All language subtitles for Kingdom of the Mummies Series 1 Part 3 The Broken Seal 1080p

Narrator: Deep beneath
the egyptian desert,

A team of archaeologists
is preparing to open

A 2,500-year-old sarcophagus.

Man: This is surely one
of the most intriguing

Burial chambers, and it contains
the largest stone sarcophagus

In this complex.

Narrator: Inside may lie
a mummified body.

Man: When we find
an object like this,

The only thing we need to know
is the person inside.

Narrator: But there are signs
that the stone casket

Has been tampered with.

Man: I keep looking
at the sarcophagus.

It is not even.

It is a little bit tilted.

Then comes this part right here

Where there is a mortar
attached to the lid,

But not to the box
of the sarcophagus.

So, it tells me one thing.

This lid has been opened at last
once, and resealed right here.

But why?

This is definitely a puzzle.

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Narrator: Inside the necropolis
of saqqara,

Archaeologist
dr. Ramadan hussein

Updates his team
on the latest findings

From one of the most important
sites in egypt today.

Narrator: A newly discovered
2,500-year-old funeral home,

Where ancient egyptians,
rich and poor,

Were mummified and laid
to rest deep underground.

Ramadan hussein:
The significance
of this mummification

And burial complex
lies in one fact--

That we have never found
an actual building

That we can say securely,

This is where the preparation
of the mummies took place.

Narrator: The team is partway
through investigating

This unique site.

Their findings are transforming

Our understanding
of mummification,

Both as a religious rite
and a business.

Salima ikram: There were
so many people being mummified

In ancient egypt that, really,

It was one of the biggest
industries that you have going.

Ramadan: The people who were
working inside the complex here

Were not just embalmers.

They were also business people.

Narrator: To reach the complex,

The team must descend
a vertical shaft known as k24.

At the bottom of this void,
carved into the bedrock,

Lies a mysterious engraving.

Ramadan: We are now
30 meters deep,

And we have this entrance
that's about 2 meters wide.

But what is so important about
it is this engraving on the top.

If you follow the outline
from the feet to the chest,

And this rounded depression
would be the head,

It looks exactly like a mummy.

Once I saw this, I realized
that we're pretty much coming

Into something that
is related to mummies.

Narrator: Further investigation
has confirmed ramadan's hunch.

Laser scans of the site reveal
an intricate network of shafts

And passageways
stretching 100 feet down,

And ending in
a set of burial chambers

From around 600 bc.

In one of these chambers is
a large stone sarcophagus

Weighing a colossal 12 tons.

And today, the team begins
the challenging task

Of investigating it.

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Ramadan: This is surely
one of the most intriguing

Burial chambers in this complex.

The height of the ceiling
is almost 3 meters high,

And the room is about
4 meters in length.

And it contains the largest
stone sarcophagus

In this complex that is almost
as high as I am right now.

And when we find
an object like this,

The only thing we need
to know is the person.

Narrator: Fortunately,
that person left behind

An important clue.

When the chamber
was first opened,

The floor around
the sarcophagus

Was covered in
a thick layer of sand

Containing a large number
of grave goods

Connected to the rituals
of mummification and burial.

Among these sacred objects

Is a set of beautifully carved
stone jars.

Ramadan: What we found here
are these canopic jars,

And they are containers of the
organs that have been extracted

During
the mummification process,

Mummified, and then stored
inside these jars.

They're important
for an archaeologist,

Because they're usually
inscribed with the name

Of the owner of these
canopic jars written here.

That reed leaf, a falcon,

A quail chick,

And a t sign,

Altogether reads "aawit."

Aawit literally means

The old one, or the wise one.

And this old man
with the walking stick,

This is how egyptians
used to imagine old age.

Narrator: Armed with a name,

Ramadan now has
another mystery to solve,

And it surrounds
aawit's sarcophagus.

Ramadan: I keep looking
at the sarcophagus.

It is not even and
a little bit tilted.

It's not in the correct position

Because it's not lined up
with the box right here.

Then comes this part right here

Where there is a mortar
attached to the lid,

But not to the box
of the sarcophagus.

So, putting together
that position of the lid

That is not lining up
with the box,

Along with this mortar that is
not meeting the edges of the box

And the lid,
it tells me one thing--

That the old sealing
has been broken right here.

And this lid lifted up at
some point and repositioned.

And I'm sure that it happened
2,600 years ago in antiquity.

Narrator: If ramadan is right,

And aawit's sarcophagus
has been opened,

Then the worry is that it might
have suffered the same fate

As some other burials
from the complex.

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Near the shaft leading
to aawit's burial chamber

Is a small tomb known as l25.

In it are two stone sarcophagi

That archaeologist
mohamed reham

Has come to inspect.

Narrator: Based on
the level of damage,

There is only one explanation.

Salima: When archaeologists
excavate tombs,

99%, 99.9% of the time,
they have been robbed.

And they were robbed
sort of serially

From the time of burial onwards.

First, because people wanted
the gold and the grave goods,

And sometimes they just even
wanted the beer and the wine

That was in the tomb.

So, tombs have been robbed
through the ages.

Narrator: So, could the broken
seal on aawit's sarcophagus

Be a clue that, like
most coffins, it's been robbed?

And, if so, then by whom?

Salima: The first wave of tomb
robbers tended to be the people

Who knew where the tombs were.

So, they could have
been the workers

Who helped build the tombs,

Or the priests who
helped bury the dead.

Narrator: To get to the bottom
of this mystery,

The team will need to open up
the casket and look inside.

Ramadan: It is an important
moment for all of us

To discover what is inside it.

This is a big question.
We're waiting for an answer.

Narrator: Outside
aawit's burial chamber,

Egyptologist
dr. Ramadan hussein

And his team are about
to begin the epic task

Of opening his giant
12-ton sarcophagus.

Ramadan: Getting ready to lift
up this 2,600-year-old lid

Is a very exciting
and intense moment.

It gets even more intense
when you see what's inside.

Narrator: With signs
that the sarcophagus

Has been tampered with,
ramadan is anxious to discover

Whether it's been plundered
by grave robbers.

Since the lid alone weighs
close to a full-sized elephant,

Lifting it will be
no simple task.

In charge of the operation

Is project engineer
dr. Ayman hamed.

Ayman hamed: Moving
this sarcophagus lid

Is a big challenge, I think.

Narrator: Ayman is concerned
by how ammar,

The site's experienced foreman,

Is intending to
jack up the lid.

Ayman: He wants to fit
the tip of the jack like that

And take it up.

In this case,
everything will collapse.

What I think is safer,
is slide the lid to the side,

So we will create enough space

To jack the lid
safely and freely.

I hope that he will understand
this point of view.

Narrator: When ayman heads
down the shaft, though,

He discovers that ammar
is using his own method.

Ayman: I'm furious because
I don't like this way.

I don't, I don't work
in this way.

They are working in the limits,
and the limits never work.

Always high risk.

Let's see and pray
no one gets hurt.

Ramadan: I'm listening
to ayman and ammar.

The one thing
that I can tell you

Is that they would never agree
at the beginning.

Ammar, my foreman, he is
the descendant of foremen.

He represents the collective
memory of egyptian archaeology.

But I trust the two of them
to find a common solution

To the big task that
we have right here.

Narrator: After ayman and ammar
agree on a compromise...

Narrator: Ramadan re-enters
aawit's chamber

To cast his eye
over a new discovery.

Ramadan: During the preparation
for lifting up the lid of aawit,

We needed to clean up around it,

And were surprised to find an
interesting djed-pillar amulet.

The djed-pillar is the spine
of the god osiris,

And it is the symbol of eternity
and resurrection.

Narrator: Amulets,
like this symbol of osiris,

Lord of the underworld,

Played a crucial role
in egyptian burials

By protecting the dead
in the afterlife.

And they were often accompanied
by another type of magical item

Designed to ward off
evil spirits.

Ramadan: It is placed on top
of the magical brick,

The small mud, magical brick.

And it's very interesting,

Because those were the two items
that were missing

From our inventory of
the grave goods of aawit.

Narrator: The richer
the customer,

The more money could be made

From the provision
of these objects.

Salima: Mummification was, like
many other things, a business.

And even the kinds of objects
you had in your tomb,

As well as your sarcophagus,
canopics,

It was all down to your pocket,

And what kind of deal you made
with the embalmers.

Narrator: And the supply of
grave goods wasn't the only way

A well-run funeral business
could generate a profit.

Carved into the side of k24,
not far from the surface,

Is a chamber unlike any other
in the tomb complex...

...Housing more than
a dozen burials.

Salima: So, we're 9 meters
from the top of the shaft,

And 21 meters from the bottom.

And this is a large room
that's been cut off the shaft,

And it really acts like a mini
burial chamber of its own.

This room is filled with
a variety of burials,

And here, there's this lovely,
beautifully cut

Limestone coffin,
or sarcophagus.

And inside, there is this mummy,

Which has a beautiful
cartonnage covering.

And cartonnage is basically,
you know, like papier-mâché.

But what's extraordinary
is that it's gilded,

And you can see the glint of
the gold here shines through.

So, that's really a chic,
upper class, wealthy burial.

Whereas, this poor being
over here,

I don't even know if they were
properly mummified at all.

They might just have been
wrapped up in a shroud

And placed in here,
because they are skeletonized.

So, these two people
are really very different

In wealth and status,

Because there you have sort of
the rolls-royce of burials,

And here is something
that's more like

A little bicycle in comparison.

Narrator: While it might
seem strange

To find two such contrasting
burials sharing the same space,

For a funeral business, it was
simply a matter of economics.

Salima: We have to remember
that mummification,

For the funeral home directors,
for them this was a business.

And maybe initially, this was
a one per person grand burial,

And then their descendants
weren't checking up.

And so, the embalmers
kept saying,

"oh, we've got some space here,"

And selling increasingly
economical spaces

For people to be buried in.

And so, like
funeral directors today,

They had to make sure that
they kept making a profit.

Narrator: And this raises
an interesting new possibility.

Because if these business-savvy
embalmers were prepared

To reuse a tomb, then why not
aawit's sarcophagus?

Ramadan: The fact that the lid
itself is a little bit tilted,

When you see such misalignment,
this is very intriguing.

It's something going to make us
think about the possibility

Of the reuse of this sarcophagus
2,600 years ago.

Maybe it was resold to aawit
to make profit.

Narrator: To find out,
ramadan must look inside.

Narrator: And with the lid
finally free of its base,

That moment has now come.

Ramadan: So far, we're about
17 centimeters up.

So, we're going to use a camera
to get a peek at what's inside.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Oh, okay.

♪ ♪

Narrator: It's good news.

Although the sarcophagus's
contents have eroded with time,

Nothing appears to be missing.

Making it a rare
and important find.

Ramadan: When you deal
with a lid

That has been lifted up
once in antiquity,

You think possibly
the burial chamber was robbed.

But I don't see that.

I'll just adjust it
a little bit.

I clearly see that there is
a number of wooden objects

And possibly something else.

We have what looks
like a broken vessel

Placed at the feet
of the mummy, here.

The inside of this sarcophagus,

Everything is in place
as it was 2,600 years ago.

Narrator: Which leaves ramadan

With only one
possible explanation

For aawit's open sarcophagus:

That it's been reused.

The question now, though, is
for what reason?

Ramadan: The only way
to find out

Is by jacking up the lid more
and be able to get inside

And find out what is happening
with this mummy.

Narrator: Inside aawit's
burial chamber...

Narrator: ...Workers are
continuing the precarious task

Of opening his giant
12-ton sarcophagus.

Narrator: By examining
its contents,

Project director ramadan
is hoping to discover

Why the sarcophagus
has been reused,

And so get an insight into the
running of this unique complex.

Ramadan: The fact that this lid
has been moved at least once

In antiquity, and then put back
on the box of the sarcophagus,

It says something important
about the embalmers

Who ran this establishment
2,600 years ago,

That they had
a business mentality.

Narrator: Ramadan believes that
this same business mentality

Is why the embalmers chose
to build their funeral home

Where they did.

♪ ♪

For over 3,000 years,
the vast necropolis of saqqara

Served as the main cemetery for
the ancient city of memphis.

It's sprawling mass
of tombs and temples

Date back to the very earliest
days of the egyptian kingdom.

♪ ♪

And towering high
above them all,

The oldest stone pyramid
in the world,

The magnificent
step pyramid of king djoser.

Dating from
the 27th century bc,

And built to house
djoser's remains,

Along with tens of thousands
of his grave goods.

Ramadan: I've never
been up here.

You feel so little in front
of these magnificent buildings.

This is amazing for me.

This is a spot in the landscape

That is so significant
religiously.

If you had stood here
2,600 years ago,

You would smell the incense
burned everywhere.

You would hear the animals,
sacrificial animals.

You would see a place where
the egyptians were buried

For thousands of years.

Narrator: Ramadan is convinced
that the close proximity

Of his funeral complex to this
and other landmarks of saqqara

Would have been a major draw
for customers like aawit.

Ramadan: It's important
to put in perspective

The spatial relationship
between our complex

And the two great landmarks
of saqqara.

From here, on top
of the step pyramid,

We can glance over
to see the site

Of the mummification workshop
where we work,

Right behind the pyramid
of king unas.

It is so close, and I do believe
it would be on the minds

Of people using
our mummification complex

That if you are buried there,

You would be very close to two
great kings, unas and djoser.

And this is what made it
prime real estate.

♪ ♪

Narrator: With the dig team
still hard at work,

Ramadan heads back underground
to check up on progress.

Narrator: Aawit's enormous
4-ton lid is being raised

Using a pair of steel jacks.

Narrator: Every step is
fraught with danger,

And to make things
even tougher,

The temperature in the chamber

Is an energy-sapping
95 degrees.

Ramadan: It's going on
pretty well,

But you always
have to be careful.

Narrator: Finally,
after five hours of jacking,

The lid is high enough to
give ramadan a proper look

At aawit's wooden coffin.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Narrator: Deep beneath
the pyramids of saqqara,

Inside aawit's burial chamber,

Ramadan is examining
his ancient wooden coffin.

He's searching for clues
that might explain

Why aawit's sarcophagus
has been opened and reused.

Narrator: As he carefully
brushes away

What's left of the coffin,

Aawit's 2,500-year-old skull
is revealed.

Narrator: And beneath
the skull, something else.

Narrator: If the sand
in aawit's sarcophagus

Does hide a second coffin, then
it would reinforce the notion

Of a funeral home with
a keen eye for business.

Ramadan: Either there is
another burial, a second burial,

Lying in the bottom
of the sarcophagus.

And the other option is,

The original coffin was
taken out of the sarcophagus,

And then it was
reassigned to aawit.

♪ ♪

Narrator: The only way of
knowing whether the sarcophagus

Contains two burials or one
is to remove aawit's mummy.

A task that will
further damage it,

Which is why digital
archaeologist matthias lung

Is first making
a 3d model of aawit.

Matthias lung: One of the basic
challenges of archaeology

Is that we always want to know

What is below the things
we are seeing now.

What is beneath it?

And to know it,
we have to demolish

The sarcophagus and the mummy.

So, the best way to
preserve these artifacts

Is to make
a perfectly scaled 3d model.

Narrator: Matthias is using
a digital imaging technique

Called photogrammetry.

(camera snapping)

It involves combining hundreds
of overlapping photographs.

(camera snapping)

Matthias:
So, I just move around,

And I sneak in into every single
corner, into every angle,

To have a very, very detailed
picture of everything.

Narrator: By modeling
the various stages of the dig,

Matthias and his team are
building a visual timeline

Of the project
from beginning to end.

Matthias: I think 3d technology
is perfectly suited

For archaeology, because
you can revisit the site

As often as you want.

Narrator: Aawit's
finished model

Is scrutinized by
ramadan and salima.

Ramadan: So, I would
like to show you

Something really interesting.

It's this...
(salima gasps)

You can see the bottom of it.

Salima: Oh, my god,
that's so cool!

Ramadan: This makes me so happy
to look at a mummy

That is very decayed,

But he is still preserved
in a digital format.

Salima: It's wonderful, because,

Especially with mummies
that are so fragile.

Narrator: The 3d model depicts
not only aawit's sarcophagus,

But also his mummy.

And ramadan quickly spots
a fascinating detail.

(salima gasps)

Ramadan: And look at
that arm position.

Salima: Wait a minute,
they're both crossed.

Ramadan: Yep.
Salima: Oh, that's so cool.

Narrator: To egyptologists,
a mummy's arm position

Can be highly significant,

Often denoting
its class or gender.

Originally,
the only people allowed

The crossed arm position
were the pharaohs.

So, the discovery that
aawit's arms are crossed

Is unusual to say the least.

Ramadan: How often
do you see this?

Salima: You do see it.
It does happen.

I mean, it's only kings,
really, in the new kingdom.

And then, in this time period,

The only ones I've ever seen
have all belonged to priests.

So, with these crossed arms,

It's more than likely
he was a priest.

Narrator:
It's an intriguing theory,

And not just for what
it says about aawit,

But also the owners
of the site,

Because having priests
for customers

Meant dealing with some
of the wealthiest people

In ancient egypt.

Salima: Priests were
really a cornerstone

Of ancient egyptian society.

They had power, they had wealth,
and they had influence.

So, the fact that priests
were buried here

Means that this was
a very elite burial place.

Narrator: And aawit isn't
the only wealthy priest

To be buried at the complex,

Because on the coffin
of another priest,

Ramadan recently unearthed
one of the most valuable

Ancient egyptian artifacts to
appear in the last 100 years.

Ramadan: We have discovered
something that will definitely,

The entire world
will be talking about.

Narrator:
While his team prepare
to remove aawit's mummy,

Ramadan has come to cairo's
famous egyptian museum

To be reunited with an object

That offers
a fascinating insight

Into the status
of priests like aawit.

An exquisite
gilded silver burial mask

Belonging to another priest
from the complex.

Ramadan: A very rare object.

You don't find something
like this every day.

Narrator: Unlike gold,

Which could be found
throughout egypt,

Most silver at the time of the
pharaohs had to be imported,

Making it one of the most
precious substances around.

Ramadan: Silver was,
economically speaking,

Like a currency,
almost double the value of gold.

Every commodity would be
valued against silver.

But also the egyptians
always believed

That the bones of the gods
were made of silver.

Their flesh and skin
were made of gold.

This is the purpose of
having this silver plate

Covered with a gold foil.

It's one step toward
transformation of the dead

Into a god, into a divine.

Narrator: That such a valuable
item belonged to a priest

Is a measure of just
how wealthy they could be,

With a status second only
to that of egyptian royalty.

To learn more about
the composition of the mask,

Head conservator moamen othman

Has been analyzing
its metal content

By bombarding it with x-rays

And measuring the unique
chemical fingerprint

Given off in return.

Ramadan: I am really curious to
know the purity of the silver,

And also the purity
of the gilded layer.

Ramadan: Mm-hmm.
Music to my ears.

I am also interested to know
the purity of the silver plate.

Ramadan: Mm-hmm.

Ramadan: 99? What?

Ramadan: Oh, my god.

Narrator: Purer even
than sterling silver,

Which has a concentration
of just 93%.

Ramadan: It's just shocking to
me how pure the silver plate is.

Have you seen
something like this?

Ramadan: I just got the briefing
from dr. Moamen,

And the results are
overwhelming for me,

Because the purity of the silver
and the purity of the gold,

It's a certain kind of wealth
that we haven't seen before.

We see it only with royals,
not with commoners.

Narrator: While these results
are further confirmation

That priests could be
extremely wealthy,

They are also evidence
of something else:

A successful funeral business
offering its clients

The very best goods and
services that money could buy.

Clients like aawit furnished
with the largest sarcophagus

In the entire complex.

The question that
needs answering now

Is whether aawit
is in there alone.

Back inside the burial chamber,

The team is carefully removing
aawit's crumbling mummy.

(people talking)

(people talking)

With the sarcophagus empty,
ramadan can now see

Whether there is
a second coffin underneath.

♪ ♪

Ramadan: I came down here
to inspect this layer of sand

Underneath the mummy
to make sure

Whether there is another
burial underneath it or not.

And the only thing
that we can do

Is just do a little bit
of scraping in here.

And I could hear
the sound of this brush

On the bottom rock
of the sarcophagus.

Which means we have
only one burial in here.

Narrator: And because
there's only one burial,

The answer to the mystery
of aawit's open sarcophagus

Is that it must have once
belonged to someone else.

Salima: It looks as if maybe
there was another burial there

First, and then aawit
is a secondary burial.

This is certainly possible

Because the ancient egyptians
often did that.

They reused tombs.

And often this was done
because there was limited space.

Ramadan: A reuse
of a sarcophagus,

This really speaks
about the embalmers

Who were running
this establishment.

They maximized the use of the
space to make profit out of it.

Narrator: Having solved
this first mystery,

Ramadan's final task
is to go back

And re-examine
aawit's grave goods

To see if any more
can be learned

About this wealthy priest.

Narrator: Inside
a secure storeroom,

A team of conservators
is carefully boxing up

Some of aawit's
many grave goods.

Ramadan: For an archaeologist
to really know a person

From the archaeological records,
you need the material culture,

All the objects deposited
with the person around him.

Narrator: Ramadan is hoping to
discover some more about aawit

By taking a closer look
at his canopic jars.

Salima: Canopic jars
are a crucial part

Of one's funerary equipment,

Because they are supposed to
contain the internal organs.

So, one's for the lungs,
one's for the liver,

One's for the intestines,
and one's for the stomach.

So that when you die,
or when you're resurrected,

You can be put together again.

Narrator: It's because
canopic jars contain

Remnants of these organs

That the team is taking one
for a ct scan,

In case it holds clues
about aawit's life.

Ramadan: We're so excited.

We finally get to the point

Where we can explore
what is inside.

It's a big moment.

Oh, my god.

This is heavy.

Oh, this is beautiful.

Beautiful and heavy.

This is awesome.

So, we have taken
this canopic jar of aawit

On a very exciting trip today.

And we have this beautiful
human-headed jar

Representing the god imsety,
one of the four sons of horus,

That watched over the organs,

The mummified organs
of the deceased.

And imsety was the god in charge
of protecting the liver.

So, inside this vessel, we
should see the liver of aawit.

Narrator: Using multiple x-rays
taken from different angles,

The scanner combines them
to create a 3d image.

Helping ramadan
interpret the results

Is professor sahar saleem.

Ramadan: Those are
the wrappings.

Narrator: After the scans
confirm that the jar

Does contain aawit's liver,

Ramadan and sahar are
struck by something else.

Ramadan: It shrinks, yeah.

Narrator: Just how big
the liver is

For an organ that's
2,500 years old.

Ramadan: It's fascinating
how large this liver is still,

Although it should have
shrunk a little bit,

But it's still large.

Ramadan: This is
very surprising.

This liver enlargement, do you
think it's because of a disease?

What would cause that?

Narrator: Schistosomiasis is
caused by parasitic worms

From polluted rivers and lakes,

Burrowing under the skin

And infecting vital organs
such as the liver.

Could aawit's enlarged liver
be a clue

That this is how
he met his end?

Ramadan: It's, it's fascinating.

Your observation about
cause of death of aawit,

That is amazing for me.

This is absolutely remarkable.

♪ ♪

Narrator: And it's by no means
the only thing

The team has learned about
the man called aawit.

Ramadan: When we write
the story of aawit,

We have to think about his name.

Aawit means old person
or wise man.

And it says something
about this person

Having achieved a certain
socioeconomic status.

Salima: Aawit had
a very nice sarcophagus.

He had calcite canopic jars.

He had little ushabtis.

Plus, he's got these
wonderful crossed arms

That is done
for certain priests.

So, obviously,
he was a man of substance.

Narrator: Crucially, aawit's
burial is also providing

Ramadan and his team
with a fascinating insight

Into the business
of mummification.

Ramadan: When we first examined
the sarcophagus of aawit,

We were confronted
with the mystery

That is the lid was
a little bit tilted.

We think now that
the entire sarcophagus,

Maybe the entire burial chamber,
has been reassigned or resold

To aawit to make profit
out of it.

Salima: What's extraordinary is
that this whole funerary complex

Is used again and again.

So, they could make sure that
they kept making a profit.

Ramadan: This site
is very special,

Because we don't have
something like this

In the archaeological
record of egypt.

It talks about the economics
of mummification.

And so this is what keeps us
really want to come back

Every season, every year,
to work in this place.

Captioned by
side door media services