All language subtitles for Cleopatra-Sex.Lies.and.Secrets.2020.WEB.h264-CAFFEiNE

On the edge
of the Nile delta...

The whole complex is huge.

...A major
archeological dig has begun.

We found this skull.

...In the hunt
for Cleopatra.

You're talking about a woman

who rules one of the greatest
empires in the world.

Her name's synonymous
with seduction...

beautiful and bad.

She has been thoroughly
demonized by the ancient sources

and heavily mythologized for
this brand of demonic sexuality.

Now cutting-edge technology...

If there's any anomaly
in the bedrock,

it will be seen.

...And painstaking archeology

unearth new discoveries

that transport us back
to the time of Cleopatra.

Oh, my god.
There are two mummies!

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

captions paid for by
discovery communications

Egypt...

The home of archeology.

From the first recorded dig
in 1798

to countless expeditions since,

they have uncovered dynasties

that lived
in unimaginable splendor.

But despite years of searching,

not a single pharaoh's tomb
has been found in Egypt

from the time of the ptolemys,

the last
of the Egyptian dynasties.

The most famous
Ptolemy of them all...

Cleopatra.

She remains a mystery.

One of the problems
with Cleopatra

is that we really have
no decent contemporary sources.

A lot of prose, literature,

history from that period
simply does not survive,

and that's a terrible loss.

Since the greco-Romans

first started writing about her,
the location of her tomb

and with it,
details about her life,

has remained unknown
for over 2,000 years.

Plutarch says
that Cleopatra's tomb

is in a beautiful city

or a beautiful area with lots of
tall buildings around.

Her tomb probably was not in
the traditional Ptolemaic area

of Alexandria for burials,
called the sema or the soma.

The latest, however,
is that she may have had

her funerary monument
actually outside of Alexandria

in a place called
Taposiris Magna.

The archeologist behind

that latest theory
is Dr. Kathleen Martinez.

This temple is the only one
that reunites

all the conditions
that I believe

Cleopatra will choose
to be buried.

Taposiris Magna was built

2,300 years ago.

Beyond the walls
of the enormous temple complex

lies a vast necropolis

honeycombed with tunnels
and catacombs.

And at the far end of the site,
a funerary monument

modeled on Alexandria's
famed lighthouse.

The whole complex is huge.

We have excavated 16 catacombs.

After studying the remains
carefully in the pottery

and all that has been
discovered inside the tombs,

everything is from the time
of queen Cleopatra.

Now a major
archeological expedition

to find any evidence
from Cleopatra's time

and perhaps even her tomb itself
is under way.

It's the 14th year of her quest,

and Dr. Martinez has brought
with her her biggest team yet.

it's 9:00 a.m.

The mercury
is hitting 90 degrees.

Is this the right
place over there?

But I want to...
I want to check

more right side.

Dr. Martinez

and surveillance expert
Leonid Krynytskyi

are searching
for anomalies in the ground

that might point
to more undiscovered tombs.

Archeologists can use
satellite imagery

to reveal areas of interest.

Color anomalies
on the surface indicate

that there could be cavities

or man-made structures
hidden underground.

They go in for a closer look,
using ground-penetrating radar.

The machine emits
high-frequency radio waves

that can penetrate bedrock
and find cavities.

I believe in this area
might be other tombs.

If there's any anomaly
in the bedrock,

it will be seen in the screen.

The apparatus is
highly sensitive,

requiring careful deployment
at regular intervals.

Leonid is worried

that they aren't getting
an accurate reading.

50 centimeters,
sometimes 20.

It's making a difference.

A difference
that could mean missing out

on a burial chamber.

No, I will do it.
I will do it.

You concentrate...

In the screen.

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okay. I like this place.
So maybe try here.

Here?

Yeah, from here.
From there.

do you think
you've got something?

more. More.

From here?
Yeah.

the radar shows
a big anomaly here.

Could be an entrance to a tomb.

It could be a shaft.

We're going to make a trench...

From that point.

One meter by two meters.

It's a trench exploration.

Then if you see
something interesting,

you call immediately.
Okay.

They're looking for a step

that could be the first
in a stairway leading to a tomb.

While the team get to work,
Dr. Martinez

takes the opportunity
to check up on a tomb

they uncovered using
ground-penetrating radar

last season.

Close to the lighthouse
monument,

it's so important she needed

to inform the Egyptian
authorities before proceeding.

It's called tomb number five.

The tomb has the stairs.

And we start
cleaning the stairs,

we didn't know
what we would find.

We discovered that the tomb
has two inner chambers.

The human remains that were
discovered in this chamber

beneath
was the remains of a woman

mummified with an ibis also.

A wading bird
with a slender down-turned bill,

the ibis was the symbol
of the god of wisdom, Thoth.

This is a key find.

To be mummified with an ibis
suggests

this was an important,
educated woman,

but that's not all
they discovered.

The last day
of last season,

everything was finished here
and then we discovered

there was
one more inner chamber.

It was so well hidden.

This could be
the first intact tomb

found at Taposiris Magna.

And with a person of importance

found buried
in the same catacomb,

Dr. Martinez is keen to find out
who else is buried here.

nobody has been inside
this storm for 2,000 years.

It's completely sealed

because the tomb
was hidden beneath the tomb

that we already discover
last season.

Every step
of the opening must be recorded.

It's one of the greatest moments

as an archeologist,

the chance to discover
an intact tomb.

The tomb is
extraordinarily well hidden.

The ancient Egyptians
designed it

to be directly
below another one.

Dr. Martinez
has never seen this before.

The top tomb was looted,

but this one
appears undisturbed.

okay, okay.

We have a big block
and a second block.

we need a chisel and a hammer.

we'll open
the first hole here.

we have to be careful
because we cannot let

the block go inside the tomb.

okay, it's open.

Oh, my god.
There are two mummies!

At Taposiris Magna

on the Egyptian shores
of the Mediterranean,

archeologist
Dr. Kathleen Martinez

has just removed the first stone
from a sealed tomb.

Okay, it's open.

Oh, my god.

There are two mummies!

We have two mummies.

Dr. Martinez
is the first person

to set eyes on these mummies
for close to 2,000 years.

They are two mummies.

One seems like it's complete.

Bone specialist
Dr. Linda Chapon

is on hand to take a look.

- wow.
- They are fantastic.

They are very
well-preserved.

Look, they have gold.

It looks like gold
leaf once covered the mummies.

They hope to find an amulet
or cartouche

inside their wrappings
to help identify them.

Amulets were protective devices.

They could be worn in life
or in death.

In death, we see them
placed strategically

in the linen wrappings

once the body
had been mummified.

The most important
is the heart amulet,

asking the heart not to testify
against the deceased

in the weighing of the heart.

That would either allow
or forbid the deceased

from entering into eternal life.

The mummies appear
to be in a delicate state.

The challenge is to excavate
and examine them

while keeping them preserved
for the historical record.

Within their wrappings,

these mummies might contain more
information on the ptolemys

and perhaps even
the last Egyptian queen herself,

a woman who has become a myth,

even a caricature
of her own story.

The sources on Cleopatra
are problematic

because
they're written entirely,

as all our ancient sources are,

by upper-class, elite males.

And there's nothing wrong

with being an upper-class,
elite male.

It's just that you get
a certain viewpoint.

Cleopatra's empire
stretched from Libya in the west

through Egypt and north
as far as present-day Syria.

Across the Mediterranean sea
was another great power...

Rome.

And for the men of Rome,

Cleopatra was perceived
as the enemy.

And so the propaganda begins.

Cleopatra is different

from so many other women
in history

for the sheer fact
that her presence is enlarged,

her importance is enlarged,
initially by Octavian.

He needs to turn Cleopatra
into some sort of monstrous foe.

And this only, of course,
enlarges her importance.

Her wealth becomes greater.

She becomes more sinister
and more seductive

than she had ever been
in her lifetime.

Cleopatra was very powerful,
but never quite as powerful

and as domineering
as she will begin to appear

in the roman literature.

Very, very quickly,
this frightening, seductive,

beautiful, eastern, very
un-roman image of Cleopatra

is preserved in the classical
writers, particularly Plutarch.

It gets picked up
by people like Chaucer.

But by the time
it goes into Shakespeare,

it's also got quite confused.

Cleopatra
is slightly transformed

from being an evil woman,
an enemy,

into being a woman
who has given all for love.

Cleopatra inspires
artists throughout history.

From this portrait
found at Herculaneum

made around a century
after her death

to these evocative
baroque works.

Ultimately, her life is laid
bare on the silver screen.

Hollywood depictions
of Cleopatra

very much fit the era
which they were made for.

Originally, she's very
seductive.

She's a vamp...

glamorous
and darkly seductive.

By the 1930s,

we have Claudette Colbert's
Cleopatra.

She likes sex and drink
and witty conversation,

and she is a fast woman
and fast women are fun.

But, of course, the one that people remember
is the version in 1963

starring Elizabeth Taylor
and Richard Burton.

That's the big one.

Quite often people
perceive Cleopatra

as being a beautiful woman
who fell in love with two men

and committed suicide
with a snake.

The narrative set out
in roman propaganda

still remains prominent
to this day,

but that queen is
built out of words,

not archeological evidence
of which there is so little.

Kathleen hopes that her research

will help to set
the record straight.

And a find at Taposiris Magna

will bring us face-to-face
with Cleopatra herself.

At Taposiris Magna,
the sheer size of the site

and the searing temperatures
make this

a tough environment to manage.

There are challenges everywhere.

They found a snake.

Guys, wait.

They found a snake.
It's still alive.

It's a baby asp,

one of the most
poisonous snakes in Egypt.

Cleopatra herself used its venom
to execute prisoners

and so, the myth goes,
to kill herself.

Better set it free.

Set it free.

The snake is
a crucial creature

to the ancient Egyptians...

...Often appearing in the
artwork on their monuments.

It is the serpent
that symbolizes

their divine authority,
linking the pharaoh to the gods.

In ancient Egypt,
religion permeated everything.

It was the central
organizing factor of society.

The ancient Egyptians

believed in over
a thousand gods.

As their leader,
the pharaoh was a living god.

One of the few pieces of
evidence on the real Cleopatra

comes from reliefs on temples.

She is always assimilated
with imagery

of the goddess ISIS...

with snakes around her head.

Isis is an extremely
important goddess

to the Egyptians.

Her name actually
means "the throne."

ISIS had always
been associated

with the political seat
of power.

Isis was a popular goddess

and many temples
were dedicated to her.

She believed
that she was ISIS.

She behaved all her life
as goddess ISIS.

She wouldn't be happy with
a small place,

with a backward temple.

Everything she did,
she was in a big scale.

That is why in 2005,
Dr. Kathleen Martinez

came to Taposiris Magna.

At that moment
when I came here,

I decided to excavate
the temple myself

to prove that the temple
was dedicated to goddess ISIS.

A large temple
dedicated to ISIS

so close to Alexandria
could make for an ideal

resting place for a living
incarnation of the goddess.

When I came
to Taposiris Magna,

the level of the sand
was about that.

You can see the new
construction of the wall.

The part, which you see,

is where I've been
excavating through years.

As the teams dug down,

revealing the inner walls
and rooms of the complex,

2,300 years of history
began to emerge.

One incredible discovery...

the statue of
a Ptolemaic pharaoh

wearing a kilt
known as a shendyt.

A carved inscription found
nearby identified the statue

as king Ptolemy iv,

Cleopatra's three times
great grandfather.

It links the temple
to the ptolemys,

the last of the great
Egyptian dynasties.

Their reign began in 305 b.C.

When Ptolemy the first, Sodor,
declared himself pharaoh.

Cleopatra would take
to the throne in 51 b.C.

Cleopatra inherited the throne
of Egypt from her father,

and her father has had
a very troubled reign.

He's brought Egypt into debt.
He's had civil unrest.

So Egypt is in a bit of turmoil
at the point where he dies,

Ptolemy the 12th, and Cleopatra

and her brother Ptolemy
come to the throne.

The ptolemys distinguish
themselves for sibling marriage.

Cleopatra's parents are almost
certainly brother and sister.

Her great grandfather
would have been her

great grandfather
several times over.

But this strategy
created deep family feuds.

Anyone who is a blood
relative is a potential threat.

Especially when the
throne of Egypt was at stake.

Siblings fighting siblings,
mothers decapitating children.

It's a pretty bloody,
butchering group of people.

It was either kill or be killed.

And Cleopatra upholds
that tradition.

I think we should
give her a lot of credit

for living long enough

to actually be able
to take the throne

and being the survivor
in that family,

because that must have been a
really hard thing for her to do.

To really tie
Taposiris Magna to Cleopatra,

Dr. Martinez needed to prove

that this was a temple
dedicated to ISIS.

This first season,

I was able to discover
which...

...The foundation plates.

Foundation plaques
are typically deposited

in foundation deposits,

which we find usually positioned

at he corners
of a sacred space.

So if you can imagine
an architect outlining

the area upon which
the temple would be built.

Foundation plates

named the pharaoh
who built the temple

and were also used
to dedicate a temple

to a particular god.

In the Ptolemaic period,

we can even see
bilingual foundation plaques.

So with the Egyptian hieroglyphs
on one side

and the same thing written
in Greek on the other side.

Carved into these foundation
plates was the confirmation

Dr. Martinez
had been looking for.

The inscriptions state that this
is a temple dedicated to ISIS

built by Ptolemy IV, Philopator.

But there was more.

They excavated the altar,
where priest and priestess

made offerings
to the goddess ISIS.

Here is the altar.

Inside, actually,
we discovered 200 coins.

Coins are a great way to date

when a temple was in use.

But made of bronze,

these coins were heavily
corroded over time,

making it impossible
to gain any information.

Weeks of careful scrubbing
reveal on one side in Greek,

her name and
on the other, her face...

queen Cleopatra...

proof that Taposiris Magna

was still in use
during her reign.

When I found
the first coins for Cleopatra,

was one of the greatest
moment of the excavation.

With so little remaining

from the last Egyptian dynasty,

these coins provide
precious archeological evidence.

The only accurate indications
we have of what Cleopatra

looks like
would have been her coins.

And on those coins, she looks
very much like her father.

She has a hook nose.
She has a high forehead.

She has wide, sunken eyes.

She has a somewhat
indented chin.

She's not a beauty.

Cleopatra's coins were
minted to her instructions.

She has her hair divided
and twisted back.

It was often studded
with jewels.

So pearls were especially
popular in the ancient world.

Around her head,

she wears what's known
as a diadem, a filet,

a strip of cloth
that's tied in the back.

And this is the symbol of
royalty for Hellenistic kings.

She was sending the message
that she was as good as

and as valid ruler

as any of the men
who had gone before her.

By using these coins
as a blueprint,

3-d artists
have expertly re-created

how Cleopatra chose to represent
herself to her people

as she ruled Egypt
2,000 years ago.

It's an image that
delivers power over beauty.

Cleopatra was much more
concerned to have a strong

and dominant appearance

rather than
to be pretty or beautiful

by any feminine standards
of the day.

These stunning images
of Cleopatra allow us

to get close
to the woman behind the throne.

For Dr. Martinez, the coins
found in a temple of ISIS

where they have also found
Ptolemaic statues

of Cleopatra's ancestors
is all proof

this was an important place
to her and her people.

I believe that the tomb
of Cleopatra,

if there's any place
to be found,

it would be at Taposiris Magna.

Dr. Kathleen Martinez
has opened a tomb

with two intact
golden mummies inside.

Now she can finally examine
these mummies,

which have remained untouched
for 2,000 years.

It's open.

Oh, my god.

There are two mummies!

Today we're going to remove
all the blocks

and try to enter.

This tomb is carved
out of the bedrock

directly below another.

It is a rare find.

The ancient Egyptians created
the perfect hiding place.

oh, god.

The tomb is sealed
by heavy limestone blocks.

I'm holding the block
so it doesn't fall

inside the tomb.

One false move,

and the fragile mummies
could be destroyed.

the block is
in one piece.

each block weighs close
to 80 pounds.

Okay. It's gone.

We continue removing
the plaster

to take the other
blocks...

...And open
the tomb completely.

I'm very worried
that the block

will go inside
the mummies now.

We're trying to hold it.

okay.

perfect.

Oh, okay.

Go on.

Now we can put the light.

Linda, we are ready here.

Alright. Coming.

Bone expert
Dr. Linda Chapon

joins Dr. Martinez

to take a first look
at the mummies.

And I can see now they are
from the Ptolemaic period,

which means the time
of queen Cleopatra.

This is a first
for Taposiris Magna...

the first unlooted tomb,

complete with two mummies
covered in gold leaf.

It's amazing.

This is the moment
I've been waiting for.

The mummy on the right,
mummy number one,

looks to be complete.

I think we have
a very important treasure

in this mummy.

This is a unique moment.

however, the mummy
on the left, mummy number two,

has not been so lucky.

It seems that the hole
that I can see

in the back of this tomb

is where the water came
inside the vault.

Dr. Martinez will need
to x-ray the mummies

to find out who they are.

So she needs them
in good condition.

They need a plan how to get
the mummies out in one piece

before they fall apart.

They need to act fast
before the desert heat

and humidity
crumbles them to dust.

At Taposiris Magna,
the search for artifacts

from the last Egyptian dynasty
is gaining pace.

Multiple areas of interest
across this huge site

are being investigated.

and a new find provides
an extraordinary link

to the heart
of Cleopatra's story.

All this area was
completely covered with sand

and big blocks.

And this morning,
when we were excavating,

we discovered this artifacts.

we have this beautiful sword.

It's broken in four pieces.

We have the remains...

what is remained
of the sandals

with the hole or the shoes.

It's the big foot.

It means
it was strong soldier.

It's leather.

Part of a belt or the shoes.

What Dr. Kathleen
Martinez has uncovered

is the military kit
of a roman soldier,

another first
for Taposiris Magna.

This is also like iron.

This goes with this.

This is the incredible thing
when you're an archaeologist,

to go back in time.

When you're looking
for Cleopatra,

it's hard not
to run into a roman.

The Egyptian queen,
the ptolemys and the fate

of the Egyptian empire
are inextricably linked to them.

In 48 b.C., Cleopatra
is fighting for her throne

when Caesar sails
into Alexandria harbor

wanting to secure Egypt
for Rome.

Cleopatra grabs the opportunity
to win Caesar's favor

and patronage to survive.

At the time that Caesar and
Cleopatra encountered each other

in Alexandria, Caesar
was 52 years old.

Cleopatra herself was 21.

She saw this as an opportunity
to gain his support

and to do so in a way

that no Ptolemaic ruler
had ever done before.

What begins as a strategic
relationship

at some point fairly early on,

clearly turns
into something else

because Cleopatra bears
Caesar's son nine months later.

Cleopatra has this
remarkable ability

to have children at
precisely the right times.

She's the queen of Egypt.

She can sleep
with who she likes.

A major, major part of her duty

is to obtain
an heir to the throne.

She gets an heir.
She gets a son.

And the son really,
really strengthens

her right to rule Egypt.

Cleopatra had hit pay dirt...

a male heir to both
Egypt and Rome.

Her throne is secure.

Until in 44 b.C.,
Julius Caesar is assassinated,

and Rome descends
into a civil war.

Cleopatra has to choose a side.

Get it wrong
and she'll lose her throne.

She comes up with a strategy.

Cleopatra is looking
for a new protector.

She's looking for whoever
is going to take

the place of Caesar.

She needs to ingratiate herself
with whoever that's going to be.

There are two possible
contenders for this role.

One is Octavian
and one is mark Antony.

Octavian is Julius
Caesar's great nephew and heir.

Mark Antony had been Caesar's
right-hand man.

Mark Antony is recognized
as the more charismatic,

he's good-looking,
he's more experienced.

Mark Antony has all
of Caesar's charm

and none of his self-control.

He's a man
of tremendous fatality.

He is a man of tremendous
sexual vigor.

He's a bluff, hale, hearty
fellow, loves to drink

and loves to party,
loves to play pranks.

Her knowledge of the
weakness of his character

will play
straight into her hands,

especially as he needs money
for his military campaign.

He decides that a good idea
would be to hit up

Cleopatra
for troops and supplies,

since she has been known
to help the Romans on occasion.

Mark Antony
summons Cleopatra

to his garrison at tarsus
in present-day turkey.

She wants to make an impression.

She knew at this point
that mark Antony

was promoting himself
as Dionysus,

and Dionysus is one of the
possible consorts for ISIS.

So it made a very suitable match
that she would go and match him.

Cleopatra asks
the shipbuilders of her age

to build her a ship
like no other.

Today, Alexandria is still
known for its shipbuilding.

The shipyards in Alexandria

were the biggest
in the Mediterranean

through the entire
Ptolemaic period.

They were the biggest
in terms of size

and in terms of the size
of ships they were building.

The ptolemys built
the largest fleet

in the ancient world.

Legend says it was
4,000 naval ships.

The real advance,
or the real achievement

on the ptolemys
were warships.

Hellenistic kingdoms,

either in Egypt
or in Greece,

were always competing over
the borders for territories,

especially between the Egyptians
and the kings.

And the way to compete
is through arms, through navies.

Cleopatra has the shipyards,

the expertise and the wealth
at her disposal

to create a boat of power,

a strategic, theatrical
play to win mark Antony.

Building a boat in antiquity
was an amazing job,

which had...
which was done 100%

relying on experience.

In ancient times,

the keel would have
been late first,

then the planks
would be installed.

And after that, the frames would
be installed inside the ship.

A mosaic dating
from the time of Cleopatra

shows the boats that were used
in Egypt.

Cleopatra's boat

would not have been
that simple, obviously.

So you would expect it
to be full of bells

and whistles, full
of all sorts of things

that would impress the enemy

coming from
the Egyptian civilization

with all its glory
and all its gold.

And this would have been
very impressive

for the Romans to see.

After many months,
the boat was complete.

It was huge with several banks
of oarsman on each side.

On top, there would
have been a cabin

and large square sails.

We know from
the roman source Plutarch

how Cleopatra's boat
would have been decorated.

And she does it in style.

So she turns a kind of
what really is a summons

for mark Antony into
a kind of beautiful spectacle.

And Plutarch describes it best
for us.

It was clad in gold,
and it has purple hangings.

She's dressed as Venus

and her handmaidens
are dressed as nymphs.

She has pages
playing flutes and harps

and she has incense burners
sort of wafting perfume

out along the riverbank.

Traveling east from Alexandria,

Cleopatra's boat would have
hugged the coastline,

sailing up past present-day
Lebanon and Syria

onto the Turkish coast.

Covering about 25 miles per day,
it would take over a month

to reach the garrison
where mark Antony is stationed.

Cleopatra's mode of arrival

was certainly intended to stun
Antony and all onlookers

with the wealth
and power of Ptolemaic Egypt.

It is a calculated
move with one aim...

to seduce mark Antony
and form an alliance.

She's much more than just a
kind of, you know, sex kitten.

She's much more than
a sexual libertine.

She's very astute.
She's very politically cunning.

She has a degree
of political acumen

that, you know,
many rulers did not possess.

Cleopatra's move works.

She bears Antony's children

and the future of Egypt
appears safe.

the story of this meeting
and alliance

written by the Romans becomes
a salacious love affair

passed down through the ages.

But it isn't just archeology

that has given modern-day
historians a fresh perspective

on the last queen of Egypt.

There are still ancient texts
to be uncovered.

When I was a student
at Cairo university,

I used to make me wonder,

why are we studying
all the time

great eminent professors
in the west?"

So Dr. El Daly went
in search of Arabic texts.

To my surprise, there were
hundreds of manuscripts

which have never either been
published or studied properly.

Manuscripts from the middle ages

compiled by Arabic scholars...

scholars who independently
researched Cleopatra,

collecting oral testimonies

and studying Egyptian
hieroglyphs, culture and maps.

It's a very
interesting issue.

The absence of any reference
of her physical beauty

is completely irrelevant.

It is her ability to manage
her affairs as a monarch

and to rule the country
and have dealings with others.

These manuscripts
plug a 1,000-year gap

where it was previously thought

very little had been written
about Cleopatra.

They revealed a sharp-thinking,

well-educated
and strategic ruler.

She was a sage,

a philosopher who elevated
the ranks of her scholars

and enjoyed their company.

She also wrote books on
medicine, germs and cosmetics.

In addition,
many of the books

are ascribed to her.

this is definitely
interesting because in the west,

we have a certain picture
of Cleopatra as a kind of lover

who is very decadent
and maybe very cruel.

And in the east,
there's a very, very different,

very different picture
of her.

A learned person, great
intellectual abilities,

linguistic ability.

She spoke all these languages,

great understanding of
the abilities of her own nation.

This is the Cleopatra
that has been lost in time.

The search for the real
Cleopatra goes on.

At Taposiris Magna,

on the shores
of the Mediterranean,

the biggest search
for Cleopatra's tomb is on.

In the shadows of
the lighthouse structure,

Dr. Kathleen Martinez's team
have a new lead.

They are clearing a rock-cut
corridor leading to a tomb,

but the corridor
has secrets of its own.

We are excavating outside
tomb 14,

and we found this today.

It's probably three burial,
for three mummies or more.

We need to know
what is beneath the sand.

So we are in a hurry to search.

And it seems that it's
from late period,

maybe a roman.

And I think we're starting
to find something here.

In fact, we have a bone.

It is a bone already.
Yes.

yes, we will reach
the skeleton.

If people wanted to be buried

at the time
of queen Cleopatra here,

it has the reason
and the reason probably is

because she was buried here.

And they wanted
to be close to her.

The discovery of human remains

acting as guardians to a tomb

is rarely found
anywhere else in Egypt.

It is further evidence
to the theory

that Taposiris Magna
is an important site

and begs the question
of who they are protecting.

When we open inside,

we discover
that it has a center chamber

and we have two rooms
in both sides.

And then the most important
and striking discovery

is a shaft inside a tomb.

This shaft leads down
to a hidden tomb,

but not hidden well enough.

Looters have been there
before them.

oh.

it took us a long way
to get here.

We have to remove thousands
of cubic meters of sand

to get to this point.

As they sift through
the sand, clues begin to emerge.

Oh.

Oh, this is a scarab.

It's an amulet.

And this is Anubis,
the jackal.

They are dolomite.

They are amulets
for the deceased

to go to the other life.

We found the skull.

Bone expert Dr. Linda Chapon

is keen to examine the remains.

Oh.

I think it's a man
for now.

Because we see
the mandible.

This area is quite big.

It's like square one.

As they sift out more
of the sand,

bones suggest
an entire family was here.

they also find
traces of marble

suggesting it's likely this
was a tomb for a wealthy family

who would have wanted to be
buried close to important

and influential people.

Just 30 miles up the coast
from Taposiris Magna

lies Alexandria.

Today, it is the largest city
on the Mediterranean.

During the Ptolemaic era,
it was the seat of power

and the largest city
in the world.

Alexandria, by this time,
may have had

about a million inhabitants.

It had a large
multicultural population.

Native Egyptian people,
of course,

who lived there in the area
and in Alexandria itself,

the Greeks who lived there.

There was quite a sizable Jewish
colony that lived in Alexandria.

And because it was such a hub
of trade and travel,

there were people really
from all over the Mediterranean

passing through Alexandria
and residing in Alexandria.

Alexandria was the city
of culture and of education.

It was a city to which you went
if you wanted a tutor,

if you wanted
a master craftsman.

Alexandria
was the place to visit.

It showcased the wealth
and power of Cleopatra's empire.

The Greek geographer Strabo
describes a causeway

leading to the famous lighthouse
of pharaohs,

one of the seven wonders
of the ancient world.

Covered in white marble,

it stood over 100 meters high
with a mirror

that reflected a light out
onto the Mediterranean.

It was the most
splendid-looking city.

It would be almost impossible to
get a sense of the luxury today.

The main avenue of Alexandria
was 90 feet wide.

Eight carriages could drive
abreast down the main avenue.

It was a city built
of onyx and alabaster.

It was colorful and sumptuous,
extremely heterogeneous.

there were two ports.

There were markets
attached to that.

There was a hippodrome,
there were theaters,

there were amphitheaters.

There was a library,
a big library.

Today a modern library
stands close

to what was once a jewel

in the crown
of this cultural city.

Every text written in
Greek was in that library.

In his gluttony for books,

Ptolemy had essentially
confiscated any book

arriving from anywhere else
in the world

and put it into the library
and handed a copy back

to the original owner
of the book.

The library was
a second home to Cleopatra.

It's where she studied

and became one of the smartest
rulers of her time.

We know that it was attached
to the palace

so that it would have been

the library
Cleopatra used in her day.

And we know that it was
the marvel of its world.

A world that was
Cleopatra's birthright.

She was no fool,

educated to the highest level
at the top seat of learning.

She would have read
all of the classics.

She would have learned to write
and to read.

She would have learned
how to deliver a speech.

She would have learned
her rhetoric.

She would have
learned her maths.

Everything that was the best
of an ancient education

would have been hers.

Plutarch tells us
she spoke nine languages,

so she was very well-educated.

The ptolemys loved to collect
intellectuals around them

and surround themselves
with scholars

and poets and musicians.

She's the only Ptolemaic ruler
to learn Egyptian, the language

of the 7 million
people over whom she rules,

which says something about her.

This is a replica

of the only
surviving manuscript

from Cleopatra's time.

One of the most heartbreaking
things for the ancient world

is that the library
at Alexandria was burned

on several different occasions.

Now, it held between 200,000
and 500,000 book rolls.

And when I think of all that
ancient literature and poetry

in history
that was just lost to us,

it's really quite heartbreaking.

The disasters
didn't stop there.

Her royal palace
was later destroyed

by a tsunami in 365 a.D.

Evidence of Cleopatra's life
slipped under the waves

and disappeared
from the historic record.

today, with so little
information remaining,

every piece of archeological
evidence becomes gold dust.

The intact tomb Dr. Martinez
opened on day one

is fast becoming her
worst nightmare.

It's starting to crack.

It would be better
to take it out.

The humidity and heat of Egypt
is causing the mummies

to disintegrate
in front of her eyes.

Her team now face a race
against the elements

to preserve
the precious evidence.

Dr. Kathleen Martinez
believes she has found

an intact Ptolemaic tomb.

It could hold clues that
would help solve the mystery

of the life
of the last of the pharaohs

if the archeological team
can work out who they are,

but the situation is precarious.

And Dr. Martinez is in danger
of losing evidence.

When we open the tomb,

the change in the temperature
inside

and the oxygen started
to degrade the mummy.

They had hoped
to x-ray the mummies in situ,

but the tomb is too small.

The plan is now
to carefully remove them.

But the mummies
are incredibly delicate.

We need to move fast.

We can see every hour,
the degradation of the mummies.

This is a rock-cut tomb,

suspected to be
from the Ptolemaic period.

They are not decorated

or filled with objects
from the deceased's life,

unlike those
from Tutankhamun's era.

Instead, the ptolemys
depicted their lives

with paintings on the cartonnage

or amulets and charms
in the wrappings of the mummies.

Mummification was essential
to the Egyptians

because they wanted to be able
to live on forever.

The corpse needed
to be preserved

and this was done through
mummification

precisely so that
as the corpse lay in the tomb,

the Ba, a part of the spirit
of the individual,

could fly free and move
around the earth,

but would always recognize
the home

that it needed
to return to.

Look.
This was perfect.

Now, every time
we go down...

we have to do something
before it's broken.

The team get to work
using glue and tissue paper

to reinforce the cartonnage

and prepare the mummies
for removal from the tomb.

I'm trying to protect this area
of mummy number one

because with the passing of
time, it's starting to crack.

Dr. Linda Chapon is hoping
that she can halt

further deterioration
of mummy number one.

Because they are inside...
the skull.

So the skull was very weak.

We decided to fill it
with cotton,

mixed with a bit of glue so that
the cartonnage joined together.

We hope that the cartonnage
will not fall down.

These are paintings
on the cartonnage

that the team
are desperate to save.

These can provide clues
to understanding the lives

of the mummies or who they were.

We can see
this scarab here.

She can... at the end,
what can you see there?

A sign,
the sign of the west.

Or the... that...

so maybe here we have
the sign of the east.

So the sun sets on the west
and rise in the east.

And the mummy
can be born again.

Visible on the left-hand mummy

is a stunning painting
of a scarab.

A scarab is a beetle.

In Egyptian, it's called
a kheper.

It was seen in the desert
rolling a ball of dung.

And this was understood
by the Egyptians

to be moving the ball of the sun

and the sun god Ra
through the horizon.

Kheper also means an Egyptian
coming into being.

And so there are many different
interpretations of a scarab

as a way of coming into
being again in the afterlife.

Ancient Egyptians
believed they would be

reborn after death.

The scarab painted in gold leaf
symbolizes eternal life

and rebirth, ensuring the
mummy's future in the afterlife.

Unfortunately, mummy number two
is beyond saving in one piece.

But the painting of the scarab
is precious.

They reach a decision...

to remove the cartonnage
it is painted on

and reconstruct it later.

don't...
just take the bandage.

You have to cut,
like a surgery.

the team have finally
extracted the painting

of the scarab
from mummy number two.

Now they must delicately
prepare it for transport

so it can be taken
to the laboratory

for a full reconstruction.

Linda, how the process going?

Well, we are making stronger
the base

of the art of the cartonnage
that we found.

And the process...

how long
you think it will take?

Well, it takes a while
because we have to put

one layer
and then let it dry

and then
put another layer

until it is strong enough
to work with it.

So this kind of...
it's complete.

Yeah.

That's wonderful.
Little pieces are missing.

But there's also missing
in the original one.

It is hoped a full
restoration of the painting

at the lab
will reveal more information

about who these mummies were.

With the cartonnage
safely prepared,

Dr. Martinez and Dr. Chapon

begin to examine the skeletal
remains of mummy number two.

So here what we have
is, like, remains

of a textile
that is, like, becoming dust.

And then we have this kind of
wood dust

that they used to use
in the mummification,

like, to fill inside.

But mostly what we have
is linen from the mummification.

But from what I see here
is a man.

It's a man.
Yeah, looks like a man.

Very careful to recover
our fragments.

There was some
kind of decoration

with gold leaf.

Gold leaf was used to make
the mummies look like gods

to help them on their way
to the afterlife.

The bones
are very fragile.

Those are
quite damaged.

We are excavating
the mummy

by layers and photographing

and documenting
the way it was buried.

We are full of hope,

and we will be excavating
for the rest of the week,

working with the mummy,
working with the cartonnage,

and trying to put all
the pieces together.

Meanwhile, excavations
on another part of the site

convince Dr. Martinez

she is closer to Cleopatra
than ever before.

At Taposiris Magna,

incredible discoveries
are being unearthed in the hunt

for Cleopatra.

We found the skull.

But time is running out.

The permit only lasts
for another three weeks.

While one team focus on saving
the mummies in tomb number five,

everyone else is focused
on the lighthouse.

They are trying to remove
huge limestone blocks

that appear to have fallen
in an earthquake.

Yesterday, we were able
to move this big block

and suddenly we really find...

what is really,
really interesting...

we found the chamber.

We have to be
very careful here

because the blocks
could collapse any time.

So here it is.

is full of debris and we
are excavating very carefully

because we don't know if we take
the pressure of the debris

from the big blocks,
they can collapse.

Fragments are already
being unearthed

that hint there
is much more to be found.

We have discovered
pieces of marble,

different kind of marble,

which explain the grandeur
of this tomb.

And we have, in different areas,
remains of the marble

that cover this tomb that we
believe is more than a tomb.

The red granite came
from the quarries of Aswan,

700 miles away up the Nile.

Found together with marble,

these materials were
the preserve of the elite

and royalty who had
the means to transport it.

We've put this information
together as a puzzle

and then we can go back

for what really was happening
here at Taposiris Magna.

And this is why
I love archeology.

But it isn't just
fragments of marble they found.

The team bring together
all of their latest discoveries.

They're starting to build
a picture of not just a tomb

but a temple.

During excavation, we discovered
pieces of statues

and then we realized
that one belongs to this niche

and another belonged
to these other niche.

And in ancient times, it was
two monumental statues

at the entrance
of this temple, tomb.

We believe it was really,
really magnificent.

But still, we are searching
for pieces.

These statues are
dressed in the robes

of the greco-roman era,

the exact time when Cleopatra
lived and died.

This is a male.

This is strong.
It's very powerful.

And this other side
looks more of a woman,

maybe she had something
wrapped in the hip.

These statues
near a temple of ISIS

close to where
Cleopatra lived and died

give us a vital clue
in the search

for her final resting place.

The fact that it has
two sculpture at the entrance

means that it could be
more than a tomb.

It could be a temple,
a funerary temple.

For thousands of years,

pharaohs would build grand
superstructures

to mark their tombs,
commemorate their lives,

and provide
ceremonial locations.

Perhaps the most impressive
of all is the funerary temple

for queen Hatshepsut
at Deir el-Bahari.

Built 3,500 years ago,

it tells the story of her life
in hieroglyphs.

For Cleopatra or any
of the Ptolemaic pharaohs,

no mausoleum or funerary
monument has ever been found.

Dr. Martinez is hoping
this could be such a monument.

The clock is ticking
at the site of Taposiris Magna.

Time is running out
on the permit.

And with so many
new discoveries,

they need to prioritize.

At tomb number five,

the team are trying to stabilize
the mummies for removal.

But still, they must document
everything they do.

The stress is beginning to show.

Even the equipment
is struggling in the conditions.

My camera
don't want to work.

this is normal.

When we try
to take pictures of mummies,

always has problems...

all the cameras
has problems.

Okay, can I have
the second camera?

The team tried to stay calm

and focus as the thermometer
hits 113 degrees Fahrenheit.

It's slow, painstaking work,

but this find could provide
vital clues about the ptolemys.

We have to be very careful
when we move this one

to protect mummy one

to not let
this area weak.

So that this one
can fall.

They protect
these two skeletons

in a very special way.

That means the priest
of Taposiris knew them well

and tried to protect them
for the afterlife.

They could have been
priests of the temple.

Somebody special.

The evidence is stacking up.

These mummies were buried
close to Taposiris Magna

in a catacomb
with an educated woman

and are covered in gold leaf.

Dr. Kathleen Martinez suspects
they may be priests

of the temple of ISIS.

And priests played a key role

in maintaining
Cleopatra's power.

In a purely Egyptian temple,

you would find only the king
being able to offer to the gods.

And this is why if you look
at the temple walls,

you see only the king
doing the offerings.

Because Cleopatra is,
as a ruler,

the head of all the cults,

she technically should be
making all the offerings

in all the temple
throughout the land of Egypt.

She clearly can't do that.
She appoints high priests.

The priests were
extremely powerful

and keeping the priests in line
and happy

was very important
to Cleopatra,

a very good relationship,

it seems,
with the priests in her day.

The tomb is right
outside the walls

of the temple
of Taposiris Magna,

a temple Dr. Martinez proved was
dedicated to the goddess ISIS.

But the whole site
is named after ISIS' husband,

Osiris,
lord of the underworld.

Taposiris Magna
is a Greek version

that incorporates
some Egyptian name in there,

the Taposiris
being the Egyptian part.

Osiris obviously referring
to the Egyptian god of the dead

and the underworld.

The myth of Osiris is the
classic Egyptian version

of the dying
and resurrected god.

And so, ISIS and Osiris
are in love.

They are brother and sister.

In the myth, Osiris is killed

by the Egyptian god of death,
set, who then dismembers him

and tosses his dismembered limbs
all up and down the Nile.

And so ISIS starts seeking
out the mutilated body

of her dead brother

and she manages to collect the
pieces and put them together.

While the wider
complex is dedicated

to the god of the dead,
Osiris, the inner temple

was a grand Ptolemaic structure

dedicated to ISIS that would
have stunned all who approached.

The ISIS myth also includes
a story with her consort,

which involves the consort being
killed and dismembered

and the child
surviving that marriage,

which works beautifully for
Cleopatra after Caesar's death.

And she will exploit
that imagery as well

after the death of Caesar.

As pharaoh,
Cleopatra declared herself

the living embodiment of ISIS

and her partner,
mark Antony, Osiris.

In 31 b.C.,

mark Antony and Cleopatra
face a challenge from Octavian,

who is plotting to be
the first emperor of Rome.

They meet at Actium
off the coast of Greece.

Actium was a minor battle
but with major repercussions.

And it would have been clear
from that moment

that the die was cast,

that there was absolutely
no escaping Octavian.

Cleopatra and Antony flee

to Alexandria with Octavian
in hot pursuit.

As Octavian approaches,
it becomes clear to both

mark Antony and Cleopatra
that they have two choices.

They can either do away
with themselves

or they can leave
the task to Octavian.

Antony makes his choice

and attempts to take
his own life.

Mortally wounded,
he is taken to Cleopatra

and dies in her arms.

Cleopatra must have been
despairing.

Her army is gone.
The battle is lost.

Her lover has killed himself.

She really had
very little alternative

but to commit suicide

unless she was prepared to be
taken to Rome as a prisoner,

maybe paraded through
the streets as a triumph.

And then publicly executed.

How Cleopatra commits suicide

has become the stuff
of legend...

And the silver screen.

Somehow she
gets an Egyptian peasant

to bring in a basket full of
beautiful, luscious, ripe figs.

Hidden amongst
the figs was poison.

What happens
in that room

is clearly that she poisons
herself in some way.

She knows her poisons.

She's been studying and
experimenting with her poisons.

She knew how to kill herself
in proper, honorable fashion.

And by the time
Octavian arrives, she is dead.

Soon after she died,

there were rumors
that it was by snakebite.

This is very appropriate
because the snake

is a symbol of Egyptian royalty

and Egyptian queens
have snakes on their brows.

So to connect Cleopatra
with snakes in this way

made a lot of sense.

You know, it was very symbolic.
It was a good death.

Once they are both dead,

the trail of Cleopatra
goes cold.

Ancient Egyptians were
very averse to speaking

about evil or any bad things.

And so we don't have
a lot of references to suicide

in ancient Egyptian texts.

Having found the corpses
of Cleopatra,

I have to imagine that
their families would have come

to reclaim the body
and prepare them in whatever way

would have been appropriate
for a dignified burial.

It would have been
an Octavian's interest

to have indulged the Egyptians

in letting them bury their queen
in a way that made them happy.

I think it's possible

that Octavian could afford
to be magnanimous.

And so he had Cleopatra
and Antony buried together.

Many believe they are
buried in Alexandria,

but despite
countless expeditions,

no trace of their tombs
has been found.

That is why Dr. Martinez
believes

they are buried here
at Taposiris Magna.

If they can extract
mummy number one

and it is a priest or priestess,
it could hold a clue

to Cleopatra's final
resting place.

It's been weeks since
tomb number five was opened

and Dr. Kathleen Martinez's
permit is coming to an end.

The intact mummy number one
has finally been extracted.

When we discover, the position
of the tomb was very difficult.

It was the first intact
tomb ever discovered.

And I was ready to do
whatever it takes

to protect those mummies because
we need to study those mummies.

We need to get
the information.

We need to know who they were.

Now the mummy is out,
the analysis can begin.

This is a big moment.

What secrets might be hidden

under the cartonnage?

Dr. Martinez hopes an x-ray
might reveal more information.

Mummy number one.

We want to know
if the mummy has all its bones.

We don't know if
it was mummified with the boss.

We have seen other mummies
which are not complete.

In Ptolemaic Egypt,
mummification was a dying art.

While older mummies
almost always had

all of their organs removed,

laterally it was easier and
quicker to leave them in.

But it's not hearts and livers
the team are after.

But the most
interesting thing

is if it has amulet
or cartouche

and we will know
through the x-ray.

They hit a snag.

The radiologist is having
problems getting a good picture.

the electricity here... it is...

it's not strong enough
to move...

to make the x-ray work.

Always, we're facing
so many challenges.

Finally, the power
problem is resolved

and the radiologist
can get to work.

osteologist Dr. Tahir
inspects the x-rays for clues.

All the bones are there?
Yeah.

Yes.

Dr. Tahir also notices

that the femoral head is small.

Further confirmation
that the mummy is female.

That's not all she's noticed.

It's amazing.
Now we know the sex.

And we've been discussing it
and it's been confirmed

by the osteologist
and the radiologist.

Now we know there was
a man and a woman

in this tomb.

In this tomb, yeah.

What can you say about the
mummification process?

They didn't remove anything
for the mummification.

This makes
it highly likely the burial was

from the Ptolemaic era or later,
since prior to this,

organs were almost always
removed for mummification.

Pharaohs are often buried

with their arms
across their chests,

carrying the staff and flail.

This mummy was buried
with its arms

lowered across the pelvis,
which the team believes

is indicative
of a woman of high status.

Their discoveries are building
a picture

of a burial of a priestess.

But that's not all the x-ray
can tell us about her life.

The fracture was before,
not during the process of mummification.

No, no.

So they could have
suffered from

an attack, an accident.
Yeah.

An incredible discovery.

This healed fracture
gives a window

into the life of this woman.

She had time to recover.
She was cared for.

Then near the chest,

they discover
something not anatomical.

What we see
in this area,

there are things
which are not bone.

We all agree
it doesn't look like bone.

If this is an amulet
or an inscription on stone,

it could tell us
vital information

about her and who she was.

The humerus
and we can...

Final analysis
will take some time.

The discovery of this
tomb, it is a huge step

in the scientific world
concerning this necropolis.

And this is one of the greatest
moments for me and my team.

The first intact mummies

found at Taposiris Magna,

found in a hidden tomb
from the Ptolemaic era,

opens a world of possibilities.

As the analysis continues
over the next few months,

it is hoped they might reveal
more about the ptolemys

and this incredible site.

The last queen
of Egypt is dead

and 3,000 years of rule

by the pharaonic dynasties
comes to an end.

Cleopatra was the last
queen of Egypt,

the last Ptolemaic
queen of Egypt.

Her children by Antony
go on to be raised in Rome.

Caesarion is put to death.

He's a son of Caesar
and Octavian cannot have that.

Egypt becomes part of Rome.

It will lose its autonomy,

which it doesn't regain again
until the 20th century.

And all of that splendor,
all of that sense

that Alexandria was the center
of the world will end.

So that that Rome
with the great monuments

and the great statues,
the city that we know today,

that's largely built
by Cleopatra,

by the Egyptian craftspeople,
by their heirs.

For the past eight weeks,

Dr. Kathleen Martinez

has scoured the archeological
site of Taposiris Magna

for clues to the ptolemys

and the life of the last queen
of Egypt, Cleopatra.

Oh, my god.
We have two mummies!

Her discoveries,

coupled with the research
of international experts,

enable us to reveal
a clearer picture of Cleopatra

than ever before.

The Cleopatra we think we know

is an evolution
of popular culture

born out of roman propaganda.

the real Cleopatra was
a well-educated,

shrewd political leader.

Cleopatra is a very active
participant in her world.

In a world when most women
were encouraged to be passive,

to be quiet,

most women in the ancient world
did not have political rights.

They don't vote.
They can't stand for office.

They can't have
high-powered careers.

And Cleopatra is very visible.

She almost bends things
to her own will.

Insofar as we can actually
get who she was,

insofar as we can clear away
the myth

and the misconception
and reconstitute her,

there is someone who is able,
against incredible odds,

to hold on to a kingdom.

It's a really astonishing act
of endurance

as well as of thinking.

A queen who was born,

raised and ruled in the biggest,
most cultural city in the world.

Educated to the highest level
and fluent in nine languages.

And to her people,
she was a living goddess.

She saw herself as goddess ISIS.

And she worked
for Taposiris Magna

to be a great religious center.

I believe she visited many times
and she made Taposiris Magna

one of the most important
religious temple for ISIS.

From Dr. Martinez's research,

she believes that she is walking
in the footsteps of Cleopatra

and that Cleopatra
could have entered this temple

alongside the priests
and priestesses who ran it.

How much she goes into the
temples and makes the offerings,

we don't know.

How much she even communicates with
the priests of the cult, we don't know.

It's not recorded for us at all,
unfortunately.

It'd be fascinating
to know that,

because, of course,
she is the living ISIS.

And if the mummies
in tomb number five

are the priest and priestess,

it is possible they were close
to the queen herself.

I can imagine two
different types of interchange

between Cleopatra
and her priest.

For example, a high priest
might have come to the palace

in Alexandria to offer advice,

confer about benefits
to particular temples

to serve as an adviser,
if you will.

On the other hand,

if Cleopatra was then
going to a temple,

she would have been
then making offerings

and leading rights on behalf
of the particular goddess

or god of the temple.

Many conclusions can be drawn

from the life of Cleopatra.

But her intelligence
and strategic ability

has lasted over the centuries
in one crucial way.

Cleopatra is resourceful.

She was cunning.
She was so cunning, in fact,

that we don't really know
how she died.

We don't know because
that's how cunning she was.

And in not really
knowing how she died or where,

every clue that is uncovered
at Taposiris Magna

is like gold dust.

I think Cleopatra's always
going to be a mystery,

but a fascinating one.

Maybe one day,
we'll make a fantastic find

and we'll just suddenly
float into place

and we'll understand
the full story.

As for the final
resting place

of the last Egyptian queen,
the hunt continues.

It remains a mystery for now.

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