Original subtitles

Narrator: The valley of the queens,

The burial site of some of

The most powerful women in Ancient egypt.

Mummies and parts of Mummies have

Been found All over the valley.

Narrator: this vast necropolis Contains dozens more tombs than

The valley of the kings

On the other side Of these cliffs.

And that's why The valley of the queens

Was chosen to be here, In this location.

Narrator: and it conceals some Of egypt's greatest wonders.

Ismail: This is an incredible tomb.

It's like the sistine chapel Of ancient egypt.

The colors are so vivid.

Narrator: Today, investigators venture

Deep into these dark tunnels And uncover

Long-lost clues to unlock The secrets of egypt's

Powerful leaders.

She really was this great ruler In a male-dominated society.

Narrator: what does this Enigmatic necropolis reveal

About the queens of Ancient egypt?

To solve these mysteries,

We unearth this royal valley From the mountains of luxor

And digitally reconstruct one Of the finest tombs ever built.

We uncover millennia-old clues Buried in the sand

And reveal the hidden story Of an all-powerful

Female pharaoh

To discover the golden age of Egypt's queens.

Straddling the mighty river Nile, 300 miles south of cairo,

Are the ancient temples Of luxor and karnak

And the valley of the kings.

This is where to tutankhamun

Discovered 100 years ago, Buried with

Extraordinary riches.

But only a mile west From his tomb lies a second

Huge and more enigmatic Burial site,

The valley of the queens.

Who was buried here, And why?

The valley of the queens Is much

Bigger than The valley of the kings,

And there's so many queens Buried here.

There's so many burials, It's so massive in size.

Narrator: cut into The limestone landscape

Are more than 90 tombs.

Steep passageways descend Into the mountainside,

Some of them over 60 feet deep.

Complex subterranean palaces

Are carved into the rock to Keep mummies with their

Treasures safe for eternity.

These are some of The most lavish

And richly-decorated tombs In ancient egypt.

Each hides clues of mysterious And powerful queens.

What can new discoveries in This sprawling

Necropolis reveal about the Female rulers of ancient egypt?

Aliaa ismail Is on a mission to

Discover why the queens Are buried here.

She uses an old map created

By past explorers to Investigate the site.

The map reveals The tombs of many of

The most eminent queens Of the new kingdom.

Aliaa wants to find the very First tomb in the valley.

She follows the map to The most likely suspect.

So this is A very simple shaft tomb,

And, as you can see, It's a shaft,

And it goes into A little chamber

Where she would Have been buried there.

Narrator: the first explorers Here find a mummy and other

Items inside The tomb that reveal

The identity of the owner.

This is the tomb of Princess ahmose and probably

The first person to be buried In the valley of the queens.

Narrator: princess ahmose died 3,500 years ago.

Aliaa believes this date is Highly significant.

Princess ahmose was buried in The valley of the queens

Right about the same time that The first king was buried in

The valley of the kings.

So the valley of the queens Was not an afterthought,

But rather it happened right At the same time

As the valley of the kings.

Narrator: the valleys Of the kings and queens

Are created together Around 1550 b.C.,

Equal partners in A new royal design.

They marked the beginning of The new kingdom of egypt,

The last of The three great periods

Of egyptian might And unity.

Ismail: both of these sides show How the tradition has

Changed dramatically for Burying royals

In the new kingdom.

They have moved from Being buried

Under pyramids to being buried Under mountains.

Narrator: why do the ancient Egyptians break

So radically from building Tombs under pyramids?

Ismail: Mountains have more security.

Mountains are hard to break in

And are easy to hide A tomb inside.

Narrator: the pyramids are The envy of the ancient world,

But they also identify The pharaoh's buried treasures,

An easy target For ancient robbers.

Ismail: in a mountain, In the solid rock,

It's much more hidden.

It's much harder for robbers To find it,

And if you can't find it, You can't rob it.

Narrator: The valleys sit on either side

Of the tallest peak In the hills,

The distinctive pyramid-shaped El qurn.

In the valley below The mountain of el qurn,

Pharaohs carved 64 tombs Deep into

The rock over the course of Five centuries.

They hope that their bodies And treasures are safe,

Hidden away in these Underground graves.

Just across the theban hills

Lies another Similarly-shaped valley.

The pharaohs bury their wives Here in the same way.

Why are the kings and queens Buried so far apart?

Ismail: previously, It would have been

A grand pyramid for the king And a smaller one

For the queen And his children around him.

But that completely changes.

Now we have three queens with

Their children buried together, And the kings

Away from them In a different valley.

Narrator: The valley of the queens marks

A new era in ancient egypt.

Here, for the first time,

Royal women have their own Special necropolis.

Could it be a sign of the rise Of the queens?

Clues may lie Beneath the ground,

Where archaeologists make A surprising discovery.

Cut into the rock Nearly 3,500 years ago,

Explorers unearth a steep Staircase that leads down to

The most spectacular tomb in The valley of the queens.

Seven chambers Are adorned with

Over 5,000 square feet Of decoration.

On the ceiling is A sky blue canopy

Covered in thousands of stars,

So the deceased queen's soul Is free to fly.

On the walls are images of A young woman.

Wearing a white dress,

She is covered in gold on her Journey through the afterlife.

Who is this mysterious queen?

Why is she buried in this Incredibly rich tomb?

Visits to this fragile tomb Are strictly limited

To protect it,

But aliaa has been granted Unique access

To examine its wonders.

She believes the exquisite Paintings across

The walls could hide Vital clues.

Ismail: This is an incredible tomb.

It's like the sistine chapel Of ancient egypt -- so amazing.

The colors are so vivid.

Narrator: She searches for the name of

The tomb owner and finds it Emblazoned in gold.

Ismail: the oval shape has A name inside of it.

Nefertari, meaning Beautiful companion.

She was queen consort.

Narrator: queen nefertari Is married to

The great ramesses ii,

The most powerful Pharaoh in egyptian history.

Here at the entrance to Her tomb,

You have all her titles listed.

The most notable title here is "Great wife."

A king in ancient egypt Had many wives,

And that's why a chief wife Would have been

A very important title.

But aliaa finds another of Nefertari's titles,

Which reveals an astonishing Rise to power.

Another title here is mistress Of upper and lower egypt.

That's an important title.

Narrator: this evidence suggests Nefertari has real

Influence as queen.

She has political and Religious authority

Over all of egypt.

She is much more influential Than previously believed.

Could mysterious Grave goods found

In her tomb reveal How she rises to power?

And can elaborate Paintings reveal

More about her life And death?

Narrator: The valley of the queens,

The final resting place For the wives

Of the most Formidable pharaohs in history.

Among them -- nefertari,

Queen of the mighty Ramesses ii.

Inscriptions inside her tomb Reveal her power

Extends over all of egypt, Politically and religiously,

But the ancient queens Don't normally have

So much influence.

Why does nefertari?

When archaeologists Open her tomb in 1904,

They aren't the first to Go inside.

The queen's treasures are All gone,

Leaving behind just Her mummified legs

And a pair of reed sandals.

But nearby, they find A strange ceramic object,

Glazed blue with copper salts And decorated with

The cartouche of The pharaoh ay.

Some egyptologists believe it Could be a family heirloom.

Is nefertari descended from

This pharaoh Or another royal lineage?

Can further clues Within the tomb

Reveal if nefertari Is born into power?

Among her titles, "Hereditary noble woman" --

That shows that she was from

The highest echelons Of society,

And that would have been Important to ramesses.

Nefertari's family Connections may matter,

Because she is A native of thebes.

Ramesses has total rule over Egypt, but his family comes

From a northern power base,

An ancient rival to The capital, thebes.

Marrying into theban Nobility can

Unite the city's powerful Priests behind him.

When ramesses Is crowned king,

Nefertari becomes The great royal wife.

How much power does This new role give her

In the governing of egypt?

Aliaa finds important Evidence in the antechamber.

Nefertari faces The god thoth, god of knowledge,

And she's facing him With a scribal palette.

This is evidence that she can Read and write,

And that she's very proud of Her education.

Narrator: alongside it, aliaa Finds another important clue.

So here we have Nefertari wearing

An earring that does not Look very egyptian.

Narrator: the distinctive Earring is a greek style

Not normally seen in Ancient egypt.

It appears to be A gift reflecting

Nefertari's diplomatic Contacts with

Foreign dignitaries.

It is evident That nefertari achieved

A whole new level Of queenship.

Narrator: but aliaa suspects That nefertari's

Power and influence Extend even further.

A majestic construction in

The south of egypt Reveals more clues.

Next to the great temple at Abu simbel is a second temple.

Standing guard outside

Are four colossal Statues of ramesses

And two of nefertari,

Each towering 33 feet high.

Inside, depictions of The queen cover the walls on

Every side, stretching Deep into the mountain.

And in the center, Goddesses anoint her

With a sacred crown.

What can this temple for

The queen reveal about Her power over egypt?

In abu simbel, there are Many interesting features.

Of these is a statue of Nefertari of

The same size as that of Ramesses ii.

Narrator: In ancient egypt,

Depictions of the same size Are highly significant.

Ismail: the equal size means That they were equal

In power and stature, And it's there

For the whole world To see it.

Narrator: the iconography At abu simbel is clear.

Nefertari shares power with The most formidable pharaoh in

The ancient world, Ramesses ii.

But the depictions of Nefertari with a sacred crown

Reveal an even higher status.

At abu simbel,

Nefertari Becomes a goddess,

And there's no greater Honor for a queen.

Narrator: Ramesses has eight wives,

Who bear him Over 100 children,

But nefertari is his first Wife and favorite queen.

During their 24 years Together,

She gives birth to four sons,

Who become high priests And army commanders.

Nefertari plays an active role In egypt's state religion,

Performing sacred rituals at Festivals and ceremonies.

She even engages in diplomacy,

Sending letters and gifts to Foreign queens

To maintain peace Between nations.

Clues inside the valley Of the queens reveal

That egypt's queens can reach Remarkable levels of power.

Ismail: compared to other Countries in the ancient world,

Women have more rights In ancient egypt.

They could own property and Have the right to divorce.

Also, queens had a real Political role with power.

Narrator: in her lifetime, Nefertari is a formidable queen.

Does her burial In the valley of the queens

Make her powerful In the after life, too?

Or do some special privileges Only apply to the king?

Narrator: the queens of ancient Egypt are buried in

Majestic tombs inside The valley of the queens.

But how do their tombs Compare to the kings?

Will they be reunited with Their husbands in an afterlife

Among the gods, filled with Power and royal privileges?

The most splendid tomb In the valley belongs to

Queen nefertari,

Great wife to the mighty Pharaoh ramesses ii.

It is an ancient masterpiece,

But the elaborate paintings Aren't just for show.

They are a tool for her to use To get to the afterlife.

The tomb was designed to be A magical machine to

Transform the deceased from This world to the next,

And for that to happen,

Religious texts And spells had to be

Present to aid the deceased On this mission.

Narrator: what do the spells Reveal of nefertari's afterlife?

Ismail: the deceased needs to Pass through the knives of

The gatekeepers In order to pass the gates

Or be lost forever.

Narrator: the spells help Ensure her safe passage.

The tomb, It's covered with spells

From the book of the dead.

It's a dangerous journey to The afterlife,

And nefertari needs all The help she can get.

In a large tomb like this,

Nefertari has space for All the spells she needs.

Narrator: What do all these spells say?

Ken griffin is an expert In decoding magical

Hieroglyphs at the university Of swansea in wales.

A secure storeroom Holds many

Precious artifacts from Ancient egypt,

Including an original shroud Dating from the era

Of ramesses.

Ken thinks It might hold a clue.

Here we have this really Rare textile shroud that

Would have covered the body of A man called hapi.

We have chapter one of The book of the dead,

In which we have these four Individuals who are carrying

A boat containing the body of The deceased hapi.

So these shrouds are Similar to

What you get in the time Of nefertari.

Narrator: the drawings come From the same scripture

As the paintings In nefertari's tomb.

So the chapters That we have here is

All part of The book of the dead.

Narrator: How does the book of the dead

Help ancient egyptians Reach their afterlife?

Ken examines mummy bandages That are covered in

Ancient texts.

They are a guide for The deceased

On how to face Knife-wielding demons.

The deceased has to pass By a series of mounds, which

Are guarded by these really Scary demons

With their large knives.

These demons don't Look like you or me.

They have the heads of Different animals,

Some animals that don't Make sense.

For example, this one has The head of two snakes.

The egyptians believed that By knowing the name of

The guardians was enough for You to have power over them.

Narrator: they hope their Journey will lead to eternity

In a paradise called The field of reeds.

Only those that deserve it Will succeed.

Nefertari's vast tomb

Is spacious enough to Accommodate hundreds of spells,

Giving her great protection in Her journey to the afterlife.

Her tomb is covered With over

5,000 square feet Of paintings and spells,

Equivalent to over 1,000 Mona lisa's in area.

But how does her tomb

Compare to those in The valley of the kings?

There, the grandest And most lavishly

Decorated tomb is seti I's,

Father of ramesses the great.

Seti's master engineers carve 17 rooms on two floors,

All immaculately decorated With raised relief

Paintings like in Nefertari's tomb.

Its many chambers are Decorated with sacred texts,

But the book of the dead Is nowhere to be seen.

What are these texts, And why

Are they different from The queens'?

How do they help the king Reach his afterlife?

Ken investigates the writing On seti's walls to find out.

The tomb of set I

Contains a number of Religious texts, such as the

Amduat, the book of gates, And the litany of re.

Narrator: ken analyzes What these spells say.

Griffin: the amduat relates To the sun god, re's,

Journey through The 12 hours of the night.

Narrator: each hour holds A different challenge

That the deceased king Must face.

In the seventh hour, The sun god

Has entered The mysterious cavern.

His arch enemy, apophis, Who takes the form of a snake,

Tries to swallow the sun god Every evening to defeat him.

And apophis is subdued with A series of daggers in his back.

Narrator: the texts are like An instruction manual for

The deceased pharaoh to travel Through the afterlife.

The book of the heavenly cow Instructs the king to follow

The example of The sun god, re,

And depart earth For the realm of the gods.

The amduat names all gods And monsters of

The underworld so the king Can ask them for help

Or use their name To destroy them.

The book of gates Names the 12 goddesses

Guarding the gates Of the underworld

So the king Can pass unharmed.

And the litany of re shows all 75 forms of the god,

Which the king Must recognize to join re

On his journey Through the sky.

Griffin: so the point Of these texts is to

Ensure that the deceased king Can be resurrected

Just like the sun god re is Reborn again every morning,

And just as the sun rises Every morning,

The egyptians believed that Their pharaoh would do likewise.

Narrator: Ken discovers that seti

Has a different afterlife Promised to him

Because he is a pharaoh.

The special texts in his tomb Can't be used by

Other egyptians,

Even the powerful queens like Nefertari and others buried in

The valley of the queens.

Griffin: In the valley of the queens,

You don't see the amduat, The book of caverns,

The book of gates, The litany of re.

Instead, what you see are Different religious texts,

Mainly taken From the book of the dead.

Narrator: while kings Prepare for an after life among

The gods, everyone else, Including queens,

Can only use The book of the dead.

But there is one queen Who breaks the barriers

And reaches the apex of power.

She is not buried alongside The other royal wives.

Why is the tomb of Egypt's most powerful

Queen missing from The valley of the queens?

And what unexpected Danger threatens

To destroy These ancient chambers?

Narrator: the valley of The queens shelters tombs

Of many of egypt's most Powerful queens,

Like nefertari, wife to The mighty ramesses ii.

But one important queen Is not there. She is missing.

One mile away, In the valley of the kings,

Archaeologists make A startling discovery.

Among the tombs of The great pharaohs,

Investigators unearth A long shaft

That descends Over 600 feet.

It leads to a pillared chamber

That contains the sarcophagus Of thutmose I,

But behind the pillars

Is a second sarcophagus.

It is beautifully carved From quartzite stone,

Covered in imagery of Underworld gods.

The end reveals the cartouche Of its owner, queen hatshepsut.

Why is a queen buried here in The valley of the kings

And not with All the other queens?

Aliaa thinks one of egypt's

Most iconic buildings May hold clues.

Located between The valley of the queens

And the valley of The kings,

This is The temple of hatshepsut.

It's a mortuary temple,

A place where priests keep

The deceased person's name Alive for eternity,

And devotees can Make offerings.

But this one is unusual.

Ismail: Pharaohs have mortuary temples.

Queens don't Have mortuary temples.

Narrator: aliaa searches The temple for clues to

Why queen hatshepsut Is honored in this way.

Here, we have a woman, And this woman

Is hatshepsut's mother.

You can see here, the legs Are intertwining.

Narrator: the faint red drawing Shows hatshepsut's mother

Locked in an embrace with A male,

But it's not her husband.

Who she's mating with Does not really appear,

But the curly beard, You know it's a god.

She is getting intimate With the god,

And we can see here that He is giving her the ankh,

Which is life.

Narrator: the curious image Has a purpose.

Hatshepsut is telling us That amun-re is her father.

Even kings do not claim Divine birth.

So this is truly a bold move For hatshepsut.

Narrator: How can queen hatshepsut

Make such an audacious claim?

Another scene reveals the true Extent of her power.

She is being crowned as king Of upper and lower egypt.

Narrator: hatshepsut is missing From the valley of the queens

Because she is, in fact, king.

Hatshepsut is The daughter of king thutmose I,

Most the first who rules over Egypt in the 16th century b.C.

When her father dies, Hatshepsut's

Half-brother becomes pharaoh, And she's forced to marry him

At the age of 12.

When her brother dies,

Hatshepsut rules Alongside her baby stepson,

But slowly, she takes Full control as king.

She builds a grand temple In thebes,

Plastering her name and Likeness over the monuments

To immortalize her rule.

She rules as king Of egypt for two decades,

But the paintings on the walls Reveal something intriguing.

So here we have A man -- the kilt,

The beard, The crowns,

But it's not a man.

This has to be hatshepsut.

She is depicted As a man and a king.

Narrator: Why is hatshepsut trying

To depict herself as male?

Is it impossible for A woman to rule egypt?

Egyptologist ken griffin Thinks there's more to

The story.

He investigates several Depictions of

Hatshepsut from throughout Her reign.

This is a statue of hatshepsut From her very early years,

As the pharaoh -- we can clearly See that she's female,

From the breasts, From the long dress

That she wears Down to her ankles.

Narrator: But as her reign progresses,

The statues begin to change.

Griffin: gone are the long dress Associated with females,

And this is quite Extraordinary, really.

She is now shown wearing A short kilt.

Narrator: by wearing a kilt,

Hatshepsut is choosing to be Seen in male clothes,

But it doesn't stop there.

Griffin: so in the final image, Her breasts are gone.

She wears a short kilt and The divine beard associated with

The pharaoh.

Narrator: hatshepsut transforms Her images dramatically

During her reign From female to male,

And she is buried not with The queens but

With the men in The valley of the kings.

Griffin: hatshepsut is not Doing this in order to

Show that she has to be male In order to rule,

But it's a way to be recognized By the egyptian people.

Narrator: hatshepsut uses The familiar emblems of

Power to show That she is king.

Griffin: the egyptians Couldn't read and write,

The majority of them,

But they could identify with The iconography.

Narrator: her depiction As a male ensures that

Everybody understands that She is egypt's supreme ruler.

Hatshepsut establishes A solid

And successful reign Lasting 20 years.

Hatshepsut was really one Of egypt's greatest rulers.

If we look at her achievements, From her expedition

To the land of punt,

Her building activities at Karnak and deir el-bahri --

She really was this great ruler In a male-dominated society.

Narrator: but at her temple, Aliaa discovers

Surprising evidence that Hatshepsut has enemies.

Ismail: the uraeus has been Hacked out, and the beard,

Completely gone,

But you can only see The trace of it.

Narrator: it is not Just the statues

That have been attacked.

Ismail: she should be here Making the offering to anubis,

But she has been completely Chiseled out,

And here, we have the name Of thutmose iii.

Hatshepsut's name Has been erased.

We can only see The traces of her cartouche.

Her name has been erased From her own temple.

Narrator: why has hatshepsut's Name been erased,

But thutmose's Remains intact?

As king, hatshepsut treats her Daughter, neferure, as queen,

Leaving her stepson, Thutmose iii in the shadows.

But hatshepsut and neferure Die first.

Thutmose finally Becomes pharaoh.

He erases his stepmother From history

To strengthen his claim to The throne.

For centuries, her life has Been a mystery,

But now, archaeologists are Piecing together the evidence

To reveal her true identity

And the incredible Story of her reign.

But just like Hatshepsut's temple,

Many tombs in The valley of the queens

Also show traces of destruction.

Some show evidence of Catastrophic damage.

Can new research reveal

What causes such Widespread devastation?

Are queens an easy target For vengeful kings?

Narrator: The queens of ancient egypt

Wield great control over Their country.

Hatshepsut reaches The pinnacle

Of power and becomes pharaoh.

But the temple she builds To glorify her rule

Is badly defaced.

Tombs in the valley of The queens are all

Hidden underground.

Is this enough to Protect them?

The queens want their tombs To survive for eternity,

Buried deep inside the rock

So their souls can Live forever.

But when archaeologists First enter,

They find signs of Destruction everywhere.

Hundreds of paintings across The walls lie in pieces.

Stone pillars are shattered,

And ceilings have caved in.

What is behind this Catastrophic destruction

That erases many of These queens from history?

Aliaa examines the inside Of queen nefertari's tomb,

Scouring the walls for The cause of the damage.

You can see here that the Paint's coming off, and so is

The plaster -- You can see here

That this -- this is The bedrock of the mountain.

The plaster's Completely come up.

Narrator: but unlike Hatshepsut's temple,

Aliaa believes this Destruction is

Not caused by spiteful rulers.

This crack over here Is definitely

Water damage and blackened Around the edges.

Narrator: left unattended, These paintings

Could be lost forever.

Aliaa suspects water gets in Through the bedrock itself.

She heads outside To investigate.

Ismail: here, you can see The quality of the stone

That the valley of the queens Is carved in.

You can see how weak The stone is.

The water can get in Easily and damage it.

Narrator: Aliaa spots another defect.

The other problem With this stone is it

Is so cracked on sloping -- It is so hard

To use ancient tools to get A clean cut here.

Narrator: Could the geology explain why

So many tombs have Been destroyed?

To find out, khaled nassar Designs an experiment

To investigate the process

Of carving limestone In the valley of the queens.

Building material is Obviously very

Important to what You're trying to do.

It is very hard to work

With limestone, because Structurally, it's very weak.

It's a very brittle material.

I can break it With my own hand,

And that creates a lot of Problems when

You're trying to use it For structural purposes.

Khaled's team gets to work With bronze chisels,

Identical to The ancient workers' tool kit.

In order to carve and paint Precision artwork,

Khaled needs a perfectly Flat, smooth surface.

It's coming out in chunks, And it's creating a surface

That is curved,

Sometimes slanted, and other Times, it's very uneven.

It's not As smooth as we want.

It's not as flat as we want it To be, so we can paint on it.

Narrator: limestone is difficult To carve accurately,

And weaknesses can compromise The structure of the tomb.

Khaled believes that rather Than solve the problem,

Ancient workers Tried to hide it.

They add thick layers of Plaster to create flush walls.

Nassar: this process is Much quicker to achieving

A smooth surface Than the chiseling,

And finally, getting a surface That we can paint on.

Narrator: the plaster is ready To decorate.

Now it has to last For eternity.

Nassar: this plaster has been Setting for a week.

As you can see, It's pretty sturdy.

It's adhered pretty well.

It's hardened pretty well,

And it's created the smooth Surface that's perfect

For painting.

Narrator: But there's a huge problem.

Because the plaster We have here is made up

Essentially of Natural material,

Such a straw, it doesn't really React that well with water.

Narrator: the valley of the Queens sits under a mountain.

Rare dessert rains Run quickly off

The slopes and can turn Into flash floods.

Water seeps through The salt-rich limestone

Into the tomb chambers

Or rushes in when floods Break through the entrance.

Khaled modifies the block

To put the plaster to The test.

He cuts channels Into the top surface

To simulate water seeping Through the bedrock.

When it reaches the plaster Covering the vertical surface

At the front,

Khaled can immediately see The impact.

Plaster that is used Is made of natural material

That absorbs a lot of water

And absorbs A lot of water quickly.

But it's also made This material so brittle

That it comes off in my hand Very easily.

Narrator: but as more water Seeps in from the rock,

It has more Disastrous consequences.

Nassar: you can see that there's A crack forming already

Because of the water that soaks Through to the surface of

The plaster.

As more and more plaster soaks More and more water,

The plaster becomes saturated, And large chunks

Will fall off very easy.

Narrator: over time, This process leads

To widespread destruction

Of the tombs in The valley of the queens.

This is quite a large piece of Plaster that

Has fallen off after it got Saturated with water.

And it's quite possible That parts

Of the limestone Actually fell off with it.

And this can spell disaster For the tomb, for

The entire valley, Because it can compromise

The structural integrity.

Narrator: the undoing of The valley of the queens

Is the weak and porous Valley rock itself.

Why do the queens choose This water-damaged

Valley for their Sacred necropolis?

What clues lie hidden In this strange cavern

At the entrance to The valley of the queens?

Narrator: some of the most Magnificent tombs of egypt

Lie hidden away Beneath the sands

Of the valley of the queens.

But here, the bedrock is weak And difficult to carve.

So why do they choose This location?

Aliaa investigates The sprawling site.

She discovers An intriguing rock formation

Overlooking the head of The valley.

There's a niche In the mountain.

Narrator: Just below it,

She finds a curious feature.

Ismail: this looks like a wall, But this is a dam.

We have a line here where The wall of the dam

Would have been.

You can see from The thickness of the wall,

That would have been Very massive.

Narrator: After rare desert storms,

Water from the mountain Forms a cascade

That carves out A cavernous space.

Inside the cavern itself,

Aliaa discovers Ancient drawings.

Some of them even date back to Prehistoric times.

Ismail: the most prominent Of this graffiti is

A representation of The goddess hathor

In her cow form.

Narrator: hathor is the goddess Of women, fertility, and love.

In her human form, she wears A hallmark cow-horned crown.

One myth tells that each night, The sun god enters hathor's

Mouth to sleep And comes back out at dawn.

In the new kingdom, Egyptian men want to be reborn

As the god osiris,

But the women as hathor.

So the cascade and the cavern With hathor's image are powerful

Symbols of femininity And rebirth

For those buried In the valley.

Aliaa believes That this cavern is

The key to why this valley Is chosen.

This is where the goddess Hathor is represented,

Even in prehistoric times.

She's the goddess Of motherhood.

She is the one who gives birth And generates life,

And that's why The valley of the queens

Was chosen to be here.

Narrator: the pharaohs Changed tradition,

Hiding their tombs beneath A pyramid-shaped mountain.

For their queens,

They choose a site fit for The matriarchs of egypt.

The women are no longer just An afterthought of

Their husbands.

Kings, they chose To be buried in

A site alone, where they can Follow the sacred journey.

But for the queens, They chose

A site that's protected By the goddess hathor.

Narrator: for almost 400 years, The valley of the queens is

The exclusive cemetery for The most powerful women in egypt

And their families.

Here, the elaborate tombs Help the deceased queens

Make their journey to The afterlife,

All the while protected By hathor.

The new kingdom is A golden age for women,

And there are so many names That have survived from

This period.

Narrator: The valley of the queens is

A vast burial site in The mountains of luxor,

Showcasing some of the most Magnificent tombs of

Ancient egypt.

Here, elaborate spells help Queens do

Battle with monsters in The afterlife.

These are the women That shape ancient egypt.

The waters that draw them here Also bring destruction.

But the surviving Clues reveal

The truth behind egypt's Most powerful queens.

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