Pharaoh
00:22:36now Ramsey's the third
00:22:38but hard evidence of its original owner has been lost
00:22:42the team will need to keep searching
00:22:47it's a promising start that even among the chaos
00:22:50there are still incredible clues about Ramsey's death
00:22:53the people must have been lost
00:22:55ah...
00:23:02see you there
00:23:08at the monumental temple of Mdnid Habu
00:23:12built to honour Pharaoh Ramsey's the third in life and death
00:23:18Egyptologist Meredith Brand
00:23:21investigates the king's brutal murder.
00:23:26She wants to establish a motive for his royal assassination
00:23:31and believes the sheer number of battle scenes on his temple walls
00:23:36reveal a deeper story than just Ramsay's military prowess.
00:23:41These scenes show Ramsay III as this victorious ruler who was indestructible.
00:23:46In some ways, it is true, but there was a larger issue.
00:23:52Ramsay III was surrounded by war,
00:23:55and this war took a toll on Egypt and its economy.
00:24:01Ramsay's never-ending battles begin to drain the resources of the country,
00:24:07and inflation spirals out of control.
00:24:12Strikes, civil unrest, and even famine strangled the heart of Egypt.
00:24:21Was Ramsay's killed because of the crumbling economy,
00:24:24or were there other motives at play?
00:24:28Nobody ever blamed the pharaoh for anything.
00:24:31He was theoretically perfect, a divine ruler.
00:24:34What we do know is that he had a number of wives and a large number of children,
00:24:42and we don't think that he designated an heir during his lifetime.
00:24:51In ancient Egypt, the firstborn son would normally inherit the throne.
00:24:57But with no designated heir, the stage is set for a coup.
00:25:05Let's say you do have a motive.
00:25:07Okay, how do you do it?
00:25:09How do you find the allies?
00:25:11How do you know where people's loyalties stand?
00:25:15So you have to sort of start, you know, checking the pulse, as it were.
00:25:20See who might have grievances, perhaps.
00:25:23Once you have that in place, you need an entire network of people,
00:25:28but also they need to be close to the person of the king.
00:25:39Meredith investigates a copy of an ancient papyrus
00:25:43originally discovered near the site.
00:25:47This is an image of an amazing papyrus
00:25:50from the time of Ramses III.
00:25:53It tells us about a conspiracy to kill the king.
00:25:58It reveals the proceedings of a murder trial.
00:26:02It's shocking the number of people involved in this conspiracy.
00:26:07It has everyone in the palace.
00:26:09It has people involved with food.
00:26:11It has security, army,
00:26:13and it has women of the harem,
00:26:16including Queen Tia, the wife of Ramses III.
00:26:20This is a courtroom drama playing out in front of our eyes
00:26:24that tells us when and how Ramses III was killed.
00:26:28One of Ramses' secondary wives, Queen Tia,
00:26:32leads the conspiracy to place her son,
00:26:35a younger, more minor prince, on the throne.
00:26:39Some believe that after a festival at Mededent Habu,
00:26:44Ramses is steered into the apparent safety of his harem.
00:26:51Here the attackers pounce
00:26:54and slice off Ramses' toe in the struggle
00:26:58before dealing the mortal wound.
00:27:05Here's the critical thing.
00:27:07The assassination attempt,
00:27:10that plot certainly succeeded.
00:27:13We know Ramses III died as a result.
00:27:16But ultimately, the coup was not successful.
00:27:23Over 30 perpetrators were caught,
00:27:26tried, and sentenced.
00:27:29The punishments outlined in this papyrus
00:27:32are quite severe.
00:27:34Some people had their nose and ears cut off,
00:27:37but those actually in the center of the conspiracy,
00:27:39they were executed.
00:27:41And Ramses' treacherous younger son
00:27:44never made it to the throne.
00:27:48He was examined.
00:27:50The judges found him guilty.
00:27:52They left him where he was,
00:27:53and he killed himself.
00:27:55Ramses' murder was a shocking family feud.
00:27:59But his death makes Ramses even more important.
00:28:05A vast funeral procession leads his mummy into the Valley of the Kings
00:28:11on a new journey
00:28:14to become a god.
00:28:18How cool is it that we can talk about so much detail
00:28:23around this historical event
00:28:26that took place around 3,000 years ago?
00:28:30Only in ancient Egypt can you actually do this sort of thing.
00:28:42Inside Ramses' tomb,
00:28:45Anka and the team want to investigate
00:28:47what happened after the king's death.
00:28:50How did his tomb transform Ramses
00:28:53into an immortal god?
00:28:56Ah, where did that?
00:28:59Hidden below the debris,
00:29:01they have unearthed incredibly fragile pieces
00:29:04of 3,000-year-old tomb decoration.
00:29:07It's so beautiful.
00:29:10What we found here
00:29:11is a piece of the wall decoration,
00:29:15and it's the food of this god
00:29:18here in the middle,
00:29:20and he's standing right on top of a snake.
00:29:24It's very amazing and very touching
00:29:26because it's the first time
00:29:28that we have such a complete piece.
00:29:30It's a very lucky find.
00:29:32Very happy about it.
00:29:37The snake is a crucial clue
00:29:39that connects with the decoration
00:29:41in the rest of the tomb.
00:29:43This is so impressive.
00:29:46The paintings tell a story
00:29:48of an elaborate mythological journey
00:29:50Ramses must go on
00:29:52to achieve eternal life.
00:29:57As night falls,
00:29:59Ramses follows the path of the sun god.
00:30:02As he voyages through
00:30:04the dangerous waters
00:30:05of the netherworld.
00:30:07To prove he is righteous,
00:30:09he must navigate the flames
00:30:11of a lake of fire.
00:30:14And appease Apophis,
00:30:16the chaos serpent,
00:30:17who threatens to plunge the world
00:30:19into darkness.
00:30:21If he succeeds,
00:30:23the pharaoh rises
00:30:25as the sun god Ra,
00:30:28bringing order and safety
00:30:30to the universe.
00:30:34The king in ancient Egypt
00:30:36served an important
00:30:37cosmological role.
00:30:39He was,
00:30:40during his lifetime
00:30:42and after his death,
00:30:43the embodiment of the sun god.
00:30:46The tomb itself,
00:30:47it was really a machine
00:30:48to make you go
00:30:50from this world to the next
00:30:52to ensure the king's safety,
00:30:54to ensure that day followed night
00:30:57and the entire cosmos
00:30:59would continue to exist.
00:31:03In the burial chamber,
00:31:05the team carefully glues
00:31:07the fragile painted plasterwork.
00:31:10It's so delicate,
00:31:12they must lift it out
00:31:13with a stabilizing block
00:31:15of sand below.
00:31:30But hiding among the rubble
00:31:32is something
00:31:33even more tantalizing.
00:31:42with exclusive access
00:31:43inside the tomb
00:31:45of Pharaoh Ramses III,
00:31:47Dr. Anka Weber
00:31:49and her team
00:31:50are hunting for artifacts
00:31:51to unravel
00:31:52how the king was buried
00:31:54after his brutal assassination.
00:31:57From the debris,
00:31:58they unearth
00:31:59a mysterious stone.
00:32:01This is amazing.
00:32:03We have found here
00:32:04a piece of rose granite.
00:32:06I didn't expect that here.
00:32:08So we are going to lift
00:32:10this object out now
00:32:11very carefully.
00:32:15Rose granite
00:32:16is an expensive,
00:32:18high-quality stone
00:32:19far more precious
00:32:20than the surrounding
00:32:22limestone of the chamber.
00:32:24Reis Mahmud.
00:32:26Inside the Valley of the Kings,
00:32:28it would have been brought in
00:32:29from over 100 miles away
00:32:31to create one thing.
00:32:33the Pharaoh's sarcophagus.
00:32:35The Pharaoh's sarcophagus.
00:32:48Oh my gosh.
00:32:49That's amazing.
00:32:51Please dry clean it.
00:32:53Make all your notes.
00:32:54I want pictures
00:32:55from before the cleaning
00:32:56and after the cleaning.
00:32:57And we will see.
00:32:59That's amazing.
00:33:01The team keeps digging
00:33:03and reveals even more
00:33:05of the precious
00:33:06granite pieces.
00:33:07She will trap us.
00:33:09Come on.
00:33:11Come on, did it?
00:33:12No, I'm your rice.
00:33:18Yeah, boy, yeah, boy,
00:33:19yeah, boy, yeah, boy.
00:33:22It's tomorrow, right?
00:33:24Me, me.
00:33:27We have a very clear corner here.
00:33:31I'm quite speechless.
00:33:32There are many possibilities
00:33:34what this can actually be.
00:33:36That it is most probably
00:33:38part of a foot,
00:33:40but one thing is clear,
00:33:43it is amazing.
00:33:45If this is the foot
00:33:47of Ramses III's sarcophagus,
00:33:49it's a huge discovery.
00:33:52These pieces
00:33:53would be an incredibly rare clue
00:33:56about how the king was buried.
00:33:59But something doesn't add up.
00:34:02Because a sarcophagus
00:34:03belonging to Ramses III
00:34:07already exists.
00:34:16removed from the tomb
00:34:18around 200 years ago
00:34:20is a 10-ton granite monolith
00:34:23and a colossal matching lid.
00:34:29It's covered from top to bottom
00:34:31with religious texts
00:34:32bearing the name of the king.
00:34:37And the top is carved
00:34:39with Ramses as Osiris,
00:34:42the god of death.
00:34:48The story of the sarcophagus
00:34:49of Ramses III,
00:34:51the lid is actually in England,
00:34:54whereas the box itself,
00:34:55it's in the Louvre in Paris.
00:34:58It's very sad
00:35:00because when people excavate
00:35:01or find things,
00:35:03nowadays you keep everything together.
00:35:04But in earlier periods,
00:35:06it wasn't the case.
00:35:07The lid of Ramses' sarcophagus
00:35:10now lies thousands of miles
00:35:13from his tomb.
00:35:14But there are pieces missing.
00:35:16Has Anka's team
00:35:18now found one of them
00:35:19among the sand
00:35:21inside Ramses' tomb?
00:35:25Anka inspects
00:35:26a digital model
00:35:27of the lid for clues.
00:35:30She finds that granite
00:35:31at the bottom
00:35:32around the pharaoh's feet
00:35:33is missing
00:35:34and has been reconstructed
00:35:36for display.
00:35:38This is the exciting thing.
00:35:40The feet are missing.
00:35:43It is most likely
00:35:44that this object here
00:35:46is a part
00:35:47of this sarcophagus lid.
00:35:50Anka has a missing piece
00:35:52of Ramses III's
00:35:543,000-year-old sarcophagus lid.
00:35:58That's so incredible
00:35:59and it would be my dream
00:36:01to virtually reunite
00:36:04these pieces.
00:36:05If they can unearth
00:36:06more pieces,
00:36:10the team might decode
00:36:12the most critical part
00:36:13of Ramses' burial chamber.
00:36:16The sarcophagus
00:36:17is the focal point
00:36:19of the burial
00:36:20containing the king's
00:36:22instructions
00:36:23for navigating
00:36:24the afterlife.
00:36:26The king didn't make
00:36:27it to the afterlife.
00:36:28The sun might not rise.
00:36:30The world might end.
00:36:31It was so important
00:36:32to have sarcophagus
00:36:34to protect his body
00:36:35so his afterlife
00:36:37maintained the cosmic balance
00:36:38of ancient Egypt.
00:36:39So the stakes
00:36:40were pretty high.
00:36:47Inside Pharaoh Ramses'
00:36:49the third's tomb,
00:36:51the granite pieces
00:36:52keep coming
00:36:53and now,
00:36:55crucially,
00:36:56with inscriptions.
00:36:58We keep finding
00:36:59pieces of rose granite
00:37:01actually almost daily.
00:37:05We can see that here
00:37:07on top,
00:37:07the surface is sculpted
00:37:09with a snake
00:37:10and here on the sides
00:37:12we have hieroglyphs
00:37:14that tell us more
00:37:15about the deceased person
00:37:17and that he was actually
00:37:19here he's called
00:37:20a god.
00:37:21Named as a god,
00:37:23it is almost certain
00:37:24to belong to
00:37:25Ramses' sarcophagus
00:37:27and the pieces
00:37:28even fit together.
00:37:30Oh, wow.
00:37:32Wow.
00:37:32That was very wise.
00:37:34It fits exactly.
00:37:37It's absolutely amazing.
00:37:39But something is strange.
00:37:42Great.
00:37:43Can you check
00:37:43this piece, please?
00:37:45These newest pieces
00:37:46of granite
00:37:46don't match
00:37:47with any part
00:37:48of the lid
00:37:49that is already known.
00:37:51For Anka,
00:37:52it can only mean
00:37:53one thing.
00:37:55I guess that we have
00:37:56something that is
00:37:57even more exciting.
00:37:59So it might be
00:38:00that we have here
00:38:02one or even two
00:38:03other lids
00:38:04that probably belong
00:38:06to Ramses III.
00:38:08It would mean
00:38:09that Ramses
00:38:10didn't just have
00:38:11one sarcophagus,
00:38:13but two
00:38:15or even three
00:38:16nested
00:38:17inside each other.
00:38:19Why would
00:38:20the ancient Egyptians
00:38:21build such a difficult
00:38:23and complicated
00:38:24construction?
00:38:32Outside
00:38:33in the Valley
00:38:33of the Kings,
00:38:35Anka investigates.
00:38:37she explores
00:38:39a nearby tomb.
00:38:42Its long corridors
00:38:44extend deep
00:38:46into the rock
00:38:48and open
00:38:49to reveal
00:38:50the burial chamber
00:38:51of one of Ramses'
00:38:53predecessors,
00:38:54a king
00:38:55named Marenta.
00:38:57His tombs
00:38:58actually worked
00:39:00like a template.
00:39:02It's basically
00:39:03a clue
00:39:03of how
00:39:04in the tomb
00:39:05of Ramses III
00:39:06ones look like.
00:39:08In the center
00:39:10of the burial chamber,
00:39:12assembled
00:39:12from granite fragments,
00:39:14is a gigantic box.
00:39:1813 feet long
00:39:19and 8 feet high.
00:39:21It's the largest
00:39:22sarcophagus
00:39:23in the Valley
00:39:24of the Kings.
00:39:28Next to it,
00:39:29Anka finds
00:39:30a massive
00:39:31granite lid
00:39:33covered
00:39:34in beautiful
00:39:35religious carvings.
00:39:38The pieces
00:39:39are part of a set
00:39:41of four stone
00:39:42sarcophagi
00:39:42that all once
00:39:44nested
00:39:45inside each other.
00:39:47It's unbelievable
00:39:49that they were able
00:39:50to lift these tons
00:39:51and tons
00:39:51of massive material
00:39:53inside the burial chamber.
00:39:56Anka has a theory
00:39:57why the ancient
00:39:59Egyptians
00:39:59went to such lengths.
00:40:01It was of
00:40:03religious significance
00:40:04to protect
00:40:06the deceased pharaoh.
00:40:09So nesting
00:40:10and nesting
00:40:11and nesting
00:40:11until you come
00:40:12to the centerpiece
00:40:13wrapped in his
00:40:14royal linen
00:40:15for the mummy.
00:40:17Protecting the mummy
00:40:18of the pharaoh
00:40:19was critical.
00:40:20But very few kings
00:40:22in history
00:40:23had nested sarcophagi
00:40:24this large
00:40:25and elaborate.
00:40:28Was this how
00:40:29Ramses III's mummy
00:40:31was buried too?
00:40:33Oh, it would be
00:40:34spectacular
00:40:35if maybe,
00:40:36just maybe,
00:40:37Ramses III
00:40:38was in fact buried
00:40:39in more than one
00:40:40sarcophagus.
00:40:42It's such a rare find.
00:40:44These tombs
00:40:45have been robbed
00:40:47in antiquity.
00:40:48So to find
00:40:49extra evidence,
00:40:50anything
00:40:50that lets us
00:40:51piece together
00:40:53how these
00:40:53incredible figures
00:40:55from history
00:40:55were buried,
00:40:56we'd all be
00:40:57all the richer
00:40:58for it.
00:41:00Ramses III
00:41:01was one of
00:41:02the greatest pharaohs
00:41:03to have ruled
00:41:04ancient Egypt.
00:41:06Could Anka's team
00:41:07be on the verge
00:41:08of a discovery
00:41:09kept secret
00:41:10for 3,000 years?
00:41:17In Egypt's
00:41:18Valley of the Kings,
00:41:20a team
00:41:21of archaeologists
00:41:22is excavating
00:41:24the 3,000-year-old
00:41:25burial chamber
00:41:25of the murdered pharaoh
00:41:27Ramses III.
00:41:30They are now
00:41:32over halfway
00:41:32through a three-month
00:41:33mission
00:41:34to unravel
00:41:35the mysterious
00:41:36happenings
00:41:36inside his tomb.
00:41:40So far,
00:41:41they have unearthed
00:41:41sacred Ashapti
00:41:42meant to help
00:41:43the pharaoh
00:41:44in the afterlife
00:41:45and the body parts
00:41:47of other
00:41:48ancient elites.
00:41:50Now lead
00:41:52archaeologist
00:41:52Dr. Anka Weber
00:41:54believes she has
00:41:56found pieces
00:41:57of the most
00:41:57important burial
00:41:58artifact of all,
00:41:59the pharaoh's
00:42:01sarcophagus.
00:42:04So far,
00:42:05we have found
00:42:06around about
00:42:0729 pieces,
00:42:09larger pieces
00:42:10of a sarcophagus.
00:42:11Anka is now
00:42:12sure there are
00:42:14at least
00:42:14two new sarcophagi
00:42:16that have never
00:42:17been discovered
00:42:18or recorded before.
00:42:20It's quite amazing
00:42:21because if we
00:42:22imagine what
00:42:24we have here,
00:42:25this hill
00:42:26in front of us,
00:42:27there must be
00:42:28more below.
00:42:30With enough pieces,
00:42:31like a giant puzzle,
00:42:33the team could
00:42:34rebuild Ramses'
00:42:35missing sarcophagi
00:42:37and reveal to the world
00:42:39how this great king
00:42:40was supposed to rest
00:42:42for eternity.
00:42:48In the heart
00:42:49of his tomb,
00:42:50Anka believes
00:42:51that Ramses
00:42:52would have laid
00:42:53cocooned inside
00:42:54at least two
00:42:55immense nested
00:42:56sarcophagi,
00:42:59all encased
00:43:00by a gigantic
00:43:02outer box.
00:43:04With the walls
00:43:06painted
00:43:07with religious spells
00:43:11and burial treasures
00:43:13filling every chamber,
00:43:17Ramses' tomb
00:43:18was designed
00:43:19to be the ultimate
00:43:20resurrection machine.
00:43:27What Anka
00:43:28is slowly revealing
00:43:30square by square
00:43:32painstakingly
00:43:33is an extraordinary
00:43:34insight into
00:43:35what was deemed
00:43:37necessary
00:43:38for a king
00:43:39to reach the
00:43:40afterworld.
00:43:42For any pharaoh,
00:43:44their tomb
00:43:44is your gateway
00:43:46to eternal life,
00:43:48so where your body
00:43:49is supposed to rest
00:43:50undisturbed
00:43:51where you are
00:43:54memorialized
00:43:56with the gods.
00:43:58But Ramses III's
00:43:59body was not
00:44:00undisturbed.
00:44:02What used to be
00:44:03a glorious tomb,
00:44:05today,
00:44:06it lies destroyed.
00:44:08The once-nested
00:44:10sarcophagi
00:44:11have been smashed
00:44:12to pieces,
00:44:14which would have
00:44:15left Ramses' mummy
00:44:16completely exposed.
00:44:18Here's the big mystery.
00:44:20If you were to go
00:44:22right now
00:44:23to Cairo,
00:44:24you would see
00:44:26Ramses III himself,
00:44:28his mummy,
00:44:29Ramses III,
00:44:30in the flesh.
00:44:31So then,
00:44:32what gives?
00:44:36If such a
00:44:37magnificent tomb
00:44:38has descended
00:44:40into chaos
00:44:40and destruction,
00:44:44how did Ramses III's
00:44:46mummy survive?
00:44:51inside the tomb
00:44:53of Ramses III,
00:44:55Dr. Lutz Popko
00:44:56is in charge
00:44:57of deciphering
00:44:58the hieroglyphic texts.
00:45:04Just above
00:45:05the burial chamber
00:45:06are ancient
00:45:07inscriptions,
00:45:09graffiti carvings
00:45:10that record visits
00:45:11to the tomb
00:45:12after Ramses' death.
00:45:15It's basically
00:45:16a list of names,
00:45:18so one name
00:45:19and one title
00:45:20per line.
00:45:23Lutz decodes
00:45:24the text.
00:45:28And one name
00:45:30stands out.
00:45:33Butehamun,
00:45:35scribe of the
00:45:36royal tombs.
00:45:38It was a
00:45:39very famous
00:45:39person.
00:45:42Butehamun
00:45:42was born
00:45:44around 50
00:45:45years after
00:45:46the death
00:45:46of Ramses III,
00:45:49but he was
00:45:50strongly connected
00:45:51to him.
00:45:53Who was
00:45:54Butehamun?
00:45:56And why
00:45:57was he
00:45:58in Ramses'
00:45:59tomb
00:45:59after the
00:46:01king had
00:46:01died?
00:46:03Ramses III's
00:46:04death was
00:46:05a turning point
00:46:06in Egyptian
00:46:06history.
00:46:07He stewarded
00:46:09Egypt to
00:46:09this successful
00:46:10point.
00:46:12But after him,
00:46:14everything seems
00:46:15to have caved.
00:46:16Whether it was
00:46:17as a military
00:46:18power,
00:46:18economically,
00:46:19it really
00:46:20started to
00:46:21crumble.
00:46:23The result
00:46:24was a
00:46:24lapse in
00:46:26public security,
00:46:27public safety,
00:46:28such that
00:46:29the tombs in
00:46:30the Valley
00:46:30of the Kings
00:46:31began to
00:46:32suffer
00:46:32grievously
00:46:33from tomb
00:46:34robberies.
00:46:35Was Butehamun,
00:46:37whose name was
00:46:38written in the
00:46:39tomb graffiti,
00:46:40robbing the
00:46:41tomb of Ramses III?
00:46:49behind the
00:46:50great temple
00:46:51of Mededent Habu,
00:46:54Meredith
00:46:55investigates the
00:46:57ruins of a
00:46:58once-magnificent
00:46:59pillared house
00:47:01that could provide
00:47:02a missing clue.
00:47:04It's vast.
00:47:05It has these
00:47:06huge columns,
00:47:07and it's in this
00:47:07prime location.
00:47:09It's clear the
00:47:10house belongs to a
00:47:11member of the
00:47:12wealthy elite.
00:47:14And Meredith
00:47:15finds the
00:47:16owner's name
00:47:16inscribed on
00:47:18the pillar.
00:47:19It says here
00:47:20that his name
00:47:21is Butehamun,
00:47:23and he's an
00:47:24overseer of the
00:47:25royal treasury.
00:47:27A code for
00:47:28the king's tombs,
00:47:29hidden just
00:47:30over a mile
00:47:31away.
00:47:32Ancient
00:47:33Egyptians didn't
00:47:33have coin money.
00:47:34Rather, Butehamun's
00:47:36house was so
00:47:37close to an
00:47:38underground treasury
00:47:39for ancient
00:47:40Egypt, the
00:47:41tombs of the
00:47:42pharaohs in the
00:47:42valley of the
00:47:43kings had a
00:47:44vast amount of
00:47:45wealth buried
00:47:47under the ground.
00:47:50With the
00:47:51economy crumbling
00:47:52and the valley's
00:47:53security failing,
00:47:55the wealth is too
00:47:56much for the
00:47:56authorities to
00:47:57ignore.
00:47:59Just 84 years
00:48:01after Ramses III
00:48:02is buried,
00:48:04Butehamun is
00:48:05sent orders from
00:48:06the top, inspect
00:48:09the royal tombs,
00:48:12unwrap the
00:48:12pharaoh's mummies,
00:48:15and remove all
00:48:16the treasures
00:48:17inside.
00:48:20What better way
00:48:21of getting gold
00:48:22than just going and
00:48:23digging up the
00:48:23kings and taking
00:48:24what they could?
00:48:28Egyptologists are
00:48:28still trying to
00:48:29work out how Butehamun
00:48:32actually carried out
00:48:33what he did, how
00:48:35much he left
00:48:35behind, what he
00:48:36took.
00:48:38But for the most
00:48:39part, he was
00:48:40pretty thorough in
00:48:42what he removed.
00:48:44Butehamun was no
00:48:45ordinary thief.
00:48:47He was in charge of a
00:48:49government plan to
00:48:50dismantle the valley
00:48:51of the kings and take
00:48:53the pharaoh's
00:48:54treasures from their
00:48:55tombs.
00:48:58Butehamun is such a
00:49:00fascinating figure
00:49:01because we really
00:49:01don't fully understand
00:49:02his motivations.
00:49:04We know he was in
00:49:06the valley of the
00:49:06kings.
00:49:07We know he was
00:49:08re-wrapping the
00:49:09mummies.
00:49:09But one of the
00:49:10biggest questions is,
00:49:11was Butehamun
00:49:12robbing the pharaohs
00:49:14or was he saving
00:49:15them?
00:49:21For 3,000 years,
00:49:24Ramsay's mummy
00:49:25was never seen
00:49:26again.
00:49:28Everyone thought
00:49:29that these mummies
00:49:30the kings and queens
00:49:31had been lost.
00:49:35Until 1881.
00:49:38Authorities receive a
00:49:39tip-off from a local
00:49:40family of goat herders.
00:49:44They had come upon a
00:49:46secret hidden tomb
00:49:47high in the mountains.
00:49:54It was to become the
00:49:56greatest archaeological
00:49:57discovery in Egypt's
00:50:05history.
00:50:15Meredith has come to
00:50:16explore the secret tomb.
00:50:18This is incredible.
00:50:22This is so remote.
00:50:24No wonder it was hidden
00:50:25for 3,000 years.
00:50:28Today, the tomb is only
00:50:29open to those with
00:50:31special access and a way
00:50:33to scale down the
00:50:35precarious 40-foot shaft.
00:50:45This is such a rare chance
00:50:46to go down this shaft, but
00:50:48it's a massive drop.
00:50:50I'm a little bit scared.
00:50:52All right.
00:50:55This is terrifying.
00:51:05In the mountains above the
00:51:08valley of the kings.
00:51:09This is so crazy.
00:51:12Egyptologist Meredith
00:51:14Brand is following the trail
00:51:16of Ramses III's mummy.
00:51:20I never thought in a million
00:51:21years I'd do this.
00:51:23She's trying to uncover
00:51:24why his body wasn't found
00:51:26inside his tomb.
00:51:27Good job.
00:51:30Good job.
00:51:32That was incredible.
00:51:34I get so high up.
00:51:36I can't believe I did that.
00:51:37That's not fair.
00:51:45Oh, all right.
00:51:47It's so dark in here.
00:51:55It's a bit eerie.
00:51:59This is hacked out of the
00:52:01mountain.
00:52:03It seems like, in a hurry,
00:52:05there's absolutely nothing
00:52:06even here.
00:52:09There's no decoration.
00:52:10There's no nothing.
00:52:12It makes it feel like a cave,
00:52:14not something that a human
00:52:16could have made.
00:52:26200 feet into the mountain,
00:52:30Meredith finally reaches an
00:52:32opening.
00:52:33Oh, wow.
00:52:37This is amazing.
00:52:39It's the site of a secret
00:52:42cache.
00:52:44Oh, this is incredible.
00:52:46Wow.
00:52:49This was the hiding place
00:52:51of over 50 royal mummies,
00:52:54including the mummy of Ramses III.
00:52:58This tomb looks carved in a haste
00:53:01and a bit unplanned,
00:53:03but the mummies were here for a reason.
00:53:06The king was a living god.
00:53:09The mummy was vital.
00:53:11This was an official program
00:53:13of removing the mummies from the tombs
00:53:17in the Valley of the Kings
00:53:18and hiding them here.
00:53:20Although Bhuttehamun,
00:53:22overseer of the royal treasury,
00:53:24strips the kings of their burial goods
00:53:27to rescue the failing economy.
00:53:31He also leads a mission
00:53:33to protect the kings and queens
00:53:35for eternity.
00:53:38Eventually,
00:53:39the authorities hide over 50 mummies
00:53:42in labeled wooden coffins
00:53:43to save their sacred bodies
00:53:45from destruction.
00:53:50They chose a perfect spot
00:53:53hidden from everyone.
00:53:54And for over 3,000 years,
00:53:57no one knew
00:53:58where the mummies
00:54:00of the pharaohs were.
00:54:01The discovery of this cave
00:54:03filled with the royal mummies
00:54:04of the kings
00:54:05is probably the most important discovery
00:54:08in all of Egyptology.
00:54:11We can now look at Ramses III.
00:54:14We have his mummy.
00:54:19To stand in front of the royal mummies,
00:54:21it's sort of a game changer.
00:54:23You are there
00:54:24with the most powerful people
00:54:27in the ancient world,
00:54:29but also you are being able to,
00:54:32on some level,
00:54:33interact with them.
00:54:35It is a telescoping of time.
00:54:39It is meeting an ancient Egyptian.
00:54:41And for many people,
00:54:43it changes their perception
00:54:45of the past,
00:54:47of Egypt as a whole,
00:54:49but also how you think of the past,
00:54:52how you think of the dead.
00:54:54The mummy of Ramses III lives on.
00:54:58And so too does his legacy
00:55:01in the Valley of the Kings.
00:55:09Anka now has one crucial question.
00:55:14Could there be lost burial treasures
00:55:17that belong to the great pharaoh
00:55:19still hidden inside his tomb?
00:55:22Finding something like this
00:55:24would be so rare.
00:55:25It hasn't happened
00:55:26in over 100 years.
00:55:36Since the time of Howard Carter,
00:55:39since they were working
00:55:40in the tomb of Tutankhamun,
00:55:43no original burial equipment
00:55:45of an ancient Egyptian pharaoh
00:55:47has been found here
00:55:49in the Valley of the Kings.
00:55:51It would be amazing
00:55:53to find some pieces
00:55:55that belong to Ramses III.
00:56:01Anka is relying on the expertise
00:56:04and eagle eyes
00:56:05of her right-hand man,
00:56:08Reis Mahmoud Abu Diyab.
00:56:13I .
00:56:13Do you want her?
00:56:15I will...
00:56:16Well, Pizar.
00:56:17Pizar.
00:56:18Yes.
00:56:18Yes.
00:56:19Yes.
00:56:22Layla today.
00:56:23All right,
00:56:23I am professional.
00:56:26I can feel that
00:56:27I be benefic falling out
00:56:28than the^^
00:56:28and the other thing,
00:56:31it's all right.
00:56:32is that they continue
00:56:33with answers to the Middle entail
00:56:38Our Egyptian workmen are a great team.
00:56:42Believe me, it's very challenging.
00:56:45You have to lift very heavy limestones,
00:56:48and on the other way around,
00:56:50you're like brushing tiny pieces out of the sand.
00:56:54It's absolutely incredible.
00:56:57The best thing I've done is that we're working with the Lord,
00:57:02and it's beautiful to me.
00:57:06After almost a month of heavy lifting,
00:57:09the team has now cleared the top layers
00:57:11of limestone debris from the tomb.
00:57:21But beneath is an even bigger challenge.
00:57:23The entire floor of the burial chamber
00:57:27is encased in a rock-hard layer of dried-out mud.
00:57:32Anka thinks it's evidence of intense flooding
00:57:35from around 130 years ago.
00:57:38The Valley of the Kings is a dried-out riverbed.
00:57:41We have to imagine now this heavy force of water
00:57:44coming down from the hills
00:57:46and taking everything with it,
00:57:48destroying everything in its way.
00:57:52The team gives each clump of sediment an ID number
00:57:56before hauling them out of the ground.
00:58:00They break open every single one searching for artifacts
00:58:05and sift the sediment so that nothing is missed.
00:58:09But the flood destruction has left very little behind.
00:58:13We have some older pieces,
00:58:16like this very deteriorated piece of wood.
00:58:19It's a massive blow.
00:58:21With such extensive flood damage,
00:58:24Anka faces the possibility
00:58:26there might be no treasure left at all.
00:58:30But as the team finally breaks through the mud lair,
00:58:34Anka spots something unexpected.
00:58:38This is not normal.
00:58:46Inside the tomb of Pharaoh Ramses III,
00:58:50beneath the compacted layer of mud,
00:58:53a strange type of sand catches Anka's attention.
00:58:58It doesn't look like the same sand found in the Valley of the Kings.
00:59:03And the one-foot deep lair is smoothed out across the entire floor of the burial chamber,
00:59:10as if it has been filled up by someone on purpose.
00:59:16It's very intriguing and puzzling what this actually is.
00:59:20This is almost everywhere on the same level.
00:59:22There's only a difference of a couple of centimeters,
00:59:25and this is quite mysterious.
00:59:30Anka takes the sand to the team for analysis.
00:59:33Under the microscope, the grains confirm her suspicions.
00:59:37The sand doesn't come from the Valley of the Kings.
00:59:42We are very curious about the sand.
00:59:45It's very clean and uniform,
00:59:48not the typical, yeah, sand that you would expect.
00:59:53Now we want to try to find out where this originates from
00:59:57and why it was brought there in this area.
01:00:01Why would anybody bring over 20 tons of sand into this burial chamber?
01:00:08Anka has one outlandish theory.
01:00:11It involves the most famous discovery of all time,
01:00:16King Tut and the man responsible,
01:00:20Howard Carter.
01:00:22There are many rumors surrounding the mystery of Howard Carter.
01:00:28One of those describes that Carter actually hid some objects
01:00:34from the tomb of Tudacham rooms in order to keep them for himself.
01:00:39We know that Howard Carter was a chief inspector inside the Valley of the Kings,
01:00:44and we know that he worked inside the tomb of Ramses III.
01:00:50We never know what we will find.
01:00:53Still, there are mysteries to solve.
01:00:57Could this mysterious layer of sand indicate that Howard Carter, discoverer of King Tut,
01:01:04hid treasures within Ramses III's tomb?
01:01:15In the hills above the Valley of the Kings,
01:01:19Egyptian heritage expert Sally El Sabahi is following Howard Carter's trail.
01:01:27She hikes to one of the most sacred lookouts in Egypt.
01:01:31No matter how many times I've come to the Valley of the Kings,
01:01:35I'm still always struck by just the scale of the place.
01:01:40It just, it never gets old.
01:01:42You just keep learning.
01:01:43You keep feeling humble.
01:01:45It's truly a really special place.
01:01:47Sally examines photographs taken over 100 years ago.
01:01:53They reveal the beginning of Carter's mission,
01:01:57to find the lost tomb of a forgotten pharaoh named Tutankhamen,
01:02:03today known to the world as King Tut.
01:02:07Carter would have been dealing with a much more barren environment,
01:02:11much more complicated environment,
01:02:13because at that point there was still a lot of debris filling the valley.
01:02:17From the valley floor,
01:02:19Carter removes thousands of tons of rubble.
01:02:24Ancient floods have completely concealed any sign of a tomb.
01:02:29Carter was dealing with what we could describe as almost impossible circumstances.
01:02:34You really get a sense from this photo of just the immense amount of material there was to work through
01:02:40as an archaeologist searching for really anything in this valley.
01:02:46After five years of digging,
01:02:48Carter is still no closer to finding the tomb.
01:02:52By this point, he had one last season with funding secured,
01:02:57so it was make or break.
01:02:58If he hadn't found the tomb at that exact moment in time,
01:03:02he probably never would have.
01:03:04On November 4th, 1922, battling the heat and dust,
01:03:10finally, Carter finds what he's looking for.
01:03:15A buried staircase that leads to a sealed doorway.
01:03:23And that's when he kind of carved out a little hole and stuck a candlestick through and looked through,
01:03:29and he made that famous statement that he had seen wonderful things because he basically saw a full tomb with
01:03:36all of its funeral equipment,
01:03:37which is something that we had never seen before or since.
01:03:48Inside the tomb,
01:03:51Carter finds a room crammed full of chariots,
01:03:57thrones and gilded statues.
01:04:01In the burial chamber is an intricately carved sarcophagus and a coffin made of solid gold that housed the mummy
01:04:12of the king.
01:04:13It's hard to understand now the magnitude of the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun,
01:04:19but in 1922, it was the biggest news story in the world.
01:04:25And the gold, the glamour, the glitz,
01:04:27it made everyone completely crazy about ancient Egypt.
01:04:35Finally, we actually got a tomb in which all that wealth of ancient Egyptian kings came to full display.
01:04:43Like real, actual objects reflecting the splendor of the kings of the new kingdom.
01:04:51The discovery was a game changer for the Valley of the Kings,
01:04:55archaeology and modern Egypt itself.
01:04:59Personally speaking, as an Egyptian, this was such an amazing moment in our history
01:05:05because it was really, it took place at a turning point when Egypt was forming its own independent identity.
01:05:11And Tutankhamun literally was the face.
01:05:15He gave us that identity that was something of our own.
01:05:26But despite the earth-shattering find, Egypt's growing independence left Carter with a bombshell.
01:05:35Until that point, what had dictated all of the discoveries made by foreign nationals and missions in Egypt was a
01:05:4250-50 split.
01:05:44And so Carter anticipated that they would be able to keep 50% of whatever they found here.
01:05:50And literally just mere weeks actually before the discovery, the Antiquities Department changed that law and got rid of the
01:05:5750-50 split.
01:06:01I think this was a tough pill to swallow for a very long time and Carter did fight it for
01:06:06a while.
01:06:06Carter had no treasures to call his own and he was suspected of stealing.
01:06:14There was always a concern from officials that something could be taken without their knowledge.
01:06:21And so because of that, Carter had to tread very carefully.
01:06:25Would Carter really have stolen from the tomb of Tutankhamun?
01:06:30And if so, could he have buried treasures just a few hundred feet away in the burial chamber of Ramses
01:06:38III?
01:06:50Anca finds a clue, a fragment of glistening blue pottery.
01:06:57It's broken, but its vivid color and decoration suggest something ancient and royal.
01:07:05Wow, that's beautiful piece.
01:07:10What is this treasure?
01:07:11And more importantly, which pharaoh does it belong to?
01:07:28Sally L. Sabahi investigates suspicions that Howard Carter, discoverer of King Tut, stole royal treasures and hid them in Ramses
01:07:39III's tomb.
01:07:41Just outside the valley, she explores his old dig house for clues.
01:07:50You really feel like you're in the home of somebody with a very strong personality and character.
01:07:56And I think that's such a critical part of understanding who this person was.
01:08:04Inside the house, Carter's team had a dark room and created thousands of photographs of the dig and its treasures.
01:08:17Everything was photographed in excruciating detail.
01:08:21That was unprecedented.
01:08:28By all measures, I think that we can safely consider Howard Carter a pioneer in terms of how he handled
01:08:35this discovery.
01:08:38And yet, despite his forensic approach, Carter had a secret.
01:08:45Rumors of stealing treasures have followed Howard Carter for over a century.
01:08:50Now, finally, hard evidence has come to light.
01:08:57Shown for the very first time are unpublished letters from 10 years after the discovery between one of Carter's colleagues,
01:09:06Alan Gardiner and other experts.
01:09:10It's apparently addressing an amulet that Carter gave to Gardiner as a gift.
01:09:17So this letter opens with this really interesting sentence that reads,
01:09:22The Wim amulet you showed me has undoubtedly been stolen from the tomb of Tutankhamun before the objects were sent
01:09:28to the museum.
01:09:33The amulet, like this one, was a perfect match with the others that were kept at the Egyptian Museum.
01:09:42Gardiner confronts Howard Carter in a letter.
01:09:45I deeply regret having been placed in so awkward a position.
01:09:49The concern from Gardiner was probably to have an object like that in his possession.
01:09:54And I think there also must have been a bit of embarrassment knowing that he had also kind of outed
01:10:00Carter.
01:10:03What's really important about these letters is that this is the first, not just written, but hard proof that objects
01:10:11had been taken out of the tomb of Tutankhamun,
01:10:15apparently directly by Carter himself.
01:10:18So why was the theft covered up for almost 100 years?
01:10:23What these letters really show me is that there was really a concerted effort to not tarnish this incredible discovery
01:10:32by revealing unsavory things about Carter.
01:10:36Because at the end of the day, this was not about Carter.
01:10:40He was the discoverer, yes, but this was about Tutankhamun and his tomb and this incredible legacy of the Valley
01:10:47of the Kings.
01:10:49Hero or villain, the discovery raises a new possibility for Anka's mission.
01:10:57There were over 5,000 artifacts found in the tomb of King Tut.
01:11:01Maybe Howard Carter took some of these small finds out of the tomb and who knows where they are.
01:11:08Carter once worked in Ramses III's tomb, just a few hundred feet from Tut.
01:11:17Did Carter hide stolen treasures beneath the unexpected sand that Anka has found?
01:11:33At the team's dig house headquarters, Anka and her colleague, Leah Reese, investigate.
01:11:42They want to find out when the sand was dumped there, and they find a clue in notes left by
01:11:48an explorer from the late 1800s.
01:11:52Here we have one from the year 1891.
01:11:56He is writing how vivid the colors are in the burial chamber.
01:12:00As of 1891, the burial chamber was still in pristine condition.
01:12:07And a couple of years later, in 1895, he is writing here that the looms are much damaged and need
01:12:16detain the traveler but a short time.
01:12:19So this means that already something must have happened and destroyed the rear compartments so heavily that they were inaccessible.
01:12:28In just four years, by 1895, flooding must have already destroyed the chamber.
01:12:35It means the sand must have been dumped long before Carter worked in the valley in the 1900s.
01:12:43It would mean that Howard Carter is not the one who could have brought the sand layer inside.
01:12:51So the blue pottery doesn't belong to Tut.
01:12:55But could that mean something even more intriguing?
01:12:58Could it belong to Ramses III himself?
01:13:12Back inside the tombs, the team has now unearthed over 20 pieces of the mysterious blue pottery.
01:13:22We have here some very dazzling blue, shining, glazed fragments that came out of the bottom from our excavation.
01:13:34It could be the first burial treasure discovered in a king's tomb in 100 years.
01:13:41They begin the painstaking task of trying to glue the fragments together.
01:13:49Anka thinks they once belonged to a set of vases that held sacred oils and perfumes.
01:13:56We are thinking that it must have been in the realm of beauty, making yourself fresh in the morning.
01:14:05They are remarkable pieces.
01:14:08But Anka hasn't been able to prove the owner until now.
01:14:14We found a very, very special piece.
01:14:17So we can probably compare that here on one of the pillars.
01:14:22The writing almost perfectly matches Ramses III's name on the walls of his tomb.
01:14:29The sign Reca means ruler.
01:14:32Without any doubt, we have here a part of the original burial equipment of Ramses III.
01:14:39It's amazing.
01:14:41An original artifact that brings Anka closer to the great pharaoh and his spectacular burial.
01:14:51The fragments reveal Ramses was buried with at least four blue vases.
01:14:59Designed to hold sacred perfumes and oils.
01:15:05Placed within his tomb.
01:15:07They may be the last surviving treasures that belonged to Ramses III.
01:15:20It's simply beautiful to have all these pieces here together to see them shining and to know that you actually
01:15:28hold something that was supposed to be with Ramses III in his afterlife.
01:15:34It's an incredibly rare find, the kind of which hasn't been seen in the Valley of the Kings for over
01:15:41100 years.
01:15:43To now be finding actual burial equipment of the king whose tomb you're excavating is pretty damn cool.
01:15:49And it really does add a huge amount of information about what was being buried with these kings.
01:15:58Could anything else lie inside the burial chamber?
01:16:02On the floor of Ramses' tomb, Anka spots evidence that could help explain the lack of treasures.
01:16:08Almost everything could have been burned to the ground.
01:16:33Almost everything could have been burned to the ground.
01:16:38Or destroyed.
01:16:39We collect everything, we take notes, pictures to see the wider context of an area.
01:16:46All the finds must be meticulously recorded.
01:16:49Once something is excavated, it is gone forever.
01:16:53This is why it's so important to do a decent job with that.
01:16:58With the end of the dig approaching, the team hits a major milestone.
01:17:03We are reaching parts of the original floor level of the burial chamber.
01:17:07This is absolutely amazing.
01:17:11Some parts of the tomb's original floor may not have been seen for hundreds, even thousands of years.
01:17:18But everywhere Anka looks, she spots something odd.
01:17:23These are burned traces.
01:17:25It's a mixture of the burned wood, limestone and ashes.
01:17:32A fine layer of ash coats many stones on the burial chamber floor.
01:17:37We have actually a lot of evidence for burning here inside the burial chamber.
01:17:43That tell us a story about, like, large fires with immense heat.
01:17:49The heat was so intense, it's broken down the limestone the burial chamber is carved from.
01:17:56As soon as you touch it, it starts chipping from all sides.
01:18:00You can, like, crack it open like a cake.
01:18:04So, it's in a very, very bad shape.
01:18:08It's puzzling because nobody brought charcoal or wood from outside.
01:18:15What has been burning inside the burial chamber?
01:18:18The team finds small pieces of wood scattered around.
01:18:23Pieces of coffins, including the bodies that were once inside.
01:18:28We didn't find a complete mummy.
01:18:31All the remains that we find are only pieces.
01:18:34This is quite suspicious, but we also found traces of burning.
01:18:40It leads Anka to one gruesome conclusion.
01:18:44We know that in the 18th and 19th century, mummies served as a fuel.
01:18:51We have to imagine that there was no electricity.
01:18:54So, the individuals who visited needed light in order to experience the tomb and to have a look at the
01:19:01artifacts.
01:19:03We believe that these are firing places that were used to enlighten the darkness of the burial chamber.
01:19:13Robbers and modern explorers would have lit huge fires in the tomb.
01:19:19Burning everything and anything they could find.
01:19:25Anka Weber's project in KV-11 is cutting edge and innovative.
01:19:31Using modern technology to explore the tiny, minute remains is telling us so much about the tomb of Ramses III.
01:19:40The paintings and this kind of the sheer beauty of it is just one part of the story.
01:19:47It's really a 3,000 year history of activity that begins with the king and ends with our modern time.
01:19:55Layer by layer, Anka and the team can now finally piece together the complete story of the tomb.
01:20:06Inside a nested sarcophagus, Ramses III lay in peace for less than a hundred years.
01:20:14Before his mummy was moved into the safety of the mountains.
01:20:19Now empty, others used Ramses' tomb for their burials.
01:20:25Then came nearly 3,000 years of destruction.
01:20:30Fires, brute force, robbers and explorers all scarred the king's tomb.
01:20:42Until finally, floods inundated the chamber and brought its roof crashing down.
01:20:55And the history of the tomb is still evolving.
01:20:58After three months of non-stop digging, the team has cleared two shipping containers worth of debris.
01:21:06discovered original burial treasures and opened a new chapter in the story of ancient Egypt.
01:21:16It feels absolutely incredible to have achieved so much.
01:21:21We finally excavated it, we cleared it from rubble and debris and we found so many amazing and wonderful things
01:21:28inside.
01:21:29Now at the end of the field season, I feel like I became part of the history of the tomb.
01:21:37We grew closer to this ancient pharaoh.
01:21:40It's a long life dream that came true.
01:21:44The last great pharaoh of ancient Egypt, who was brutally murdered,
01:21:54came to be buried in a spectacular tomb with an army of servants and nested sarcophagi.
01:22:07The tomb was Ramsay's portal to eternal life, in the heart of the Valley of the Kings.
01:22:19There is still a lot of work to be done in the valley.
01:22:22Even now, there are places where we don't know what lies beneath the sand.
01:22:28There is so much more out there to find. There's so much more to excavate. This is a never-ending
01:22:33quest.
01:22:34Now Anka's goal is to restore and conserve the structure of the burial chamber.
01:22:40And make it safe for visitors to enter.
01:22:44So that the world can bear witness to the greatness of Ramses III.
01:22:50We are the connecting point. Everything that we excavate, that tells us something about our history,
01:22:57will bring us to a past that can shape a better future.
01:23:07It's a quest that will fulfill the pharaoh's ultimate wish.
01:23:13Speak the name of the dead, and make them live again.
01:23:19Ramses III lives on.
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