All language subtitles for Egypts.Unexplained.Files.Part.5.Curse.of.the.Screaming.Mummy.1080p.HDTV.x264.AAC.MVGroup.org.eng

Narrator:
Pyramids, temples, tombs --

these ancient wonders
promise even greater secrets

still to be found
under the sands of egypt.

Now cutting-edge science
finally decodes

the mysterious
land of the pharaohs.

With modern technology,
we are gaining an insight

into the way
the ancient egyptians lived

and the manner
at which they died.

Narrator: This time,

crime and punishment
ancient egypt,

can cutting-edge scans
prove ramesses iii was murdered?

This is an attempt to change
the arc of egyptian history.

Narrator: Could new technology
finally solve the mystery

of the most famous statue
of queen nefertiti?

Is it genuine or is it a fake?

Narrator:
And can the fbi recover
the first-ever ancient dna

from an egyptian mummy?

It was the fbi that
had the scientific tools

to analyze this head.

Narrator:
Ancient clues on earth,
long-lost evidence reexamined,

precious artifacts brought into
the light of the 21st century.

These are
"egypt's unexplained files."

-- captions by vitac --
www.Vitac.Com

captions paid for by
discovery communications

fbi agents believe they can
solve a 4,000-year-old cold case

by extracting dna
from an ancient egyptian mummy

for the first time ever.

Nobody ever got dna
from egyptian samples,

so I didn't think
it was gonna work.

Narrator:
It could reveal what had eluded
researchers for 100 years --

the person's identity.

Berman: People naturally
want to know whose it was.

We have a mystery.

♪

narrator: The boston museum
of fine art, 2005.

Curators reexamine a strange
artifact kept in their vaults --

a mummified head
missing its body.

They've never known
its identity,

despite decades of research.

They believe now is the time
to find an answer.

And we thought that
with advances in technology,

we might be able
to get more information

about the mummy's head.

So, we took the head to the
massachusetts general hospital,

and we did very advanced
and detailed ct scans.

♪

narrator: From the 2005 ct scan,

scientists create
a 3-d model of the skull.

It may determine whether
the person was a male or female.

But when they examine the model,
crucial evidence is missing.

Berman: We have 3-d models
that were printed out.

If you look at the jaw areas,

you can see
what had been removed.

These are precisely the bones
that would be the most telling

in determining whether
the skull was male or female.

Narrator: It is a setback
for the scientists.

They now reexamine
the discovery of the tomb,

searching for missed evidence.

♪

berman:
The head was found in 1915

while the museum
was excavating tombs

in the cemetery
of deir el-bersha,

which is about 175 miles
south of cairo.

Narrator:
The burial place has been
ransacked by looters.

Berman: They broke in through
the head-ends of the coffin

and yanked the mummy out.

It was in great disarray.

Cooney:
Strangely, the looters left

one of the heads
of the inhabitants

severed from its body
on top of the coffin.

Narrator:
Identifying the head from
the contents found in the tomb

was impossible.

Since none of them
were in the coffins,

we didn't know who they were.

Narrator:
So archaeologists examine
the coffins themselves,

hoping for a clue
to whom they belong.

They discovered inscriptions
that suggest two possibilities.

The coffins
are copiously inscribed

with inscriptions that contain
their name and titles --

the governor djehutynakht

and of his wife whose name
was also djehutynakht.

Narrator:
The inscriptions show the couple
are important people

around 2,000 b.C.E.,

but the mystery
of the head remains.

No one knew whether it belonged
to djehutynakht the governor

or to his wife.

Is it him or is it her?

♪

narrator:
To solve the question, museum
curators seek outside expertise.

In 2016, the world's
leading crime fighters

come to the rescue.

In this particular case,
it was the fbi

that had the scientific tools
to analyze this head.

Narrator:
The mummy's head is assigned

to two of the fbi's most
experienced investigators --

jodi irwin, a research biologist

and odile loreille,
a specialist in ancient dna.

Loreille:
The museum wanted to know

whether the head
of the mummy belonged

to governor djehutynakht
or to his wife.

Narrator:
For the first time ever,

the fbi uses a dna sequencing
technique new to forensics.

We had
a really difficult situation,

a situation that we wouldn't
have been able to solve

with all of our currently-
implemented technologies.

Narrator:
The new technology is called
next-generation sequencing.

It can examine
the tiniest of samples.

So, for ancient dna
where, you know,

you don't have a lot of dna
to start with.

These are instruments that allow
you to copy and sequence dna

that are very small
and in very high throughput,

so you have millions
and millions of sequences.

Narrator:
But first, the fbi team must
find ancient dna in the skull,

a nearly impossible task.

They wouldn't normally have
to work with 4,000-year-old dna,

but often they are faced
with challenging situations.

Narrator: Over the course
of four millennia,

time, along with the heat
of the desert climate,

breaks down the dna in the head.

But geneticists potentially face
a far bigger issue --

contamination.

Loreille: The mummy has been
touched by multiple people --

the looters, obviously,
the archaeologists,

and then probably some curators
at the museum in boston,

so we were very concerned
about contamination.

Narrator:
To extract uncontaminated dna,

the fbi team need
an untouched sample,

a daunting task
after 4,000 years.

Loreille:
What we did is we got a sample
from inside a tooth

by going through the neck

so that we knew for sure
that it had never been touched.

Berman:
The removal of the molar

was done as delicately
as it would be

if you were operating
on a living person.

Narrator: The tooth could yield
a viable dna sample,

but the scientists know
the odds are against them.

Loreille:
I was really skeptical.

When I started,
I thought there might be

a 5% chance
it would work at best.

Narrator: Extracting useful dna
from the tooth

is a delicate
and painstaking process.

Loreille: We sanded the surface
to remove contamination,

and then we drilled through
the tooth to remove powder.

Once you have the powder,
you extract the dna,

you put it in solution,
and that's the dna extract.

Narrator:
For the first time ever,

the fbi uses the very-latest
sequencing technology

to process
a mummy's ancient dna.

The results show up as a huge
data set of chemical sequences.

Once you've done that, you see
how many sequences

you have
that match chromosome 1,

how many chromosome 2,
3, 4, 5, "x" and "y."

narrator: Odile is hunting
for the "y" chromosome

because "y" chromosomes
are only present in male dna.

If they succeed, it may be
the first ancient dna extraction

from an egyptian mummy
in history.

Nobody ever got dna
from egyptian samples,

so I didn't think
it was gonna work.

Narrator: When the fbi team
study their results,

they discover something
long though unattainable --

ancient dna.

They can now solve the mystery
of the severed head.

Irwin: The dna results showed
that the mummy's tooth,

and therefore the mummy,

is from
the governor djehutynakht

and not his wife.

Yeah, it was boy.

[ laughs ]

berman: Although I'm very happy
that we know

that it is the governor
and not his wife,

I was kind of hoping
that it was her.

Narrator:
After 4,000 years,

an ancient mummy
has his identity restored

thanks to the world-class
expertise of the fbi.

But what is more, they make
a scientific breakthrough

in the field of ancient dna
that will undoubtedly lead

to further
discoveries in the future.

♪

♪

the mysterious nefertiti.

Her iconic bust
is a priceless treasure.

Fletcher: The bust of nefertiti
has long been

the crowning glory
of egyptian antiquities.

It's a superb work of art.

Narrator:
But some experts believe
this beautiful face

could be a forgery.

You would never in the ancient
world find an ancient statue

where they'd finished off
the hard parts with plaster.

This has got to be one of the
most controversial works of art

in human history.

Narrator:
Now state-of-the-art scanners

are finally peering beneath
the statue's veneer

to answer one of
egypt's greatest questions.

Is it genuine or is it a fake?

♪

narrator: She is the iconic face
of egypt's 18th dynasty --

queen nefertiti.

Nefertiti has gone
down in history

as the most beautiful
egyptian queen of all time.

Narrator:
But for over 100 years,

questions about this beauty
loom large.

Some believe the life-size bust
that created her image

may not be real.

I think that the bust of
nefertiti is a masterpiece,

and masterpieces
are very hard to evaluate

in terms of authenticity.

Fletcher:
A lot of duplicates were made

because the bust
was so very popular.

Every collection wanted
a replica so visitors could come

and admire
the bust of nefertiti

even if it's not
the original one.

And I think the proliferation
of these reproduction busts

has sort of led to a certain
amount of uncertainty.

Which is the real one?

We can't 100% say it's accurate.

Narrator:
So scientists begin
a 21st-century investigation

to find the truth.

Experts are analyzing this bust

using the latest
scientific techniques

to try and find out
if it truly is ancient.

Narrator:
They start by probing the statue
with a 64-section ct scan,

revealing for the first time
the bust's inner structure.

Harrison: Ct scans reveal
that it's a limestone core

which has been covered
with a layer of stucco

which was then painted.

Narrator:
For egyptologists, the discovery
is deeply suspicious.

Harrison: You would never,
in the ancient world,

find an ancient statue

where they'd finished off
the hard parts with plaster,

so this rings some alarm bells.

I suppose the temptation
of people to want to buy

a little piece of amarna art
for themselves

could throw up the possibility

that a bust like this
may have been made by a forger.

But, of course, it just feeds
into this whole mystery of

"is the nefertiti bust
a fake or not?"

narrator: The strange materials
found in the scan

lead experts
to reexamine the circumstances

under which
the bust is discovered

in the early 20th century.

♪

harrison:
Ludwig borchardt claims
to find the bust of nefertiti

in a workshop at el-amarna

under 50 centimeters
of dirt and gravel.

Narrator:
It all seems too perfect.

Investigators now look
at borchardt's diary

to find anything
out of the ordinary.

Then something suspicious.

The exact circumstances

surrounding
the discovery of the bust

have been called into question

because it coincided,
apparently,

the visit of a prince
to the excavations.

And it's been suggested
maybe that borchardt

wanted to impress
his royal visitor

with this amazing new find.

Narrator:
In the early 20th century,
there is huge desire

to impress europe's
still-powerful royal families.

A find showing
the beautiful nefertiti

would take their breath away.

The prince marvels
at the discoveries,

but one of the workmen
disappears for a few moments.

The workman comes back
holding this bust of nefertiti.

The royals are wowed
by its beauty.

Fletcher: In some people's
minds, it's a question of

"was this thing planted
to make the archaeology

seem even more exciting?"

narrator: The visit raised
initial suspicions

about the bust's authenticity,

but in the decades
that followed,

experts have also studied the
characteristics of the statue.

One detail raised questions.

♪

harrison: The fact that the bust
only has one eye

does raise some red flags.

Modern forgery experts
argue that it would be easy

to sort one ancient eye

in the construction
of a piece like this,

but finding a pair
would be almost impossible.

Narrator: But not all experts
agree with the theory

that nefertiti's one eye
proves it's fake.

This is to fundamentally
misunderstand

how the ancient egyptians
produced portraits

with inlaid eyes.

And so frequently, these eyes
fall out all the time,

so whether the eye is there
or not is absolutely no reason

to question the authenticity
of this superb work of art.

Narrator: As researchers
consider further the idea

that the statue is a forgery,

they start to notice other
irregular elements in the bust.

♪

fletcher: There is
selective damage on the bust.

You know, the missing head
of the uraeus snake,

damage to the ear and so forth.

Harrison:
We're told that the bust
was found on it's face

under the ground
in the workshop,

and yet, there's no damage
to the nose or the chin,

which is what you'd expect
if it had fallen off of a shelf

and lost the cobra.

The damage on the ear
seems to be quite selective

as if it had been dropped
on its right and then left side.

The face is largely immaculate.

It's almost as if someone wants

that most important feature
to be preserved.

Narrator: The face of nefertiti
is so perfect,

when brought to germany,

it is revered
by their powerful new dictator.

♪

hitler greatly admired
the bust of nefertiti.

To him, it represented
the ideal aryan woman.

Fletcher:
Adolf hitler apparently
takes the bust of nefertiti

into his personal collection.

♪

narrator:
After the war, the bust ends up
in berlin's neues museum,

it's most-prized treasure.

In 2009, the museum curators

continue their exhaustive
examinations of the statue,

determined to solve the mystery.

The museum decides they want
to put this argument to rest.

They want to determine
is this bust

actually made
of ancient materials.

Narrator: For this, scientists
carry out a chemical analysis

of the materials
using cutting-edge xrf testing.

Xrf stands
for x-ray florescence.

Essentially, you aim lasers
at the bust of nefertiti,

and then the elements that leave
from the laser are monitored,

and you can find out if there
are any, say, modern pigments.

Narrator: The results will show
whether the pigments

are made
from 3,000-year-old components

or cheap 20th-century
counterfeits.

When the data comes in,
the scientists are amazed.

Fletcher:
The pigments used, the paints
used exactly conform

to the kind of pigments
that 18th-dynasty artists

were using in egypt
at that time.

They are, in fact,
ancient pigments.

Narrator: The results lead some
to make a final conclusion

on nefertiti's bust.

I think it's absolutely clear
that this bust is genuine.

Narrator:
Others are not yet convinced.

The fact is, there's strong
evidence on both sides

that indicate
that it could be authentic

and it could be a forgery.

Fletcher:
If it's a fake, then the forger
must be a genius,

being able to replicate
exactly the known recipes

for ancient-egyptian pigments.

Narrator: The final answer
to this ancient mystery

may lie in the analysis
of other materials

used in creating the bust,

a task scientists will
no doubt tackle in the future.

Eventually, when we're able
to data limestone and plaster,

then we'll be able
to tell for sure.

Narrator:
Priceless ancient artifact

or 20th-century fake?

Experts are getting closer
and closer

to a definitive answer
on the enduring image

of the most beautiful queen
in ancient egypt.

♪

♪

a pharaoh whose death is one
of egypt's strangest mysteries.

Darnell: The ultimate fate
of pharaoh ramesses iii

has long puzzled egyptologists.

Up to now, we don't know
how ramesses iii died.

Narrator:
Now scientists, using the latest
high-resolution scanners,

believe they can
prove he's murdered.

Darnell: 21st-century technology
may finally enable us

to solve this cold case.

♪

narrator:
He was the last truly great
monarch of the 20th dynasty,

the dominant
pharaoh ramesses iii.

He seems to have been a very
powerful and successful pharaoh.

Narrator:
But despite perceptions,

some experts suggest
the king has troubles at home.

Enmarch:
Towards the end of his reign,

there does appear
to have been some problems

with law and order,

so there may have been
gathering storm clouds

towards the end of his reign.

Narrator:
These stormy last years

become the basis
for a long-held theory --

ramesses iii is the target
of an assassination plot.

Darnell: The assassination
of ramesses iii

and the attempt
to put someone

other than his designated
successor on the throne

is definitely a coup d'etat.

Narrator: But there is a problem
with the theory --

no one's ever been able to prove
that his death was murder.

Now scientists think
cutting-edge technology

could reveal new information
in a key piece of evidence --

ramesses' body.

Darnell: The mummy of
ramesses iii is labeled.

It was re-wrapped
and reburied

following the end
of the new kingdom,

so we know that it's his body.

Narrator:
The pharaoh's corpse now lies
in the egyptian museum in cairo.

When scientists carry out
an initial examination in 2012,

they find no obvious
causes of death.

There's no evidence of
any kind of diseases or trauma

or any indication
why he could have died.

Narrator:
But on closer scrutiny,
there is an obvious clue.

While most of the bandages
on the body

were taken off during antiquity,

in one sport, the bandages
have been left intact.

Zink:
Most interestingly, they have
a thick layer of bandages

just around the neck,

and this couldn't have been
removed in the earlier attempts,

so it remains there forever.

Narrator:
The bandages appear intact
from the time of the burial,

suggesting they could be
hiding something.

Unlike other postmortem
examinations

that dissect the body,

the scientists decide
not to remove the bandages.

Instead, they use a 21st-century
method of investigation.

In recent times, it's been
possible to examine mummies

in more detail using ct scans.

Zink:
We are allowed to make new
ct scans of the mummy

to look, let's say,
inside the body,

which we cannot see
from outside.

Narrator: They scan ramesses iii
for the first time in history,

creating a 3-d image
of the 3,000-year-old corpse.

When the scientists study
the scans of the neck,

they're horrified.

It became clear that
there is a very deep gash

that runs across his throat.

Everything's cut -- the muscles,
the skin, and even the arteries.

Enmarch: So, we're talking here
about a really deep cut,

you know,
several inches deep.

It actually cuts back
to the vertebra

of the back of the neck,

so a really deep gash
to the neck.

Narrator: A wound of this type
can mean only one thing --

murder.

It would have been
very rapidly fatal.

Zink: There's no chance
to survive such a cut.

It's really a typical deadly
cut wound of his neck.

♪

narrator:
But there is even more.

The scientists find evidence
that suggest the wound

is definitely inflicted
while ramesses is still alive.

♪

zink: Inside the wound,
there's a little amulet.

Darnell: And in the ct scan,

you could see
it's the shape of an udjat eye,

of the eye of horus,
and that is a healing amulet.

Zink: This is an amulet
the ancient embalmer puts in

to heal something,
to repair something.

So it's as if to make up
for the fact that

he died in such a violent
and traumatic way,

that they're adding that amulet

to almost undo the damage
that was done.

Narrator: It is enough evidence
for some egyptologists

to make a final conclusion
about the fate of ramesses iii.

Darnell: The ct scans of
the mummy of ramesses iii

indicate that he was the victim
of a vicious assassination.

Enmarch: The cause of
the death of ramesses iii

has mystified egyptologists
for generations,

but new scientific techniques
have revealed

a potentially brutal demise.

Narrator:
Many believe this proves
the longstanding theory,

turning ramesses death
into a case of murder

three millennia
after it is committed.

♪

cutting-edge science
exposes the possible murder

of pharaoh ramesses iii.

Darnell: Up until the ct scan

and the investigation
of the mummy of ramesses iii,

we had no confirmation

that the assassination attempt
actually succeeded.

Narrator: With an assassination
case now open,

experts think they may
be able to pinpoint

who helped carry out
the grisly killing

using the newest dna analysis.

Darnell: There were many guesses
about who he might be,

but we had to wait until
dna evidence was available

and testing was available.

Narrator:
The hunt is now on to solve
the 3,000-year-old murder case.

♪

narrator:
Egyptologists want to know

who may have plotted
against ramesses iii.

♪

to start,
they return to the tomb

where the 20th-dynasty pharaoh
was found

along with other family members
and royals from the time.

Could someone else buried there
be implicated in his murder?

♪

darnell:
The tomb at deir el-bahari

containing most of the mummies
of the rulers of the new kingdom

is discovered in the 1880s.

And one of the mummies
is very unusual.

The so-called "screaming mummy."

zink:
And this mummy is unique because
it has his mouth wide open.

It looks like
it's really screaming.

Darnell: The physical evidence
of the screaming mummy

indicates that he died
a violent death.

Narrator: For decades, the
screaming mummy is an enigma,

but in 2012,

scientists perform an autopsy
on the horrifying corpse.

It reveals something
even more sinister.

It is not in a nice sarcophagus
with its name written on it,

and the mummy
has not been mummified.

It is simply
a naturally dried-out corpse.

Darnell:
We have every indication

that he was intentionally
not embalmed properly.

His internal organs
were left in his body,

he was buried
in ritually-impure goat skin.

Narrator: It appears to some
that this is done deliberately.

I mean, it seems
that the priest,

the embalmers who enacted
this bizarre version

of the mummification ritual

took care to not give him
a proper burial.

Enmarch: Some egyptologists
speculate that this person

may have been cursed
in his burial in some way.

Narrator: The autopsy also
shows chilling details

of the screaming mummy's death.

♪

zink:
From the outer side around his
neck, there were some wrinkles.

It looks really like there was
a rope around his neck

and maybe he died
of suffocation.

Narrator:
The evidence suggests the man
is strangled or hanged.

It could be a punishment
or a gruesome crime.

Egyptologists turn to ancient
records for more information.

Reexamining an ancient papyrus
found in the 19th century,

they discover
something incredible --

trial records describing a plot
to assassinate ramesses iii.

The judicial papyrus of turin
contains the testimony

of the conspirators who
took part in this conspiracy.

Narrator: When experts study
the section naming the accused,

they're even more intrigued.

On trial is one of
the king's wives -- queen tiye.

Also mentioned
is her son, pentaweret.

It tells us their names,
it tells us what they did

as part of the conspiracy,
who they interacted with,

so they give us the names
of their collaborators.

This is an attempt to change
the arc of egyptian history.

♪

narrator:
Some of the conspirators seem
to have been swiftly sentenced.

Enmarch: Lower-ranking
conspirators are executed,

often in very gruesome ways.

Some of them seem to have been
impaled on spikes.

Narrator:
But it appears the judge
faces a dilemma with others.

Darnell: Because several
of the perpetrators

in the assassination
of ramesses iii

are members of the royal family,

how do you handle
the death penalty?

Narrator:
Historians can find very little
record of queen tiye's fate,

but they uncover a chilling
sentence for pentaweret.

The pharaoh's son
is found guilty

and ordered to kill himself.

Pentaweret performed suicide,
possibly by hanging himself.

Narrator: Experts now consider
an extraordinary new theory --

the screaming mummy
could be pentaweret,

ramesses iii's son,

and possible conspirator
to the pharaoh's murder.

To prove the theory, scientists
turn to the field of genetics,

hoping to confirm
the screaming mummy's identity.

♪

darnell:
There were many guesses
about who he might be,

but we had to wait until
dna evidence was available

and testing was available.

♪

narrator:
Forensic anthropologist
dr. Albert zink

leads the investigation.

We installed dna laboratory
in cairo, close to the museum,

to extract the dna and then
also to multiply the dna

and to get the genetic
fingerprint of the mummy.

Narrator: Dr. Zink and his team
extract a sample

from the bone
of the screaming mummy,

believing they have found
ancient dna.

When he compares
the sequencing data

of the screaming mummy
with the dna

taken from the body
of ramesses iii, he's stunned.

Zink:
What we see when we analyze
the dna of both mummies,

that they indeed share
50% of the dna.

So, it's highly likely,
based on this genetic test,

that they are indeed
father and son.

Narrator: It is a shocking
and unexpected result.

Based on this information,
some egyptologists believe

they can make a conclusion
about the screaming mummy.

Darnell:
If we put all of this evidence
together with the papyri,

it makes the most sense

that the screaming mummy
is prince pentaweret.

Narrator:
It means the son of ramesses iii

may have been instrumental
in a plot

to kill his own father,

the 20th-dynasty
pharaoh of egypt,

then he hanged for it.

♪

it is a window into
a dark egyptian drama

only made possibly

by 21st-century
scientific breakthroughs.

♪

archaeologists in northern egypt
make a horrific discovery.

They come across four pits

filled with the remains
of 16 severed hands.

Narrator:
It is a mystery egyptologists
are determined to solve,

answering a gruesome question.

For what sinister reason
are these hands cut off?

♪

narrator: 2012 --

avaris, about 65 miles
northeast of cairo.

Archaeologists dig at a royal
palace in the ancient city.

They uncover something morbid --

16 severed right hands.

This is a very strange
and puzzling find in many ways.

The severing of hands
does not seem to play

in other areas
of egyptian activity.

Narrator:
Egyptologists are determined to
make sense of the ghastly find.

They start by examining
the judicial system

in ancient egypt,

wondering if the hands
could be part

of some state-sanctioned
punishment.

We have a lot of evidence of
a system of crime and punishment

existing in ancient egypt
from relatively early on.

The more serious crimes
led to mutilation,

and generally,
the lopping off of one's nose

or the cutting off of one's ear.

Narrator: Harsh treatment.

But as experts investigate
this justice system further,

they also discover
how the ancients enforced

this brutal rule of law.

Naunton:
There was an entire class
of people called the medjay

who acted
as a kind of police force

for the egyptian states
to enforce laws

and to catch people
who were breaking them.

Narrator:
Ancient depictions reveal
a system of crime and punishment

where suspects
are tried and sentenced.

Naunton: People were involved
in the law courts

and dealing with the laws
and in meeting out punishments

to people who broke them.

Narrator: But not only were
the guilty punished,

even innocent witnesses

are subject
to the brutalities of the law.

If you witnessed a crime
and did not report it,

you would be guilty.

If you see something,
say something.

Don't be quiet.

Naunton: We know that torture
is used from time to time

as a means of interrogation,

and we have the evidence
that arms were twisted,

various other techniques
used to try

and coax information
out of people.

Narrator:
Could these 16 severed hands

be evidence
of this ancient torture?

Some experts are not convinced.

Naunton: The hands found
at avaris are severed.

This would be a bit severe
if we're looking at torture.

This is something else,
something different.

Narrator: Researchers must find
another explanation.

They wonder if an answer
could be found

in the actions of the pharaohs.

They examine a painting
in the famous tomb of king tut.

A savage detail
catches their eye.

A relief of tutankhamun
actually shows

that his enemies' hands
are being skewered on spikes.

Narrator:
It's an intriguing clue,

so much so
that investigators compare it

with paintings
from other royal tombs.

On the reliefs in the tombs
of ramesses ii and iii,

we see piles
of hands being collected,

which are actually the right
hands of all of their enemies.

Narrator:
The evidence is mounting.

The severed hands
appear connected

to some sort of military action.

When experts study the records
from ancient battles,

they make a crucial discovery.

When we look
at egyptian battle records,

particularly
from the 18th dynasty,

we understand that
it was common practice

for the victorious egyptians

to sever right hands
of fallen slain enemy.

♪

narrator:
But why cut off the hands
of your fallen enemy?

Mcginn: It's common practice
for the pharaoh

to pay his soldiers in plunder.

For the soldiers to get paid,
they need to prove

that they were brave in battle,

and what better way to do it
than to cut off

the right hand of your enemy?

Narrator: The severed hands
appear to be physical proof

of kills on the battlefield.

It allows egyptologists
to make a final conclusion

about the 16 hands.

Taking all
the evidence together,

it seems very likely
that these hands

in these pits
in the royal palace

are the evidence of what we see
on the temple walls --

hands having been cut off
foreign prisoners,

brought to the palace
as a symbol

of egypt's conquest
over its enemies.

Narrator: The archaeological
discovery of the severed hands

is the first empirical evidence
of this practice

ever found in egypt.

Bianchi: We had textual
and visual representations

of severed hands,

the avaris find is the first
time we have actual hands.

Narrator: It also confirms
a system of payment for soldiers

egyptologists
thought might be true,

but for which we now
have undeniable proof.

♪

an ancient papyri reveals one
of the most infamous criminals

in all of egypt.

He seems to have been
an all-around bad guy.

He had a rap sheet
we should say.

Narrator:
Egyptologists want to know

if this man
gets away with his crimes

and whether he could be
at the center

of one of the earliest criminal
cases of sexual misconduct.

♪

♪

narrator:
In the early 19th century,

british collector henry salt
arrived in egypt

on a mission
to secure antiquities.

Among his purchases,
an ancient papyri,

thereafter called
"the salt papyri."

♪

rose: When they dated it,

they found that is was
more than 4,000 years old.

Narrator:
The scroll was originally
discovered perfectly preserved

at the site of deir el medina,
an ancient workers' village.

Cooney:
It's absolutely amazing we have
this documentation at all.

It's extraordinary,
and the reason we do

is because deir el medina
is a village

in the middle of the desert,
and the desert preserves.

The desert sands,
it takes away all of the water,

dries everything out
to a perfect preservation.

Narrator: When researchers
translate the ancient text,

they make
an astonishing discovery.

It tells the story
of a shadowy character.

Rose: It's the full account
of a worker

who had been working
at deir el medina.

His name was paneb.

Clark:
We know that paneb's operating
around the time of ramesses vi,

and this is in the 20th dynasty.

Narrator: As they study
the scroll further,

experts find that paneb

is accused of
countless misdemeanors.

He's accused of stealing crafted
objects that people have made.

Paneb was just
an all-around bad guy.

Narrator:
The list of accusations
become more and more serious.

It seems paneb
is a prime suspect

in a string of robberies.

Paul:
According to the salt papyri,

he's raided
at least three tombs,

but that's based on
the recording that we have,

and of course, someone with
a rap sheet like paneb

likely looted many more.

Tomb robbery is one
of the most serious crimes

you can commit in ancient egypt.

♪

narrator: The crimes take place
in one of ancient egypt's

most sacred cemeteries --
the valley of the kings.

This vast royal burial ground

is close to paneb's home
in deir el medina.

Deir el medina was important

because that's where
all the workmen

for the tombs of
the valley of the kings lived.

Narrator: Experts conclude
that paneb is a craftsmen

in the construction
of the royal tombs,

a job that offers unique access
to restricted areas.

Cooney:
The deir el medina craftsmen
knew the location

of every royal tomb,
that was their place of work.

They knew where ramesses ii
was buried,

they knew were
thutmose iii was buried.

Clark: Paneb is gonna have
intimate knowledge

of the layout
of all the tombs.

He's actually involved
in digging them.

Rose: Any tomb builder
in ancient egypt

is a suspect
for robbing these tombs out.

Narrator:
Paneb has access to information
only a handful of people have.

Rose: It stands to reason
that if paneb

had this kind
of specialized information,

then any other tomb builders
would also have

that kind of
special information.

Narrator: From the records,
experts reveal that paneb

begins to use his specialist
knowledge to his own benefit.

He's decided to use
that position of power

for a life of crime.

Narrator: Now paneb uses
his intricate knowledge

of the valley of the kings
to his advantage.

Clark:
Paneb was accused of stealing
from the tomb of seti ii,

but the one
that would have got him,

the worst condemnation was from
stealing from queen henutmire

where he took a goose,
which was a symbol of amun

and would have been
extremely valuable.

♪

narrator: But his crime wave
can't go on forever.

The salt papyri reveals paneb's
actions catch up with him,

and his felonies go
far beyond treasure-seeking.

From the records, paneb's trial
could be one of the earliest

criminal cases
of sexual misconduct in history.

Cooney: He's accused of stealing
from a number of people's tombs,

he's accused of stealing wives,

so to speak,
when he's accused of adultery,

and he's also accused
of rape and violence.

Paneb was just
an all-around bad guy.

Narrator: In the end,
paneb's low moral standing

comes back to haunt him.

The trial seems to have shown
that he had many enemies,

and he was taken down for it.

Justice in ancient egypt
is swift and severe.

♪

paneb was dealt
with by given 20 lashes.

He was a notorious tomb raider

and bad boy
of the ancient world.

Narrator:
The story of paneb reminds us
that crime and punishment

in ancient egypt
follows the same patterns

and outcomes
as in the 21st century,

and gives a window
into ancient egyptian justice

like never before.

♪