Original subtitles

NARRATOR: The mighty red pyramid,

towering over the Egyptian desert at Dahshur,

a mega structure that helps define a civilization.

This is a one-of-a-kind monument.

Who kick starts a revolution

and builds this first true pyramid?

KELANY: It is really amazing, because it is the first time

that use this kind of technique

to receive a million tons of stone.

NARRATOR: Now, investigators have unique access

to venture inside this mysterious structure,

to uncover why one pharaoh builds this incredible icon.

BRAND: This is a huge, huge feat of work,

effort, and labor for the ancient Egyptians.

NARRATOR: To solve these mysteries,

we blow apart its strange interior.

We hunt for the mummy of the pharaoh who builds it,

decode how he learns from his mistakes,

and digitally reconstruct this wonder in its prime

to reveal the secrets of

Egypt's trailblazing first true pyramid.

Egypt -- land of pharaohs who build monumental

pyramids for their journey into the afterlife.

Each one is a pivotal clue to

unlocking the mysterious world of the ancient Egyptians.

There are more than 100 pyramids across the Egyptian desert,

constructed over 1,000 years from

the middle of the third millennium BCE.

Some of the first pyramids are built in Dahshur,

a 4,500-year-old necropolis.

BRAND: Dahshur is an incredible area for studying

ancient Egyptian mysteries.

There's very few places on earth like this where I

can see a history of a millennia of pyramid building.

NARRATOR: Seven huge stepped structures

loom over the desert here.

Their design is inspired by the flat

Mastaba tombs of the earliest Egyptian rulers.

And one pyramid at Dahshur makes

a pivotal turning point in Egyptian civilization...

the Red Pyramid.

Soaring over 344 feet into the sky over Dahshur,

this six-million-ton colossus

hides an elaborate internal structure.

On its northern side,

a 200-foot passageway leads to three soaring chambers,

each one over 40 feet high.

A labyrinth hidden under 160 layers of stone,

this is an epic tomb fit for a king.

It is the first true pyramid

in the world, with flat external sides,

a revolution in pyramid design,

the prototype for all to follow.

Meredith Brand devotes her life to

decoding the secrets of Egyptian monuments.

BRAND: This is the Red Pyramid.

I look up, and I can see

a mound of red limestone that gives this pyramid its name.

But when I look closer, it's evident

that this is not a finished pyramid.

There's something more going on here.

These blocks are rough, they're unfinished.

There's something missing.

NARRATOR: To understand the Red Pyramid's place

in pyramid evolution,

Meredith must piece together what it looks like

4,500 years ago.

This is red limestone, and just looking at it now,

I can see it's weathered, there's cracks, there's holes.

This has been exposed to the air for a long time,

but the ancient Egyptians, they had a sense of

style, aesthetic.

They would have wanted something beautiful

that would have gleamed in the desert.

NARRATOR: Meredith looks for clues to the pyramid's

original appearance.

BRAND: Over here, I can see there's something different.

The color is different.

So this is a red stone, and over here,

there's something gleaming,

white and bright, but it's only a small fragment.

This shows a clue that there was something else here.

NARRATOR: She makes her way to the eastern side of

the pyramid to hunt for more evidence of this material.

BRAND: This is a smooth, white color,

and it looks different from the rough,

coarse red limestone that I saw

on the other side of the pyramid.

NARRATOR: This is white Tura limestone.

It originates from a quarry 12 miles away,

on the other side of the Nile.

It is a highly prized material in ancient Egypt.

This rock holds a clue.

I can see all of these fine marks.

These look like chisel marks.

So this side would have been worked,

but over here, it's smooth.

I mean, of course the surface is weathered from being exposed

to the desert wind and sand,

but this was left smooth,

and this side was a work face.

NARRATOR: This discovery reveals that the pyramid

is once totally covered in this stone.

BRAND: This is the only spot with fine

Tura limestone, which shows, sometime in antiquity,

people came and removed, robbed and stripped all

of the fine Tura limestone from this pyramid.

NARRATOR: In its prime,

the pyramid's red core is clad in

a layer of gleaming white casing stones.

A shining capstone crowns the top of this perfect pyramid,

surrounded by a perimeter wall.

On its eastern side, a temple, where

offerings are made to the dead pharaoh.

Mysterious hieroglyphs are carved on

the internal surface of the pyramid.

Can they reveal who is

the mastermind behind the world's first true pyramid?

Meredith translates the hieroglyphs to

reveal the name of the pharaoh

behind this pioneering structure.

BRAND: This is an image of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.

There's a folded cloth here, and that's an S sound.

And then this sign next to it is the lungs and esophagus of

an animal, and that sound is

"nefer," and to complement the sound,

you have a small horned viper, which is an F

and an open mouth, an R.

And below that is a quail chick that sounds like "ooh,"

so when you put it together, it reads Sneferu.

This royal name, Sneferu,

is clear evidence of both the builder

and the date of the Red Pyramid.

It is thought Sneferu's

reign begins in 2613 BCE.

He is the first pharaoh in Egypt's 4th Dynasty.

Sneferu ascends the throne by

marrying the royal heiress, Hetepheres,

and sets to work putting his own stamp on Egypt.

Before his reign,

a pharaoh was believed to be

the reincarnation of the falcon God, Horus.

But Sneferu is a devout follower of the sun cult

and sees himself as the living embodiment of Ra, the sun god,

the supreme divinity.

Sneferu wants his final tomb to assist

his resurrection to join Ra after death.

BRAND: This is why Sneferu

started to build pyramids in a different way.

It was to pursue his belief in the sun god, Ra.

NARRATOR: Meredith wants to decode how Sneferu

proves his devotion to Ra through his pyramids.

She examines the Red Pyramid's relationship to the sun.

BRAND: I'm gonna look and see the direction of the sunrise in

the east, and then I'm gonna follow it to the west.

So when I look over here,

I can see that the sun would have

risen in the east, and then if I move

and go to the west, it's perfectly

aligned for when the sun would set.

NARRATOR: Sneferu's pyramid is orientated to

match the sun's movement across the sky.

The sides face north, south, east, and west.

BRAND: So this shows that the ancient Egyptians,

they use the sun as an important indicator of

the cardinal directions, and they built the pyramid in

line with the sunrise and the sunset.

NARRATOR: Sneferu revolutionizes pyramid design.

He builds the Red Pyramid with smooth sides

and aligns them perfectly with the sun's movement

across the sky.

How does Sneferu build his flawless pyramid?

And is it achieved in its first attempt?

NARRATOR: The Red Pyramid,

built by the revolutionary pharaoh, Sneferu.

It is Egypt's first smooth-sided true pyramid.

30 miles south in Meidum,

Meredith Brand investigates if this

unusual structure was Sneferu's prototype.

Most of this pyramid was plundered over the years,

but its temple has remained intact.

BRAND: Oh wow! There's an inscription.

This inscription is quite faded now,

but I've got a copy from when it was originally discovered,

and it lines up, so I can see that someone came here to this

temple and visited in the reign of Thutmose III.

So that's the 18th Dynasty,

almost 1,000 years after the structure should have

been built.

I can see that this person is

a priest who's come to visit this place,

and then he says he's here

because this is the pyramid of Sneferu.

NARRATOR: The temple inscription reveals that the Meidum Pyramid

is also built by Sneferu.

But it is a traditional step pyramid,

unlike his iconic Red Pyramid.

Sneferu built this pyramid as well as the Red Pyramid.

So that means he made two pyramids.

It's quite unusual for a pharaoh.

NARRATOR: Sneferu designs his first pyramid to

surpass any Egyptian tomb that came before him.

He builds a pioneering style of burial chamber above ground

and closer to the sun,

fully encased within the stonework of the pyramid's

first layer.

Seven more giant steps rise up above it,

taller than any of its predecessors.

The entire monument is finished off

with a casing of fine white limestone.

What can Sneferu's Meidum pyramid

tell us about his quest for the perfect pyramid?

It's so exciting to go inside of a pyramid.

There's always a bit of a mystery.

NARRATOR: Meredith climbs to the entrance on the north side

of the pyramid, 66 feet above the ground.

So I'm going down 190 feet,

into the base of this pyramid.

This pyramid, when it's sealed,

it was never meant to be re-entered again,

which means you just don't know what you're gonna find.

NARRATOR: She descends down the steep passage

to the heart of the pyramid,

but she isn't the only one inside these tunnels.

Oh, gahhhh...

Ooh! [laughs]

So, I'm having a bit of a standoff with a bat at

the moment -- it doesn't want to leave.

[laughs]

[blows heavily]

[claps]

Move, bat.

NARRATOR: Meredith finally emerges into

the burial chamber of the pyramid.

So this seems to be it.

This seems to be the burial chamber,

and I can see this corbelled ceiling.

It's the first of its kind, and it sort of elevates

the chamber up.

NARRATOR: The ceiling of the chamber is built from stones

stacked vertically to form an arc toward its apex.

It's a revolutionary technique,

known as corbelling, not seen in pyramids before Sneferu.

Adel Kelany investigates how Sneferu builds

this new style of burial chamber

and begins the process of creating the perfect pyramid.

In traditional tombs, burial chambers are built

with flat roofs and cut into the bedrock.

Adel constructs a replica to compare

the two styles of burial chambers.

[Kelany speaking]

NARRATOR: First, Adel builds a model to replicate

a burial chamber with a flat roof.

NARRATOR: He adds blocks to the top

to recreate the force of the thousands of tons of

stone in the pyramid's core and waits to see

if the flat roof can bear the load.

Next, Adel overlaps the blocks,

like steps, to create a corbelled ceiling.

[Kelany speaking]

NARRATOR: The corbelled ceiling withstands more than

twice the force of the flat top roof.

Each block acts as a counterweight.

If Sneferu builds his chamber at

the base of the pyramid with a flat roof,

it will collapse.

So he pioneers a new corbelled ceiling.

Now he can be buried inside his pyramid, closer to the sun.

NARRATOR: Sneferu's Meidum pyramid is revolutionary,

but it doesn't satisfy the pharaoh's grand ambitions.

Meredith investigates why.

BRAND: Looking up, it doesn't seem right.

It seems...

unfinished.

All the walls are rough, there's pitting here and there.

I can see this wooden beam bracing the top of

the ceiling, and it's -- it's like this burial chamber

is unfinished.

It's like the construction workers in ancient times

are working here, and then they just got up and left.

It doesn't seem to be that Sneferu was buried here.

NARRATOR: If Sneferu is never buried here at Meidum,

it could explain why he builds the Red Pyramid

as his final resting place.

He wants a straight-sided pyramid to align with the sun.

Sneferu made a break from the past view of the afterlife

and shifts his focus to the cult of the sun,

making him abandon the pyramid at Meidum.

NARRATOR: Before Sneferu, stepped pyramids

like the one at Djoser

represent the king's stairway to ascend to the stars.

But this isn't enough for Sneferu.

He wants to build taller pyramids

that reach closer to the sun.

He transfers his cult temple from the north side

of his pyramid to the east,

so it faces the rising of the sun.

He dreams of a smooth-sided pyramid to reflect

the sun's rays

and to symbolize a shaft of sunlight rendered in stone.

How does Sneferu perfect his new pyramid design?

Could a third pyramid

help explain his pursuit of perfection?

NARRATOR: The Red Pyramid,

a marvel of ancient engineering,

the first true smooth-sided pyramid ever constructed,

built by the pharaoh Sneferu.

Egyptologist Meredith Brand investigates how Sneferu

advances this completely new design

and executes it so perfectly.

She heads one mile south of the Red Pyramid.

A curious structure

towers over the desert here.

BRAND: Normally, a pharaoh builds one pyramid, but Sneferu,

he does something no one did before.

He builds his first pyramid in Meidum,

then his second pyramid,

the Bent pyramid, and then makes a third,

the Red Pyramid.

NARRATOR: Sneferu's second attempt is known

as the Bent Pyramid.

It is one of the most unusual structures

that stands in the desert at Dahshur.

BRAND: The Bent Pyramid is in a remarkable condition.

There is this beautiful, fine

white limestone outer casing still preserved.

NARRATOR: Deep in the heart of the Bent Pyramid,

Sneferu changes the design of the Meidum Pyramid.

Now, a passageway leads to a corbelled burial chamber,

reaching up higher into the stonework of the pyramid.

On the outside, Sneferu makes another radical change.

He builds smooth sides at a daring 54-degree angle,

then at a more gentle incline,

giving the Bent Pyramid its name.

He clads the exterior in precision-cut

white limestone to make a smooth-sided pyramid,

a shaft of sunlight rendered in stone.

But the Bent Pyramid is far from perfect.

Meredith investigates what goes wrong.

So this is different from most pyramids.

I can see here there's a big gap between the blocks

used to build this pyramid,

and when I look closely, the ancient Egyptians filled

this gap with small pieces of stone.

This would have been incredibly destabilizing on the pyramid.

The blocks don't touch. They're not strong.

This gap between them filled with debris

and rubble only serves to destabilize

this pyramid further.

NARRATOR: Meredith makes her way to the entrance

of the pyramid on its northern face.

I've just stepped in, and already,

I can see something quite astounding.

There's a huge crack running from outside all the way in.

It's a massive, massive fissure.

NARRATOR: She descends the narrow 260-foot-long tunnel.

Oh, this is quite something.

I'm down in the descending passage of the Bent Pyramid,

and I see just crack after crack forming in the ceiling.

Civil engineers have studied this and have shown that

the whole of the inside of this pyramid is

shifting slightly.

NARRATOR: Halfway through construction,

the outer layers of the Bent Pyramid crack,

a grave warning of engineering mistakes.

The site that Sneferu chooses isn't

rock but loose and shaley sand.

Workers lay the stone blocks inwards instead of lying

them flat,

increasing the internal stress on the pyramid.

If Sneferu's men continue with the original design,

the entire structure may collapse.

The workers building this pyramid had already built

another one at Meidum, so this was their second try.

And I can't imagine being down this deep,

scary passageway in the heat and the dust.

Must have been terrifying.

Also, I can't imagine having to come back and tell

the pharaoh, "Your second pyramid isn't gonna work."

NARRATOR: Halfway up the pyramid,

the builders are terrified it could collapse.

So they change the angle to make it less steep.

Meredith uses a clinometer

to examine this dramatic intervention.

So, when I hold it up

and I align with my sight,

the angle or the point of inflection

where the angle changes,

I can tell that this pyramid

changes suddenly to around 43 degrees.

This is a completely different slope

than the base of the pyramid.

NARRATOR: The radical change in angle

saves the Bent Pyramid from collapse

but leaves Sneferu's dream of a smooth-sided pyramid,

built like a shaft of sunlight rendered in stone, in ruins.

He abandons the Bent Pyramid, just like his pyramid

at Meidum, and tries again with the Red Pyramid.

BRAND: What's so interesting is that the Red Pyramid has

a slope of 43 degrees from the base all the way up.

NARRATOR: Sneferu learns from his mistakes here

at the Bent Pyramid -- building too steeply

and on unstable ground with angled stones.

He discovers 43 degrees is the perfect angle to create

his ultimate pyramid.

The Bent Pyramid shows me that Sneferu's a true innovator.

He realizes that doing something

remarkable requires trial and error.

And the Bent Pyramid is the way that

snafu learns the route to building a true pyramid.

NARRATOR: His quest for the perfect resting place continues.

BRAND: Ancient Egyptians believed that it's crucial for

the pharaoh to have a perfect burial

in order for the eternal cosmos to function

and their society to flourish.

The pharaoh has to have a perfect pyramid.

NARRATOR: Can clues in the casing of the Red Pyramid

tell us how quickly Sneferu builds it?

And how does he afford to

raise so many structures in the desert?

NARRATOR: 4,500 years ago,

a mysterious pharaoh, Sneferu,

builds not one, but three gigantic pyramids.

The Meidum Pyramid,

his first step towards a sun-cult inspired tomb.

The Bent Pyramid,

an overly ambitious project that almost ends in disaster.

And his final perfection, the Red Pyramid.

Egyptologist Meredith Brand explores how he builds so many.

BRAND: Sneferu managed to move 130 million cubic feet

of stone to build three pyramids.

It's a phenomenal feat of engineering, architecture,

and just sheer human effort.

It's mind-boggling.

NARRATOR: Investigators unearth clues to

how long each takes to build.

In the outer casing of the Red Pyramid,

inscriptions of a cattle count

that occurs every two years in ancient Egypt.

Like a logbook,

the markings are mapped out across the pyramid's 160 layers.

Higher up, an inscription of the 16th count.

And near the top, one for the 24th count.

By looking at the distance and time between the markings,

investigators work out how long it takes

to build the pyramid.

These inscriptions make it clear that's Sneferu

built one-fifth of the pyramid in two years.

That means it would have taken at least 10 years

to build this entire pyramid,

which is remarkably fast.

For Sneferu to get this much work done,

he would have needed around 40,000 men.

NARRATOR: Meredith wants to know how Sneferu amasses

the resources to pull off this incredible feat of engineering

so quickly.

She examines an ancient text

for evidence of Sneferu's rule.

This is the Palermo Stone.

It's a small fragment of a larger royal annal that

tells us what all the kings of the Old Kingdom did.

And I can see, looking at it,

there's a cartouche with the name Sneferu, telling us

this is the king we're looking for.

The Palermo Stone has a tantalizing amount of

information about Sneferu -- this section here tells us

that Sneferu made an expedition to Lebanon to get

cedar wood to build a 100-cubit ship.

That's about 170 feet.

And this ship would have been used to collect numerous

luxury goods that he could use

to bolster the economy and build the pyramids.

NARRATOR: In his quest for resources,

Sneferu ventures far into the deserts

beyond the Nile Valley.

He builds a fleet of 40 ships used to

trade with Phoenicia, modern-day Lebanon,

for their prized cedar wood.

He conquers neighboring Libya, Nubia, and Sinai,

and captures 7,000 prisoners

and 20,000 cattle to bring back to Egypt.

He likely puts the captive to work in the quarries and mines

of lower Egypt to prepare vast quantities of stone

for his building projects.

Building three pyramids is a massive economic challenge

and Sneferu met that challenge by setting up

agricultural states,

dedicating cattle, and even using prisoners of war to

expand the Egyptian labor force.

NARRATOR: Backed by these resources,

the Red Pyramid is a masterpiece of construction.

It satisfies all of Sneferu's wishes,

but it isn't just the outside

of the pyramid that is revolutionary.

Sneferu rewrites the rule book to create vaulted

chambers taller than any seen before in Egypt.

What is the purpose of these rarely seen hidden chambers?

And what lies undiscovered inside

the labyrinth of this ancient tomb?

NARRATOR: The Pyramids of Sneferu.

The largest is the Red Pyramid,

a wonder of engineering on the exterior.

Meredith Brand begins her ascent to

the entrance to explore its groundbreaking design inside.

It is 94 feet up on the north side of the pyramid,

higher than any other pyramid Sneferu builds.

Even with modern steps, the climb is tough,

but the entrance tunnel reveals that

her journey will only get harder.

This is the entrance of the pyramid.

It plunges straight down into

the middle of the core of the pyramid.

Without the modern steps,

this passage would be treacherous.

NARRATOR: In an opening on its northern side,

a hidden entrance leads to a 206-foot passageway,

diving down at an angle of 27 degrees

into the heart of the pyramid.

A first chamber connects by a short, narrow corridor to

a second identical chamber,

both with corbelled ceilings.

They link 30 feet up via

a final corridor to a third great chamber,

the inner sanctum of the Red Pyramid.

Is this elaborate labyrinth designed

to conceal Sneferu's mummy?

Meredith climbs down hundreds of feet of dark tunnels.

The mere fact that I have to crouch down like this

shows me that this wasn't meant to be accessed by people.

NARRATOR: They lead into a secret chamber.

BRAND: I made it to the first chamber.

It's stunning. It's huge.

The stones are big, beautiful blocks.

It's all finished nicely, and the ceiling is so high.

NARRATOR: This chamber appears different to those

in Sneferu's other pyramids.

I can tell that the ancient stonemasons took time

and effort to -- to finish them

and sort of polish them off.

This looks like a complete interior of a pyramid.

NARRATOR: Sneferu finishes the inside of his Red Pyramid.

This makes it more likely that Sneferu's mummy is buried

here than in the Meidum

and Bent Pyramids, which remain unfinished.

This passage leads from the first chamber through

a tunnel to something else, and it's a bit

to the side, and it's perfectly wide enough for a big block to

completely hide this passage.

NARRATOR: Meredith searches for where Sneferu's mummy might be.

BRAND: I made it into the second chamber,

and I'm here in the center of the pyramid.

There's 200 tons of stones on either side of me,

and the ceiling goes up and up and up and up and up.

NARRATOR: She searches the second chamber

for a route through the labyrinth.

All three sides of this chamber have solid walls,

and then I look, and I can see a huge, modern staircase

constructed, going up and up and up and up to the top,

and it shows me that there's something up there.

I'm excited to go take a look.

NARRATOR: Meredith climbs the modern staircase to

the top of the corbelled ceiling.

Up here, she can see signs that Sneferu

tries to hide the entrance to a third chamber.

BRAND: These holes high up on the wall are

a clue that there could have been a suspended ceiling.

NARRATOR: A false ceiling here would have hidden

the entrance to the third chamber from unwelcome robbers.

BRAND: Any ancient robber would have to search very

hard to find the entrance to a secret chamber.

NARRATOR: Sneferu perfects his pyramid design here,

inside the Red Pyramid.

He creates a labyrinth worthy of his final resting place,

with a burial chamber high up and close

to the sun, hiding his tomb from robbers.

Does Sneferu's perfect pyramid pay off, or do

tomb robbers discover his final chamber and his mummy?

NARRATOR: The Red Pyramid, built with

corbelled vaulted chambers and concealed tunnels

to stop tomb robbers from finding Sneferu's tomb.

Meredith Brand explores the tunnels of

the pyramid to see if his plan works.

She ascends the modern staircase

and makes her way into the upper chamber

of the Red Pyramid.

I've crawled through a passage,

and I've reached this massive ceiling chamber.

It's 48 feet above me,

and looking around,

I can't see another doorway.

This seems to be the end.

There doesn't seem to be

another chamber or anything else beyond this.

NARRATOR: Marks on the ceiling

catch her eye.

It's remarkable. I can see on

the roof that there's this dark black soot.

It shows me that people have been in here, lighting

candles that has emitted smoke, staining the walls and the roof.

NARRATOR: Meredith hunts for evidence that this is a sign

tomb robbers reach this chamber.

The floor of this chamber is completely dug up, and I can't

think of any reason why an ancient Egyptian would want

to do this, unless it's to find hidden treasure.

So it seems that robbers have come in here,

digging this entire area up,

ripping out the original floor, and leaving a big hole in

the ground, almost 14 feet deep.

NARRATOR: Like all pharaohs, Sneferu is buried

with unimaginable treasure

and a collection of funerary goods for the afterlife.

But tomb robbers break in and empty the chamber

of its riches.

They widen the passageway so they can take

their bulky plunder out of the chamber

to the pyramid's entrance.

Finally, they make off with the loot across

the Egyptian desert, never to be seen again.

When archaeologists first enter the burial chamber,

nothing of Sneferu is left.

Meredith makes one final sweep of the chamber.

She spots an unusual feature.

It suggests Sneferu may have one last trick.

Looking around, all of the stones are the same color,

and they look really similar,

except for over here on this wall, there's a stone that's

darker than the stones

around it -- could there be another chamber behind it?

NARRATOR: The tomb robbers likely stripped this chamber of

great riches,

but whether they removed Sneferu's mummy, or if he lies

undisturbed beyond these walls is yet to be discovered.

His body has never been found.

I wonder if Sneferu's mummy is still in the Red Pyramid.

NARRATOR: Sneferu's mummy is lost,

but his perfect pyramid is his lasting legacy.

BRAND: Sneferu finally achieves his dream,

and he builds his smooth-sided pyramid.

He makes a beacon of the sun in the middle of the desert.

He finally achieves his goal, and he's able to

join the Sun God, Ra, on his eternal journey.

NARRATOR: Sneferu designs the first true pyramid

and changes the way they are built forever.

Ancient Egyptian kings were inspired by the past, and what

Sneferu did was inspire

future kings of Egypt to build bigger,

greater, and grander pyramids,

NARRATOR: Sneferu builds more pyramids than any other pharaoh

and revolutionizes their design.

The Meidum Pyramid,

the first pyramid with a corbelled

burial chamber to reach to the sun.

The Bent Pyramid, the first pyramid to

attempt smooth sides to represent the sun's rays.

And the Red Pyramid, Sneferu's perfect

third masterpiece,

the final resting place for his body to journey to

the afterlife.

Sneferu's son, Khufu, follows in his father's

footsteps, constructing the Great Pyramid of Giza.

It has become the iconic pyramid of ancient Egypt,

but it is the Red Pyramid that changes the course

of pyramid building forever.