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(gentle music)
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For 5,000 years, this land, Egypt,
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and the epic civilization it gave birth to,
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has been shaped by one thing more than any other,
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this awesome river,
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the river Nile.
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The Nile helped temples to rise,
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pharaohs to rule, and pyramids to be built.
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Without the Nile, there'd have been no ancient Egypt.
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So I'm making the historical journey of a lifetime.
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a 900-mile adventure along the Nile
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across the whole of Egypt.
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I'll explore Egypt's greatest achievements.
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It is truly wonderful, isn't it?
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And find treasures hidden for thousands of years.
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Oh, my God. That's a sheer drop down there.
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This is my chance to travel this fabulous land.
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Oh, lovely!
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And experience it as the ancient Egyptians did
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from the river Nile.
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From pharaohs to slaves, from facts to fantasies,
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I want to explore firsthand and to understand
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how this river shaped one of the world's first
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and greatest civilizations.
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Join me as I uncover 5,000 years of history
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along the river Nile.
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(dramatic music)
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The pyramids and crowds of Cairo are behind me,
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and I've reached a stretch of the Nile
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that hides some of the river's best-kept secrets.
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(knuckles rapping)
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Hi. Hello.
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How are you?
Fine, thank you.
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You good?
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Do you think I could get a cup of tea?
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We're now 100 miles into our journey upstream.
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Lovely. Thank you, Shukran.
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Fantastic. Thank you so much.
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See you later.
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(gentle music)
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The lives of the ancient Egyptians are always intriguing.
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But I was first drawn here by one of Egypt's superstars.
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There's one character who constantly fascinates me.
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It's Cleopatra, the queen of Egypt
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whose beauty and charisma was said
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to have brought the most powerful men
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on earth to their knees.
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And she used this river
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to captivate and control the ancient world.
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(dramatic music)
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For the next 200 miles,
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I'll be exploring the Nile that Cleopatra herself loved.
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I'll enter the hidden chambers
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that inspired history's most celebrated archeologist,
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brave the longest tomb in Egypt,
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and, at Dendera, come face-to-face with Cleopatra herself.
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My dahabeah boat is pretty gorgeous,
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but it doesn't come close to the luxury and excess
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of Cleopatra's own Nile processions 2,000 years ago.
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This is an artist's impression
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of one of the royal barges that sailed down the Nile.
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The barge was equipped with gold and ivory furnishings,
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with embroidered sails, even with gardens.
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What a sight it would have been.
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So, you can just imagine Cleopatra standing
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on the brow of her deck, her auburn hair,
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probably dyed with local henna, blowing in the wind,
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oiled with perfumed oils,
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queen of all she surveyed.
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(mysterious music)
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Cleopatra came to the throne aged just 18.
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She was the last great pharaoh of ancient Egypt.
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By her reign from 51 B.C.,
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Egypt had enjoyed a 2,000-year reputation
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as the land of ideas, inventions, and mystery.
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And my first stop would have been a hotbed of activity
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when Cleopatra was in power.
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We've decided not to take the easy tarmacked road,
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but to go off onto the local road, which is great.
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I've left the comfort of my boat,
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and I'm heading over the floodplains
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of the Nile Valley and out across the desert.
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(bright music)
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My God, it's hot.
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Very hot in there.
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This is Tuna el-Gebel,
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one of Egypt's most intriguing ancient sites.
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I've enlisted the help of Sayed,
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who's faithfully guarded this place since he was a boy.
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It looks obviously deserted now.
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I mean, we've driven two hours
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across the desert to get here.
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But in its heyday,
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this place would have been absolutely humming with activity.
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That's right, isn't it, Sayed?
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This was a big town?
A big town, yes.
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Huge town with two-story buildings
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and a real destination place.
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And, actually, at the time of Cleopatra,
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it was at its height.
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(dramatic music)
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The old town has virtually vanished today.
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But the curious treasures of Tuna el-Gebel are locked away
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and found deep below ground.
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(people chattering)
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So, how far down does this go?
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About 15 meters.
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15 meters?
15 meters.
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Gosh. So we're going deep into the bedrock here?
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Yes.
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We're entering a vast catacomb.
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Archeologists haven't fully explored it yet,
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but these passageways are thought to extend for 4 1/2 miles.
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What an extraordinary place.
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So, this is, it's like a sort of textbook necropolis.
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It's like a city of the dead down here.
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But this wasn't built as a resting place for humans.
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It was for animals.
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Oh, my goodness.
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So, there are bones all over the floor,
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so we've got to tread very, very, very carefully.
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(bats chittering)
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Oh, my God. And bats.
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Yes.
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(both laughing)
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You could have warned me about the bats.
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Sorry, I just saw something moving,
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and I wasn't sure what it was.
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(dramatic music)
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Originally, each of the animals here
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would have been carefully mummified.
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But precious few remain today.
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So what I'm about to see is quite amazing.
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If I can just get the gate open. (laughing)
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Oh, that door hasn't been opened for a while.
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I'm about to come face-to-face
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with one extraordinary creature
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that's rested here for around 2,300 years.
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(dramatic music)
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This is a slightly strange thing to see,
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because there are so many fragments of mummies here,
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but what you've got is a mummified baboon.
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You can see the wrappings,
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and it's really unusual to have the skull open.
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It's slightly freaking me out the way
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its eye sockets are staring at me across 2,000 years.
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(dramatic music)
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There were centers like this across Egypt producing mummies
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of every animal imaginable,
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from dogs and cats to crocodiles.
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and Tuna el-Gebel's speciality, the beautiful ibis.
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This ancient Nile bird, like the baboon,
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was regarded as highly intelligent by the Egyptians.
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The perfect offering for Thoth,
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their god of wisdom and invention.
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It does feel like a real privilege to be here,
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because, originally, only priests and the cult servants
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of Ibis were allowed down
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in the corridors of these catacombs.
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So, you just have to try to imagine them in their heyday,
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lit with tallow lights, soot on the walls
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and over the ceilings, and in every single one
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of these niches, a perfectly preserved mummy.
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We think that around 15,000 new mummies
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were dedicated every year,
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so that means there'd have been a total of two million here.
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The reason it was so popular is that people really believed
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that this was a way
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that they could communicate with the gods.
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(dramatic music)
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Some brand-new research suggests
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there's a twist in this macabre tale.
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There have actually been some X-rays done
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of some of the animals that were mummified.
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And I don't know if you can see.
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It's often quite hard to read this, but by looking inside,
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we know exactly what kind of animal was being wrapped up.
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Here's a dog.
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And this is an ibis.
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You can see that amazing curved beak coming down.
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The bird is wrapped very tightly up.
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But then there was a surprise
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with quite a few of the mummies,
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that when they did the X-ray, if you can make that out,
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you can see, actually, there isn't an animal inside.
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What there is, is padding and stones
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and mummification wadding.
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So it's almost like a kind of,
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I can't really say fake, but a pretend mummy.
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Pretend or not, though,
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the fate of most animal mummies has sadly been the same.
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And responsibility for that stretches back home to Britain.
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When lots were discovered in the 18th and 19th centuries,
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because they're made of organic material,
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they were actually shipped out of Egypt
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to Europe and the U.K.
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and ground down and used as fertilizer.
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And we've got one account of 20 tons' worth
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of cat mummies being used as fertilizer
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when it was brought into Liverpool in the U.K.
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(dramatic music)
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The ancient Egyptians would have been horrified
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at this act of destruction.
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The scale of animal mummification shows
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how much this strange ritual mattered to them.
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So my next step is to better understand the mechanics
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of how mummies were made.
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And a warning, it's not for the fainthearted.
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(mysterious music)
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On this stretch of my Nile journey,
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I've caught just a glimpse
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of the ancient Egyptian custom of mummifying animals.
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In November 2018, a remarkable discovery was made,
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dozens of perfectly mummified cats,
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all laid to rest close to the pyramids of Saqqara.
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It's now thought 70 million animals
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may have been mummified in ancient Egypt,
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but how did the process actually work?
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It's something Professor Salima Ikram
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is actively investigating.
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Okay, Bettany, roll.
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I will. Certainly.
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Got it.
Thank you so much.
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I should perhaps explain what we're doing here.
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Salima is an incredibly eminent Egyptologist,
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and this is her lab.
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And what she does here, if I'm right in saying,
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is, one of the things that you do is investigate
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the mummification of animals in particular.
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Is that a kind of fair summary?
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Absolutely.
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Salima and Egyptology student Haley
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are finishing off a rather unusual experiment.
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When Haley's pet cat very sadly passed away,
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she was keen that Salima and herself try to preserve her
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as the ancient Egyptians would have done.
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She was called Hatshepsut.
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She's adorable.
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Look, she's absolutely lovely.
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A real Egyptian cat, that.
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There's no mistaking that.
Yeah.
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So, if we were putting our heads
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into the kind of minds of the ancient Egyptians,
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you're doing this because the soul
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of the creature is in its body,
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so this is a way of kind of preserving the life spirit.
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Absolutely.
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Okay, so, now I'm going to give you this,
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and you are going to.
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Mummification was totally mainstream
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for the ancient Egyptians,
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but it involves skills and techniques
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that have now been lost, so this experiment,
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I should point out, is not for the fainthearted.
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I'm a great cat lover.
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Also a vegetarian.
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Oh.
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So a tiny bit squeamish around this kind of thing.
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Eight weeks ago, Hatshepsut's organs were removed,
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just as they would have been thousands of years ago,
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before the drying-out process began.
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This looks like a pile of sand, and it's not.
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It's a very specialist material called natron?
264
00:13:31,425 --> 00:13:33,320
Natron. Yeah.
Natron, natron.
265
00:13:33,320 --> 00:13:36,300
Which is what the ancient Egyptians used in mummification.
266
00:13:36,300 --> 00:13:39,050
It's the main thing that they used to mummify
267
00:13:39,050 --> 00:13:41,030
because it desiccates and it defats.
268
00:13:41,030 --> 00:13:43,440
It sort of (slurping) sucks it all out.
269
00:13:44,450 --> 00:13:46,650
Well, parts of her are very dry,
270
00:13:46,650 --> 00:13:48,760
and other parts aren't that dry.
271
00:13:48,760 --> 00:13:51,600
Now we put in.
272
00:13:51,600 --> 00:13:53,407
Ooh, yeah.
273
00:13:53,407 --> 00:13:54,350
There we go.
Oh, golly.
274
00:13:54,350 --> 00:13:57,750
I just got this waft of dead cat.
275
00:13:57,750 --> 00:13:58,930
For the first time in my life,
276
00:13:58,930 --> 00:14:03,490
I'm preferring the smell of plastic laboratory gloves.
277
00:14:03,490 --> 00:14:06,140
Mm-hmm.
What's that in there?
278
00:14:06,140 --> 00:14:08,513
That's a natron bag.
279
00:14:09,590 --> 00:14:12,800
'Cause you put it inside to suck out the wetness.
280
00:14:12,800 --> 00:14:13,650
Yeah.
281
00:14:14,810 --> 00:14:18,683
Any remaining moisture could lead to rotting over time.
282
00:14:20,210 --> 00:14:23,740
It's fair to say our skills and techniques have a way to go
283
00:14:23,740 --> 00:14:26,233
to match those of the ancient Egyptians.
284
00:14:27,280 --> 00:14:30,747
Now, this is some resin, just like this stuff here.
285
00:14:30,747 --> 00:14:32,388
And is that frankincense?
Yes.
286
00:14:32,388 --> 00:14:34,525
Smells lovely.
Mm-hmm.
287
00:14:34,525 --> 00:14:39,066
And that's been boiling up gently with some oil.
288
00:14:39,066 --> 00:14:42,210
So we're going to put some into the body cavity.
289
00:14:42,210 --> 00:14:43,110
Right.
290
00:14:44,370 --> 00:14:47,410
Resins like this had antibacterial properties
291
00:14:47,410 --> 00:14:50,563
which could help preserve a body for thousands of years.
292
00:14:51,870 --> 00:14:54,490
It smells amazing 'cause there's frankincense in there.
293
00:14:54,490 --> 00:14:56,667
Smells like we're in a church at Christmastime, doesn't it?
294
00:14:56,667 --> 00:14:58,060
Yeah.
Yeah.
295
00:14:58,060 --> 00:14:59,420
Okay, now what we're going to do is,
296
00:14:59,420 --> 00:15:01,190
I think we can start to wrap.
297
00:15:01,190 --> 00:15:02,279
Lovely.
298
00:15:02,279 --> 00:15:03,810
(bright music)
299
00:15:03,810 --> 00:15:08,360
Each limb of the body was individually bound in linen.
300
00:15:08,360 --> 00:15:10,520
This is an awkward angle.
Yeah.
301
00:15:10,520 --> 00:15:13,223
And I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to deal with it.
302
00:15:15,710 --> 00:15:18,323
And we use the resins also to hold it down.
303
00:15:19,490 --> 00:15:22,570
Doing this must give you huge respect
304
00:15:22,570 --> 00:15:25,940
for those embalmers, mummifiers of antiquity.
305
00:15:25,940 --> 00:15:28,730
They must have been astonishing people
306
00:15:28,730 --> 00:15:32,000
and really very clever chemists to understand
307
00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:35,130
what they were doing and how it affected the body
308
00:15:35,130 --> 00:15:38,033
and how amazingly effective, really, it was.
309
00:15:41,630 --> 00:15:45,203
It's a lovely, if slightly curious, thing.
310
00:15:47,280 --> 00:15:49,370
But as a fitting end to the day,
311
00:15:49,370 --> 00:15:52,893
Haley writes an epitaph in hieroglyphs.
312
00:15:54,380 --> 00:15:59,047
It simply reads, "Beautiful cat. Hatshepsut."
313
00:16:02,042 --> 00:16:05,209
(gentle upbeat music)
314
00:16:08,110 --> 00:16:11,180
Here, in Egypt, the heat can be so intense,
315
00:16:11,180 --> 00:16:14,463
the cooling waters of the Nile often look pretty tempting.
316
00:16:18,370 --> 00:16:21,960
So, today, the crew and I threw caution to the winds.
317
00:16:21,960 --> 00:16:23,223
Whoo-hoo! Next.
318
00:16:24,420 --> 00:16:26,715
And decided to go for it.
319
00:16:26,715 --> 00:16:27,679
Thank you.
320
00:16:27,679 --> 00:16:28,976
Hello, Captain.
321
00:16:28,976 --> 00:16:29,809
Hi.
322
00:16:29,809 --> 00:16:34,309
(laughs) Shall I dive in?
323
00:16:36,719 --> 00:16:39,552
(people laughing)
324
00:16:43,181 --> 00:16:45,077
(gentle music)
325
00:16:45,077 --> 00:16:48,400
We're now 180 miles south of Cairo
326
00:16:49,970 --> 00:16:52,650
and heading towards another part of the Nile Valley
327
00:16:52,650 --> 00:16:54,863
that very few people reach.
328
00:16:57,730 --> 00:17:00,090
It's a spot that first inspired
329
00:17:00,090 --> 00:17:03,053
the world's most famous archeologist.
330
00:17:06,120 --> 00:17:08,900
You probably all know that Howard Carter discovered the tomb
331
00:17:08,900 --> 00:17:11,310
of Tutankhamen in 1922
332
00:17:11,310 --> 00:17:15,420
and kick-started a whole new wave of Egyptomania.
333
00:17:15,420 --> 00:17:17,960
But Carter actually first came here to Egypt
334
00:17:17,960 --> 00:17:19,880
when he was just a teenager.
335
00:17:19,880 --> 00:17:23,410
He was invited here to do drawings of an archeological dig
336
00:17:23,410 --> 00:17:25,530
that was taking place on the hills
337
00:17:25,530 --> 00:17:27,330
overlooking these banks of the Nile.
338
00:17:28,720 --> 00:17:31,383
Carter may be known as the great tomb finder,
339
00:17:33,040 --> 00:17:35,730
but as a young lad growing up in rural Norfolk,
340
00:17:35,730 --> 00:17:38,763
he'd earn pocket money painting portraits of animals.
341
00:17:42,105 --> 00:17:44,980
And it was this skill that brought him here.
342
00:17:48,770 --> 00:17:50,710
30 years before Carter captured
343
00:17:50,710 --> 00:17:53,250
the world's attention with Tutankhamen,
344
00:17:53,250 --> 00:17:55,725
his love affair with Egypt began
345
00:17:55,725 --> 00:17:58,233
at the cemetery of Beni Hasan.
346
00:18:02,734 --> 00:18:04,280
You might not have heard of Beni Hasan,
347
00:18:04,280 --> 00:18:06,260
and, actually, hardly anybody comes here,
348
00:18:06,260 --> 00:18:08,640
but that is completely crazy,
349
00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:11,820
because this place deserves to be a household name.
350
00:18:11,820 --> 00:18:14,763
In many ways, this is Egypt's best-kept secret.
351
00:18:18,750 --> 00:18:21,580
200 feet above the east bank of the Nile,
352
00:18:21,580 --> 00:18:24,640
there are dozens of tombs here cut into the cliff face
353
00:18:24,640 --> 00:18:28,070
so that those buried within could spend eternity
354
00:18:28,070 --> 00:18:29,973
overlooking the sacred river.
355
00:18:34,910 --> 00:18:37,150
It's really thrilling coming here today,
356
00:18:37,150 --> 00:18:38,410
and you can only imagine
357
00:18:38,410 --> 00:18:40,810
what it must have felt like for Howard Carter.
358
00:18:40,810 --> 00:18:43,410
He was only 17, and he'd been brought up
359
00:18:43,410 --> 00:18:46,172
in damp, rainy England,
360
00:18:46,172 --> 00:18:47,160
so all of this must have felt
361
00:18:47,160 --> 00:18:49,793
like a kind of desert wonderland.
362
00:18:52,580 --> 00:18:53,413
Salam.
363
00:18:53,413 --> 00:18:54,290
Hi. Morning.
364
00:18:54,290 --> 00:18:55,123
Hello.
365
00:18:56,290 --> 00:18:59,590
This is a tomb complex that belongs to a.
366
00:18:59,590 --> 00:19:00,760
Thank you very much.
367
00:19:01,620 --> 00:19:04,840
To a kind of high-class local official
368
00:19:04,840 --> 00:19:06,773
who was sort of the equivalent of a mayor.
369
00:19:07,770 --> 00:19:08,930
Inside is some
370
00:19:08,930 --> 00:19:13,906
of the most awe-inspiring wall art found anywhere in Egypt.
371
00:19:13,906 --> 00:19:16,656
(dramatic music)
372
00:19:27,361 --> 00:19:29,500
And when you come in, you can understand
373
00:19:29,500 --> 00:19:33,570
why the archeologists needed an artist's help.
374
00:19:33,570 --> 00:19:36,223
So, just look at these paintings.
375
00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:44,590
These are close on 4,000 years old,
376
00:19:44,590 --> 00:19:47,003
and those colors are completely true.
377
00:19:50,740 --> 00:19:53,690
The vivid paintings give us an invaluable insight
378
00:19:53,690 --> 00:19:55,373
into what everyday life was like.
379
00:19:57,130 --> 00:20:01,083
And, of course, the Nile is at the heart of it all.
380
00:20:02,270 --> 00:20:04,553
So, you might just be able to see here.
381
00:20:04,553 --> 00:20:07,760
There's a poor guy who's fallen into the Nile,
382
00:20:07,760 --> 00:20:10,193
and he's being rescued by his friends.
383
00:20:11,290 --> 00:20:15,310
This lovely chap here on his beautiful papyrus boat.
384
00:20:15,310 --> 00:20:19,133
He's a fisherman, and he's spearing a massive fish.
385
00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:21,863
Here is a hippo.
386
00:20:23,190 --> 00:20:26,430
There were loads of hippos in the Nile 4,000 years ago,
387
00:20:26,430 --> 00:20:29,230
so that's quite right that there should be a hippo here.
388
00:20:30,860 --> 00:20:33,480
Everywhere you look, you can see there are images
389
00:20:33,480 --> 00:20:38,083
of the Nile and fish and water and people interreacting
390
00:20:38,083 --> 00:20:39,243
with the life on the Nile.
391
00:20:40,260 --> 00:20:43,040
As a teenager, in 1891,
392
00:20:43,040 --> 00:20:45,950
Howard Carter's job was to make perfect copies
393
00:20:45,950 --> 00:20:49,440
of these very images to show people back home
394
00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:51,863
the wonderful discoveries that were being made.
395
00:20:53,300 --> 00:20:56,550
I've got one of the watercolors that he did here.
396
00:20:56,550 --> 00:20:57,480
See if I can find it.
397
00:20:57,480 --> 00:21:00,297
So, this is an African spoonbill.
398
00:21:01,209 --> 00:21:02,042
And somewhere.
399
00:21:03,493 --> 00:21:05,630
Up here, there's birds, I think.
400
00:21:05,630 --> 00:21:07,900
Yeah, I think that's it, isn't it?
401
00:21:07,900 --> 00:21:10,913
So, this is the watercolor that Howard Carter did.
402
00:21:11,758 --> 00:21:12,591
I mean, just imagine
403
00:21:12,591 --> 00:21:15,520
how exciting it would have been for him.
404
00:21:15,520 --> 00:21:18,330
He's 17 years old, and he's come here.
405
00:21:18,330 --> 00:21:21,150
We know he's sleeping in here overnight, and at dawn,
406
00:21:21,150 --> 00:21:24,060
he gets up and gets his paintbrushes out.
407
00:21:24,060 --> 00:21:25,604
Amazing.
408
00:21:25,604 --> 00:21:28,187
(gentle music)
409
00:21:31,230 --> 00:21:33,450
Carter spent one winter season here
410
00:21:33,450 --> 00:21:35,160
before traveling upstream
411
00:21:35,160 --> 00:21:37,890
to join a new team of archeologists,
412
00:21:37,890 --> 00:21:40,963
where he was given his first real chance to dig.
413
00:21:42,050 --> 00:21:44,170
I really do love this place,
414
00:21:44,170 --> 00:21:45,640
and not only does it give us
415
00:21:45,640 --> 00:21:49,500
the most amazingly vivid details for ancient Egyptian life,
416
00:21:49,500 --> 00:21:52,270
but it inspired a young Howard Carter
417
00:21:52,270 --> 00:21:54,650
to become an archeologist who would go on
418
00:21:54,650 --> 00:21:57,590
to make one of the greatest discoveries
419
00:21:57,590 --> 00:21:59,290
in the story of Egyptology.
420
00:21:59,290 --> 00:22:02,230
which means we can all share his passion
421
00:22:02,230 --> 00:22:04,582
and his discoveries today.
422
00:22:04,582 --> 00:22:07,165
(gentle music)
423
00:22:08,890 --> 00:22:10,880
One of the thrills of Egypt for me is
424
00:22:10,880 --> 00:22:13,693
that new discoveries are constantly being made.
425
00:22:14,790 --> 00:22:18,210
And there's a really special one waiting
426
00:22:18,210 --> 00:22:19,973
just along the Nile from here.
427
00:22:21,583 --> 00:22:24,166
(gentle music)
428
00:22:25,650 --> 00:22:28,090
I'm traveling the Nile to understand
429
00:22:28,090 --> 00:22:30,943
how this river shaped ancient Egypt.
430
00:22:33,231 --> 00:22:36,050
But a slow dahabeah cruise isn't a bad way
431
00:22:36,050 --> 00:22:37,663
to discover modern Egypt, too.
432
00:22:42,223 --> 00:22:43,140
You did it.
433
00:22:45,155 --> 00:22:46,503
Well done, guys.
434
00:22:46,503 --> 00:22:48,335
Well done. That's good.
435
00:22:48,335 --> 00:22:49,710
So, this happens a lot.
436
00:22:49,710 --> 00:22:52,090
You get kids and fishermen who try to hook
437
00:22:52,090 --> 00:22:54,682
onto the boat so that they can get a lift.
438
00:22:54,682 --> 00:22:56,317
Think they're getting told off a bit
439
00:22:56,317 --> 00:22:58,640
by the sailors up on the top.
440
00:22:59,592 --> 00:23:04,112
Aw! They've been told to go.
441
00:23:04,112 --> 00:23:05,980
(gentle music)
442
00:23:05,980 --> 00:23:08,260
Just over 2,000 years ago,
443
00:23:08,260 --> 00:23:10,993
this river was Egypt's main highway.
444
00:23:11,940 --> 00:23:16,330
Traveling along it, you might have seen, or even smelled,
445
00:23:16,330 --> 00:23:19,583
the sensational ruler who made this river her own.
446
00:23:22,150 --> 00:23:24,210
One of the stories that we hear about Cleopatra is
447
00:23:24,210 --> 00:23:28,410
that she used to soak the sails of her barges in perfume
448
00:23:28,410 --> 00:23:31,653
so that people would smell her arriving before they saw her.
449
00:23:32,910 --> 00:23:36,010
One of the sources of Cleopatra's fabled scent
450
00:23:36,010 --> 00:23:38,493
was an icon of the ancient Nile Valley,
451
00:23:39,540 --> 00:23:42,313
the beautiful blue lotus flower.
452
00:23:44,430 --> 00:23:45,840
Ancient accounts tell us
453
00:23:45,840 --> 00:23:48,130
that the waters of the Nile were once thick
454
00:23:48,130 --> 00:23:52,120
with these flowers, whose potent properties were legendary
455
00:23:52,120 --> 00:23:53,713
across the known world.
456
00:23:54,670 --> 00:23:56,340
But, sadly, this symbol
457
00:23:56,340 --> 00:24:00,023
of ancient Egypt is now almost extinct.
458
00:24:01,477 --> 00:24:02,340
(bright music)
459
00:24:02,340 --> 00:24:03,940
10 miles into the desert though,
460
00:24:05,708 --> 00:24:07,899
there are rumors of a revival.
461
00:24:07,899 --> 00:24:10,816
(engine puttering)
462
00:24:15,270 --> 00:24:17,290
Locals are always keen to help,
463
00:24:17,290 --> 00:24:19,240
and I've hitched a lift with Achmed
464
00:24:19,240 --> 00:24:22,463
and his motorbike to meet a living legend.
465
00:24:23,410 --> 00:24:26,442
Oh. Thank you so much for the lift.
466
00:24:26,442 --> 00:24:27,275
No problem.
467
00:24:27,275 --> 00:24:29,139
Oh, excuse me.
468
00:24:29,139 --> 00:24:30,646
Thank you.
469
00:24:30,646 --> 00:24:31,860
Shukran, thanks for the lift.
470
00:24:31,860 --> 00:24:32,910
Thank you. Take care.
471
00:24:34,620 --> 00:24:37,410
There were ancient cities up and down the Nile
472
00:24:37,410 --> 00:24:39,320
that specialized in perfume production,
473
00:24:39,320 --> 00:24:40,760
and I've just been told
474
00:24:40,760 --> 00:24:45,110
that there's one very brave, independent woman
475
00:24:45,110 --> 00:24:48,260
who's trying to revive that ancient tradition
476
00:24:48,260 --> 00:24:52,346
by herself here, out in the middle of the desert.
477
00:24:52,346 --> 00:24:54,868
(gentle music)
478
00:24:54,868 --> 00:24:56,065
Hello.
479
00:24:56,065 --> 00:24:58,921
This wonderful oasis is the passion project
480
00:24:58,921 --> 00:25:01,176
of Dr. Mervat Nasser.
481
00:25:01,176 --> 00:25:02,009
Hello. How lovely to see you.
482
00:25:02,009 --> 00:25:02,842
Hello. You made it.
483
00:25:02,842 --> 00:25:04,043
I did make it.
484
00:25:04,043 --> 00:25:06,090
My gosh. Properly across the desert.
485
00:25:06,090 --> 00:25:08,670
I didn't realize you were quite so remote,
486
00:25:08,670 --> 00:25:11,018
but what a little bit of paradise you have here.
487
00:25:11,018 --> 00:25:11,851
Thank you.
488
00:25:11,851 --> 00:25:14,130
For six years now, Dr. Mervat has been trying
489
00:25:14,130 --> 00:25:18,130
to bring the magic of the blue lotus back to Egypt.
490
00:25:18,130 --> 00:25:21,320
I managed, in the end, to find the bulbs,
491
00:25:21,320 --> 00:25:25,140
and I grew the bulbs, and it's, here we are.
492
00:25:25,140 --> 00:25:28,150
Why were they thought of as special flowers?
493
00:25:28,150 --> 00:25:31,320
One of the creation myths in ancient Egypt is
494
00:25:31,320 --> 00:25:34,023
that life came out of a lotus flower.
495
00:25:35,430 --> 00:25:40,010
It opens up by sunrise, and then it closes down
496
00:25:40,010 --> 00:25:42,710
and disappears into the water by sunset.
497
00:25:42,710 --> 00:25:46,850
So, the following day, there is another flower coming out.
498
00:25:46,850 --> 00:25:51,850
So this kind of continuous cycle of renewal, of rebirth,
499
00:25:51,920 --> 00:25:56,383
of resurrection, I think that was what is symbolic.
500
00:25:57,850 --> 00:26:00,680
1,300 years before Cleopatra,
501
00:26:00,680 --> 00:26:02,980
thousands of these petals were even found
502
00:26:02,980 --> 00:26:04,943
in Tutankhamen's tomb.
503
00:26:06,233 --> 00:26:09,030
But, today, you've got to come a long way
504
00:26:09,030 --> 00:26:10,533
just to find a few.
505
00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:14,950
If you don't cut it, it will actually disappear
506
00:26:14,950 --> 00:26:18,580
into the water, and it will not come back again.
507
00:26:18,580 --> 00:26:20,240
The blue lotus was said
508
00:26:20,240 --> 00:26:23,630
to smell like the god Ra's sweat.
509
00:26:23,630 --> 00:26:27,370
An interesting claim I can now test for myself.
510
00:26:27,370 --> 00:26:28,383
Shukran.
Shukran.
511
00:26:29,770 --> 00:26:33,390
How amazing to be given a freshly picked blue lotus.
512
00:26:35,350 --> 00:26:37,680
Oh, that is truly beautiful.
513
00:26:37,680 --> 00:26:38,513
It's very subtle.
514
00:26:38,513 --> 00:26:39,650
Very subtle, but you feel like you want
515
00:26:39,650 --> 00:26:42,734
to kind of draw it into your whole body.
516
00:26:42,734 --> 00:26:43,790
I wasn't expecting that.
517
00:26:43,790 --> 00:26:45,150
That's amazing. And the color.
518
00:26:45,150 --> 00:26:48,120
I can see now why they say it's like having the sun
519
00:26:48,120 --> 00:26:49,483
in the center of a flower.
520
00:26:51,551 --> 00:26:53,140
But is there more to the blue lotus
521
00:26:53,140 --> 00:26:55,883
than just beauty and a wonderful smell?
522
00:26:56,860 --> 00:26:59,810
I think it's also had an effect on the mood,
523
00:26:59,810 --> 00:27:02,033
so it made people feel happier.
524
00:27:03,360 --> 00:27:05,230
Recent studies have claimed
525
00:27:05,230 --> 00:27:08,003
that the flower has hallucinogenic properties.
526
00:27:09,723 --> 00:27:12,043
The ancient Egyptians also observed this
527
00:27:12,043 --> 00:27:15,803
and used the lotus as the original party drug.
528
00:27:21,570 --> 00:27:26,516
But, I can tell you, it also makes a rather good cup of tea.
529
00:27:26,516 --> 00:27:28,393
Mm. Oh, it's so lovely.
530
00:27:29,880 --> 00:27:32,390
And we know the ancient Egyptians turned the petals
531
00:27:32,390 --> 00:27:34,333
into a highly-fragranced oil.
532
00:27:35,820 --> 00:27:37,990
It's tragic that this enchanting flower
533
00:27:37,990 --> 00:27:41,060
has almost entirely gone from Egypt.
534
00:27:41,060 --> 00:27:44,220
But if Dr. Mervat has anything to do with it,
535
00:27:44,220 --> 00:27:46,403
it might just flourish here again.
536
00:27:47,380 --> 00:27:49,340
When you study the ancient Egyptian world,
537
00:27:49,340 --> 00:27:51,380
you always hear about the popularity of perfumes,
538
00:27:51,380 --> 00:27:54,480
and there was one that was actually called the Egyptian.
539
00:27:54,480 --> 00:27:55,960
And I have to say, as a historian,
540
00:27:55,960 --> 00:27:57,350
I've always been really cynical.
541
00:27:57,350 --> 00:27:58,690
But do you know what?
542
00:27:58,690 --> 00:28:00,500
Coming here and being on the boat
543
00:28:00,500 --> 00:28:04,380
for weeks is very drying for the hair,
544
00:28:04,380 --> 00:28:08,730
so this beautiful little gift of lotus oil,
545
00:28:08,730 --> 00:28:10,220
I've been putting on my hair,
546
00:28:10,220 --> 00:28:12,230
so I now understand
547
00:28:12,230 --> 00:28:15,020
what those ancient Egyptian women went through,
548
00:28:15,020 --> 00:28:17,933
and lotus oil is definitely the solution.
549
00:28:19,515 --> 00:28:20,830
(upbeat music)
550
00:28:20,830 --> 00:28:24,410
We're now 300 miles upstream from Cairo
551
00:28:24,410 --> 00:28:27,220
and on our way to one of the most sacred sites
552
00:28:27,220 --> 00:28:28,393
in the whole of Egypt.
553
00:28:31,960 --> 00:28:35,173
I'm leaving the crew to a hearty Egyptian breakfast,
554
00:28:37,240 --> 00:28:39,660
while I make the short journey inland
555
00:28:39,660 --> 00:28:41,673
to the ancient city of Abydos.
556
00:28:43,448 --> 00:28:46,031
(gentle music)
557
00:28:51,490 --> 00:28:53,500
This has been a place of pilgrimage
558
00:28:53,500 --> 00:28:56,283
since the very dawn of their civilization.
559
00:28:59,290 --> 00:29:03,320
5,000 years ago, when the kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt
560
00:29:03,320 --> 00:29:06,580
were first united, the length of the Nile under one pharaoh,
561
00:29:06,580 --> 00:29:10,373
Abydos was the center of this new superpower.
562
00:29:13,990 --> 00:29:16,790
I've come to this temple to see a wonder
563
00:29:16,790 --> 00:29:21,120
that gives incredible insight to the Egyptian world,
564
00:29:21,120 --> 00:29:25,513
a chronological list of 76 pharaohs.
565
00:29:27,180 --> 00:29:30,090
Apart from being exquisitely beautiful,
566
00:29:30,090 --> 00:29:33,080
parts of the temple are like a giant history book laid out.
567
00:29:33,080 --> 00:29:35,230
And that's what you've got here on the wall.
568
00:29:35,230 --> 00:29:37,890
This thing is called the Kings List,
569
00:29:37,890 --> 00:29:39,690
and what it's supposed to be is a list
570
00:29:39,690 --> 00:29:43,240
of all the rulers of Egypt right from the very beginning.
571
00:29:43,240 --> 00:29:46,090
So, the very first king that we have listed here
572
00:29:46,090 --> 00:29:48,610
is a kind of mythical pharaoh called Narmer,
573
00:29:48,610 --> 00:29:51,155
and that's his cartouche at the top.
574
00:29:51,155 --> 00:29:53,738
(gentle music)
575
00:29:54,750 --> 00:29:56,960
The Kings List is the ancient Egyptians
576
00:29:56,960 --> 00:29:58,693
telling their own story.
577
00:30:00,750 --> 00:30:02,650
In fact, it's the sole source we have
578
00:30:02,650 --> 00:30:04,853
for many of the pharaohs and their families.
579
00:30:07,300 --> 00:30:08,140
Actually, it's interesting,
580
00:30:08,140 --> 00:30:10,650
because not all the kings are listed here.
581
00:30:10,650 --> 00:30:12,590
It's really history that's been censored.
582
00:30:12,590 --> 00:30:15,120
So there are some whole dynasties who are left out.
583
00:30:15,120 --> 00:30:18,856
Tutankhamen, for instance, appears nowhere on this wall.
584
00:30:18,856 --> 00:30:22,140
But there's one particular guy that I'm interested in.
585
00:30:22,140 --> 00:30:23,760
Where is he? He's here.
586
00:30:23,760 --> 00:30:24,723
Obviously not the most beautiful one on the wall.
587
00:30:24,723 --> 00:30:27,380
There's a gigantic gash in the middle of it.
588
00:30:27,380 --> 00:30:29,910
But this is Pharaoh Senwosret III.
589
00:30:29,910 --> 00:30:31,460
And there is a particular reason
590
00:30:31,460 --> 00:30:34,060
why I want to get to know Senwosret better,
591
00:30:34,060 --> 00:30:38,803
because I've just been invited to go into his tomb.
592
00:30:41,500 --> 00:30:43,510
Though he isn't a household name,
593
00:30:43,510 --> 00:30:46,903
Senwosret III ruled 3,900 years ago.
594
00:30:48,120 --> 00:30:52,161
His tomb is found on the outskirts of Abydos.
595
00:30:52,161 --> 00:30:55,920
(people chattering)
596
00:30:55,920 --> 00:30:57,220
The archeologist who's agreed
597
00:30:57,220 --> 00:30:58,840
to take me there has unearthed
598
00:30:58,840 --> 00:31:02,499
some of the most majestic sites in Egypt.
599
00:31:02,499 --> 00:31:03,332
Hi.
600
00:31:03,332 --> 00:31:04,473
How are you?
Yeah, good.
601
00:31:04,473 --> 00:31:05,332
Nice to see you.
Welcome to Abydos.
602
00:31:05,332 --> 00:31:06,165
Thank you so much.
603
00:31:06,165 --> 00:31:07,603
His name is Yasser Razik.
604
00:31:08,570 --> 00:31:10,120
Yeah, amazing.
605
00:31:10,120 --> 00:31:12,080
It's very exciting.
606
00:31:12,080 --> 00:31:13,501
Very exciting.
607
00:31:13,501 --> 00:31:14,334
Yeah.
608
00:31:14,334 --> 00:31:15,357
Oh, my God. Is it Achmed?
609
00:31:15,357 --> 00:31:16,611
Hello. Welcome.
610
00:31:16,611 --> 00:31:18,769
Hello!
Welcome back.
611
00:31:18,769 --> 00:31:20,483
How lovely to see you!
Welcome back again.
612
00:31:20,483 --> 00:31:21,316
Me too. Thank you.
613
00:31:21,316 --> 00:31:22,149
Welcome back.
614
00:31:22,149 --> 00:31:24,943
Oh, we were together here five years ago.
615
00:31:24,943 --> 00:31:26,330
Really?
Yes.
616
00:31:26,330 --> 00:31:27,163
What a beautiful day.
617
00:31:27,163 --> 00:31:30,813
A new tomb, an old friend. (laughs)
618
00:31:31,920 --> 00:31:32,840
Achmed, how are your family?
619
00:31:32,840 --> 00:31:34,913
Is everybody well? Is it good?
620
00:31:34,913 --> 00:31:39,913
(Achmed speaking in foreign language)
621
00:31:40,260 --> 00:31:41,845
15?
Yes.
622
00:31:41,845 --> 00:31:43,832
Is it true? (laughing)
623
00:31:43,832 --> 00:31:44,999
He's joking.
624
00:31:46,588 --> 00:31:48,965
Oh, it's too early in the morning.
625
00:31:48,965 --> 00:31:50,930
(upbeat music)
626
00:31:50,930 --> 00:31:53,324
Now we have almost arrived to the tomb.
627
00:31:53,324 --> 00:31:54,920
Okay.
628
00:31:54,920 --> 00:31:59,700
Senwosret's tomb is hidden under this 700-foot mountain,
629
00:31:59,700 --> 00:32:04,700
and, until recently, was buried beneath 50 feet of sand.
630
00:32:05,120 --> 00:32:08,700
So, it would be better if you wear a boot or something.
631
00:32:08,700 --> 00:32:10,500
Yes, yeah, no. I brought my boots.
632
00:32:10,500 --> 00:32:12,400
Now, what are the conditions like inside?
633
00:32:12,400 --> 00:32:14,350
It's very hot, totally hot, inside the tomb,
634
00:32:14,350 --> 00:32:17,595
and it's slippery in some places and totally dangerous.
635
00:32:17,595 --> 00:32:19,030
Totally dangerous.
636
00:32:19,030 --> 00:32:19,863
Totally dangerous.
637
00:32:19,863 --> 00:32:21,620
This tomb is closed for the public,
638
00:32:21,620 --> 00:32:24,380
so this is a special visit for you.
639
00:32:24,380 --> 00:32:25,620
Thank you. Well, thank you.
640
00:32:25,620 --> 00:32:26,990
As long as you stay close.
641
00:32:26,990 --> 00:32:29,065
(laughing) Okay.
Thank you. Shakrun.
642
00:32:29,065 --> 00:32:30,850
A long time since anybody's been in here.
643
00:32:30,850 --> 00:32:33,170
Senwosret's astonishing burial place
644
00:32:33,170 --> 00:32:35,760
is entirely underground.
645
00:32:35,760 --> 00:32:40,760
It stretches for 800 feet, making it Egypt's longest tomb.
646
00:32:42,380 --> 00:32:43,250
(Yasser puffs)
647
00:32:43,250 --> 00:32:46,529
As long as it's easier to get out than to get in.
648
00:32:46,529 --> 00:32:48,220
(gentle music)
649
00:32:48,220 --> 00:32:50,640
Hey! Thank you, man.
650
00:32:50,640 --> 00:32:51,480
Well done.
651
00:32:51,480 --> 00:32:55,080
I like the fact that these tombs were built
652
00:32:55,080 --> 00:32:56,460
to defeat all robbers,
653
00:32:56,460 --> 00:32:59,100
and they're still managing to defeat us today.
654
00:32:59,100 --> 00:33:00,740
Watch your step.
I will.
655
00:33:00,740 --> 00:33:03,390
So, is it really, really hot down there?
656
00:33:03,390 --> 00:33:04,870
Yeah.
Okay.
657
00:33:04,870 --> 00:33:05,793
It's very hot inside, yeah.
658
00:33:05,793 --> 00:33:07,520
I think I might leave my scarf.
659
00:33:07,520 --> 00:33:09,060
And if we get lost,
660
00:33:09,060 --> 00:33:10,608
they'll know there's somebody down there.
661
00:33:10,608 --> 00:33:12,290
They'll know that's yours.
Exactly.
662
00:33:12,290 --> 00:33:13,523
It's our sign.
663
00:33:16,520 --> 00:33:18,950
One modern staircase is all we get
664
00:33:18,950 --> 00:33:22,640
before the bare stone and the dark takes over.
665
00:33:22,640 --> 00:33:25,020
I'm so glad we've got this torch.
666
00:33:25,020 --> 00:33:25,940
Did I tell you the only thing
667
00:33:25,940 --> 00:33:27,940
I don't like is small dark spaces?
668
00:33:27,940 --> 00:33:30,500
That's the only thing that freaks me out.
669
00:33:30,500 --> 00:33:32,845
Is that safe?
Yeah, it's, but don't.
670
00:33:32,845 --> 00:33:34,520
Yeah.
Don't jump on it too hard.
671
00:33:34,520 --> 00:33:36,610
Oxygen levels start to plummet.
672
00:33:36,610 --> 00:33:39,660
The temperature reaches unbearable levels.
673
00:33:39,660 --> 00:33:43,970
And with 90% humidity, we're quickly drenched in sweat.
674
00:33:43,970 --> 00:33:46,655
And, oh. This is where the heat's starting.
675
00:33:46,655 --> 00:33:48,770
The heat is starting now, but.
676
00:33:48,770 --> 00:33:49,840
Take care of your head.
677
00:33:49,840 --> 00:33:51,236
Oh, I will. Thank you.
Yeah.
678
00:33:51,236 --> 00:33:52,367
Look at this.
679
00:33:52,367 --> 00:33:55,210
Before Senwosret, pharaohs had been laid to rest
680
00:33:55,210 --> 00:33:56,873
beneath enormous pyramids.
681
00:33:58,070 --> 00:34:01,250
And now we are under the mountain.
682
00:34:01,250 --> 00:34:03,910
But this hidden tomb revolutionized the way
683
00:34:03,910 --> 00:34:06,773
that rulers would be buried for centuries to come.
684
00:34:08,043 --> 00:34:09,297
Oh, it's amazing, isn't it?
685
00:34:09,297 --> 00:34:11,080
It's so hot for us, just walking down.
686
00:34:11,080 --> 00:34:12,520
Imagine what it would have been like
687
00:34:12,520 --> 00:34:14,570
for those workers digging it.
688
00:34:14,570 --> 00:34:17,660
And they're using just stone tools, presumably.
689
00:34:17,660 --> 00:34:18,493
Watch your head here.
690
00:34:18,493 --> 00:34:19,607
I will.
691
00:34:19,607 --> 00:34:23,030
After the tomb builders came the tomb raiders,
692
00:34:23,030 --> 00:34:25,890
searching for the treasures buried here with the pharaoh.
693
00:34:25,890 --> 00:34:28,228
Do you think, how many workers do you think
694
00:34:28,228 --> 00:34:29,069
there would have been here?
695
00:34:29,069 --> 00:34:30,229
Just hold on.
Okay.
696
00:34:30,229 --> 00:34:32,362
Take care because there is a shaft here.
697
00:34:32,362 --> 00:34:35,162
But Senwosret had some tricks up his sleeve.
698
00:34:36,130 --> 00:34:38,180
That's a sheer drop down there, isn't it?
699
00:34:39,210 --> 00:34:40,900
We are above a shaft built special
700
00:34:40,900 --> 00:34:42,323
to trick the robbers.
701
00:34:42,323 --> 00:34:43,250
Oh, my God.
702
00:34:43,250 --> 00:34:45,750
So once the robbers arrived to this place,
703
00:34:45,750 --> 00:34:50,170
they found that this part is closed by a block of stone.
704
00:34:50,170 --> 00:34:51,003
Right.
705
00:34:51,003 --> 00:34:53,033
Telling that there is nothing behind.
706
00:34:54,140 --> 00:34:55,440
But the robbers continued
707
00:34:55,440 --> 00:34:58,750
their desperate search, hacking their own passageways
708
00:34:58,750 --> 00:35:00,453
down through the solid rock.
709
00:35:01,630 --> 00:35:03,500
They've put these steps into the rocks,
710
00:35:03,500 --> 00:35:04,510
the robbers, have they?
711
00:35:04,510 --> 00:35:05,810
There's a small step here.
Yeah.
712
00:35:05,810 --> 00:35:09,930
And after years, with many dying in the attempt,
713
00:35:09,930 --> 00:35:12,700
they finally found Senwosret.
714
00:35:12,700 --> 00:35:14,820
600 feet from the entrance,
715
00:35:14,820 --> 00:35:18,530
at last we reached the heart of the hidden tomb.
716
00:35:18,530 --> 00:35:19,780
Yeah, this is the sarcophagus
717
00:35:19,780 --> 00:35:22,247
of Senwosret III himself.
718
00:35:22,247 --> 00:35:24,730
Oh, so this is the actual sarcophagus, is it?
719
00:35:24,730 --> 00:35:26,200
This is actual sarcophagus of the king, yeah.
720
00:35:26,200 --> 00:35:29,210
And it is made of two pieces of granite.
721
00:35:29,210 --> 00:35:34,210
One is the lid, and this one is body of the sarcophagus.
722
00:35:34,730 --> 00:35:36,250
It's been robbed, this, hasn't it?
723
00:35:36,250 --> 00:35:40,410
Yeah. Been robbed, and it's not in its place.
724
00:35:40,410 --> 00:35:41,390
No.
725
00:35:41,390 --> 00:35:44,351
Originally they, it was in the bigger chamber,
726
00:35:44,351 --> 00:35:47,783
and the robbers, they dragged into here.
727
00:35:51,688 --> 00:35:54,250
(gentle music)
728
00:35:54,250 --> 00:35:57,830
The robbers had to shift aside massive granite blocks
729
00:35:57,830 --> 00:36:00,330
weighing up to 60 tons each
730
00:36:00,330 --> 00:36:02,380
to reach the treasures down here.
731
00:36:02,380 --> 00:36:05,620
Gold, perfumes, even a boat was buried
732
00:36:05,620 --> 00:36:07,360
with the almighty pharaoh,
733
00:36:07,360 --> 00:36:11,530
but all that remains now is his empty sarcophagus.
734
00:36:11,530 --> 00:36:12,663
So, where's his body?
735
00:36:13,638 --> 00:36:15,000
Robbed. (laughs)
736
00:36:15,000 --> 00:36:17,140
Just gone.
Robbed, robbed.
737
00:36:17,140 --> 00:36:19,180
Like so many of Egypt's rulers,
738
00:36:19,180 --> 00:36:21,270
we no longer have his mummified body
739
00:36:21,270 --> 00:36:22,883
or any of his treasures.
740
00:36:26,460 --> 00:36:30,214
But we do now know that Senwosret was the first pharaoh
741
00:36:30,214 --> 00:36:32,740
to take these extraordinary measures
742
00:36:32,740 --> 00:36:34,893
to hide his final resting place.
743
00:36:36,550 --> 00:36:40,050
Listen, I owe you such a debt of gratitude
744
00:36:40,050 --> 00:36:43,406
for bringing me down here, even though we've nearly died.
745
00:36:43,406 --> 00:36:44,239
You are the most welcome.
746
00:36:44,239 --> 00:36:47,300
In the attempt, but do we know the way back?
747
00:36:47,300 --> 00:36:48,244
Yes, yes.
748
00:36:48,244 --> 00:36:51,181
(laughs) After you, after you.
749
00:36:51,181 --> 00:36:52,104
Thank you.
750
00:36:52,104 --> 00:36:54,910
(gentle music)
751
00:36:54,910 --> 00:36:57,950
It's time for me to continue south.
752
00:36:57,950 --> 00:37:01,350
I'm leaving Senwosret 1,500 years behind
753
00:37:01,350 --> 00:37:04,993
to go in search of Egypt's last great pharaoh,
754
00:37:06,070 --> 00:37:08,213
the mighty Cleopatra.
755
00:37:10,586 --> 00:37:13,336
(dramatic music)
756
00:37:17,860 --> 00:37:20,833
People have sailed this river for thousands of years.
757
00:37:23,100 --> 00:37:28,040
But none with more pomp and ceremony than the pharaohs.
758
00:37:28,040 --> 00:37:29,124
Hello, Captain.
759
00:37:29,124 --> 00:37:30,093
Are we okay with this boat?
760
00:37:31,413 --> 00:37:33,327
All good, all good, Madam Bettany.
761
00:37:33,327 --> 00:37:34,823
Oh, good. I trust you.
762
00:37:36,330 --> 00:37:39,100
And of all the pharaohs who sailed the Nile,
763
00:37:39,100 --> 00:37:41,923
the most famous was Cleopatra.
764
00:37:43,750 --> 00:37:45,910
Just four years into her reign,
765
00:37:45,910 --> 00:37:50,110
Cleopatra led a massive military maneuver on this river,
766
00:37:50,110 --> 00:37:53,730
a fleet of 400 ships with her new lover,
767
00:37:53,730 --> 00:37:56,130
the Roman general Julius Caesar, in tow.
768
00:37:56,130 --> 00:37:57,530
In fact, she was probably pregnant
769
00:37:57,530 --> 00:37:59,980
with Caesar's child at the time.
770
00:37:59,980 --> 00:38:03,430
When we think of Cleopatra, we make a real mistake
771
00:38:03,430 --> 00:38:06,730
just to imagine her as a beautiful face.
772
00:38:06,730 --> 00:38:10,320
This was a woman who was a philosopher and a mathematician.
773
00:38:10,320 --> 00:38:12,910
She spoke a huge number of languages.
774
00:38:12,910 --> 00:38:17,603
Cleopatra was in every way a force to be reckoned with.
775
00:38:18,798 --> 00:38:20,930
(gentle music)
776
00:38:20,930 --> 00:38:23,470
But in this land she once ruled,
777
00:38:23,470 --> 00:38:25,830
the evidence of this all-powerful woman
778
00:38:25,830 --> 00:38:27,890
has been overshadowed by the myths
779
00:38:27,890 --> 00:38:29,453
that have grown up around her.
780
00:38:31,130 --> 00:38:34,690
The Romans, Shakespeare, and, of course, Hollywood
781
00:38:34,690 --> 00:38:38,433
have all styled her a manipulative femme fatale.
782
00:38:42,370 --> 00:38:44,330
And that's why my last destination
783
00:38:44,330 --> 00:38:47,633
on this leg of my journey matters so much to me.
784
00:38:48,840 --> 00:38:53,033
Dendera is a chance to discover the real Cleopatra.
785
00:38:57,410 --> 00:39:00,467
This temple complex was built by Cleopatra's family,
786
00:39:00,467 --> 00:39:03,920
and it was actually started by her great-grandfather.
787
00:39:03,920 --> 00:39:06,540
It's dedicated to Hathor,
788
00:39:06,540 --> 00:39:10,398
the goddess of love and beauty and motherhood.
789
00:39:10,398 --> 00:39:12,910
(gentle music)
790
00:39:12,910 --> 00:39:17,050
Built 2,500 years after the Great Pyramid of Giza,
791
00:39:17,050 --> 00:39:19,890
it's a place that boasts of Cleopatra's power
792
00:39:21,200 --> 00:39:23,593
and the brilliance of Egyptian ideas.
793
00:39:27,090 --> 00:39:31,253
The entire complex stretched over 40,000 square meters.
794
00:39:33,500 --> 00:39:35,990
And it's here on the temple's wall
795
00:39:35,990 --> 00:39:37,530
that you get a unique glimpse
796
00:39:37,530 --> 00:39:41,363
of ancient Egypt's last truly great pharaoh.
797
00:39:42,380 --> 00:39:44,160
We know that this is Cleopatra
798
00:39:44,160 --> 00:39:46,030
because she's got her name written
799
00:39:46,030 --> 00:39:48,220
in hieroglyphs in that cartouche.
800
00:39:48,220 --> 00:39:51,693
This is the only named portrait that we have of her.
801
00:39:52,550 --> 00:39:57,240
This wall is singing out a message of power.
802
00:39:57,240 --> 00:39:59,490
Cleopatra is a natural mother.
803
00:39:59,490 --> 00:40:02,090
That's her son Caesarion in front of her.
804
00:40:02,090 --> 00:40:03,400
She's a mother goddess.
805
00:40:03,400 --> 00:40:06,530
She's got the horns of Hathor on her head,
806
00:40:06,530 --> 00:40:11,156
and she is the mother of the nation of Egypt.
807
00:40:11,156 --> 00:40:13,906
(dramatic music)
808
00:40:20,720 --> 00:40:23,590
Once you go inside the temple she helped to build,
809
00:40:23,590 --> 00:40:25,350
you really begin to get a feel
810
00:40:25,350 --> 00:40:27,293
for the woman behind the legend.
811
00:40:29,520 --> 00:40:30,740
A queen more obsessed
812
00:40:30,740 --> 00:40:33,943
with mathematics and philosophy than seduction.
813
00:40:35,520 --> 00:40:38,233
On the ceiling is a scientific wonder.
814
00:40:39,740 --> 00:40:42,373
The story of time itself.
815
00:40:43,890 --> 00:40:47,493
And its legacy is still felt every single day.
816
00:40:50,140 --> 00:40:52,080
So, here, you have the journey
817
00:40:52,080 --> 00:40:53,893
of the moon through the night.
818
00:40:55,200 --> 00:40:58,370
And then, across the central corridor over there,
819
00:40:58,370 --> 00:41:01,960
there's the sun making the sun's journey through the day.
820
00:41:01,960 --> 00:41:03,690
And, of course, this being Egypt,
821
00:41:03,690 --> 00:41:04,940
the sun is traveling in one
822
00:41:04,940 --> 00:41:07,483
of those flat-bottomed Nile barges.
823
00:41:08,500 --> 00:41:10,750
And up there, there are the stars,
824
00:41:10,750 --> 00:41:12,580
and they've been carefully mapped to prove
825
00:41:12,580 --> 00:41:15,300
that there are 12 hours in every night.
826
00:41:15,300 --> 00:41:18,800
And then, at the end, you've got the 12 months of the year,
827
00:41:18,800 --> 00:41:20,600
represented by astrological signs
828
00:41:20,600 --> 00:41:22,630
very similar to the ones that we have.
829
00:41:22,630 --> 00:41:25,810
So, there's what we'd call Taurus the Bull
830
00:41:28,030 --> 00:41:29,433
and Pisces.
831
00:41:33,410 --> 00:41:37,010
What the ancient Egyptians did was to jigsaw-puzzle together
832
00:41:37,010 --> 00:41:40,550
all this information, so the movement of the sun
833
00:41:40,550 --> 00:41:43,460
and the moon and the life cycle of the year
834
00:41:43,460 --> 00:41:45,240
with the annual flooding of the Nile
835
00:41:45,240 --> 00:41:47,710
and their mapping of the stars.
836
00:41:47,710 --> 00:41:51,760
And they came up with a new system of time.
837
00:41:51,760 --> 00:41:54,290
It was the ancient Egyptians who decided
838
00:41:54,290 --> 00:41:57,923
that the year should run at 365 days.
839
00:41:57,923 --> 00:42:00,506
(gentle music)
840
00:42:02,560 --> 00:42:05,120
When Caesar heard about this revolutionary reading
841
00:42:05,120 --> 00:42:08,583
of the cosmos in Egypt, he was blown away.
842
00:42:11,610 --> 00:42:14,140
He adopted these Egyptian insights
843
00:42:14,140 --> 00:42:18,273
and rolled out the Julian calendar across the Roman world.
844
00:42:22,800 --> 00:42:27,800
That notion stuck, so the rhythm of all of our lives
845
00:42:28,130 --> 00:42:30,630
in the modern world is dictated
846
00:42:30,630 --> 00:42:34,113
by an idea that was dreamt up here.
847
00:42:36,800 --> 00:42:39,700
With the rising superpower Rome as her ally
848
00:42:39,700 --> 00:42:42,440
and Caesar the father of her newborn son,
849
00:42:42,440 --> 00:42:45,483
Cleopatra must have felt unstoppable.
850
00:42:47,580 --> 00:42:49,390
It's said that, here at Dendera,
851
00:42:49,390 --> 00:42:51,230
she climbed up to the roof of the temple
852
00:42:51,230 --> 00:42:54,143
when the moon was full to give thanks to the gods.
853
00:42:57,320 --> 00:43:00,780
So, you have to imagine Cleopatra coming up here,
854
00:43:00,780 --> 00:43:05,160
her skin rich with frankincense and myrrh and lotus oil,
855
00:43:05,160 --> 00:43:08,110
crowned with those sacred horns of Hathor,
856
00:43:08,110 --> 00:43:09,490
celebrating her success
857
00:43:09,490 --> 00:43:12,690
and the successful birth of her son Caesarion.
858
00:43:12,690 --> 00:43:16,440
A woman physically on top of the world.
859
00:43:16,440 --> 00:43:19,370
And it is such a privilege to think
860
00:43:19,370 --> 00:43:23,900
that I'm standing here where Cleopatra once stood.
861
00:43:23,900 --> 00:43:26,230
But within just three years,
862
00:43:26,230 --> 00:43:28,450
Julius Caesar would be assassinated,
863
00:43:28,450 --> 00:43:32,610
and Cleopatra would be mired in the politics of Rome.
864
00:43:32,610 --> 00:43:35,560
She died here eventually by her own hand
865
00:43:35,560 --> 00:43:40,560
in the land that she loved, the last great pharaoh of Egypt.
866
00:43:44,198 --> 00:43:46,781
(gentle music)
867
00:43:48,758 --> 00:43:49,591
Wait, wait.
868
00:43:49,591 --> 00:43:50,970
No, no, no! Oh, my God!
869
00:43:50,970 --> 00:43:51,960
Next time.
870
00:43:51,960 --> 00:43:54,320
Now I think I've got to buy it.
871
00:43:54,320 --> 00:43:57,423
My Nile journey brings me to the wonders of Luxor.
872
00:43:58,780 --> 00:44:00,990
I'll come face-to-face with Tutankhamen
873
00:44:00,990 --> 00:44:02,300
in the Valley of the Kings.
874
00:44:02,300 --> 00:44:05,600
This is what a royal tomb really should look like.
875
00:44:05,600 --> 00:44:06,910
And I'll board the steamship
876
00:44:06,910 --> 00:44:09,918
that inspired Agatha Christie's "Death on the Nile."
877
00:44:09,918 --> 00:44:12,279
(ship horn honking)
878
00:44:12,279 --> 00:44:15,112
(dramatic music)
66231
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