Original subtitles

Narrator: An egyptian pyramid

That's like no other.

This makes you understand What a pyramid is all about.

Narrator: surrounded By a strange trench,

This is the only pyramid Ever built

To look like it floats On water.

Wow, that is amazing.

Now, our cameras Have exclusive access

To venture inside This bizarre megastructure

For the very first time,

Exploring tunnels hidden Deep below ground.

We follow investigators Using pioneering

Drone scanning technology And forensic analysis.

Wow! [indistinct]

Narrator: To decode the secrets of

A pharaoh locked away Inside for 4,000 years.

This is the real Burial chamber.

Narrator: we will digitally Deconstruct the pyramid's

Star-shaped inner skeleton,

Reveal its hidden tunnels,

Unearth its unique, Astonishing engineering secrets,

And uncover Long-lost treasures

To solve the mystery of The strangest pyramid of all.

Over 100 pyramids rise From the sands

Of the egyptian desert.

All are huge tombs for

The pharaohs who once ruled This ancient kingdom.

The great pyramid of giza is The most famous,

One of the seven wonders Of the ancient world.

But 50 miles south,

There's a more recent And much stranger monument,

The pyramid of lahun, dating From egypt's middle kingdom,

An era consumed by war.

This is a tomb like no other.

Oh, wow.

This makes you understand what A pyramid is all about.

It dominates the landscape.

There's nothing else For kilometers around,

But here it stands In its full grandeur.

Narrator: This is the brainchild of

A pharaoh called senusret ii.

Built around 1870 b.C., It's a mighty monument

Clad in gleaming limestone That rises 160 feet above

The desert -- At the top,

A black granite capstone makes A connection to the heavens.

Next to it, a smaller pyramid For the pharaoh's queen,

And eight stone Mastaba memorials,

All enclosed by a huge mud Brick wall.

Senusret's Grand funerary complex

Is said To be surrounded by water,

Seemingly floating in The desert.

♪♪

Why is the pyramid built In this extraordinary way?

Now our cameras have Been granted

Exclusive access to explore This remarkable complex

For the first time.

Salima ikram has been Investigating the mysteries

Of ancient egypt For over 30 years.

Ikram: What a sight that must have Been for people,

To look at something like that,

This mountain of a pyramid Encircled by water.

Narrator: the pyramid stands In egypt's vast western desert.

So why is it surrounded By water?

We're in the middle of A desert, but in the distance,

You can see that there is

Actually lots of greenery And vegetation,

So there is water out there.

Narrator: this is a fertile Area of the desert,

Known as the fayoum oasis.

So the fact that There's a lush oasis here

Means that there is A constant supply of water.

Narrator: salima wants To find out if this

Explains the water that once Encircles the monument.

Oh, my god.

Narrator: she uses A high-resolution drone

To survey the landscape From above.

Oh, wow! You can see that

This vegetation stretches For miles and miles.

It's amazing, and beyond that, There's this channel of water.

And then there's the nile.

Narrator: The pyramid is built

About 10 miles From the river nile.

In ancient times, the annual Nile floods inundate

The barren land with life-giving Water and minerals.

A huge canal, constructed By an earlier pharaoh,

Also channels water from The mighty river

To the fayoum.

This large water channel that Connects to the nile is one of

The main sources of water for This whole area near

The pyramids.

Narrator: salima thinks The nile and the canal

Are not the only sources Of water.

The weather in ancient times

Is also very different From today.

I wonder what it would have Been like 4,000 years ago

When it was much wetter, It rained much more,

And there were even more Powerful floods.

Narrator: back then, This whole area is much wetter.

The amount of water here Makes it a bit curious

That someone should choose This site to build a pyramid.

Senusret ii could Have bean buried

With his father several miles To the north of here.

But he actively came and sought Out and chose this place.

So he must have had a very Good reason to do that.

Narrator: salima thinks a reason May be found nearby

In a centuries-old dam.

What's really interesting is, If you go all the way down,

This dam is built on the Foundation of senusret ii's dam.

This is the first dam Ever built in the fayoum,

And that he used, really, To tame this region

And turned it into An agricultural sort of

Treasure trove.

Narrator: the pharaohs Before senusret

Dig out a waterway from The nile to the fayoum,

Creating a massive Lake and oasis.

Senusret himself builds dikes And irrigation channels

To distribute water to The surrounding desert.

Drawing water from the oasis,

Senusret creates 17,000 acres

Of new farmland near lahun,

And he builds his pyramid Right next to it,

To commemorate his achievement And life's work.

♪♪

Ikram: what makes The positioning of this pyramid

Particularly poignant Is that senusret ii

Is the one who is responsible For all of this

Agricultural work.

With this pyramid, You can clearly see the land of

The living, All of that vegetation.

And then here, the king is in The land of the dead,

Looking over for eternity, All of this greenery

And all of this life.

Narrator: the pharaoh Wants his tomb next

To the paradise he creates.

Water gives life, But it's also a threat.

How does the pharaoh Prevent water

From damaging his pyramid?

There are clues hidden in

A trench that runs Around the pyramid.

Carved 10 feet deep into The limestone bedrock,

It's filled with tons of Crushed stones

And a thick layer of sand.

It looks like the moat Around a medieval castle.

In 1870 b.C., It sits right at

The bottom edge Of the pyramid.

This mega trench is unique.

No other pyramid Has anything like it.

What is it used for?

Ezzeldin yazeed has been Solving the puzzles

Of ancient egyptian Engineering for three decades.

Ezz uses a hydrology simulator To measure

The amount of water The trench absorbs.

He thinks the trench stops

Water from damaging The pyramid's foundations.

The simulator releases 25 gallons of water over half

An hour onto a bed Of sand and gravel

That matches the materials Lining the trench.

Narrator: Two inches of rainwater

Falling in just 30 minutes is enough to

Cause devastating flooding Around the base of the pyramid.

Ezz fits drainage pipes Beneath the simulator.

If the sand and gravel Don't absorb the water,

It will run through And fill the pipes.

30 minutes later, It's time to check the result.

The drainage pipes are empty.

The sand and gravel Absorb the water.

Narrator: scaled up, The trench will easily contain

The worst of egypt's winter Storms and flooding.

Narrator: ancient engineers Create an extraordinary-looking

Pyramid and also find A way to keep

It safe from floodwaters For thousands of years.

But what are the strange Stone structures inside?

Can they explain How the monument

Seems to float on water?

Narrator: The pyramid of lahun,

An extraordinary ancient Megastructure from egypt's

Mysterious middle kingdom that Appears to float on water.

Pharaoh senusret ii Builds his tomb in

An area of egypt called The fayoum oasis,

Complete with 500 square miles Of waterways,

Lush palm trees, And agricultural pastures.

It's like new land Is being conquered

And opened up By the great king.

Narrator: How does the pharaoh construct

This huge structure On such wet, marshy ground?

Salima ikram investigates.

Before this pyramid Is erected around 1870 b.C.,

All egyptian monuments Are built from limestone,

Including the most famous Of all,

The great pyramid of giza.

Its foundations sit On solid bedrock,

But its lahun cousin is Very different.

Salima thinks that traditional Building techniques inspire

The pharaoh to create a new Kind of lightweight structure.

Mud brick is one of the basic Building materials in

Ancient egypt, But they tended to use these

And houses rather than In their tombs.

Narrator: workers Blend mud, straw,

And sand to make mud bricks.

They're dried in the sun Or fired in a kiln.

This building method Dates back millennia.

The pharaoh's engineers Used these traditional

Methods to devise A technological breakthrough.

So here I am, sitting on And absolutely surrounded

By mud brick, And this is

All what the pyramid Is basically made of.

Narrator: senusret's pyramid Is the first

To be built from mud brick.

Ikram: if he was worried About weight

And subsidence of the site,

Then the mud brick would have Been lighter than stone,

And therefore, You can make

This impressive, Monumental pyramid,

But it's less dangerous For your foundations.

Narrator: using mud brick, It's now possible

To build on the marshy Fayoum oasis,

But that's not The only challenge

The pharaoh must overcome.

Ikram: the big problem with The mud brick is no matter

How well made it is, When it rains,

And if they are torrential Rain, it starts to melt.

And that's why you have This wash where

The thing is eroded Over and over again.

Narrator: can clues found Inside the monument shed

Light on how the pharaoh Solves this problem?

Blowing away the mud bricks

Reveals a structure Hidden inside.

A star-shaped set of Limestone walls

Radiate out From the center.

In the time of senusret,

This limestone backbone Stretches all the way

Through the pyramid.

The skeleton Is designed to hold

The mud bricks in place During construction

And make sure the shape Of the pyramid is perfect.

But how does the pharaoh Protect the mud bricks

From the elements when The building is finished?

Salima believes Fragments of limestone

Found here offer clues.

Although there's not Much of this left,

It's probable That this was part of

The casing of this pyramid,

So you wouldn't see the mud Brick or the stone skeleton.

Narrator: ancient engineers Cover the exterior

In a layer of tough, High-quality limestone.

Workers transport it here from

The pharaoh's quarries at tura, Near cairo.

This limestone is the finest Limestone in egypt,

So the pyramid looked like A white shining monument,

Just like the giza pyramids Used to.

Narrator: but even the finest Limestone is not foolproof.

How can the builders prevent Water from

Seeping through any gaps Between the blocks?

It takes hundreds of Huge white limestone blocks

To fully encase Senusret's pyramid.

Butterfly connectors inscribed With the king's name

Pull the blocks Tightly together.

A socket cut into the bedrock Locks in the bottom

Row of blocks and provides A solid foundation

For the cladding.

When it rains, The water runs off

The slick limestone skin Into the trench,

Keeping the mud brick Interior dry.

This marvel of Ancient engineering

Can withstand water,

Allowing the pharaoh To build an oasis.

But the greatest challenge That faces all pharaohs

Is how to prevent their tombs From being raided.

What ingenious technology Does the pyramid conceal

To safeguard the pharaoh's Body for eternity?

Narrator: Investigators want to find out

How senusret ii's engineers

Apply their technological Know-how

To prevent grave robbers from Looting the pharaoh's tomb,

Deep inside the floating pyramid Of lahun.

Ikram: this is a really Puzzling pyramid.

Narrator: archaeologists unearth A chapel on the monument's

North side,

The traditional way in,

But it's a dead end That leads nowhere.

On the east face,

They find a second chapel,

But its walls are also solid.

There's no way in here either.

Finally, on the south face,

They discover A buried narrow shaft

That leads deep underground.

Is this the entrance To the tomb?

Salima ikram examines The southern end of the pyramid,

Where investigators discover The strange shaft.

Now that is more like it.

Here's a shaft right near The pyramid,

And this is more likely To be the entrance

Even if it is the south face Of the pyramid.

Narrator: She measures the shaft to see

If it's a possible way in.

Ikram: it's really hard To tell how deep this is,

So we're using a very Traditional way of finding out.

There's rope That's knotted at

Every meter, and there's A weight at the bottom,

And it just keeps on going.

Still a bit more.

No, I think that's it.

Narrator: The shaft is 50 feet deep.

It's also extremely narrow.

It's possible that it was Something that the workers who

Were building the subterranean Structure did,

Because there really is no way You can get a king's

Sarcophagus down something This narrow.

So obviously, this is not The official entryway.

There must be another entry.

Narrator: investigators unearth The entrance beneath

The tomb of one of The royal children.

Salima has rare access to

Explore this labyrinth of Underground tunnels.

They've only recently been Excavated by archaeologists.

Wow, this is amazing.

Narrator: it's the very first Time that cameras

Have been allowed inside this Astonishing megastructure.

It's amazing to be In these tunnels.

Up to about almost a year ago, They were filled until here

With sand and rubble and dirt.

Narrator: the pyramid is Built six centuries

Before the invention of Iron tools.

Workers use soft Copper chisels to

Carve the tunnels out of The bedrock.

Ikram: It's really quite spectacular.

You can see the chisel marks Cut into the bedrock over here.

It's fantastic, Because these tunnels go

On for ages, And they're so deep.

Oh, wow.

So this -- ha!

Narrator: a few yards in, Salima stumbles on

The bottom of the shaft She was measuring.

It comes all the way down Here, and it does lead to what

Was made to look like A burial chamber,

Because it's got this Arch roof over here,

Which is typical Of burial chambers.

So if robbers had come In here,

They would have thought, "Oh, wow. Great. This is it."

The chamber is designed to Throw tomb raiders

Off the scent.

But they wouldn't Have found anything.

Though it's so cleverly done --

There's even a niche here,

As if this is where The canopic chest that had

The internal organs would have

Been placed, so they really Would have bean fooled.

Pharaoh senusret goes to Extraordinary lengths

To protect his final Resting place.

Clearly, senusret's Architect's and senusret

Were trying to make sure That robbers didn't get into

His tomb and loot it the way

They'd done for everyone else Before him.

Narrator: this decoy chamber Lies at the edge of the pyramid.

But beyond it,

There's a hidden passage that Leads to a second chamber

With shafts that stretch deep Below ground.

The tunnel continues,

Looping through the pyramid,

And finally leads To a majestic room --

The pharaoh's burial chamber.

Do senusret's many decoys

Keep his body and treasures Safe from intruders?

[gasps] It's the burial chamber,

And this is the real Burial chamber.

It's got a vaulted roof,

And it is, though, made out Of pink granite

Brought from aswan all The way from the south.

This is fabulous.

Here, you've got The true burial chamber

With the sarcophagus Still here,

And it's been polished.

You can see this wonderful Sheen on it.

Narrator: but the body of The pharaoh is no longer here.

So what happens to it?

A clue comes from A priceless

Object that belongs To the pharaoh.

When archaeologists unearth Senusret's tomb,

They find it looted.

But in a corner buried In sand,

They discover one treasure

The robbers leave behind --

A solid gold figure of An egyptian cobra.

It's a uraeus, a precious Ornament that identifies

The wearer as the pharaoh.

The uraeus represents The snake goddess wadjet,

The divine protector of egypt And the river nile.

It adorns The pharaoh's headwear.

Only he can wear it.

Do the tomb raiders leave

The uraeus is behind By accident or design?

I'm sure the robbers Didn't notice, because

They had so much other loot With them, no doubt.

Narrator: the uraeus Remains undisturbed

In the pharaoh's Mighty pyramid

For almost four millennia.

All that remains on The sarcophagus are

A few haunting reminders of Where the pharaoh once lay.

Ikram: uneven marks.

Like to imagine these are Smears left over from the body.

Narrator: senusret's body Has long gone from his final

Resting place, violated In the search for treasure.

Now can clues hidden in A mysterious desert

Structure reveal more about The secrets of egypt's

Strangest pyramid?

Narrator: 4,000 years ago, Pharaoh senusret ii

Builds his pyramid in The fayoum oasis.

Nearby, archaeologists Unearth a mysterious find --

A second massive construction.

Are the pharaoh's final Resting place

And these strange ruins Somehow linked?

It's an insight Into life, into work,

Into religion, Into play that

We simply don't get From other states from egypt.

Narrator: to the east of Senusret's pyramid,

Investigators discover The remains of a walled

Settlement over a million Square feet in size.

The western part is crammed Full of small, narrow houses.

To the north,

A larger building Towers over them.

Nearby are more big houses,

Some measuring over 20,000 square feet.

Price: when we think of Ancient egypt,

We think off pharaohs, We think of gold.

We think of death.

Lahun is None of those things.

It is about living people.

Narrator: Campbell price investigates

The purpose of This enormous site,

Hidden by the desert Sands for millennia.

He believes Answers may be found here,

At the manchester museum In england

In this 19th century map,

Drawn up by the first Archaeologists

To explore at lahun.

It shows the breakdown Of houses in the town,

Which were planned, Which were mapped,

And which were reproduced On this document.

Narrator: the streets are laid Out in a regular pattern.

Most of the buildings are made From mud brick.

It's a fair assumption that These are the smallest

Dwellings in the entire town,

And they belong To the least important people,

The ordinary workers.

Narrator: the pyramid and town Date to the middle kingdom,

A little-studied era of Egyptian history.

The central section contains Larger buildings,

Possibly for Commercial purposes.

The third And final area is perhaps

The most intriguing of all.

Up here, what The archaeologists first called

The acropolis, a raised area,

There seem to be larger, More impressive

Villa-type dwellings.

Narrator: campbell suspects That the biggest villa

Is reserved for A very special visitor --

The pharaoh, senusret.

Campbell wants to know If the pharaoh's

Visits help explain Why he builds this town.

An object found at the site May offer clues.

This small stone weight is Known as a plumb bob,

Which would be attached on The end of a string,

Tight and straight.

This would allow precision In architecture,

And it allows straight lines To be followed

In the building of A major monument.

Narrator: campbell believes That this major

Monument is The pharaoh's pyramid,

Which is being constructed Just 800 yards from the town.

It throws light on why The town is built.

It wasn't something That grew gradually.

It was planned in advance By the state

To be occupied by people Involved in the building

Of the pyramid.

The town is called Hat-hetep-senusret,

Or "King senusret Is at peace."

The pharaoh fills it with Workers and engineers

And gives them the latest Tools to complete

His grand project.

But the discovery of a strange Statue leads investigators to

Wonder if this is More than just a place

For the pharaoh's Builders to live.

It's made of limestone, And it

Depicts a very distinctive Divine entity.

She is one part hippo. One part lion,

One part crocodile.

The statue is of A goddess called taweret.

She's associated with Fertility and childbirth.

Price: she comes from a village, Probably from a house,

So she's probably not set up In a temple.

She comes from A domestic setting.

Narrator: campbell believes That the houses on the map

Provide clues to help explain The mysterious statue.

I think when we look At these houses,

They don't indicate The dwellings of slaves.

So these are simply The houses of

The less well off members Of the free community.

Narrator: pyramid builders Are paid workmen,

And they bring their wives And children with them, too.

The town was not just A town of builders,

But was a fully fledged Family community.

Narrator: investigators believe That the pharaoh plans

The town to have a life

Long after his death.

Now, can the discovery of A huge cache of papyrus texts

In the town reveal the extent Of his plans for eternal life?

Narrator: The pyramid of lahun,

Built 4,000 years ago during Egypt's middle kingdom.

Now, investigators Want to know if

A remarkable discovery in The nearby town

Can shed light on the pharaoh's Plans for immortality.

Buried among the ruins Of the town,

Archaeologists unearth A treasure trove of

Papyrus scrolls.

It's one of the largest

Collections of ancient texts Ever found.

What can they reveal of The pharaoh's

Plans for eternal life?

Glenn godenho has Been deciphering

The lahun papyri For a decade.

Godenho: we haven't just got One or two fragments

Of these lahun papyri.

We've got hundreds of them.

They're more like letters Or emails that we might

Send to each other, The unofficial stuff.

We've got communications Between people,

Maybe over business, Maybe private matters,

And they comment on absolutely Everything you can imagine.

Narrator: the letters are Written onto papyrus

Using a reed pen.

They're not Written in hieroglyphs.

Instead, what we use is A cursive handwritten

Form of hieroglyphs, and this is Called hieratic.

It's the way people would Communicate with each other.

Narrator: glenn believes The papyri offer clues

To senusret's long-term plans.

The only way for A dead pharaoh to survive

In the afterlife is to be Remembered by the living.

You can't survive in The afterlife just by

Slowly decaying in a hole In the ground.

Narrator: one of The ancient texts found in

The town throws light On why it's built.

Godenho: a document like this Reminds us

What the lahun Was set up to do,

To look after the cult Of senusret ii,

And they're continuing To do that even after he's dead.

Narrator: it is the job of The town's priests

To keep the memory Of senusret alive.

Glenn believes one of The papyri offers clues to

The extent of the pharaoh's Ambitions for eternal life.

This is a transfer deed Or a will from lahun.

This one survived really well.

The ink has survived really, Really clearly on this,

So it's a really nice example.

Narrator: the document is Written by a man called

Mery, who is transferring Property to his son.

This is the oldest Legal manuscript

On papyrus ever discovered In egypt.

The property that He's transferring is his office.

It's his job.

So it's kind of like his Retirement plan, he's coming up

For retirement, and his role Will be passed on to his son,

And his son will be able to Look after him in his old age.

Narrator: the job that mery Is passing on

Is controller of a group Of priests.

The document reveals part Of senusret's

Elaborate plans To achieve eternal life.

To make sure his soul Lives on after his death,

Senusret builds a temple In the town.

This is where the priests Come to worship the pharaoh

And service his cult So that he remains eternal.

Groups of priests take turns,

Each spending a month in The service of the dead king.

They hold festivals with Dancers and music,

Keeping the pharaoh's Memory alive,

Ensuring he lives in The afterlife.

But glenn believes that's not How it works out.

Godenho: after a certain Amount of time,

Things move on, Memory starts to wane.

New pharaohs have come Into place

And died and are being buried.

And so it's quite natural That after a period of time,

A pharaoh's cult Will stop being serviced.

Narrator: the cult of senusret Slips into oblivion.

Godenho: after about 100 years, Lahun is abandoned,

And these documents stop Referencing senusret ii,

So it looks like That's the point

At which his memory's Starting to fade.

Narrator: can the end of The pharaoh's cult

Also explain why His pyramid lies in ruins?

Narrator: the pyramid of lahun, Built by

Pharaoh senusret ii,

A megastructure like no other In ancient egypt.

Its exterior is once Gleaming and white,

Made from the finest limestone.

What you see here is not what Was originally built.

So although it's still Very impressive,

This is not The magnificent monument

That senusret ii Had intended.

Narrator: Surrounded by water, it seems To float above the desert.

The pyramid's original Limestone casing has long gone,

Exposing its mud brick Interior to the elements.

Salima ikram investigates What happens to it.

Ikram: if there'd been a major Disaster like an earthquake,

And it had a lot fallen off,

You would see large blocks of It everywhere, but you don't.

Instead, we've got These teeny weeny shards

Scattered over the place.

Salima wants to know why.

So it looks as if the pyramid

Must have been Very skillfully robbed

For all of this limestone To vanish.

Narrator: the limestone has Been deliberately removed

Not by robbers, But by officials.

It was really taken away Deliberately, the skilled

Workmen systematically stripped

This pyramid Of its limestone

And carted it off somewhere To use it for something else.

Who orders such An act of vandalism?

For answers, Salima examines accounts

Of the first explorers.

She finds an intriguing piece Of evidence --

A cartouche, An oval-shaped hieroglyph

That contains the name of A pharaoh.

In this account, over 100 years Old, it says that

The cartouche of ramesses ii

Was found scrawled Across the surface of a joint.

Narrator: ramesses ii -- One of

The greatest pharaohs In egyptian history.

He rules egypt In its golden age,

500 years after The death of senusret.

Ramesses glorifies his rule By building

A huge number of Astonishing monuments.

Luxor,

Karnak,

Abu simbel.

But for these,

He needs a lot of stone.

Ikram: ramesses ii was one of The most prolific builders of

All the pharaohs,

And one of the reasons He could do this was because

He stole material From his predecessors

And also usurped Their monuments.

Narrator: ramesses makes No attempt to hide his theft.

Ikram: ramesses ii probably Just put his cartouche there so

Everyone would know who had Taken the material, because he

Didn't think he was doing Anything wrong, and because,

In fact, what he was doing was Linking himself with senusret ii

As his ancestor.

Narrator: and yet the legacy of Senusret does live on.

Farmers still grow huge Amounts of crops

In the fayoum today,

The area the pharaoh irrigates.

Ikram: His reign was marked

By wonderful innovations That really turned egypt

Into an even more Agriculturally rich area.

And he leaves us with A stunning memorial --

His pyramid, Built 4,000 years ago,

Still overlooking the fayoum.

It still towers above us And dominates

The surrounding landscape.

Narrator: the pyramid at lahun Is egypt's strangest,

Once encircled by water, So it appears to float.

And deep inside, A maze of

Tunnels and decoys To deter tomb robbers.

This ancient engineering Marvel of mud brick

And gleaming White limestone

Is an everlasting memorial To pharaoh senusret ii.

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