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00:01Join me as I explore ancient Egypt's secrets of the dead,
00:05a mysterious realm of temples, tombs, and mummies.
00:08How did the early Egyptians prepare their dead for the afterlife?
00:12And why did these sacred practices ultimately disappear?
00:16To find out, I'll explore royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings and the Pyramids of Giza.
00:21I'll mine the key ingredient used to preserve the dead,
00:24and travel to Egypt's western desert to uncover secret chambers containing thousands of golden mummies.
00:31Show me the mummy.
00:32We're digging for the truth, and we're going to extremes to do it.
00:48In February 2006, an American archaeologist made a startling discovery.
00:53The first tomb found in the Valley of the Kings since King Tut in 1922.
01:00When my friend Dr. Zahi Hawass broke the news, it sent shockwaves around the world.
01:06Could this incredible find shed new light on the secrets of the Egyptian afterlife?
01:12But you always say that you never know what the send of Egypt might have secrets.
01:15Until now, looking inside, I can't tell you what kind of secrets are hidden.
01:22I was watching back in New York City when Zahi sent me a special dispatch.
01:27Josh, why don't you leave the States now and come and see this amazing discovery?
01:32You have to come soon.
01:33How cool is that?
01:34A major discovery in the Valley of the Kings and a personal invitation from Dr. Zahi Hawass.
01:39Hi, I'm Josh Bernstein, and you and I now have a plane to catch.
01:46My first stop in Egypt is to visit Dr. Hawass, head of Egyptian antiquities, at his office in Cairo.
01:51Dr. Zahi.
01:53Josh, how are you?
01:54I got your message.
01:55You are back.
01:56Good.
01:56Yeah, it's exciting.
01:57Things going on here, huh?
01:58You know, Josh, what's really amazing, that we thought that the valley will not reveal any more secrets.
02:06Zahi tells me there's been a lot of excitement surrounding the new tomb found in the Valley of the Kings,
02:12but the excavation is just beginning.
02:14I've traveled here to understand the mysteries of the Egyptian afterlife and the secrets of the dead.
02:20Well, Zahi, if I want to explore the afterlife, I know the Valley of the Kings is a great place
02:24to do it, but is there a particular place in the valley I should look?
02:27But I should advise you to go and look at KV-9.
02:32This tomb will answer all the questions about the afterlife of the ancient Egyptians.
02:41KV-9 is the tomb of the pharaoh Ramses VI, who ruled Egypt during the end of the New Kingdom
02:47period, during the 20th dynasty, a time that's considered the height of ancient Egyptian civilization.
02:54One of Ramses' greatest triumphs was the elaborate monument he left behind to house his mummified body.
03:02What can his tomb tell me about ancient Egypt's religious beliefs, or how Egyptian burial practices developed during the apex
03:10of pharaonic rule?
03:13I'm heading 450 miles south of Cairo, to the famous Valley of the Kings, a place that has long held
03:20many of the secrets about life in ancient Egypt.
03:24My friend, Egyptologist Ted Brock, has worked on the restoration of KV-9 for 25 years, so he knows it
03:31well.
03:31Good to see you again.
03:32Good to see you.
03:33It's off limits to most people.
03:35Lead on it.
03:36Okay.
03:36But Ted's arranged for us to go in for a private tour.
03:40The tomb of Ramses VI dramatically illustrates the New Kingdom beliefs in the afterlife on its interior walls.
03:49No two figures are more central to ancient Egyptian mythology than Ra, the sun god, and Osiris, the god of
03:57the dead.
03:58And you see the king himself here entering the tomb, and he's greeting the sun god and Osiris, who are
04:04welcoming him.
04:06So what we're seeing here is the introduction.
04:08This is the introduction.
04:09Recently deceased pharaoh meet the gods of the dead, basically.
04:14The walls are covered in hieroglyphs, a virtual library of what ancient Egyptians believed about life after death.
04:21And it leads up here to the judgment hall of Osiris.
04:25The rites of spiritual passage to the underworld are etched on the wall.
04:30Here, the heart of the deceased pharaoh is weighed against the symbol of truth, represented by a feather.
04:36The Egyptians believed a pure heart balanced with truth was required for entrance into the afterlife.
04:42Truth, truth, and order.
04:44And if they balance out, then the deceased can enjoy another life in the underworld.
04:50And if they don't?
04:51Then he dies a second and final death.
04:53That's it.
04:54Had no chance of the afterlife.
04:56This was it.
04:57This is the make or break situation.
04:59Do you think that at this point, Egyptian mothers are saying to their sons, like, you better behave, otherwise when
05:05you go and meet Osiris, your heart's not going to balance properly?
05:08Yeah, I'm sure it was a real incentive to be a good boy in this life.
05:13As we head deeper into the tomb, the hieroglyphs on the wall mirror our descent.
05:19Ted tells me that Ramsey's tomb was designed to imitate the pharaoh's passage to the underworld.
05:24As we travel lower and lower through the narrow chambers, Ted says the fallen pharaoh would have taken this same
05:31physical and spiritual journey before he reached his final resting place.
05:35Yeah, this is the burial chamber with the big sarcophagus.
05:39At the end of the passage is the burial chamber itself, where Ramsey's VI's sarcophagus was placed.
05:45This is actually the outer sarcophagus.
05:46His mummy was stolen long ago, but the chamber still contains some amazing hieroglyphs.
05:51Holy hieroglyphs.
05:53Yeah, the walls and ceilings are all covered with different scenes.
05:58Look at the ceiling.
05:59These depictions represent the starry sky.
06:03The sky was central to ancient Egyptian beliefs.
06:06At night, the sun god Ra entered the netherworld and led the kings on their journey to the afterlife.
06:13And so this is basically the point that we see him being reborn and he makes this eternal journey with
06:18the sun.
06:19That's right.
06:19That's exactly what it's all about.
06:22Yeah, it's amazing.
06:23I mean, everything that we're seeing here is either a description of or instruction towards or celebration of the afterlife.
06:30That's right.
06:31What impresses me, which I don't think anyone could miss, is how ornate and sophisticated this idea of an afterlife
06:38is.
06:39Like this whole tomb, this multi-level descent into this underworld, this is a library of what happens after you
06:47die.
06:47Yeah, it's very elaborate.
06:49This is about as elaborate as he believes in the underworld and the afterlife become.
06:54But it wasn't always this elaborate.
06:55It started out from much more simple beginnings.
06:58Ramses VI lived at a moment in history when Egyptian beliefs in the afterlife were at their most complex and
07:04sophisticated.
07:05But at the heart of the tomb lay the single element of Egyptian religion that never changed, the mummy.
07:14I'm exploring the mysterious world of the Egyptian afterlife.
07:19I've seen an elaborate tomb built to protect a pharaoh's dead body.
07:23And I've learned about the spiritual and physical journey the Egyptian ruler would have taken on his way to the
07:29underworld.
07:30But why was the fallen pharaoh mummified?
07:32And when did the ritual of mummification begin as a sacred burial practice?
07:39To better understand the origins of mummification, I meet up with my good friend, Dr. Salima Ikram, from the American
07:46University in Cairo.
07:47Our journey begins along the side of the road, just outside of Giza, where Salima has something to show me.
07:54She tells me animals, like this dead horse lying in the desert sands, inspired the practice of human mummification.
08:03She says this horse has been out here for weeks, but the carcass is only now starting to decompose.
08:09We think this is one of the reasons why the Egyptians came up with mummification, because they saw these animals
08:14that died in the desert, and then they became well-preserved.
08:17And then they did this with their own people.
08:18They buried them in sand, because the sand acts like silica gel and goes and pulls out all the moisture.
08:24And so you wind up with sort of bones and flesh over it.
08:28Experts believe the practice of burying the dead in the dry Egyptian sands began around 3,300 B.C.
08:37Salima tells me that people continued putting their dead out in the desert for centuries, until they discovered a preservative
08:43better than sand, a mineral called natron.
08:47Natron can be found on the edge of the desert between Cairo and Alexandria, at a place that got its
08:52name from the mineral, Wadi el-Natroun.
08:56Salima and I drive over 50 miles northwest from Cairo to this desert town.
09:02And we pull up alongside Al-Hamra Lake.
09:06Like the Dead Sea, bordering Israel and Jordan, a crusty layer of salt rims this highly saline body of water.
09:13The minerals have turned the lake a deep red hue.
09:19We've come here to my natron at the edge of the Wadi, just like the early Egyptians did 5,000
09:25years ago.
09:26Huh.
09:27It doesn't have that heavy feel like the Dead Sea.
09:30No.
09:30But it looks a lot like the Dead Sea, with this crust on the edge.
09:33And this stuff here, this is the natron.
09:35Mm-hmm.
09:37Tastes salty.
09:38It should do.
09:40Mm-hmm.
09:40So is natron salt?
09:41It's a mixture of salt and basically baking soda, bicarbonate of soda.
09:45And so when the people were harvesting natron, is this where they would come and get it, just come down
09:48to the water's edge?
09:49No, because that's all wet and gloopy.
09:51Mm-hmm.
09:51And so it's very heavy.
09:52Mm-hmm.
09:52So what you want is the dried stuff.
09:54Okay.
09:55And that is over there.
09:57Natron is a rare mineral found in only a few places on Earth.
10:01Just 50 miles from Cairo, this ancient lakebed was a short trip by donkey for the early Egyptians traveling from
10:08the Nile Valley.
10:09Mm-hmm.
10:09This looks like a good place to take it.
10:10With the shovels we brought along, Salima and I are going to dig up enough natron from the wadi to
10:15mummify a grown man.
10:17Oh, wow.
10:18So this is surprisingly hard.
10:20Yeah.
10:22This is the same stuff, just not white anymore.
10:25Mm-hmm.
10:25It's white inside.
10:26Really hard to break.
10:27It's pretty bad.
10:28I mean, imagine grinding that up.
10:30Yeah.
10:32What's interesting is how white my hand has gotten.
10:35Mm-hmm.
10:35From putting your hand in the water?
10:36I can feel it.
10:37It actually hurts.
10:38You know, it's like it's drying my skin the way I guess you dry a mummy.
10:41You're being mummified, even as we speak.
10:43That's impressive.
10:44Quick acting.
10:45Okay, so let's gather some.
10:49How much natron does it take to embalm that person?
10:53Someone like you.
10:54Yes, 180 pounds.
10:56Probably 200 pounds of natron.
10:58Really?
10:58Yeah.
10:59I mean, that is if you're doing a good job.
11:01So more than the body weight of the person?
11:03Mm-hmm.
11:04In order to thoroughly dry the body out before mummification, natron crystals were packed
11:09around the deceased for approximately 40 days.
11:12Right?
11:13Then the internal organs were removed from the corpse and were replaced with clay and myrrh,
11:19leaving only the heart in place.
11:21The body would be wrapped in linen, soaked in oils, and buried.
11:27The entire process took, on average, 70 days, and natron was the critical component to preserving
11:33the body for eternity.
11:35So we need, like, six more baskets?
11:37Yeah, we could try that.
11:38All right.
11:39Give you an idea of how much it would take.
11:42Salima estimates that seven baskets of raw natron should be enough for one grown man to
11:47be prepared for mummification.
11:49It would be ground down and end up looking just like coarse table salt.
11:53Pure stuff.
11:55Pure natron.
12:01And seven.
12:02Okay.
12:04So this, give or take, you know, roughly 200 pounds.
12:09Mm-hmm.
12:10That's right.
12:10This is for you and your afterlife.
12:12Okay.
12:12Well, I know where to find it when I need it.
12:16Salima explains that for thousands of years, workers harvested natron here under the baking
12:21sun.
12:23As mummification became more prevalent over the centuries, demand for natron increased
12:28dramatically.
12:29Natron production became a thriving industry for this region of Egypt.
12:35Now I'm ready to see some of the first examples of natron's use.
12:40Salima and I leave Wadi al-Natroun and journey 60 miles southeast to the ancient Egyptian acropolis,
12:47Saqqara.
12:49Salima says that she may have a surprise waiting for me when we arrive.
12:53Well, the first thing, we can go and look at the oldest mummy that was found here.
12:565,000 years old.
12:58Sounds good.
12:59Since this mummy is the oldest found in Egypt, Salima needs to gain special permission for
13:04us to examine it.
13:05Okay.
13:05So I'll leave you here for one sec, and I'll just talk to the guys.
13:09Okay.
13:10So, uh, no more, most people are not allowed in here, but Salima has just, yes, squished
13:15you, squared away our ability to go in and take a look, so.
13:18Come on, Josh.
13:19Yeah.
13:21And here are our inspectors.
13:23That's all I do.
13:24And this is the oldest mummy that we have at Saqara.
13:27Would you give that?
13:28Yeah.
13:29It all fits in one box.
13:30Well, that's because the mummification process at this time period was not very good.
13:36So you can see that...
13:37Okay.
13:37The bones made it, but nothing else.
13:39But these precious bones date to 2900 B.C.
13:44Salima tells me the body was buried during Egypt's first Pharaonic dynasty.
13:49Judging from the poor condition of the mummy, it's clear the early techniques couldn't preserve
13:54the body for too long.
13:55And it doesn't quite work.
13:56It doesn't work, but we've actually got a mummy that looks much more like a mummy.
14:03We head over to a mummy encased in a sarcophagus or casket, buried 2,400 years after the oldest
14:09Saqara mummy.
14:11This one dates to 500 B.C.
14:14Salima shows me how the burial practices had vastly improved.
14:18And, um, you can see this.
14:19Yeah.
14:20And you see how it's totally different.
14:21They would wrap things completely, so it would be completely engulfed with bandages.
14:25Yeah, it looks like Cousin It.
14:27You don't see anything, you know?
14:28It does look like Cousin It.
14:30Wow.
14:31Painted black.
14:32That's all oils and resins that have been poured over it as part of the funerary ritual.
14:38So at this point, we're seeing, I guess, much better technique.
14:42Yeah.
14:42Because what they do now is they take out the internal organs and also the brain.
14:46So there's nothing inside that could explode.
14:48And then they dry it out using natron.
14:51Over time, embalmers became more sophisticated at preserving bodies.
14:56They used oils to make the skin flexible and began carefully wrapping the body in cloth.
15:02The mummies we recognize today are the result.
15:05But why did the ancient Egyptians go to such elaborate lengths to preserve their dead?
15:13I'm exploring the secrets of the Egyptian afterlife.
15:16I've seen the oldest mummy in Egypt and how the process of mummification evolved.
15:21I've learned about ancient Egyptian beliefs in the underworld and descended into an elaborate underground tomb in the Valley of
15:28the Kings.
15:29But before pharaohs were buried beneath the sands of Egypt, they created great mausoleums for their deliverance to the afterlife.
15:36And nowhere is that more evident than the Great Pyramid of Giza.
15:39The Great Pyramid was built as the enormous tomb for the pharaoh Khufu.
15:44Khufu ruled during the fourth dynasty of the Egyptian pharaonic period known as the Old Kingdom.
15:50Around 2500 B.C.
15:53I've been privileged enough to explore deep inside Khufu's pyramid before and see what an amazing feat of construction it
16:00was.
16:00But I've never understood why Khufu's mummy required a pyramid for a tomb.
16:05Why not a hidden underground chamber like those built for the New Kingdom pharaohs in the Valley of the Kings?
16:12Royal crypts that were designed to discourage tomb robbers.
16:17To find out, I'm meeting Dr. Betsy Bryan from Johns Hopkins University.
16:22She spent her career deciphering the mysteries of ancient Egyptians' belief in the afterlife.
16:28So, Betsy, I understand how New Kingdom beliefs were related to the underworld.
16:33And how the tombs then were literally in the ground.
16:36Yes.
16:36But this one is obviously not in the ground.
16:38So what's going on here?
16:39Well, in the Old Kingdom, in the fourth dynasty, the Egyptians believed that the pharaoh was actually going up into
16:46the sky in the afterlife.
16:48He was going to join the sun god.
16:50And so he actually needed a way to get up there.
16:53The word for pyramid in ancient Egyptian is actually made from the verb to go up, to ascend.
16:59So it literally means that which goes up.
17:02So the physical structure itself served a very real purpose.
17:05That's right.
17:06It does act like a ladder for the king.
17:09So is this an actual, like, his physical body is making this journey?
17:13He's being resurrected in flesh?
17:15Or is this a spiritual journey?
17:16It is a physical resurrection because he is told that he's going to need his body.
17:21And without the preservation of that physical body, he can't make that journey.
17:26That's exactly right.
17:27And so the mummification techniques that are being very carefully developed during the Old Kingdom are there in order to
17:35preserve that body.
17:37Betsy tells me that not only did the kings need their bodies in the afterlife, but once they got there,
17:42they also needed a way to get around.
17:46Were physical items placed with the king to help him on the journey?
17:50Yeah, certainly.
17:51There were a whole range of items placed in there with him.
17:54You even have his modes of transportation placed in there with him, which is a boat.
18:00Astonishingly, archaeologists found four huge boats buried in the sand beside the pyramids.
18:05One of them was excavated and is preserved in this boathouse.
18:09It's called a solar bark.
18:12You weren't kidding.
18:13This is really a boat.
18:14The interesting thing is that the oars have actually been found to have mud on them.
18:19So the boat was used.
18:21It was used to bring the king's body up here to the pyramid.
18:25And the king was capable, as the sun god, to move this boat on his own, or did he have
18:31helpers?
18:32Because these oars look pretty big to me.
18:34He certainly would have had magical helpers that he could call upon.
18:40They may have been in the form of small servant figures, which were placed in tombs in the old kingdom.
18:45And all he needed to do in the afterlife was to pronounce the spell,
18:50and they would be magically available to him to do the work.
18:53So there are some supernatural powers making this boat move.
18:58There's always supernatural portion to the way the Egyptians worked out the details in the afterlife.
19:05Is the king the only person worthy of this journey?
19:09Could a commoner be buried with a boat so he could make the journey, too?
19:13Well, you know, a little bit later than this, there is clearly a democratization of the whole notion of the
19:21afterlife.
19:22Everyone who could afford to might have some kind of model of a boat placed in his or her tomb
19:28with the expectation of being able to travel just like the sun god and with the sun.
19:35I've seen how an old kingdom pharaoh made it to the afterlife.
19:39But based on Betsy's remarks, I'm wondering how that journey was different for everyday people.
19:45To find out, I'm heading back to Saqqara to visit the well-preserved tomb of a man called Nefer.
19:52Nefer was the supervisor of artisans during the Fifth Dynasty, a position of prominence during old kingdom rule.
19:59During this period of Egyptian history, wealthy citizens were beginning to gain access to the afterlife.
20:05They spent their fortunes to become mummified like the pharaohs.
20:10I'm meeting again with Dr. Salima Ikram.
20:13She's offered to show me Nefer's final resting place.
20:17Salima says his tomb can give us a good understanding of what men like Nefer believed was waiting for them
20:23in the afterlife.
20:24It's very, very cool, and Nefer himself is fantastic.
20:28It's quite an amazing mummy.
20:31The interior of the tomb is beautifully illustrated, but as Salima points out, not with the same religious symbolism I
20:38saw in Ramses VI's tomb in the Valley of the Kings.
20:41Oh, this is his decoration, his tomb chapel, and it shows his ideal afterlife.
20:46So everything he wanted to have when he died was sort of put in here in decoration.
20:51So, you know, his favorite food, you have meat, you have poultry, you have dancing girls, you have, you know,
20:56going hunting and fishing and all sorts of things.
20:59Is this a solar bark?
21:00Um, no.
21:02Kings have solar barks.
21:03People aren't as important, so they don't get to go around with the sun god.
21:07But the idea is the same.
21:09Nefer had a smaller boat that took his body down the River Nile.
21:14With his coffin on the deck, Nefer's body was transported to Abydos, home of Osiris and the spiritual entrance to
21:21the underworld.
21:22Okay, so this is the end of the journey.
21:24Where is Nefer now?
21:25Well, this is a really cool thing, because Nefer, this ends dramatically here, and Nefer's buried right down here in
21:32the shaft.
21:34Oh, really?
21:35Yeah.
21:35Uh-huh.
21:36Can we go down there?
21:37Yeah, absolutely.
21:39To get to Nefer's mummy, we need to literally climb down into the realm of the dead.
21:45We descend this narrow staircase to meet the 4,500-year-old Nefer face to face.
21:51Oh, wow.
21:54There's Nefer.
21:55Yep.
21:56Okay, now, look at him.
21:58It looks as if he's naked, right?
21:59Mm-hmm.
21:59You can see all of these bits.
22:01You can.
22:02But actually, this is just linen.
22:05It's all cloth, and it's been muddled onto his body.
22:08So they put cloth and plaster onto his body so that it looks like Nefer.
22:13But instead, it's like turning the body into a statue or a sculpture.
22:16So it's like a body cast.
22:18Mm-hmm.
22:18Absolutely.
22:19So clearly, they'd come a long way with mummification.
22:21Yeah.
22:22And it continues to evolve.
22:23Oh, yeah.
22:23Absolutely.
22:24And have the religious beliefs associated with mummification changed, too?
22:28For the common people, there's still the belief that if you die, you will go and live on in a
22:33perfect afterworld.
22:34And, of course, the kings have a slightly different lifestyle after death because they join with the gods.
22:40But you go on and, like Nefer shows in his tomb, live in a more perfect Egypt.
22:47From the time of Nefer, ancient Egyptian beliefs in the afterlife continued to evolve.
22:53Religious practices and rituals became more elaborate.
22:58But mummification remained the key to life after death.
23:05I'm exploring the mysteries of the Egyptian afterlife.
23:09I've entered the elaborate tombs built by the pharaohs to deliver their bodies to the underworld.
23:15And I've learned what the common people believed awaited them in the next life.
23:20Mummification was the key to preserving the body for the afterlife, for both pharaoh and subject.
23:26But for the early Egyptians, mummification wasn't limited to just humans.
23:32Dr. Salima Ikram directs me to another tomb in Saqqara.
23:36She says it best illustrates the enormous investment made in the afterlife 2,500 years ago.
23:42The steps to the tomb entrance aren't easy to descend.
23:47But that's the least of our worries.
23:49The door is literally buried beneath sand and rock.
23:53We'll have to dig out the doorway before we can enter.
24:00It's a good thing the door opens in a way.
24:02With rocks and locks removed, there's only one thing left to do.
24:06Pull the bolt and then push our way inside.
24:08Josh, you're going to have to open it.
24:12Fabulous.
24:15I'm going to wait.
24:16Okay.
24:21All right.
24:23Mind your head.
24:26We've entered a tomb that dates to the late period of Pharaonic rule, around 600 B.C.
24:33By this time, mummification and sacred burials had been a major part of Egyptian culture for over 2,500 years.
24:40And it shows.
24:42These chambers are massive.
24:44And the underground tunnels connecting them seem to go on and on.
24:48These quarters are huge.
24:49Yeah, they're really enormous.
24:51This goes for about 6 kilometers underground.
24:53And there are over probably 15,000 of these little chambers.
24:59Another one.
25:00Another one.
25:01But this is the one I want you to see.
25:04This one's got carvings on it.
25:07Yeah, if you get that light.
25:09Thanks.
25:11Here, now this will tell you who it is for.
25:12Because it's written over here, basically, Apis, son of Osiris.
25:18Apis was the name of a god.
25:20And of an actual living creature.
25:22A bull that was believed to be a living incarnation of that god.
25:26And this is for the Apis bull.
25:28So all of these sarcophagi were for Apis bulls.
25:31This was an offering to a god here?
25:32No, this was the god.
25:34This is where the Apis bull was buried, with great pomp and circumstance.
25:41Probably the largest sarcophagus I've ever seen.
25:44It should be.
25:45Apis was the most important sacred animal in Egyptian mythology.
25:50Ramses II was said to have initiated the practice of Apis burials in this underground complex
25:55during the 13th century BC.
25:58And the ritual continued up to the time of Cleopatra.
26:02By the end of the new kingdom, animal burials had a prominent role in the Egyptian afterlife.
26:07So this definitely demonstrates a succession.
26:10Yeah.
26:10And a progression of the belief in the afterlife.
26:12Mm-hmm.
26:13Absolutely, because these were gods who lived forever.
26:16Today, all the Apis bull sarcophagi are empty.
26:20But Salima has something else to show me.
26:23Over the centuries, animal mummification evolved.
26:26And it took place on an almost unimaginable scale.
26:30Look at this.
26:31Yep, there's a little sarcophagus over here.
26:34Tiny.
26:35Yep, it is quite small, but admirably suited for what it was going to hold.
26:41What would fit in that little thing?
26:43Well, there were going to be lots and lots of birds in there,
26:46because this place is filled with thousands and thousands of bird mummies.
26:50That's what's in these jars?
26:51Yeah, behind these walls, you can see them, blocked in.
26:54And that's just a fragment of what these catacombs contain.
26:59As it turns out, there are millions of these tiny mummies buried in these catacombs,
27:05a vast animal cemetery.
27:07Here we find mummified falcons, hawks, cats, monkeys, even baboons,
27:13all sealed for eternity in clay pots scattered throughout these burial chambers.
27:19Oh, look at this.
27:20Oh, wow, yes.
27:20That's a very nice one.
27:23I feel like you say that's a falcon.
27:24Yeah.
27:25Were these offerings or pets?
27:27No, these ones are offerings.
27:29What would happen is that people would come and they wanted something from the god.
27:32So they'd go to the priest and they'd say, I want such and such, and I want to dedicate an
27:36offering
27:36so that the god will give it to me.
27:39Salima says the early Egyptians believed that these animals became spiritual gifts to the gods
27:44from the living, offerings of goodwill before their own deaths.
27:49And what's very nice is that during that person's lifetime, this animal would go straight to the god
27:55and be able to communicate with him.
27:57But once the person was dead, they still had this sort of in with the god
28:01so that they were more guaranteed a better afterlife.
28:04So this is an eternal offering of sorts.
28:06Yeah, this one's not quite so nice.
28:08Doesn't it look like an animal?
28:09Well, until you x-ray it, you don't know whether it is or not.
28:12But often what they did was, if they didn't have enough real falcons or raptors of any sort,
28:17they'd take a small fragment or a feather from one and they'd wrap it up.
28:22And then the Egyptian belief was, of course, if you say it's something, it becomes that.
28:26So it's sort of the magical reality.
28:29Is this phenomenon of these massive animal mummifications, is this new to the late period?
28:34Definitely it became intense in the late period, so about 600 BC.
28:39I think religious ideas changed somewhat.
28:42People felt that they could have a closer relationship with the gods directly,
28:45and so they would send the god's messenger, i.e. whichever animal was associated most closely with the god,
28:51to the god as an offering.
28:53And so they could speak to the god directly without that many intermediaries.
28:57So again, we're seeing a sort of democratization of access to the divine world.
29:02Absolutely.
29:04Over the course of 3,000 years, the practice of mummification, once a ritual reserved for royalty,
29:11slowly evolved to the point of being almost a commonplace event.
29:17Then, as the end of the pharaonic period neared,
29:20Egyptian beliefs in the afterlife underwent another dramatic change.
29:27To understand what happened, I'm going to meet up with Dr. Zahi Hawass again,
29:32this time in the Valley of the Golden Mummies, located at Bahariya.
29:37The valley is over 150 miles from Cairo in Egypt's western desert,
29:42better known as the Land of the Dead.
29:45There's just one little problem before I can get there.
29:55This is the end of the road, literally.
29:59Between here and the Valley of the Golden Mummies,
30:01there are no roads and certainly no road signs.
30:05But like the ancient Egyptians, I'm going to ask for help from above.
30:09Not from the gods, but from the satellites.
30:12And according to my GPS, to get there, I've got to cross 155 miles of desert going that way.
30:21Sounds like fun.
30:25For thousands of years, the Nile River has been the dividing line between life and death.
30:31East of the Nile, the fertile banks were considered the land of the living.
30:35West of the Nile, the early Egyptians buried their dead in the dry desert sands.
30:41Egypt's western desert is desolate, like a moonscape.
30:45It's easy to see why death has always been associated with this place.
30:49And at over 120 degrees Fahrenheit, simply driving out here can be a risky proposition.
30:55So if you ever decide to go off-road, make sure you bring a friend.
31:00The last thing you want to do when you're driving in the desert in the sand is get stuck.
31:04So make sure you've got somebody behind you who can help you, if you have to get yourself out.
31:12Hold on.
31:13It's going to get a little bumpy.
31:16This location is beautiful.
31:18But one wrong turn could cost you hours of wandering in the desert.
31:22So remember, don't make this sort of trip alone.
31:26All that being said, the scenery is spectacular.
31:31How cool is that?
31:38Let's get out.
31:39I want to show you something.
31:43Come on.
31:46Welcome to the western desert.
31:48Land of sun and sand, and not much else.
31:52Take a look around.
31:56This is a land where only the intrepid explore, and today, it's with supported vehicles.
32:01But to the ancient Egyptians, this was a land of the dead, where only the jackal roamed freely.
32:07And with the sun setting, I've got to keep on driving.
32:12Almost at Bahariya.
32:20Dr. Zahi has traveled ahead of me to prepare for my arrival at the Bahariya oasis.
32:26It was here in 1996 where Zahi made one of the greatest discoveries in Egyptian archaeology,
32:32a huge collection of golden mummies.
32:35The Bahariya site dates to around 300 B.C.
32:40Until Zahi's discovery, the valley was unexcavated and relatively unknown.
32:45Yeah, this place was just sand and desert.
32:48And we never knew anything about it.
32:51We never knew that there is any discovery that can happen in this place.
32:55This site could contain about 10,000 mummies.
33:00Most of the mummies covered with gold.
33:03Here, tent, everywhere I'm looking where there's sand.
33:05No, no, all these are tombs. All these areas full of tombs.
33:1010,000 mummies?
33:1110,000 mummies.
33:12Zahi tells me the site is rich with mummies because the region once overflowed with wine.
33:18It was like the Napa Valley of ancient Egypt.
33:22Wine brought wealth to the ancient people of Bahariya.
33:25And Zahi says evidence of their success can be found in gleaming tombs scattered underneath the town.
33:35I'm investigating the ancient Egyptians' belief in the afterlife.
33:39A world of gods, coffins, and mummies.
33:43I've seen the elaborate tombs built to house the mummies of the early pharaohs, the aristocracy, even animals.
33:50And I've traveled to the Bahariya oasis in the western desert to meet up with my good friend, Dr. Zahi
33:56Hawass.
33:57We're here to see an amazing collection of tombs, thought to house over 10,000 mummies.
34:03Around 300 B.C., Bahariya was a town of rich wine merchants.
34:08The citizens used their fortunes to build a great series of tombs underneath this desert floor.
34:13So everything that we're walking, we're walking over tombs now, huh?
34:17We're houses built above the tombs.
34:19In 1996, this site was discovered by accident when a donkey's foot broke through the roof of one of the
34:26burial chambers hidden beneath the desert sands.
34:28These are all tombs?
34:29Yeah.
34:30I follow Zahi into a maze of corridors connecting remarkably complex rooms.
34:36Each is adorned with murals illustrating the journey into the afterlife and the gods of the dead.
34:41Look at the beautiful scenes.
34:46Yeah.
34:46Who's this god, Josh?
34:48Anubis.
34:49That's good.
34:51According to Egyptian mythology, Anubis was the gatekeeper to the underworld.
34:56Here, the deceased pays tribute to Anubis in order to gain access to eternity.
35:01Were the people here preparing the graves while they were still alive?
35:05Of course.
35:06Yes, the same.
35:07So they bring the people in?
35:08They bring the people in, they do the work, they make the circumstances.
35:11They do everything.
35:12He has to prepare his tomb.
35:15Do you want to follow me?
35:16Yeah.
35:17Okay.
35:20By 300 BC, Egyptians had been mummifying the deceased and building tombs for 3,000 years.
35:27Over the course of the millennia, sacred burials became more commonplace.
35:32No longer a ritual reserved for the pharaohs or the elite aristocracy, mummification became
35:38a mass industry.
35:40If you had some means by the late period, you could be mummified and buried in a tomb fit
35:46for a king.
35:47Another sarcophagus.
35:50Zahi tells me that the chambers we've just seen were just the tip of the iceberg here in
35:54the western desert.
35:56He wants to take me to see the golden mummies, but that's easier said than done.
36:06If you get stuck, you're on your own.
36:09That's okay.
36:16It's not so bad.
36:19As we look around inside, my flashlight starts to pick out the gleaming gold.
36:24The tomb is filled with mummies, but these are just a tiny fraction of the thousands buried
36:29under the sand in this area.
36:31Everywhere you turn, there are images painted on the sarcophagi, illustrating life after death.
37:00Zahi tells me it's not just Egyptians mummified in these tombs.
37:03This oasis was an important trading post, a crossroads in the middle of the desert.
37:08As people from outside Egypt, including Greeks and Romans, settled here, many of them accepted
37:13the Egyptian religion and belief in the afterlife.
37:16We found also many statues of Aphrodite in the shape of Venus for the Greek.
37:24With the addition of Greek gods to this sacred Egyptian rite, I decide to ask Zahi, just how
37:30did these outside influences affect ancient Egypt's burial practices?
37:34And more importantly, was there a change in the afterlife?
37:37The gods still exist, but mainly now they begin to make combination between the Greek god
37:42and the Egyptian god.
37:44You look at the mummies, the stylish Egyptian, look at the scenes on the mummies.
37:49They tried to adopt, to bring some from the Greek, but the majority and the influence was
37:54more, it's ancient Egyptian.
37:57While these tombs were Egyptian, the influence of outsiders is undeniable.
38:02As a result, this moment in history marked the beginning of the end for the early Egyptians'
38:08belief in the afterlife.
38:11To find out what brought about the death of these ancient beliefs, Zahi and I head to southern
38:16Egypt, to the city of Aswan.
38:18He wants to show me where 3,500 years of pharaonic rule finally came to an end.
38:24It would appear that my journey through the Egyptian afterlife is coming to an end.
38:28The sands of the western desert are once again to the west, and I've returned to the fertile
38:33valley of the River Nile.
38:34It was here where the ancient Egyptian religion finally came to an end.
38:40Zahi and I travel by boat to the spectacular Temple of Philae.
38:45This holy place has had a tumultuous history, and not just in ancient times.
38:51Only 30 years ago, it was rescued from the rising waters of Lake Nasser.
38:55So there was a period of time when this was submerged.
38:58Yes.
38:59And they had to build like a dam around it.
39:01Dam around it.
39:02And drain it.
39:02Drain the water.
39:03Okay.
39:04Cutting every piece from the temple here, numbering it, and they began to transfer all the
39:11blocks, reconstructing the temple on that island here.
39:15The same orientation?
39:16Everything.
39:18Zahi tells me that the Temple of Philae was constructed over a three-century period, starting
39:23in 300 B.C. with the Greek Ptolemaic dynasty, and ending with the Roman overlords of Egypt
39:29during the time of Christ.
39:31Its name means remote place or the end.
39:42Zahi says that the main temple here is dedicated to the mythical goddess, Isis.
39:47Look, look, look.
39:50She's on your left, and your right.
39:53The beautiful standing figure.
39:55Isis was a key figure in the Egyptian afterlife.
39:58Wife to Osiris, she was the queen of the heavens.
40:01According to Egyptian mythology, Isis was able to give the gift of immortality.
40:07But here in Philae, the ancient Egyptian beliefs and the eternity seem to have met their end.
40:13We head to a side chapel where evidence of this spiritual demise is literally written
40:19on the wall.
40:20In Jash, this is a very important place.
40:23You have the last hieroglyphic writing.
40:29Here on this wall?
40:29Never anything written after this.
40:32Really?
40:33You know, our adventure with the pharaohs, temples and tombs, all these great things that
40:40shows the glory of the pharaohs.
40:44Now in this place, this is the end of it.
40:48Zahi explains that by the end of Rome's rule in Egypt, around 550 AD, Emperor Justinian declared
40:55Christianity the only religion.
40:58The old beliefs were denounced and banned.
41:01For 3,500 years, the pharaohs and their influence came through Egypt.
41:06And at this point, no more.
41:09Then you see these inscriptions here.
41:11Look at it.
41:12It is not any more good hieroglyphic signs.
41:16The determinatives are wrong.
41:18All what's written is completely wrong.
41:20The last priest in this, the last active temple in Egypt, made the inscription so crudely it
41:27can't be fully deciphered.
41:29This priest lost the ability to properly illustrate hieroglyphic text.
41:34Not long afterwards, ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs became a dead language.
41:40The mummification that we know about, the beautiful scenes, the pharaohs, this is the end of the
41:46story.
41:46Look at this.
41:47The face, his gun, his scratching, and this is when Christians also began to demolish the
41:54scenes.
41:55Starting on the shores of the Mediterranean at Alexandria, one by one, Egypt's ancient
42:00temples were destroyed by the Romans and then abandoned.
42:05Slowly, the old ways and with them, the old beliefs in the afterlife.
42:10Disappeared.
42:13By the middle of the 6th century AD, virtually all worship of the ancient Egyptian religion
42:18had been stopped.
42:21Its priests were killed or expelled, and the walls of this temple were defaced.
42:28They scratched everything out.
42:30From here on, it was Christianity.
42:32And after that, after Christians, came Islam.
42:35And the Egyptians now are Muslim and Christians.
42:39But they still, all of them, very proud of the pharaohs.
42:44So what do you think happens to the spirits of the pharaohs?
42:47They've been perfectly preserved.
42:48Their bodies are still intact.
42:49The spirit will continue, because they did everything for that.
42:54They built the tombs.
42:55Then the soul can travel to the other world.
42:59They kept their bodies mummified.
43:01Then they live safely in the afterlife.
43:03Still, the magic of those people will always continue.
43:11The longest civilization history has ever known was born and then died here on the banks of
43:17the River Nile.
43:18But the ancient Egyptian beliefs in the afterlife continue to resonate to this day.
43:24Beneath Egypt's dusty veneer lie beautifully decorated chambers protecting millions of mummies,
43:30from kings and queens, to bulls and birds.
43:34For 3,500 years, the ancient Egyptians concealed their dead inside pyramids, temples, and tombs.
43:41But today, their secrets are slowly being revealed.
44:00The world is still alive.
44:00The first thing they died is recently from the moon.
44:01The only place they can be revealed.
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