All language subtitles for Unearthed Series 7Special Seven Wonders of Egypt 1080p

Narrator: An undiscovered void
deep inside the great pyramid.

Tantalizing new evidence
of lost tombs

in the valley of the kings.

Egypt's greatest monuments
conceal many unsolved mysteries.

Today, investigators use
pioneering 3-d modeling...

The feat of engineering here
is just astronomical.

You can see the size of it.

Narrator:
...Forensic analysis...

Lehner: There's no smoking gun.

There's no signature
left on the sphinx.

But there are clues.

Narrator:
...And sheer brute force

to make new discoveries about
egypt's seven greatest wonders.

Man: The ancient egyptians
took what they had

and used it ingeniously.

Narrator: These seven iconic
megastructures

set the benchmark
for human ingenuity.

How do the pharaohs of egypt
build these superstructures

without the tools and machines
we take for granted today?

What drives them to build
on a scale never seen before?

Now we reveal
how the powerful kings

kick-start humanity's obsession
with colossal engineering...

...To build the seven wonders
of ancient egypt.

-- Captions by vitac --
www.Vitac.Com

captions paid for by
discovery communications

the seven wonders
of the ancient world.

The must-see most spectacular
monuments in antiquity.

One structure on the list
stands out.

The great pyramid of giza,

the oldest and most colossal.

Created by an extraordinary
civilization,

the ancient egyptians.

The great pyramid is
the extraordinary legacy

of the powerful pharaoh khufu.

Even today, khufu's monster tomb
keeps giving up its secrets.

Advanced scanning using
subatomic particles

reveals a huge void
in the heart of the pyramid,

right next to the pharaoh's
burial chamber...

Undiscovered for 4,500 years.

♪

a secret room longer than
four city busses

is testament
to the enduring mystery

and massive scale of
khufu's great pyramid

and a stunning new discovery.

The mighty pharaohs of egypt
and their engineers

are the masters
of building big.

But why do the pharaohs commit

the resources of an entire
empire to these monuments?

Rising out of the desert
on the edge of cairo,

the great pyramid of giza
stands at over 450 feet tall.

Built around 2,500 b.C., it is
the tallest structure on earth

for more than three
and a half thousand years.

Khufu hopes his colossal tomb
protects his mummified body

until the very end of time.

The ancient egyptians believe
the body is needed for the soul

to reach the underworld
and gain eternal life.

Archeologist mark lehner
has studied this monument

for over 40 years.

Well, the whole pyramid
was about this place

and this sarcophagus.

Narrator: The intricately carved
sarcophagus holds khufu's mummy.

The rest of the king's chamber
is filled

with treasures
of unimaginable wealth,

placed alongside
everyday objects like chairs,

bread, and beer --

everything a pharaoh needs
to live in the afterlife.

But this instantly makes it
a target for grave robbers

from the moment
the pharaoh is sealed inside.

How do khufu's engineers protect
the pharaoh and his treasure?

♪

solid walls 260 feet thick
surround the chambers,

leaving the passageways
as the weak link.

So at the king's chamber,

workers carve out
a set of grooves

just outside the entrance

and fit three
massive granite slabs

which workers drop down

once the king's mummy
is safely inside.

To block the entrance
to the passageways below,

they fit three even
bigger granite blocks

and cut off access
to the inner sanctum.

Then they completely conceal
the entrance

under a seamless layer
of limestone.

The builders hope that these
three layers of defense

will keep robbers out.

Outside the king's chamber,

the granite slabs
are missing today.

But mark finds grooves
which once held ropes

to lower the blocks.

So the ropes came up and down

through these
semicircular grooves.

The portcullis slab slid
down through these panels.

So the whole thing was like
a primitive machine

that the builders
who closed the pyramid

could put into action from the
other side after they got out.

Narrator:
Khufu hopes when he dies,

his mummified body will
lie undisturbed for eternity,

allowing it to reunite
with his soul,

giving him immortality
in the afterlife.

His pyramid is the ultimate
resurrection machine.

A structure made from over
two million solid stone blocks

assembled with
breathtaking precision,

many weighing more than a car.

Narrow hidden tunnels
lead to two massive chambers...

Designed to withstand
huge weights from above.

The ultimate resting place
for a pharaoh's body.

How do the ancients build

this six-million ton
immortal monument

in the sands
of the egyptian desert?

♪

mark knows that when the
pharaoh khufu orders engineers

to build the largest
pyramid ever,

he sets the ultimate deadline.

They have to finish
before the death of the king.

The engineer had his life
and reputation on the line

in order to complete the pyramid
within the king's lifetime.

It was long thought that khufu
ruled for 23 years.

Recently,
new findings of dates suggest

khufu might have reigned
maybe 30-some years, maybe 35.

So it gives them
a little more leeway.

Narrator: Khufu sets
the challenge and the deadline.

The big mystery
is how do builders ensure

that the massive monument
is complete in time?

Quarrying expert adel kelany
and a team of master stonemasons

is trying
to answer this question.

They need to square off
a limestone block

to restore a wall
near the pyramid.

First, they must split
a rough limestone block in half

using modern steel tools.

Striking the rock
in the right place

should make it crack.

Man: Oops.

The rock is split,

but it's tough going
for the tools.

Seeing how hard it is
to square off a block

with modern tools
highlights the challenges.

Experts think it might take
five workers up to half a day

to square off
and shape each block

so it fits perfectly
next to another.

Making every single block
in the pyramid

this accurate in the time
they have seems impossible.

So how do the egyptians do it?

Mark lehner believes
the pyramid builders

find a shortcut
to speed up construction.

Lehner: I think it would have
been well nigh impossible

to build the whole pyramid
with regular, squared,

nicely fitted blocks.

Narrator: The blocks inside
the pyramid look very different

from those
that make up the outside.

Higher up in the pyramid
and deeper in,

look at this joint
between two stones.

Now it's a good six inches
to eight inches wide

and just stuffed
with big globs of mortar

and smaller limestone pieces.

Narrator: Mark thinks that
the pyramid builders

used this technique
deliberately.

The only way the egyptians
build something so large

so quick is to cheat.

Using rough blocks significantly
speeds up the process.

Khufu hopes his great pyramid
will ensure his eternal life.

It's a wonder that is still
giving up its mysteries

and is so spectacular,

it remains unmatched
to this day.

This monster tomb
is an incredible feat

of ancient engineering.

How do the king's builders
get the hastily carved stones

450 feet in the air
using no lifting equipment?

And later,

new research is revealing
how the valley of the kings

could be concealing the next
great archeological discovery.

Narrator:
The great pyramid of giza,

the most celebrated wonder
of the ancient world.

An attempt at immortality
by the powerful pharaoh khufu.

A tomb so large no other
building surpasses it in scale

for over 3,000 years.

To build on such
an unprecedented scale,

the engineers cut and lay
more than 200 blocks a day.

The blocks on the exterior
are cut with such precision

you can barely fit a hair
in between them.

But just a few layers
further in, things change.

Here, the builders cut corners,

leaving huge gaps
between stones.

Every block of this
monster building requires

an army of workers
to set it in place --

evidence of khufu's
incredible power.

♪

how does the pharaoh's workforce

raise the tallest building
in the world

using no machines at all?

Experts think that
ancient egyptians haul stones

using wooden sledges and rope.

But the big riddle
is how they drag tons of stone

and sledge all the way
up the pyramid.

Just 76 yards from the pyramid,

mark lehner finds evidence
that points to a solution.

Lehner: So here, just off
the southwest corner

of the khufu pyramid,

we have the foundations
of a ramp that still remains

that the egyptians used to make
this large stone tomb.

Narrator: Dragging a large block
of a shallow ramp

like this isn't a problem.

But then turn your imagination
to a straight-on ramp

that's sloped all the way up

to the top
of the great pyramid of khufu.

Narrator: Could ancient builders
use ramps

soaring up to this height?

A ramp works well
for the lower levels.

But as the pyramid rises,
the slope gets too steep.

To keep the ramp shallow,

it would need to be over
half a mile long

and have as much building
material as the pyramid itself.

So one theory is the egyptians
use a shallow ramp

until two-thirds of all blocks
are in the base.

Then they build
a narrow spiral ramp

up around the edge
of the pyramid

to lift blocks
all the way to the top

without making their ramp
too steep.

Lehner: How do you build a ramp?

This ancient ramp shows us.

You build two retaining walls
of larger stones

and then infill with
the material

that must have been
everywhere at giza --

debris of stonecutting
and quarrying.

Narrator: 20,000 workers
build khufu's massive tomb

to protect
the mighty pharaoh's mummy

and give him hope
of eternal life.

♪

unfortunately for the king,

his formidable defenses
aren't enough.

No mummy or treasures have ever
been found in the great pyramid.

So tomb raiders
must have broken in.

The mystery is where?

Mark and engineer glen dash
investigate

how the robbers
carry out the heist.

So, glen, if you're gonna
get into the pyramid

when it was complete,

and you want to get in
from the original entrance,

this is it.

The casing stones that once
hid this entrance are long gone.

And today, a metal
grille secures it.

The pyramid builders'
efforts to hide

and perhaps fortify
this entrance seem to work.

Because robbers instead
begin tunneling in

from a little lower down.

Lehner: So the story goes that
they started on the center axis

of the pyramid

thinking that's where
the passages would be.

And they heated the rock,
the limestone,

and then poured cold water
or even vinegar,

the story goes,
to crack it

and gradually force their way
into the pyramid

along this tunnel.

Narrator: Only 30 feet below
the concealed entrance,

the raiders break through
the casing stone

and start tunneling.

After carving through

almost 100 feet
of limestone blocks,

they hit the first
granite blocking slabs

and dig around them
to reach the ascending passage.

Then they have a clean run
to the king's chamber,

only to face the final hurdle --

the second set of granite slabs

the pharaoh's engineers
have dropped in.

The evidence suggests
they break through the barrier

to reach the jackpot.

♪

mark thinks the accuracy
of the robbers' tunnel

is almost too good
to be just a lucky break.

It always seemed to me
that somebody,

whoever made this tunnel,

knew exactly where to turn
to get around the blocks,

the granite plugging blocks.

Whoever did this almost knew
where to turn.

Narrator: This inside
information may help the raiders

crack the defenses
of the great pyramid.

But the real treasure
is impossible to steal --

the building itself.

Khufu's immense ambition
and power

means the oldest and largest
wonder of ancient egypt

still stands today.

The great pyramid might be
the most iconic structure

of this extraordinary
civilization.

The second wonder, the sphinx,
is equally as recognizable.

And later, is egypt's
most beguiling queen

hidden in the valley
of the kings?

♪

narrator: The seven wonders
of ancient egypt

are colossal symbols
of the power

and wealth of the pharaohs.

Their obsession
with attaining eternal life

creates monuments rising
out of the harsh landscape

on a scale
never witnessed before.

Standing a short distance
from khufu's enormous tomb

is ancient egypt's
second wonder,

the sphinx.

One of the largest sculptures
ever created.

Built around 4,500 years ago,

an instantly identifiable icon
of this celebrated civilization.

Ancient stonemasons carved
the wonder directly

from the limestone bedrock.

But the enigmatic sphinx
is still shrouded in mystery.

Unlike almost every other
egyptian monument,

there are no
hieroglyphic inscriptions

proclaiming the name
of the pharaoh who builds it.

♪

the head of the sphinx
is bigger

than the head
of the statue of liberty.

It's carved from
layers of ancient limestone

and towers 65 feet above
the desert sand.

It has a massive body

as long as a jumbo jet.

And under hundreds
of protective limestone tiles...

♪

its gigantic paws stretch out
longer than a dumper truck.

♪

the identity of who carves
this masterpiece

is one of the most enduring
debates in egyptology.

Whose face tops the most
recognizable statue

in ancient egypt?

Surprisingly,
the steep-sided hollow

that the sphinx sits in
offers the best clue.

Egyptologist mark lehner

believes the egyptians dig down
to create the sphinx,

removing thousands
of tons of stone

to shape the statue's
massive body.

Today, the steep-sided pit walls
that surround the sphinx

still bear the ancient scars
of this mammoth excavation.

Lehner: You have to imagine
what it looked like.

This entire volume of quarry
was being worked.

Blocks were being taken away
in the form of massive stones

100 tons in weight.

Narrator: Mark believes finding
these quarried stones

is the key to revealing
who builds the sphinx.

He suspects the blocks
don't go far.

These ruins that sit
at the paws of the sphinx

are once-lavish temples built
by the great pharaoh khafra.

Mark is convinced the same
pharaoh creates both the sphinx

and the temples
at the same time.

I think they must have taken
the stones from the quarry

that made the sphinx and moved
them directly to the front

for making the temple.

Narrator: Mark works with
fossil expert richard redding

to search for
geological signatures

hidden within
the stone blocks.

The thickness of
the different-colored layers

and the types of fossils
they contain

give each block
a unique fingerprint.

What do you see in there,
richard,

in this yellow marly band?

Redding: Well,
there's a lot of fossils.

You do have a number here,
here, right here.

That's a spiny oyster shell
right there.

And we've got a bunch
of nummulites,

these coin-shaped things.

Narrator: After years of work,

mark now has
a unique fingerprint

for every block in this temple.

To show the temple
and the sphinx

are built at the same time
by the same pharaoh,

he hopes to match the temple
stones back to the locations

they are cut from
around the sphinx.

First, mark compares the
thickness of the layers to see

if he can find a perfect match
with any of the temple blocks.

Just a little further on,
I'm getting...

Yeah, 15.75.

The layers
are a good match.

But to seal the deal,
richard looks to see

if the fossils match too.

Redding:
That is another spiny oyster.

The spiny oyster which matches
perfectly our block down there.

You've got a lot of these
small nummulites.

Hardly any of
the large nummulites.

So, yeah, this fossil community
is very, very similar

to what we were looking at
down at the sphinx temple.

So it's a good match.

There is still work to do,

but these findings suggest
that mark's theory is correct.

Every stone in the temple
is originally quarried

from the sides of the sphinx.

Using this methodical approach,

mark believes he can match each
and every block in the temple

to their original position
inside the sphinx enclosure.

Two blocks from the front wall
of the temple

match the mid-chest
of the sphinx.

The geological layers
and the fossils inside them

are the same.

More blocks from the temple
perfectly align

with the floor
of the sphinx enclosure.

And the matches
keep on coming --

layer after layer of stone...

Completely filling the quarry.

Identifying the source
of these temple blocks

provides irrefutable evidence

of which pharaoh
built this monument.

Lehner: So if khafra built
the sphinx temple,

it had to have been khafra
who made the sphinx,

because they were part
of the same process.

Narrator: Mark believes
he's finally ended the debate

about the builder
of this egyptian wonder.

Khafra tops his mega sphinx

with a colossal carving
of his own face.

He is the son
of the mighty pharaoh khufu,

the builder
of the great pyramid.

Khafra creates
a projection of power

like no other to rival
his own father's towering tomb.

Why does khafra carve
a giant human-headed lion?

What inspires
this unusual sculpture?

Are there clues to be found
lying at the paws of the sphinx?

Also, does new scanning
in the valley of the kings

reveal a missing tomb
beneath the desolate gorge?

All along the nile,
the pharaoh's master

egypt's unforgiving wilderness
to create seven wonders

as statements
of their supreme authority

and their desire to live
and rule forever.

The sphinx standing in front
of the giza pyramids

is no different.

Lehner: Never before had
anything like this

been seen in egypt.

No colossal statue this size,

this scale existed.

Narrator: This unique sculpture
of a human-headed lion

is carved during the reign
of the pharaoh khafra.

Historians believe the human
features of the sphinx

are once a direct likeness
of the pharaoh himself.

But over thousands of years,
the harsh desert winds

sandblast khafra's
carved features away,

leaving just a few
tantalizing clues

to how the sculpture
originally looks.

The deep cuts in the face
are chisel marks left by vandals

who chop off the nose.

Based on other statues
of the time,

this is what the nose
may have looked like.

Stone fragments found
between the paws are clues

that the sphinx
once has a beard.

Traces of paint behind the ears

could mean that it once
wears heavy makeup

and what looks like painted hair

is actually a regal headdress...

Framing the immortal face

of the god-king khafra himself.

But why does khafra create a
gigantic statue of a lion

with a huge image
of his own face?

Mark lehner believes the temple

built directly in front
of the sphinx is a vital clue.

Lehner: The curious thing is
that the axis to the temple

does not aim directly
at the sphinx.

It's as though the sphinx
is shoved to the north

and the axis
to the temple points

past it
up the western horizon.

Narrator: One other feature
of the temple layout

might be a clue to what
the ancient egyptians

are aiming the axis towards.

Lehner: These two sanctuaries,

which are in the form
of recessed bays

and small niches,
define the temple axis.

It's very compelling to think
that that's for the rising sun

on the east,
the setting sun on the west.

Narrator: Mark believes
the egyptian master builders

do not do this accidentally.

He thinks they deliberately
point the temple axis

at the spot on the horizon
where the sun sets

at a special time of the year.

The sphinx temple
is oriented on this axis

so that it is aligned
to the setting of the sun

and the rising of the sun
at the equinoxes.

♪

narrator:
As the sun sets on the equinox,

it drops directly behind
the shoulder of the sphinx

and the south side
of khafra's pyramid.

The shapes of khafra's pyramid
and his sphinx merge

to become one
perfect silhouette.

Lehner: Khafra and his builders
were trying

to harness the power of the sun.

And after khafra died,
he hoped that this alignment

would be
a kind of resurrection machine.

He was, in effect,
hitching himself

to the eternal cycle of the sun

so that he, too,
would rise in the afterlife.

Narrator: Mark believes
the temple and sphinx

are part of khafra's master plan

to harness the power of the sun
to achieve resurrection.

This ideology is set
to dominate egyptian religion

for the next 2,000 years.

Lehner: With this
monumental architecture,

they were trying to
hitch themselves

to the power of the sun.

Why?
Because they believed

the king was literally
the son of the sun.

And he needed the power
of the sun for effective rule

over all of egypt
and all its inhabitants.

Narrator: Khafra changes
the face of egyptian history.

In building the sphinx
and the temple at its feet,

he helps advance an era
of sun worship in egypt.

♪

the devotion to the sun god

inspire many of the seven
wonders of ancient egypt.

Successive pharaohs use
their control of a sun cult

to produce the third wonder

and a place of worship
on a scale unmatched

in the ancient world.

And how did the king's engineers

raise the towering
100-feet obelisks

using nothing
but pure human power?

♪

narrator: Ancient egypt,
where pharaohs ruled supreme,

determined to live
and reign for eternity.

The pharaohs' devotion
to the gods propels them

to construct the third
astonishing wonder of egypt,

the temple of karnak
on the nile in modern luxor.

It's the largest religious
complex ever created,

a vast site covering 200 acres,

and the epicenter
of egyptian worship.

At its heart stand
the colossal columns

of the hypostyle hall
rising 70 feet.

Massive granite obelisks

guard the entrance to the most
sacred inner sanctum.

It's from here that the powerful
kings rule over their empire

in splendor and privilege.

Karnak is like the white house,

buckingham palace, and vatican
rolled into one.

This giant temple
is continually expanded

and reconstructed
for 2,000 years,

with successive pharaohs
attempting to outdo the last.

The elite allowed
to enter karnak

are greeted by the massive
hypostyle hall.

Here, foreign dignitaries
are received

and mighty pharaohs rest
under the shaded columns.

Behind it,
the festival hall obelisks

mark an exclusive gateway
only priests and pharaohs

can pass through
to the inner temples.

At the heart of this
secret inner sanctum

lies the most ancient
known temple.

But experts suspect that
this site is revered for so long

that even older temples
may be hiding in the ruins.

The remains of this giant temple

are slowly being rebuilt,

a super-sized jigsaw puzzle
for the restorers.

Piece by piece, this temple
reveals its mysteries.

The spectacular hypostyle hall,

the largest covered space ever
built by the ancient egyptians.

These towering columns
still hold at least

one unsolved mystery.

Who constructs the crowning
glory of karnak temple?

Inscriptions cover every inch
of this massive room.

One name dominates
the central passageway --

ramesses ii.

Ramesses ii is believed
to have ruled for 66 years

from 1279 b.C.

Pharaoh of egypt at the
height of its wealth and power,

he reportedly constructs
more major monuments in egypt

than any other king,

gaining him the nickname
"the builder."

but although his mark
covers the hypostyle hall,

erika feleg suspects that
ramesses could be taking credit

for the work of one
of his predecessors.

Today, erika uses new technology
to record the carvings

and search for clues.

This is a task that previous
generations of archeologists

are unable to pull off.

Feleg: The columns have never
been recorded in detail,

and that's also because
of their enormous size.

Traditional methods
would involve

using transparent plastic sheets
to trace over the the figures.

Because of the heat,
the light, and the gravity,

all that plastic sheeting
would have sagged.

So we would have
had distortions.

Narrator:
Instead of tracing the images,

erika uses photography
and special software

to reveal the smallest details
hidden inside the carvings.

She directs photographer
owen murray to take the images.

Owen takes hundreds of photos
of the shaded column

with an overhead light.

This technique helps him
to capture every detail

of the carved stone surface.

Erika then uses
advanced 3-d modeling

to stitch
owen's photographs together.

She then unrolls the curves
into a single flat image.

Feleg: If you look closely,
you can see traces

of what used to be the outlines
of some of the hieroglyphs

that were part
of that initial decoration.

Narrator: Erika believes
these faint scratches

hidden beneath
the main inscription

are the scrubbed-out remains
of another pharaoh's mark.

Once erika identifies
the overwritten text,

she checks it out in real life.

She uses mirrors
to manipulate the daylight

to help the faint carved lines
stand out.

Two large ovals you can see
contain the names

of ramesses ii.

And behind them,
you can still see the outline

traces of seti I.

Narrator:
At key points in the hall,

especially along the grandest

and most visible
central walkway,

ramesses' name overwrites
that of his own father,

seti I.

And you can still see
the faint traces

towards the left side
of the ramesses ii.

Narrator: Ramesses is desperate

to replace his father's name
with his own,

a desire to be seen as

the greatest-ever pharaoh
of ancient egypt.

He ultimately fails to remove

all the evidence
of his deception.

And erika is certain seti I
is responsible

for this feat
of ancient engineering.

But how do seti's builders

get multiple-ton roof beams
70 feet into the air?

First, the egyptians build
the columns layer by layer,

placing rough blocks
in a checkerboard pattern

across the hall.

Then they fill the entire area
with dirt

and drag another layer of blocks
into place for 20 layers.

When all the blocks
are in position,

the mammoth roof beams
are carefully placed

on top of the solid mass
of soil 70 feet high.

Finally, the dirt is removed

and the pillars
are carved smooth

to create the largest
covered space in ancient egypt.

♪

sandstone blocks
allow one pharaoh

to construct a hall big enough
to be worthy of the gods.

♪

seti and his great
hypostyle hall

are never matched
by any future pharaoh,

despite construction
at karnak

continuing for another
thousand years.

His power and wealth rivals

that of the great pyramid
builder khufu.

♪

but no pyramid
is ever built for seti.

Why do the pharaohs stop
building monumental pyramids?

The next wonder of ancient egypt
provides clues.

And how is a giant cliff side

reconstructed to create egypt's
fifth spectacular wonder?

♪

narrator: The seven wonders of
ancient egypt are the biggest,

tallest, and most awe-inspiring
monuments of the ancient world.

These seven superstructures

display the mighty pharaoh's
power and divine status.

All except the fourth wonder.

The valley of the kings.

This wonder is built to remain
hidden from sight forever.

This steep gorge,
sitting across the nile

from the temple of karnak
in the modern city of luxor,

is the exclusive burial ground
of pharaohs for 500 years.

The first tomb is carved
around 1500 b.C.

During a period known
as the new kingdom,

hundreds of years
and several dynasties

after the great pyramid
is finished.

The powerful kings buried here
abandon giant pyramids.

They take up vast resources

and have become a magnet
for grave robbers.

♪

the tombs descend
for almost 450 feet,

covered in intricate hieroglyphs
with spells to protect

and transport the royal mummies
to the underworld.

The pharaohs go
to incredible lengths

to tunnel this subterranean maze
in a remote desert valley.

♪

beneath this valley
lie more than 60 hidden tombs

carved deep into the rock.

Most are similar in design.

They're snaking tunnels

descending
towards the underworld,

creating a rabbit warren
of hundreds of painted chambers

filled with hieroglyphs
and paintings of the afterlife.

Hidden in the heart
of the valley

lies the tomb of the most
famous pharaoh of all,

king tutankhamun.

This mysterious chamber
is stuffed

with priceless treasures,

unimaginable to those
that find them.

Tutankhamun's tomb
is discovered in 1922

by british archeologist
howard carter.

Its discovery
and the remarkable amount

of gold and jewels packed inside
astonishes the world.

The most spectacular treasure --

a 24-pound solid-gold death mask

adorning tutankhamun's mummy.

No other pharaoh's tomb
evades ancient thieves

in the valley of the kings.

Why is tutankhamun's
the only one

to remain hidden
for 3,000 years?

Egyptologist kent weeks
is hunting for answers.

He believes there could be clues
in the original photos

from howard carter's
excavations.

Weeks: This is a photograph
of carter's workmen.

It was here, eventually,

they would uncover the tomb
of tutankhamun.

It was in an area where nobody
had expected anything.

But that's because
so much material

had obscured the entrance

to what turned out to be
the most exciting discovery

in the valley of the kings.

Look at the size
of these boulders --

the size of basketballs.

Some of them weighing
50, 60 kilos each.

Narrator:
Kent suspects these boulders

aren't put there
by the egyptians.

Today, he's looking for
evidence of a natural event

that may have buried
tutankhamun's tomb

much deeper than its neighbors.

Kent thinks a clue
lies in the graffiti

on this towering cliff face.

Weeks: We know of about
2,000 graffiti

here on the hillsides

in the valley of the kings,

and they record little bits
of everything.

And these are brief glimpses
of what life

might have been like
back in ancient days.

Narrator: Kent scours the cliff
for the faint inscription.

My god, it's difficult.

Yeah, this is it.

It looks like nothing,

but it is, in fact,
a proper inscription.

This is the record of a scribe

who brought three
of his sons here

to observe the results
of a flash flood.

Narrator: Kent thinks
that a desert storm

may have triggered
a flash flood,

cascading water into the valley
and over tutankhamun's tomb.

The river dumps layers
of rocks and sediment

over the closed entrance.

When the hot egyptian sun
bakes the mud,

it sets like concrete,
sealing the tomb beneath.

Years later, tomb builders
unwittingly cover the area

with stone chippings
and build work huts on top.

Over 3,000 years,
more earth piles over,

making tutankhamun's tomb
the safest in egypt's history.

Buried beneath so much rubble,

tutankhamun's tomb
is almost impossible to find.

Weeks: When howard carter came
along to excavate that area,

he saw the workmen's huts,

he saw flood debris below it,

until finally he discovered
the tomb

he really had been
looking for all along.

Narrator: When carter's men
unearth the tomb,

they find it's crammed
with earthly treasure

and items the king would need
in the afterlife --

six dismantled chariots,

his childhood throne,

and provisions of food and wine.

Two statues of the boy king
stand guard

by his burial chamber.

Beyond the false wall, a massive
shrine fills the room

from wall to wall
with the glimmer of gold.

Hidden in the treasury,

the king's internal organs lay
mummified in a golden shrine.

This trove of grave goods
barely fits

inside the 1,000-square-feet
chambers.

The tomb is much smaller

than the other royal burials
in the valley.

Why?

Kent believes
the decoration in the tomb

could provide clues
to its abnormal size.

Kent works with a team

carefully conserving
the delicate decoration.

Lori wong finds
mysterious anomalies

in the way
the ancient walls are painted.

If we notice here
at the very base of the wall,

you can see that
there's drips running down.

Throughout this tomb,
we have drip marks.

So it suggests
this very fast fluid action

in terms of the application
of the painting materials.

Narrator:
Kent has a rare opportunity

to study the religious texts
up close

inside tutankhamun's
burial chamber.

He finds something else strange
about the imagery in the tomb.

Weeks: In other tombs,
long corridors were filled

with column after column
after column of religious texts.

Here we have just a few
highly abbreviated scenes.

Narrator:
The key scenes are all there,

but the artwork is nowhere near
as elaborate

as the carvings found
in other tombs.

Weeks: The absence of detail
in the religious texts

is unusual by any standard.

Narrator: Kent believes
the drip marks

and abbreviated religious
decoration

can only mean one thing.

People were operating
under a time constraint here,

and that accounts for
a lot of the painting,

the absence of detail in the
religious texts on the wall,

the highly abbreviated form
of the book of the dead.

Time was of the essence.

For whatever reasons, political
or religious or what have you,

they did want
to get it done quickly.

Narrator:
The famous pharaoh dies at 18.

Young, even by
ancient egyptian standards.

His untimely death
may have put pressure

on the tomb builders to quickly
finish an incomplete job.

♪

the discovery of
tutankhamun's burial

in the inhospitable
valley of the kings

only highlights
the astonishing achievement

to construct this wonder
of ancient egypt.

But some suspect the unusual
nature of the boy king's tomb

may hide further secrets --

the missing tomb
of a mysterious egyptian,

the powerful queen nefertiti.

New evidence indicates
a huge cavity lies behind

the decorated walls
of tutankhamun's tomb.

Is this the lost tomb
of the enigmatic queen?

And what can an underwater
discovery tell us

about the legendary
lighthouse of alexandria?

Narrator:
Egypt's seven ancient wonders.

Extraordinary feats
of engineering

built out of a desire
for immortality.

The powerful pharaohs
are determined

the superstructures
will please their gods

and secure an afterlife.

The valley of the kings
is no different.

An astonishing maze of tombs
carved deep underground

for the pharaohs
of egypt's new kingdom.

But mystery still surrounds
this royal burial site.

One tomb remains
unaccounted for --

a chamber for
the great queen nefertiti.

She is known for her beauty,
but also holds great power

ruling alongside
tutankhamun's father,

akhenaten.

Archeologists are still
trying to understand

the life of
this enigmatic queen,

and the discovery of her tomb

would be the greatest
archeological find in egypt

since the hundred-year-old
discovery of her stepson,

tutankhamun.

Tutankhamun's premature death
could have forced tomb builders

to repurpose
someone else's tomb,

leaving many to suspect
that the lost tomb of nefertiti

could be found
behind these chamber walls.

Previous investigations
inside the tomb

produced conflicting
and disputed results.

Now, in 2020,
stunning new evidence

from ground-penetrating radar
detects hidden cavities

beyond the walls.

A tantalizing new lead,

but why would the body
of a queen be here

in the valley of the kings?

Archeologist anna stevens
hunts for evidence

of the final whereabouts
of queen nefertiti.

She explores nefertiti's
husband's tomb for clues,

150 miles
from the valley of the kings

in the ancient city of amarna.

Akhenaten is the only pharaoh

who decides not to be buried
in the valley.

A tomb is carved for him
overlooking amarna,

a vast new capital
he establishes.

Akhenaten's tomb is designed
like those of other pharaohs,

extending deep underground
with multiple chambers.

But one thing stands out
to anna as highly unusual.

Nefertiti is shown to be almost
as powerful as her husband.

Stevens: The key figure here
is obviously akhenaten.

He's the largest figure.

He's the one
who is closest to the aten.

And he, of course,
is the head of the family.

He's the head of the city.

And, of course,
he's leading egypt as well.

But you can see also
that nefertiti's represented

a really quite a large scale.

She, like her husband,
akhenaten, is semi-divine.

Narrator: Anna believes
the pharaoh wishes

for his beloved nefertiti

to be buried alongside him
in amarna.

Most pharaohs tombs
of the new kingdom

were cut just
for the king himself.

The royal tomb at amarna
is a little bit more unusual,

and there's a really prominent
suite of secondary chambers

that look as though
they were intended

for nefertiti's burial as queen.

Narrator: But the chambers
carved for her

appear to have never contained
a mummy.

Stevens: The suite of chambers
that seems to have been

cut for her is unfinished.

So it's unlikely that her body
was actually interred here.

Narrator: No burial has ever
been discovered in amarna

for nefertiti.

If she isn't buried
alongside her husband,

could the newly discovered
chamber

in the valley of the kings
be hers?

Egyptologist aidan dobson
hunts for further clues

to where nefertiti could be
buried along the nile

near luxor's western bank.

Here, a range of rocky mountains

close to the valley of the kings

houses the tombs
of ancient thebes' nobles.

One small tomb
remains closed off.

Aidan has gained special
permission to unlock the tomb.

Once inside,

he decodes the artwork
that covers its chambers.

Dobson: Well,
this is the tomb chapel

of a priest called paheri.

Narrator: Graffiti dates the
tomb to just after

akhenaten's death.

It reveals
that another ruler seizes power

before his son tutankhamun.

Aidan believes it is nefertiti

who shockingly claims
the throne.

Dobson: It's dated to year three
of king neferneferuaten,

who we are almost certain

is none other
than the former queen nefertiti,

the wife of akhenaten.

Narrator: Nefertiti seizes power
following her husband's death,

perhaps acting as regent until
tutankhamun comes of age.

If nefertiti is now a pharaoh,

it makes her burial
in a lost tomb

in the valley of the kings
much more likely.

The tantalizing new void

revealed next to
tutankhamun's tomb

could be
her more extensive chambers.

But what would a royal tomb
for nefertiti look like?

The grandest tomb
in the valley of the kings

belongs to seti I.

This tomb
is a polished masterpiece.

Its chambers
are incredibly precise,

with perfectly aligned
pillared halls

and raised relief paintings

carved onto the walls.

Hidden beneath
king seti's burial chamber,

a rocky corridor extends over
300 feet down into the bedrock,

as deep as
the great pyramid is high.

With 17 immaculately
decorated chambers,

this vast burial
is six times larger

than the tomb of tutankhamun.

♪

today, a team of archeologists

excavates the valley
searching for nefertiti.

The discovery of the lost queen
will only add to its reputation

as a wonder of ancient egypt.

The extraordinary craftsmanship
of the ancient egyptians

carves the labyrinth of tombs
in the valley of the kings

deep underground.

These very same skills
are harnessed

by another powerful pharaoh

to sculpt the next wonder
of ancient egypt,

the rock-hewn temple
of abu simbel.

Narrator: The seven wonders
of ancient egypt

are the creation
of mighty pharaohs

determined to honor the gods

and mark out their own place
in history.

The fifth wonder is

an extraordinary taming
of the landscape

by one king who takes this
further than any other,

abu simbel.

Constructed by ramesses ii,

he doesn't build
on top of the terrain

but carves directly into it.

This remarkable temple is cut
deep into a huge cliff face

rather than being built
from traditional stone blocks.

It is ramesses' attempt
to be known

as the greatest pharaoh
of all time.

♪

the monument is built
so precisely that twice a year,

the rising sun illuminates
the inner sanctum

that houses the gods.

Many believe the display marks

ramesses' birthday
and coronation.

How does ramesses execute
a meticulous design

on such a huge scale?

The statues of ramesses
are 15 times

the height of the average man.

Each mighty head is 13 feet wide

and adorned with
the double crown

symbolizing power over egypt.

At his feet
stand ramesses' children,

wife, and mother,

a royal guard
for the sun god ra.

At the summit sit
22 sacred baboons

whose cry the egyptians believe
welcomed the rising sun.

How do ramesses' masons
sculpt this entire cliff face?

Workers first need
to cut away the surface rock

to prepare it for carving.

They then precisely cut designs

personally approved
by ramesses onto the rock.

But shaping the four
65-foot-high statues

is no simple task.

Getting the measurements wrong

could jeopardize
the whole project.

So how do the stonemasons

ensure all the statues
are identical?

Archeologist and explorer
john ward

believes they scale up
an ingenious technique

traditionally used
to paint tombs.

What I'm holding here is a
picture of an unfinished relief

in a tomb in thebes.

But what it shows
is the grid technique

that the artisan applied
to the wall prior to painting.

Narrator: The grid breaks
a complex picture

down into lots of smaller,
easier to draw images.

This grid allows them
to transfer any image

from a scale drawing
onto a much larger surface.

Narrator: To build this wonder,

the master masons
use scaffolding to mark out

giant rows
of horizontal lines.

Then from the top
of the cliff face,

it's likely they hang
weighted ropes

and draw vertical lines
to complete their grid.

Using this system,
they scale up smaller drawings

to produce outlines of ramesses
on the rock face.

Only after marking out
the facade and the entranceway

do workers begin
to cut their pharaoh

and the chambers of his temple
into the cliff.

♪

the skill of ramesses'
master masons enables the king

to create a monument
that satisfies his ego.

But there's another mystery.

The workers pay attention
to every detail,

so why is this wonder
covered in deep cracks?

This one clearly cuts through
just above the ankle

and continues all the way

into the pillar
behind this great statue.

Narrator: Abu simbel is hewn
from solid rock.

So where do these cracks
come from?

The clue lies in their age.

These cracks aren't made
in antiquity.

They're made just 60 years ago.

In 1960, the government
of egypt builds a new dam

across the nile.

It transforms two
and a half million acres

of desert into farmland.

But the dam also creates
a giant lake.

To prevent abu simbel
being submerged,

international engineers mount
an unprecedented rescue mission.

They cut the temple into pieces

and rebuild it on higher ground,
away from the rising waters.

They cut the monument
into individual blocks.

And I'm standing
right next one here.

This cut line descends
all the way down

and then continues all the way
along here to this corner

and then descends here.

This huge megalithic block
once laid down there

in this original position.

And each block was actually
hoisted by crane

to this location,
creating the new abu simbel.

Narrator:
Rescued from destruction,

this stunning temple is not just
a wonder of ancient egypt,

but also a wonder
of modern engineering.

Why does ramesses go
to great lengths

to build this cliff-face marvel?

Is it another temple
for the gods

like many along the nile?

Decoding hidden messages
could reveal the answer.

And how do
the pharaoh's engineers

create egypt's sixth wonder?

These soaring obelisks.

♪

narrator: Abu simbel's
spectacular carved cliff face

stands alongside the greatest
monuments of ancient egypt

as one of its seven wonders.

Built to revere the gods,

it's a colossal statement
of power

by a status-hungry pharaoh.

But is ramesses ii's
rock-hewn wonder

just another temple
for worshiping the sun?

Abu simbel is a spectacle

in stone carved
from the cliff face.

Four colossal statues
of ramesses adorn the front.

Hidden behind
the magnificent facade

runs a giant 30-foot high
hypostyle hall

flanked by eight imposing
statues of the pharaoh.

160 feet inside the cliff

sits a sanctuary
to the great gods of egypt.

But is abu simbel really just
a temple to these deities?

♪

decoding its hidden messages

could unlock the secrets
of ramesses' ambition.

John ward is convinced
that if he can discover

the identities of the figures
inside the temple,

he can reveal its true purpose.

Three statues represent
the old gods of egypt --

ptah, lord of truth,

amun, lord of the sky,

and on the far right,
the sun god ra.

But who is the fourth figure?

John discovers a clue
hidden in plain sight --

an encrypted message
carved on the temple facade.

Ward: Standing above the
entrance here is the sun god ra,

but ramesses has done
something pretty ingenious.

He's hidden a message
within the statue itself

that reveals the true function
of this temple complex.

Narrator: With his falcon's head
and sun disc,

at first glance,
the statue looks like ra,

the most important egyptian god,

creator of the earth
and of life itself.

But his hands hold clues
to a different identity.

The right one
grasps an user,

a symbol denoting
the word strength.

And in his left hand,
he holds the symbol ma'at,

meaning truth
and justice on earth,

order and harmony in the cosmos.

But joined together,

these three symbols
spell another word --

usermaatre,

a name that reveals
the temple's true purpose.

Ward: Usermaatre was
the throne name of ramesses ii,

and it was the name
that he was known by

throughout
the whole land of egypt.

The symbolism that surrounds us
proves that he built

and dedicated
this temple to himself.

Narrator: The statue above
the temple's entrance,

the fourth figure
in the sanctuary --

they both represent ramesses
not as a man, but as a god.

♪

all pharaohs are
considered divine,

but secondary to
the old gods of egypt.

Ramesses goes one
step further.

He dares to claim
he is their equal.

By depicting himself
as a giant-sized living god,

ramesses takes the first step
to securing his status

as the greatest.

The next spectacular monuments
on the list of egypt's wonders

are earlier attempts by mighty
pharaohs to project their power.

These soaring obelisks
are the largest stones

ever worked by the egyptians.

How they create these monoliths
is still unsolved.

Can new investigations
unearth the answers?

And can pioneering excavations
reveal the truth

about egypt's final wonder,

the legendary lighthouse
of alexandria?

♪

narrator: Seven wonders

constructed by
all-powerful pharaohs

to revered gods defined
the ancient egyptians.

The sixth wonder,

the obelisks of ancient egypt,

are no different.

These soaring monoliths
are the tallest sculptures

ever created by
the king's engineers.

Cut from one single piece
of super-hard pink granite,

the tallest stands
at over 100 feet

and weighs 450 tons --

an unmissable show of power
by a pharaoh.

These enigmatic stones
fascinate all those

that see them for millennia.

Starting with the romans
in 335 a.D.,

they are transported
around the world.

And more now stand
in places like new york,

london, paris, and istanbul

than remain in egypt.

♪

they are taken from karnak,
the largest temple ever built.

Its imposing gateways
hide this holy site from view.

The enormous covered halls are
dedicated to egypt's chief god,

amun-ra.

At its center stand
spectacular giant obelisks,

guarding the most sacred
inner sanctuary

and topped with pure gold.

But these massive monoliths
still confound archeologists.

How do ancient engineers
transport

and erect these giants

almost 100 miles to karnak

using no crane
or lifting equipment?

Historians believe
the egyptians dig canals

deep into the landscape

so water from the nile
flows towards the quarries.

The obelisk is suspended
over the water.

Then a boat is weighed down
with tons of stone

so that when it is empty,
it picks up the obelisk

and carries it down
the nile to karnak.

At karnak, hundreds
of construction workers

then gradually dig away
the earth with great precision

to tilt the giant stone upright.

Lastly, they slot the base
of the obelisk into a groove

and attach ropes to haul it
into its final position.

Researchers have yet
to prove the theory.

In aswan,
archeologist adel kelany

conducts a dangerous
and pioneering experiment

to do just that.

He hopes to finally show

how the egyptians raised
these stunning sculptures.

Adel and his team construct a
mud brick room and a long ramp.

His plan is to haul the obelisk
to the top of the room,

fill the room with sand,
and then slowly release the sand

to tilt the obelisk
into position.

But first, he must pull it
up the ramp.

Weighing three tons,

it is heavy enough
to cause a serious injury

if the experiment goes wrong.

Adel calculates
that he will need 30 people

to pull the obelisk
up the slope.

♪

♪

little by little,
they pull it up the slope.

It's a titanic battle
to haul the obelisk

to the top of the ramp.

Adel believes that
to move a full-size

320-ton obelisk the same way

would require
about 1,000 workers.

At last, they reach the top.

The first stage is complete.

But now they must try to move
the obelisk into position.

Adel fills the room with sand

and begins
the raising operation.

Workers pull out the bricks

from two of the windows
of the mud brick room

to start removing the sand.

This should lower the base
of the obelisk

and pivot it
until it is nearly upright.

From there, the team should
be able to pull it vertical.

Adel must carefully control
the release of the sand

to maneuver the obelisk
carefully onto the plinth below.

Little by little,

the workers remove the sand
from the sandbox.

It takes three hours
to maneuver the obelisk

within one foot of the plinth.

To raise the 97-foot obelisks

still standing at karnak
the same way,

adel believes ancient workers

would have needed
a mud brick room 98 feet high

and around a month
to take away the sand.

Now adel and the team
must pull the obelisk upright.

It's a tricky operation.

If they use too much force,

they could tip
the obelisk right over.

[ cheers and applause ]

after a nerve jangling wobble,

the obelisk settles on its base.

Adel and the team
have successfully shown

that the sandbox method works.

Adel believes he's finally
unraveled the secret

of the pharaohs' mystifying
giant status symbols,

spectacular monoliths seen
by millions around the world.

The final wonder
of ancient egypt

is equally shrouded
in myth and intrigue,

but is now lost from sight.

Are any of the legends of the
lighthouse of alexandria true?

Narrator:
The last of egypt's wonders

dazzles the ancient world.

The lighthouse of alexandria.

It is the final wonder
on the original greek list

of seven wonders
of the ancient world.

A soaring stone tower
built at the port entrance

to this ancient city,

said to be the tallest building
in the world.

A burning light shone out to sea
to guide ships into egypt's

spectacular new capital.

At the very top,
a giant golden statue

to the greek conqueror of egypt,

alexander the great,
depicted as a shining sun god.

Built from super-strong pink
granite and limestone blocks,

it is an ancient skyscraper.

Halfway, immense bronze tritons,
greek gods,

are a sign of merging
of the old and new religions...

While mirrors beam
a blazing light across the sea,

making alexandria
visible to ships

still a day's sail away.

Rumors even tell of a deadly
weapon at the tower's summit.

This is one of many legends
that surround this giant.

The lighthouse no longer
stands in alexandria,

so separating fact from fiction

about this incredible wonder
isn't easy.

How tall is this
supersized structure?

Archeologist emad khalil

believes alexandria's
eastern harbor

holds the answer.

In 1303, an earthquake
destroys most of the lighthouse,

but its fallen remains
still rest on the sea floor.

♪

what do we have here
is 13,000 square meters

of remains underwater.

Narrator: Emad hopes the remains
hidden from view for 700 years

could finally allow him
to determine the true height

of the lighthouse and put an end
to some outlandish myths.

Some say the huge tower
is so tall

that a stone
falling from its summit

would take two days
to hit the ground.

Others that sailors
could see the lighthouse beacon

up to 300 miles out to sea.

♪

khalil: It's a huge puzzle,
basically.

And you want to put it back
together without reference,

without a picture to base
your reconstruction on.

And this is the main
challenge of the site.

Narrator: This mammoth block is
a crucial piece of the puzzle.

It was hauled from the harbor

and will help emad
calculate the lighthouse height.

This huge object, which is
about 70 tons in weight,

is the right side of the main
entrance of the lighthouse.

The right side of the doorway
of the lighthouse.

The the angle here is where
the wooden door would have fit.

Narrator: Working out the height
of the lighthouse

from its broken pieces is tough.

Luckily, an arab writer
from the 14th century

offers a helping hand.

He records some of the only
reliable measurements

of the lighthouse.

He measures the dimensions
of its base

and the width of the door frame

in an ancient unit
called the span.

Khalil: Looking at the doorway,

of the side of the doorway,
we have 6'10."

and now we can vertically relate
the actual evidence

to the literary sources,
which mention

that the measurement
would be 10 spans.

Narrator: This recovered block
allows emad to establish

that one alexandrian span
equals eight inches.

We can start rebuilding

not just the dimensions
of the lighthouse

but the entire complex
of the lighthouse.

Narrator: Translating the
ancient measurements reveals

that the lighthouse stands on
a 100-foot-square base.

This gives emad
a starting point

to estimate
the building's height.

He combines greek
principles of proportion

and imagery from ancient coins
to finally get his result.

We think that it was
300 feet in height.

And so basically
it was an ancient skyscraper.

Nothing like this
in the ancient world.

Narrator:
The lighthouse of alexandria

soars higher than
any other stone tower

in the ancient world,

and even the first
20th-century skyscrapers.

A greek wonder equal
to all produced

by the extraordinary
ancient egyptians.

With nothing more than sheer
human power and raw ambition,

the great pharaohs of egypt

conquered the extreme
desert landscape

to build monuments that cement
their legacy for eternity.

Their astonishing monuments
are taller,

bigger, and more elaborate
than ever before,

creating seven national wonders

unmatched by any
in the ancient world.

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