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00:02The lost city of Amarna, an ancient mystery buried deep in the Egyptian desert.
00:10This was a huge city. It had a population of perhaps 50,000 people.
00:15This sprawling metropolis is home to Egypt's most famous rulers,
00:20Akhenaten, Queen Nefertiti, and the boy king Tutankhamun.
00:27Why does it vanish, almost without a trace?
00:31One could look at it as a monument of a great ambition,
00:34or you could look at it as the work of a maniac despot.
00:39Today, investigators journey deep inside ancient tombs
00:42and use forensic analysis to reveal one of the darkest chapters in Egyptian history.
00:49Amarna doesn't just disappear.
00:51There may have been a deliberate attempt to forget that this place ever existed.
00:57To unearth the secrets of Amarna,
01:00we will lift up this buried city from the desert floor.
01:06We'll blow away the sands from magnificent tombs,
01:12resurrect lost temples,
01:16and reveal the astonishing true story of Egypt's most notorious pharaoh.
01:31Egypt, land of the pharaohs.
01:36This ancient country is home to many astonishing wonders,
01:41gigantic pyramids,
01:43and huge temples.
01:46But its desert hides what may be the greatest secret of all,
01:50an abandoned megacity
01:52called Amarna.
01:55Amarna is one of the great archaeological sites in the world.
01:58We have here the footprint of an entire ancient city.
02:03Amarna lies in Middle Egypt,
02:06halfway between the ancient cities of Luxor and Memphis.
02:11This buried metropolis is bigger than both.
02:16The desert sands hide a lush oasis
02:19that stretches across more than 50 square miles.
02:24They're all that's left of a once magnificent city.
02:29In its prime,
02:30Amarna is home to up to 50,000 people.
02:35At its center stands a huge royal palace.
02:38And not one,
02:40but two vast temples.
02:43The largest stretching more than six football fields
02:46from end to end.
02:49Why does this city disappear for thousands of years?
02:53What secrets lie buried beneath the sands?
03:02Archaeologist Dr. Anna Stevens
03:04investigates this vanished metropolis.
03:08Its rise and fall is one of Egypt's greatest mysteries.
03:13Amarna is the vision of an enigmatic pharaoh
03:18called Akhenaten,
03:19a king thought to be the father
03:21of the famous Tutankhamun.
03:25The size of this place is extraordinary.
03:28We're standing here at the very northern end
03:30of ancient Amarna.
03:32And when we look out,
03:33we can see the Nile River running alongside us here.
03:36They're really the source of life
03:38for the ancient Egyptians.
03:40The ancient city stretches originally
03:43from right alongside the riverbank
03:45all the way across to the eastern cliffs.
03:51Akhenaten's city appears almost nowhere
03:53in Egypt's official records.
03:57But the cliffs behind the city center
03:59conceal a remarkable account of its origins.
04:05Here, Anna joins Egyptian archaeologist
04:08Hamada Kelwi.
04:09They decipher a gigantic stone tablet
04:12carved into the rock.
04:15This is a boundary marker.
04:18We call it a stela.
04:19It's one of 15 stelae of this kind
04:22to mark out the territory
04:24of ancient Amarna.
04:27A ring of boundary markers like this
04:30straddles both sides of the Nile.
04:32They define the city limits.
04:36But the tablets also describe
04:38every major building inside it.
04:41Ancient symbols called hieroglyphs
04:44reveal that Akhenaten builds them all
04:46for the Egyptian sun god, the Aten.
04:50He's really studying his vision
04:52for this new city.
04:53So he's listing the monuments
04:55that he's going to create for the sun god
04:56and the endowments that he's going to create.
05:00The ancient Egyptians believe
05:02that the Aten is the creator god.
05:05He appears in the sky as the sun disk.
05:10He is the reason of the people to live,
05:12for the fish to live in the river,
05:14for the animal to live in the mountain.
05:17So we think that Aten is the source
05:19of the life for every person.
05:21This city in a scorching hot desert
05:24is the perfect home for a sun god.
05:28But why does the pharaoh build him
05:30an entire city?
05:32A clue lies five miles away to the east
05:36in Amarna's very own Valley of the Kings.
05:42Buried beneath tons of stone and rubble,
05:44a sloping shaft descends straight
05:47into the rock of the mountainside.
05:49In the deepest chamber
05:51lie elaborately carved fragments
05:54of an impressive stone sarcophagus.
05:58This is a tomb of high status.
06:01But there's no mummy inside,
06:03and severely damaged hieroglyphs
06:05on the surrounding walls
06:06hide all clues to the tomb's owner.
06:09But in the chambers beyond,
06:11one carving remains intact.
06:13Beneath an image of the Aten god himself
06:16are two figures, Akhenaten and a woman.
06:20What can these faded carvings reveal
06:22about the origins of this lost city?
06:27Anna ventures inside the tomb.
06:31Haunting images of the pharaoh
06:33cover almost every wall.
06:36All Egyptian tombs are generally covered
06:38with images of the tomb owner.
06:40This figure here is very badly damaged,
06:43but it's Akhenaten.
06:44He's standing the closest to the sun god
06:48and the rays of the sun god.
06:50A female figure stands next to the pharaoh
06:53in almost every image.
06:58Decoding the hieroglyphs here reveals
07:00that this is Akhenaten's wife,
07:03a queen called Nefertiti.
07:06This cartouche gives the name of this figure.
07:09You can see the name of Nefertiti
07:11inside the cartouche.
07:13The beautiful lady has come.
07:14So this figure standing close behind the king
07:17under the rays of the Aten is Nefertiti.
07:19Exactly.
07:20This tomb is highly unusual.
07:24Nefertiti is shown to be
07:25almost as powerful as her husband.
07:29The key figure here is obviously Akhenaten.
07:31He's the largest figure.
07:32He's the one who's closest to the Aten.
07:34And he, of course, is the head of the family.
07:37He's the head of the city.
07:39And, of course, he's leading Egypt as well.
07:41But you can see also that Nefertiti
07:44is represented on really quite a large scale.
07:46She, like her husband Akhenaten,
07:48is semi-divine.
07:50The burial chamber also depicts their children.
07:54The identity of one family member in particular
07:57is extraordinary.
07:59What it seems to show is
08:02the death of Princess Mekhetaten in childbirth.
08:06What's also really interesting here
08:07is that we seem to have a depiction
08:09of the princess's baby.
08:11Some scholars suggest
08:13it's possibly Tutankhamun himself.
08:17This might be the earliest depiction
08:19of the famous boy king.
08:23The tomb reveals that the abandoned city of Amarna
08:26is a family project.
08:29Most pharaoh's tombs of the new kingdom
08:32were cut just for the king himself.
08:34The royal tomb at Amarna
08:36is a little bit more unusual.
08:38So we think that not just Akhenaten
08:40was buried here,
08:41but one of the royal princesses.
08:42The king's mother might also have been buried here.
08:45And there's a really prominent suite
08:47of secondary chambers
08:48that look as though they were intended
08:50for Nefertiti's burial as queen.
08:54Amarna is not just another city.
08:57It's supposed to be Egypt's new capital,
09:00the home of the royal family.
09:04But this tomb also hints at a troubled history.
09:08These chambers are never completed.
09:12Many of the carvings here
09:13appear to be deliberately damaged.
09:16One figure that we know
09:18wasn't buried here was Tutankhamun.
09:20He was actually buried
09:21in the Valley of the Kings at Luxor.
09:23There's a question mark
09:24about whether Nefertiti
09:26might have been buried here.
09:27The suite of chambers
09:28that seems to have been cut for her
09:30is unfinished.
09:31So it's unlikely that her body
09:33was actually interred here.
09:36Amarna is a vast puzzle.
09:38Why does the pharaoh move his family
09:41and Egypt's entire capital
09:43to the middle of nowhere
09:46only for it to fade away?
09:50A secret shrine
09:52in a lost corner of the city
09:53could hold the answer.
10:103,000 years ago,
10:12a mysterious pharaoh called Akhenaten
10:15builds a magnificent new city
10:17at Amarna in Middle Egypt.
10:20This barren desert plain
10:22by the Nile
10:23is hundreds of miles
10:24from Egypt's traditional cities.
10:27Here the pharaoh rules
10:29with his wife,
10:30the beautiful queen Nefertiti.
10:34Why does this spectacular metropolis
10:36suddenly appear here
10:38from nothing?
10:43Archaeologists Anna Stevens
10:44and Hamada Kelwi
10:45hunt for evidence
10:46in the city center.
10:49At dawn,
10:50the sun rises
10:51from behind a gap
10:52in these distant cliffs.
10:54This is really lovely, isn't it?
10:56Where you see the columns
10:58and the wadi behind it.
11:00The sun shines
11:01in the morning
11:02in between the columns.
11:03Yeah.
11:05Amarna is unique.
11:07It's the only city in Egypt
11:09built for a single god.
11:12But outside these spectacular temples,
11:15there's evidence
11:16that not everyone
11:17is devoted to the sun god.
11:21In the suburbs
11:23of this glorious city,
11:25its ordinary citizens
11:26live in basic,
11:27closely packed houses.
11:30Constructed from rough mud bricks,
11:32painted with a simple coat
11:34of white paint,
11:35house upon house
11:36is packed together.
11:40Nearby,
11:41built in the same way,
11:42is a simple chapel.
11:45Inside,
11:46an open space
11:47with benches.
11:49At one end,
11:50there's an altar
11:51and a shrine
11:52to two of Egypt's
11:53traditional gods,
11:55Isis and Shed.
11:57Why are they hidden away
11:59in a run-down corner
12:00of the city?
12:07Egyptologist Aidan Dodson
12:09explains that Amarna
12:10is the result
12:11of a forgotten revolution.
12:13Amarna is the brainchild
12:16of one man.
12:17It wouldn't have existed
12:18without the fevered imagination
12:20of Akhenaten.
12:21A clue to the city's
12:23secret history
12:24lies hundreds of miles away,
12:26in Thebes,
12:28Egypt's ancient capital.
12:32Aidan explores
12:33its vast temple
12:34of Karnak.
12:36This mega-temple
12:37is dedicated
12:38to Egypt's
12:39most important
12:40ancient god,
12:41Ammon.
12:44But faded carvings
12:45reveal traces
12:46of an unthinkable attack
12:48on Egypt's holiest site.
12:51Looking at these texts,
12:53there are plenty of places
12:54where I can see
12:55things have been
12:56scratched out.
12:57And what was once there
12:59were the names
13:00of Ammon?
13:02Aidan believes
13:04this vandalism
13:05is the work
13:05of none other
13:06than Akhenaten himself.
13:09This is a wonderful
13:11example of how
13:12agents were sent
13:13all over Egypt
13:14by Akhenaten
13:16to remove
13:17Ammon's name
13:18and title
13:18wherever it appeared.
13:20These scratched-out
13:22carvings reveal
13:23that Akhenaten
13:24rebels against
13:25all of the old gods.
13:29What Akhenaten
13:30is doing
13:30is clearly
13:31a revolution.
13:32A revolution
13:32from above,
13:33but a revolution
13:33nevertheless.
13:34It's not only
13:35religion,
13:36it's art.
13:37It's even the way
13:38the language
13:38is used in public.
13:40Everything changes.
13:41It's year zero.
13:46For more than
13:47a millennium,
13:48the Egyptians
13:48worshipped more
13:49than 2,000
13:50different gods
13:51and goddesses.
13:56Among them,
13:57Anubis,
13:58the jackal-headed
13:59god of the underworld,
14:01Thoth,
14:02the knowledgeable
14:03god of the moon,
14:04and powerful Ammon,
14:06king of the gods.
14:08But Akhenaten
14:09erases them
14:10all from his
14:11temple walls,
14:12systematically replacing
14:14them with a single one,
14:15the sun god.
14:19Across Egypt,
14:21the Aten
14:21now reigns supreme
14:22through his son
14:24on earth,
14:25the pharaoh.
14:32Archaeologist
14:33Anna Stevens
14:34investigates
14:34how the pharaoh
14:35builds his new
14:36world order
14:37at Amarna.
14:39She heads
14:40inside the tombs
14:41of the city's
14:42noblemen.
14:43Many of these
14:44underground chambers
14:45are remarkably
14:46well preserved.
14:47As soon as
14:48you enter the tomb,
14:49you see this figure
14:51standing here
14:52wearing all his
14:53finery.
14:53And this is
14:54a man called
14:55Meri Ra.
14:56He was a really
14:57important person
14:58at ancient Amarna.
14:59He was the high
15:00priest of the Aten.
15:03Priests are
15:04powerful people
15:05in ancient
15:05Egyptian society.
15:07They often have
15:08their own
15:08magnificent tombs
15:09celebrating their
15:10status.
15:11But this burial
15:12chamber is very
15:13strange.
15:16Normally in Egypt
15:17at this time,
15:18high-ranking officials
15:19would decorate
15:20their tombs
15:21with imagery
15:22that really celebrated
15:23their achievements
15:24in life.
15:25Here at Amarna,
15:26though,
15:27we see the tomb
15:27owner very much
15:28in supporting roles.
15:30The focus is on
15:31the king,
15:32the queen,
15:33and the Aten.
15:36Nefertiti and
15:37Akhenaten totally
15:38dominate this scene.
15:39Only they stand
15:41beneath the Aten
15:42sun god.
15:43So here you see
15:44Meri Ra.
15:46And what he's doing
15:47is supporting the
15:49king as the king
15:50worships the Aten.
15:51So he's handing
15:52over offerings
15:53up to the pharaoh.
15:55The king wanted
15:56the focus to be
15:57on the Aten cult
15:58and on his
15:59special relationship
16:00with the sun god.
16:02At the buried
16:03city of Amarna,
16:04Nefertiti and
16:05Akhenaten have
16:06total, absolute
16:07control.
16:08There will be
16:09no other temples,
16:10no other priests,
16:11no other gods
16:13to challenge them.
16:14What Akhenaten
16:15was doing here
16:17was an anathema
16:18to the idea
16:19of world order.
16:21You cannot deny
16:23the existence
16:23of other gods
16:24and focus worship
16:25only on one god.
16:26This would have
16:28been incredibly
16:28upsetting to the
16:29Egyptian world view.
16:31Amarna is the
16:33dawn of a new age
16:34and an audacious
16:36power grab.
16:37The pharaoh
16:38completes this city
16:39in just a few years.
16:42How does he achieve
16:43this incredible feat?
16:45And how many
16:47would suffer
16:47for his dream?
17:02three thousand years ago.
17:05Tens of thousands
17:06of Egyptians
17:07toil under a blazing sun
17:09at Amarna.
17:12Here they build
17:13a new capital
17:14for their godlike ruler,
17:16the pharaoh Akhenaten
17:17and his queen
17:19Nefertiti.
17:20This pre-planned
17:22metropolis
17:23is far removed
17:24from the sprawling
17:25cities of the past.
17:27Amarna
17:28probably was the
17:28nearest thing
17:29to a model city
17:30Egypt's ever produced.
17:35Egypt's ancient
17:36capitals
17:37at Luxor
17:38and Memphis
17:39grow up
17:39over thousands
17:40of years.
17:42Their individual
17:43palaces
17:43and temples
17:44take decades
17:45to finish.
17:46The Great Pyramid
17:47at Giza
17:48is a 20-year
17:49construction project.
17:51By comparison,
17:53everything at Amarna
17:54emerges
17:55in just a few years.
17:57How do engineers
17:58build this huge city
17:59so quickly?
18:03Archaeologist
18:04Hamada Kelwi
18:05is on the hunt
18:06to find out.
18:08He's in charge
18:09of protecting
18:10this abandoned city.
18:13No one knows
18:14its geography
18:15better than him.
18:17Hamada heads
18:18deep into
18:18the desert
18:19sands
18:19to look
18:20for clues.
18:21In barren dunes,
18:23he analyzes
18:24row upon row
18:25of ruined walls,
18:26a village
18:27for Amarna's workers.
18:30It's divided
18:31into streets
18:31running from
18:32the south
18:33to the north.
18:33And as you see,
18:34there's a very
18:35simple house
18:35here.
18:37These suburbs
18:38are an ancient
18:39time capsule.
18:40They reveal
18:41how most of Amarna
18:42is made
18:43from local material.
18:45They build
18:46the Orkman village
18:47from mudbrick walls.
18:49They bring
18:50the clay
18:50from the Nile
18:51and sometimes
18:51they use
18:52reddish clay
18:53from the local
18:53area here.
18:55Amarna's housing
18:56is quick
18:56and easy
18:57to build.
18:59But engineers
19:00also construct
19:01the city's
19:02grand stone buildings
19:03with the same
19:04astonishing speed.
19:07A giant temple
19:08dominates
19:09Akhenaten city.
19:10Its outer wall
19:12encloses more
19:13than 40 acres,
19:14a space big enough
19:15to fit tens
19:16of thousands
19:17of people.
19:18Inside,
19:19there are six
19:20immense gateways,
19:21each more than
19:2290 feet high.
19:24The temple
19:25has no roof,
19:26so worshippers
19:27are never shaded
19:28from the sun god's gaze.
19:30And in the open
19:32space beyond
19:33are almost
19:341,000 stone tables
19:35used for lavish
19:37offerings to the god
19:38in the sky above.
19:40This is a temple
19:42of monumental proportions.
19:46How did Akhenaten
19:47build so much
19:49so fast?
19:52Today,
19:53Amarna's grand
19:54temples are in ruins.
19:57Fragments of their
19:58stone blocks
19:59are scattered
20:00far and wide.
20:02So Egyptologists
20:04search for answers
20:05here at Thebes.
20:07This ancient city
20:09could hold
20:09the secrets
20:10of Amarna's
20:11construction.
20:13It's where
20:14Akhenaten
20:14begins his reign.
20:17For thousands
20:17of years,
20:18nearly every pharaoh
20:19builds here.
20:21Tayyib Mohammed
20:22investigates
20:23this incredible site.
20:25Thebes,
20:26at that time,
20:27it was
20:28the political
20:28and religious
20:30capital
20:30of all
20:32of Egypt.
20:33it was
20:34one of the
20:35most important
20:35cities
20:36over the world.
20:39Tayyib thinks
20:40that Thebes
20:41is where
20:41Akhenaten
20:42learns to build
20:43big
20:43and build
20:44fast.
20:45He ventures
20:46inside the
20:47magnificent
20:47temple of Luxor
20:48in the heart
20:49of the ancient city.
20:54Akhenaten's
20:55buildings here
20:56no longer exist.
20:57But thousands
20:58of ancient
20:59stone blocks
21:00are stacked high
21:01behind the temple walls.
21:03Tayyib takes
21:04a closer look
21:05at these fragments
21:05amongst Luxor's
21:07masonry ruins.
21:10They are
21:11instantly familiar.
21:14Look at
21:15these blocks.
21:16It's exactly
21:16the same style
21:17which we found
21:19in Amarna
21:19during the Amarna
21:21period.
21:22It's the same style
21:24which we found
21:25in the tombs
21:25in Amarna
21:27representing
21:27the relationship
21:28between the king
21:29Akhenaten
21:30and his lovely
21:31queen Nefertiti.
21:33These stone blocks
21:34date to just
21:35a few years
21:36before work
21:37begins at Amarna.
21:38We can see
21:39the face
21:39of the Amarna
21:40period.
21:41It's exactly
21:41the same face
21:42and the eyes
21:43especially the eyes
21:44and the chin
21:45and the wig
21:46which they used
21:47during this time
21:49in Amarna period.
21:51These blocks
21:52are the fragments
21:53of one of Akhenaten's
21:54very first buildings
21:55and early
21:56lost temple
21:57to the sun god.
22:00Careful scrutiny
22:01reveals another
22:02intriguing fact.
22:04These stones
22:05are much smaller
22:06than any other
22:07masonry here.
22:09We can see
22:10the difference
22:10between the size
22:12of the Amarna period
22:13during the time
22:14of the king Akhenaten
22:15and the new kingdom
22:17blocks
22:18which was
22:19so huge.
22:21These small blocks
22:22are called
22:23talatats.
22:24Each one
22:25is three hands wide.
22:28Early Egyptians
22:30invent them
22:30but they're
22:31an outdated technique
22:32by Akhenaten's reign.
22:35So why does
22:36the pharaoh
22:36use them?
22:42Azab Hamdan
22:43is an expert
22:44stonemason.
22:46He uses
22:47modern tools
22:48but the same
22:49techniques
22:50as the ancient
22:50Egyptians
22:51to create
22:52a talatat stone.
22:57Azab discovers
22:58that creating
22:59such a small block
23:00is quick
23:00and easy.
23:01One hour
23:03small piece.
23:05Small
23:06pasta.
23:08This is
23:09live.
23:10Look.
23:12Azab's rapid work
23:13confirms the theory
23:14that these smaller
23:15stones
23:15are what make
23:16Amarna possible.
23:19they allow
23:20Akhenaten
23:20to complete
23:21one of the most
23:22ambitious
23:22construction projects
23:24in Egypt's
23:24entire history.
23:31More than a thousand
23:32years before Akhenaten,
23:34the Egyptians
23:35build the Great Pyramid
23:36around 2580 BC.
23:39Each stone block
23:40requires hundreds
23:41of workers
23:41to drag and lift
23:42into place.
23:45But Akhenaten
23:46abandons this technique.
23:49He cuts
23:49talatat stones
23:50that are a fraction
23:51of the size.
23:56Now,
23:57one worker
23:57can each carry
23:59a single block
24:01speeding up
24:02construction.
24:06With this technique,
24:09Akhenaten City
24:10is razed
24:10from the desert
24:11sand
24:12in just three years.
24:17Amarna
24:18is one of the
24:18greatest engineering
24:19projects
24:20in Egyptian history.
24:22The sheer scale
24:23of it
24:24rivals the construction
24:25of the Great Pyramid
24:26at Giza,
24:27a tomb
24:28that took
24:2920 years
24:30to complete.
24:31Before Akhenaten
24:33came here,
24:33it would have been
24:34quite a barren
24:34landscape.
24:35There were thousands
24:36of people engaged
24:37in this mass
24:38building project
24:39on behalf of Akhenaten.
24:41What sort of effort
24:42was required
24:43to develop
24:44this city
24:45from the ground up
24:46within just a few years?
24:48Akhenaten builds
24:49a vast metropolis,
24:51a huge royal palace
24:53where he lives
24:54in luxury
24:55and worships
24:56his solar god.
24:57but what
24:59is the human
24:59cost of Amarna?
25:01A grisly discovery
25:03reveals its
25:04darkest secrets.
25:21The lost city
25:22of Amarna
25:23is slowly
25:23revealing its secrets.
25:26It's one of the
25:27largest and fastest
25:28construction projects
25:29in Egyptian history.
25:31But is there
25:32a human cost
25:33to this
25:34mega metropolis?
25:37Archaeologist
25:38Anna Stevens
25:39explores a cemetery
25:40on the outskirts
25:41of the city.
25:42In the desert
25:43on the eastern
25:44fringe of Amarna,
25:46we find
25:46four huge burial grounds.
25:48There's several
25:49thousand people
25:50buried here.
25:53The pharaoh Akhenaten
25:55and his wife
25:56Nefertiti
25:56live in luxury here.
26:00But the graves
26:02of their subjects
26:02reveal a darker side
26:04to this glittering
26:05new city.
26:07Beneath the sand
26:08and silt
26:09of the river valley,
26:10deep narrow pits
26:11are the final resting
26:12place of more
26:13than 200 people.
26:15They are buried
26:16unceremoniously,
26:18sometimes two or more
26:19piled into a single grave.
26:23They have no grave goods
26:25to take with them
26:26into the afterlife,
26:28and only coarse rush
26:29matting as a simple shroud.
26:33The skeletal remains
26:34are small
26:35and reveal
26:36a startling trend.
26:37These bodies
26:39are almost all
26:40adolescents.
26:43What can their
26:44early deaths reveal
26:45about Amarna's
26:46hurried construction?
26:52forensic archaeologist
26:53Gretchen Dabbs
26:54unlocks the secrets
26:55of these bones
26:56in her lab
26:56at Southern Illinois
26:58University.
26:59They contain startling
27:01clues about the health
27:02of the population.
27:04This is a six to eight
27:06year old individual
27:07who has arthritis
27:08in his feet,
27:10which we can tell
27:11based on the flattening
27:13of the margins
27:14of the places
27:15where the two bones
27:16touch one another.
27:17The discovery
27:19of a child
27:20with arthritis
27:21is extraordinary.
27:22In the modern world,
27:23it's usually
27:24a disease of old age.
27:28This individual
27:29has arthritis
27:30of the knee,
27:31and most likely
27:32reason for seeing
27:33arthritis
27:34in the young individuals
27:35at the North Tomb
27:36Cemetery
27:36is hard work,
27:38hard labor
27:39that started
27:40very early in life.
27:42Many of the 200 youths
27:44in the cemetery
27:45are also severely
27:46malnourished.
27:48Nearly all of those
27:49buried at Amarna
27:50also have serious
27:51bone injuries.
27:53Gretchen compares
27:54this modern bone sample
27:56with the x-rays
27:57from the cemetery.
27:58One of the most
27:59common injuries
28:00that we found
28:01in the South Tomb
28:02Cemetery
28:02is called
28:03a compression fracture,
28:04where the elements
28:06actually smash down
28:08on each other
28:09and break the bones.
28:11You can actually see
28:12the body
28:13of the upper vertebra
28:15is intruding
28:17on the body
28:18of the lower vertebra
28:19right there.
28:20These injuries
28:21reveal the disturbing
28:23reality of daily life
28:24in Amarna.
28:26We interpret these
28:27as evidence
28:28that these individuals
28:29were carrying
28:30extremely heavy loads.
28:33It's possible
28:34that they were involved
28:35in the heavy work
28:35of quarrying,
28:37and the quarries
28:38were located
28:38right on the cliffs
28:39just above
28:40the North Tomb Cemetery.
28:42The bodies
28:43discovered in the cemetery
28:44showed little
28:45of the respect
28:46ancient Egyptians
28:47usually show
28:48to their dead.
28:51Egypt's long line
28:52of pharaohs
28:53all employ
28:54tens of thousands
28:55of skilled workers
28:56to build their pyramids.
28:57They are well treated
28:59in life and in death.
29:01Tombs carefully built
29:03from mud bricks
29:03lie in the shadow
29:05of the Great Pyramid.
29:07a place of honor
29:08next to their sacred pharaoh.
29:10Each contains
29:11a single body
29:12wrapped in linen
29:13and carefully positioned
29:15with the face
29:15towards the rising sun
29:17in the east.
29:19Alongside the bodies,
29:21knives,
29:22jars of beer,
29:23and bread
29:24ensure a comfortable passage
29:26into the afterlife.
29:29Amarna's burial
29:30stand out.
29:32Here,
29:33its builders
29:33are worked to death.
29:36The lack of care
29:37that we see
29:38in the North Tomb Cemetery
29:39in the way
29:39that the individuals
29:40were buried
29:41suggests that it wasn't
29:42their family
29:43or loved ones
29:44who were doing
29:45the burial,
29:45that it was more
29:46industrial type
29:47and expedient type burial.
29:52Amarna is far
29:53from the glorious city
29:54the pharaoh proclaims.
29:56Its founders
29:57are malnourished
29:58and die young
29:59in Akhenaten's rush
30:00to build his city.
30:03Why does the pharaoh
30:04need to build
30:05so quickly?
30:07Could the answer
30:08reveal why
30:09Amarna vanishes
30:10almost without a trace?
30:26The city of Amarna
30:27in Egypt
30:28has a dark history.
30:30The pharaoh Akhenaten
30:32drives his workers
30:33into an early grave
30:34to build it.
30:36But this metropolis
30:38is suddenly abandoned
30:39when the pharaoh
30:40himself dies.
30:41Why?
30:43Amarna is a really
30:45special archaeological site
30:47because it was only
30:48occupied for the space
30:49of a single generation.
30:51It's really this
30:52remarkable snapshot
30:53of Egyptian history.
30:58Akhenaten rules
30:59Egypt for 17 years.
31:02After he dies
31:03power eventually
31:04passes to his son
31:05Tutankhamun.
31:07But the boy king
31:08is buried far
31:09from his father's tomb
31:10in Amarna.
31:11His magnificent tomb
31:13lies in the Valley
31:14of the Kings,
31:15Egypt's traditional
31:16burial ground.
31:20Egyptologist
31:20Aidan Dodson
31:21thinks Amarna's decline
31:23lies with the pharaoh's
31:24son and heir,
31:25Tutankhamun.
31:27He hunts for clues
31:29at Luxor Temple.
31:32Stylistically,
31:33this relief
31:33couldn't come
31:34from any period
31:35other than the reign
31:35of Tutankhamun.
31:36It's got a certain
31:37elegance and naturalism.
31:40Akhenaten shuts down
31:42the temples in Thebes
31:43during his revolution
31:44to banish the old gods.
31:46But these carvings
31:48reveal that by the time
31:49his son Tutankhamun
31:50is pharaoh,
31:52it's up and running again.
31:55Aidan thinks that
31:56Tutankhamun is going
31:57back to the old ways.
32:00The overall scene
32:02has Tutankhamun
32:03on the left there
32:04making an offering
32:06to Amun on the right.
32:08This indicates
32:09without any doubt
32:10that Tutankhamun
32:11has now rejected
32:12the religion of his father.
32:15Tutankhamun betrays
32:17his father.
32:18He moves back
32:19to Thebes
32:20and kickstarts
32:22a counter-revolution.
32:24A row of sphinxes
32:25reveals that
32:26the old gods
32:27are back in town.
32:32These magnificent
32:33sphinxes at Luxor
32:35originally bear
32:36the heads of
32:36Akhenaten himself
32:37and his wife
32:38Nefertiti.
32:39But in the years
32:41following Akhenaten's
32:42death,
32:42these statues
32:43are relocated
32:44and rebuilt.
32:46Their heads
32:47are removed
32:48and each is
32:49replaced
32:50with a ram's head
32:51the symbol
32:52of the original
32:53god Amun.
32:56A figure
32:57of the new
32:57pharaoh is added
32:58and symbols
32:59at their feet
33:00bear the name
33:01of Akhenaten's
33:02son and heir.
33:03It's Tutankhamun
33:04himself.
33:05Why is the
33:06old pharaoh's
33:07own flesh and blood
33:08destroying his dream?
33:10Is this why
33:11Amarna also
33:12comes to an end?
33:17Aiden finds
33:18a clue lies
33:19with one of
33:20Tutankhamun's
33:20official decrees.
33:22It reveals
33:23how Egypt
33:24has fallen
33:24on hard times.
33:27He starts off
33:28as an introduction
33:29basically saying
33:30how bad things are.
33:32He says that
33:33the temples
33:34have been
33:34deprived of
33:35their revenues,
33:37they're falling
33:37into ruin,
33:39and as a result
33:40of this
33:40that the gods
33:41are not happy.
33:43Tutankhamun
33:44seems to be
33:45carrying out
33:45an extraordinary
33:46act of family
33:47betrayal.
33:48But for Aiden,
33:50something doesn't
33:50add up.
33:52When this
33:53declaration is made,
33:55Tutankhamun
33:55is about
33:56nine years old.
33:57He came to
33:58throne as a child
33:59and died on
34:00the verge
34:01of adulthood.
34:02So the policies
34:04which are set out
34:05in here
34:05will have been
34:06the work of those
34:07who are ruling
34:08for or with him.
34:10Aiden thinks
34:11there's a secret
34:12mastermind
34:13behind this
34:14attempt to tear
34:14down the
34:15old pharaoh's
34:16legacy.
34:20His investigation
34:21takes him
34:22on the short
34:23journey across
34:23the Nile
34:24to Luxor's
34:25western bank.
34:29Here,
34:30a range of
34:31rocky mountains
34:31houses the
34:32tombs of
34:33thieves'
34:33ancient nobles.
34:36One small tomb
34:37remains closed off.
34:41Aiden has
34:42gained special
34:43permission to
34:44unlock the
34:44tomb.
34:47Once he
34:48enters,
34:50he can begin
34:51to decode the
34:52artwork that
34:53covers its
34:54chambers.
34:56Well,
34:57this is the
34:58tomb chapel
34:59of a priest
34:59called Pa'iri.
35:02Graffiti
35:03dates the tomb
35:03to just after
35:04Akhenaten's
35:05death.
35:06It reveals
35:07that another
35:08ruler seizes
35:08power before
35:09Tutankhamun.
35:11The identity
35:12of this new
35:13pharaoh is
35:14shocking.
35:17It's dated
35:18to year three
35:19of King
35:20Nefer-Neferu-Aten,
35:21who we are
35:22almost certain
35:23is none other
35:24than the former
35:25Queen Nefertiti,
35:27the wife of
35:27Akhenaten.
35:29Nefertiti seizes
35:31power following her
35:32husband's death,
35:33perhaps acting as
35:34regent until
35:35Tutankhamun comes
35:36of age.
35:38But the graffiti
35:39reveals another
35:40surprise.
35:42The new pharaoh
35:43and her priest
35:44are worshipping
35:45the old god,
35:47Ammon.
35:49This is the
35:50really exciting
35:51part of the
35:52tomb for me
35:53anyway.
35:54The main
35:54body of it
35:55is a
35:56prayer to
35:56Ammon.
35:58So it
35:59shows that
36:00in year three
36:01of her reign,
36:02Ammon is
36:03back.
36:03This
36:04graffiti
36:05is written
36:06shortly after
36:07his death,
36:08probably three
36:09years after
36:10his death.
36:12Astonishingly,
36:13Nefertiti
36:14quickly abandons
36:15her loyalty
36:16to her husband
36:17and his
36:17sun god,
36:18the Aten.
36:21She reinstates
36:22one of the
36:23old gods,
36:24Ammon.
36:26The idea
36:27that Ammon
36:29would be
36:30restored to
36:31his position
36:32under Akhenaten's
36:33own wife
36:34seems quite
36:35incredible.
36:36And I'm sure
36:36that Akhenaten
36:37was spinning
36:37in his sarcophagus
36:38at this point.
36:40Incredibly,
36:41Nefertiti
36:42and Tutankhamun,
36:43Akhenaten's
36:44wife and son,
36:46reject his
36:46ideas.
36:48But do they
36:49also abandon
36:50Amarna?
36:51The Desert Sands
36:53reveal a shocking
36:54secret and a
36:56campaign of
36:56destruction designed
36:57to wipe Amarna
36:59from the face
36:59of the earth.
37:15Amarna in Egypt,
37:16built to worship
37:18the sun god.
37:19But when its founder,
37:21the pharaoh Akhenaten
37:22dies,
37:23his wife
37:24Nefertiti
37:25and son,
37:25Tutankhamun,
37:26bring back
37:27Egypt's
37:27traditional gods.
37:31But who
37:31kills off
37:32Amarna?
37:33Why is this
37:34city lost
37:35for thousands
37:36of years
37:36under the
37:37Desert Sands?
37:39Professor Aidan
37:40Dodson
37:41investigates.
37:42He hunts
37:43for clues
37:43in the ancient
37:44capital of
37:45Thebes.
37:46Aidan's quest
37:47takes him
37:47to a corner
37:48of the
37:48magnificent
37:49Karnak Temple
37:50and a
37:50monumental gateway
37:51known as
37:52a pylon.
37:55It dates
37:56to just
37:57after Amarna
37:58disappears.
38:01This pylon
38:02is quite badly
38:03ruined now,
38:04but that does
38:05mean we can
38:05see some
38:06of the blocks
38:06which were
38:06used to
38:07fill the
38:07interior
38:08when it
38:08was built.
38:10Buried
38:11within the
38:12outer faces
38:12of its walls
38:13are small
38:14talatat stones,
38:16the same
38:17kind of
38:17building blocks
38:18that Akhenaten
38:19uses to
38:19construct his
38:20temples.
38:23This of
38:23course all
38:24means that
38:25when this
38:25pylon was
38:26being built,
38:27the structures
38:28Akhenaten
38:28had constructed
38:29at Karnak
38:31were already
38:31being demolished
38:32and the
38:33blocks reused
38:34here.
38:36This
38:36dismantling
38:37of temples
38:38by future
38:39generations
38:39isn't that
38:40unusual in
38:41Egypt.
38:42Every pharaoh
38:43builds massive
38:44monuments as a
38:45symbol of their
38:46power and
38:47status.
38:48They often
38:49reuse stones
38:50as a quick
38:51and cheap
38:51method.
38:53But as
38:54Aidan continues
38:55his hunt,
38:55he discovers
38:56that the
38:57demolition of
38:57Akhenaten's
38:58buildings is
38:59malicious.
39:00This is another
39:01block from
39:02Akhenaten's
39:03temple.
39:04It looks like
39:06one of the
39:07king's names
39:07has been
39:08erased.
39:08It looks like
39:09it's been
39:09purposely
39:10damaged.
39:11The erasure
39:12of names
39:12tends to
39:13imply that
39:14somebody was
39:15not liked
39:16by later
39:17generations.
39:18Akhenaten
39:19is not
39:19simply
39:20forgotten
39:20and rejected
39:22but hated
39:23by future
39:24pharaohs.
39:26It explains
39:27why so
39:28little remains
39:29at Amarna.
39:31Here,
39:33the sun
39:33god's
39:33magnificent
39:34temples
39:34are not
39:35only
39:35dismantled
39:36block by
39:37block.
39:38Each
39:39Talatat stone
39:40is smashed
39:41to pieces.
39:42And in
39:42Akhenaten's
39:43royal tomb,
39:44tomb, the
39:45images of
39:45the old
39:46pharaoh are
39:46cruelly
39:47scratched out.
39:48And this
39:49is just the
39:49tip of the
39:50iceberg.
39:53Aden
39:54analyzes a
39:55text taken
39:56from an
39:56ancient stone
39:57carving.
39:58It's composed
39:59just 40
40:00years after
40:01Akhenaten's
40:02death.
40:03It reveals
40:04the campaign
40:05against him
40:06extends to
40:06his family.
40:08What we've
40:09got here
40:10is a
40:10list of
40:11the kings
40:11of Egypt
40:12and all
40:13the main
40:13great names
40:14are here.
40:15But when
40:15we look
40:16at the
40:17last part
40:18of the
40:18list,
40:19there's
40:20no mention
40:20of Akhenaten,
40:22Tutankhamun.
40:23So what
40:24this shows
40:24is within
40:25a few years
40:25of their
40:26deaths,
40:26they've been
40:27written out
40:27of history
40:28and according
40:29to the
40:29official lists,
40:30they didn't
40:31exist.
40:37Future
40:38generations
40:38of pharaohs
40:39condemn
40:40Akhenaten
40:40as a
40:41heretic.
40:43His
40:43traumatic
40:44reign and
40:44religious
40:45revolution
40:45considered
40:46an
40:46abomination.
40:49They
40:49tried to
40:50erase all
40:51memory of
40:51him and
40:52his family.
40:53For more
40:54than 3,000
40:55years,
40:56their story
40:56lies hidden
40:57beneath
40:57these sands.
40:59As an
41:00experiment,
41:01you'd have
41:02to assess
41:02that Amana
41:03in the end
41:04had failed.
41:05Akhenaten's
41:06vision of
41:06the solar
41:06cult.
41:07didn't
41:08live on
41:08beyond
41:08his
41:09rule.
41:10Amana
41:10was
41:10abandoned.
41:12But
41:13today,
41:13in an
41:14ironic
41:15twist of
41:15fate,
41:16his
41:16desert
41:17city
41:17stands
41:18as one
41:18of
41:18Egypt's
41:19greatest
41:19achievements.
41:22And
41:23his
41:23son,
41:24Tutankhamun,
41:25is the
41:25most famous
41:26pharaoh
41:26of them
41:27all.
41:30Archaeologists
41:31continue to
41:31piece together
41:32Amana
41:33and its
41:33secrets.
41:34This
41:35remarkable
41:36desert
41:36city is
41:37opening up
41:37one of
41:38the most
41:38radical
41:38chapters
41:39in
41:39Egyptian
41:39history.
41:41Amarna's
41:42temples
41:42and palaces
41:43reveal the
41:43vision of
41:44an all-powerful
41:45ruler,
41:46paid for
41:46with the
41:47blood of
41:47its
41:47poorest
41:48citizens.
41:49Amarna
41:50is the
41:51legacy
41:51of a
41:51failed
41:52experiment
41:53and
41:54Akhenaten,
41:55Egypt's
41:56forgotten
41:56pharaoh.
41:57name
42:24and
42:26words
42:27to
42:27You
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