All language subtitles for Egyptian Tomb Hunting Series 1 1of2 1080p

There's always been one part
of human history

that's really captured
my imagination.

I'm talking about Ancient Egypt.

Almost 100 years ago, Howard Carter
and his discovery of Tutankhamun,

crowned a golden age
of tomb exploration.

But right now...the archaeologists
are back.

It's going down very deep.

And the world of Egyptian tombs...

It's full of snake holes!

..is more exciting than ever.

So I'm joining them...

I've got a bone here.

..on the hunt for new tombs.

Oh, yes, there's hieroglyphics here.

..and awesome discoveries.

It's the blood of a mummy!

If there's one thing we know
about the Ancient Egyptians,

it's that they did death
better than anyone else.

From mighty pyramids,
to tombs cut in hillsides,

they come in all shapes and sizes,

and give us an intriguing glimpse
into their extraordinary world.

I'm heading across Egypt...

Oh, God!

..on a tomb adventure...

Argh!

..which has been 4,000 years
in the making.

This is just like the movies,
isn't it?

Welcome to a magical land.

One that contains
more treasures and mysteries

than anywhere else on Earth.

This is Egypt!

And I'm heading to a beautiful
but remote spot

where the rocky hills
on both sides of the Nile

squeeze the river
to its narrowest point.

The secrets of what went on here
are now finally being revealed

in some remarkable tomb discoveries,

which I'm about to join.

Whatever happens,
I'm in for an adventure.

I'm meeting an
archaeological double-act.

For several months a year,

this place is both their home
and their office.

This is really hot.

I wish you could feel heat on the
tele, but believe me, this is hot.

Maria!

John, hello.
Tony!

Welcome to the site.
Thank you.

Dr Maria Nilsson is from Sweden.

Her husband John Ward
is from Hereford.

And together, they've been living
and breathing this site since 2012.

Can you show me some tombs?
Can I show you some tombs?

Come this way.
Great.

Among the rocks and sand
just yards from the Nile,

John and Maria have been
systematically revealing

a large burial ground,
known as a necropolis.

Quite literally, a city of the dead.

You weren't kidding
about a lot of tombs, were you!

Just a few.

But the first stop
is their very latest discovery.

On the edge of the site,
Maria and the team are excavating

a small area of sand and rock.

Why are you cutting
this section back?

We're hoping to do lead the way
to what's behind you.

Which is... Oh!

How interesting!

When did you discover
that there was actually a slot here?

Yesterday! (CHUCKLES)

That's true? You're not
just saying that for the tele?

Actually, honestly,
this was dug yesterday.

This small crack in the rock
is man-made.

Some more work by the team should
reveal the doorway to my first tomb.

The roof is literally here,
you can feel it.

Let's have a feel.
You feel the roof?

Can you feel the chisel marks
where my hand is?
Yeah, yeah.

So no-one's been in here and no-one
has got a clue what's in it?

We've got to take this doorway down
at least a metre

so you can be possibly the first

in the last possible 2,000-3,500
years to be inside that tomb.

Ah!

But why are so many ancient Egyptians
buried here,

on this remote bank of the Nile?

You've got to imagine the landscape.

There would have been men, women and
children all working in this area.

The local name for this place
is Gebel el-Silsila,

and it was once the engine room
of ancient Egypt.

Thousands of workers
would have been here,

quarrying and sculpting the stones
that built a great civilisation.

Look at that!

Look at that, John,
that's a wondrous sight.

Welcome to the galleries.

In the hills above the tombs,

are the greatest quarry sites
of the ancient world,

where sandstone was cut
from the bedrock, to build temples,

monuments and statues.

It's mercifully cooler than outside.

Imagine what it must
have been like in here.

You've got the dust,
you've got the banging,

chiselling and look at the height.

You've got another 10 metres
beneath your feet.

You've got to take
all this sand out.

So there's 10 more metres
of quarried stone under our feet.

All the way down.
Oh.

There are dozens of quarries
like this here at Silsila.

And hundreds of people would have
worked in each and every one.

Somewhere, at some point,

the owner of our new tomb
must have been involved.

See that niche just there?
Yeah.

That's one block.

And they've taken systematically
block by block by block.

I see. So they start working
from the top.

And the steps also provide access
as you go further down.

Exactly, they're creating
a transportation route

all the way down to the Nile.

Many of the workers here

served under Egypt's
greatest Pharaoh, Ramesses II.

1,200 years before Cleopatra,

he ruled Egypt at the very peak
of its powers

and pushed Egyptian building
to new heights.

But every great pharaoh needed
a highly skilled workforce.

So what's the news?

Well, just five minutes ago
down here on the floor area

we found this little chap.

Can I put him in my hand?
Hang on.

That's a shapti.

And what is a shapti?

A shapti was the embodiment
of a worker or slave

that would have been buried
with the dead,

to help them in the after-life.

Just like the Pharaohs,
Egypt's workers liked to be buried

with their possessions,

and ensure that they'd be
well looked after for eternity.

He would have brought him food.

He would have attended to his land.

This guy would have been
buried with the owner.

But to find that owner we're
going to have to do some digging.

Right let's go in.

The sand itself
comes away very easily.

It's just all the vegetation.

What do you think the entrance
would have looked like

in its glory days
when it was brand-new?

Basically a slab would have slid

all the way in front

and that would have actually
sealed this tomb.

The Nile was infested
with crocodiles.

Oh, yeah, it never occurred to me

that a crocodile might lumber
up here and eat a mummy.

Now I'm going to move
this blockwork here.

And that's quite a big block.

One, two, three. (GROANS)

But beyond the block
there's still a load of debris

between me, and being able
to explore this tomb.

It's one of those
archaeological highs and lows.

I come here. We get a find.

We've got the gap which
will lead in to the tomb.

But then we try and open up
the tomb. Ta-da!

It's got loads of sand inside it.

But with a bit of help
from John's team...

OK guys, get them in.

..our small crack in the rock,
is beginning to look

like a proper entrance.

Tony, after you.

Here I go.

There really isn't
very much room here at all.

I'm absolutely flat
on my stomach now.

What are you seeing Tony?

There's a lot of
horizontal cut marks.
Uh-huh.

I can see like the shape
of what appears to be

picks in the ceiling.

Yep, that's chisel marks.

I'm just going to crawl in
a bit more.

This is a sizeable chamber,
cut out of the solid rock,

most likely 3,500 years ago.

But it's almost
entirely filled with sand.

Just do be mindful of
any critters, though.

If I saw a snake I'd just have to
pretend I was another snake.

(GROANS)

Interestingly, there is
a hole in the rock

and I can see light through.

I guess what you're seeing
is the tomb next door.

I see, yeah, that would make sense.

But if this is going to make
any more sense,

I'm going to have get out,
so the expert can get in.

'Cause, quite frankly,
I don't think the two of us

can get in there together.

OK, I see what's happening here.

It's full of snake holes!

Oh, really?!

Actually, it's a beautiful tomb.

It's a lovely chamber.
Yeah.

It's been squared off.

I can see the chisel marks
to the ceiling.

I can see the dress marks
to the wall.

What can you tell me
about the extent of the tomb?

It's about 3.5 to 4 metres square.

And it's a fairly classy tomb.
It's not just a load of old rubbish.

Given it's size, it's definitely
a worker of some kind of status,

within the community.

Can we do any more here now?

To be honest, not really.

We've got a two metres of sand
further beneath me to remove.

OK.

Removing this amount of sand,
slowly and carefully,

will take several weeks to complete.

But this isn't
the first rock-cut tomb

John and Maria have found.

What are we looking for John?

Whoa! Come and have a look at this!

Wow!

200 yards away,
is a tomb of similar size,

and it shows what might be hidden...

Go on, you go first.
..beneath all that sand.

I'll just take my stuff off.

Now watch your head
as you go in, OK?
Yeah.

Oh! I thought I was just going
to see an empty room,

but there's a couple
of sarcophaguses here, aren't there?

That's it.
(GASPS)

Now this feels like a real tomb,

complete with stone sarcophagi,

that once contained
mummified bodies.

Why are there more than
one sarcophagus here?

This was a family tomb.

We actually had 12 people in here.
12!

However they would have been looted

in antiquity.

It appears that the mummies
had been burned...

..and what remained was
left scattered around the tomb.

Why did they burn them?

Basically to remove the amulets.

Any gold. Bronze.

They burnt the mummy so they could
actually take them away.

So it wasn't 'cause
they were scared of them?

No, no, it was purely just robbery.

Come on!

So in just one day
I've entered two tombs.

It took Indiana Jones
about half a movie to see a tomb!

I've been looking for tombs
of the men and women who once built

a great civilisation.

But, now I've come to Luxor!

More than 3,000 years ago,
this was Egypt's capital,

the seat of Ramesses the Great.

So, if you want to find big tombs,
and temples built of stone,

Luxor is the place to come.

(TAXI BEEPS HORN)

And there's one temple that stands
above all others.

Karnak.

Built with sandstone from Silsila,

it became the biggest
religious complex in the world.

And the signs of one Pharaoh's
involvement are everywhere.

It's that man again. Ramesses II.

Ramesses the builder.

Look at his face there.

Absolutely brilliant.

Ramesses had more than 60 years
on the throne

and left us with more statues
and images of himself

than any other pharaoh.

He is credited with finishing
Karnak's most impressive feature -

its gigantic hall of 134 pillars,

some almost 80 feet high.

This doesn't disappoint, does it?

It's absolutely sensational.

Imagine when this whole thing

had got a sandstone roof
to keep out the sun,

which was supported by
all these sandstone pillars,

quarried and prepared
at Gebel el-Silsila.

Mind you, I'm not here
just to look at temples.

I'm on a hunt for big tombs.

Just across the river from Luxor
lies the famous Valley of the Kings

where Ramesses himself was buried.

His mummy was discovered in 1881.

One of the few pharaohs whose body
has survived largely intact.

But the valley next door is also
chock-full of big tombs,

one of which is being explored
for the first time since 1921.

Oh, Antonio!
Hey!

It's quite a walk to your office.
How are you doing? Nice to see you.

Antonio Morales
heads an international team,

working on the tomb of Ipi.

Some 700 years before the time
of Ramesses,

Ipi held the exotic title
of Vizier to the Pharaoh.

What is a vizier?

A vizier is actually
like a prime minister.

He was the most powerful man
in Egypt under the pharaoh.

As prime minister, Ipi's tomb
reflects his status.

This is huge!
Welcome to the tomb of Ipi.

You could put
a London Underground train in here.

Yeah! (LAUGHS)

The last time archaeologists
were here

was nearly 100 years ago.

They spent just a few days
in this tomb,

and there's plenty they didn't find.

Hello, what's going on down here?

This is a surprise,
suddenly it plunges away.

The tomb extends 40 metres
into the mountain and 20 metres down.

Imagine if you were having
to carry a mummy down here.

It is so steep.

After the day of Ipi's funeral,
no-one was ever meant to go

where we're now going -

his burial chamber.

Oh, wow, that's fantastic!

Imagine being buried
somewhere this isolated.

This giant stone sarcophagus

would once have contained
Ipi's mummy.

So beautiful, I love
these grey colours.

Thousands of years of dust and dirt

are now carefully being removed

to reveal the decorations
and hieroglyphs.

How heavy do you reckon
that sarcophagus is?

This is a huge block
of seven tonnes and a half.

So the amount of work
that went in to bringing this here

was absolutely staggering.

And yet, we know very little
about Ipi,

beyond his name and important role.

What we do know is that robbers had
smashed their way into this chamber

long before the first
archaeologists made it here.

He couldn't find the corpse,
he couldn't find the coffin.

And actually, we know that most
of the tombs in ancient Egypt

were stolen some weeks
or months after the burial.

That's really interesting 'cause
I always think of tomb robbing

as having taken place
in the middle ages

or in the 17th or 18th century,

but it could easily have been
the mates of the guys
who originally put this in...

Exactly! You are right.

..who came back a few weeks later
and nicked all the stuff.

So Ipi's mummy may have gone
missing a full 4,000 years ago!

(MAN SHOUTS IN ARABIC)

But while we may not
have his mummy,

the story of Ipi is far from over.

In fact, there's been
the most grisly of discoveries.

Towards the end of last season,
the archaeologists had a great find

in this discreet little pit.

Where is it?

Well, as on most archaeological
sites, it was right next to the tent

where the archaeologists
have their breakfast.

If I hold this up then
maybe you can get through

and I can show you more about it.

Mummification is
a really complex process,

particularly if you're someone
like Ipi and who is very grand.

Now, with a bit of luck, the camera
is going to be able to adjust

to the darkness while I show
you these 56 pots

which are all the waste material from
Ipi's body,

all the cloths, all the gore,

all the blood
from when he was mummified.

Nothing tinged with
Ipi's bodily fluids or tissues

could be thrown away.

So stained bandages,
and embalming materials

were chucked in these pots,

and stored just outside the tomb...

..until now.

One of the big tasks this season
is to scour through these 56 pots,

and already they've had
what is my favourite find

since I've been in Egypt.

OK.

So these are some of the finds
out of the big jars.

Thanks, Raul. Cheers.

Now, that was the bandage

that went round Ipi's mummy.

This, what looks like
a white table cloth

was the wrapping round the mummy.

And this... Yes! Ipi's blood.

Ipi's blood stains.
It is like a horror film, isn't it?

But the creme de la creme.

Antonio, tell us what this is.

Well this is the heart
of the vizier Ipi.

Can I just say that again?

It's the heart of the vizier Ipi.

How did you find that?
Well, it's a surprising discovery.

It was found within one of the jars.

Can I hold it?
Yeah, sure.

It is a bit creepy touching this.
(CHUCKLES)

It feels almost like stone,
doesn't it?

It feels as though it's been carved.

Am I right in saying
that even the aorta

has been packed with linen?

Yeah.

Did they know much about the heart?

So, the ancient Egyptians
thought the heart

is where is resided
the intelligence.

That's why in the process
of mummification

they don't mind basically
removing the brain.

But his heart should never have been
separated from Ipi's body.

It's a very strange case
because usually, what they did

was remove the heart
from the chest of the mummy,

mummify it, and then put it back
into the chest of the mummy.

Oh, right.

It seems that a mummified heart
looks a lot like

one of the salt bags
used to dry out Ipi's body.

So they saw something
that looked like one of those
and chucked it away too.

Exactly.
So they messed up.

Yeah, probably.

I am holding a 4,000 year old heart.

I've moved to
the southern city of Aswan.

On the west bank, I'm meeting
the Egyptian Government's

Director of Antiquities
here in the city.

Abdul Moneim has agreed to show me

some new and unexpected
tomb discoveries.

How many tombs? One? Two? Three?

So far, nine tombs.
Nine?! Wow.

Archaeologists had no idea
these tombs existed.

But people living close by did.

In 2011, while violent uprisings
caused chaos across Egypt,

some locals shifted sand,
and smashed their way

inside the tombs.

So how did the guys
move all that Earth?

By using mechanical digging,
loaders and so on.

Maybe more than 25 or 30 people
per night.

So, a whole gang.
Yes.

And they weren't doing it
subtly and with care,

they were just busting it open
to see if there was anything gold.

Of course, because the main point
for them was to steal treasures.

You can still see signs
of the robbers' work.

A mechanical digger smashed
the stone roof of a tomb here.

Tomb doorways have been
damaged and broken.

It's possible these tombs
lay undisturbed

until a few years ago.

And this is the first time anyone
has been allowed to film them.

Welcome, Tony.

How beautifully carved this is!

Who's this guy here?
The owner of the tomb. Imhotep.

The ruler of this local area.

Imhotep controlled Aswan
around 1450 BC,

just a few generations

before Tutankhamun
and Ramesses the Great.

But it's not painted,
it's not finished.

That's why this tomb is very,
very important and interesting.

When you see a tomb like that it
means it hadn't been finished yet.

Imhotep almost certainly died

before work on
his tomb was complete.

His builders and craftsmen
stopped what they were doing

so the tomb could be occupied.

But there is one bit of painting.

And that's Imhotep's eye.

Oh, fantastic,
you have good eyes, Mr Tony.

That really is quite spooky.

Suddenly, 3,500 years
doesn't seem quite such a long time.

The robbers may have stolen
treasures and artefacts...

Oh, it's a bit of a struggle,
isn't it?

..but they couldn't remove
the beautiful artwork on the walls.

Oh! Now, this is interesting.

Look at that colour.

The next-door tomb belonged to User -

ruler of this area

during the reign of
Tutankhamen's grandfather.

Have you done anything
to this painting

since you first excavated it?

Nothing. Everything is as it was.

And it survived like that!

The paintings show User,

his wife

and his sister-in-law,

all of whom are believed
to have been buried here.

This is such a privilege.
How many people have seen this?

Not more than 20 people.

Including the archaeologists?
Including the archaeologists.

Oh, wow.

In a few months a team will return
to examine anything

not taken by the robbers,

and explore further chambers

which might yet contain a mummy.

And what happens to the tomb?

We hope to be open
for visitors in the future.

Oh, fantastic!
Yes.

We'd never have found it if it
hadn't been for the robbers.

Although don't thank them too much.
Not too much!

50 miles downstream,
I'm heading back to Silsila,

and the extraordinary
world of Maria Nilsson and John Ward.

You like those ones
that Daddy has got.

When they're not busy
with daughter Freya,

and baby Jonathan,

they're systematically revealing
the resting places

of the men and women
who built ancient Egypt.

Nice.

They've now found 70 rock-cut tombs.

What have we got here then?

But one recent discovery
is something quite different,

and they've promised me
we can tackle it together.

Look down there. That is scary!

Do we have any idea what it is?

JOHN: No, it's unique.

All of our tombs are surface tombs.
Yeah.

This is a shaft.

Now, I do know that it goes
for five metres straight down.
Yeah, yeah.

Because we dug that out.

But as soon as we started
moving the sand, the water came.

What I don't understand is,
we are in the middle of the desert.

All around us there are tombs
that are absolutely dry.

Here, suddenly, we've got water
like it's an oasis. What's going on?

It could be one of many things.
It could be the Nile.

It could be just groundwater.

It could be surface water
from the desert irrigation

filling through the fissures
and here we have it here.

What I can tell you is
that the water is warm.

It's salty to the taste.

And it's clear.

Do you think we can pump it out?

I want to get Shihad and the boys.

I want to get the pumps in,
get them going.

Hopefully, we'll be able to see
at least the bottom of the shaft.

That's great.
Come on, boys.

John has got two petrol-driven pumps
both with long hoses.

Let's get both these pumps going.

They should be able to suck water
from the shaft,

and dump it into the Nile.

How good are these pumps?

Uh... Yeah.

That means, "Uh, no"?
Uh...

But if the pumps can pump quicker
than the water is seeping in

then we should find out if this
ancient theatre of heavy industry

is about to get a new tomb.

(PETROL PUMP WHIRRS LOUDLY)

(LOUDLY) I reckon this is
the intensity of sound

that would have been going on here
3,500 years ago,

beautifully recreated
by a petrol pump.

Let's hope the pump holds out!

While the water level slowly drops...

..there's a chance for me to find out

a bit more about
the people who worked here.

On the edge of the old quarries...

Maria!

..there's a unique piece of art.

Commissioned by Ramesses the Great,

it proves how important

the people who worked, and
are now buried here, were to him.

So, it's like a cartoon.

An ancient type of cartoon

that puts us in the footsteps
of the ancients.

These are the masons
with the mallet hitting the chisel.

And you see the rectangle
in the middle?

That's the sandstone block,
that's just been extracted

from the quarry face.

You got on the right side, a doctor.

He's attending an injured worker
who's stretching out his leg.

I can see that leg
really, really clearly.
Yes.

These are well looked after,
skilled masons and craftsmen.

Why do you think it was
so significant for Ramesses

to show this?

He wants to show
that he's the great builder,

he's the greatest king of them all.

The fact that he had this many men
that could be involved

in the process of extracting blocks,
and build all these temples...

So would it be fair to say
that these are the people

whose tombs
that you have been finding?

It appears so, yes.

These skilled workers really
were the engine room of Egypt.

But we're only just
getting to know them.

This is a funny-looking old thing,
isn't it?

Oh! I can see what it is now!

There's a beard here.

And there would have been
a big head on top of it.

It's a sphinx!
Exactly.

But what's it doing here?

Silsila is not just famous
for its quarries.

It was a workshop of anything
that was made of sandstone.

Why didn't they finish this off
and transport it?

This poor old girl, unfortunately,
due to the cracking, was abandoned.

Oh, yeah, I can see
a big crack along there.

Oh, imagine if you'd been
the mason doing that!

"Oh, dear, start again."

Nevertheless,
you can't help but have

immense respect for
the skilled workers of Silsila.

Good boy.
(DOG BARKS)

And just maybe, the tomb
of one or more of them,

lies hidden in our mysterious shaft.

biggest-ever stone quarries.

A little bit further on down there

are the tombs of some of the people

who worked in those quarries,
3,500 years ago.

These people built Egypt
into the greatest civilisation

of the ancient world.

And on their trail
are Maria Nilsson and John Ward.

This is the dream team.

They're tackling one of their most
intriguing discoveries yet.

Ahmed, are they going
over the canal?

A large vertical shaft,

which, despite being in the desert,
is full of water.

But with John's pumps
just about holding out...

It's going down quick.

..he's promised that he and I can be
the first to find out

if this shaft leads to a new tomb.

(NOISY PUMP TURNS OFF)

Ah, that's better! Oh, what a relief!

With the water gone,

we're faced with
a very deep man-made pit.

It's remarkably perpendicular,
isn't it?

But at the bottom there's already
what looks like an opening,

an entrance maybe,

that could lead to something else.

We're going down?

Let's make it so, shall we?
Yeah.

I'll go first.

I can guide you down then.

But now the pumps are off,
the water is seeping back in.

OK.

Right, let's go down.

Ooh, it's just this initial bit
that's so scary, isn't it?

It's almost 20 feet to get
to the bottom of the pit,

and what's down there,
we don't know.

I've got my diving boots on,

because John said he didn't want me

to wear my ordinary shoes

'cause when I'm in the mud he doesn't
want me crushing anything.

You're doing
really well there, Tony.

Thanks, mate. Oh!

There's still a load
of water in here!

And it's rising.

Oh, I'm going to need a new pair
of trousers when I get out of here.

Mind you, I would have anyway
'cause I'm so scared!

Wherever this water is coming from,

it's flowing in quickly
through the mysterious opening.

Wow, that is astonishing, isn't it?

Now we're down here, it's clear

this really is an entrance,

even a doorway.

Portcullis closure. Look at it.

Oh, yeah!
Where the slab would have gone
all the way through.

This is just like the recess

for a medieval portcullis
in a castle, isn't it?

That's it, exactly.

It would have
come straight down over here,

protected the front of the door,
so that nobody could get in.

This is a proper tomb, isn't it?

Exactly. It's pretty dark, though.
We're going to need some lights.

Yes, please.

(SHOUTS) Can we have some lights
down here please?

The lengths that
the ancient Egyptians went to,

to plan and build

this inaccessible space
are staggering.

Right, lights.
Yeah.

OK.

Shall we put these
in there together?

Wow! Oh!
Tony.

This is a huge chamber. Look at it.

You see that at the back?
Oh, yeah!

Is that a door, is that a niche?
What is that?

Let's get in. I'll try
and stick this light...

Is that pottery next to you?

In Egyptian tombs broken pottery

is perhaps the most common
of all finds.

It's a beer jar.

But there's a few things
here that aren't pottery.

Skeletal remains.

This is just like
the movies, isn't it?

(LAUGHS)

Look at this.

What do you reckon
would be in there?

I really don't know.

It's totally different
to any of our tombs

that we've found at Silsila.

If that secondary chamber
is another burial

we are not talking about
just a family.

We're talking about
50, 60 people plus.

And all their bits and pieces
are mixed in beneath our knees.
Yeah.

Human soup.

The idea that so many workers
might have been buried down here,

is pretty eerie.

And someone at least must have
been of real status.

This chamber has been
carefully chiselled out.

And this doorway,
beautifully finished.

What's intriguing me
is that the ceiling is vaulted.

What do you mean by vaulted?

Well, it's got an arch to it.

But I'm not seeing any painting,
I'm not seeing any names.

I'm not seeing any writing.

What can you see?

Are you seeing that?
Yeah, yeah.

It's a central painted line
down the entire alignment.

What do you think its function is?

It's basically to allow
the stone workers,

the guys who were
hewing this chamber out...

To do it equally each side.
Exactly.

To give them a central line,
from the doorway.

And that goes all...

I mean, let's follow it.

I mean, it's going all the way
to the centre of that doorway.

There seems no doubt
there's another key part

of this tomb
beyond this second doorway.

That is completely flooded.

Do you think we could
get that pumped out?

If we could get the pumps
further in here,

we could probably take
that water level taken down.

Ahmed!
AHMED: Yeah?

Can you try and bring
the other pump in here?
Yes!

If the hose is long enough...

..we may just get to see
what's beyond the door.

I don't know if you've felt it,
but it's warm water.

It can't be coming from the Nile,

so therefore it has to be

some kind of natural reservoir
under the mountain.

Or it's coming from the desert,
from irrigation,

just naturally filtering through.

And as the water-level
inside this chamber goes down...

What's that next to you?
Ooh, yeah! What is it?

..there's a discovery
in the very far corner.

Looks like a handle.

Yeah, it's a pot.
It's a big, big, big pot.

There's a huge pot here.

Do you want to hold
the little camera for a moment?

Yeah, I'm here.

Look how far it goes!

This is massive, it goes right down!

I'm fairly sure
we've discovered a large amphora.

I can even feel the rounded bottom
of the great jar.

I am right on the end of it.
And the top's here, isn't it?

Yeah, yeah.

It must be at least
2 feet tall, mustn't it?

In all my years of finding pottery,

I've never found anything like this.

It's like a huge whale.

What do you reckon
this was used for?

It would have held
some kind of food substance

that was buried with the dead.

And what I love is that
it's actually intact.

That is beautiful.

But, unfortunately,
it's lying on its side

and stuck fast in the mud.

We wouldn't be able
to get it out now?

No, without having to really remove
all this mud and this silt.

That's stuck in there.

Well, that alone
was worth coming to Egypt.

But now there's a fresh problem.

(MANS SPEAKS ARABIC)
What's happened?

The pump is broken.

With one motor out of action,

there's no way we can keep
the water level down inside the tomb.

This is actually going
to start rising any moment soon.

What I want to do is get as close
to that doorway as possible.

Let's have a good peek in here,
and then I think we should back out.
OK.

If I wasn't wet and muddy already...

(GROANS)

..I am now.

What do you think, Tony?

Well, it just goes
on and on, doesn't it?

I mean, this is fantastic.

It is a vaulted ceiling again.

I mean, that's a good
four or five metres.

We don't know where the walls are.

All we're seeing is ceiling.

That means this chamber
could be huge!

Whatever is in front of us,
this is a first for me.

Elbow deep in silt and water,
five metres underground,

in a tomb built 3,500 years ago.

But this is about all we're
going to be able to do, isn't it?
I think this is it, mate.

I think we need to get out of here

before this water
really starts to rise.

Entering a space like this
is a real adrenaline rush.

But for this tomb,
this is just the beginning.

Until a way can be found
to hold back the water,

you get the feeling this place,
its occupants,

and my pot will hold
onto their secrets.

What an amazing adventure.

We know where these people worked.

We know what
their achievements were.

We know where they died.

But there's still so much
about them that we don't know.

So many mysteries!

From the giant tomb
of a prime minister...

..to the mysterious burials
of people

who built a great civilisation,

this has been a window into Egypt
at the peak of its powers.

And for John and Maria,
the rest of their working lives

is here under their noses.

It's work that most archaeologists
can only dream of.

Captions by Red Bee Media
(c) SBS Australia 2019