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(dramatic orchestral music)
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The Great Pyramids of Egypt.
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The sheer size of these monuments is fascinating.
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The two highest and biggest
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were built for Pharaoh Khufu and his son, Khafra.
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The Khufu pyramid is 480 feet high,
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and each pyramid contains about 2.5 million blocks.
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How were they built?
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Over the past few decades, significant discoveries
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have been made on the very site where they were erected.
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But now, far from the Giza plateau,
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and miles from the pyramids themselves,
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we are gaining more insight into just how they were built.
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How these huge work sites were created,
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cementing the strength and power of Egypt.
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Two teams of egyptologists,
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one based in the middle of the desert,
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the other located on the Red Sea coast,
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are currently discovering more
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about the Egypt of Khufu's time,
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than at the foot of the pyramids.
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What have they found?
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How can these new discoveries help them figure out
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how ancient Egyptians worked?
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By reconstructing their techniques and methods,
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will these teams manage to unlock certain secrets
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of these great builders?
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(dramatic music)
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The Khufu pyramid, and those constructed after it,
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were built on the Giza Plateau.
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This exceptional site was a huge necropolis for centuries,
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before being practically forgotten under the sand.
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When Napoleon and his troops arrived
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at the end of the 18th century,
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the bottoms of the pyramids were not visible,
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and the Sphinx was half-buried.
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For the next century and a half,
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after this memorable expedition,
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monumental excavation work was carried out
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to remove the sand from the Giza Plateau.
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In the 1980's, a major new development.
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Egyptologist Zahi Hawass and Mark Lehner
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discover the village and cemetery
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of the workers who built the pyramid of Khafra, Khufu's son.
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The vibes of the pyramid builders
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began to emerge from the shadows,
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and contradict the cliches written in the Bible.
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The Pharaoh's workers were not slaves.
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They were treated and fed well.
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They were organized into 40-person teams.
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These men were proud to be buried next to their king.
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These excavations have continued for 30 years.
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But the occupation and the looting of the site for centuries
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and centuries after Khufu's death,
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have obscured a great number of clues.
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No papyrus, no written document dating from his reign
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have ever been found on the Giza Plateau.
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The ravages of time have also destroyed
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all the large-scale statues of him.
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The only likeness of Khufu
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that has miraculously survived the ages,
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is a tine ivory figurine,
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currently housed at the Cairo Museum.
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Ironically, today, it's necessary to leave the Giza Plateau
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in order to move the investigation forward.
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More than 120 miles from the pyramids,
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on the Red Sea coast, at Wadi El Jarf,
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new discoveries are changing the situation,
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and bringing new insight into Khufu's world.
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Egyptologist Pierre Tallet and his team
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come here every year to excavate for two months.
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During their mission,
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around 60 workers,
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supervised by about 10 egyptologists and archeologists,
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live here, self-sufficiently.
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Their camp in the middle of the desert
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is just a few yards from this ancient site,
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that hasn't been occupied
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since it was abandoned 4,500 years ago.
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What has Pierre Tallet found here
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that could not have been discovered
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at the foot of the pyramids?
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What was the purpose of these galleries
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carved into the rock?
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We're in a gallery that is typical of Wadi El Jarf,
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these galleries had several functions,
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but their main function was to house dismantled boats,
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that were stored inside these chambers,
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between two Red Sea expeditions.
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But so far,
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after eight years of excavating these galleries,
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an entire boat has not been found,
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just a few fragments that sometimes bear inscriptions.
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Pierre Tallet has not found the boats he's looking for,
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but he has discovered traces of Khufu all over his site.
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You can see Khufu's cartouche very well.
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You have to imagine it.
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In fact, it is written vertically,
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even if the block is horizontal.
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Here you can read King Khufu's full name very clearly,
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Khnum Khufu,
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which literally means, may the God Khnum protect me.
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Here, ascribed through
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Khufu's name and cursive, with a brush.
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But in the official version in hieroglyphs,
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you can see that the sign of the ram,
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representing the god Khnum, is clearer.
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Pharaoh's names were often linked with a deity,
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because they themselves were considered to be like gods.
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Pierre has found traces of Khufu
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almost everywhere on this site,
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which has been untouched by men for 45 centuries.
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But the real game-changer
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was a totally unexpected discovery,
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that any archeologist who has ever excavated
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at the foot of the pyramids would have loved to find.
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Well, here it is, in this very ordinary hole.
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In 2013, between these two blocks,
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Pierre Tallet's team found papyrus fragments,
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thousands of fragments,
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which proved to be the oldest ever discovered in Egypt.
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We absolutely did not expect to find
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this kind of documentation,
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at such a faraway site.
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At the beginning we were searching for a Pharaonic carver,
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since we had already discovered several.
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Very quickly, Pierre was able
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to translate a few pieces,
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and he realized that they had just found
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the detailed reports of a foreman
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who worked for Pharaoh Khufu.
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You can see that these were logbooks
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kept by a lower level supervisor named Merer,
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who recounted a part of the Giza pyramid's construction.
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This priceless treasure
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is now protected in the Cairo museum.
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What they found is so fragile and voluminous,
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that six years later,
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there are still many papyrus fragments
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to restore and reassemble.
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For this extremely delicate task,
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Pierre asked one of the world's foremost specialists
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in ancient papyrus restoration
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to take care of his precious discovery.
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So that's really fantastic.
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I don't think anyone's ever seen papyrus like this before.
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This papyrus is an administrative report
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written by a scribe official called Merer.
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It's a bit like an Excel sheet that's 45 centuries old.
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It scrupulously records
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the movements of a team of workers,
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what they do every day, and what they receive in exchange.
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Everything in black
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is what the team does for the king.
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Everything is red is what the government does for the team.
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Notice in red, you can see the bread deliveries,
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which keep the workers fed for a month.
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But what truly new information,
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what scoop have these papyri revealed?
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This document is very important,
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because it allowed us to date all of the archives
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that were found on this Wadi El Jarf site in 2013.
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We have here the date that corresponds to the year
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after the 13th census of large and small livestock
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in the reign of Khufu.
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During the ancient kingdom,
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the accounting of time is done biannually,
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according to an inventory of the wealth of the territory
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that takes place every two years.
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Thy papyrus proves that Khufu's reign
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lasted longer than previously thought.
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He ruled for at least 27 years, not 20.
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That gave him much more time to build his pyramid,
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almost a third more time,
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which changes the estimations egyptologists have made
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to unlock the secrets of this immense monument.
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But what were Merer and his team of 40 boatmen doing?
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Where where they going?
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One clue can still be found atop the Khafra pyramid.
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These white and shining facing stones
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once covered these gigantic monuments.
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There are also a few left at the foot
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of the north side of Khufu's pyramid.
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These blocks of fine limestone,
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different from those that make up
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95% of the volume of the pyramids,
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come from a quarry located about 12 miles
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from the Giza Plateau.
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In the Wadi El Jarf papyri,
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supervisor Merer explains
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how it took him two or three days
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to transport these blocks from Tura
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to the foot of the pyramids
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with his team of about 40 boatmen.
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A port had been constructed next to the construction site,
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allowing heavy materials to be transported
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when the Nile was at its highest level
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during the annual flooding.
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But that's not all.
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It seems that our fragments
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indicated an area called (foreign word) Khufu,
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literally, "long live Khufu,"
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which is supposed to be at the foot of the pyramid of Khufu.
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Pierre thinks that the Pharaoh
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built his palace in this area,
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to have a clear view of the construction site.
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After discovering the length of Khufu's reign,
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this is the second big scoop
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that Merer's papyri have revealed.
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Khufu's palace is probably currently located
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under the modern city,
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and is undoubtedly waiting to be discovered.
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Merer recounts
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that he stopped in this particular place,
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because the royal archives,
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containing all the important papyri in Khufu's government
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was near the palace.
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A real gold mine of information
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that could be buried under the modern city of Cairo.
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One person in particular is extremely happy
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about the discovery of Merer's papyri.
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It is the egyptologist Mark Lehner,
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who has been excavating the Giza Plateau for over 30 years.
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Ah, Pierre.
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Hello Mark.
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So good to see you.
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I am very pleased to meet you again.
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Good to see you.
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Our lab, it looks small,
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but it's actually much bigger inside.
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Come inside and have a look.
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Here, carefully organized and cataloged,
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there are millions and millions of objects
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from the village of the workers
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who built the pyramid of Khafra.
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They are both excited to discuss their mutual finds,
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and check if their discoveries match.
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This one's unfinished.
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All of this, I think is like a detective
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at a crime scene, it's making an inference.
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When you find texts, then they speak to you directly.
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And it's like that opening that window.
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We have all the signs,
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naming the different files of the gang,
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the smaller ones, the bigger one.
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You have the crooks for the bigger one.
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The four strokes for the smaller one, and so on.
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It's almost every time it's scraped.
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Oh, that one's broken.
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It's okay.
But it's perfect.
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So this is what you have.
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Yeah, exactly.
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That's amazing.
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We have got I think about 50 of them.
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You know there's a huge, huge irony here.
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So you are in the periphery.
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You're out there in an expeditionary force,
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at the edge of the frontier of Egypt.
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And you have all these inscriptions and texts.
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We are at the center of the bureaucracy
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in the Egyptian state,
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and all our material culture,
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many of which is the same,
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is blank, is anonymous.
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It's strange.
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We certainly are keeping our eyes open.
267
00:13:30,820 --> 00:13:33,470
It'd be great to find the house that Merer stayed in.
268
00:13:34,650 --> 00:13:35,483
How we would know?
269
00:13:35,483 --> 00:13:36,353
Really great.
270
00:13:37,424 --> 00:13:38,908
His name might be on the door.
271
00:13:38,908 --> 00:13:39,748
The name on the room.
272
00:13:39,748 --> 00:13:41,331
Merer lives here.
273
00:13:43,620 --> 00:13:45,900
But why was Merer's diary found
274
00:13:45,900 --> 00:13:50,250
at Wadi El Jarf, and not on the Giza Plateau?
275
00:13:50,250 --> 00:13:53,400
What was Merer doing with his team of 40 boatmen
276
00:13:53,400 --> 00:13:55,003
on the Red Sea coast?
277
00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:03,900
After several years of intensive work at Wadi El Jarf site,
278
00:14:03,900 --> 00:14:05,880
Pierre Tallet and his team
279
00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:08,623
are able to reconstruct part of the story.
280
00:14:10,870 --> 00:14:14,330
A few kilometers from the galleries cut into the mountains,
281
00:14:14,330 --> 00:14:17,370
they excavated a building and port facilities,
282
00:14:17,370 --> 00:14:19,763
where hundreds of men could work and sleep.
283
00:14:22,137 --> 00:14:24,720
(solemn music)
284
00:14:27,300 --> 00:14:29,970
And at the seaside, they found a jetty
285
00:14:29,970 --> 00:14:32,933
from which Khufu's ships set sail for Sinai.
286
00:14:35,450 --> 00:14:37,400
Another important clue,
287
00:14:37,400 --> 00:14:40,360
while searching underwater and in the port buildings,
288
00:14:40,360 --> 00:14:43,260
they found about a hundred boat anchors.
289
00:14:43,260 --> 00:14:46,640
At that time, anchors were simple limestone blocks
290
00:14:46,640 --> 00:14:48,883
with a hole for a rope to pass through.
291
00:14:53,490 --> 00:14:55,000
But what were they looking for
292
00:14:55,000 --> 00:14:56,993
on the other side of the Red Sea?
293
00:14:58,200 --> 00:15:01,743
It's certain that they were going to the Sinai peninsula.
294
00:15:01,743 --> 00:15:03,120
That was certainly one of the major reasons
295
00:15:03,120 --> 00:15:04,680
for building this port,
296
00:15:04,680 --> 00:15:07,140
because Sinai had the largest copper deposits
297
00:15:07,140 --> 00:15:09,090
that the Egyptians could mine directly.
298
00:15:10,570 --> 00:15:13,550
Several copper mines dating from Khufu's era,
299
00:15:13,550 --> 00:15:15,410
and even before his reign,
300
00:15:15,410 --> 00:15:17,103
have been found in Sinai.
301
00:15:18,200 --> 00:15:20,640
At that time, there was no iron,
302
00:15:20,640 --> 00:15:22,750
so the tools that cut the Great Pyramids'
303
00:15:22,750 --> 00:15:25,670
2.5 million blocks of limestone
304
00:15:25,670 --> 00:15:27,373
were made of copper ore.
305
00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:38,080
Starting at Wadi El Jarf,
306
00:15:38,080 --> 00:15:40,960
donkeys must have transported tons of copper
307
00:15:40,960 --> 00:15:44,093
across the desert to the pyramid construction site.
308
00:15:46,960 --> 00:15:48,660
Using this desert road,
309
00:15:48,660 --> 00:15:52,233
Merer and his team may have made several round trips.
310
00:15:57,470 --> 00:15:59,510
Before returning to the pyramid site
311
00:15:59,510 --> 00:16:01,230
with their copper cargo,
312
00:16:01,230 --> 00:16:03,860
they would have first arrived in Wadi El Jarf
313
00:16:03,860 --> 00:16:06,243
with the pieces of their dismantled boats.
314
00:16:09,556 --> 00:16:13,890
(dramatic orchestral music)
315
00:16:13,890 --> 00:16:16,260
From there, they would also have been part
316
00:16:16,260 --> 00:16:18,410
of the expeditions to Sinai,
317
00:16:18,410 --> 00:16:21,563
an adventure that was apparently not without risk.
318
00:16:23,790 --> 00:16:26,670
Local populations didn't really welcome the Egyptians.
319
00:16:26,670 --> 00:16:29,520
We found a veritable fortress that the Egyptians had built
320
00:16:29,520 --> 00:16:31,970
at exactly the same time as a landing area,
321
00:16:31,970 --> 00:16:33,763
so they protected themselves.
322
00:16:35,940 --> 00:16:38,270
The ancient camp at Wadi El Jarf,
323
00:16:38,270 --> 00:16:40,340
that Pierre has yet to excavate
324
00:16:40,340 --> 00:16:42,300
is also higher up.
325
00:16:42,300 --> 00:16:44,920
This allowed them to monitor their surroundings,
326
00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:46,370
and prevent any attacks
327
00:16:46,370 --> 00:16:48,463
that could threaten their expeditions.
328
00:16:52,400 --> 00:16:54,340
In this hostile context,
329
00:16:54,340 --> 00:16:56,310
ancient Egyptians tried to protect
330
00:16:56,310 --> 00:16:58,980
their installations at all costs.
331
00:16:58,980 --> 00:17:00,750
Sometimes several years passed
332
00:17:00,750 --> 00:17:02,993
between two expeditions to Sinai.
333
00:17:03,900 --> 00:17:07,560
Before leaving, to avoid having their equipment stolen,
334
00:17:07,560 --> 00:17:10,740
they stored the dismantled boats in these galleries,
335
00:17:10,740 --> 00:17:13,640
and they carefully closed them with limestone blocks,
336
00:17:13,640 --> 00:17:15,743
cut especially for that purpose.
337
00:17:22,340 --> 00:17:23,853
Bedouins living in the desert
338
00:17:23,853 --> 00:17:27,283
may have been curious about what was inside the galleries.
339
00:17:28,230 --> 00:17:30,840
Using these large blocks as a locking system
340
00:17:30,840 --> 00:17:33,273
was a way to protect what was stored inside.
341
00:17:34,790 --> 00:17:37,760
So these galleries were like safes.
342
00:17:37,760 --> 00:17:42,070
At that time quality wood was extremely rare and precious.
343
00:17:42,070 --> 00:17:44,070
There was none in Egypt.
344
00:17:44,070 --> 00:17:46,360
They had to go and get it from Lebanon,
345
00:17:46,360 --> 00:17:49,463
a land then covered with huge cedar forests.
346
00:17:55,980 --> 00:17:59,850
But how were these huge blocks used to seal the galleries,
347
00:17:59,850 --> 00:18:01,733
cut and transported here?
348
00:18:06,575 --> 00:18:09,742
(in foreign language)
349
00:18:11,230 --> 00:18:14,620
Today, we would really like to know how long it took,
350
00:18:14,620 --> 00:18:18,053
and what techniques were used to create this locking system.
351
00:18:20,910 --> 00:18:21,910
This is a major
352
00:18:21,910 --> 00:18:24,470
experimental archeological project,
353
00:18:24,470 --> 00:18:26,530
that Pierre Tallet wants to carry out
354
00:18:26,530 --> 00:18:28,760
on the Wade El Jarf site.
355
00:18:28,760 --> 00:18:30,230
He asked Franck Burgos,
356
00:18:30,230 --> 00:18:33,770
a stonemason, and a specialist in ancient architecture,
357
00:18:33,770 --> 00:18:35,323
to help him with the project.
358
00:18:36,340 --> 00:18:39,030
Their experiment's goal is to better interpret
359
00:18:39,030 --> 00:18:42,230
all the archeological data they can see on the site,
360
00:18:42,230 --> 00:18:45,520
but also to understand how the pyramid of Khufu
361
00:18:45,520 --> 00:18:46,803
might have been built.
362
00:18:53,460 --> 00:18:55,240
This experiment will take place
363
00:18:55,240 --> 00:18:57,620
about 300 yards from the camp,
364
00:18:57,620 --> 00:19:00,410
just next to the quarry where the ancient Egyptians
365
00:19:00,410 --> 00:19:03,633
carved the blocks used to seal Wadi El Jarf's galleries.
366
00:19:05,660 --> 00:19:09,180
An unfinished block, abandoned before it was finished,
367
00:19:09,180 --> 00:19:11,020
has allowed Franck to understand
368
00:19:11,020 --> 00:19:12,863
some of the techniques they used.
369
00:19:15,020 --> 00:19:17,040
The block is surrounded by trenches
370
00:19:17,040 --> 00:19:19,070
that go all the way around it,
371
00:19:19,070 --> 00:19:21,113
and are used to extract the block.
372
00:19:23,260 --> 00:19:25,590
We realized that there are work stations
373
00:19:25,590 --> 00:19:28,530
that are approximately one meter long.
374
00:19:28,530 --> 00:19:31,260
So every meter, there was a worker,
375
00:19:31,260 --> 00:19:32,560
but then when he entered the trench,
376
00:19:32,560 --> 00:19:35,100
he was in a crouched position.
377
00:19:35,100 --> 00:19:36,960
Then he would cut the stone,
378
00:19:36,960 --> 00:19:39,050
and once he had finished cutting in front of him,
379
00:19:39,050 --> 00:19:42,290
he would turn around and cut behind.
380
00:19:42,290 --> 00:19:44,710
Using this ancient block as a model,
381
00:19:44,710 --> 00:19:46,870
Franck and his team of four workers
382
00:19:46,870 --> 00:19:50,060
will extract a 1.5 cubic meter block
383
00:19:50,060 --> 00:19:51,473
with copper tools.
384
00:19:53,450 --> 00:19:55,610
Now we're going to do an experiment,
385
00:19:55,610 --> 00:19:58,273
to time how long it takes to extract the block.
386
00:19:59,980 --> 00:20:02,140
Franck starts by drawing the trenches
387
00:20:02,140 --> 00:20:04,150
that will define their work area,
388
00:20:04,150 --> 00:20:06,573
and the size of the block they want to extract.
389
00:20:07,620 --> 00:20:09,240
You have to stay at the same angle,
390
00:20:09,240 --> 00:20:10,850
or you'll damage the chisel.
391
00:20:10,850 --> 00:20:13,600
Copper is a soft metal that wears down quickly
392
00:20:13,600 --> 00:20:14,900
when cutting stone.
393
00:20:14,900 --> 00:20:17,630
So the technique is different working with these tools,
394
00:20:17,630 --> 00:20:19,503
than working with steel chisels.
395
00:20:23,650 --> 00:20:25,480
But with the copper chisels,
396
00:20:25,480 --> 00:20:28,700
the work is extremely long and tedious.
397
00:20:28,700 --> 00:20:30,210
How did the ancient Egyptians
398
00:20:30,210 --> 00:20:32,803
manage to produce more efficient results?
399
00:20:34,890 --> 00:20:37,470
Last year, I had the idea to wet the stone,
400
00:20:37,470 --> 00:20:39,220
because I encountered big problems
401
00:20:39,220 --> 00:20:41,180
in my experiment with copper tools.
402
00:20:41,180 --> 00:20:43,760
I realized that there was a lot of salt in the stone,
403
00:20:43,760 --> 00:20:45,140
because salt is soluble,
404
00:20:45,140 --> 00:20:46,730
I had the idea of wetting the stone
405
00:20:46,730 --> 00:20:48,330
to see if it would soften it up.
406
00:20:50,940 --> 00:20:54,133
We made five times more progress when we wet the stone.
407
00:20:56,240 --> 00:20:59,030
We realized that the stone is really crumbly.
408
00:20:59,030 --> 00:21:01,150
You can crumble it with your fingers.
409
00:21:01,150 --> 00:21:03,940
It is less solid than it was before.
410
00:21:03,940 --> 00:21:05,770
So far, no one has carried out
411
00:21:05,770 --> 00:21:09,180
this type of archeological experiment using water.
412
00:21:09,180 --> 00:21:11,200
And this technique is not mentioned
413
00:21:11,200 --> 00:21:14,560
in any ancient documents or bas-reliefs.
414
00:21:14,560 --> 00:21:16,500
If his intuition is right,
415
00:21:16,500 --> 00:21:18,123
it's a real discovery.
416
00:21:25,860 --> 00:21:28,510
All five of them will work eight hours a day,
417
00:21:28,510 --> 00:21:30,050
to carve out this block,
418
00:21:30,050 --> 00:21:32,610
which is about the same size as the average block
419
00:21:32,610 --> 00:21:34,063
in the pyramid of Khufu.
420
00:21:35,210 --> 00:21:37,210
And every half hour they have to sharpen
421
00:21:37,210 --> 00:21:38,763
their copper tools again.
422
00:21:43,670 --> 00:21:47,220
This archeological experiment, using copper tools,
423
00:21:47,220 --> 00:21:48,900
and not steel tools,
424
00:21:48,900 --> 00:21:51,750
has never been done properly before.
425
00:21:51,750 --> 00:21:53,170
The result of this test,
426
00:21:53,170 --> 00:21:56,340
will reveal a lot about the ancient techniques used
427
00:21:56,340 --> 00:21:57,883
during Khufu's time.
428
00:21:59,215 --> 00:22:02,048
(slow rock music)
429
00:22:10,430 --> 00:22:11,484
Wow, I hadn't seen this,
430
00:22:11,484 --> 00:22:13,760
you've made a lot of progress.
431
00:22:13,760 --> 00:22:15,040
With one quart of water,
432
00:22:15,040 --> 00:22:16,890
you can remove about three inches
433
00:22:16,890 --> 00:22:19,410
from an area that's 20 inches squared.
434
00:22:19,410 --> 00:22:20,930
If we hadn't wet the stone,
435
00:22:20,930 --> 00:22:24,020
we'd still be at four inches from the surface all around.
436
00:22:24,020 --> 00:22:25,620
That's a huge discovery.
437
00:22:43,050 --> 00:22:46,340
What's surprising is that it broke at the bottom.
438
00:22:46,340 --> 00:22:48,570
You can see the crack that goes down there.
439
00:22:48,570 --> 00:22:50,183
It split at the lowest point.
440
00:22:55,045 --> 00:22:58,212
(in foreign language)
441
00:23:00,260 --> 00:23:01,660
Thanks to you guys.
442
00:23:01,660 --> 00:23:02,893
Thanks to all of us.
443
00:23:05,090 --> 00:23:06,560
It took us about eight days
444
00:23:06,560 --> 00:23:08,270
to finish this experiment.
445
00:23:08,270 --> 00:23:10,340
Now we just have to transport it.
446
00:23:10,340 --> 00:23:12,080
The tools didn't wear down too much,
447
00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:15,200
and we used about three quarts of water for the experiment.
448
00:23:15,200 --> 00:23:17,060
Without the water, it would have taken us
449
00:23:17,060 --> 00:23:18,520
two or three times longer.
450
00:23:18,520 --> 00:23:20,810
Franck believes that by using water,
451
00:23:20,810 --> 00:23:23,450
ancient Egyptians, who were more experienced
452
00:23:23,450 --> 00:23:24,760
than the men on his team,
453
00:23:24,760 --> 00:23:28,260
could have cut a block in four to five days at the most.
454
00:23:28,260 --> 00:23:30,750
But what did they do with all the rubble?
455
00:23:31,597 --> 00:23:33,930
The extraction waste was used to make ramps,
456
00:23:33,930 --> 00:23:37,270
but also at the entrance of quarries to load the blocks,
457
00:23:37,270 --> 00:23:38,603
to handle them easily.
458
00:23:40,650 --> 00:23:41,970
If it took two million,
459
00:23:41,970 --> 00:23:44,240
or two and a half million cubic meters of stone
460
00:23:44,240 --> 00:23:46,360
to build the Khufu pyramid,
461
00:23:46,360 --> 00:23:47,723
that would mean that there were about
462
00:23:47,723 --> 00:23:51,523
two, 2.5 million cubic meters of gravel.
463
00:23:52,480 --> 00:23:54,480
So according to Franck Burgos,
464
00:23:54,480 --> 00:23:58,150
ancient Egyptians would most probably have also used water
465
00:23:58,150 --> 00:24:00,120
to cut the millions of stone blocks
466
00:24:00,120 --> 00:24:02,863
needed to build the pyramids more rapidly.
467
00:24:05,690 --> 00:24:07,850
At the foot of the pyramid of Khufu,
468
00:24:07,850 --> 00:24:09,590
we can still see the quarries
469
00:24:09,590 --> 00:24:11,983
from which most of the blocks were extracted.
470
00:24:14,590 --> 00:24:16,410
By building the pyramids,
471
00:24:16,410 --> 00:24:19,370
the ancient Egyptians transformed the landscape,
472
00:24:19,370 --> 00:24:21,490
changed the geography of the place.
473
00:24:21,490 --> 00:24:24,020
They literally tore off much of the rocky base
474
00:24:24,020 --> 00:24:25,403
of the Giza Plateau.
475
00:24:27,370 --> 00:24:28,750
The Sphinx itself,
476
00:24:28,750 --> 00:24:31,520
is a remnant of this hard limestone plateau,
477
00:24:31,520 --> 00:24:33,440
an immense area of which was used
478
00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:35,953
to cut the stones needed for the pyramids.
479
00:24:43,260 --> 00:24:47,150
And all the gravel and excess stone this method produced,
480
00:24:47,150 --> 00:24:49,743
would have been reused to build ramps.
481
00:24:52,470 --> 00:24:56,530
But what type of ramp did they use 4,500 years ago
482
00:24:56,530 --> 00:25:01,280
to transport blocks to a height of 480 feet.
483
00:25:01,280 --> 00:25:05,560
The debate is raging between egyptologists and specialists,
484
00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:07,953
and so, many models have been proposed.
485
00:25:10,220 --> 00:25:13,480
A single ramp is either too steep or too long
486
00:25:13,480 --> 00:25:17,643
to maintain a realistic slope of no more than 12%.
487
00:25:18,620 --> 00:25:21,860
Several ramps seem to be a very costly solution,
488
00:25:21,860 --> 00:25:23,783
in terms of time and effort.
489
00:25:24,750 --> 00:25:27,590
Is it an external wraparound ramp,
490
00:25:27,590 --> 00:25:29,410
or the kind of internal ramp
491
00:25:29,410 --> 00:25:33,163
proposed by architect Jean-Pierre Houdin in the 2000's?
492
00:25:39,740 --> 00:25:42,670
For now, there is no definitive evidence
493
00:25:42,670 --> 00:25:44,800
that would settle this debate.
494
00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:48,070
Again, it may be necessary to distance ourselves
495
00:25:48,070 --> 00:25:50,753
from the pyramids to find some answers.
496
00:26:00,480 --> 00:26:04,230
185 miles south of the Giza pyramids,
497
00:26:04,230 --> 00:26:06,510
a Franco-British archeological mission,
498
00:26:06,510 --> 00:26:09,600
with the help of 100 Egyptian workers
499
00:26:09,600 --> 00:26:12,473
is possibly about to make a major discovery.
500
00:26:24,452 --> 00:26:25,600
We are at Hatnub,
501
00:26:25,600 --> 00:26:28,840
one of the oldest calcite quarries in the world.
502
00:26:28,840 --> 00:26:30,830
This is where the great Pharaohs went to look
503
00:26:30,830 --> 00:26:33,160
for a hard and crystalline stone,
504
00:26:33,160 --> 00:26:36,223
that is also called, Egyptian alabaster.
505
00:26:41,800 --> 00:26:45,080
Today, there is no alabaster left in this quarry,
506
00:26:45,080 --> 00:26:48,923
which was totally depleted and abandoned in ancient times.
507
00:26:50,776 --> 00:26:54,443
(dramatic orchestral music)
508
00:26:56,040 --> 00:26:57,920
Clearing all the rubble and sand
509
00:26:57,920 --> 00:27:01,080
accumulated over the past 2,000 years,
510
00:27:01,080 --> 00:27:03,400
is a gargantuan task.
511
00:27:03,400 --> 00:27:07,433
And here, there is no tomb or funerary treasure to find.
512
00:27:08,470 --> 00:27:10,623
So why put so much effort into it?
513
00:27:14,780 --> 00:27:18,580
What Yannis Gourdon's team has begun to find on the site
514
00:27:18,580 --> 00:27:21,080
could revolutionize our understanding
515
00:27:21,080 --> 00:27:24,030
of the major Pharaonic construction sites,
516
00:27:24,030 --> 00:27:26,623
particularly that of the Khufu pyramid.
517
00:27:27,670 --> 00:27:30,640
Because here we know that they extracted and hauled
518
00:27:30,640 --> 00:27:32,740
a huge alabaster block,
519
00:27:32,740 --> 00:27:36,213
to make a 58-ton statue for a Pharaoh.
520
00:27:40,720 --> 00:27:42,310
While they were clearing the quarry
521
00:27:42,310 --> 00:27:44,470
in search of new inscriptions,
522
00:27:44,470 --> 00:27:47,320
egyptologists found steps and holes
523
00:27:47,320 --> 00:27:49,350
carved into the ramp.
524
00:27:49,350 --> 00:27:51,150
They think that these holes were used
525
00:27:51,150 --> 00:27:53,280
to wedge huge wooden poles,
526
00:27:53,280 --> 00:27:56,243
that were part of a very ingenious towing system.
527
00:27:58,160 --> 00:28:01,480
They have one month to clear as much gravel as possible,
528
00:28:01,480 --> 00:28:03,440
around 6,000 tons,
529
00:28:03,440 --> 00:28:05,160
to see if there are similar holes
530
00:28:05,160 --> 00:28:06,790
on the right side of the ramp,
531
00:28:06,790 --> 00:28:08,543
and lower down in the quarry.
532
00:28:10,860 --> 00:28:12,690
But how can we date this ramp,
533
00:28:12,690 --> 00:28:15,080
carved into the rock inside a quarry,
534
00:28:15,080 --> 00:28:18,610
that was used for almost 3,000 years?
535
00:28:18,610 --> 00:28:22,250
How can we be sure that it was used in Khufu's era?
536
00:28:22,250 --> 00:28:24,810
What helps them are the hundreds and hundreds
537
00:28:24,810 --> 00:28:28,120
of inscriptions left there by expedition leaders,
538
00:28:28,120 --> 00:28:32,883
who came all the way here to extract the sacred alabaster.
539
00:28:35,860 --> 00:28:37,250
So let's have a look.
540
00:28:37,250 --> 00:28:39,990
On Khufu's inscriptions.
541
00:28:39,990 --> 00:28:42,150
Roland Enmarch and Yannis Gourdon
542
00:28:42,150 --> 00:28:44,760
are experts in hieroglyphics.
543
00:28:44,760 --> 00:28:47,580
By lifting all the inscriptions in the quarry,
544
00:28:47,580 --> 00:28:51,253
they have identified two cartouches from Pharaoh Khufu.
545
00:28:52,690 --> 00:28:55,640
Even if some of the hieroglyphs have been destroyed,
546
00:28:55,640 --> 00:28:58,293
they can still decipher Khufu's royal name.
547
00:28:59,470 --> 00:29:00,500
Yeah, there's definitely a vase there.
548
00:29:00,500 --> 00:29:01,470
And the quail?
549
00:29:01,470 --> 00:29:03,270
Yes, the quail chick,
550
00:29:03,270 --> 00:29:04,733
and the viper.
551
00:29:04,733 --> 00:29:05,566
Yes.
552
00:29:06,880 --> 00:29:09,390
It is the same signature that has been found
553
00:29:09,390 --> 00:29:11,950
all around the Wadi El Jarf site,
554
00:29:11,950 --> 00:29:14,077
and in Merer's papyri.
555
00:29:18,510 --> 00:29:20,820
Yannis Gourdon, and Roland Enmarch,
556
00:29:20,820 --> 00:29:24,400
decided to dig a trench under a second Khufu cartouche
557
00:29:24,400 --> 00:29:28,870
that's also damaged, to access the bottom of the tow path,
558
00:29:28,870 --> 00:29:30,800
to see if it's possible to link
559
00:29:30,800 --> 00:29:32,733
the Khufu cartouche with the ramp.
560
00:29:35,199 --> 00:29:38,866
(dramatic orchestral music)
561
00:29:52,730 --> 00:29:55,520
A month later, the team has been able to clear
562
00:29:55,520 --> 00:29:57,660
the top of the ramp entirely,
563
00:29:57,660 --> 00:30:00,240
and a large part of the bottom of the quarry,
564
00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:02,353
where the Khufu cartouche is located.
565
00:30:04,550 --> 00:30:06,110
Were they able to find the clues
566
00:30:06,110 --> 00:30:08,053
and information they were looking for?
567
00:30:09,440 --> 00:30:12,140
The amount of rubble and sand deposited here
568
00:30:12,140 --> 00:30:14,460
over the past 2,000 years,
569
00:30:14,460 --> 00:30:16,793
is much greater than they had estimated.
570
00:30:17,900 --> 00:30:22,010
After digging down about 30 feet under the Khufu cartouche,
571
00:30:22,010 --> 00:30:24,360
they have finally reached the base of the ramp.
572
00:30:29,830 --> 00:30:32,290
Yannis and Olivier Lavigne are happy
573
00:30:32,290 --> 00:30:34,820
to find another hole carved into the rock,
574
00:30:34,820 --> 00:30:37,793
that's similar to the one found at the top of the ramp.
575
00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:41,250
Yes, we've got a new structure, here.
576
00:30:41,250 --> 00:30:43,093
Here there are some nice tool marks.
577
00:30:44,370 --> 00:30:47,010
So this means that everything was cut in one go,
578
00:30:47,010 --> 00:30:49,770
in one piece, the wall, then the steps,
579
00:30:49,770 --> 00:30:52,680
and then after, the holes for the poles.
580
00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:55,690
So now the oldest inscriptions on these walls.
581
00:30:55,690 --> 00:30:57,390
Yeah, that's Khufu.
582
00:30:57,390 --> 00:30:59,210
Which means that the whole thing was made
583
00:30:59,210 --> 00:31:01,383
at the latest, during Khufu's era.
584
00:31:02,650 --> 00:31:04,450
Thanks to these discoveries,
585
00:31:04,450 --> 00:31:06,830
they believe that the ramp must have been created
586
00:31:06,830 --> 00:31:09,473
during Khufu's time, or even before.
587
00:31:10,658 --> 00:31:13,991
(soft orchestral music)
588
00:31:17,650 --> 00:31:21,070
And at the top of the ramp, just as they had hoped,
589
00:31:21,070 --> 00:31:23,240
they uncovered more pole holes,
590
00:31:23,240 --> 00:31:24,913
and lots of tool marks.
591
00:31:26,470 --> 00:31:30,720
(softly dramatic orchestral music)
592
00:31:42,290 --> 00:31:44,240
Olivier measured all the tool marks
593
00:31:44,240 --> 00:31:46,190
the workers left in the quarry,
594
00:31:46,190 --> 00:31:47,960
especially on the ramp,
595
00:31:47,960 --> 00:31:50,550
and the holes in walls next to it.
596
00:31:50,550 --> 00:31:52,743
He found the same arcs everywhere.
597
00:31:54,000 --> 00:31:56,680
Here apparently the same teams that arrived on the site
598
00:31:56,680 --> 00:31:59,110
and cut this wall, also carved the steps,
599
00:31:59,110 --> 00:32:01,393
and the holes for the poles, in that order.
600
00:32:03,430 --> 00:32:05,010
In no other quarry
601
00:32:05,010 --> 00:32:07,410
have these types of elements been found.
602
00:32:07,410 --> 00:32:11,290
A ramp at a 20 or 25% grade, or even more,
603
00:32:11,290 --> 00:32:13,330
depending on the location,
604
00:32:13,330 --> 00:32:16,290
and on the sides there are stairs with holes
605
00:32:16,290 --> 00:32:17,453
cut into the rock.
606
00:32:18,380 --> 00:32:20,930
What were these holes used for?
607
00:32:20,930 --> 00:32:23,000
How did this ramp work?
608
00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:24,550
Can it provide new clues
609
00:32:24,550 --> 00:32:26,570
about the construction of the pyramids,
610
00:32:26,570 --> 00:32:28,903
and the ramp system used at the time?
611
00:32:30,600 --> 00:32:33,860
Olivier Lavigne has analyzed all these clues,
612
00:32:33,860 --> 00:32:36,240
and developed a hypothesis.
613
00:32:36,240 --> 00:32:38,420
So here we have a pole hole.
614
00:32:38,420 --> 00:32:39,940
The wall in front of me is vertical,
615
00:32:39,940 --> 00:32:43,880
so the pole was placed here, a large circular pole.
616
00:32:43,880 --> 00:32:46,330
You have to imagine it because it's rather large.
617
00:32:48,070 --> 00:32:50,550
And here we really have a structure that enables,
618
00:32:50,550 --> 00:32:53,190
when a big block gets to the towing path,
619
00:32:53,190 --> 00:32:55,603
to have teams above pulling the block,
620
00:32:56,480 --> 00:33:00,560
and others below with ropes wrapped around the poles here,
621
00:33:00,560 --> 00:33:03,510
and who are able, pulling like this,
622
00:33:03,510 --> 00:33:05,313
to make the block go up again.
623
00:33:07,580 --> 00:33:10,420
They take the ropes and pull towards the bottom,
624
00:33:10,420 --> 00:33:12,893
and that's what actually makes the block move up.
625
00:33:15,990 --> 00:33:18,380
Behind here there's a big structure,
626
00:33:18,380 --> 00:33:20,360
a crossbar that goes here,
627
00:33:20,360 --> 00:33:22,630
that ties, that dovetails the pole
628
00:33:22,630 --> 00:33:25,400
to wedge it just behind, because behind here,
629
00:33:25,400 --> 00:33:27,023
the hole is a little slanted.
630
00:33:28,510 --> 00:33:30,040
It's not easy to make a vertical hole
631
00:33:30,040 --> 00:33:31,160
with this kind of tool,
632
00:33:31,160 --> 00:33:33,950
and there's another hole here that makes a strut,
633
00:33:33,950 --> 00:33:35,860
and arrives here in the upper part,
634
00:33:35,860 --> 00:33:37,700
which supports the upper part of the pole
635
00:33:37,700 --> 00:33:39,163
to prevent it from tilting.
636
00:33:42,330 --> 00:33:45,520
Here you need a log, a tree trunk that's very smooth,
637
00:33:45,520 --> 00:33:46,910
and quite circular,
638
00:33:46,910 --> 00:33:49,403
so that the rope can easily slide around it.
639
00:33:50,686 --> 00:33:53,330
The would have used mud, silt from the Nile,
640
00:33:53,330 --> 00:33:55,900
to lubricate the ramp and slide the block,
641
00:33:55,900 --> 00:33:58,433
eliminating friction as much as possible.
642
00:34:00,060 --> 00:34:01,560
They could move very large blocks
643
00:34:01,560 --> 00:34:02,833
up this tow path.
644
00:34:03,770 --> 00:34:05,950
There's a story about a 58 ton colossus
645
00:34:05,950 --> 00:34:09,060
that came out of an alabaster quarry like this one,
646
00:34:09,060 --> 00:34:11,010
and that could have been possible here.
647
00:34:11,900 --> 00:34:13,840
So as the block advanced,
648
00:34:13,840 --> 00:34:16,000
the teams above would have positioned
649
00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:18,980
the ropes ahead of time, on the next poles,
650
00:34:18,980 --> 00:34:20,840
so that the block would have moved forward
651
00:34:20,840 --> 00:34:22,423
as smoothly as possible.
652
00:34:23,525 --> 00:34:27,192
(dramatic orchestral music)
653
00:34:35,410 --> 00:34:37,900
According to Olivier, this ramp system
654
00:34:37,900 --> 00:34:40,403
could have been adapted to the pyramid of Khufu.
655
00:34:42,511 --> 00:34:46,730
(dramatic orchestral music)
656
00:34:46,730 --> 00:34:49,520
But a ramp on a pyramid was not rock,
657
00:34:49,520 --> 00:34:51,723
it was built with gravel and bricks.
658
00:34:56,820 --> 00:34:59,400
So they had to secure and stabilize the space
659
00:34:59,400 --> 00:35:03,520
between the poles, using wooden crossbars inside the ramp,
660
00:35:03,520 --> 00:35:04,823
and also above it.
661
00:35:06,776 --> 00:35:09,093
But is this system feasible?
662
00:35:11,650 --> 00:35:15,720
This hypothesis needs to be tested under real conditions,
663
00:35:15,720 --> 00:35:16,783
to know for sure.
664
00:35:25,737 --> 00:35:27,060
Of all the pyramids,
665
00:35:27,060 --> 00:35:29,810
Khufu's is the most difficult to decipher,
666
00:35:29,810 --> 00:35:32,910
because its interior architecture is unique.
667
00:35:32,910 --> 00:35:36,183
It raises questions that can't be found anywhere else.
668
00:35:45,080 --> 00:35:48,210
The immensity and ceiling height of the grand gallery
669
00:35:48,210 --> 00:35:50,623
is a mystery in and of itself.
670
00:35:55,350 --> 00:35:58,730
But the most surprising of all, is the King's Chamber,
671
00:35:58,730 --> 00:36:00,960
built with huge granite blocks,
672
00:36:00,960 --> 00:36:03,663
some of which weigh up to 70 tons.
673
00:36:07,340 --> 00:36:09,310
It is the only pyramid that has
674
00:36:09,310 --> 00:36:11,790
this kind of interior burial chamber,
675
00:36:11,790 --> 00:36:16,453
that's located so high up, at 140 feet from the ground.
676
00:36:18,430 --> 00:36:20,200
How did they manage to extract
677
00:36:20,200 --> 00:36:22,763
and cut these blocks so perfectly?
678
00:36:24,160 --> 00:36:26,540
Can you see the chisel marks of the stonemasons
679
00:36:26,540 --> 00:36:27,913
who made the sarcophagus?
680
00:36:29,840 --> 00:36:32,460
Yes, of course, there are several there.
681
00:36:32,460 --> 00:36:34,620
Look here, you can really see them.
682
00:36:34,620 --> 00:36:37,130
What tools and techniques did they use
683
00:36:37,130 --> 00:36:40,793
to shape these angles that are so geometrically perfect?
684
00:36:42,960 --> 00:36:47,670
Part of the answer can be found 620 miles from the pyramids,
685
00:36:47,670 --> 00:36:50,493
in southern Egypt, in the city of Aswan.
686
00:36:54,830 --> 00:36:58,370
The old granite quarries used during the Pharaonic period
687
00:36:58,370 --> 00:37:00,793
are located here on the banks of the Nile.
688
00:37:05,570 --> 00:37:07,320
Some blocks were never finished
689
00:37:07,320 --> 00:37:09,100
and extracted from the quarry,
690
00:37:09,100 --> 00:37:11,053
because they were so gigantic.
691
00:37:13,290 --> 00:37:15,460
The most famous of these monuments
692
00:37:15,460 --> 00:37:17,963
is the unfinished obelisk in Aswan.
693
00:37:19,600 --> 00:37:23,710
This giant stone is 137 feet long,
694
00:37:23,710 --> 00:37:26,133
and weighs about 1,200 tons.
695
00:37:27,340 --> 00:37:29,740
It is believed that they stopped working on it,
696
00:37:29,740 --> 00:37:33,390
because a crack appeared during the extraction process.
697
00:37:33,390 --> 00:37:37,010
These unfinished monuments give astonishing testimony
698
00:37:37,010 --> 00:37:40,780
about ancient Egyptians' stone carving techniques.
699
00:37:40,780 --> 00:37:43,450
They reveal some secrets, like how the masons
700
00:37:43,450 --> 00:37:46,440
were able to work the stone using other stones,
701
00:37:46,440 --> 00:37:48,253
that are even harder than granite.
702
00:37:49,799 --> 00:37:52,049
It's so amazing, the work that's been done.
703
00:37:53,260 --> 00:37:54,890
To extract the obelisk,
704
00:37:54,890 --> 00:37:56,820
you can see the trench that they had to create
705
00:37:56,820 --> 00:38:00,680
with balls of dolerite, which is a relatively hard stone.
706
00:38:00,680 --> 00:38:02,400
It is magmatic rock,
707
00:38:02,400 --> 00:38:04,190
and it is the only tool they had
708
00:38:04,190 --> 00:38:05,973
at their disposal to cut granite.
709
00:38:10,200 --> 00:38:11,670
It's really incredible.
710
00:38:11,670 --> 00:38:14,160
Here, there are the same vertical trenches
711
00:38:14,160 --> 00:38:15,590
as for the obelisk,
712
00:38:15,590 --> 00:38:18,780
but what we have in addition are horizontal trenches
713
00:38:18,780 --> 00:38:21,563
that were used to remove the block, visible here.
714
00:38:24,090 --> 00:38:24,923
It's crazy.
715
00:38:32,890 --> 00:38:35,360
It's very, very uncomfortable.
716
00:38:35,360 --> 00:38:37,710
I think they must have sat down instead.
717
00:38:37,710 --> 00:38:40,573
They were flexible, flexible and small, I think.
718
00:38:42,322 --> 00:38:43,370
So the dolerite balls
719
00:38:43,370 --> 00:38:45,840
were used to extract the granite.
720
00:38:45,840 --> 00:38:47,030
But how did they manage
721
00:38:47,030 --> 00:38:49,740
to make right angles and perfect edges?
722
00:38:49,740 --> 00:38:52,820
Since it is impossible to do experimental archeology
723
00:38:52,820 --> 00:38:54,210
on this historic site,
724
00:38:54,210 --> 00:38:57,753
Franck has decided to launch a new experiment in Cairo.
725
00:39:03,446 --> 00:39:05,613
(tapping)
726
00:39:08,700 --> 00:39:12,660
Sculptor Nathan Doss, and his student, Islam El Sharqawi,
727
00:39:12,660 --> 00:39:15,963
are used to sculpting granite, using modern techniques.
728
00:39:17,300 --> 00:39:19,820
But they have always wondered how their ancestors
729
00:39:19,820 --> 00:39:22,793
carved this hard rock without iron tools.
730
00:39:24,730 --> 00:39:27,253
This test is a challenge for them.
731
00:39:28,190 --> 00:39:30,240
After a few minutes striking the stone
732
00:39:30,240 --> 00:39:31,830
with the dolerite balls,
733
00:39:31,830 --> 00:39:35,093
they have already loosened a large amount of granite dust.
734
00:39:41,590 --> 00:39:43,920
But for Franck, the real challenge
735
00:39:43,920 --> 00:39:46,770
is not to prove the dolerite's effectiveness.
736
00:39:46,770 --> 00:39:49,160
He has no doubt about that.
737
00:39:49,160 --> 00:39:50,830
What he would like to test,
738
00:39:50,830 --> 00:39:52,690
is how to make perfect angles,
739
00:39:52,690 --> 00:39:56,093
like in the King's Chamber, without steel tools.
740
00:39:57,300 --> 00:39:58,890
If we hit the edge of the ridge
741
00:39:58,890 --> 00:40:01,060
with dolerite balls like this,
742
00:40:01,060 --> 00:40:02,160
we'll break the ridge.
743
00:40:03,652 --> 00:40:06,485
(soft jazz music)
744
00:40:07,430 --> 00:40:09,740
According to Franck and other researchers,
745
00:40:09,740 --> 00:40:11,850
who experimented before him,
746
00:40:11,850 --> 00:40:15,470
the perfect recipe is to use an abrasive paste,
747
00:40:15,470 --> 00:40:18,830
composed of Nile silt and emery powder.
748
00:40:18,830 --> 00:40:20,630
Emery is one of the only rocks
749
00:40:20,630 --> 00:40:22,870
that is much harder than granite.
750
00:40:22,870 --> 00:40:26,223
When emery powder is applied with a single copper blade,
751
00:40:27,830 --> 00:40:30,260
it can actually saw the granite.
752
00:40:35,704 --> 00:40:37,787
Okay, do you hear that?
753
00:40:40,190 --> 00:40:41,573
That sound means it's good.
754
00:40:45,210 --> 00:40:46,627
Okay, needs to switch?
755
00:40:47,970 --> 00:40:49,130
You just have to be
756
00:40:49,130 --> 00:40:51,900
very, very, very patient.
757
00:41:07,828 --> 00:41:09,030
Five millimeters.
758
00:41:09,030 --> 00:41:09,863
Really?
759
00:41:13,930 --> 00:41:14,763
Not bad.
760
00:41:15,620 --> 00:41:17,650
We got to a fifth of an inch.
761
00:41:17,650 --> 00:41:19,360
I think we sawed for 25 minutes
762
00:41:19,360 --> 00:41:21,450
to get to a fifth of an inch depth,
763
00:41:21,450 --> 00:41:22,793
but over a short length.
764
00:41:25,349 --> 00:41:28,349
With a longer length, I think it would take a little longer.
765
00:41:32,510 --> 00:41:34,750
For three days, Nathan, Islam,
766
00:41:34,750 --> 00:41:37,520
and two workers, will level two sides of the block,
767
00:41:37,520 --> 00:41:41,500
removing between 1.5 and two inches of their surfaces,
768
00:41:41,500 --> 00:41:42,920
with dolerite balls.
769
00:41:42,920 --> 00:41:45,700
Then, they will start sawing on two sides,
770
00:41:45,700 --> 00:41:48,143
to prepare the cutting of a perfect edge.
771
00:41:51,475 --> 00:41:53,892
(dark music)
772
00:41:57,853 --> 00:41:58,780
In Wadi El Jarf, the mission is coming to a close,
773
00:42:01,450 --> 00:42:04,280
but Franck would like to try to move the limestone block
774
00:42:04,280 --> 00:42:06,853
he cut the year before, to the camp.
775
00:42:09,740 --> 00:42:11,900
To best prepare the experiment,
776
00:42:11,900 --> 00:42:15,650
the workers remove the stones, level the surface,
777
00:42:15,650 --> 00:42:18,423
and smooth the tow path as much as possible.
778
00:42:25,030 --> 00:42:26,770
In a symbolic gesture,
779
00:42:26,770 --> 00:42:28,760
Pierre draws the Khufu cartouche,
780
00:42:28,760 --> 00:42:31,250
and the name of a team similar to Merer's,
781
00:42:31,250 --> 00:42:33,700
whose marks he found on several blocks,
782
00:42:33,700 --> 00:42:34,800
walking the galleries.
783
00:42:37,873 --> 00:42:40,560
Darn, we're not enough, we need more guys.
784
00:42:40,560 --> 00:42:41,890
Under the old blocks,
785
00:42:41,890 --> 00:42:44,810
locking the galleries at Wadi El Jarf,
786
00:42:44,810 --> 00:42:49,200
archeologists found only timber, but no sleds.
787
00:42:49,200 --> 00:42:52,110
Franck therefore, starts with this technique.
788
00:42:52,110 --> 00:42:55,170
His method is to go from the simplest technique,
789
00:42:55,170 --> 00:42:56,743
to the most complicated.
790
00:43:09,960 --> 00:43:11,160
Come on, all together!
791
00:43:13,906 --> 00:43:15,990
(in foreign language)
792
00:43:15,990 --> 00:43:17,380
Look at the path.
793
00:43:17,380 --> 00:43:19,713
It's not good, the wood is slowing us down.
794
00:43:22,770 --> 00:43:24,560
The sand between the stone and the wood
795
00:43:24,560 --> 00:43:26,530
serves to make the stone slide,
796
00:43:26,530 --> 00:43:27,650
to reduce the friction
797
00:43:27,650 --> 00:43:29,850
between the stone and the wood a little bit.
798
00:43:32,830 --> 00:43:34,080
All together, yes!
799
00:43:35,207 --> 00:43:36,040
Yes!
800
00:43:40,200 --> 00:43:41,370
Stop, stop, stop.
801
00:43:41,370 --> 00:43:42,323
Wait, wait.
802
00:43:44,490 --> 00:43:45,950
It's not doing what we want,
803
00:43:45,950 --> 00:43:47,720
and I'm really annoyed.
804
00:43:47,720 --> 00:43:50,300
We don't have the right method, it's not smooth.
805
00:43:50,300 --> 00:43:52,830
And yet, we're on the steepest slope.
806
00:43:52,830 --> 00:43:54,430
We've got to got several hundred yards
807
00:43:54,430 --> 00:43:56,490
to get it where we want it.
808
00:43:56,490 --> 00:43:58,840
Several hundred yards wetting the clay,
809
00:43:58,840 --> 00:44:02,230
all for a fairly mediocre block for a mediocre structure,
810
00:44:02,230 --> 00:44:03,980
I don't think they did it this way.
811
00:44:06,840 --> 00:44:09,790
Maybe we should try moving it with a sled.
812
00:44:09,790 --> 00:44:12,740
Even a rudimentary one, because for the moment,
813
00:44:12,740 --> 00:44:15,040
the block looks like it's stuck to the planks.
814
00:44:18,210 --> 00:44:20,300
I don't know, I just see
815
00:44:20,300 --> 00:44:22,700
that it's a lot of effort for too little return.
816
00:44:26,410 --> 00:44:27,513
We'll see tomorrow.
817
00:44:30,360 --> 00:44:31,910
We'll think about it, together.
818
00:44:32,960 --> 00:44:33,793
And we'll see.
819
00:44:39,156 --> 00:44:42,489
(dark electronic music)
820
00:44:46,350 --> 00:44:49,210
In one day, with 33 workers,
821
00:44:49,210 --> 00:44:51,740
the block only moved 50 yards,
822
00:44:51,740 --> 00:44:54,203
on a 25% downward slope.
823
00:44:57,620 --> 00:45:00,400
Franck has only one more day.
824
00:45:00,400 --> 00:45:02,493
How can he save the situation?
825
00:45:03,857 --> 00:45:05,940
(sawing)
826
00:45:14,810 --> 00:45:18,163
The decision is made to quickly build a makeshift sled.
827
00:45:23,000 --> 00:45:24,680
Wood against wood,
828
00:45:24,680 --> 00:45:27,093
the block suddenly moves much faster.
829
00:45:30,880 --> 00:45:32,603
It's moving much better now.
830
00:45:34,370 --> 00:45:36,470
We just started from there 10 minutes ago.
831
00:45:40,150 --> 00:45:42,240
New test, they try to replace
832
00:45:42,240 --> 00:45:44,220
the sand with wet clay.
833
00:45:44,220 --> 00:45:45,053
So?
834
00:45:46,257 --> 00:45:48,840
(men chanting)
835
00:45:49,808 --> 00:45:51,208
Look, the sled's not moving.
836
00:45:52,150 --> 00:45:53,194
And so?
837
00:45:53,194 --> 00:45:54,144
Well, it's stuck.
838
00:45:55,870 --> 00:45:57,120
When you put a little wet clay
839
00:45:57,120 --> 00:45:58,980
that is supposed to lubricate the system,
840
00:45:58,980 --> 00:46:00,153
the block stops moving.
841
00:46:04,346 --> 00:46:07,513
(in foreign language)
842
00:46:11,182 --> 00:46:15,349
So they go back to the sand solution.
843
00:46:16,480 --> 00:46:18,690
As the experience progresses,
844
00:46:18,690 --> 00:46:20,297
workers learn to work together,
845
00:46:20,297 --> 00:46:22,363
and are more and more efficient.
846
00:46:23,372 --> 00:46:25,955
(men chanting)
847
00:46:31,280 --> 00:46:33,910
They reach the camp at the end of the afternoon,
848
00:46:33,910 --> 00:46:36,203
300 yards from their starting point.
849
00:46:37,988 --> 00:46:41,571
(men yelling and chanting)
850
00:47:02,822 --> 00:47:04,870
Next year, Franck wants to come back
851
00:47:04,870 --> 00:47:08,680
with a real sled and do more tests with purer clay,
852
00:47:08,680 --> 00:47:11,800
and also try to pave the path with some pebbles,
853
00:47:11,800 --> 00:47:14,523
whose marks they spotted near the ancient quarry.
854
00:47:19,090 --> 00:47:20,830
He would also like to do tests
855
00:47:20,830 --> 00:47:23,433
where the block has to go up a slope.
856
00:47:26,975 --> 00:47:28,870
But what can we understand from this first
857
00:47:28,870 --> 00:47:30,520
archeological experiment,
858
00:47:30,520 --> 00:47:33,373
concerning the construction of the Khufu pyramid?
859
00:47:35,290 --> 00:47:38,170
To make a connection with the Great Pyramid,
860
00:47:38,170 --> 00:47:40,900
I think we can expect 35 yards per hour,
861
00:47:40,900 --> 00:47:42,333
for a block of this size.
862
00:47:43,839 --> 00:47:46,139
That might be the most pessimistic estimation.
863
00:47:47,450 --> 00:47:49,300
I think they were more experienced,
864
00:47:49,300 --> 00:47:51,180
they had a much more functional technique
865
00:47:51,180 --> 00:47:53,730
that certainly allowed them to go faster than that.
866
00:47:58,830 --> 00:48:00,700
Before leaving for France,
867
00:48:00,700 --> 00:48:02,300
Franck returns to Cairo,
868
00:48:02,300 --> 00:48:05,000
to the workshop of the Egyptian sculptors,
869
00:48:05,000 --> 00:48:08,123
just as the edge begins to emerge from the block.
870
00:48:10,140 --> 00:48:12,160
For this delicate operation,
871
00:48:12,160 --> 00:48:14,340
Nathan decided to use flint tools,
872
00:48:14,340 --> 00:48:16,840
rather than dolerite balls that are too big,
873
00:48:16,840 --> 00:48:20,163
and therefore, less precise for this finishing work.
874
00:48:30,620 --> 00:48:32,930
They manage to make a perfect angle
875
00:48:32,930 --> 00:48:35,930
with the tools available in Khufu's era.
876
00:48:35,930 --> 00:48:38,550
Dolerite balls, a copper blade,
877
00:48:38,550 --> 00:48:41,013
an abrasive emery paste, and flint.
878
00:48:47,337 --> 00:48:49,587
(laughing)
879
00:48:54,336 --> 00:48:57,503
(in foreign language)
880
00:49:00,209 --> 00:49:02,450
I always read about the ancient techniques,
881
00:49:02,450 --> 00:49:04,860
something that worried me a lot,
882
00:49:04,860 --> 00:49:07,600
since I'm a sculptor so,
883
00:49:07,600 --> 00:49:09,150
to be able to do with yourself,
884
00:49:10,810 --> 00:49:11,977
that's something.
885
00:49:14,890 --> 00:49:16,930
Experimental archeology
886
00:49:16,930 --> 00:49:19,050
really allows us to better understand
887
00:49:19,050 --> 00:49:23,780
the movements and techniques used by ancient Egyptians.
888
00:49:23,780 --> 00:49:27,330
Franck's experiments showed that they probably used water
889
00:49:27,330 --> 00:49:30,000
to cut the two million blocks of limestone
890
00:49:30,000 --> 00:49:33,100
that make up the Great Pyramid of Khufu.
891
00:49:33,100 --> 00:49:35,250
Otherwise, they would not have been able
892
00:49:35,250 --> 00:49:38,920
to cut so many blocks in less than 27 years,
893
00:49:38,920 --> 00:49:40,423
with copper tools.
894
00:49:43,410 --> 00:49:45,930
With this method, they would have extracted
895
00:49:45,930 --> 00:49:48,700
as much rubble and unusable material
896
00:49:48,700 --> 00:49:50,530
as they did cut stones,
897
00:49:50,530 --> 00:49:53,220
which would have allowed them to build ramps easily,
898
00:49:53,220 --> 00:49:55,320
and be able to transport the blocks
899
00:49:55,320 --> 00:49:58,013
up to a height of 480 feet.
900
00:50:02,010 --> 00:50:04,360
Hatnub's ramp indicates that they could pull
901
00:50:04,360 --> 00:50:08,540
large blocks on ramps at grades over 20%,
902
00:50:08,540 --> 00:50:12,183
not just 12% maximum, as previously thought.
903
00:50:16,360 --> 00:50:18,720
They used wood, wooden sleds,
904
00:50:18,720 --> 00:50:22,723
perhaps moistened silt, and maybe sand, to reduce friction.
905
00:50:26,830 --> 00:50:29,440
Many major archeological experiments
906
00:50:29,440 --> 00:50:31,110
still need to be carried out
907
00:50:31,110 --> 00:50:33,600
to try to get a clearer picture.
908
00:50:33,600 --> 00:50:36,760
These tests require long preparation and training
909
00:50:36,760 --> 00:50:38,203
for the teams involved,
910
00:50:39,410 --> 00:50:43,193
because again, the devil is always in the details.
911
00:50:50,910 --> 00:50:53,390
Thanks to decades of archeological work
912
00:50:53,390 --> 00:50:55,220
done on the Giza Plateau,
913
00:50:55,220 --> 00:50:57,950
confirmed by Pierre Tallet's discoveries,
914
00:50:57,950 --> 00:51:01,410
it has become possible to reconstruct the Giza Plateau,
915
00:51:01,410 --> 00:51:03,310
and the workers' daily lives,
916
00:51:03,310 --> 00:51:05,953
during the construction of the Khufu pyramid.
917
00:51:07,320 --> 00:51:09,580
We know where the pools and canals,
918
00:51:09,580 --> 00:51:13,340
specially built to carry the materials, were located.
919
00:51:13,340 --> 00:51:14,840
And where the Khufu palace,
920
00:51:14,840 --> 00:51:17,323
and the royal archives, probably stood.
921
00:51:19,210 --> 00:51:20,700
To build the pyramids,
922
00:51:20,700 --> 00:51:22,160
these exceptional builders
923
00:51:22,160 --> 00:51:25,340
also had to create a strong centralized state,
924
00:51:25,340 --> 00:51:27,690
where everything was planned and organized
925
00:51:27,690 --> 00:51:29,493
down to the smallest detail.
926
00:51:30,480 --> 00:51:32,920
The wood that was essential to construct boats
927
00:51:32,920 --> 00:51:34,510
was brought from Lebanon.
928
00:51:34,510 --> 00:51:37,720
The copper ore to build the tools came from Sinai.
929
00:51:37,720 --> 00:51:40,010
The granite was carved in Aswan,
930
00:51:40,010 --> 00:51:41,860
and transported along the Nile
931
00:51:41,860 --> 00:51:44,650
to the construction site on the Giza Plateau,
932
00:51:44,650 --> 00:51:46,340
as were the stones from Tura.
933
00:51:50,420 --> 00:51:51,930
Without the pyramids,
934
00:51:51,930 --> 00:51:54,030
perhaps ancient Egypt would not have become
935
00:51:54,030 --> 00:51:56,490
the great civilization it was,
936
00:51:56,490 --> 00:51:58,930
a reference, an inspiration,
937
00:51:58,930 --> 00:52:00,800
that has spanned the centuries
938
00:52:00,800 --> 00:52:03,543
and that still challenges our thinking today.
939
00:52:05,181 --> 00:52:08,931
(dramatic orchestral music)
71654
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