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00:01The treasures of ancient Egypt are the stuff of dreams for people all over the world.
00:06But there is one treasure in particular that Egyptologists have been seeking for decades
00:11in their endless quest for the tomb of Cleopatra.
00:15The location of the tomb of Cleopatra is one of the holy grails of archaeology around the world.
00:22We have no trace of this mummy, and it's impossible to say where it is today.
00:26Finding the mummy of the last queen of Egypt could totally transform our understanding
00:31of the end of the pharaonic dynasties.
00:34Cleopatra is one of the ancient rulers whose memory simply was never forgotten.
00:41Despite intense research, no one has ever managed to uncover the slightest clue.
00:46Until now, that is.
00:47Jesus Christ.
00:49For in the United States, a collector has found a strange archaeological relic, a mummified hand.
00:56The description of which attributes it to the famous queen.
01:01When I first got the hand, I opened up the box and the hair stood up behind my neck.
01:08I'm really impressed by the fingernails.
01:10It's quite remarkably well preserved.
01:12It's very well done.
01:14Is this exceptional treasure really from ancient Egypt?
01:18Could it have been taken from the body of Cleopatra herself?
01:21Or some other important person of the Ptolemaic dynasty?
01:26And could this mummified hand lead us to their tomb?
01:31Look at this.
01:32The cobras.
01:33Oh, fantastic.
01:35Step by step, we are getting closer and closer to Queen Cleopatra.
01:40To solve this mystery, which is over 2,000 years old, we brought together top international experts,
01:46including the pathologist and archaeologist Philippe Chalier.
01:49The quality of the embalming is compatible with the mummy of the top class in Egyptian society.
01:55This scientific investigation took almost two years.
01:59We went to the United States, Egypt, and throughout Europe to some fairly surprising places.
02:05We're pretty convinced that there is a fracture here.
02:07To uncover one of the most astonishing stories of Egyptology,
02:11the mystery of Cleopatra's mummified hand.
02:27Alexandria, the capital of the last pharaohs of ancient Egypt, the Ptolemies.
02:35The dynasty ended in 30 BCE with a tragic death of Cleopatra,
02:40whose body lay somewhere here in the city.
02:45But the traces of the last queen of Egypt are rare.
02:51This is really dangerous.
02:54Archaeologists are still looking for fresh clues,
02:57which would help them piece together the details of her unique fate.
03:02And it was chiseled by hand from top to down.
03:06It's incredible.
03:06It's incredible.
03:11We're 50 kilometers west of Alexandria.
03:16Taposiris Magna is a strange archaeological site with an ancient necropolis
03:21and an enormous temple contemporaneous with Cleopatra.
03:31Kathleen Martinez is from the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean.
03:35It's beautiful.
03:37Since 2005, Kathleen, a lawyer turned archaeologist,
03:41has been searching the site for the queen's tomb.
03:45Today, we will continue the excavation toward the temple, to the south,
03:51to see if there's any entrance to the temple.
03:55Under this temple, dedicated to the goddess Isis and the god Osiris,
04:00Kathleen Martinez discovered in late 2022
04:03a huge tunnel dug out of the rock at a depth of 13 meters.
04:08She believes it could lead directly to Cleopatra's tomb.
04:14The Pasiris Magna was the most important religious center for Isis in the north.
04:20It was famous all over the ancient world.
04:23We have the necropolis, so it was a magnificent and very rich temple.
04:29I believe there was an important connection since the beginning
04:34between Cleopatra and Taposiris Magna
04:37because Cleopatra believed that she was the human representation of goddess Isis.
04:46But after almost two decades of excavations,
04:49Kathleen has still not found the sepulchre of the queen,
04:52nor any member of her family.
04:54The tombs of the Ptolemies remain impossible to find.
05:00Finding the mummy of the last queen of Egypt
05:02would be one of history's most important discoveries,
05:05as fascinating as that of Tutankhamen's treasure.
05:10Which is why so many archaeologists continue to look for clues.
05:14The location of the tomb of Cleopatra
05:17is one of the holy grails of archaeology around the world
05:20because she herself is so famous and so glamorous
05:23and so associated with mystery.
05:28Recently, a private collector revealed that he might possess the key to the mystery.
05:33A unique archaeological relic
05:35which might just have come from Cleopatra's mummy.
05:48We're in Connecticut in the United States
05:50and what we're about to see
05:52epitomizes everything that Cleopatra has become.
05:55A legend.
05:57John Resnikoff is a famous American collector.
06:02In this cramped space,
06:03there are thousands of relics
06:05of famous people from every era.
06:08And, in a safe,
06:10John keeps his most treasured item.
06:13In this vault, it's mostly documents
06:15and very valuable relics
06:17and things that I think are worthy of protection.
06:21We have one of my favorites,
06:23which is Cleopatra's hand.
06:28In May 2014,
06:30he acquired this unusual piece
06:32of a supposedly Egyptian mummy.
06:34Its description claims that it is the hand of Cleopatra,
06:37the last queen of ancient Egypt.
06:41This is the very first time
06:43that I've shown this hand in a camera.
06:45I've kept it very quiet.
06:47I wanted to hold this
06:49and keep it for a while
06:51before I decided I was going to do anything with it.
06:53Now it's time to really get a close look at this.
06:58Is this part of the mummy of the famous Cleopatra?
07:02And if not,
07:04then who is it?
07:05The investigation into this 2,000-year-old cold case
07:09should discover the truth.
07:11This is a really elegant hand
07:14and you can even see there's evidence
07:16of there having been a ring there.
07:18Maybe it's tomb robbers that took that ring.
07:21We don't know.
07:23I think this hand is remarkably preserved
07:25considering how old it is.
07:29To understand how this relic ended up
07:31in the United States,
07:32we have to go back to when and where it was discovered,
07:35which was supposedly
07:38in 18th century Egypt.
07:46In 1794,
07:47a British general by the name of Thomas Bowser
07:50was returning victorious from India.
07:54But his sea voyage didn't take the usual route.
07:57He requested that the crew make a huge detour
08:00on the way back to England.
08:02On his way back,
08:04he stopped in Egypt
08:05and everybody knew of his fame.
08:07He was there in diplomatic capacity.
08:09He was representing England
08:11and they wanted to give him a gift,
08:12a diplomatic gift.
08:13Apparently,
08:14they were raising the tomb of Cleopatra,
08:17the lost tomb,
08:18and she was disintegrating
08:20and they handed him the hand.
08:25In 1794,
08:261795,
08:27they still hadn't worked out
08:28how to read hieroglyphs.
08:29And it's not certain
08:30that Bowser spoke adequate Greek,
08:32which was one of the languages
08:34mostly spoken
08:34in the Eastern Mediterranean.
08:36So he'd have had no way
08:38of checking
08:39what he was told.
08:42All the same,
08:43Bowser knew all about Cleopatra.
08:45The legend of the Queen,
08:47laid on thick by her enemies,
08:48the Romans,
08:49wasn't forgotten in antiquity,
08:51but has passed down through the ages.
08:53Cleopatra is one of the ancient rulers
08:56whose memory simply was never forgotten.
08:59We see depictions of Cleopatra
09:01in medieval illuminated manuscripts.
09:04By vilifying Cleopatra,
09:07by portraying her
09:08as a femme fatale,
09:10as a sort of whore
09:11or nymphomaniac,
09:13Roman writers had already
09:15turned her into a legend
09:17in antiquity.
09:21The mummified hand arrived in Europe
09:24at the perfect moment.
09:25The European fascination
09:27with ancient Egypt
09:28was on the rise.
09:30At the same time,
09:31a major military
09:32and scientific expedition
09:33to the country
09:34was underway in the shape
09:36of Napoleon Bonaparte's
09:37Egyptian campaign.
09:39Egyptomania began
09:40with Napoleon's Egyptian campaign
09:42at the beginning
09:43of the 19th century.
09:44It was this
09:45that enabled Champollion
09:46to discover,
09:47or rather,
09:48rediscover the country
09:49and above all
09:50to decipher the hieroglyphs.
09:52From 1798 onwards,
09:54around 170 scholars
09:56were crisscrossing Egypt
09:57under Bonaparte's orders,
09:59producing an incredible work
10:01in 23 volumes,
10:03including 900 illustrative plates,
10:05the description of Egypt.
10:12The public was fascinated
10:13and mummies
10:14were all the rage.
10:16Lots of pieces of mummies
10:18ended up with private individuals
10:19because at the time
10:20there was a real enthusiasm
10:21for displaying them
10:22in your cabinet of curiosities.
10:24Hands, feet,
10:25artefacts,
10:26assorted mummy parts.
10:28The latest fashion
10:29at the time
10:30was to bring
10:30a whole mummy home
10:32and unwrap the bandages
10:33among friends.
10:34That guaranteed
10:35your party
10:35would be a success.
10:41Egyptomania
10:42became a unique phenomenon
10:43in the history of art.
10:46In the early 20th century,
10:48this passion for Egypt
10:49hit the silver screen
10:50and Cleopatra
10:51was one of its major figures.
10:54Helen Gardner
10:55and Theta-Bera
10:56in the 19-teens
10:58give us these iconic
11:00representations
11:01of Cleopatra.
11:03At this time of frenzy
11:05for all things Egyptian,
11:06the existence
11:07of Cleopatra's hand
11:08was revealed to the public
11:09by a British newspaper.
11:11The Reverend John Wharton,
11:13a friend of the Bowser family,
11:14mentioned it
11:15in an interview.
11:17And he was quite adamant
11:18about the relic's origin.
11:20The public was fascinated.
11:22An exhibition
11:23offered the equivalent
11:24of 90,000 euros today
11:26to rent the hand.
11:29After several changes of owner,
11:31the hand finally ended up
11:33in John Resnikoff's possession
11:34in 2014,
11:35over two centuries
11:37after its discovery.
11:39When I first got the hand,
11:41I opened up the box
11:42and the hair stood up
11:46behind my neck
11:47and I got goosebumps
11:48and it was, you know,
11:50just an exciting,
11:51here connecting me
11:53to something that happened
11:54a couple thousand years ago.
11:56And here, I own it.
11:57It's in my office.
12:00For our investigation,
12:02the hand must be taken
12:03out of its box.
12:04John is hesitant.
12:05The operation
12:06could damage the relic.
12:09The box probably
12:11hasn't been open
12:12for about 125 years
12:14and it's the first time
12:16that it's going to be open.
12:18Facing such high
12:19historical stakes,
12:20he agrees to remove
12:21the hand from the box,
12:22but it will have to stay
12:24in the United States.
12:26It's a very special moment.
12:28This mummy fragment
12:30may be one of the most
12:31precious in the world.
12:35Having been preserved
12:37for over 2,000 years,
12:39first by the Egyptian sand,
12:40then this box,
12:42this archaeological relic
12:43could be damaged
12:44by being handled.
12:47We decide to make
12:48a high-definition
12:49digital copy
12:50that can't be damaged.
12:55A team of specialists
12:56come from California
12:57to carry out a surface scan
12:59on which the 3D model
13:01of the hand will be made.
13:02It's a really quick process.
13:04In a matter of two minutes,
13:05we're going to have
13:06a full 3D model
13:07to represent the hands
13:08that we can share
13:09with anyone online.
13:12You can take measurements
13:14of each individual finger,
13:15the palm,
13:16the volume of the hands,
13:18and the dorsal surface as well.
13:20For the first time
13:22since it was discovered,
13:23the hand now
13:24has a digital double,
13:25accessible to Egyptologists
13:27all over the world.
13:29It could be
13:30the last remaining relic
13:31of the mysterious queen
13:32whose reign began
13:34over 2,000 years ago
13:35in Alexandria.
13:42When Cleopatra was born
13:44in Alexandria in 69 BCE,
13:46the Ptolemies had been
13:47ruling Egypt
13:48for over two centuries.
13:50Cleopatra's father
13:50was King Ptolemy XII.
13:52It's not known
13:54who her mother was.
13:55She was raised to power
13:56by her father
13:57who named her his heir.
13:59She was to reign
13:59and her father respected
14:01the rules of the time
14:02saying,
14:02you will marry
14:03your younger brother,
14:04Ptolemy XIII,
14:05and you will rule together.
14:06So there she was,
14:07age 16,
14:08saddled with her
14:0913-year-old kid brother
14:10who was a bit of an idiot
14:11and was totally manipulated
14:12by the palace advisors.
14:14But they saw
14:14that they couldn't
14:15manipulate Cleopatra
14:16because she had
14:17a very strong character
14:18coupled with political acumen.
14:21Cleopatra had to rein in
14:23her younger brother's ambitions
14:24while pushing back
14:25against the hegemony of Rome,
14:27which was trying to establish
14:28a foothold in Egypt.
14:29But Cleopatra had an advantage,
14:32her education
14:33and exceptional intelligence.
14:35Cleopatra grew up learning
14:37in the Library of Alexandria.
14:39She would have had access
14:41to tremendous amount of records.
14:44She would have spoken
14:45nine or ten languages,
14:47Greek, obviously,
14:48but also Egyptian
14:49and other languages besides.
14:50So she was a very well-educated
14:52young woman.
14:54Cleopatra's brothers and sisters
14:56were envious of her power
14:57and plotted vengeance.
14:59So to be sure
15:01of being free to rule,
15:03the Queen of Egypt
15:03had them all eliminated
15:04one by one.
15:06In a very smart way,
15:08she eliminated
15:09everyone in her entourage,
15:10all her brothers
15:11and sisters
15:12who could have ruled
15:13and she ended up
15:15first in line.
15:18In 44 BCE,
15:20Cleopatra was finally
15:21ruling alone.
15:23She established her throne
15:25in the city
15:25where she'd been born
15:27and which would also serve
15:28as her tomb, Alexandria.
15:35Under the Ptolemies,
15:37Alexandria had become
15:38the political heart of Egypt.
15:41Alexandria,
15:41during the time of Cleopatra,
15:43was one of the largest
15:44and greatest cities
15:45of the ancient world.
15:47It's a major scientific center.
15:49It's a great city-state
15:51that governs
15:52all the rest of Egypt
15:53as though it's just
15:54its own backyard.
15:57It was dominated
15:58by a lighthouse
15:59which connected it
16:00to seafaring operations.
16:02It had a library,
16:04the famous library
16:05of Alexandria,
16:06a highlight
16:06of the ancient world.
16:08Founded by
16:09Alexander the Great,
16:11the city became
16:11the major metropolis
16:12of the Greek world
16:13under the Ptolemaic dynasty,
16:15which was established
16:16on Alexander's death
16:17by his general Ptolemy.
16:20Alexandria was a shining light
16:21throughout the known world.
16:24But today's city
16:26is nothing like
16:26the one Cleopatra lived in.
16:28All traces of her presence here
16:30have been erased,
16:31or rather,
16:32submerged.
16:34Much of ancient Alexandria
16:36has disappeared
16:37above ground.
16:39We do have a few sites
16:40in modern Alexandria,
16:42but much, much more
16:43is underwater.
16:48We get the chance
16:50to accompany teams
16:50of divers
16:51and film the remains
16:53of Cleopatra's city
16:54that lie beneath the waves.
17:01Beneath the harbor
17:02of Alexandria,
17:03we have remains
17:04of Cleopatra's palace,
17:05parts of the famous lighthouse.
17:07And so it's really remarkable.
17:10A few meters down,
17:13you can still see columns,
17:15sculptures,
17:17and even blocks
17:18of the famous lighthouse.
17:21Underwater archaeological digs
17:23regularly take place here,
17:24but none has ever found
17:26a single trace
17:27of the Queen's sepulchre.
17:38In Paris,
17:39the scan of the mummified hand
17:41has been computer processed.
17:43The digital copy
17:44is now ready
17:45for an initial analysis.
17:47Egyptologist
17:48Jean-Guillaume-Aulette Pelletier
17:50discovers this mummy fragment
17:52and the legend
17:53that goes with it.
17:55You can see
17:56all the joints
17:57of the fingers,
17:57the texture,
17:58the skin is also
17:59quite visible,
18:00well-preserved.
18:02It has all its fingernails,
18:03pretty much,
18:04which is really very special.
18:06The interesting thing
18:08is that the state
18:08of preservation
18:09shows that this
18:10was excellent mummification.
18:13So it had to have been
18:14someone of the upper aristocracy
18:16who could afford it.
18:17At the time,
18:18there was also
18:19third-rate mummification
18:21done in a rush.
18:22This is the opposite of that.
18:24It's someone very wealthy
18:25who could afford
18:26to be properly mummified.
18:29someone very wealthy,
18:30of the upper aristocracy.
18:33These first clues
18:34are indeed compatible
18:35with Queen Cleopatra.
18:38But that isn't enough.
18:40We're going to have
18:41to have samples
18:42of the hand
18:42analyzed by a pathologist
18:44and scientists in Europe.
18:47To allow them
18:47to study the object physically
18:49without moving it
18:50from the United States,
18:51we opt for a technique
18:53that's revolutionary
18:53in archaeology,
18:54a 3D print of the original.
19:02The computer file of the scan
19:04is sent to a printing expert
19:05in France.
19:08Thanks to this process,
19:10the scientists
19:11will be able to study the hand
19:12and work out exactly
19:13where to take samples from
19:14without handling the original,
19:17which is thousands
19:18of kilometers away.
19:21Before working on this 3D hand,
19:23we've already had some experience
19:24of this type of archaeology.
19:26For example,
19:26this is a human being,
19:28a Heidelberg man,
19:29found in Italy, I think,
19:30and it's about 350,000 years old.
19:32And this was put together
19:34from pieces we printed
19:34from scans,
19:35from the Musée de l'Homme.
19:39The teams will cut up
19:40the digital model virtually
19:42before starting the printing,
19:43which will use
19:44one of the most delicate
19:45resin-based techniques.
19:48The machine applies
19:49the various processes
19:50to build it up
19:51and to produce
19:52the final object.
19:54The definition we can achieve
19:55with these archaeological pieces
19:57is of the order of 80 microns
19:59for the thickness
19:59of each successive layer,
20:01so the printing takes
20:02about 15 hours.
20:04Each layer is as fine
20:06as a human hair,
20:07so the final result
20:08is easily precise enough
20:09to be used by the researchers.
20:15Dr. Philippe Charrier
20:17is a French archaeologist
20:18and pathologist.
20:20He's carried out
20:21at least 2,000 autopsies,
20:23including those
20:24of Tutankhamen's children.
20:25But this is the first time
20:27he's been asked
20:27to give an opinion
20:28on such a historical character
20:30as Cleopatra.
20:32We really have to consider
20:34this like a forensic case.
20:35It's like being brought
20:36a part of a dead body
20:38whose identity
20:38has been presumed
20:39and having to determine
20:41whether it really
20:41is that person.
20:42And if it isn't,
20:43then who is it?
20:45His first step
20:46is a careful observation,
20:48as though at a murder scene.
20:50And his first remarks
20:51echo those of our Egyptologist
20:53Jean-Guillaume-Aulette Pelletier.
20:56The scan is really
20:57a very high quality.
20:58It's almost like having
20:59a real hand in front of you.
21:01Some of the bones
21:02are clearly visible.
21:04Here you have the metacarpals,
21:06and you can see
21:06that they're still covered
21:07by embalming products.
21:09You can still see
21:10a few traces of the fingerprints
21:12on the five fingers.
21:14It's in a pretty good
21:15state of preservation.
21:17I've had some contemporary bodies,
21:19fresh or recently mummified,
21:21that were in a much worse
21:22state of preservation than this.
21:24So hats off to the embalmers.
21:26They did a great job.
21:28At this stage,
21:29it's hard to know much more.
21:31At first sight,
21:32the delicacy of the hand,
21:33as reproduced by the 3D print,
21:35would seem to indicate
21:36that it's that of a woman.
21:39When I place it on my hand,
21:40for example,
21:41we have two radically
21:42different sizes.
21:44You could say that
21:45the morphology is slender,
21:46but that would be the case
21:48for most mummies
21:48exhumed in Egypt
21:49over the last 500 years.
21:52Only genetics will be able
21:53to tell us
21:53the individual's sex for sure.
21:56I think this hand will talk,
21:58be pretty chatty, actually.
22:00I've got a good feeling about it.
22:04To get the hand to talk,
22:06we'll have to put it
22:07through a whole series
22:08of analyses,
22:09which will let us travel
22:10back in time
22:11and discover the stories
22:12in its grasp.
22:14The latest scientific advances
22:16should reveal to us
22:17how this archaeological relic
22:18came to be linked
22:19to the turbulent fate
22:20of Cleopatra.
22:31Cleopatra's reign
22:32was far from an easy ride.
22:34The neighbouring power of Rome
22:36wanted to take total control
22:38of the Mediterranean,
22:39including the land
22:40of the pharaohs.
22:41Cleopatra wanted to preserve
22:42Egypt's independence
22:43and she would use
22:44all means possible
22:45and she had the advantage
22:46of being blessed
22:47with plenty of assets.
22:49So, to keep her sovereignty,
22:51rather than going to war,
22:54Cleopatra opted
22:55for amorous alliances.
22:57Her first conquest
22:58was the Roman consul.
22:59His name?
23:00Julius Caesar.
23:02He was a powerful man,
23:04extremely intelligent
23:05and very attractive.
23:07He'd known many women,
23:08had slept with women
23:09all around the Mediterranean.
23:10Powerful, noble,
23:12aristocratic women.
23:13But Cleopatra was
23:14something more.
23:16One night in 48 BCE,
23:18knowing that Caesar
23:19was present in a palace
23:20in Alexandria,
23:23Cleopatra came up
23:24with a ruse to meet him.
23:27She had him sent
23:28a carpet as a gift,
23:30having rolled herself in it.
23:32As it was unrolled,
23:33she emerged from it
23:34semi-naked.
23:36This first encounter
23:37led to a passionate affair
23:38and a child,
23:40Caesarian.
23:43But the relationship
23:44was short-lived.
23:45The assassination
23:47of Julius Caesar
23:48in 44 BCE
23:49called everything
23:50into question.
23:52At the time
23:53of Caesar's assassination,
23:55Cleopatra is thrown back
23:57into uncertainty.
23:58And it is then
24:00that she later
24:01seeks out
24:01another alliance
24:03with a powerful Roman man,
24:05Mark Antony.
24:06She made the same
24:07sort of pact
24:08that she'd had
24:08with Julius Caesar.
24:09Let's be lovers,
24:10let's be friends,
24:11let's be political allies.
24:13When he married Cleopatra,
24:15Mark Antony drew the ire
24:17of another powerful Roman,
24:19Octavian,
24:20the future emperor Augustus.
24:23The two men
24:24became sworn enemies.
24:27One of them
24:28would have to die.
24:35Back to Connecticut
24:36in the United States
24:37where the original
24:38mummified hand
24:39has remained.
24:41This morning
24:42we have an appointment
24:43in the town of Farmington
24:45at Yukon Health,
24:46a hospital equipped
24:48with the latest
24:48medical innovations.
24:52But this time
24:53it's a very unusual patient
24:54that the radiology team
24:56has agreed to take care of.
24:59Cleopatra's mummified hand
25:01will be x-rayed
25:02to reveal its inner structure
25:04with great precision.
25:07Don't you find them
25:08very long?
25:08Yeah.
25:09That's a long, long finger.
25:11Yeah.
25:13Doctors Moss and Baldwin
25:14are in charge
25:15of this somewhat
25:16unusual operation.
25:18We placed the hand
25:20on the table
25:21of the CT scanner
25:22and we ran the hand
25:24through the CT scanner
25:26as an x-ray source
25:27rotated around the hand.
25:29The computer here
25:30in this control room
25:31can generate 3D volumes
25:34or models of the hand
25:36so that they can be
25:37manipulated and rotated
25:38in space.
25:39You see every bone
25:41perfectly,
25:42which we would expect.
25:43We can see the joints.
25:44We can even see
25:45some of the tendons,
25:46which are the connections
25:47between the joints
25:47and the muscles
25:48that were there.
25:49The amount of detail
25:50that we get
25:51from this scan
25:51is really,
25:52it's unbelievable.
25:54from this three-dimensional
25:55radiological view,
25:57the doctors make
25:58a strange discovery.
26:00We're pretty convinced
26:01that there is a fracture
26:02here on the middle side
26:04of what we call
26:05the proximal bone
26:06in the little finger
26:07and there's no evidence
26:08of healing at that site
26:10so we think
26:10that that probably
26:11is an injury
26:12that occurred
26:13either during
26:14the mummification process
26:15or maybe
26:16when the hand
26:17was obtained.
26:18How is the preservation
26:19of this hand?
26:21Incredible.
26:22When we look at the hand,
26:24the long middle finger
26:25has a wonderfully
26:26preserved nail.
26:28The fracture
26:29they've spotted
26:30was quite probably caused
26:31when the mummy
26:32was stolen.
26:34The team suggests
26:35we return to France
26:36with all the data
26:37gathered by the scan
26:38so that Philippe Chalier,
26:40the pathologist,
26:41can carry out
26:42further tests.
26:44But before leaving
26:45the United States,
26:46there remains
26:47one delicate operation
26:48to be carried out.
26:50The taking of samples,
26:52which will almost
26:53certainly prove
26:53to be the key
26:54to solving the puzzle.
26:55The first test
26:56will be carbon-14 dating.
26:58We have to establish
27:00the age of these
27:00human remains.
27:02If the hand is
27:03from the 15th century BCE
27:05or the 3rd century CE,
27:06then we can rule out
27:08that it came from Cleopatra.
27:12Cleopatra committed suicide
27:13in 30 BCE.
27:16Carbon-14 dating
27:17is so accurate
27:18that it will tell us
27:19the date when
27:19the mummified person died.
27:22Samples are taken
27:23from the bone and muscle
27:25and placed in a sterile container
27:27to be taken to France.
27:31Another sample
27:32is to be subjected
27:33to molecular analysis
27:34to determine the materials
27:36used in the embalming.
27:40There were four types
27:41of embalming.
27:42There was the first class
27:43or business class,
27:44if you like,
27:45which was truly
27:46magnificent embalming.
27:47And at the other extreme,
27:49you had fourth class,
27:50which was low-cost embalming
27:52done in a rush.
27:53We'll see if what we have here
27:55is first, second, third,
27:56or fourth class embalming.
27:58This will be extremely important.
28:00The sample
28:01in the last receptacle
28:03may provide us
28:04with the holy grail
28:05of our investigation,
28:06the mummy's DNA.
28:08This analysis
28:09could solve the mystery
28:11of its geographical provenance,
28:13its appearance,
28:14and its sex,
28:15all thanks to genetics.
28:18Extracting DNA
28:19from an Egyptian mummy
28:20is complicated,
28:21but it's obvious
28:21that we have to try.
28:23We can't not carry out
28:24a genetic analysis
28:25on a sample.
28:26If we want to know
28:27who this hand belonged to
28:28and just whether it belonged
28:29to a man or a woman,
28:30we have to have that DNA.
28:33The scientists
28:34now have to get these samples
28:35to talk
28:36and answer one single question.
28:38When General Bowser
28:40was supposedly presented
28:41with this relic in 1794,
28:44was he indeed given
28:45the hand of Cleopatra,
28:47or was he the victim
28:48of a prodigious hoax
28:49which has endured
28:51until today?
28:59One of the world's
29:01top three universities
29:02is in Connecticut,
29:04Yale.
29:08Colleen and John Darnell
29:09are Egyptologists
29:10who have taught there.
29:12John is currently a curator
29:14at the university's museum.
29:15Well, it's on both sides.
29:17It looks like there's
29:17a little bit there.
29:20They wanted to have access
29:21to the digital copies
29:22of the hand
29:23to check a hypothesis.
29:25On the basis
29:26of the appearance
29:27of the hand
29:28in the 3D model
29:29and from what we can see
29:30in the scans,
29:31it does look like
29:33it might very well be
29:34an original
29:35ancient Egyptian
29:37mummified hand.
29:38I'm really impressed
29:39by the extent
29:41to which you can see
29:42the fingernails.
29:43It's quite remarkably
29:45well-preserved.
29:45It's very well done.
29:48The two Egyptologists
29:49are surprised
29:50by the presence
29:51of black marks,
29:53wondering how
29:54these came about,
29:55John and Colleen
29:56have an unexpected theory.
29:59What's interesting
30:00is that we also
30:01can see evidence
30:02of burning
30:02along the one side,
30:04both here
30:04and then there
30:06as well.
30:07That suggests to me
30:08that at some point
30:10this mummy,
30:11or at least
30:11this hand,
30:13was in a tomb
30:14that had been robbed
30:16and probably burned out
30:18by the tomb robbers.
30:19And that's interesting
30:20because a practice
30:22of burning out
30:23the tomb
30:24in order to quickly
30:25take the treasure
30:25is something that we see
30:27for thousands of years
30:28of ancient Egyptian
30:29tomb robbery.
30:31Tomb robbers
30:32would burn the mummy
30:33they had desecrated
30:33so they wouldn't be haunted
30:35by the dead person's spirit.
30:37They could then go ahead
30:38and steal the precious objects,
30:39fearing no reprisals
30:41from the deceased.
30:42If the mummy
30:42we're studying
30:43was desecrated,
30:44it must mean
30:45that the tomb
30:45contained treasure,
30:47and the person in it
30:48was someone
30:49very important.
30:54Back in Paris,
30:55we hand over
30:56the samples
30:57and medical imagery
30:57of the hand
30:58to Dr. Philippe Chalier.
31:01The sample
31:01for carbon-14 dating
31:03will go to Dublin
31:04and then Miami.
31:04The sample
31:05for genetic analysis
31:06will go to Barcelona.
31:08And the sample
31:08for toxicological
31:10and molecular tests
31:11will go to Vienna
31:11in Austria
31:12and here in Paris.
31:13So the mummy
31:14is taking on
31:15quite an international character
31:16and doing a bit more traveling,
31:18post-mortem,
31:20but traveling all the same.
31:22Looking at the results
31:23of the scans,
31:24our expert
31:25immediately notices
31:26some clues
31:27to help in our investigation.
31:29There is no growth cartilage
31:31at all.
31:32This is a hand
31:33that is totally ossified,
31:35meaning that it's someone
31:35aged around 30,
31:3635, or 40.
31:40And there are no markers
31:41of intense activity,
31:42no trace of a specially
31:44prominent muscle insertions,
31:46nor any pronounced
31:48osteoarthritis.
31:50So this isn't the hand
31:52of someone
31:52who is a manual laborer.
31:57Cleopatra died
31:58at the age of 39
31:59and her exposure
32:01to manual tasks
32:02was limited.
32:03The mummified hand
32:05then really could be hers.
32:07The observations
32:08of one of our experts
32:09confirm that
32:10it's quite possible.
32:19back to Egypt
32:20and the Nile Delta.
32:22In Taposiris Magna,
32:24near Alexandria,
32:25the Dominican archaeologist
32:26Kathleen Martinez
32:27is continuing
32:29with the digs begun
32:30almost 20 years earlier
32:31in the temple
32:32dedicated to the goddess Isis.
32:35This morning,
32:37the workers are clearing
32:38one of the pits
32:38that provides access
32:39to the tunnels
32:40dug under the temple.
32:42These dozens of meters
32:43of mysterious passages
32:45give an insight
32:46into life
32:47in the Ptolemaic era.
32:49This is a long tunnel.
32:53After years
32:54of excavating
32:55the tunnels,
32:56we discovered
32:56that around
32:57every 30 meters
32:59there is a shaft.
33:00It's a complex
33:01of tunnels
33:01and they have
33:02at least two teams
33:04working in opposite
33:05direction
33:05trying to meet each other
33:07following these directions
33:09the one they already
33:10mark.
33:11The tunnels
33:13were used
33:13for transporting
33:14large quantities
33:15of water
33:15but Kathleen Martinez
33:17believes they also
33:18had another function
33:19related to the use
33:20of the temple
33:21by the Ptolemies
33:22including Cleopatra.
33:25So the tunnels
33:25in my opinion
33:27has several use
33:28and one of them
33:29was to move
33:30beneath the temple
33:32without being seen
33:33and I believe
33:34because of these tunnels
33:37and the complex
33:38of tunnels here
33:39is why Cleopatra
33:40might have
33:41chose the
33:41Ptolemaic magna
33:42as her final
33:43resting place.
33:45The marks
33:46left by the workers
33:47show the care
33:48taken with these
33:48underground passages.
33:50The perfectly
33:51chiseled walls
33:52could indeed
33:53be an indication
33:53that these passages
33:55were used
33:55by people
33:56of high rank.
33:59This hypothesis
34:00is backed up
34:01by the many
34:02archaeological vestiges
34:03found underground.
34:06With every dig season
34:08more gets stocked
34:09in the antiquities store
34:10the location
34:11of which is top secret.
34:12It houses
34:13the priceless treasures
34:14of Taposiris magna.
34:18Oh, I like this car.
34:22Kathleen Martinez
34:23has asked
34:24Egyptologist
34:25Zahi Awas
34:26to come and
34:27analyse a few pieces.
34:28Is this a copra
34:29that killed Cleopatra?
34:31Yes, I think so.
34:32It looks like that.
34:33Yes.
34:34That's beautiful.
34:36Look at this.
34:37Oh!
34:40It's really,
34:41it's really heavy.
34:44This is Cleopatra,
34:45do you think?
34:47Could be.
34:48Could be.
34:49Kathleen Martinez
34:50carefully analyses
34:51every object
34:52found during her
34:53excavations
34:54because the
34:54archaeological relics
34:55left behind
34:56by Cleopatra
34:57are rare
34:57and precious.
34:59The objects
35:00that you've discovered
35:01it will encourage
35:02you to do more,
35:04more excavation
35:05until you reveal
35:07many secrets
35:08about Cleopatra
35:10and Mercado.
35:12The archaeological
35:13research into Cleopatra
35:14shows that the
35:15pharaoh queen
35:16took inspiration
35:17from the culture
35:18of the great
35:18sovereigns
35:19who had come before.
35:21Her wish
35:22was to leave
35:22her own indelible
35:23mark on Egypt
35:25by building
35:26majestic monuments
35:27on its soil.
35:37in the laboratory
35:38at Paris-Saint-Claire
35:39University,
35:40pathologist
35:41Philippe Chalier
35:42has just had
35:43the first results.
35:45These are of the tests
35:46done on the
35:47embalming products.
35:50The elementary
35:51and molecular
35:52analysis
35:52lets us work out
35:54the composition
35:54of the darkish crust
35:56on the surface
35:56of the hand.
35:58This tells us
35:59first of all
36:00whether the hand
36:00does come from
36:01an Egyptian mummy
36:02and from what
36:03class of mummy.
36:06It'll take him
36:07a few hours
36:08to decipher
36:08the raw data
36:09that the high-powered
36:10equipment has supplied.
36:12The ingredients
36:13revealed here
36:14are particularly
36:14exciting.
36:17There are 3,000 pages
36:18of data
36:19so that really
36:19is a lot of reading.
36:21But what it shows
36:22is that the composition
36:23of the embalming
36:24product was
36:25extremely complex.
36:27Lots of aromatics
36:28were used,
36:29lots of raw materials.
36:31We can see
36:32bitumen,
36:33natron,
36:33palmitic acid
36:34and other substances
36:35of plant origin.
36:37Even the temperature
36:38at which the embalming
36:39products were applied
36:40was perfect.
36:41There's no carbonization
36:42on the tips
36:43of the fingers
36:44such as was observed
36:45quite paradoxically
36:46on the mummy
36:47of Tutankhamen.
36:50For our experts,
36:52the conclusion
36:52is clear.
36:53The composition
36:54is that of
36:55an Egyptian mummy.
36:57But more than that,
36:58it shows incontestably
36:59that their mummification
37:00was of the highest quality.
37:03The quality
37:04of the embalming
37:05and the large variety
37:06of products
37:06used in the embalming
37:07really are compatible
37:09with this being
37:09the mummy of someone
37:10in the upper echelons
37:11of society.
37:12You can imagine
37:13someone of the nobility,
37:14an aristocrat,
37:15a priestess,
37:16or why not a princess
37:17or a queen.
37:19Once again,
37:20the clues confirm
37:21that we could well
37:22be in the presence
37:23of a queen,
37:24maybe even Cleopatra herself.
37:27But there are still
37:28several steps to take
37:29before we can confirm
37:30this incredible hypothesis.
37:42In Taposiris Magna,
37:44west of Alexandria,
37:46Kathleen Martinez
37:46is still looking
37:47for Cleopatra's tomb.
37:50Let me show you
37:52this tomb.
37:52It's really important
37:54because it's from
37:54the Ptolemaic period.
37:56She's invited
37:57the famous Egyptologist
37:59Zahiawas to join her,
38:00showing him
38:01her latest discoveries
38:02as they bring her
38:03ever closer to the queen.
38:05So look at this,
38:06the cobra.
38:07Oh, fantastic.
38:09Yes.
38:10And what's inside the niche?
38:11Did you look at
38:12inside the niche?
38:13Yes, there are more
38:14skeletons.
38:15Skeletons.
38:17Cobra, in the mind
38:18of the Egyptians
38:19from the Roman period,
38:20is to protect the king
38:22and to protect the people
38:23at the same time.
38:24For the king,
38:25they put it in the forehead,
38:26but for this family,
38:28it seemed that this
38:29is the head of the family.
38:30This is the most
38:31important person
38:33because they wanted him
38:35to be more protected
38:36in the afterlife.
38:37And the other nieces
38:38are from the members
38:39of the family.
38:40And they are from
38:42the time of Queen Cleopatra.
38:43It's a Ptolemaic.
38:44Based on the pottery?
38:45Yes, based on the pottery.
38:47The dozens of jars
38:49and shards of earthen pots
38:50allow the Egyptologists
38:52to precisely date the places
38:53where they were found.
38:55It's a Ptolemaic.
38:56And we found
38:58in each corner
38:59of this tomb
39:00that they were
39:01making libations.
39:02It's for lighting?
39:03Yes.
39:06There's not much left
39:07about Cleopatra's time,
39:09but this is one
39:10of the standing necropolis
39:12here in Alexandria
39:14for the time
39:14of Queen Cleopatra.
39:17These tombs
39:18have none of the splendor
39:19we would expect
39:19for a queen.
39:22But Kathleen
39:23is convinced
39:24that these dead
39:24were not buried here
39:25by chance.
39:27There must have been
39:29the tomb of someone
39:29very important
39:30close to the temple.
39:32Maybe even a Ptolemy.
39:35We are searching
39:36for more information
39:37about them.
39:39Sometimes they have
39:40inscriptions,
39:42amulets.
39:43We have discovered
39:43many amulets
39:45of Isis,
39:46of Osiris,
39:47of different gods,
39:49so it gave us
39:50a lot of information.
39:51We are always
39:53searching for clues.
39:56The archaeologist's
39:57season is coming
39:57to an end,
39:58but she'll be back
39:59again next year.
40:00Step by step,
40:01we are getting closer
40:02and closer
40:03to Queen Cleopatra.
40:05The goal remains
40:06the same,
40:07to find the mummy
40:08of Cleopatra
40:09and piece together
40:10the final days
40:11of this woman,
40:12who will forever remain
40:13the ultimate
40:14pharaoh queen of Egypt.
40:26Cleopatra's dramatic demise
40:27has played a big part
40:29in forging her legend.
40:32The year was 31 BCE
40:34and the queen
40:35and her lover
40:36Mark Antony
40:36had lost to Octavian's fleet
40:38to the west of Greece.
40:41The queen had a tragic end.
40:43She died after the battle
40:45of Actium
40:46in which she'd been
40:46Mark Antony's ally
40:48against Octavian.
40:51The queen fled
40:52to Alexandria.
40:53In August of the year 30,
40:56Mark Antony fell on his sword
40:57as Octavian's troops
40:58were invading the city.
41:00Cleopatra was cornered.
41:01She knew she had lost,
41:03but the queen had already
41:04prepared her final act.
41:07She was in the chamber
41:09of the royal palace
41:10and the story goes
41:12that at a prearranged signal
41:14she had a snake
41:16brought to her
41:17in a basket
41:18that was filled with figs.
41:22According to historians,
41:24it was all premeditated
41:25by Cleopatra.
41:26She would suffer
41:27the cobra bite
41:28to avoid being taken captive
41:30by the Romans.
41:31By choosing death,
41:33she escaped that shame.
41:35The last moments
41:36of Cleopatra's life
41:37aren't clear.
41:39What really happened
41:40in her mausoleum?
41:42Did the Egyptians
41:43hide the queen's mummy
41:44somewhere that would
41:45raise no suspicions
41:46to keep it from the Romans?
41:48What became of her final
41:50resting place?
41:51The mystery remains unsolved,
41:53but the research goes on.
41:56You can imagine
41:57that her mausoleum
41:58was opened up
41:59at some undetermined
42:00period of history
42:01between antiquity
42:02and the 19th century,
42:04in which case,
42:04would they have known
42:06that this was Cleopatra?
42:07Was she chopped up
42:08so that the parts
42:09could be sold
42:10in European art markets?
42:12Or was she just
42:13dumped somewhere?
42:13We have no idea.
42:15We have no trace
42:16of this mummy.
42:16And it's impossible
42:18to say where it is today.
42:20One final hypothesis
42:22bothers the archaeologists.
42:24For, as if cursed,
42:26the city of Alexandria
42:27was struck by a series
42:28of earthquakes and tsunamis
42:30after the Roman era.
42:36Cleopatra's tomb
42:36may well have sunk
42:37in the Mediterranean,
42:38along with the ancient city,
42:40making the likelihood
42:41of one day finding
42:42her mummy practically zero.
42:51in Paris,
42:52two months after the samples
42:53were taken
42:54from the mummified hand,
42:55Dr. Philippe Chalier
42:57has received the results
42:57of the carbon-14 dating.
43:01Now we will finally know
43:02the exact age
43:03of this archaeological treasure.
43:06The samples analysed
43:07are not of the embalming product,
43:09but of the bone itself,
43:10so of the person.
43:12He sent the samples away
43:13for carbon-14 dating,
43:15a technique widely used
43:16by scientists.
43:18It's reliable
43:19because this carbon
43:20is present in all living things,
43:22and after death,
43:23the concentration diminishes
43:25at a very precise rate.
43:27We know very well
43:28the rate at which
43:29carbon-14 decays,
43:31so when we measure
43:32the amount of carbon-14
43:33in an individual,
43:34using pretty straightforward
43:35cross-multiplication,
43:37we can work out
43:38when the individual died,
43:39when they stopped
43:40taking carbon-14
43:41into their body.
43:42The concentration
43:43of carbon-14
43:44was measured in samples
43:46taken from the bones
43:47of the hand,
43:47and the result
43:48is quite a surprise.
43:49The result really is
43:51compatible with it being
43:52an Egyptian mummy.
43:53These are indeed
43:54ancient remains.
43:55it's not a fake
43:56from the 19th century,
43:57that's for sure.
43:59On the other hand,
44:00it's a lot more
44:00ancient than Cleopatra.
44:02The dating,
44:03which is 95% sure,
44:04is that it's from
44:05between the 8th
44:06and 6th century BCE.
44:11That would correspond
44:13to the late period
44:13of ancient Egypt.
44:15The Greeks weren't yet
44:16in Egypt at that time,
44:17so this individual
44:18couldn't,
44:18either conceptually
44:19or linguistically,
44:21have been called
44:21Cleopatra.
44:23So this is most probably
44:24not Cleopatra.
44:25We can be absolutely
44:26sure about that.
44:36The fate of this
44:37archaeological relic
44:38is now sealed.
44:39We can indisputably
44:41confirm that it is not
44:42the hand of Cleopatra,
44:43nor of any of the Ptolemies.
44:48The mummy from which
44:49it has taken
44:50is much older,
44:51500 years at least.
44:52But with mummification
44:54of such quality,
44:55it could well be that
44:56of some other queen
44:57or princess.
44:58But who?
45:01Only the DNA
45:02might give us an answer.
45:04As for Cleopatra's mummy,
45:06we have to face facts.
45:09It's still well hidden
45:10somewhere in Egypt.
45:12Any trace of its whereabouts
45:14were lost very soon
45:15after her death,
45:16the details of which
45:18seem impenetrable.
45:30Barcelona,
45:31in northeast Spain,
45:34is home to the
45:35biomedical research park
45:36where some of the world's
45:38top experts in human genetics
45:39work.
45:42Professor Carles Laloesa Fox
45:44is a biologist
45:45who specializes
45:46in ancient DNA.
45:47He's been working
45:48for months now
45:49on the samples
45:50from the mummified hand,
45:51and the results
45:52are phenomenal.
45:54It is very difficult
45:55to work on Egyptian mummies.
45:57That's because
45:58of the very hot climate
46:00and the very humid conditions
46:02and probably also
46:03the embalming techniques
46:05of the mummies.
46:07The amount of DNA
46:08contained in the remains
46:09of mummies
46:10is often close to zero
46:11because of the age
46:12and state of preservation
46:13of the relics.
46:15But the team in Barcelona
46:17has pulled off
46:17a true scientific feat
46:18in this case,
46:19almost a one-off.
46:22Using a tiny drill,
46:2420 micrograms
46:25were extracted
46:25from the sample
46:26from the hand
46:26and then dissolved.
46:29The minute amount
46:30of human DNA
46:31detected there
46:32was selected
46:32and then sequenced.
46:35If we count efficiency
46:37of the percent
46:38of human samples
46:39that we get in total,
46:41in this case,
46:42it was 0.06%.
46:43So we had to sequence
46:45quite a lot,
46:46generating literally
46:47millions of sequences
46:48to end up with,
46:49let's say,
46:50some human DNA sequences.
46:54With less than 0.1%
46:56of human DNA available,
46:57it was an onerous task,
46:59but it paid off.
47:03The DNA is exploitable
47:04and we can determine
47:06the geographic providence
47:07of the mummy.
47:09Every individual
47:10through their mother
47:11and ancestors
47:11down the maternal line
47:12inherits an ethnic marker,
47:14a geographic one
47:16of a society
47:16or a community.
47:17We call this genetic population
47:19a haplogroup.
47:20We have solid evidence
47:22that the mitochondrial lineage
47:23of this sample
47:25is an air haplogroup.
47:27And so far,
47:28the air haplogroup,
47:29it shows the highest frequencies
47:31in Saudi Arabia,
47:33Eritrea, Sudan,
47:34and also Egypt.
47:35So it makes sense
47:37with this information
47:38that it's someone
47:39from that region.
47:41My perception is
47:43this is a real mummy
47:44from Egypt.
47:46The mummy then
47:47is genuine,
47:48ancient,
47:49and from Egyptian nobility.
47:52I am quite happy
47:53because it's very,
47:54very, very difficult
47:55to have genetic data
47:57which looks authentic
48:00from an Egyptian mummy
48:01which is 2,600 years old.
48:04It's probably amongst
48:06the oldest Egyptian mummies
48:07that so far
48:09has yielded any genetic result.
48:11So we have here
48:12one of the most ancient samples
48:14of sequenced human DNA
48:15from an Egyptian mummy
48:16thanks to this hand
48:18supposedly brought home
48:19by General Bowser
48:20and the work
48:21of all these scientists.
48:23All that remains to be done
48:24is to read the DNA
48:25to determine the sex.
48:28At first sight,
48:29the size of the bones
48:30suggests a woman.
48:33But the chromosomes
48:35tell a different story.
48:37It shows it has
48:39X chromosome
48:40and Y chromosome,
48:41so it's clearly a male,
48:43not a woman.
48:46So Cleopatra's hand
48:47is in fact
48:48that of a man.
48:50Someone from the upper echelons
48:51of Egyptian society
48:52in around 600 BCE.
48:55It's quite a surprise.
48:57How is it that this hand
48:59has been attributed
49:00to Cleopatra since 1794?
49:02Was it General Bowser
49:04who lied about its provenance?
49:07After an investigation
49:08lasting two years,
49:10the mystery finally seems
49:11to have been solved.
49:12And we return to Yale
49:14to unravel the final pieces
49:15of this tale of trickery.
49:23At the Museum of Yale University
49:26in the United States,
49:27Colleen and John Darnell
49:28have been looking
49:29at all our results.
49:31Delving deeper
49:32into the account
49:32of General Bowser,
49:34they have come
49:34to an astonishing conclusion.
49:37Contrary to the story
49:38told by the British press,
49:40it's highly unlikely
49:41that Bowser
49:41even stopped off in Egypt.
49:44He'd been seriously wounded
49:46several years earlier
49:47in Bangalore,
49:49and every sea journey
49:50had become
49:51an agonizing slog for him.
49:54He suffered some injuries
49:55from that,
49:56from which apparently
49:57he never really fully recovered.
49:59So in 1794,
50:01it would have been
50:01quite challenging
50:02for General Bowser
50:03to make a stop in Egypt
50:05in between India
50:07and England
50:08and thus be gifted the hand.
50:11Why would Bowser
50:13have inflicted
50:13extra months of traveling
50:15on himself
50:15to stop over in Egypt?
50:19The answer had been
50:20right before our eyes
50:21from the start.
50:22The con artist
50:23who thought up this story
50:24forgot one detail.
50:27When the tale of the hand
50:28was published
50:29in the late 19th century,
50:31the Suez Canal
50:32made the journey
50:32from India to Europe
50:34a lot easier.
50:35But that hadn't been
50:36the case 100 years earlier
50:38when Bowser was supposed
50:39to have been given the hand.
50:41The journey would have meant
50:42sailing all around Africa,
50:44lengthening the trip considerably.
50:48It sounds like in 1894,
50:50someone's projecting
50:52back exactly 100 years,
50:54the conditions
50:55in the late 19th century.
50:57When the Suez Canal
50:58is there,
50:59it's very easy
50:59to stop off in Egypt
51:00between India
51:02and the UK.
51:03What's more,
51:05if the fake Cleopatra's hand
51:06had been picked up
51:07in Egypt,
51:08the crook
51:08would have certainly
51:09made sure to take it
51:10from the mummy
51:11of a woman.
51:12So the con man
51:13hadn't even been there,
51:14he did it all
51:16from England.
51:17And the only person
51:18to relate this story
51:19of the mummified hand
51:20to the press,
51:21the only one
51:23to have signed the card
51:24describing the hand,
51:25was the Reverend John Wharton,
51:28the culprit
51:29behind this swindle.
51:32In Oxford,
51:33on that Saturday,
51:3424th of February,
51:351894,
51:37John Wharton carried out
51:38a masterful hoax,
51:39turning a simple relic
51:41taken from a cabinet
51:42of curiosities
51:43into a mythical treasure,
51:45the hand of Cleopatra.
51:49And the tall tale
51:50endured for over a century,
51:52perpetuating the legend
51:54of the woman
51:54whose actual mummy
51:55is, at least for now,
51:58still lost.
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