Original subtitles

Narrator: saqqara, egypt --

An ancient royal necropolis

Over 5,000 years old.

♪♪

11 royal pyramids Are buried in the sands here,

More than any other site In egypt,

Including the first pyramid Ever built.

It is a site so huge,

Only a tiny fraction Has been explored.

Most of its secrets Remain hidden.

For investigators, It is a treasure trove.

Now archaeologists Dig deep underground

To uncover tombs that have not Seen the light of day

In over 4 millennia...

...Revealing how egypt rises To be the greatest power

Of the ancient world.

It was not only Building a king's tomb

But building a society.

Narrator: to solve The mysteries of saqqara,

We'll blow open The oldest-ever pyramid.

We'll dive deep into The royal tomb hidden below it

And explore an extraordinary Animal catacomb

To unearth the secrets of this Ancient city of the dead.

--captions by vitac-- Www.Vitac.Com

Captions paid for by Discovery communications

♪♪

20 miles south of cairo Lies saqqara...

♪♪

...An ancient burial site.

Under its sandy landscape

Lie the remains of egypt's First pharaohs.

Egyptian tombs allow us To reconstruct egyptian society,

Egyptian history, Egyptian beliefs.

Narrator: Today, it is one of the most Important archaeological sites

In the world.

♪♪

2,500 acres of sand

Preserve the remains Of funerary monuments

Spanning 3,000 years Of egyptian history.

Mastabas, huge rectangular Mud brick structures,

Are the giant tombstones Of high officials.

Alongside them are pyramids,

The final resting place of the Early kings and queens of egypt.

And towering over them all Is the first pyramid ever built,

The immense step pyramid Of djoser.

What do these gigantic monuments Reveal about the formation

Of the greatest civilization In the ancient world?

♪♪

Egyptologist aidan dodson Has been working at saqqara

For over 30 years.

♪♪

He wants to know if the earliest Monuments here provide clues

To how egypt first Becomes a nation.

♪♪

The leap in size and quality Of royal tombs

Is a reflection of what's Going on in egypt at that time.

Narrator: Aidan begins his investigation

With egypt's first pyramid,

The step pyramid of djoser.

It's 4,500 years old

And the first Large-scale building

To be made entirely of stone.

It is a prototype later Used by pharaohs for millennia,

Forever changing Egypt's landscape.

It's clearly a mark of And a monument

To the glory of the king.

Narrator: Aidan wants to know who orders This massive construction.

♪♪

He examines this small temple In front of the pyramid

In the search for an answer.

Dodson: in here We've got a statue of djoser,

The builder of the pyramid.

♪♪

Djoser's reign was regarded As something special,

A game changer in what it means To be a pharaoh of egypt.

Narrator: In ancient egyptian belief,

The spirit of the pharaoh Lives on after death.

But it needs a home.

♪♪

Aidan believes that king djoser

Builds this mammoth construction

So that his eternal soul Can live in it forever.

♪♪

But why does he build it On such a colossal scale?

♪♪

A clue lies with one of Saqqara's earliest structures.

♪♪

What we've got here actually Is the last remains

Of the mastaba Of queen herneith,

Who dates from 2800, 2900 b.C.

Narrator: in its full glory, Herneith's mastaba

Is 125 feet long,

53 feet wide, and 10 feet tall.

Dodson: if a queen Of 200, 300 years earlier

Could have something like this, A king is going to want

Something really, Really special.

Narrator: before the reign Of djoser, egypt is divided

And rife with social unrest.

But when he takes the throne In the 27th century b.C.,

Egypt is at peace, prosperous, And united into one nation.

So a powerful pharaoh must have A magnificent monument.

Djoser needs to make a step Change in size and technology

To be able to mark himself out

As the beginning Of a great new era.

♪♪

Narrator: but the decision to Build a structure of this size

Comes with many challenges.

You've got a whole range of new Skill sets which are required,

A whole lot of people

Who probably haven't worked Together at that kind of level.

♪♪

Narrator: the entire society is Mobilized to build the pyramid.

Djoser forges a nation-state

To satisfy His personal ambition.

♪♪

How does he build it?

This 200-foot-tall pyramid

Preserves its history within Like an immense russian doll.

First, djoser builds A square mastaba

200 feet long and 26 feet tall.

But he wants more.

He extends on all sides, But it's still not enough.

So instead, it becomes the base For the first-ever pyramid,

Four stacked mastabas

Towering 140 feet Above the ground.

He builds around it And adds two more levels

Completing the iconic Six-step pyramid.

How does djoser ensure That it survives forever?

♪♪

Today, aidan has A rare opportunity.

He has been given unique access

To examine the oldest section Of the pyramid.

♪♪

Aidan notices that from the Earliest stages of construction,

Each layer of stone tilts

Towards the center Of the monument.

If you do a spot check Pretty well everywhere,

That basic angle Seems to be constant throughout.

Narrator: Aidan believes that the pyramid Is built with tilted stones

Because of the unevenness Of the landscape but saqqara.

How does this method Of building

Ensure its long-term stability?

♪♪

The pyramids at nearby giza Stand on flat ground.

And horizontal blocks transmit

The pyramids' weight Straight down.

But the site for djoser's Pyramid is rocky and uneven.

So blocks placed on the ground

Would follow its curvature, Creating weaknesses.

♪♪

Instead, djoser tilts The stones inwards

So they support the weight Of the pyramid.

♪♪

You've got a building which is Fundamentally holding itself up.

And the very fact It has stood like this

For 4,500 years

Is a tribute To the fact that is the case.

Narrator: Djoser's pyramid still stands As the centerpiece of saqqara,

Its colossal size A testament to egypt's might.

In the scale of his ambition,

Djoser wanted not only to build Himself a monument

But also a monument To the newly unified egypt

As a way of showing What egypt could do.

♪♪

Narrator: Deep beneath his pyramid,

Djoser carves a massive Maze of tunnels

Snaking for almost 4 miles.

What can new clues inside This huge subterranean structure

Reveal about the pharaoh's Boundless ambition?

And 3 miles away. A newly discovered tomb

Shows a cataclysmic revolution Is already stirring.

♪♪

What happens to this mighty Ancient civilization?

♪♪

Narrator: djoser mobilizes The whole population of egypt

To build his pyramid.

It gives the newly Unified country

A new national purpose.

But the pyramid is only The beginning of the story.

♪♪

The pyramid itself is solid. But beneath it,

A massive network of tunnels Runs through the bedrock.

A central shaft leads To the pharaoh's tomb.

But around it Are more than 3 1/2 miles

Of hallways, chambers, And galleries.

This is djoser's Underground palace.

In total, There are over 400 rooms

Full of goods For the pharaoh's afterlife.

What can these huge tunnels

Reveal about djoser's Extraordinary ambition?

Archaeologist adel kelany Has spent decades

Investigating the ancient Burial sites of egypt.

♪♪

He has special access to explore

Deep inside this extraordinary Labyrinth of tunnels.

♪♪

Adel believes these tunnels Hold vital clues

About how djoser's Engineers excavate.

Adel discovers this underground Structure is carved

Through the hardest layers Of limestone.

♪♪

This ensures the tunnels Will not collapse.

But it takes a lot of time To dig through.

So djoser's men Work around the clock.

They need to finish Before the pharaoh dies.

But they can only go as fast As the tools they're using.

Adel closely scours the walls

For traces of these Ancient tools.

These ancient marks are evidence Of the pharaoh's grand plan.

♪♪

But it demands enormous Resources from his kingdom.

♪♪

At a limestone quarry, Adel and his team of masons

Investigate how long it takes

To carve through The hardest layers of rock.

[ adel speaking indistinctly ]

Their tools are made of copper, Like in ancient times.

The masons begin to carve.

♪♪

In the heat, the work Is hard and slow.

♪♪

♪♪

Adel discovers That his workmen carve

Just over 1 inch per hour.

But djoser's tunnels Are almost 4 miles long

And carved by a small Specialized team

Of a few dozen masons.

Djoser's huge Underground structure

Takes an astonishing 2 decades to complete.

♪♪

For the work to carry on Without interruption,

The pharaoh requires A constant supply of copper

For the chisels,

Copper that egypt doesn't have.

To solve this problem.

Djoser turns his kingdom Into a military powerhouse.

♪♪

Djoser conquers Neighboring sinai,

Rich in copper ore.

He sends mining expeditions To the mountains there

And starts extracting.

♪♪

His workers build a vast complex Of furnaces to smelt the ore

And cast it into huge ingots

Ready for transport To the red sea.

Boats take the ingots to egypt.

Then donkeys haul them 150 miles

Across the desert to saqqara.

Here, the egyptians melt

And recast the ingots Into small chisels...

♪♪

...Millions and millions Of them.

To build his underground palace And gigantic pyramid,

Djoser expands his kingdom

Into one of the world's Greatest powers.

By the time he dies, Both the pyramid

And the tunnels are complete.

♪♪

But can the tomb of the pharaoh

Reveal what happens to His powerful new nation-state?

♪♪

Only 3,000 feet away,

New clues buried deep inside An extraordinary catacomb

Tell of cataclysmic changes Sweeping across egypt.

What can they reveal About this powerhouse

Of the ancient world?

♪♪

Narrator: the giant step pyramid Of saqqara.

Towering 200 feet,

When it's built 4,500 years ago,

It is the tallest building In the world,

Built by the pharaoh djoser

As a final resting place For his eternal soul.

♪♪

The pharaoh's tomb is placed Deep beneath the pyramid,

At the bottom of A 90-foot vertical shaft,

Sealed by a huge 3-ton granite plug.

Inside lies djoser's Mummified body.

♪♪

The ceiling of His funerary chamber

Is made from limestone blocks

With five pointed stars In relief.

♪♪

So even deep underground, Djoser could see the night sky

Where his soul is free to fly.

♪♪

Archaeologist adel kelany

Investigates the tunnels Under the step pyramid.

He hunts for its deepest point,

The burial chamber Of king djoser.

♪♪

He wants to find out what Becomes of the mighty pharaoh

After he dies.

When it's finished,

This antechamber is filled With precious objects

For the pharaoh's use In the afterlife.

♪♪

Adel arrives At the burial chamber.

He inspects the granite slabs

That are part of djoser's Huge sarcophagus.

The granite is badly damaged.

The black spots Are traces of fire.

♪♪

All this destruction Points to one thing...

♪♪

...Tomb raiders.

But the sarcophagus is at The bottom of a 90-foot shaft,

Under a huge pyramid.

How do robbers get here?

♪♪

Teams of workers lay the body Inside the tomb

And then carefully lever in

The heavy granite plug That seals it.

♪♪

They drop over 2,500 tons Of rubble

Into the shaft

And seal all other entrances With rocks.

♪♪

But the pyramid Is a beacon for looters.

They spend months Digging tunnels of their own

To reach the tomb.

♪♪

They light fires to weaken The granite sarcophagus

And plug that seals it.

They break in And steal everything they can.

Djoser's is mummified body Is gone,

But amazingly, Archaeologists recover...

A foot.

Robbers tear apart The pharaoh's mummy,

Looking for jewels.

Only this left foot Is found intact.

This desecration of djoser

Means egypt is at A crisis point.

The pharaohs Are losing their power.

♪♪

At saqqara,

A striking new archaeological Discovery reveals

A dramatic revolution Taking hold of ancient egypt.

Can this mighty Civilization survive?

♪♪

Narrator: saqqara,

Where egypt's pharaohs Are buried for centuries.

♪♪

Today, their many tombs Lie hidden under the sands...

♪♪

...Spread over 4 square miles.

♪♪

This huge site Remains mostly unexplored.

♪♪

Now experts are Trying to find out

How the building Of these royal monuments

Transforms egypt forever.

♪♪

In may 2019, archaeologists Working at saqqara

Make a groundbreaking discovery.

The team digs beneath The sunken ruins

Of a huge stone mastaba.

What they find Reveals the beginning

Of a cataclysmic revolution

That will shatter the kingdom.

♪♪

Beneath a stone mastaba,

Archaeologists uncover A spectacular burial complex.

Its passageways Are intricately decorated.

At the end, A storage room full of jars

Containing food to nourish The spirit of the deceased.

♪♪

And next door, an impressive Limestone sarcophagus

Fills the chamber wall to wall.

♪♪

This tomb is fit for a pharaoh.

But there's no royal pyramid Above it.

♪♪

Why is the owner of this tomb Buried like a king?

♪♪

Archaeologist mohamed megahed

Leads the team who uncovers This astonishing tomb.

♪♪

For the first time, Cameras follow him inside.

♪♪

Amazingly, everything remains Just as it was

When the tomb was sealed

Almost 4,500 years ago.

♪♪

On the walls, there is a wealth

Of previously unknown Information about egypt.

Mohamed's incredible discovery

Reveals a dramatic Battle for power

Within egypt's ruling elite.

This tomb is a copy Of the pharaoh's architecture.

It's also filled with Inscriptions and decorations

Usually reserved For royal tombs.

♪♪

Mohamed investigates What they represent.

Close to the ceiling, Mohamed discovers

An extraordinary detail.

The hieroglyphs show that khuwy Is a powerful court official,

A close adviser To the pharaoh djedkare isesi,

Who reigns in 2400 b.C.

♪♪

300 years have passed

Since djoser and the building Of his gigantic pyramid.

Now the pharaoh's officials Are buried like kings.

What can this tomb reveal about The officials' rise in power?

♪♪

Mohamed decodes more clues.

These colors are made From gemstones

Imported from all over The ancient world

And locked away In the pharaoh's storerooms

So only his artists Can use them.

Mohamed believes this ancient Mark is made by a royal artist.

Only they are allowed to paint With these colors.

The mighty pharaoh Is helping his official

Create a tomb as lavish as his.

The power balance Between the pharaoh

And his high officials Is shifting.

Once the supreme ruler Of the kingdom,

The builder Of majestic pyramids,

Worshipped as a god...

♪♪

...The pharaoh is now dependent On officials.

♪♪

He cannot govern without them.

♪♪

But mohamed makes an even More striking discovery

Inside the tomb.

It's an extraordinary find, One that reveals

That the right to be mummified

No longer is exclusively For pharaohs.

Khuwy is part of A new social class of officials

That are now extremely wealthy And powerful.

♪♪

Before 2200 b.C.,

Egypt enjoys a golden age Of peace and prosperity

Under the rule of pharaohs Like djoser.

But gradually, Officials like khuwy

Claim more power for themselves

And rule over their own Provinces directly.

♪♪

Then droughts hit, And the nile floods fail,

Bringing famine and poverty.

♪♪

The pharaohs lose all control.

The age of the great Pyramid builders is over,

And egypt falls into a dark age.

♪♪

In the centuries after djoser

And the building Of the step pyramid,

The pharaohs' officials gain Unprecedented wealth and power,

Leading to the fall Of egypt's first great kingdom.

♪♪

So what happens to A royal necropolis like saqqara?

♪♪

Strange discoveries reveal How the site becomes the home

To one of egypt's Most mysterious cults.

♪♪

Does this huge burial site For bulls hold clues

About egypt's later kingdoms?

♪♪

Narrator: saqqara's days As the resting place

For egypt's pharaohs Draws to a close.

Dodson: Around about 2200 b.C.,

Saqqara ceases to be A royal burial place.

However, it remains the place

Of one of the most crucial Cults in egypt.

Narrator: a mysterious cult Now takes center stage

In egyptian society.

Clues to the cult lie buried Beneath the desert sand.

♪♪

Almost 3,000 feet From the pyramid of djoser

Beneath the ground Lies the serapeum,

A vast gallery Of finely carved tunnels

With huge vaulted chambers On either side.

Each chamber holds A gigantic sarcophagus

As big as two family cars Stacked together.

Inside each sarcophagus

Are the intricately Mummified remains of a bull.

Almost 30 bulls Are buried in these vaults.

♪♪

What can This strange cult reveal

About dramatic changes In egypt's history?

♪♪

Egyptologist aidan dodson

Investigates Inside the serapeum.

♪♪

Today, he has A rare opportunity.

He's been given access To its oldest part,

Built in 1400 b.C.

It is here that the first bulls Are buried.

♪♪

Dodson: oh, wow.

That is interesting.

You've got the prince there,

His name quite clearly Next to him.

That huge foot is his father, Ramses ii.

Narrator: ramses ii Is the most powerful pharaoh

In egyptian history.

Inscriptions here reveal that he And his son extend the serapeum.

Dodson: That royal patronage of the cult

Is probably a legitimization Of the whole egyptian monarchy.

♪♪

Narrator: ramses is devoted To the cult of the bull.

♪♪

It's a way of identifying With his subjects.

♪♪

It is also a way

Of establishing His control over them.

♪♪

Egyptians revere The bulls buried here

As incarnations of ptah, The god of creation.

Each bull is identified By very specific features.

He must be black and white

With a triangular mark On the forehead,

A crescent moon on the side,

And a long-haired tail Parted in two.

♪♪

The sacred animal Is taken to memphis,

The capital Of early ancient egypt,

Where worshippers visit him For good luck

And to learn their fortunes.

When the bull dies,

It is brought To saqqara for burial.

And egyptians search For a new bull

As the incarnation of ptah.

♪♪

Aidan investigates Another part of the serapeum

To see what it can reveal About egypt's turbulent history.

He's got access To a restricted area

Built 400 years after ramses.

♪♪

And here's a huge Granite sarcophagus.

♪♪

Narrator: high up on its lid, Aidan find evidence

That egypt and its pharaohs Have been conquered.

It's very, very Rough hieroglyphs,

Very, very difficult to read.

But what it is is the epitaph Of a bull that died

And was buried under The persian king cambyses.

♪♪

Narrator: In the 6th century b.C.,

Egypt falls to a new Imperial superpower...

♪♪

...The persians.

The foreign rulers Maintain the cult.

The sacred bulls are mummified

And buried intact In giant granite sarcophagi.

Dodson: every time a bull died, The vaults were extended

By another one Of these great niches.

And this then continued on Generation after generation.

♪♪

Narrator: in the newest part Of the serapeum,

Aidan discovers another key Inscription on a sarcophagus.

♪♪

It reveals the egyptians Are fighting back

Against the persians.

What I'm seeing here Is another part

Of the persian story.

The king who installed This bull's burial here

Was a native egyptian ruler.

♪♪

Narrator: When this bull is buried,

An egyptian king Is sitting on the throne.

This inscription tells us Something we don't really know

From any other source -- That egyptians were still

Fighting back Against the persian invaders.

♪♪

Narrator: the egyptians take Back control over their lands.

But it doesn't last.

♪♪

Aidan heads towards the end Of the serapeum.

♪♪

The tomb of the last bull shows That after the persians,

The greeks now control egypt.

This great stone box here

Will have had a bull Interred in it

Some point during the reign Of the great cleopatra.

Narrator: cleopatra is a pharaoh Of greek origin.

She reigns from 51 to 30 b.C.,

When she is defeated By the roman emperor augustus.

♪♪

Her defeat means the end Of egyptian nationhood...

♪♪

...And the end of the cult Of the sacred bull.

♪♪

Augustus despised the idea Of sacred animals.

And, therefore, From this point onwards,

The serapeum is closed And finished.

♪♪

Narrator: The 3,000-year-old cult

Comes to an end Under roman rule.

♪♪

It mirrors the fall Of the great kingdom of egypt.

But saqqara carries on As a necropolis.

What can it reveal About the last age

Of ancient egyptian Civilization?

♪♪

Narrator: The royal necropolis of saqqara

Spans the entire history Of ancient egypt,

From its rise into A mighty nation in 3000 b.C.

Until roman times.

But what happens to egypt After the fall of the pharaohs?

Archaeologist hana vymazalová

Has spent almost a decade Digging at saqqara.

♪♪

She is looking for clues to The last age of ancient egypt

Next to the collapsed pyramids Of early royals

And unearths A simple burial pit.

Next to it, There are hundreds more.

Who are these people?

Why are they buried on the Same site as egypt's pharaohs?

♪♪

Hana analyses one of the bodies Removed from these pits.

Many clues remain On the preserved tissue.

Hana believes these people Come from humble backgrounds.

They are probably Local villagers.

♪♪

After the fall of the pharaohs,

Egyptians are living Under foreign rule,

So they choose to be buried Near their greatest kings,

At the site Of their first pyramid

And glorious past.

Saqqara,

Once a royal necropolis,

Becomes a burial site Accessible to all.

♪♪

Commoners are buried Alongside ancient rulers...

Hoping for an afterlife That is uniquely egyptian.

♪♪

Saqqara stands as a monument

To the entire history Of ancient egypt.

It begins as a necropolis Of mud-brick mastabas.

But the ambition of one pharaoh To build bigger and bigger

Means the world's first pyramid Emerges from its sands.

♪♪

Now saqqara bears the scars Of kingdoms falling,

Rising, changing,

And holds the secrets of A mighty ancient civilization.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪