Secrets of the Pyramids (2020) - full transcript

Narrator: Egypt.

The richest source of
archaeological treasures on the planet.

Male: Oh wow, look at that.

Narrator: Hidden beneath this
desert landscape lie the secrets

Of this ancient civilisation.

Male: (foreign dialogue).

Alejandro: I've never
seen something like this.

Narrator: Now for a full season of
excavations our cameras have been given

Unprecedented access, to follow
teams on the front line of archaeology.

Myriam: This is the
most critical moment.

Narrator: Revealing
buried treasures.



Salima: Oh! Ahmed:
We were lucky today.

Nozumo: Wow! Lots of mummies.

Kathleen: The smell is horrible.

Narrator: And making discoveries
that could rewrite ancient history.

John: We've never had the proof,
until now.

Colleen: This is
where it all started.

Alejandro: My goodness,
I never expected this.

(applause)

Narrator: This time, new secrets of
ancient egypt's greatest structures.

The pyramids.

Chris explores the origins
of the first pyramid ever built.

Chris: It's an incredible
achievement architecturally.

Narrator: Miroslav
hunts for the lost tomb

Of the mastermind
of egypt's pyramid era.



Miroslav: Evidence
for an entrance.

Hamed: Move, move,
move, move, move.

Narrator: Kamil unearths
new skeletons inside

Egypt's oldest pyramid complex.

Kamil: We actually find the
remains of the next mummy.

Worker: Looks like we
have an eyeball here.

Narrator: And christelle
decodes ancient texts,

To investigate the mysterious beliefs
that gave rise to these structures.

Christelle: Oh
wow! It's incredible.

Narrator: The pyramids of egypt.

Across the last three hundred
years explorers have found

Over one hundred and thirty of
these iconic ancient structures.

But mysteries of these monuments

And the pharaohs buried
inside remain unsolved.

To unlock the secrets of these structures
each year teams of archaeologists

Investigate the birthplace of this
revolutionary ancient architecture.

Ten miles south of the
great pyramids of giza

Lies the necropolis of saqqara.

Today egyptologist chris naunton
travels here to investigate what triggered

Over a thousand years
of pyramid building.

He's been granted rare access to explore
restricted areas of this necropolis.

Chris: This is a pretty
exciting moment for me

Because I've never
been inside before.

Narrator: This ancient cemetery
is home to eleven pyramids

And hundreds of tombs,

But one structure dominates all others,
the first pyramid ever built.

Chris: This is
where it all began.

It is the first monumental building
in stone anywhere in the world.

Narrator: Constructed more than
four thousand five hundred years ago,

This is the step pyramid tomb of pharaoh
djoser, a king of egypt's third dynasty.

It's a revolutionary
masterpiece designed

By egypt's pioneer architect,
imhotep.

Chris: His achievement was massive,
not just for the egyptians,

But for humankind.

Narrator: Born as a
commoner imhotep rose

To become pharaoh
djoser's trusted advisor,

And eventually
his chief architect.

He invented the stepped pyramid,
using stone blocks instead of mud bricks,

Allowing him to
build ever bigger.

More than two thousand years after
imhotep's death he was worshipped

As a god,
all the way up to greek and roman times.

Chris wants to discover for
himself what inspired imhotep

To design his
ground-breaking step pyramid.

He climbs to higher
ground to examine the shape

Of older burial
structures that surround it.

Chris: They're called mastabas
and they are these sort of squat

Square platforms,
slightly sloping inwardly inclining walls.

Narrator: Chris can make out
traces of these simple structures

Within imhotep's design.

Chris: Now that we're
getting closer to the pyramid

You can really see the series of platforms,
one on top of another.

So the bottom one,
in some sense, is a mastaba.

It's just the addition of these successive
layers that make it into a pyramid

And it's an incredible
achievement architecturally.

Narrator: Built from over five
hundred thousand tons of limestone,

Constructed in
mastaba-style layers,

The step pyramid stands
over two hundred feet high,

Then the tallest
building in the world.

Its impact on the ancient
egyptian landscape was huge.

Ten more kings
replicated imhotep's design,

Determined to attain the same status
as the pharaoh of the first pyramid.

Their tombs became some of the most
iconic sacred buildings on the planet.

Each growing the necropolis until it
stretched five miles across the desert,

To create a sprawling
city of the dead.

Today imhotep's masterpiece
still dominates the egyptian desert,

But while his structures survive

No trace of the man
himself has ever been found.

Half a mile north
of the step pyramid.

A team digs an un-excavated
area they hope could lead to a tomb.

Narrator: Project leader miroslav
barta has spent thirty years

Searching saqqara for
imhotep's final resting place.

Finding his burial chamber
could help reveal the origins

Of egypt's greatest structures.

Miroslav: This is the
very heart of saqqara.

Full of treasures,
scientifically speaking.

Narrator: It's two weeks into the dig
and site inspector hamada shehata

Is keen to explore a new lead.

Hamed: I am very excited to see what is
happening down, because if this, I need to.

Narrator: A shaft
filled with sand

That leads straight
down into the bedrock.

Miroslav: Who knows
where it will lead us to.

Maybe to the tomb of imhotep.

We will see what happens
in the next few hours.

Narrator: Moments into the day's
dig a team clearing dirt next to the shaft

Makes an intriguing discovery.

Miroslav: We just came
across a large group of beer jars.

Wonderful. We are lucky again.

Narrator: It's a good sign.

Pottery of this style dates
to the same era as imhotep.

The team dig further down into the shaft,
hoping to hit the burial chamber.

Narrator: This
may be the desert,

But groundwater still
exists deep below the sand.

Many egyptian tombs have
been destroyed by flooding.

Miroslav: I don't
want a deep shaft.

Narrator: If imhotep's tomb lies below,
miroslav's team needs to hit an entrance

In the next few baskets of sand.

Hamed: Move, move,
move, move, move!

Narrator: At the edge of
djoser's pyramid complex,

A team investigates
another mysterious structure,

Just one hundred and fifty
yards from the stepped pyramid.

Archaeologist kamil
kuraszkiewicz heads up the project.

This is his twenty-third dig season
investigating ancient saqqara.

Kamil: We actually find the
remains of a huge trench enclosing

The stepped pyramid complex,

Like a moat around
a medieval castle.

Narrator: The trench stretches
over a hundred and thirty feet wide

And sixty-five feet deep.

It's likely imhotep used the extracted
stone to build his revolutionary pyramid.

But huge man-made walls
begin to emerge from the dirt,

Suggesting kamil's team dig
more than a simple stone quarry.

Discovering the true purpose of the
structure could change what we know

About imhotep's
pioneering design.

After nineteen days digging,

Bio-archaeologist iwona
kozieradzka-ogunmakin

Unearths more than
just sand and stone.

She finds human remains.

Iwona: We just
accidentally come across it.

As you would.

So yeah, it's quite interesting,
it's a young individual, a teenager.

I reckon probably
around fourteen.

Narrator: Could these bones hold
clues to why imhotep dug the trench?

Within moments the team
finds a second entire skeleton.

Kamil: Where is the new one?

Iwona: This one.

Kamil: The next
burial is not yet visible,

But you have to believe us,
it is here.

Iwona: Looks like we might have
an actual eyeball preserved here.

Narrator: A burial this close to
the step pyramid could reveal

A hidden chapter in the history
of this revolutionary structure.

But first kamil needs to find out
why the skeletons were buried here.

Iwona: This one
looks suspicious.

From the ancient skeletons
buried in the trench.

She wants to find out why
the bodies were buried here.

Can they explain imhotep's
decision to carve this huge structure

Surrounding the
world's first pyramid?

As she gradually unearths
the skulls vital clues

To the burial practices
used begin to appear.

Iwona: We can see a
hole made into the cranium

Through the nasal passages,
to remove the brain.

And I think they used some linen
scrubs to clean the inside of the cavity.

Narrator: Traces of linen and
evidence of brain extraction are both

Signs of mummification,
a form of body preservation

Practised during
the time of imhotep.

But as the team clears more
sand kamil doesn't see a link

Between the skeletons
and the trench.

Kamil: Without equipment like
coffins the graves are very simple.

Narrator: The simple burials
are a sign that they date to a time

Long after imhotep.

Kamil: At the time of imhotep

It was absolutely
impossible for mortals

To be buried close to the king.

Narrator: But they are evidence
that this is a highly sacred site,

Where people
wanted to be buried.

Kamil: They knew about the cemetery
close to the step pyramid complex.

To be buried close to
the creation of imhotep

Was the best thing
they could expect.

Narrator: Convinced more clues
to the trench's purpose lie beneath

The dirt, kamil instructs his
team to ramp up the excavation.

Just a hundred and fifty yards
away at djoser's step pyramid

Chris is keen to explore
the gigantic structure.

He thinks it might reveal
imhotep's incredible innovations

That inspired over a thousand
years of pyramid tombs.

Djoser's burial complex
is a restricted area

But chris secures rare
access through archaeologist

Ragab dawood.

Narrator: They follow tunnels
that take them into the burial shaft

Deep beneath the
pharaoh's pyramid.

Chris: My god, wow,
that is amazing. It's huge.

Ragab: Yeah.

Chris: And so the
pyramid is ragab: Yeah.

Chris: Above us
now. Ragab: Yeah.

Chris: Wow.

And what we're looking at,
at the bottom of the shaft,

So that's where he was buried?

That's where djoser was buried?

Ragab: Yes... Chris: Amazing.

Narrator: To create one of
the largest burial chambers

In egypt imhotep's workers dug
out thousands of tons of limestone.

Chris: It's amazing to think that
this is all cut from the bedrock.

Ragab: Be careful. Chris:
Thanks. Ragab: Yeah.

Watch your steps please,
and to the left, yeah.

Chris: Go this way? Ragab: Yeah,
come this way.

Narrator: Ninety feet below
ground ragab spots a hidden carving.

Ragab: Have a look.

We found inside
shaft blocks and stars.

Chris: Yeah, wow.

Narrator: The original tomb
builders left these blocks behind.

Chris: It's amazing to see
here examples of these stars,

'cause you find them on the ceilings
of temples and tombs in many places,

But this is the first instance
of this motif ever being used.

This is where it all began.

It's another innovation
of this pyramid.

Narrator: Originally painted gold
on a blue background imhotep's

Stars decorate tombs built
over a thousand years later.

They offer a glimpse into his
vision for this trailblazing tomb.

Chris: These evoke the night sky,
so the idea is

That even though djoser
is laid to rest underground,

In pitch darkness, he can see,
symbolically, this stone cut night sky,

And in that way he would have been
able to make the journey to the stars,

Which is how imhotep conceived
of the journey to the afterlife.

Narrator: Imhotep's
underground labyrinth

Was a pioneering
architectural experiment.

One that became the
blueprint for egypt's pyramids

For hundreds of years.

Two miles south of djoser's
monument is a site where the pyramid

Of pharaoh ibi once stood.

Christelle: Oh! Oh!

Narrator: Built five hundred
years after the time of imhotep

The structure was ransacked for stone,
to build ancient cairo.

But archaeologist christelle alvarez
things fragments of hieroglyphs

Here could reveal more about the
ancient beliefs that inspired imhotep

And later egyptians
to build pyramids.

Christelle: Just in the middle
we have the burial chamber,

Which has preserved some
of the text that were inscribed

Four thousands years ago.

Narrator: They're
known as pyramid texts.

Christelle wants to
decipher these ancient codes,

But first she must complete
the damaged inscriptions.

Christelle: It actually really fits and
for this one we can tell that it holds.

So one fragment
has found his home.

Narrator: But this is a puzzle
with many missing pieces.

Christelle: It's
not easy. (laughs)

And I need some other hands.

This one is supposed to be here
somewhere. Male: This one in here?

Christelle: Maybe we
need to find more fragments.

Narrator: Finding lost
sections of hieroglyphs

Will help christelle
decode the ancient writing.

Christelle: Now if we want to
really have a look at this whole area

We need to remove
these two big blocks.

Narrator: She thinks mystic texts,
unseen for over four thousand years,

Lie undiscovered in
the corner of the tomb.

Christelle: Maybe there will be
some elements that we will find.

Narrator: Two miles north,
at miroslav's tomb excavation

It's week three of the dig,
and he finally gets news of a breakthrough.

Miroslav: Evidence
for an entrance.

So we are on time.

Narrator: At the bottom
of the shaft the team finds

What they think is the entrance
to an ancient burial chamber.

Narrator: But the
excitement is put on hold.

Reports from the bottom of the shaft
are not what miroslav is hoping for.

Miroslav: It's open.

They say it's open.

Narrator: Tombs are
always sealed after burial.

An open tomb is
evidence of ancient looters.

Miroslav: We basically follow in
the footsteps of the ancient robbers.

Narrator: But crucial
discoveries may still be inside.

Hamed: Let's do it. Hurry up.

Chris and ragab
navigate the labyrinth

Of tunnels inside
pharaoh djoser's tomb.

They want to investigate why imhotep
dug out thousands of tons of rock

To bury his master
so far underground.

Chris: Can we go this
way? Ragab: Yeah.

Chris: It's very confusing.

Narrator: At ninety feet below ground
level they emerge into a chamber

Dominated by a
huge stone structure.

Chris: Wow! Oh my
god! That's immense.

So this is a giant
sarcophagus for djoser,

And he would have
been buried inside

And it's made of these
massive pieces of granite.

There's no way in.

Exactly as imhotep
would have intended,

But of course imhotep didn't have
any idea that after his time robbers,

Somehow,
did manage to find a way in.

Narrator: When archaeologists
discovered djoser's sarcophagus,

His body and
treasure were missing.

Imhotep's underground burial
couldn't protect his master's corpse,

But it wasn't dug
just for security.

Chris: The ancients were bringing the
body of djoser a long way underground,

So that's partly about placing
him physically underneath the world

And in the kind of underworld.

Narrator: This pioneering pyramid
tomb was built as a grand gateway

For the deceased king to
pass into life after death.

Beneath the pyramid's
thousands of blocks of limestone

Lies djoser's
underground palace.

A central shaft descends
to the pharaoh's tomb.

A granite vault in which
djoser's mummy once lay.

Almost four miles of tunnels,
with over four hundred chambers,

Branch out around it.

Some full of riches,

To make sure the pharaoh
had all he needed in the afterlife.

Crowned with a vast pyramid the
tomb of king djoser was a beacon

For early archaeologists.

Just over eight hundred yards from
the step pyramid miroslav's team search

For the tomb of its mastermind,
the great imhotep.

It's twenty-four days into the dig and
they've caught a glimpse of an opening

At the bottom of the shaft.

We are going down now,
to see the entrance.

Cross the fingers.

Narrator: This is the moment
miroslav has been waiting for.

Miroslav: The excitement
is rising right now.

Narrator: He could be on the
brink of an historic discovery.

Miroslav: So here we are.

Oh! Oh there is a wonderful
limestone sarcophagus.

Untouched for more
than four thousand years.

Narrator: But up close miroslav
discovers evidence of destruction.

Miroslav: That's
sad. That's very sad.

The mummy is
completed disarticulated.

There is a very sad pile of bones in
the northern part of the sarcophagus.

So it's not a very nice
end for this gentleman.

Narrator: The ancient thieves
who first opened the tomb

Have broken into
the sarcophagus.

Miroslav: It was torn apart in
antiquity because the most important

Target for the tomb robbers
was his personal jewellery.

Narrator: With this level of devastation
identify the body seems impossible,

But could evidence survive to
reveal if this is the great imhotep?

Miroslav: I think most parts of
the burial equipment survived,

Which is quite a valuable
source of information for us.

Narrator: Further inside
miroslav discovers vital clues

To the tomb owner's status.

Miroslav: So here we are.
This is called 'canopic jar'.

They were used to contain
mummified organs of the deceased.

Narrator: Only very high
status people were mummified,

Imhotep included.

But to be sure of the identity
of the body the team hauls up

The evidence for
closer inspection.

Miroslav: Oh!
Thirteen meters up.

It's okay, we finished.

Narrator: Two miles south, at pharaoh
ibi's pyramid christelle needs to move

Two huge stone blocks,
that she thinks hide

Fragments of pyramid texts
lost for thousands of years.

They could help decipher
the hieroglyphic codes

And reveal the vision
of the pyramid builders.

Christelle: That will take a little
bit of time because they need

The wood and ropes
to drag them away.

Narrator: Her team sets
to work moving the blocks,

Slowly exposing a
section of wall she hopes

Will reveal inscriptions
unseen for millennia.

Christelle: We hope that maybe
we will find some extra fragments.

Narrator: But if christelle is
to decode the pyramid texts

She'll need the
fragments intact.

Christelle: I hope they haven't
damaged too much the text that was going

All the way down,
'cause it's very easy for the hieroglyph

At the base of the block
to disappear in dust.

Narrator: Each stone
weighs almost a ton.

Any sudden move
could shatter the fragile

Four thousand
year old inscription.

Christelle: I think the far
one is going away here.

No, I give it,
I can take it. No, it broke!

Christelle has removed
two obstructing stone blocks

And continues her hunt for
sections of ancient writing

Unseen for thousands of years.

She's convinced they
can shed light on the belief

Systems that
compelled the egyptians,

Starting with imhotep,
to build the pyramids.

Christelle: This is the corner where
we where never able to actually look at,

Because it was
behind those big blocks.

Narrator: As she digs away the sand
christelle makes her first discovery.

Christelle: There is one fragment
that they just found in this corner.

It's the bottom of
the cartouche of ibi,

So we'll just have a look
if there is some more.

Narrator: This royal
hieroglyphic sign.

Christelle: Oh, yes,
here there is one.

Narrator: Is a clue that the
texts were written to reinforce

The pyramid's sacred function,

To transport the
king into the afterlife.

Christelle: There
is another one.

Narrator: Among the hieroglyphs
christelle recognises a figure known

To all egypt and much
of the ancient world.

Christelle: You can see the cartouche,
looks like the sign of the god osiris.

Narrator: This is one of the
earliest ever descriptions of osiris.

A god of resurrection
and the underworld,

Who features in later
greek and roman religion.

The hieroglyphs here reveal
the rise of belief systems

That lasted for
thousands of years.

They pyramid texts are the
oldest copies of religious text.

Found in eleven pyramids across
saqqara these pyramid texts record

The spiritual beliefs
of the pyramid builders.

With her time at ibi's
pyramid running out

Christelle still has
hundreds of pieces missing.

To help fill the gaps she
wants to explore another

Major discovery
of pyramid texts.

Christelle: When we're able
to compare from one version

To another we can
sometimes get a better sense.

Narrator: Christelle sets off to
find hieroglyphs inside a tomb

That has lain untouched
for almost fifty years.

Christelle: And it's exciting
to see what's awaiting us.

Narrator: In the centre of the saqqara
necropolis kamil's team works hard

To excavate imhotep's
vast moat shaped trench

Surrounding djoser's pyramid.

Kamil: We are looking for any
structures that could have been

The parts of the
original design.

Narrator: As they dig chambers,
begin to appear,

Cut into the sides of
the ancient structure.

Kamil: We uncovered
the entrance to this room

Which is hewn in
the back of the moat.

Narrator: The rock surrounding
the chamber is weak.

Cracks mean it's too
dangerous for kamil to explore,

But he is keen to investigate a
tunnel that has been secured.

Kamil: The first thing we saw,
it was the beginning of the corridor,

Was quite unusual,
and during the exploration,

As we progressed deeper
and deeper towards the pyramid

It became more and more strange.

Narrator: Kamil thinks it could
hold clues to the true function

Of the giant trench.

Kamil: It's really impressive piece
of work, of ancient stone cutters.

So the pyramid is ahead of us.

The corridor points
almost exactly its middle.

Narrator: The shaft seems to
lead directly towards the pyramid

But kamil's team has dirt to
dig before they can discover

What lies at the end of
this mysterious tunnel.

Half a mile north of the
step pyramid miroslav

And his team are hunting for the identity
of the body in the newly discovered tomb.

To search for clues they
excavate a separate structure,

Constructed next to the
opening of the burial shaft.

Miroslav has found part
of the original mastaba,

A large chamber fifty feet
above where he found the body.

It's the tomb's chapel, where visitors
would have come to leave offerings.

A wall, with a small peephole,

Seals off a tiny cell that would have
contained a statue of the deceased

And may have preserved
clues to his or her identity.

Miroslav: We have two workers
inside that are about to clean the floor,

But we must be extremely careful,
as you can see.

Narrator: It's a big job.

Keeping the desert sand out of
the chamber is an endless task.

Miroslav: So far, so good,
but still we have to mind especially

When the windblown
sand starts to flow.

It's like a flood coming in.

I'm just going down to
check out what is there.

Narrator: This is miroslav's last
chance to figure out the identity

Of the body in the tomb.

Just as he reaches the
chamber's entrance the workers

At the dig surface discover
something intriguing.

Narrator: Miroslav is keen to
climb down to examine the find.

Miroslav: Now comes the
moment when we go down

And inspect the walls for
any possible inscriptions,

Which may tell us
more about the owner.

Let's hope for some surprises.

In the saqqara tomb
miroslav scours the walls

Of the newly excavate
mastaba chamber.

Miroslav: See,
oh! It's a red painted graffito.

It starts here, I guess.

Oh, here's one,
here's another one.

Narrator: The four thousand five
hundred year old paint has faded,

But miroslav recognises
sections of the graffiti.

Miroslav: I'm not sure about the
proper reading at the moment though,

We can discern some,
it's double I, and 'ha', b t perhaps.

Narrator: These symbols represent
the sounds 'huh', 'tuh' and 'puh'.

Could it be part of
the name imhotep?

Miroslav: We are coming up to
the total of four red-painted graffiti

Which seem to be all the same,
and turned upside down,

So I would say it's
the name of the owner.

Narrator: Why are some of
the inscriptions upside down?

The key lies in how the
egyptians built this tomb.

Before construction
the builders would mark

Some stones with the
name of the tomb owner,

And then didn't care which way
round they installed the blocks,

Explaining why some of the inscriptions
miroslav has found are upside down.

But until miroslav can
decode the hieroglyphs

He can't be sure
whose tomb this is.

Just over seven hundred
yards from miroslav's site,

Kamil's team has excavate
the entire rock cut corridor.

It doesn't lead to the pyramid,

But kamil thinks a strange
object discovered inside this tunnel

Can finally reveal why
imhotep built the giant trench.

Kamil climbs inside
to investigate further.

Kamil: At the end of this corridor,
in a small room to the right,

We found a huge
wooden harpoon placed

In a special
cylindrical container.

It's really impressive.

Narrator: Carved from a solid
piece of wood from the juniper tree,

The harpoon is
a precious object,

And a snake motif dates
it to the time of imhotep.

Kamil: It was a ritual device.

It could not be used for
an actual fight or hunting,

Because it was too
large and too heavy.

Narrator: The
position of the harpoon,

Tucked into a chamber
set inside the trench,

Could be a clue to the
function of the trench

Surrounding imhotep's
revolutionary pyramid.

Kamil: It was a three-dimensional
model of the road into the afterlife.

It was a path intended for
the king to ascend to heaven,

So the harpoon was a weapon
prepared for the king, for his afterlife.

Narrator: The king was
buried deep below ground,

Taking him close to the underworld,
and the path to resurrection.

The egyptians believed
the king's spirit was fortified

With offerings left
inside the tunnels.

And with weapons stashed inside
the trench walls he'd defeat his foes,

Until he finally
reached the afterlife,

To complete his
transformation into a god.

The trench may be imhotep's
idea of the sacred journey

That awaited the
king after he died.

If kamil is right he has
exposed the true scale

Of imhotep's ambition
for the world's first pyramid.

Kamil: The step pyramid complex
was completely experimental because

Imhotep tried to
integrate religious

And ideological concepts
and he translated it into stone.

Narrator: In the
desert two miles south

Is the pyramid
of pharaoh pepi ii.

Built centuries after imhotep's
pioneering monument,

Christelle thinks it hides
ancient pyramid texts

That can shed light on the missing
inscriptions back at ibi's pyramid.

Christelle: This is the first time
since the 1930's that some work

Is happening again in
the pyramid of pepi ii.

Narrator: Unlike ibi's destroyed
monument pepi's pyramid survives intact,

Preserving many of its
archaeological treasures.

It's been locked up for decades,
but christelle has the keys to go inside.

Christelle: It's
incredible. Wow!

With the largest display of
pyramid texts ever discovered.

Inscriptions that could offer a
glimpse into the beliefs that inspired

The building of these
enigmatic structures.

Christelle: Oh wow! So much
was preserved in this pyramid.

It's really cool.

I really wanna have
a look at the west wall.

Oh yeah.

Oh,
the text goes all the way down.

That's pretty impressive.

I can see the white paint,
the green.

Even the line at the end,
these are all things

That I cannot see
in the pyramid of ibi.

Narrator: Christelle hunts for sections
that match up with the inscriptions

She found inside ibi's tomb.

Christelle: You can really see the
very similar arrangement between a line,

Where you have some times
a text written horizontally,

And then you have the columns.

Narrator: Christelle uses
a database of inscriptions,

To track down and decode familiar
sections of the ancient hieroglyphics.

Christelle: It tells me that it's in the
antechamber, west wall, column eleven.

The beginning starts just here.

So the title of the spell is invoking
the ferryman and doorkeeper.

Narrator: This is one of the oldest
carvings of the ferryman spell in existence.

In later myths he is known as nemty,
the falcon-headed god,

Who ferries the souls of
the dead through the afterlife.

The deceased pharaoh must summon
the ferryman to help him navigate

The treacherous
waters of the underworld.

And deliver him safely to
the realm of the sun god ra.

Carving the hieroglyph of
the ferryman inside a pyramid

Was meant to guarantee
protection for the dead.

Complete spells written on the walls
of pepi's pyramid give christelle a clue

To the meaning of the
texts back inside ibi's tomb.

Christelle: Perhaps the fact of
carving them inside the burial chamber

Tells us that the pyramid
complex had really a ritual function.

It was a place of
remembrance of the king.

It was a place to perform
the ritual activities,

To be sure that the
king would actually

Be able to maintain his
status as a spirit in the afterlife.

Narrator: Like the structures
themselves the ancient hieroglyphs

Inside egypt's pyramids
served deeply sacred functions.

They carved out a smooth passage
into the underworld, for the pharaoh,

And ensured he was still
king when he got there.

At miroslav's saqqara base.

He examines records
of ancient inscriptions,

Hoping to find a
match for the graffiti,

And discover the identity of the four
thousand five hundred year old body.

Miroslav: This now,
it is exciting.

Narrator: Hieroglyphic markings
discovered at another pyramid complex

Appear similar to the mason's
graffiti on the walls of the tomb.

Miroslav: There
is the same name,

Referring to a particular
official from the same period.

Basically from the same context.

Narrator: A figure sits
next to the symbols.

Miroslav: This could
be the tomb owner.

Narrator: Miroslav is able to fully
translate the hieroglyphic name.

Miroslav: This part of the scene,
the reading is ptah, wer.

So that was him.

Ptah wer.

Narrator: Incredibly he has tracked
down the owner of the ancient tomb.

It's not imhotep,
but another high ranking egyptian official

Known as ptah wer.

Miroslav: Imagine that you have
someone who lived more than

Four thousand four hundred
years ago and you have his tomb.

You also have pictorial
evidence for him.

It's quite an
exceptional case I think.

Narrator: But who is ptah wer?

And why does he merit a tomb
so close to djoser's step pyramid?

The clues could lie hidden in
the rest of this ancient inscription,

At the other end of
the saqqara plateau.

The pyramid complex of sahure,

Ruler of egypt a hundred
years after the time of imhotep.

Miroslav's colleague,
mohamed ismail khaled,

Comes here to
investigate the inscription.

It is hidden behind this protective
modern wall and could reveal more clues

About ptah wer's life and work.

Mohamed: This is the
moment that I'm waiting for,

To see actually the relief.

Wow, if you begin like to clean little
bit of the dust, it's really amazing,

To see how the artisan was
really carving every single detail.

Narrator: Mohamed's restorer
gets to work cleaning the stone,

And glimpses of the ancient
scene begin to emerge.

Mohamed: This is really
a kind of detective work.

Narrator: As they clear the dust
the ancient original image of ptah wer

Is revealed, along with the
symbols that spell out his name.

Mohamed: This is his title
and this is his name, ptah wer,

And his title is
written above him,

As the sculptor and also the one
who's in charge of the stone vessels.

Narrator: A century after the
great imhotep built the first pyramid

This inscription reveals ptah wer is
another master craftsman of pyramids.

His work honoured
by the pharaoh sahure.

The carving shows ptah wer
feasting at a royal banquet,

A reward for his
services to the pharaoh.

Ptah wer had led an expedition
to the lands east of egypt,

And brought back precious stones,
ivory and minerals.

Materials he used to
revolutionise pyramid decoration.

Commanding hundreds of skilled
craftsman he continued imhotep's legacy

And built in honour of his king.

In return for his
groundbreaking work

He was buried near
imhotep's great pyramid,

At saqqara,
the most sacred burial ground in egypt.

Mohamed: It's something
extraordinary for ptah wer,

To be depicted in
such scenes like this,

That he's only just sitting,
eating and relaxing.

We are now sure that ptah
wer was really a high official

And that's why the king was able
to reward him for what he has done.

Narrator: Miroslav and his
team have found ptah wer,

A key figure in the rise of egypt's
incredible pyramid landscape,

But the hunt for
imhotep continues.

Thousands of years after
imhotep built the first pyramid

His revolutionary tomb
design is a spectacular success.

Kings who sought
immortality live on

Through these
incredible structures.

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