Mysteries of the Sphinx (2020) - full transcript
Archaeologists search for clues to unlock the mysteries of the Great Sphinx.
Narrator: Egypt,
the richest source
Of archaeological treasures
on the planet.
Man: Oh, wow, look at that!
Narrator: Hidden beneath
this desert landscape
Lie the secrets of
this ancient civilization.
(man speaking native language)
Man: I 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.
Woman: This is the most
critical moment.
Narrator: Revealing
buried treasures.
Woman: Oh!
Man: We're lucky today.
Man: Wow! Lots of mummies.
Woman: The smell is horrible.
Narrator: And making discoveries
That could rewrite
ancient history.
Man: We've never had
the proof until now.
Woman: This is where
it all started.
Man: My goodness,
I never expected this.
(clapping)
Narrator: This time,
archaeologists unravel
The enigma of the great sphinx.
Man: It's the most iconic statue
anywhere in the world.
Narrator: John goes where no
archaeologist has gone before.
John ward: I'm gonna be the
first man underneath this sphinx
In 3,500 years.
Narrator: Alejandro unearths
evidence of a crocodile cult.
Alejandro jiménez-serrano:
It's a challenge to explain
Why the crocodiles
were mummified.
Narrator: And jared discovers
a mummified dog.
Jared caballo perez:
It was a complete surprise
To find something that
you don't really expect.
♪ ♪
♪ ♪
Narrator:
The great sphinx of giza,
One of the most famous
monuments in the world.
Egyptologists believe
it was built
Around the same time
as the giza pyramids,
4,500 years ago.
This colossal statue has an
animal's body and a human face.
It's as enigmatic
as it is iconic.
All over egypt, archaeologists
are attempting to unravel
The riddles of the sphinx.
Egyptologist dr. Chris naunton
is on a mission
To unlock its most
controversial secret:
Whose face is carved on it?
Chris naunton: We can begin
to sort of imagine
How this might have looked
in ancient times,
And with that in mind,
We can perhaps begin to compare
that face to known faces.
Narrator: Chris thinks
the face was modeled
On an ancient pharaoh.
In the age of
the pyramid builders,
The sphinx had a delicate nose
And was painted
in bright colors.
But whose face is this?
It could be king khufu, who
also built the great pyramid.
He had a square chin, like
the sphinx, but no one is sure.
The only image archaeologists
have of khufu is a tiny statue.
The sphinx once had a beard,
just like khufu's son, khafre.
When khafre became pharaoh,
He built the pyramid
directly behind the sphinx.
But the original beard
was lost during antiquity
And another one added later.
The identity of the face
Remains a secret
yet to be revealed.
Chris: Trying to match faces
in egyptian imagery
Is an inexact science.
It seems to be that it's
a pharaoh of the fourth dynasty.
Khafre's perhaps
the leading candidate.
Narrator: The usual role
of an egyptian sphinx
Is to protect a sacred site.
If this is khafre's sphinx,
It's perfectly positioned
to guard his pyramid tomb.
Chris must investigate clues
To unravel more mysteries
of the great sphinx.
400 miles south of giza,
in gebel el-silsila...
John: Everybody here?
Maria nilsson: I believe so.
We're late.
Narrator: Husband and wife
archaeologists
John ward and maria nilsson
are on their way
To investigate a site
Where the ancient egyptians
created sphinx statues.
But their commute along the
river nile is slow to start.
John: The boat's not working.
Maria: It's coming.
John: Everybody send
positive vibes.
Maria: Ohh.
Come on, abdullah.
John: By the time
we get on site,
It will be at least 8 o'clock,
so that's another hour lost.
Man: I knew it would happen.
(motor starts) maria: Yeah!
(clapping)
John: Ah, only 35 minutes late.
Narrator: Every minute counts
When they only have a limited
number of days for excavating.
Last season, maria and john
Found a sphinx statue
at this site.
Unlike the great sphinx at giza,
This statue has a ram's head.
It's called a criosphinx.
Maria: Of course, what we see is
a raw state of a sculpture,
But we got the head here,
So the ram's face,
the ram's horn.
The area in front
would most probably hold
The statue of the ruling king.
Narrator: The craftsmen
would carve out
The sandstone criosphinx
right here in the quarry,
Before transporting it
to a sacred site.
Maria: Once it reached
the main destination,
The artists would
continue the process
Of making it into its
fine details and final dressing.
We have them guarding tombs
or other monuments.
So in a simplified version,
You can say that each sphinx
is a guard, it's a protector.
Narrator: Maria believes
this sacred statue
Was built for
the avenue of the sphinxes,
A road between the temples
of luxor and karnak,
Lined with ram-headed sphinxes,
But for some unknown reason,
it didn't make the journey.
It was never finished.
Now maria wants to discover why.
Maria: Why was it left here?
Why is this not sitting
at the avenue of sphinxes
In modern day luxor?
We're hoping that
through this excavation,
We will be able to solve
a little bit of the mystery
Of the sphinxes and
add to history in general.
Narrator: A large rock
under the sphinx
Brings the investigation
to a halt.
John: Watch your toes, guys,
watch your toes.
(men yelling)
(men yelling)
Maria: You guys are amazing!
(yelling)
(cheering)
Narrator: Now the rock is gone,
They can see there's a gap
under the sphinx.
Maria: Anyone who watched
indiana jones,
I'm sure will understand the
excitement for an archaeologist
When you suddenly see a hole.
Narrator: Despite the danger,
John wants to get
under the sphinx.
John: I'm gonna be the first man
underneath this sphinx
In 3,500 years.
Narrator: 40 miles south,
near aswan,
At the ancient necropolis
of qubbet el-hawa,
Professor
alejandro jiménez-serrano
Heads one of the largest
foreign teams
Working in egypt today.
Alejandro: During the last
11 years we have been excavating
This huge complex of tombs
Where the governors of
The 12th dynasty were buried.
Narrator: These burial chambers
were built for the nobles
Governing southern egypt,
500 years after
the sphinx was built.
Alejandro: We will see
what we will find.
You never know what is
going to happen today,
What we will find,
or which surprise we will have.
Narrator: Close to a cliff side,
The team reports a skull
emerging from the sand,
Followed by a second.
The huge jaws include
some teeth, two inches long.
Raquel rodriguez: At first,
we can only see this head only,
And we was like,
"wow, a crocodile, a crocodile."
And then something
appeared here,
And it was like, "oh, my god,
there are two crocodiles."
Narrator: The crocodiles are
an especially lucky find
For raquel rodriguez.
It's her first-ever
dig in egypt.
Raquel: I asked,
"oh, this is something common?"
And it was like, no, no, no,
this is the first crocodile
That we've seen in 11 years.
So, I'm very happy about it.
Narrator: The crocodiles may be
close to the river nile,
But this is not a natural nest.
The bones have black marks;
the remains of skin and flesh.
They are so well preserved,
Alejandro thinks they
must have been mummified.
Alejandro:
It's a challenge to explain
Why the crocodiles
were mummified.
Narrator: Mummified crocodiles
are an unusual find
And have only ever
been unearthed
At a small number
of sites in egypt.
They could be a sign of
a rare form of animal worship.
As the team slowly unearths
more skeletons,
They count 11 in total.
And they're deteriorating;
all except one.
Alejandro: Unfortunately,
they are not in a good a state
Of preservation.
But this one,
it is almost perfect.
Narrator: The intact crocodile
is extremely fragile.
They can't risk damaging it.
Before they attempt to move it,
They carefully extract
the surrounding bone fragments.
In the midday sun,
The temperature is over
90 degrees fahrenheit.
It's hot and smelly work.
Raquel: They say that
it smells gross.
I'm not smelling anything
because I've got a cold,
But they say it smells bad.
Narrator: Now the crocodile
is exposed to the air and sun,
It's rotting fast.
Alejandro has to
get it out of here.
Narrator: Raquel is working
with the team
Tasked with moving
the crocodile out of the sun.
Raquel: It's scary, because it's
been there for a lot of years,
And now you take it off
and you take the sand
And what's covering it away,
and the sun gets into it,
The oxygen, everything,
So it's deteriorating
at each second that pass.
So you need to work fast,
but not rush,
Because things can go bad and
you can destroy it completely.
So, it's a tense situation.
Narrator: They're finally ready
to move the crocodile mummy.
The main challenge is moving
the skeleton in one piece.
Alejandro: We basically are
following the same protocol
That we use with
the human mummies.
Narrator: The tail is not
well connected to the body
And could easily break off.
Alejandro: We are in
a very delicate moment,
Because we want to put
the mummy of the crocodile
On a wooden board
In order to move the mummy
to the conservation lab.
I'm quite nervous now.
Man: Uno, dos, tres.
Narrator: 100 miles north,
On the west bank of the nile
at luxor,
Archaeologist
professor miguel molinero
Is returning to
a 4,500-year-old necropolis
Near the valley of the kings.
Miguel molinero: My first season
working in egypt
Was 32 years ago.
So it's like coming home
every year, always fantastic.
Narrator: Miguel's team is
from tenerife, in Spain.
Last season,
they excavated a family tomb
At a site called south asasif.
They unearthed
mummified remains,
But their dig permit ran out
before they could investigate.
Miguel: It always happens.
The last day something new
appears that is exciting,
But has to be kept there waiting
for us for the next season,
And that's what happened
last year.
Narrator: 26-year-old
jared carballo pérez
Can't wait to
continue their dig.
Jared: Egypt is quite addictive
in that sense,
And it's always nice to be back,
to keep doing the work.
Narrator: After an anxious
year-long wait,
Today is their first day
back on site.
Miguel: We had to leave it
as it was found,
Because we did not have the time
to take it out carefully.
Narrator: The team
covered the mummies
In an attempt to
prevent deterioration.
Miguel: Now we are anxious
To see if the protection
has worked.
We have been waiting one year
to see what happens inside.
Narrator: There's a chance
they may have deteriorated
Over the past year.
Jared: So we have
to be very careful.
Miguel: Oh, so, yeah.
Oh, perfect.
They are well preserved.
Oh, yes.
Narrator: Now they can begin
their investigation.
Two mummified human skeletons
still intact,
And a third, much smaller mummy.
Jared: It was a complete
surprise to find something
That you don't really expect.
Narrator: As they look closer,
They notice it's been embalmed
in a very strange way.
There's just one layer
of bandage around the head,
Instead of three,
And the limbs are wrapped
together, not separately.
But it's the shape of the skull
that's most surprising.
Jared: First, by the shape
We thought it was a baby
that was abandoned,
But then we started seeing
some features right there.
By the teeth and
the shape of the bones,
We can know it's
a mummified dog.
Narrator: A mummified dog in
a human tomb is highly unusual.
Jared: As far as we know,
it's a very rare case,
Because we have found
a lot of dogs across egypt,
But they are not next
to the human bodies.
Narrator: The discovery
may help shed light
On the significance of animals
in ancient egyptian belief.
The dog could be a religious
offering to a particular god.
According to
ancient egyptian belief,
Dogs are associated
with the god anubis.
The jackal-headed anubis
was the god of mummification.
He weighed the heart of
the dead against a feather.
If the heart was lighter,
the soul could enter heaven.
But if it was heavier,
they were eaten by ammit,
The devourer of the dead.
Depictions of anubis would
often be present in tombs
To offer protection
to the mummy.
This mummified dog could be
an offering to anubis,
But there's something
that doesn't add up.
Miguel: When we started
cleaning it,
We found something very unusual.
Narrator: They discover
a perplexing clue
In the alignment of the mummies.
Narrator: In qubbet el-hawa,
archaeologists are racing
To save a rare
mummified crocodile.
Their discovery
may help demystify
The ancient egyptian practice
of animal worship.
Could it also help explain
the purpose of animal statues,
Like the great sphinx?
Raquel and the team carefully
move the crocodile mummy
To the laboratory.
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Raquel: We made it.
We've been working for three
hours and a half now in the sun,
And it all came out
extremely, extremely well.
I wasn't expecting this success.
Narrator: The crocodile
survives its journey intact
And can now be examined
in more detail.
Alejandro is puzzled
As to why these mummified
crocodiles are here.
Alejandro: It's something that
always happens in archaeology,
Surprises that, well, it's
a challenge to explain them.
Narrator: There could be
a connection
With a mysterious cult
That worshipped
an ancient god called sobek.
Alejandro: Sobek is always
represented as a crocodile.
It's an animal that was living
on the banks of the nile.
It's related with the fertility
That the river gave
to ancient egypt.
Narrator: Sobek was
the crocodile god
Who built the world and created
the river nile from his sweat.
Ancient egyptians
feared his power,
But also revered him as
a protector and a healer.
In some versions of the myth,
When the god osiris was
dismembered in a fight,
Sobek gathered up the body parts
And put the god back together.
Some wealthy egyptians
bred pet crocodiles
That they adorned with jewels
And fed with fine food and wine.
When the crocodiles died,
They were mummified and buried
as votive offerings to sobek
To ensure protection
in the after-life.
But the existence
of a crocodile cult
At qubbet el-hawa
is news to alejandro.
Alejandro: As far as we know,
There is no reference to the
worship of crocodiles in aswan.
Narrator: The discovery
challenges the idea
That crocodile rituals
only happened
In a small region of egypt.
It's further evidence that
the worship of animal gods
Wasn't just practiced
by pharaohs
Building sphinx statues.
People all over egypt
were making offerings
To different animal gods
in the form of mummies.
Alejandro:
The popularity of sobek
Was bigger than
we thought before.
Narrator: Alejandro's team
looks for further evidence
Of a crocodile cult.
If these animal mummies were
protecting a human burial,
A tomb could be close by.
Alejandro: Two skulls
have been discovered.
Narrator: Just yards
from the crocodile burial,
Alejandro's team makes
an intriguing discovery.
Alejandro: Yes! (chuckles)
Narrator: In the quarry
at gebel el-silsila,
Maria and john are investigating
A ram-headed sphinx.
Like the sphinx at giza,
It could have been built
to protect a religious site.
They're now looking for evidence
To explain why it was
abandoned unfinished.
John: I can't believe
I'm putting my head
Underneath this bloody sphinx.
She's actually sat on a stone.
She's ready to lift.
They've quarried underneath her
to put a sledge in to lift her
To get her out of here.
Narrator: John's discovery shows
How the sphinx was
ready to be moved.
So why did the ancient egyptians
Leave it here unfinished?
Maria explores
the surrounding area
For an explanation as to
why the egyptians gave up
On the protective powers
of this sphinx.
Maria: Well, we're looking
for more clues.
If they painted something,
if they've written something,
If they've given us
any form of clue.
Do you see a red mark there,
painted?
Narrator: The red markings
are on a nearby plinth,
But they're too faint
to decipher.
Maria needs to get photos
for close-up analysis.
Maria: I'm gonna sneak
carefully behind here
And try not to get
the entire wall behind me,
Which is about four meters
of spoil just packed up,
Try not to collapse it
on top of me.
So, wish me luck.
Narrator: Maria's mission
is a dangerous one.
Loose rocks are piled
next to the stone.
If she's unlucky, one false
step could trigger a landslide.
400 miles north
at the great sphinx,
The ancient egyptians
believed many animal gods
Had divine powers to protect.
If it was king khafre
who commissioned the sphinx,
He wanted to harness
that power for himself.
Chris: The great sphinx is
one of the great icons of egypt.
You could argue it's perhaps
the most iconic statue
Anywhere in the world,
but it remains an enigma.
Narrator: Chris searches for
evidence of how it was built.
The ancient egyptians carved
the sphinx from limestone,
And it's a match with
the surrounding bedrock.
Chris: The sphinx wasn't built
in an empty space.
It was cut out of solid bedrock.
So you have to try to imagine,
where we're standing now,
Until the ancient egyptians
came along, was solid bedrock.
Narrator: The great sphinx
wasn't built with stone
From remote quarries.
It was carved out
of the giza landscape.
Chris: In order
to create this sphinx,
The egyptians first
have to kind of free it
From the natural rock,
And they did that by creating
a kind of quarry around it,
And they just left some
of the living, natural rock
In the center,
Which they then cut into
the shape of the sphinx.
Narrator: Chris has discovered
how the sphinx was built,
But he still wants to solve
the mystery of its animal form.
Narrator: The great sphinx is
a human-lion hybrid.
Chris: Here, you get such
a strong sense of the fact
That it's the body of the lion
That conveys that kind of sense
of strength and power.
From this angle in particular,
the forelegs of the lion
And these massive paws
are absolutely huge.
It's difficult to imagine
a statue that has a human body
Having that same idea of
strength and ferocity of a lion.
Narrator: Ancient egyptians
feared and revered lions
In equal measure.
Chris: The lion is
the embodiment of a goddess,
Sekhmet, who in
a particular egyptian myth
Wreaks death and
destruction on mankind.
Narrator: According to the myth,
The sun god ra was furious
Humans were turning against him.
He summoned his daughter,
sekhmet,
The lion-faced goddess
of destruction,
To teach them a lesson.
Sekhmet went on a killing spree
Until the nile
ran red with blood.
Ra was worried his daughter
would wipe out all humanity.
So he used a trick to stop her.
He poured 7,000 jugs of
red-tinted beer onto earth.
After sekhmet drank it,
she passed out for three days.
When she woke up,
she had been transformed
Into the benevolent god hathor,
And humankind was saved.
Egyptian gods,
like the sun goddess sekhmet,
Are often portrayed as humans
with animal heads.
But the sphinx is
the other way around;
A human head on a lion's body.
Chris thinks whichever pharaoh
built this statue,
He had ambitions to embody
the power of the divine,
And present himself as a god.
Chris: The egyptians
looked all around them,
All around the natural world,
for their inspiration,
And that's exactly
what you've got here.
This great, mighty,
powerful animal, the lion,
As a kind of a symbol
of the king and of kingship.
Narrator: The sphinx wasn't
just a spiritual guardian.
Its creator may have wanted
to project himself
As the protector
of the egyptian people.
Or is there an even grander
purpose for the sphinx?
Chris explores the remains
of an ancient temple
At the sphinx's feet.
300 miles south in luxor,
At a site built over 500 years
after the sphinx,
Miguel and jared are faced
with another riddle.
They've discovered intriguing
evidence of a different animal
Also considered sacred
by ancient egyptians.
They're trying to understand
why this mummified dog
Was buried in a family tomb
with two human mummies.
Jared: The dog, curiously,
has been put on top of the legs
Of these two individuals.
Narrator: According to
egyptian belief,
Dogs are a living
representation of anubis,
The god of the after-life.
This dog may be mummified
as an offering to anubis,
In the hope of his protection
in the after-life.
But there's a problem.
Jared: Normally animal mummies
are buried and separated
From the human mummies.
Narrator:
Miguel has another idea.
Miguel: He's buried on
the feet of two mummies,
One female and one male.
So we think it was
the owners of the dog
And they wanted to keep her
company for the after-life.
Jared: It could be a pet
instead of an offering to a god.
Narrator: If the mummified dog
is a family pet,
It would be a rare discovery.
Jared: We know there were pets
in the past in ancient egypt.
It's not something as common
As it is as a concept
in modern times.
Narrator: Miguel searches
for further evidence
To confirm the dog was a pet,
And discovers
an intriguing inscription
Identifying the owner
of the tomb.
At the man's feet is a pet dog.
Miguel: He is sitting on a chair
with an offering table
In front of him and his dog,
whose name is heken,
Below the chair.
Narrator: Miguel and jared
believe the inscription is key
To understanding the mystery
of the mummified dog, heken.
The people in this tomb
wanted their beloved dog
Buried with them to ensure it
joined them in the after-life.
Jared: It was kind of
touching to find.
As modern humans, it's something
you can really relate
When you have a pet.
Narrator: 100 miles south
near aswan,
Alejandro's team has found two
human skulls just yards away
From where they discovered
11 mummified crocodiles.
Alejandro: Another skull.
So we have now
three individuals.
Narrator: Alejandro
wants to investigate
The intriguing connection,
But he's under pressure
to excavate first.
It's the hottest
part of the day,
And the skulls could crack
in the 90-degree heat.
Alejandro: We have always
toilet paper,
But not only for
natural reasons,
But also for research. (laughs)
Narrator: They spray
the toilet paper with water
And apply it to the skulls.
It's an emergency measure
To keep them moist
before they are excavated.
Alejandro looks for clues
to explain why the skulls
Are so close to
the mummified crocodiles.
He discovers that one is
the skull of a young boy,
And as the team excavates,
Something fascinating
emerges with it.
Alejandro: The coffin is
an empty timber
Where they put
the children inside.
Narrator: The social status
of a person
Was reflected in their burial.
The tree trunk coffin
is convincing evidence
This boy was poor.
Alejandro: This boy was, uh,
had the honor to be buried here
In qubbet el-hawa,
but was not part of the elite.
Narrator: Only wealthy
ancient egyptians
Could afford
mummified crocodiles,
A religious offering
to the god sobek.
It's a puzzle why this
apparently poor boy
Might be part of
a crocodile cult.
Narrator: Alejandro
looks for answers
To explain the boy's grave.
The team doesn't just
unearth skulls,
They uncover three skeletons.
And the bone structure
of the second one
Indicates it's a female.
It's buried with
something interesting.
Alejandro: During the excavation
of individual number two,
It appeared
this interesting amulet.
Narrator: The jewelry is
in the shape of bes,
The god of childbirth, who was
popular with egypt's poor.
The female skeleton was also
buried with something else.
Alejandro:
And beside this skeleton,
We have the burial of a baby.
Narrator: Infant mortality
was tragically high
In ancient egypt.
Only one child in two
lived past adolescence.
Alejandro: It's always sad when
you find these kind of burials.
(sighs)
Narrator: The skeletons are
stacked on top of each other.
It's another clue
this was a shared tomb
For a non-elite family.
It could help explain why they
were buried near crocodiles
In a necropolis
reserved for the rich.
Alejandro: Sometimes it was
very important for the people
To be buried here
beside their master.
Narrator: They could be
favored servants.
Alejandro: It's not the quality
of the funerary equipment
That you might have.
In certain ways it's much better
To buried beside
an important person,
Because you can benefit
from the offerings
That he is going to receive.
Narrator: If these servants
were getting the protection
Of the mummified crocodiles,
Their rich masters
could be close by.
The hunt for a wealthy tomb
filled with treasure is on.
As the team searches
the surrounding area,
It's not long
before they unearth
A mysterious gap in the rock.
Alejandro: It seems
that it's another tomb.
Man: Good, good.
Narrator: In the quarry
at gebel el-silsila,
Maria is looking
for clues to explain
Why a ram-headed sphinx
was left abandoned.
Maria: We got a series
of symbols or text
That we still haven't been able
to decode in a simple way.
It's very difficult
to work there
Because of the risk
of this collapsing.
John: Well, I wanted to go
down there, but my...
Maria: No, we can't.
It's not safe.
John: I'm frightened of this.
Maria: No, no, no,
it's not safe.
John: If this comes down.
Go on.
Narrator: At a safer location,
maria uses computer software
To enhance the colors
of the ancient graffiti.
She begins to see
something incredible.
Maria: It is amazing.
We actually have a face here.
It's a long snout,
so the eye is emphasized,
And these, they're teeth.
We have a crocodile face.
Narrator: As maria looks closer,
She discovers
it's not a crocodile,
But something
even more intriguing.
Maria: It is indeed
a line of the belly,
And that tells me one thing:
This is the hippopotamus body.
Narrator: She identifies
the enigmatic drawing.
It's taweret,
the hippopotamus goddess.
Taweret was the principal
female deity at this quarry,
And was often cast
in the role of protectress.
Egyptians prayed to taweret
to keep them safe from harm,
And maria believes a quarry
worker drew this sketch.
Maria: It's not
a royal official stela
Dedicated to this goddess.
This is a personal wish
To be safe-kept and
protected from mishaps.
Narrator: The laborer asked
taweret for protection.
Work here was dangerous,
and life expectancy short.
Maria: They wanted to be safe.
This, for me, is like
shaking the ancients
Directly in their hands.
Regardless of all the
technologies that we have today
And how much the world
has evolved,
We're still looking for safety.
We still want to be keeping
our families safe and protected
And to be able to see
yet another day.
Narrator: Maria
investigates further.
She needs to date
this inscription.
Maria: This mentions
the year 34,
The opening of this quarry.
So it gives us the clue
It's the end of the reign
of amenhotep iii.
Narrator:
Amenhotep iii ruled egypt
During the new kingdom era,
over 3,000 years ago.
His son, amenhotep iv,
revolutionized egypt.
He banned the worship
of multiple gods...
All the animal deities,
like taweret the hippo,
Sobek the crocodile,
And even the mighty
sekhmet, the lion.
Amenhotep worshipped just one:
The sun god aten.
He declared himself the
representative of aten on earth
And changed his name
to akhen-aten.
Maria thinks
the inscription is a clue
To why the sphinx they found
here in the quarry
Was abandoned.
Maria: We know that
akhen-aten broke off
From the state religion,
but still we have the production
Of these beasts at a time when
he starts to get into power.
Maybe it was that they were
abandoned here on site
Because he came to power.
Narrator: Akhen-aten
instructed the workers
To down tools on this sphinx.
Maria: What we know is
we had amenhotep iii here.
When akhen-aten turned from
amenhotep iv to akhen-aten,
He destroyed everything.
This site wasn't used again.
Narrator: In aswan,
at qubbet el-hawa,
Before alejandro's team
can enter the tomb,
They must first excavate
the entrance.
But it's perched
dangerously close
To the edge of a steep cliff.
The soft rock crumbles away.
An accident could easily happen.
Alejandro: We need to take care
of our every step that we make.
Narrator: Finally,
they access the entrance,
And there's a promising sign
They're on the verge
of a huge discovery.
Alejandro: We have just
discovered that the tomb
Is intact because the stones
are sealing the door.
Narrator: It means tomb robbers
haven't beaten alejandro to it.
Alejandro: Fingers crossed
To know if we are
going to be lucky.
Narrator: Alejandro explores
the untouched tomb.
Alejandro: Here there is
something that is quite strange.
Narrator:
Two coffins lie inside,
But it's disappointing news.
Termites have got
in there first.
Alejandro: We have these kind
of days in the excavation.
What a pity.
Narrator: Termites are a problem
Worse than tomb robbers.
They destroy coffins.
Just before alejandro
gives up hope,
He notices another chamber.
Alejandro: Oh, it's amazing.
Narrator: And fortunately,
The termites haven't
destroyed what's inside.
Alejandro: For the first time
we are lucky
And we discover without
the problems of the termites.
Narrator: Two ancient
colored coffins.
Alejandro: I never seen
something like this.
Narrator: It's a triumphant
moment for the whole team.
The discovery
of the wealthy tombs
They've been searching for.
(singing)
They could hold evidence
of a crocodile cult
And finally resolve the mystery
of the mummified crocodiles.
The colored coffins need
weeks of restoration work
Before they can be safely moved.
Until then, they seal
the burial with an iron door,
To keep the coffins safe
from tomb robbers.
Alejandro: Perfect.
Now I can sleep more relaxed.
(chuckles)
Narrator: It's a satisfying end
to an amazing day.
Alejandro: We did not expect
to find anything important.
However, we have found
two amazing tombs,
One with the coffins, and
the other with the crocodiles.
It has been one of the most
intensive days of my life.
Narrator: 400 miles north,
on the giza plateau,
Chris continues to explore the
ancient egyptians' reverence
For animal gods and their role
as divine guardians.
At the paws of the great sphinx,
He finds a tantalizing clue
That could reveal
the statue's true purpose.
Chris: This, we think,
is some kind of temple.
It's a building which sits
Right in front of the paws
of the sphinx.
It's built in the same way
as well,
With these absolutely massive
local limestone blocks.
Narrator: The temple's
limestone blocks
Are a match with the sphinx.
The egyptians built it
at the same time
From the sphinx's
leftover stones.
Chris steps back
to the eastern corner.
From here, he notices
something intriguing.
Chris: Where we're
standing here,
We're looking straight on
at the face of the sphinx,
And, in fact, the sphinx
is aligned to the pyramid.
So its right shoulder
is absolutely aligned
Along the axis of the temple
in front of it,
And behind it,
the corner of the pyramid.
What's even more interesting
is that at the two equinoxes,
That is the exact point
Where you see the sun
setting in the sky.
Narrator: The temple,
the sphinx and khafre's pyramid
Could all be part
of one master plan.
During solar events
Their alignment reveals
something extraordinary.
When the sun sets
on the equinox,
It drops into the shoulder
of the sphinx
And the south side
of khafre's pyramid.
These two mighty monuments
are symbols of the king,
And as the sun sets,
their shadows become one.
On the summer solstice,
The sun sinks between
the two great pyramids,
And looks like
an ancient egyptian hieroglyph
That represents the cycle
of divine rebirth.
The architects who built the
sphinx pyramid temple complex
Had an in-depth knowledge
of cosmology.
They would have known
that sekhmet the lion
Is also a sun goddess.
Chris: Perhaps this
helps us to explain
The meaning of the sphinx,
And what the egyptians were
doing in a temple like this,
What rituals
they were performing.
If this is a solar deity,
Then perhaps the worship
in the temple
Was all connected with the sun
and the setting sun.
Narrator: The ancient egyptians
believed the rise and fall
Of the sun equated
to human resurrection.
The sphinx could have been
central to a complex
Built by king khafre to harness
the spiritual power of the sun.
Today, the sphinx sits alone
in the pyramids' shadow.
But back in the time
of the pharaoh khafre,
It was at the figurehead
of a grand design,
A great temple complex
with a huge causeway
Connecting the sphinx
to khafre's pyramid,
The pharaoh's
final resting place.
The temple complex
stretched to the nile,
Where there was
a magnificent port.
When khafre died, it was here
That the boat carrying
his body would dock,
Before he was entombed
in his giant pyramid
To wait for his resurrection.
♪ ♪
The egyptian belief
in the divine powers
Of their animal gods
was so great,
They built the sphinx to be
the protective figurehead
In a resurrection machine
designed to guarantee
King khafre's journey
into the after-life.
the richest source
Of archaeological treasures
on the planet.
Man: Oh, wow, look at that!
Narrator: Hidden beneath
this desert landscape
Lie the secrets of
this ancient civilization.
(man speaking native language)
Man: I 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.
Woman: This is the most
critical moment.
Narrator: Revealing
buried treasures.
Woman: Oh!
Man: We're lucky today.
Man: Wow! Lots of mummies.
Woman: The smell is horrible.
Narrator: And making discoveries
That could rewrite
ancient history.
Man: We've never had
the proof until now.
Woman: This is where
it all started.
Man: My goodness,
I never expected this.
(clapping)
Narrator: This time,
archaeologists unravel
The enigma of the great sphinx.
Man: It's the most iconic statue
anywhere in the world.
Narrator: John goes where no
archaeologist has gone before.
John ward: I'm gonna be the
first man underneath this sphinx
In 3,500 years.
Narrator: Alejandro unearths
evidence of a crocodile cult.
Alejandro jiménez-serrano:
It's a challenge to explain
Why the crocodiles
were mummified.
Narrator: And jared discovers
a mummified dog.
Jared caballo perez:
It was a complete surprise
To find something that
you don't really expect.
♪ ♪
♪ ♪
Narrator:
The great sphinx of giza,
One of the most famous
monuments in the world.
Egyptologists believe
it was built
Around the same time
as the giza pyramids,
4,500 years ago.
This colossal statue has an
animal's body and a human face.
It's as enigmatic
as it is iconic.
All over egypt, archaeologists
are attempting to unravel
The riddles of the sphinx.
Egyptologist dr. Chris naunton
is on a mission
To unlock its most
controversial secret:
Whose face is carved on it?
Chris naunton: We can begin
to sort of imagine
How this might have looked
in ancient times,
And with that in mind,
We can perhaps begin to compare
that face to known faces.
Narrator: Chris thinks
the face was modeled
On an ancient pharaoh.
In the age of
the pyramid builders,
The sphinx had a delicate nose
And was painted
in bright colors.
But whose face is this?
It could be king khufu, who
also built the great pyramid.
He had a square chin, like
the sphinx, but no one is sure.
The only image archaeologists
have of khufu is a tiny statue.
The sphinx once had a beard,
just like khufu's son, khafre.
When khafre became pharaoh,
He built the pyramid
directly behind the sphinx.
But the original beard
was lost during antiquity
And another one added later.
The identity of the face
Remains a secret
yet to be revealed.
Chris: Trying to match faces
in egyptian imagery
Is an inexact science.
It seems to be that it's
a pharaoh of the fourth dynasty.
Khafre's perhaps
the leading candidate.
Narrator: The usual role
of an egyptian sphinx
Is to protect a sacred site.
If this is khafre's sphinx,
It's perfectly positioned
to guard his pyramid tomb.
Chris must investigate clues
To unravel more mysteries
of the great sphinx.
400 miles south of giza,
in gebel el-silsila...
John: Everybody here?
Maria nilsson: I believe so.
We're late.
Narrator: Husband and wife
archaeologists
John ward and maria nilsson
are on their way
To investigate a site
Where the ancient egyptians
created sphinx statues.
But their commute along the
river nile is slow to start.
John: The boat's not working.
Maria: It's coming.
John: Everybody send
positive vibes.
Maria: Ohh.
Come on, abdullah.
John: By the time
we get on site,
It will be at least 8 o'clock,
so that's another hour lost.
Man: I knew it would happen.
(motor starts) maria: Yeah!
(clapping)
John: Ah, only 35 minutes late.
Narrator: Every minute counts
When they only have a limited
number of days for excavating.
Last season, maria and john
Found a sphinx statue
at this site.
Unlike the great sphinx at giza,
This statue has a ram's head.
It's called a criosphinx.
Maria: Of course, what we see is
a raw state of a sculpture,
But we got the head here,
So the ram's face,
the ram's horn.
The area in front
would most probably hold
The statue of the ruling king.
Narrator: The craftsmen
would carve out
The sandstone criosphinx
right here in the quarry,
Before transporting it
to a sacred site.
Maria: Once it reached
the main destination,
The artists would
continue the process
Of making it into its
fine details and final dressing.
We have them guarding tombs
or other monuments.
So in a simplified version,
You can say that each sphinx
is a guard, it's a protector.
Narrator: Maria believes
this sacred statue
Was built for
the avenue of the sphinxes,
A road between the temples
of luxor and karnak,
Lined with ram-headed sphinxes,
But for some unknown reason,
it didn't make the journey.
It was never finished.
Now maria wants to discover why.
Maria: Why was it left here?
Why is this not sitting
at the avenue of sphinxes
In modern day luxor?
We're hoping that
through this excavation,
We will be able to solve
a little bit of the mystery
Of the sphinxes and
add to history in general.
Narrator: A large rock
under the sphinx
Brings the investigation
to a halt.
John: Watch your toes, guys,
watch your toes.
(men yelling)
(men yelling)
Maria: You guys are amazing!
(yelling)
(cheering)
Narrator: Now the rock is gone,
They can see there's a gap
under the sphinx.
Maria: Anyone who watched
indiana jones,
I'm sure will understand the
excitement for an archaeologist
When you suddenly see a hole.
Narrator: Despite the danger,
John wants to get
under the sphinx.
John: I'm gonna be the first man
underneath this sphinx
In 3,500 years.
Narrator: 40 miles south,
near aswan,
At the ancient necropolis
of qubbet el-hawa,
Professor
alejandro jiménez-serrano
Heads one of the largest
foreign teams
Working in egypt today.
Alejandro: During the last
11 years we have been excavating
This huge complex of tombs
Where the governors of
The 12th dynasty were buried.
Narrator: These burial chambers
were built for the nobles
Governing southern egypt,
500 years after
the sphinx was built.
Alejandro: We will see
what we will find.
You never know what is
going to happen today,
What we will find,
or which surprise we will have.
Narrator: Close to a cliff side,
The team reports a skull
emerging from the sand,
Followed by a second.
The huge jaws include
some teeth, two inches long.
Raquel rodriguez: At first,
we can only see this head only,
And we was like,
"wow, a crocodile, a crocodile."
And then something
appeared here,
And it was like, "oh, my god,
there are two crocodiles."
Narrator: The crocodiles are
an especially lucky find
For raquel rodriguez.
It's her first-ever
dig in egypt.
Raquel: I asked,
"oh, this is something common?"
And it was like, no, no, no,
this is the first crocodile
That we've seen in 11 years.
So, I'm very happy about it.
Narrator: The crocodiles may be
close to the river nile,
But this is not a natural nest.
The bones have black marks;
the remains of skin and flesh.
They are so well preserved,
Alejandro thinks they
must have been mummified.
Alejandro:
It's a challenge to explain
Why the crocodiles
were mummified.
Narrator: Mummified crocodiles
are an unusual find
And have only ever
been unearthed
At a small number
of sites in egypt.
They could be a sign of
a rare form of animal worship.
As the team slowly unearths
more skeletons,
They count 11 in total.
And they're deteriorating;
all except one.
Alejandro: Unfortunately,
they are not in a good a state
Of preservation.
But this one,
it is almost perfect.
Narrator: The intact crocodile
is extremely fragile.
They can't risk damaging it.
Before they attempt to move it,
They carefully extract
the surrounding bone fragments.
In the midday sun,
The temperature is over
90 degrees fahrenheit.
It's hot and smelly work.
Raquel: They say that
it smells gross.
I'm not smelling anything
because I've got a cold,
But they say it smells bad.
Narrator: Now the crocodile
is exposed to the air and sun,
It's rotting fast.
Alejandro has to
get it out of here.
Narrator: Raquel is working
with the team
Tasked with moving
the crocodile out of the sun.
Raquel: It's scary, because it's
been there for a lot of years,
And now you take it off
and you take the sand
And what's covering it away,
and the sun gets into it,
The oxygen, everything,
So it's deteriorating
at each second that pass.
So you need to work fast,
but not rush,
Because things can go bad and
you can destroy it completely.
So, it's a tense situation.
Narrator: They're finally ready
to move the crocodile mummy.
The main challenge is moving
the skeleton in one piece.
Alejandro: We basically are
following the same protocol
That we use with
the human mummies.
Narrator: The tail is not
well connected to the body
And could easily break off.
Alejandro: We are in
a very delicate moment,
Because we want to put
the mummy of the crocodile
On a wooden board
In order to move the mummy
to the conservation lab.
I'm quite nervous now.
Man: Uno, dos, tres.
Narrator: 100 miles north,
On the west bank of the nile
at luxor,
Archaeologist
professor miguel molinero
Is returning to
a 4,500-year-old necropolis
Near the valley of the kings.
Miguel molinero: My first season
working in egypt
Was 32 years ago.
So it's like coming home
every year, always fantastic.
Narrator: Miguel's team is
from tenerife, in Spain.
Last season,
they excavated a family tomb
At a site called south asasif.
They unearthed
mummified remains,
But their dig permit ran out
before they could investigate.
Miguel: It always happens.
The last day something new
appears that is exciting,
But has to be kept there waiting
for us for the next season,
And that's what happened
last year.
Narrator: 26-year-old
jared carballo pérez
Can't wait to
continue their dig.
Jared: Egypt is quite addictive
in that sense,
And it's always nice to be back,
to keep doing the work.
Narrator: After an anxious
year-long wait,
Today is their first day
back on site.
Miguel: We had to leave it
as it was found,
Because we did not have the time
to take it out carefully.
Narrator: The team
covered the mummies
In an attempt to
prevent deterioration.
Miguel: Now we are anxious
To see if the protection
has worked.
We have been waiting one year
to see what happens inside.
Narrator: There's a chance
they may have deteriorated
Over the past year.
Jared: So we have
to be very careful.
Miguel: Oh, so, yeah.
Oh, perfect.
They are well preserved.
Oh, yes.
Narrator: Now they can begin
their investigation.
Two mummified human skeletons
still intact,
And a third, much smaller mummy.
Jared: It was a complete
surprise to find something
That you don't really expect.
Narrator: As they look closer,
They notice it's been embalmed
in a very strange way.
There's just one layer
of bandage around the head,
Instead of three,
And the limbs are wrapped
together, not separately.
But it's the shape of the skull
that's most surprising.
Jared: First, by the shape
We thought it was a baby
that was abandoned,
But then we started seeing
some features right there.
By the teeth and
the shape of the bones,
We can know it's
a mummified dog.
Narrator: A mummified dog in
a human tomb is highly unusual.
Jared: As far as we know,
it's a very rare case,
Because we have found
a lot of dogs across egypt,
But they are not next
to the human bodies.
Narrator: The discovery
may help shed light
On the significance of animals
in ancient egyptian belief.
The dog could be a religious
offering to a particular god.
According to
ancient egyptian belief,
Dogs are associated
with the god anubis.
The jackal-headed anubis
was the god of mummification.
He weighed the heart of
the dead against a feather.
If the heart was lighter,
the soul could enter heaven.
But if it was heavier,
they were eaten by ammit,
The devourer of the dead.
Depictions of anubis would
often be present in tombs
To offer protection
to the mummy.
This mummified dog could be
an offering to anubis,
But there's something
that doesn't add up.
Miguel: When we started
cleaning it,
We found something very unusual.
Narrator: They discover
a perplexing clue
In the alignment of the mummies.
Narrator: In qubbet el-hawa,
archaeologists are racing
To save a rare
mummified crocodile.
Their discovery
may help demystify
The ancient egyptian practice
of animal worship.
Could it also help explain
the purpose of animal statues,
Like the great sphinx?
Raquel and the team carefully
move the crocodile mummy
To the laboratory.
♪ ♪
♪ ♪
Raquel: We made it.
We've been working for three
hours and a half now in the sun,
And it all came out
extremely, extremely well.
I wasn't expecting this success.
Narrator: The crocodile
survives its journey intact
And can now be examined
in more detail.
Alejandro is puzzled
As to why these mummified
crocodiles are here.
Alejandro: It's something that
always happens in archaeology,
Surprises that, well, it's
a challenge to explain them.
Narrator: There could be
a connection
With a mysterious cult
That worshipped
an ancient god called sobek.
Alejandro: Sobek is always
represented as a crocodile.
It's an animal that was living
on the banks of the nile.
It's related with the fertility
That the river gave
to ancient egypt.
Narrator: Sobek was
the crocodile god
Who built the world and created
the river nile from his sweat.
Ancient egyptians
feared his power,
But also revered him as
a protector and a healer.
In some versions of the myth,
When the god osiris was
dismembered in a fight,
Sobek gathered up the body parts
And put the god back together.
Some wealthy egyptians
bred pet crocodiles
That they adorned with jewels
And fed with fine food and wine.
When the crocodiles died,
They were mummified and buried
as votive offerings to sobek
To ensure protection
in the after-life.
But the existence
of a crocodile cult
At qubbet el-hawa
is news to alejandro.
Alejandro: As far as we know,
There is no reference to the
worship of crocodiles in aswan.
Narrator: The discovery
challenges the idea
That crocodile rituals
only happened
In a small region of egypt.
It's further evidence that
the worship of animal gods
Wasn't just practiced
by pharaohs
Building sphinx statues.
People all over egypt
were making offerings
To different animal gods
in the form of mummies.
Alejandro:
The popularity of sobek
Was bigger than
we thought before.
Narrator: Alejandro's team
looks for further evidence
Of a crocodile cult.
If these animal mummies were
protecting a human burial,
A tomb could be close by.
Alejandro: Two skulls
have been discovered.
Narrator: Just yards
from the crocodile burial,
Alejandro's team makes
an intriguing discovery.
Alejandro: Yes! (chuckles)
Narrator: In the quarry
at gebel el-silsila,
Maria and john are investigating
A ram-headed sphinx.
Like the sphinx at giza,
It could have been built
to protect a religious site.
They're now looking for evidence
To explain why it was
abandoned unfinished.
John: I can't believe
I'm putting my head
Underneath this bloody sphinx.
She's actually sat on a stone.
She's ready to lift.
They've quarried underneath her
to put a sledge in to lift her
To get her out of here.
Narrator: John's discovery shows
How the sphinx was
ready to be moved.
So why did the ancient egyptians
Leave it here unfinished?
Maria explores
the surrounding area
For an explanation as to
why the egyptians gave up
On the protective powers
of this sphinx.
Maria: Well, we're looking
for more clues.
If they painted something,
if they've written something,
If they've given us
any form of clue.
Do you see a red mark there,
painted?
Narrator: The red markings
are on a nearby plinth,
But they're too faint
to decipher.
Maria needs to get photos
for close-up analysis.
Maria: I'm gonna sneak
carefully behind here
And try not to get
the entire wall behind me,
Which is about four meters
of spoil just packed up,
Try not to collapse it
on top of me.
So, wish me luck.
Narrator: Maria's mission
is a dangerous one.
Loose rocks are piled
next to the stone.
If she's unlucky, one false
step could trigger a landslide.
400 miles north
at the great sphinx,
The ancient egyptians
believed many animal gods
Had divine powers to protect.
If it was king khafre
who commissioned the sphinx,
He wanted to harness
that power for himself.
Chris: The great sphinx is
one of the great icons of egypt.
You could argue it's perhaps
the most iconic statue
Anywhere in the world,
but it remains an enigma.
Narrator: Chris searches for
evidence of how it was built.
The ancient egyptians carved
the sphinx from limestone,
And it's a match with
the surrounding bedrock.
Chris: The sphinx wasn't built
in an empty space.
It was cut out of solid bedrock.
So you have to try to imagine,
where we're standing now,
Until the ancient egyptians
came along, was solid bedrock.
Narrator: The great sphinx
wasn't built with stone
From remote quarries.
It was carved out
of the giza landscape.
Chris: In order
to create this sphinx,
The egyptians first
have to kind of free it
From the natural rock,
And they did that by creating
a kind of quarry around it,
And they just left some
of the living, natural rock
In the center,
Which they then cut into
the shape of the sphinx.
Narrator: Chris has discovered
how the sphinx was built,
But he still wants to solve
the mystery of its animal form.
Narrator: The great sphinx is
a human-lion hybrid.
Chris: Here, you get such
a strong sense of the fact
That it's the body of the lion
That conveys that kind of sense
of strength and power.
From this angle in particular,
the forelegs of the lion
And these massive paws
are absolutely huge.
It's difficult to imagine
a statue that has a human body
Having that same idea of
strength and ferocity of a lion.
Narrator: Ancient egyptians
feared and revered lions
In equal measure.
Chris: The lion is
the embodiment of a goddess,
Sekhmet, who in
a particular egyptian myth
Wreaks death and
destruction on mankind.
Narrator: According to the myth,
The sun god ra was furious
Humans were turning against him.
He summoned his daughter,
sekhmet,
The lion-faced goddess
of destruction,
To teach them a lesson.
Sekhmet went on a killing spree
Until the nile
ran red with blood.
Ra was worried his daughter
would wipe out all humanity.
So he used a trick to stop her.
He poured 7,000 jugs of
red-tinted beer onto earth.
After sekhmet drank it,
she passed out for three days.
When she woke up,
she had been transformed
Into the benevolent god hathor,
And humankind was saved.
Egyptian gods,
like the sun goddess sekhmet,
Are often portrayed as humans
with animal heads.
But the sphinx is
the other way around;
A human head on a lion's body.
Chris thinks whichever pharaoh
built this statue,
He had ambitions to embody
the power of the divine,
And present himself as a god.
Chris: The egyptians
looked all around them,
All around the natural world,
for their inspiration,
And that's exactly
what you've got here.
This great, mighty,
powerful animal, the lion,
As a kind of a symbol
of the king and of kingship.
Narrator: The sphinx wasn't
just a spiritual guardian.
Its creator may have wanted
to project himself
As the protector
of the egyptian people.
Or is there an even grander
purpose for the sphinx?
Chris explores the remains
of an ancient temple
At the sphinx's feet.
300 miles south in luxor,
At a site built over 500 years
after the sphinx,
Miguel and jared are faced
with another riddle.
They've discovered intriguing
evidence of a different animal
Also considered sacred
by ancient egyptians.
They're trying to understand
why this mummified dog
Was buried in a family tomb
with two human mummies.
Jared: The dog, curiously,
has been put on top of the legs
Of these two individuals.
Narrator: According to
egyptian belief,
Dogs are a living
representation of anubis,
The god of the after-life.
This dog may be mummified
as an offering to anubis,
In the hope of his protection
in the after-life.
But there's a problem.
Jared: Normally animal mummies
are buried and separated
From the human mummies.
Narrator:
Miguel has another idea.
Miguel: He's buried on
the feet of two mummies,
One female and one male.
So we think it was
the owners of the dog
And they wanted to keep her
company for the after-life.
Jared: It could be a pet
instead of an offering to a god.
Narrator: If the mummified dog
is a family pet,
It would be a rare discovery.
Jared: We know there were pets
in the past in ancient egypt.
It's not something as common
As it is as a concept
in modern times.
Narrator: Miguel searches
for further evidence
To confirm the dog was a pet,
And discovers
an intriguing inscription
Identifying the owner
of the tomb.
At the man's feet is a pet dog.
Miguel: He is sitting on a chair
with an offering table
In front of him and his dog,
whose name is heken,
Below the chair.
Narrator: Miguel and jared
believe the inscription is key
To understanding the mystery
of the mummified dog, heken.
The people in this tomb
wanted their beloved dog
Buried with them to ensure it
joined them in the after-life.
Jared: It was kind of
touching to find.
As modern humans, it's something
you can really relate
When you have a pet.
Narrator: 100 miles south
near aswan,
Alejandro's team has found two
human skulls just yards away
From where they discovered
11 mummified crocodiles.
Alejandro: Another skull.
So we have now
three individuals.
Narrator: Alejandro
wants to investigate
The intriguing connection,
But he's under pressure
to excavate first.
It's the hottest
part of the day,
And the skulls could crack
in the 90-degree heat.
Alejandro: We have always
toilet paper,
But not only for
natural reasons,
But also for research. (laughs)
Narrator: They spray
the toilet paper with water
And apply it to the skulls.
It's an emergency measure
To keep them moist
before they are excavated.
Alejandro looks for clues
to explain why the skulls
Are so close to
the mummified crocodiles.
He discovers that one is
the skull of a young boy,
And as the team excavates,
Something fascinating
emerges with it.
Alejandro: The coffin is
an empty timber
Where they put
the children inside.
Narrator: The social status
of a person
Was reflected in their burial.
The tree trunk coffin
is convincing evidence
This boy was poor.
Alejandro: This boy was, uh,
had the honor to be buried here
In qubbet el-hawa,
but was not part of the elite.
Narrator: Only wealthy
ancient egyptians
Could afford
mummified crocodiles,
A religious offering
to the god sobek.
It's a puzzle why this
apparently poor boy
Might be part of
a crocodile cult.
Narrator: Alejandro
looks for answers
To explain the boy's grave.
The team doesn't just
unearth skulls,
They uncover three skeletons.
And the bone structure
of the second one
Indicates it's a female.
It's buried with
something interesting.
Alejandro: During the excavation
of individual number two,
It appeared
this interesting amulet.
Narrator: The jewelry is
in the shape of bes,
The god of childbirth, who was
popular with egypt's poor.
The female skeleton was also
buried with something else.
Alejandro:
And beside this skeleton,
We have the burial of a baby.
Narrator: Infant mortality
was tragically high
In ancient egypt.
Only one child in two
lived past adolescence.
Alejandro: It's always sad when
you find these kind of burials.
(sighs)
Narrator: The skeletons are
stacked on top of each other.
It's another clue
this was a shared tomb
For a non-elite family.
It could help explain why they
were buried near crocodiles
In a necropolis
reserved for the rich.
Alejandro: Sometimes it was
very important for the people
To be buried here
beside their master.
Narrator: They could be
favored servants.
Alejandro: It's not the quality
of the funerary equipment
That you might have.
In certain ways it's much better
To buried beside
an important person,
Because you can benefit
from the offerings
That he is going to receive.
Narrator: If these servants
were getting the protection
Of the mummified crocodiles,
Their rich masters
could be close by.
The hunt for a wealthy tomb
filled with treasure is on.
As the team searches
the surrounding area,
It's not long
before they unearth
A mysterious gap in the rock.
Alejandro: It seems
that it's another tomb.
Man: Good, good.
Narrator: In the quarry
at gebel el-silsila,
Maria is looking
for clues to explain
Why a ram-headed sphinx
was left abandoned.
Maria: We got a series
of symbols or text
That we still haven't been able
to decode in a simple way.
It's very difficult
to work there
Because of the risk
of this collapsing.
John: Well, I wanted to go
down there, but my...
Maria: No, we can't.
It's not safe.
John: I'm frightened of this.
Maria: No, no, no,
it's not safe.
John: If this comes down.
Go on.
Narrator: At a safer location,
maria uses computer software
To enhance the colors
of the ancient graffiti.
She begins to see
something incredible.
Maria: It is amazing.
We actually have a face here.
It's a long snout,
so the eye is emphasized,
And these, they're teeth.
We have a crocodile face.
Narrator: As maria looks closer,
She discovers
it's not a crocodile,
But something
even more intriguing.
Maria: It is indeed
a line of the belly,
And that tells me one thing:
This is the hippopotamus body.
Narrator: She identifies
the enigmatic drawing.
It's taweret,
the hippopotamus goddess.
Taweret was the principal
female deity at this quarry,
And was often cast
in the role of protectress.
Egyptians prayed to taweret
to keep them safe from harm,
And maria believes a quarry
worker drew this sketch.
Maria: It's not
a royal official stela
Dedicated to this goddess.
This is a personal wish
To be safe-kept and
protected from mishaps.
Narrator: The laborer asked
taweret for protection.
Work here was dangerous,
and life expectancy short.
Maria: They wanted to be safe.
This, for me, is like
shaking the ancients
Directly in their hands.
Regardless of all the
technologies that we have today
And how much the world
has evolved,
We're still looking for safety.
We still want to be keeping
our families safe and protected
And to be able to see
yet another day.
Narrator: Maria
investigates further.
She needs to date
this inscription.
Maria: This mentions
the year 34,
The opening of this quarry.
So it gives us the clue
It's the end of the reign
of amenhotep iii.
Narrator:
Amenhotep iii ruled egypt
During the new kingdom era,
over 3,000 years ago.
His son, amenhotep iv,
revolutionized egypt.
He banned the worship
of multiple gods...
All the animal deities,
like taweret the hippo,
Sobek the crocodile,
And even the mighty
sekhmet, the lion.
Amenhotep worshipped just one:
The sun god aten.
He declared himself the
representative of aten on earth
And changed his name
to akhen-aten.
Maria thinks
the inscription is a clue
To why the sphinx they found
here in the quarry
Was abandoned.
Maria: We know that
akhen-aten broke off
From the state religion,
but still we have the production
Of these beasts at a time when
he starts to get into power.
Maybe it was that they were
abandoned here on site
Because he came to power.
Narrator: Akhen-aten
instructed the workers
To down tools on this sphinx.
Maria: What we know is
we had amenhotep iii here.
When akhen-aten turned from
amenhotep iv to akhen-aten,
He destroyed everything.
This site wasn't used again.
Narrator: In aswan,
at qubbet el-hawa,
Before alejandro's team
can enter the tomb,
They must first excavate
the entrance.
But it's perched
dangerously close
To the edge of a steep cliff.
The soft rock crumbles away.
An accident could easily happen.
Alejandro: We need to take care
of our every step that we make.
Narrator: Finally,
they access the entrance,
And there's a promising sign
They're on the verge
of a huge discovery.
Alejandro: We have just
discovered that the tomb
Is intact because the stones
are sealing the door.
Narrator: It means tomb robbers
haven't beaten alejandro to it.
Alejandro: Fingers crossed
To know if we are
going to be lucky.
Narrator: Alejandro explores
the untouched tomb.
Alejandro: Here there is
something that is quite strange.
Narrator:
Two coffins lie inside,
But it's disappointing news.
Termites have got
in there first.
Alejandro: We have these kind
of days in the excavation.
What a pity.
Narrator: Termites are a problem
Worse than tomb robbers.
They destroy coffins.
Just before alejandro
gives up hope,
He notices another chamber.
Alejandro: Oh, it's amazing.
Narrator: And fortunately,
The termites haven't
destroyed what's inside.
Alejandro: For the first time
we are lucky
And we discover without
the problems of the termites.
Narrator: Two ancient
colored coffins.
Alejandro: I never seen
something like this.
Narrator: It's a triumphant
moment for the whole team.
The discovery
of the wealthy tombs
They've been searching for.
(singing)
They could hold evidence
of a crocodile cult
And finally resolve the mystery
of the mummified crocodiles.
The colored coffins need
weeks of restoration work
Before they can be safely moved.
Until then, they seal
the burial with an iron door,
To keep the coffins safe
from tomb robbers.
Alejandro: Perfect.
Now I can sleep more relaxed.
(chuckles)
Narrator: It's a satisfying end
to an amazing day.
Alejandro: We did not expect
to find anything important.
However, we have found
two amazing tombs,
One with the coffins, and
the other with the crocodiles.
It has been one of the most
intensive days of my life.
Narrator: 400 miles north,
on the giza plateau,
Chris continues to explore the
ancient egyptians' reverence
For animal gods and their role
as divine guardians.
At the paws of the great sphinx,
He finds a tantalizing clue
That could reveal
the statue's true purpose.
Chris: This, we think,
is some kind of temple.
It's a building which sits
Right in front of the paws
of the sphinx.
It's built in the same way
as well,
With these absolutely massive
local limestone blocks.
Narrator: The temple's
limestone blocks
Are a match with the sphinx.
The egyptians built it
at the same time
From the sphinx's
leftover stones.
Chris steps back
to the eastern corner.
From here, he notices
something intriguing.
Chris: Where we're
standing here,
We're looking straight on
at the face of the sphinx,
And, in fact, the sphinx
is aligned to the pyramid.
So its right shoulder
is absolutely aligned
Along the axis of the temple
in front of it,
And behind it,
the corner of the pyramid.
What's even more interesting
is that at the two equinoxes,
That is the exact point
Where you see the sun
setting in the sky.
Narrator: The temple,
the sphinx and khafre's pyramid
Could all be part
of one master plan.
During solar events
Their alignment reveals
something extraordinary.
When the sun sets
on the equinox,
It drops into the shoulder
of the sphinx
And the south side
of khafre's pyramid.
These two mighty monuments
are symbols of the king,
And as the sun sets,
their shadows become one.
On the summer solstice,
The sun sinks between
the two great pyramids,
And looks like
an ancient egyptian hieroglyph
That represents the cycle
of divine rebirth.
The architects who built the
sphinx pyramid temple complex
Had an in-depth knowledge
of cosmology.
They would have known
that sekhmet the lion
Is also a sun goddess.
Chris: Perhaps this
helps us to explain
The meaning of the sphinx,
And what the egyptians were
doing in a temple like this,
What rituals
they were performing.
If this is a solar deity,
Then perhaps the worship
in the temple
Was all connected with the sun
and the setting sun.
Narrator: The ancient egyptians
believed the rise and fall
Of the sun equated
to human resurrection.
The sphinx could have been
central to a complex
Built by king khafre to harness
the spiritual power of the sun.
Today, the sphinx sits alone
in the pyramids' shadow.
But back in the time
of the pharaoh khafre,
It was at the figurehead
of a grand design,
A great temple complex
with a huge causeway
Connecting the sphinx
to khafre's pyramid,
The pharaoh's
final resting place.
The temple complex
stretched to the nile,
Where there was
a magnificent port.
When khafre died, it was here
That the boat carrying
his body would dock,
Before he was entombed
in his giant pyramid
To wait for his resurrection.
♪ ♪
The egyptian belief
in the divine powers
Of their animal gods
was so great,
They built the sphinx to be
the protective figurehead
In a resurrection machine
designed to guarantee
King khafre's journey
into the after-life.