All language subtitles for Expedition.Unknown.S15E01.en

Welcome to Hegra,
Saudi Arabia!

Well, the temperature
may be soaring,
but I assure you

that what you see behind me
is no mirage.

It is one of hundreds
of massive structures

carved out
of the very rock itself,

the fingerprints
of an enigmatic civilization

that once dominated
the richest trade routes

of the ancient world,

the Nabateans.

Two thousand years ago,
the Nabatean kingdom

ruled the desert
from here, in Arabia,

all the way to the Sinai,

a strategic position
that made them rich

beyond imagination.

Despite their immense wealth
and power,

the reign of the Nabateans
was surprisingly brief

before they vanished
into history.

Today, shockingly little
is known about them.

Most of their tombs
were found empty.

Their legendary riches
never recovered.

So, where did they come from?

How did they manage to tame
these unforgiving deserts?

And how did they build
these jaw-dropping monuments?

The answers may lie
at their most famous city,

hundreds of miles away
in the deserts of Jordan.

Carved by hand into the walls
of a remote and hidden canyon,

Petra is a place
that defies explanation.

At its heart
is the mysterious marvel
known as the Treasury.

The most famous facade
on earth

is one of the New
Seven Wonders of the World,

and played home
to the Holy Grail

in Indiana Jones
and the Last Crusade.

Local folklore says
it hides the wealth

of the city's founders.

In reality, though,

scholars remain puzzled
by its true purpose.

Now, archeologist,
Pearce Paul Creasman

has been granted
unprecedented access

to excavate at the Treasury.

A once in a lifetime chance

to dig beneath
this historic icon,

and a dangerous expedition

to uncover
an ancient inscription

may finally shine a light

on the origins
of the Nabateans.

Meanwhile, scientists
are using groundbreaking
imaging technology,

to reconstruct
the charred remains of scrolls

that could decipher
the lost fate

of this civilization.

So choose wisely, and join me

on an adventure worthy
of Dr. Jones himself,

as we unlock the truth
and treasures

of the Nabateans.

The past is all around us.

Oh, this is crazy.

A world of mystery...

This is a plane.

-[man] Yeah.
-[laughs]

...danger...

We are about to be underwater.

Whoa!

...and adventure.

It's just straight down!

Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!

I travel to the far corners
of the earth

to uncover
where legends end...

[screams, laughs]

...and history begins.

Okay, let's punch in.

I'm Josh Gates,

and this
is Expedition Unknown.

Well, I have flown from
the deserts of Saudi Arabia

all the way
to the nation of Jordan.

This was once the heartland
of the Nabatean kingdom.

But their city of Petra
is still a ways off.

To get there,
it's a three-hour drive
to the south.

Okay, maybe four hours.

[sighs]

Nabateans probably had
a lot less traffic.

[horns honking]

[Josh] Amman is something
of a mirage

because as soon
as you clear the capital,

Jordan reveals
her true nature...

vast, desolate,

and absolutely stunning.

Look at this place.

Whoo!

Like another world.

After a long drive
in 100-degree heat,

I've consumed every drop
of water in the car...

and finally approached
the canyons surrounding Petra.

There are, of course,
no cars allowed

in the ancient city of Petra,

which means I'm gonna have to
transfer to a more...

traditional form
of transportation.

Even on the back
of a spitting, ornery camel,

the entrance into Petra
is awe-inspiring.

This is the Siq,

a nearly mile-long slot canyon

whose walls rise
almost 300 feet

above the desert floor.

It offers shade, but
more importantly, protection,

concealing the Nabateans'
grand capital city,

from the outside world.

How well did it work?

Well, western scholars had
no idea what was down here,

until only 200 years ago.

Swiss explorer,
Johann Ludwig Burckhardt,

assuming the alias,
Sheikh Ibrahim Ibn Abdallah,

earned the trust
of a local guide

and gained access
to the ruins,

making him the first outsider

to lay eyes on this.

Look at that.

Wow.

This is Al Khazna,

better known as the Treasury.

One look, and it takes
your breath away.

A stunning
rose-colored facade,

carved out
of the solid rock itself.

It has become the emblem
of the Nabatean kingdom.

Here to welcome me to the site
is my old friend,

archeologist,
Pearce Paul Creasman.

-Pearce Paul.
-Josh.

I always knew someday
you'd come walking back
through my door.

Oh, he even quotes Raiders!

Last time I saw you,
you were trying to drown me.

Not successfully, mind you.

[Josh] A year ago,
he was excavating the tomb
of a pharaoh

in a flooded pyramid in Sudan.

And I was dumb enough
to follow him.

Oh, my word!

But finding the remains
of a pharaoh in his tomb

was just a side quest

to his work as the head
of the American Center
of Research in Jordan,

where he and his team
are investigating

the mysteries of Petra.

The Holy Grail
is in there, right?

-I mean, but it has to stay
behind the Great Seal.
-[Josh] Of course.

Indiana Jones
and the Last Crusade made
this place incredibly famous.

I mean, if you know Petra,
you know this building.

It's one of the New
Seven Wonders of the World.

This is only the tip
of the iceberg, though.

Yes, Petra is a lot more
than just this building.

Yeah, if you really
wanna understand Petra,

-we gotta go for a walk
and check it out.
-All right. Lead on.

Time for an all-access tour
of the Petra that many
never see.

[Pearce] I know it looks like
this part of the canyon
is empty...

-[Josh] Right.
-[Pearce] ...but
if you look closely,

every surface
has been modified.

[Josh] All of this
has been shaped?

[Pearce] A lot of it
is below where we're
standing today, though.

[Josh] Part of this city
is buried?

-[Pearce] A lot of this city
is buried.
-[Josh] Wow.

The valley we're walking in
has become choked with sand,

burying many
of the earliest parts
of the city underground.

Later generations just built
more structures on top.

How many of these are there?

There's more than
a thousand cataloged.

It's insane.

The Nabateans transformed rock
into a living city

in one of the driest places
on earth.

Construction on Petra
began in the 4th century BC.

Over the next 300 years,

the city grew
from desert outpost

to engineering marvel,

home to as many
as 30,000 people.

Yet by some accounts,
only 15 percent of Petra
has been excavated,

and the people
who built all of this

are virtually unknown.

So if I'm being honest,
the Nabateans are a mystery
to me.

-[Pearce] Join the club.
-[Josh] They are a mystery,
right?

There's a lot
we don't know about them.

There's much more
we don't know than we do.

[Josh] Where do they
come from?
Let's start with that.

-I'd love to be able
to tell you.
-[chuckles softly]

Where do we think
they come from?

We think they came
as a confederation of...

of what we would think of
as tribes today

from the northern
Arabian deserts.

Right, so when the Nabateans
come on the scene,
who are the big players?

So, around the Nabateans
in their early history,

it's the Greeks,
Alexander the Great.

And then you've got
the Romans coming after that.

You've got the Ptolemies
in Egypt,

and you've got a couple
of Mesopotamian civilizations.

And right in the middle
of all of this,

-out in these deserts
are the Nabateans.
-[Pearce] Yes.

The Nabateans
are desert people.

They have mastered
what it is to cross them,

-to live in them,
to be around them.
-Yeah.

People just can't come
into their home

and do what they do.

-Right.
-So the Nabateans,
they're the highway

of the ancient world.

And when you wanna move things
like the frankincense,
the myrrh,

who are you gonna call?

-The Nabateans.
-Obviously.

[Josh] The Silk Road
and Incense Road,

which moved
the most valuable goods
in the ancient world,

both ran right through here.

In fact, every major
trade route from the east

to Greece, Rome and Egypt
crossed this desert.

So, these guys start out
like long-haul truckers.

-Yeah.
-They're like the Teamsters
of the ancient world.

Yeah, they start off
independent contractors...

-Right.
-...and then
they get organized.

-They are the Teamsters.
-[chuckles]

[chuckling] Yeah.

And we see,
in all of this construction,

they must have ended up
really wealthy.

The numbers
that are thrown around
in the ancient texts

are like Monopoly money.

[Josh] And money,
even in ancient times,
means power.

Power that we see
reflected here at Petra,

where the Nabateans
somehow carved all of this,

borrowing architectural
and artistic elements

from all
their trading partners,

Greeks, Romans and Egyptians,

to impress upon anyone
who visits,

"We are important."

And impress, they did.

Huh...

And they have a theater.

Uh, they do indeed.

[Josh] Wow!

Exhibit A...

an 8,500-seat
Roman-style amphitheater,

carved into
the bedrock itself.

You know, when you think
about desert-dwelling people,

you think about nomads,

you think about
a simple way of life,

just kind of humble way
of life.

This communicates
something very different.

-[Pearce] It's not that.
-[Josh chuckling] Right.

This says art,
this says culture.

There's writing
and performing, singing.

This is sophistication.

Yeah, the mathematics
to build all this,
in the first place...

-Right...
-...to understand
the geography...

Sadly, I don't remember
any great Nabatean plays.

Not a lot
of Nabatean writing survives.

[Josh] And this
is the problem.

With the exception
of a handful of inscriptions,

the Nabateans didn't exactly
leave us their biography.

And it isn't just writing
that we're missing.

Many of the small caves
cut into the canyon
are in fact tombs,

but every single one of them
is empty.

No bodies, no offerings.

No relics.

Nearly all of the structures
here are mysterious,

like the so called
"Great Temple,"

which may have actually
been a palace.

Okay, so when
does this get built?

So, this is associated

with the reign of a king
named Aretas IV.

-Right. He's, like, one
of the the big king, right?
-He's the big king.

-He's the guy.
-[Pearce] He's the guy.

He's the great builder here.

The apex
of Nabatean civilization

is considered
during this guy's reign.

King Aretas IV ruled
from 9 BC to 40 AD,

a fairly busy time
in this corner of the world.

In fact, he's mentioned
twice in the New Testament.

But Nabatean kings
may have been viewed

more as administrators
than royalty.

According to folklore,
they walked freely
among their people.

This modesty may explain
why no confirmed

royal Nabatean tombs
have ever been found.

So Aretas is associated
with the most famous
constructions here.

Yes, and he's also associated
with the most famous structure

-here at Petra, the Treasury.
-Where we started.

But it's a bit of a mystery,
and that's actually what
we're working on right now.

-So, let's go up
and I'll show you.
-Back to the beginning.

Okay, here we go.

[Pearce] After all the stuff
we've seen

and all the stuff
we've already talked about...

-[Josh] Mmm-hmm.
-[Pearce] ...in a lot of ways,

this is the biggest mystery
of Petra.

[Josh] Which is crazy
because it's the most
famous thing here.

Like, how can this be
the biggest mystery?

-It's the postcard.
-[Pearce] It is,

but there's just so much
we don't know about it.

[Josh] Start with this,
why is it called the Treasury?

[Pearce] So, this is called
the Treasury

because of, basically,
urban legend.

The story is that this was
a pharaoh's treasure chamber.

But this is a myth, a legend.

-This is a legend.
-Right.

Okay, so what was it for?

You look around, and even just
look directly at it.

-And it gives you
a lot of hints.
-[Josh] Okay.

[Pearce] Castor and Pollux.

[Josh] The two figures
here and here.

-Yes.
-This is the Gemini twins.

These are the half
Roman twins.

[Pearce] And they accompany
the dead.

-And then you see,
there's a lot of urns here.
-[Josh] Yes.

[Pearce]
Urn is the Roman symbol
for the dead.

So maybe this is a grand tomb.

The problem is,
we've never found
any physical evidence

inside of the Treasury...

to justify that.

There's no name
and there's no text on here

to tell us what's happening.

[Josh] Isn't that incredible?
All the work

to carve this
out of solid rock...

-[Pearce] Yeah.
-[Josh] ...no
inscriptions left.

[Pearce] Nothing left
to us today.

[Josh] That's right.
Like nearly all the other
carved structures at Petra,

no bodies were found inside.

They were likely looted
in antiquity.

Archeologists don't even know
when it was built.

They guess it was constructed
by and for King Aretas IV

around 40 AD

because he had
the means to do it.

But they can't prove it.

Okay, so how do we
unravel the mystery

of one of the most famous
buildings in the world?

If we're gonna
understand this place,

we've got to get a glimpse
of what's under us.

And to do that
we need technology.

Got it?

One does not simply dig
beneath the treasury.

If we're going to put
shovel to ground here,

we need to be
absolutely certain
there's something to find.

So Pearce has called in
another old friend.

-I think you know this fella.
-Dickie Bates.

-[Richard] Josh,
how you doing?
-How're you, brother?

-[Richard] Good, mate.
-Good to see you.

All right. Yeah, you too.

[Josh] Richard Dickie Bates
is a geophysicist

with the University
of St Andrews.

He and I have worked together
for a long time.

Some might say "too long."

We wanted
to bring in the best...

-instead we got Bates.
-Unfortunately-- Ah!

-[all chuckling]
-[chuckling] We both
went after you.

-I'm sorry.
-[indistinct]

Bloody hell. What did I do?

[chuckles] I'm just kidding.

I'm only joking because
you know that you're
so damn good at this.

Okay, so what's the plan?

-Geophysics, I assume.
-Yeah, GPR or
Ground-Penetrating Radar

picks out between,
in this case, rock layers,

and then empty space,
void beneath it.

-Mmm-hmm.
-And we're gonna see
what it shows.

-And if it shows something?
-Well, then we'll get
our hands dirty.

-Okay. Shall we scan?
-We scan.

[Josh] Dickie sets up
his equipment.

And Pearce Paul points us
toward our first target.

We're getting exclusive access

to scan in a sacred space
in Petra,

that is normally off limits
to visitors.

-[Pearce] Let's go
straight in.
-[Josh] Into the Treasury.

-Wow.
-[Richard] This is huge!

[Josh] Oh, my word.

[Josh] Into the Treasury.

-Wow.
-[Richard] This is huge!

[Josh] In the ruins of Petra,

one of the New Seven Wonders
of the World,

we have exclusive access
to scan

with Ground-Penetrating Radar

inside the iconic building

known as the Treasury.

Look at the size of this room.

-Oh, my word.
-[Richard] The scale.

[Josh] It's incredible.

Unlike Indiana Jones,

we don't have to spell
"Jehovah" as we walk in.

Instead, the inside
is comprised

of a soaring,
but empty chamber.

This is one of the most
mysterious rooms in the world

because you see
all these carvings,
these little alcoves,

and you just wonder what did
this used to look like.

We've got these
other weird clues here.
Were these for doors?

[Pearce] Yeah, so this
is its first set of hinges.

-And all the way up, you can
see the joints on the top.
-[Richard] Magnificent.

[Josh] Can you imagine?
But nothing was ever found
in here?

[Pearce] If it was found
in here, it was so long ago
that memory has lost it.

Yeah. There are a series
of booby traps

and a crusader knight
in here, right?

[Pearce] Absolutely.
But that's in the back.

[Josh] Oh, it's in the back.
All right, come on,
let's scan it.

Let's see if anything's
down here.

We scan the entire room,

running the GPR
over every square inch,

hoping the radar will reveal
a void beneath,

a target that might explain
the purpose of the Treasury.

Okay, so what do we got?

[Richard] So, you know,
here's the ground surface,

and then rock, rock, rock,
rock, rock, rock, rock, rock.

At least 18, 20 feet, minimum.

I mean,
it looks completely solid.

[Richard] So right here
in the Treasury,

it looks like there's
absolutely nothing
immediately underneath it.

[Josh] The interior
of the Treasury
is magnificent,

but a bust,
in terms of GPR hits.

We expand our search
out into the courtyard.

We haven't found any reason
to dig yet,

but there already appears
to be a hole in the ground.

All right, so what's
going on out here?

About 20 years ago,
they came out and excavated,

this part in front
of the Treasury.

They found what?

They found two big chambers,
almost completely empty.

[Josh] Oh, you can see one
right there.

But no royal tomb?
No writing, no treasure?

Nothing under here
that would really
help us address the questions

of the who, what and when
of this fantastic monument.

Okay. And what about
on the other side
of the Treasury?

Oh, that's the trick.

So, this is why we have Bates.

-Uh-huh.
-[Pearce] And so I'd like

Dickie to come
and give us a better idea

-about what's going
on over here.
-Let's do it.

Bates scans
the existing cavity

to get a baseline reading.

Then we pull the GPR scanner
across the rocky courtyard,

looking for evidence
of a similar void
for us to dig.

Something like...

-[Richard] Hey, guys,
come and look at this.
-Oh... No!

-Something?
-Yeah. Now, what do you
make of that?

There is something there!

[Richard]
That is the signature
that we've seen before.

[Josh] That looks exactly
like the other side.

-Where we know
there's a chamber.
-Yes.

[Richard] That's a void,
or I'll eat my hat.

[Josh] You're that confident?

-Absolutely.
-Dude...

unbelievable!

So you're saying
that almost directly
in front of this building,

there's some sort of chamber
we've never seen before?

That's what this says.

So now we've got to dig it.

Can we do that? I mean,
can we put a shovel
in the ground

in front of one of the most
famous buildings in the world?

Look, we've got permission.

But if you don't wanna do it--

-No, I want to. I want to.
-[Pearce chuckles]

[Josh] Let's see
what's down there.

More than a million tourists
visit Petra each year.

And as the first wave
arrives for the day,

we rope off our dig site.

After all,
we can't have a TikToker

falling into
an excavation pit.

Once the site is secure,

Pearce calls in
his right-hand man
here at Petra,

archeologist, Matthew Vincent.

-Josh, nice to meet you.
-Nice to meet you, man.

And Matthew calls in
the dig team.

Yo, listen up!

[Josh] Here we go. Hey, guys.

The top of the GPR anomaly
is 12 feet beneath us.

So for the first time
in decades,

at the doorstep
of a world wonder,

we are breaking ground
at Petra.

Fingers crossed.

There are no shortcuts
to discovery.

The dig begins as we claw
at the hard earth
the old fashioned way.

Digging in front
of the Treasury,

it's totally, totally normal.

It's allowed.
We have a permit,

I'm told.

The process...

break up the dirt,

transfer it to baskets,

dump into wheelbarrows,

and transport away
from the Treasury.

Then repeat...

over and over...

and over and over...

in 100-degree heat.

The sand,
filling every wheelbarrow
and basket,

also needs
to be carefully sifted

for potentially
valuable artifacts.

So all of this soil
has to go through the screen.

[Pearce] Yeah, they gotta
go in, check it out,
see what's in it,

because we can't
always see everything

-when we're taking it out.
-[Josh] Right.

So we take the big pieces out,
the big rocks out.

[Josh] I'll tell you
what is tough about this,

is that because of the redness
of the rocks here,

it all kind of looks
like ceramics at first glance.

It does, but there's a trick
for that.

So you take a piece and...

Why... Archeologists
are always licking things?
Why?

I... just... it's convenient.

But what is that doing?

So if you lick the side of it,

you can see whether or not
it's rock or ceramic.

-[spits]
-Definitely rock.

-Or whether a camel
peed on it.
-[chuckles]

[sighing] God!

So, rock or ceramic?

[Josh] That is...

-rock.
-Good call.

[Josh] See?

I didn't even have to lick it.

-[chuckles]
-Rock or ceramic?

-[Josh] That is ceramic!
-[Pearce] That is ceramic.

[Josh] Look at that.
Piece of rim off of something?

Yeah, you know how you go
to the grocery store today,

get a tin can, and it's got
waves inside of it?

-[Josh] Yeah.
-[Pearce] This idea is
a couple thousand years old.

It allows you
to make it stronger
with less volume of material.

-That's why Ruffles
potato chips are like that.
-Probably.

That's why Ruffles
have ridges. Who knew?

The pottery will be bagged,

while we find
another bucket of sand
to run through the sifter.

And considering
the Nabateans
were famous for their wealth,

it's important to look
for things that shine.

Uh, hold on. Hold on.

[chuckles softly]

So, look at that.

Oh, my word!

-That's a coin.
-Yeah.

Oh, my word!

I'm digging
in the ancient city of Petra,

where a mysterious anomaly

deep beneath the iconic
Treasury building,

may finally help us
learn its true purpose.

But on the way down,

we've managed to discover
a piece of Nabatean treasure.

It's a well-loved coin.
It's got some mileage on it.

[Josh] And it's got markings.

Walk me through this.

-Help me see it.
-[Pearce] So, we've got...
Nike's standing here,

and then the wings
draping down.

And these are the feathers
of the wings.

[Josh] This is a Nabatean coin
featuring a Greek theme.

Nike was often depicted
in flight,

and was the goddess
of victory,

someone the Nabateans
would be thrilled
to associate themselves with.

And we are no different today.

People hear the name "Nike,"
they think the shoe company.

And they don't realize that...

-Yeah.
-[Josh] ...that's why
it's called "Nike."

-Yeah.
-That's why
that swoosh logo is there.

-It's a representation
of what is on this coin...
-[Pearce] Mmm-hmm.

[Josh] ...the Nike wing.

-That is so cool.
-[Pearce] Yeah.

And that's a really
distinctive, uh, design

that only shows up
in two types
of the Nabatean coinage.

-The really,
really old stuff...
-[Josh] Okay.

-...before we even know who
the names of the kings are.
-Right.

And, uh, then Aretas III,

like, around 75 BC.

Here we have an actual
chronological fingerprint.

[Pearce] Like
a distinctive marker.

Again, giving us
this relational chronology,

but also, we're right under
the Treasury here.

-That's amazing.
-It's incredible.

[Josh] The Treasury's true age
is a mystery.

One theory is that
it was built around 40 AD
as a tomb

for the Nabateans'
most accomplished king,
Aretas IV.

The fact that we've
discovered an older coin

bearing the image
of his predecessor,
Aretas III,

below the Treasury
is a promising sign.

We get back to work,

going slow and steady
in the desert sun.

But it will take days
for Pearce Paul's team

to reach the depth
of our anomaly.

In the meantime,
Pearce Paul is taking me

to unravel another mystery
of Petra,

the secrets of how
the Nabateans

became powerful enough
to build all this.

The answer isn't in Petra.

So early the next morning,
we venture beyond.

Look at this place.

Is there a road around here,
Pearce Paul?

[Pearce] Uh,
this is one of those

choose-your-own-adventure
situations.

Those never end well.

This part of Jordan
is known as Wadi Rum.

And when Hollywood
needs a desert,
this is where they go.

Lawrence of Arabia
was filmed here...

so was Dune, Prometheus,

Rogue One, The Martian.

Seeing a pattern?

If your desert
can double for Mars,

you know you're
in a serious environment.

The average rainfall here
is two-and-a-half inches.

That's in an entire year.

But at least the temperature
isn't too warm

in the early morning hours.

96 degrees.

[Pearce] I mean, just look.

Look at how terrible
this would be. [chuckles]

And yet somehow,

the Nabateans are able,

without vehicles like this,

without ornithopters
from Dune,

the Nabateans are able
to conquer this place.

-Yes, they mastered
this place.
-[Josh] How?

Look, I'm gonna show you.
I gonna want you to pull over

right up over the...
by that mesa.

[Josh] Is there a Starbucks?

Sadly, no.

Damn.

-In here?
-[Pearce] Yeah.
Let's pull off here.

[Josh] Okay.

Here we go.

[Pearce] I wanna get up here
and take a look at something.

[Josh] What is back here?

[Pearce] We've got to go up.

[Josh] We're going up? Okay.

[Pearce] I mean,
it's no free solo,
but it's not easy.

Petroglyphs!

Unbelievable. Look at these!

In the middle of nowhere,
all of this incredible art.

Petroglyphs are ancient
pictures carved into stone.

And out here,
in the middle of the desert,

the builders of Petra
chiseled their own.

So, okay, what am I
looking at here?

[Pearce] Give me
your first impression.

What's the story you think
is being told here?

[Josh] Okay, so we have
a bunch of camels here,
and they're facing this way.

Yeah. What do you think
is in that direction?

-Petra.
-Yeah.

-Petra is that way.
-[Pearce] Yeah.

Amazing. And then
it looks like...

mounted guys with spears.
Maybe a hunting scene?

It might look like that,
but you have to understand it

to really get the full value
of the information out of it.

These symbols tell you a lot,
if you know how to read them.

-So the Nabateans
are encoding these symbols.
-Yes.

These spears
that we're looking at

that make this look
like a hunting scene

have been interpreted
as navigational aids
towards water.

Wow. So this is more than
just a piece of art.

This is a navigational beacon.

-[Pearce] Yeah.
-This is a direction.

This is ancient Google Maps.

So this is how the Nabateans
are able to survive out here.

They've actually
left themselves
waypoints everywhere.

[Pearce] Yeah, symbols
like this and other markers

are scattered
all over the deserts here.

If you know how to read it,
you'll be okay in the desert.

-Right.
-[Pearce] And everybody else
had no chance.

[Josh] Wow, that's incredible.

Now, I noticed, though,
that we are not going

in the direction
of the camels.

We're going deeper
into the desert?

Yeah, we're gonna do
the exact opposite thing
that this tells us to do.

Right. Why don't we...
Why don't we follow the map?

-[Pearce] Remember,
"X" never marks the spot.
-That's right.

I heard that somewhere.

[Josh] The glyphs
are a glimpse

at how the Nabateans
succeeded as nomads.

But to find out how
they became powerful enough

to build their capital city
of Petra,

Pearce Paul wants to find out
where they first
put down roots.

To get there,
we point the car north.

A couple of hours
through the dunes,

until we run out
of what passes
for a road around here.

Well, it's beautiful.

[Pearce] It is that.

[Josh] Okay, so where are we?

-This is As Sela.
-[Josh] Sela.

So how does this place
help us understand

the Nabatean rise to power?

This is the closest thing
we get

to the Nabatean origin story.

-So let's go take a look.
-[Josh] Okay. Let's see it.

Whoo!

Look at this place.

-[Pearce] Impressive, huh?
-[Josh] It's incredible.

I mean, we could be
in the Grand Canyon right now.

Okay, so why are we here?

The reason we're here
is that this was
an ancient fortress

-of the Edomites.
-The Edomites.

How well do you remember
your Old Testament?

Oh, flawless.
Like the... like the
inside of a Denny's menu.

Um, I kind of remember this.

There's, uh, Jacob
and the 12 tribes.

This is where
we get Israel, right?

-And then he has a brother--
-Esau.

-Esau.
-[Pearce] Yeah.

Esau establishes the kingdom
of the Edomites.

Yes, and they're
one of several kingdoms
in this area

at that time, 1250 BC.

Okay, so we're, like,
a thousand years

-before the Nabateans.
-[Pearce] Yeah.

All right, so what do
the Edomites have to do
with the Nabateans?

Look up on this cliff face
and tell me what you see.

Uh, okay. On the cliff.

I'm looking for caves.

I'm looking for tombs.
I don't see either.

[Pearce] Well, start up
at the cut in the rock
in the top...

-[Josh] Uh-huh.
-...and then
come straight down

until you find
some right angles.

[Josh] Oh, that square!

-Is that carved in the rock?
-[Pearce] That is.

[Josh] What is that?

That's an ancient inscription.

-That's an inscription?
-[Pearce] Yeah.

[Josh] Can we read it?

[Pearce] And there's the rub.

Out of about 100 lines,
we can only read about
six or seven.

And what we can read
says what?

It tells us
what happened to the Edomites,

and how it sets up
the Nabatean world.

[Josh] So, how do we
read more of it?

We need to scan it.

There's never been
a digital scan of this done.

All right.
Can it be scanned from here?

-No.
-No.

No!

-No.
-We only need to be,
like, this close.

No, it's a sheer
cliff face, man.

-I called some friends.
-No.

They're waiting for us.

Come on, let's get
the packs in the car
and let's do it.

No!

I'm not gonna answer
your calls anymore.

It's a long, long way up.

Not exactly a leisurely hike

under the best
of circumstances.

And in the summer heat,
it's downright punishing.

Okay, this sucks.

Fortunately,
as we reach the top,

it's clear
that we are not on our own.

Pearce Paul has called in
an advance team,

including master rappeller,
Marwan Ma'ayta,

to help us examine
the inscription
on the cliff face.

How's it going?

I'm tired.
That's how it's going.

-Yeah, it's quite a ways up.
-It's quite a ways up.

-[Pearce] Okay.
-[Josh] How far
a drop is this?

From the top to the bottom,
it's two football fields.

Will we be hands-free there
to be able to scan?

Yeah. Yeah.
We will be lowering you guys.

Okay.
Should we get kitted up?

-Yeah.
-Yeah. Let's do it.

-Let's do it. Come on.
-Yeah.

[Josh] We gear up
to head down.

Safety first.

I hope.

The rappel platform
has already been set up
on the cliff face,

so we clip in
and make our way to the edge.

700 feet above the ground.

Oh, my word.

Josh, you ready?

Ready as I'm gonna be.

Archeologist
Pearce Paul Creasman and I

are attempting to decipher
an immense but faint
inscription

carved into this cliff,

which may be the key
to understanding the origins
of the mysterious Nabateans.

But scanning it may be
one of the scariest things
I've ever done.

All right, we've got
the scanner clipped to you.

Okay, yup.
I have the scanner here. Yup.

So you're gonna
have to deploy it
when we get down there.

And why am I
going first again?

Because you have the scanner.
That's the ticket.

-Because I have
the scanner. Right.
-[Pearce] Yeah, yeah.

But why did I have to have--

It doesn't matter.
Okay, here we go.

To scan
the inscription up close,
we'll need to dangle

about 30 feet
below the platform.

The ground,
that thing I'm hoping
to kiss in a few hours,

that's another
650 feet below.

This is
officially terrifying.

Pearce Paul,
see you in a minute.

[Josh exhales deeply]

[inhales deeply]

Calm your nerves.

Calm your nerves. Okay.

I see the inscription.

It's below me.

Oh, God, this is scary.

Keep going.

Keep going.

A little bit more.
I'm almost at the top.

Copy that.

[Josh] Keep going.

I'm at the top
of the inscription.

A little lower.

Little more.

Okay, stop.

That's good.

[man on walkie-talkie]
Copy that. Hang in there.

Pearce is on his way down.

-[Pearce] Coming down, buddy.
-[Josh] Yup.

You got it, man.
Nice and slow.

[Pearce] I'm going
as slow as I can.

[Josh] Okay, you're on it.

-It's the very top.
-[Josh] Yeah.

[Josh] A little bit more.

[Pearce] Hold.

[Josh] Finally,
my cameraman, Ryan,
makes the trip down.

My drastically
underpaid cameraman.

Okay, we're good.

All right. Welcome.

[Pearce] Okay, Josh,
now that we're here,
what do you see?

Uh, a sheer drop
to my death.

-Oh, on here?
-[Pearce] Yeah, yeah.

-Sorry, sorry.
-[Pearce] That's a few minutes
from now.

Uh, I see a figure.

There's somebody here.
And a helmet, a crown,
something like that.

Oh, that's a fancy hat,
technical term.

-[Josh] Technical term?
-Yeah.

And he's holding a staff.

-[Josh] Oh, yes.
This right here?
-[Pearce] Yeah.

[Josh] So, we have a staff
going down here.

So, who is this?

Josh, no question,
you're looking at a king.

-[Josh] It's a king?
-[Pearce] No question.

[Josh chuckles] Incredible.

You're one of the
only people in the world

to have ever come face to face
with this carving.

I mean, look at this.

Who's foolish enough
to come up here?

[Josh] The people
who carved it, right?

So, king of what?

No doubt this is
a Mesopotamian king.

-A Mesopotamian king?
-Yeah.

What the heck
is a Mesopotamian king
doing here?

[Josh] It does have
that distinctive shape
to the crown.

-[Pearce] Yeah.
-[Josh] How do we know
it's Mesopotamian?

[Pearce] Well, because
of the writing, too.

[Josh]
Oh, there's the writing.

You can see it going down.

You can see them there
by your left knee.

There's some really
good quality preservation.

[Josh] This is...

-cuneiform?
-[Pearce] Cuneiform.

[Josh] These little
wedge-shaped cuts.

This is one of the oldest
scripts in the world.

It's extremely distinctive.

[Josh] Cuneiform is
an ancient writing system

used in this part of the world
by civilizations

dating back to the
Sumerians of Mesopotamia

in the fourth millennia BC.

It helps mark the beginning
of recorded history itself.

This is incredible.

-A whole lot of
very faded cuneiform.
-[Pearce] Yeah.

It's been blasted
for centuries
by the elements.

I mean, just turn around
and take a look.

I'm not turning around.
I'm not turning around.

[shrieks] I turned around.

Why did you
make me turn around?

Oh, my God,
it's so far down.

It's so far down. Okay.

Shall we get to work?

-I'm ready if you are.
-Yeah, let's get to work.

The Artec Leo 3D scanner
will capture the inscription
with incredible detail,

detecting
variances in the rock

invisible to the naked eye.

I've used this tech before,
but never on anything
this large.

[Josh grunts] Whoo.

Okay, I've got it.

Swinging back.

Pearce Paul and I
pass the scanner
back and forth

to cover
the entire inscription.

We're almost done, guys.

Forty photos a second
will be stitched together

to digitally view
the inscription

with unprecedented accuracy.

So now we got to go down,
take a look at this data
and see what we got.

That means we can leave?

You sure you just don't want
to hang around for a while?

[Josh] Oh, my God.

I'm gonna cut his rope.
Let's go.

Okay, we're headed down.

-[Pearce] Awesome.
-[Josh] Awesome job.

[Pearce] Epic.

[Josh] The journey
to the inscription
was a one-way trip.

Instead of going back up,
we need to rappel down
to solid ground.

That's a long way down.

-[Pearce] Watch the
scanner on the overhang.
-[Josh] Yeah.

[Pearce] Otherwise
we do it again tomorrow.

[Josh] Whoo.

I'm good.

I'm down!

Back on terra firma,

we grab some water
and cry quietly to ourselves

before Pearce Paul brings up
the scan on our computer.

Time to see
what the mysterious
inscription reveals.

All right, moment of truth.
You ready?

Please let this have worked.

Oh!

Oh, my God!

-Look at that!
-Amazing.

Amazing.

-The detail is incredible.
-It's stunning.

Instantly,
just on the first look,

I can tell
so much more about this.

There are
so many details here...

-Yeah.
-...that I couldn't see
when we were up there.

[Pearce] When this thing
was originally discovered,

they were able to read
a couple of lines of text.

The data we got,
I can see dozens of lines.

[Josh] This is so awesome.

And out of all of
these lines of text,

-how many of them
have been translated?
-Not very many.

We're talking 2, 3, 4, 5%.

-Single digit, small number.
-Okay.

So maybe with this scan,
with this detail,
more to follow?

I think not maybe.

I think certainly
there's more to come.

So my cuneiform
is a little rusty.

Who is this guy?
What does the text tell us?

So this first sentence
gives us the home run.

It says, "I am Nabonidus,
King of Babylon."

[Josh]
In the sixth century BC,

the Babylonian King,
Nabonidus,

had spent a decade
in this region

conquering small tribes
and settlements,

when he set his sights
on the people living here
in Sela.

And we know
one of the things

that he is reported
to have done

is to bring
the Edomite empire to an end.

And this
monumental inscription
is announcing that.

[Pearce]
This is rubbing it in.

-[Josh] Yeah.
-This is insult to injury.

This is going to their place
and saying,

"You're gonna remember this."

-Yeah. "I won."
-Yeah.

So, him defeating
the Edomites

happens around when
do you think?

Like, 550 BC.

So this really is
a smoking gun saying,

"At this moment in time,
in this place,

the Edomites are destroyed."

Unfortunately for them,
the Babylonians didn't get
to enjoy Sela for too long.

Soon after taking this place
from the Edomites,

Babylon itself was conquered,

leaving Sela
without a landlord.

But not for long.

A void appears.

There's a dark spot
on the map.

Right. Nobody's here now.

-The Nabateans are here now.
-[Pearce] Uh-huh.

They start filling it in.

This power vacuum
that's here, they fill it.

-This is their origin story.
-[Josh] Right.

All these nomadic tribes
that are out in the desert.

Suddenly,
nobody is in charge here.

And there's an opportunity
for them to coalesce,

and to come to this place.

And this is
one of those things

where we get really lucky.

Later in history,
a Roman historian tells us

that in 312 BC
the Nabateans,

the first time
we ever hear this word,

are so present, so powerful,
so dynamic at Sela

that they are able
to fight off

one of Alexander
the Great's generals.

-[Josh] Whoa.
-Not once, but twice.

Wow.

Perhaps forged by generations
enduring in the desert,

the Nabateans
prove formidable,

a trait that will help
propel them to great success.

So here we are,
centuries before Petra
is really a thing...

-Yeah.
-...and the Nabateans
are on the scene.

[Pearce] Yes.

And so what do they do
with that here at Sela?

Well, I can take you up
and show you.

-They left stuff behind?
-Yeah. Let's go take a look.

[Josh] We strap
our packs back on

and hike up
to another part
of the mesa.

It's just as hot.

But at least this time,
I'm not worried about
how I'm getting down.

Oh, wow.

-This looks like something
you'd see at Petra.
-[Pearce] Yeah.

This is where
we really start to see
Nabateans' fingerprints.

-This is what?
-[Pearce] The city gate.

[Josh] These are for doors?

Yup. This allows them
to block things off,
control access.

[Josh] The Nabateans
are learning how to take

the natural shape
of these canyons

and use it
to their advantage.

-So entrance
to the city and beyond.
-[Pearce] Yup.

[Josh] All right.
Shall we see what's in there?

We walk through the gates

and see what
the Nabateans built
long before Petra.

Oh, my lord!

Look at this place.

[Pearce] So, all around,
you can see signs of life.

[Josh] I'm in the
mountaintop ruins
known as Sela,

investigating the origins
of the Nabatean kingdom.

Here,
at their first settlement,

we're seeing the genesis
of their incredible ability

to shape the stone
around them.

You can see all these
signs of construction.
Oh, look at this.

-[Pearce] Yeah.
-[Josh] I mean,
look at that up there.

That looks exactly like Petra.

-That squared off,
carved area.
-[Pearce] I know.

If these were red rocks,
you wouldn't be able
to tell the difference.

[Josh] Totally.
That's very Nabatean looking.

Using only manual tools
like hammers and chisels,

the Nabateans fashioned
rough-looking caves,

and then
clearly honed their skills
into more refined designs.

-Oh, this is a house.
-[Pearce] This is a house.

-Here, you've got
the front door area.
-[Josh] Uh-huh.

-[Pearce] You put your
little oil lamp in here.
-[Josh] Right.

-You've got--
-That's your
front porch light.

-Yeah.
-[Josh] Okay.

So you've got that
in the front of your house.

And then we've got this pretty
spacious dwelling here, right?

Yeah. I mean,
it's good space.

And it's well protected
from several sides.

-But if you look at the holes
above the ceiling.
-Yeah. Are they post holes?

[Pearce]
These are post holes.

[Josh] To turn this cave
into a home,

the Nabateans would mount
beams in the post holes,

then drape fabric
over them, like a tarp,
for shade and shelter.

Pretty sophisticated.

-Indoor, outdoor
like a covered porch.
-Absolutely.

[Josh]
The mountain is covered
with homes like this,

where the Nabateans
could cease their wandering
in the desert

and live in safety.

They took the knowledge
they gained here

and applied it
to their capital at Petra.

It's an amazing
evolutionary leap,

as was their ability
to navigate the deserts.

But then we spot the thing
that made the Nabateans
a true powerhouse.

[whistles] Whoa.

Look at the hole.

[Josh] Is that
a water cistern?

It is. It's a cistern.

I mean, that is deep.

[rock thuds]

-[Josh] That must be
20 feet deep.
-At least.

-So this is
a massive water cistern.
-Yes.

This would have held
thousands and thousands
of gallons.

When you think about
this part of the world,
you don't think of water,

but there must have been
a ton of it here.

Well, this is
a big part of the secret
of the Nabateans rise,

is their ability
to manage water,
to direct it, to dam it.

Without that technology,
they don't make it.

This is life.

Without this,
you cannot survive here,
much less thrive.

And this will
make you think about Petra
in a whole new way.

Absolutely.
It's all about water.

We make the long drive
back to Petra,

and I see
that Pearce is right.

Within these
well-protected walls,

the innovation
and building prowess

the Nabateans mastered
in the desert

is on full display.

Now that
we're back from Sela,

you have to look at Petra
through a different lens.

Everything is about
water management.

Oh, all of this is
like a channel,

like an aqueduct system.

[Pearce] And every
one of these little valleys
would have had dams in it.

This is a big part
of why Petra is Petra.

-Right.
-If your whole situation
in this part of the world

-is about managing water...
-Right.

...this is the place.

-Look at this valley.
-Right.

All the water
during rains floods down
through these canyons.

And if you can learn
to harness it,

you can then
take advantage of it.

Got it.

Today, we see Petra
as surrounded by desert,

but it was once
a resplendent oasis.

Thanks to the Nabateans
mastery of water,

precisely engineered
irrigation systems

would have carried water
to every corner of this city.

The path we walk
would have been
surrounded by greenery

and terraces
of exotic fruit trees.

There was even,
honest to God,
ancient piping.

[Pearce] This is
actual plumbing.

-Right.
-Ceramic pipes like cones
set one into another.

And the place is plumbed.

And at multiple levels
in some places.

But these ones
that would have been open,

if you were entering Petra
coming down through the Siq,

you would have been
listening to the echoes
and seeing water,

-flowing water.
-Yeah.

It sets
a real distinctive tone.

It's like having a fountain
in the foyer of your house.

It's a statement.

-I mean, you're showing off.
-Right.

They're doing
something in the desert

that you shouldn't
be able to do.

They have running water.

And we have resources.

-[Josh] Yeah.
-Look at us.

-Yeah.
-[Pearce] Look what we can do.

[Josh]
But its greatest mystery,

the truth behind
the wondrous treasury,

is still waiting
to be solved.

As we continue down
the corridor of the Siq,

we hear a reason
to pick up the pace.

[man] Josh, Pearce,
get over here.

They found something.

-Let's see what we got.
-[Josh] Yeah. What is it?

-We got a lot
more people here.
-[Pearce] Yeah.

[Pearce]
Oh, this looks very official.

[Josh] Turns out
we've got company.

The team is joined
by the Director General

of the Jordanian
Department of Antiquities,
Dr. Fadi Balawi.

Your Excellency.
Nice to meet you, sir.

-Lovely seeing you.
-Yes.

Along with the Chief
Commissioner of Petra,
Dr. Fares Braizat.

Thank you
for having us back.

Where have you been?

We've been in the desert,
we've been in the desert.

-We're back. Okay.
-[Fares] Really? Oh.

Look at how much progress
you guys have made here.

Look, you're all the way
down there.

You guys have moved
a lot of earth.

So, what'd you find?

We think we have
an entrance to something here.

-There's an opening there?
-[man] There's an opening.

-[Josh] Where?
-I can put
my hand in this way.

Look at that.
That's a doorway.

And it goes
all the way here as well.

And it's just got these
big blocks in front of it?

Yeah. It's been sealed up.

Is that a tomb?
What is that?

I mean,
why do we have to wonder?

We should go down and see.

-Let's find out. Come down.
-Yeah. I knew I like this guy.

-Yeah.
-We're coming down.

Oh, my word.
Can you see in there?

Wow.

I can't wait.

What is in there?

It is something
really huge.

Is it empty? Is it--
Can you see anything?

-[Fadi] Ooh.
-Is it a room?
Does it go back?

It's a new tomb, I think.

[Josh] It is a tomb!

Oh, my God.