"Lost Treasures of Egypt" (2019–2020): Season 2, Episode 1 - Secrets of Tutankhamun - full transcript

Narrator: Egypt,
the richest source of

Archaeological
treasures on the planet.

Ahmed: Oh, wow! Look at that!

Narrator: Hidden beneath
this desert landscape lie the

Secrets of this
ancient civilization.

(speaking in native language).

Alejandro: I have 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
frontline of archaeology.

Myriam: This is the
most critical moment.



Narrator: Revealing
buried treasures.

Salima: Oh!

Ahmed: We were lucky today.

Nozomu: 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.

Narrator: This time
we unlock the secrets of

Tutankhamun's golden treasures.

Narrator: Uncovering
the mysteries buried with

The boy king, almost

Three-and-a-half-thousand
years ago.



Alejandro: Definitely,
we have something.

Narrator: Alejandro searches
for the tombs belonging to the

Rulers of the south,

Who would have served
the great pharaohs.

Alejandro: It's amazing.

Narrator: John and
maria head into the desert,

Hunting for the lost
quarries of tutankhamun.

John: My heart is pumping, yeah!

It's pumping.

Narrator: And nozomu
pushes excavation to the limit to

Uncover the lost tombs
of tutankhamun's elite.

Nozomu: It's really
dangerous inside.

(theme music plays).

Narrator: Egypt.

Birthplace of one of the most
enigmatic civilizations in history.

The pyramid tombs,
and the valley of the kings.

The final resting places
of powerful pharaohs.

Of the possible 63
tombs in the valley,

There is one that
outshines the rest,

And has captured the
world's imagination.

The tomb of tutankhamun.

The boy king was just
18 years old when he died,

But his priceless golden
treasures have made him the

Most famous pharaoh of all time.

His funerary riches have been
displayed all over the world,

But now they are all
coming back to egypt.

Cairo,
in the shadows of the great pyramids.

Engineers are building
a $1 billion museum

And research facility.

The grand egyptian museum
will house all tutankhamun's

5,000 treasures in one place,

For the first time in 100 years.

One of the centerpieces
of the museum,

Will be tutankhamun's
golden coffin.

Ahmed abdrabou is leading the
research process to get it ready.

Narrator: The coffin was one
of many priceless treasures

Found in tutankhamun's tomb.

When howard carter's team
opened the tomb in November 1922,

They discovered a wealth
of treasures and gifts the king

Would need in the afterlife.

Six disassembled
golden chariots,

His throne and provisions
of food and wine.

Concealed behind a false
wall was a stone sarcophagus

Protecting a gold-plated coffin.

Inside it, two more coffins,

The innermost made of solid
gold and covered in gemstones.

And inside that,
the mummy of tutankhamun,

Wearing a magnificent
death mask,

The most famous
find in all of egypt.

Ahmed needs to discover
how the ancient artisans built

Tutankhamun's golden coffin.

The inside is made of wood,

But the outside is covered
with a thin layer of precious gold.

Narrator: Under the lens,

Ahmed discovers an
extraordinary secret.

Narrator: The ancient artisans
could craft gold as thin as shrink wrap,

But to get a flawless finish,

They could not apply
the gold directly on to the

Uneven chiseled wood.

Ahmed investigates closer
and finds a mystery layer

Between the gold and the wood.

Narrator: Ahmed finds
a 3,300-year-old secret,

Known only to the top
craftsmen closest to the king.

Narrator: The ancient
craftsmen used linen bandages

To smooth out the jagged
wood and create a perfect

Finish for the thin gold.

Almost three and a
half thousand years later,

We are still solving the
mysteries of tutankhamun.

Ahmed is on the
hunt for more clues.

425 miles south of
cairo is the ancient

Stronghold of aswan.

It's here tutankhamun would have
positioned his most trusted governors

To defend the
southern border between

Egypt and gold rich nubia.

(speaking in native language).

Narrator: Professor
alejandro jimenez-serrano...

(speaking spanish).

Narrator: Is back
for his 12th season,

At the ancient site
of qubbet el-hawa,

In search of the elite
that once ruled here.

Alejandro: What we
have is the tombs of

The highest officials
of the province.

Not only the officials,

But also their family
and their assistants.

Narrator: For 16
years of his career,

Alejandro has been studying
the tombs of the ruling

Families of the south.

They would have served
the powerful pharaohs,

Like tutankhamun.

In 2017, he found the tomb
of the brother of sarenput ii,

A powerful governor of aswan.

Now, alejandro is back,

In search of new evidence
about this powerful clan.

(speaking spanish).

Alejandro: It seems that we
have something interesting.

Let's go.

Narrator: This could be the
discovery he has been waiting for.

Alejandro: It is exciting.

Narrator: 40 miles
north of aswan,

Sit the sandstone
quarries of gebel el-silsila,

Used by the great pharaohs.

The enormous temples
of luxor and karnak were

Forged from rock quarried there.

John: Schol! Group: Schol!

Narrator: John ward and
dr maria nilsson have been

Excavating together
here for eight years.

Their home is a
houseboat on the nile.

John: Nils, what about you mate?

Narrator: They are working
with a team of archaeologists

To investigate the secrets of
the ancient egyptian quarries.

This year, john and maria,

With their fittingly named dog,
carter,

Want to solve an
ancient mystery.

Was tutankhamun also
one of the powerful pharaohs

Who used these quarries?

John: There's always a delay.

Narrator: Today,
they need to get to a remote spot

In the vast egyptian
desert with their workforce,

But their morning commute
across the river nile is

Eating into precious
sunlight hours.

Maria: 28 minutes late already.

Every minute that we
stand here waiting is a

Lost minute on site.

Narrator: Workers
finally on shore,

The hunt for tutankhamun's
lost quarry begins.

John: Another day in paradise.

Sun, sand.

Maria: Dirt. John: Dirt. Stone.

Boiled eggs and cucumber.

Narrator: Their journey
by road ends here.

To reach their destination,

They will have to carry
their equipment by hand,

In 100 degree heat,

And across half a mile of steep,
rocky hills.

John: Okay then guys,
are you ready?

Man: Yeah. John: Yalla
bina. Man: Yalla bina.

Narrator: Their late arrival
means john and maria will have

To split up to cover the
massive site before it gets dark.

John is going to look for
evidence of quarry workers homes.

Maria: Ready?

Narrator: While maria hunts
for clues that might date this

Site to tutankhamun's reign.

Maria: I think the game
of today is to establish

That this is from the
time of tutankhamun.

John: Come on then guys.

Narrator: John heads
straight for an ancient

Settlement maybe once
used by a quarry workforce.

If he can find distinctive
pottery with the tell-tale

Markings,
it could help him date the site.

John: Look at the amount
of pottery on the floor.

Trish: This is where
we should excavate.

Maria: Where's the
safest route down?

Narrator: While maria
starts her hunt for clues at

A quarry face that has
been untouched for millennia.

40 miles south of gebel el-silsila,
in aswan,

Workers excavating close
to governor sarenput ii tomb,

Find ancient chisel marks.

Alejandro: Here there is
something that is quite strange,

Because we have a type of
carving and this is smoother.

So this early we have no
idea what we are going to find.

Hey, hey, hey, look!

Sand is going down,

Probably indicating
that here we have a hole.

I've seen this only when we
have a funerary chamber there.

Narrator: It could be a tomb...

But is there any treasure
buried beneath the golden sand?

To dig through before they
can uncover what is hiding

In this corner of
qubbet el-hawa.

Alejandro: We can see
only a smooth carving

Of 10 centimeters and
now we have 30 centimeters.

Narrator: If it's a tomb,
it could belong to a leading

Member of one of egypt's
most influential families.

Alejandro: Ah,
look! Yeah, ha-ha!

Look at that,
it probably it would be a chamber.

We still have much
material to remove,

But sure we have
the burial chamber.

Narrator: Just 55 yards away lies the
tomb of the head of a powerful family,

Sarenput ii,
the governor of aswan.

Is it possible that the
tomb alejandro is unearthing

Nearby,
could belong to someone as prominent?

Alejandro: This tomb shows
the grandeur of the governors,

They wanted to show their power.

Narrator: Sarenput ii was
a rich and influential leader.

He was an important
chief from aswan,

Part of a ruling class of
commanding and wealthy families.

From an island on the nile,

They controlled the
gateway to africa and

Guarded important trade
rules along the nile into egypt.

African traders brought in
luxury goods for the pharaohs,

Such as ebony,

Leopard skins and ostrich eggs.

But most importantly of all,

They brought in gold from
nubia that filled the tombs

Of the mighty pharaohs,
including tutankhamun.

(speaking in native language).

Narrator: Just yards away
from sarenput ii burial chamber.

Alejandro: Ok.

Narrator: Alejandro's team
excavates a tiny hole into

Their ancient tomb.

Alejandro: Here we
have some termites;

This is good evidence
because they are always

Looking for the coffins.

These are the great moments.

Narrator: Finally,
this tomb can give up its secrets.

Alejandro: It's amazing. Some bandages,
some bones.

We have the closing
slab over there.

It's very well made, it's huge.

Narrator: Alejandro can
see just the top of the tomb.

It will take his team
days to excavate and

To discover its treasures.

400 miles north in saqqara.

Tutankhamun expert,
professor nozomu kawai,

Is back for his third season,

Excavating the saqqara plateau.

Nozomu: We just keep digging.

Narrator: He is looking
for the tombs of the elite,

Who would have
served tutankhamun.

An untouched tomb
in this area could hold

Priceless golden treasure.

Nozomu: This is at the center
of the administration in economy,

But the tombs of the high officials
who are running the country,

Has been missing.

Narrator: Nozomu found the
entrance to what he hopes is a tomb.

This year he intends
to go further and enter it.

Nozomu: The entrance,
it's covered with bricks.

Narrator: At the
end of the tunnel,

Nozumu finds a mud
brick wall and a stela.

An ancient inscribed stone,
often commemorating the dead.

It's a clue to what could
lie beyond the brick wall.

Nozomu: If we
excavate underneath,

We will probably find doorways.

So, actually,
the entrance is pretty much

Covered with the sand
and rubble at this moment.

Narrator: It's a promising
sign nozomu is on the verge

Of a huge discovery.

He knows this whole area
houses burial chambers of the elite.

And a few hundred yards away,
is a clue from one of

Tutankhamun's trusted servants.

Archaeologists in 1996,

Found a rocky ridge buried
under the desert sand.

Inside it,
they uncovered a tomb.

When they removed the sand
from the entrance chamber,

They revealed a
stunning image on the wall.

A young king tutankhamun,

Sitting on the lap of a woman.

They identified her as maia,

A nurse who raised
the boy king and

This was her tomb.

How many more of his
closest allies lie undiscovered

Inside the ridge?

Nozomu's team
carefully remove the stela.

Nozomu: This is the
first find of the project.

We are really excited.

Narrator: In the
field research tent,

Nozomu gets a closer look.

The stela shows three gods,

Sokar, thoth and anubis.

They are gods sometimes
associated with the underworld.

And he's seen them
somewhere before.

On the back of the famous
death mask of tutankhamun,

Sokar and anubis are
engraved in the hieroglyphs.

Could this be another clue
that behind the brick wall at

The end of the tunnel,
lies a tomb?

375 miles south in the
quarries of gebel el-silsila,

John and maria are
searching for evidence of

The lost quarry of tutankhamun.

John: Go into the fissure,
go along it,

Leave the big stone in situ.

Narrator: But to confirm
it is tutankhamun's quarry,

They need to date it,

And one way is to look
for his distinctive style

Of blue pottery.

John: I need that to give
me a definite chronology,

To put this squarely within
tutankhamun's period.

Narrator: Maria searches
for clues at a quarry face

That has been
abandoned for centuries.

Maria: Sometimes an
inscription can just pop out,

Because the light is perfect.

Narrator: She works
with fellow archaeologist,

Dr. Nils billing.

Maria: We got an
ankh right into it.

Nils: Yeah. Where?

Narrator: Ankh,
means 'life' in ancient egyptian,

And the sound is the middle
part of tut-ankh-amun's name.

Maria and nils need to find
tutankhamun's complete name,

Which they expect to be
displayed on a royal seal,

Known as a cartouche.

If it exists here,
it's proof this quarry was once

Officially used by the boy king.

Maria: Okay,
so we know what level to search for,

So let's just scout the area.

Nils: Yo.

Narrator: If they find it,
it could mean that the young

Tutankhamun was quarrying
here for massive building projects,

Previously unknown
to archaeologists.

Maria: Nils,
over here! We got something.

R hunt for evidence
this ancient quarry,

Hidden away in the
deserts of the south of egypt,

Was once used by tutankhamun.

She searches for a cartouche,

Used by pharaohs
to mark their property.

Maria: Yes!

Narrator: A cartouche
is not just a royal name

Written in hieroglyphs.

Ancient egyptians thought
they had magical powers.

In 1922, howard carter found a
golden shrine in tutankhamun's tomb

That contained vessels
of mummified organs.

On the inside chest,
he discovered two cartouches,

Believed to offer powerful
protection from evil spirits.

Seven hieroglyphs spell
out tutankhamun's name.

Three more spell:
Ruler of thebes.

On the second cartouche:

The sun disk and
the scarab beetle,

Both symbols of
immortality and rebirth.

These powerful signs
helped the pharaoh's spirit

And soul find his
body and resurrect him.

At the quarry face,
nils decodes the hieroglyphs.

Nils: We have the
name of tutankhamun.

That is a loaf of bread,

It has the phonetic value 't'.

The bird is 'uh', then 'ankh'.

Amun you can read here.

A feather is the sign for 'a'.

And this sign,
which is the sign of a monument,

And that is spelled 'men',
'a-men'.

Tut-ankh-amun.

Narrator: But something
catches his eye.

Nils: This waterline is an 'n',

But actually they've
added another 'n' here,

Which is unusual,
and then you would have expected

Another 't' up here
to fulfill the word,

To make the word complete,
'tut'.

Narrator: Have the team
found tutankhamun's name...

Or have they found
ancient graffiti?

375 miles north in saqqara.

Nozomu hunts for the
tombs of tutankhahun's

Inner circle of advisors.

His team is excavating what
nozomu hopes is a tomb from

The time of tutankhamun.

If he is right,
it will be the discovery of his career.

And just yards away,
outside the entrance,

They have a promising discovery.

Nozomu: We found three
mummies this morning.

Narrator: The mummies may reveal
vital clues about the possible tomb.

So nozomu works
with mummy expert,

Professor salima ikram,
to decode what they could be.

Salima: And the first thing
to look at is this mummy.

It's really very lovely.

It's not oriented in the
same way as the other ones.

Narrator: At this site,
most of the mummies heads

Point to the south.

This mummy's head,
points to the north.

Salima: Oh!

And now we know why,
because if you see here,

You've got this band, this tape with
these two red strips on either side,

And this is very typical
of the coptic period.

Narrator: The coptic period
is egypt's era of christianity,

One-and-a-half-thousand years
after the reign of tutankhamun.

But nozomu needs to
know if all the mummies here

Are from this later period.

The clues may be in how
the mummies are prepared.

Long before the
pharaohs of egypt,

Mummies happened naturally
when dead bodies dried up in

The hot egyptian desert.

The early egyptian priests
then started to deliberately

Preserve the bodies of
the dead pharaohs for the

Afterlife, by covering them
with a mixture of salts and

Removing their brains,

Guts and other internal organs.

Mummification grew in
sophistication over centuries,

As priests stuffed the nose
with seeds and replaced

The eyes with onions to
make them even more lifelike.

But after the romans
invaded egypt in 30 bc,

More importance was placed
on the appearance of coffins.

As christianity
spread across egypt,

Mummification became more basic.

Salima has a quick
way to date this mummy.

If the remains are salty,

It means it could be an
early egyptian style burial,

When a lot of salt was
used for preservation.

Salima: Desiccation was minimal,

But it's hard to tell,
because the...

The sand a bit salty.

Nozomu: Yes.

Salima: But,
not enough for it...

Nozomu: Yeah, yeah,
we have crystals.

Salima: To precipitate but,
it wasn't very salted.

Narrator: The lack of salt could mean
this mummy is from the coptic period,

When their simple
mummification process did not

Use as much salt.

Salima: You also in
egypt and at saqqara,

Have a lot of reuse of tombs,

But they don't throw people out,

Because you might
get a curse upon you.

Narrator: This mummy shows
that the saqqara necropolis

Was used all the way from
the time of king tutankhamun,

Right up until
the coptic period.

But nozomu's potential tomb
appears to be unopened and

There is a chance
the original occupant,

Possibly from
tutankhamun's reign,

Is still there.

Getting inside however
is a huge challenge.

Narrator: The ceiling is
incredibly fragile and the

Team worry it will collapse.

Nozomu: If the humidity raises
it's not good for the structure.

Narrator: If they put
one foot out of place,

The tunnel might
collapse on their heads.

Narrator: In the lab of the new
grand egyptian museum in cairo,

An army of specialists are
working around the clock

To investigate and preserve
tutankhamun's treasures.

All 5,398 are set
to go on display,

Including a 3,300
year old chair,

Once used by the boy king.

It's down to ahmed
el sheikha to restore it,

Ready for museum visitors.

Narrator: But all
tutankhamun's treasures were

Almost lost forever.

When howard carter
discovered the tomb,

100 years ago,

He found it had been
broken into long before,

But why did those
first tomb raiders leave

So much treasure behind?

The robbers may have been
the tomb builders themselves,

Breaking in soon
after sealing the tomb.

They stole as much
as they could carry.

The theft was discovered
and the shaft was filled

With limestone chippings.

But a second gang of
robbers dug through the

Rubble and carried
away more of the riches.

Then a flash flood dumped
a thick layer of rocks over

Tutankhamun's tomb,

Protecting it for nearly three
and a half thousand years.

In the lab,
ahmed is trying to save a chair,

Once sat in by tutankhamun
and he's discovered it's

Made from a very
fragile material.

Narrator: After howard carter's
team excavated these artifacts,

They hoped to prevent decay,

By coating them
with paraffin wax.

Narrator: 100 years on,

The once soft wax has
hardened and the papyrus

Is starting to snap.

Tutankhamun's ancient chair
could break at any moment.

Ahmed must act quickly to
save this priceless artifact,

But he faces a problem.

Narrator: The wax has
made the papyrus brittle.

To save the chair,

Ahmed must carefully
remove the wax with a scalpel,

But time is not on his side.

Narrator: It's a
painstaking task,

But without the museums
army of specialists,

These artifacts would
eventually disintegrate,

And the treasures of
tutankhamun would be lost

Again and this time, forever.

400 miles south
in gebel el-silsila.

Nils: This was
not done in haste.

Maria: No.

Narrator: Maria and
nils think they have found

Tutankhamun's name
carved into the quarry face.

Maria: I find it intriguing.

Narrator: But the spelling
mistake has thrown the find

Into doubt.

Maria: If nils can confirm,
then it is like a claim that

Says that this quarry was used
during the time of tutankhamun.

Nils: It's made in the size
that it actually should be seen.

This is official.

Narrator: Nils and maria are
now convinced tutankhamun's

Name was inscribed
here officially.

It is vital evidence
he used the quarry.

John: Just take this
little bit here and just give

A sweep and see what we got.

Narrator: John looks for
flashes of distinctive blue pottery,

Pottery made in
tutankhamun's reign.

John: Start in this area here.

Narrator: With this,
he hopes to find a second way

To date the site and prove
this settlement was used by

Tutankhamun's quarry workers.

John: This is better,
the smaller fragments is exactly

What I'm after.

Heavy foot traffic within
the encampment itself,

Showing that people
were coming and going.

Narrator: John has found
small bits of broken pottery,

Suggesting people
once lived here,

But not the tell-tale
tutankhamun blue pottery.

Maria: Where? Okay,
hold on, follow, go, go!

Narrator: But they do
find something astonishing.

John: My heart is pumping yeah!

It's pumping.

Narrator: A rare amulet
shaped like a scarab beetle.

Maria: Now,
the reason why we are excited about

Scarabs is of course that if you turn
them and we got an imprint on them,

Then that can
give us a firm date.

Narrator: The scarab
beetle represented rebirth,

So the ancient egyptians made
scarab shaped amulets as lucky charms.

They were made from stone,
metal or even precious gems.

John: This is
what it's all about.

Narrator: Scarabs were
often inscribed with a depiction

Or name of a god.

The identity of the
god could help date it.

John: Oh. Are you ready?

I'm gonna let you see it first.

Maria: Okay, it's got a god.

John: Okay. I gotta see it now!

Yeah! Oh wow!

Narrator: Can the scarab help
prove this is tutankhamun's quarry?

On the ancient scarab.

John: We got a bit of
glyph. Bit of glyph at the top.

Oh.

Narrator: They hope it can
help them prove tutankhamun's

Quarry workers once lived here.

Maria: Probably horus,
so it lies quite nicely in

The time frame of tutankhamun.

Look above us.

Horus comes
flying as we find it.

Narrator: An engraving
of an ancient egyptian god,

Horus, could place the
scarab in tutankhamun's reign.

His rule brought with it
religious transformation.

Tutankhamun's father,
the pharaoh akhenaten abandoned

Egypt's old gods and decreed
the worship of just one god,

The sun god.

But at the age of nine,
tutankhamun became one of the

Youngest pharaohs ever.

He abolished the worship
of a single sun god and

Reinstated all the old egyptian gods,
like horus,

Under the rule of
their king god amun.

Maria and john's discovery
of the sky god horus here

Is a clue the site dates
to tutankhamun's time.

Maria: It is a great find.

Can it get any better?

Narrator: But maria and john
need absolute proof this is a

Tutankhamun site and continue
their search for the tell-tale clue,

Tutankhamun's distinctive
style of blue pottery.

40 miles south in aswan,

Alejandro is back on site.

He's hoping to discover
more about the family of

Governor sarenput ii.

Alejandro's team has now
excavated the discovered tomb

And he can
investigate it properly.

The craftsmanship and
location of the rock cut tomb

Suggests this is the
burial chamber of the elite.

But there is no mummy.

However,
there are clues to who could have

Been buried inside.

Alejandro: These are the
only remains that we found.

Narrator: The team finds
fragments at the bottom of the

Tomb that may hold the key.

These wooden shards
are what's left of a coffin,

But alejandro discovers
unusual markings on them.

Alejandro: I have just noticed
the presence of a couple of eyes.

Here we have one
eye and another eye.

Narrator: These
eyes are 'wedjat' eyes,

Meant to let the dead see
outside the coffin and they

Normally match exactly
the size of the body inside.

The small size and shape of
the eyes tells alejandro who

Possibly occupied the tomb.

Alejandro: This is
a coffin of a child.

Very, very young,
I would say, almost a baby.

Narrator: With no more
artifacts and without an

Inscription to decipher,
alejandro will never know the

Name of the tomb's owner,

But he can still
decode more clues.

Alejandro: Just from the
colors and the type of wood,

This coffin was prepared
for a member of the elite.

Narrator: Alejandro is closer to
finding more of this powerful family.

His search for the governing
rulers of aswan and the pharaohs'

Most trusted subjects continues.

Alejandro: We do not have
here tutankhamun but we

Have some information
which is in the end

What we are looking for.

Narrator: 400 miles north.

In the labs of the
grand egyptian museum.

(speaking in native language).

Narrator: Ahmed is working on one
of tutankhamun's greatest treasures,

A golden processional chariot.

But like many of tutankhamun's
treasures found by howard carter,

It has also been
preserved in wax.

Ahmed needs to
remove all the wax,

But it has hardened to a
brittle and precarious condition.

The delicate gold layer beneath
makes this a precarious task.

Narrator: The task falls to
conservation expert ahmed.

He must make a special
cleaning gel using ethanol

Acetate and white spirit.

The slightest error
in the solution risks

Irreparable damage
to the precious chariot.

Narrator: What should
look like a thick gel,

Has come out as
a watery solution,

Which could loosen
more than just the wax.

Narrator: Ahmed cannot
risk damaging the chariot.

All hopes are on
the second batch.

Narrator: It's a
nerve jangling wait.

If ahmed's got the mix wrong,

It could strip the gold
from tutankhamun's chariot.

Tes,

It's the moment
of truth for ahmed.

Has the cleaning solution
worked or has it caused

Irreparable damage
to the priceless chariot?

Narrator: Now,
with a working solution,

Ahmed and the team will be
able to restore the chariot to

Sit proudly alongside
tutankhamun's other treasures...

Almost 400 miles
south in gebel el-silsila.

John and maria search for
blue decorated pottery from

Tutankhamun's reign.

(speaking in native language).

(exclaims).

Narrator: One of the workers spots
a flash of blue in the golden sand.

John: You are about to make me a very,
very happy man, ooh.

Absolutely beautiful.

Both me and maria have always said
that this is the quarries of tutankhamun,

But we've never had the proof,
until now.

Narrator: Maria takes a
look to check for certain if it is

From the time of tutankhamun.

Maria: I would place these
in the tutankhamun period.

Blue signify royalty,
the gods as well.

Blue is a very rare color for
them to find and work with.

They do indicate that our
worker's village is from the

Time of tutankhamun.

John: Couldn't have wished
for a better piece of evidence.

Excellent.

Narrator: John and maria
have the evidence they need.

They think they can prove this
is the quarry of tutankhamun.

375 miles north in saqqara.

It's nozomu's life's work
to prove tutankhamun's

Inner circle of elite
are buried here.

After three weeks he's
discovered the entrance

To a tomb and now
it's the moment of truth.

Narrator: If the ceiling collapses,
it could be fatal.

But to see what's in there,
someone will have to crawl

Down the long
corridor inside the tomb.

Narrator: Despite the fragile
roof and the danger of collapse,

One of nozomu's team
crawls deeper into the tomb.

The risk is worth it.

Archaeological treasures
are everywhere he looks.

Narrator: The team need
to reinforce the ceiling before

They can all venture inside and
truly examine what they have found.

Narrator: Nozomu's team will
be back to uncover more of the

Plateau's secrets next
year and see if the elite of

Tutankhamun are hidden below.

In the meantime,
nozomu must brick up the entrance to

Protect the treasures inside.

Nozomu: I'm gonna dedicate to
excavate here the rest of my life.

You know,
this is just the beginning you know.

Narrator: Almost
three-and-a-half-thousand years

After his death and 100
years after his rediscovery,

Tutankhamun continues
to beguile and fascinate.

Inspiring archaeologists from
all over the world to come to egypt

For the chance to add their
names to history and find

Their own lost treasures.