"Lost Treasures of Egypt" (2019–2020): Season 3, Episode 2 - Legend of the Pyramid Kings - full transcript

(overlapping chatter)

NARRATOR: In Egypt's
ancient sandstone quarries,

archeologists search
for traces of mighty Pharaohs.

WORKERS: Yeah!

NARRATOR: The Holy Grail is
hieroglyphs that shed light

on the mysterious kings
who built the pyramids.

We've got hieroglyphs.

JOHN: Oh!

MARIA: Oh, this is wonderful.

JOHN: Look at that!

NARRATOR: The pyramids of Giza,



ancient Egypt's most iconic monuments.

Egyptian civilization
spanned nearly 3,000 years.

But their great age of pyramid-building

lasted just over four centuries.

Some 20 huge pyramids date from this time,

concentrated on the desert plateaus
of the Nile's west bank,

each built
to house the body of a mighty pharaoh.

Now, archeologists across Egypt
are trying to unlock

the secrets
of who these mysterious kings were,

how they persuaded the people of Egypt
to build their giant monuments,

and how they influenced pharaohs
for thousands of years after they died.

Thirty years ago, American Egyptologist,
Steve Harvey,

excavated the very last pyramid
built by an Egyptian king.

He has spent a career
exploring these royal monuments.



Today he's come
to the most famous one of all,

to investigate the legendary pharaoh

who built it 4,500 years ago.

STEPHEN: The Great Pyramid
of Khufu here at Giza

is the culmination of hundreds of years
of trial and error in pyramid building,

but it's not only the perfect shape,

it's the largest ever built,
and it's never surpassed.

NARRATOR: The Great Pyramid
was a fortress

designed to protect the pharaoh's tomb.

Twenty-four feet off center, the entrance
would have been tricky to find.

At the top of a 130 foot passage,

a pulley system of ropes
dropped three enormous granite slabs,

sealing off the entrance
to the burial chamber.

Next, three giant blocks
slid down the shaft,

closing off a grand staircase.

This pyramid was a masterpiece
of engineering.

Capped with a layer
of flawless white limestone,

it was an unmistakable symbol
of the pharaoh's supreme authority.

The Great Pyramid was one of the first
true pyramids ever built.

None of the Pyramid Age Kings
that followed Khufu would match it.

The incredible scale of his tomb

suggests Khufu wielded remarkable power,

but very little is known
about the king himself.

Steve has been granted special access

to explore the restricted areas
inside the pyramid,

to hunt for any clues to the life,

and death, of this mysterious pharaoh.

STEPHEN: I'm gonna have
to stop for a minute, guys.

Really is getting dark,
hard to see anything.

It's not meant for coming and going,
that's for sure.

NARRATOR: Steve heads
to the king's burial chamber

at the very heart of the pyramid

where mourners laid the Pharaoh's body
for his eternal rest,

tightly secured
behind giant rock barriers.

The chamber is almost entirely bare.

STEPHEN: Even though
this space was protected by blocking,

it was completely robbed out,

and when archeologists
came to the sarcophagus,

they found nothing inside.

NARRATOR: For Steve,
evidence of the king himself

survives in the only thing
that does remain,

the chamber walls.

STEPHEN: What really excites me
is that you can see

this incredible granite
that's been smoothed to a very high degree

and this one block
is something like 100 tons

brought all the way from Aswan.

This is an exotic stone,
it's not the natural limestone,

so really, we have this amazing box
within this huge mountain of limestone.

NARRATOR: Ancient quarrymen
cut the precious granite in Upper Egypt,

then floated it 600 miles down the Nile.

Khufu spared no expense to ensure
his resurrection to the afterlife,

not as a mortal, but as a God.

Steve heads deeper into the pyramid,

in search of a closed-off second chamber

which legend has it,
Khufu built this to hold his soul.

On the other side of the necropolis,

Archeologist John
Ward has come to Giza

to explore the monuments
of Khufu's dynasty.

He's spent a decade unearthing
the stonework of New Kingdom pharaohs,

who lived 1,000 years
after the Pyramid Age ended.

JOHN: Watch your toes, guys!
Watch your toes!

NARRATOR: His discoveries
include an 11 foot tall Sphinx statue,

a representation
of a God with the body of a lion,

an animal revered by Egyptians
as a symbol of strength.

It echoes the famous giant sculpture
guarding the Giza Pyramids.

John wants to know
what was so special about these kings

that pharaohs 1,000 years later
still mimicked their statues.

These iconic monuments
are just shouting, screaming at us,

power, dominance, control.

I feel like this, I feel so insignificant.

Together these pyramids and the Sphinx

and the temples
create a landscape of power.

NARRATOR: The huge sculpture
protects the necropolis,

a giant symbol of supremacy,

believed by many
to have the face of Khufu's son, Khafre,

owner of Giza's
second largest Pyramid.

Despite many visits here,
John has never been up close.

Today, he's been granted special access
to explore its enclosure.

JOHN: It's absolutely inspiring
I mean it's just, jaw dropping.

I've waited 50 years to be here

and now I'm here, it's just, wow.

NARRATOR: Sixty-six feet high,
the Sphinx gazes east,

toward the rising sun.

JOHN: I know what it's like
to work with the living rock

and how to carve it.

This would have been
a monumental challenge.

They only had copper chisels,
wooden mallets,

it would have been a harsh environment,

this dust would have been everywhere

and yet the workmen,
the craftsmen, the masons,

they were all willing participants
loyal to Pharaoh.

NARRATOR: It would have taken
thousands of people,

decades to construct
the epic monuments of Giza,

but there's no evidence the pharaohs
enslaved people to build them.

They didn't draw their power
over the people from force.

John believes what stood these kings
apart was that they inspired devotion.

JOHN: The sheer volume of stone
that has gone into building this

and each individual block,

represents the loyalty
that they had for Pharaoh.

NARRATOR: The huge monuments
of Giza represent the peak

of the Pyramid Age.

So why was nothing built
on this scale again?

At the height of Khufu's reign,

reliable seasonal rains fed the crops
that ensured Egypt's prosperity.

For three months every year,

the Nile flooded
and inundated the farmland,

so farmers couldn't work the fields.

The farmers were free to help
build the king's enormous tomb.

They believed he kept the Gods content
and the country fed.

But soon after Khufu
completed his pyramid,

Egypt began to suffer drought.

As crop yields crashed,
so did the taxes

coming into the state's treasuries
and despite the free labor,

the Giza monuments
almost bankrupted Egypt.

The people's loyalty began to falter.

The kings' tombs
that followed got smaller

while Khufu's Great Pyramid remained,

dominating the Nile's west bank.

The sheer power that he held.

It's absolutely unbelievable.

NARRATOR: It was a power
his struggling successors

were desperate to replicate.

At Abu Ghurab, Italian archeologist
Massimiliano Nuzzolo

wants to know
how the kings of the Pyramid Age

held on to power as their wealth
and status declined.

He's spent his entire career
trying to understand

a very different monumental structure,

an enigma
whose mysteries captured his imagination

in his very first student course
in Egyptology.

This enormous scatter of ancient rubble
was once a Sun Temple,

dedicated to the most powerful God
of the Pyramid Age.

NUZZOLO: Each king wanted a pyramid
for achieving his resurrection.

But this was not enough for
the fifth dynasty kings.

They wanted something more.

The king built this place
to turn himself into a God.

The sun God.

NARRATOR: The pharaoh, Nyuserra,

didn't just want to become
divine in death.

He built this temple
because he wanted to be worshiped

as a God while he was still alive.

Rising from the desert
was an enormous obelisk,

the centerpiece of the temple.

It was not a traditional stone needle
but shaped more like a pyramid.

Monumental walls enclosed it,
creating a courtyard,

where people could come
to worship the sun.

The temple aligned perfectly
on an east-west axis

with the path of the sun.

So on the Summer Solstice every year,

the sun rose through the entrance,

traveled directly over the obelisk,

and set at the western end.

This alignment is identical
to that of the pyramids.

Records suggest that six
of the pharaohs who followed Khufu

decided to build a Sun Temples
as well as their pyramid

to underline their divine status
to the people of Egypt.

But almost all of these temples are lost.

We know that there were six sun temples

and we actually, so far,
have discovered only two.

NARRATOR: Max hopes excavating
this sun temple will shed light

on these kings' power,
and perhaps help him crack

one of the biggest mysteries
in Egyptology,

and find the other missing sun temples.

The problem is
Max is not the first

to decode this structure's secrets.

Early Egyptologists excavated here
more than 100 years ago

and left a mess of archeological
confusion in their wake.

Well, this find is amazing
because it's a cover of matches

left by the archeologists
during their work.

NARRATOR: Along with their
discarded matchboxes,

early 20th century excavators
left 4,500 year old pottery

scattered across the site.

As you can see here this area
of the temple is full of pot shards.

But unfortunately, this material
is completely useless for us

because it's out of a secure context.

It cannot tell us anything
about the life of the temple.

NARRATOR: If Max can find
undisturbed artifacts,

they might reveal clues
the first archeologists missed.

Even the smallest of finds
could be crucial in the hunt

for the lost Sun Temples
of the Pyramid Age.

NARRATOR: The team is excavating
an area of the Sun Temple

earlier archeologists never touched.

The missing Sun Temples
could hold the secrets

of how the later Pyramid Kings
who followed Khufu held onto power.

Their location remains
one of Egyptology's greatest mysteries.

Untouched pottery here
in Abu Ghurab could help solve it.

Mohamed Osman
is a senior archeologist here.

We think that we found a jar, a beer jar.

NARRATOR: Wheat beer was a major
source of nutrition for ancient Egyptians,

but they used the same ceramic containers
in religious rituals.

If you put it like this, this one.

Yeah, it fits.

NARRATOR: This could be
an offering made in worship of a Pharaoh

or an ancient builder's
discarded lunch!

Even after 4,500 years,

the answer could lie in its contents.

So it seems that it's not an actual
beer jar

there was no actual beer inside.

It was filled with mud
to be used in rituals.

NARRATOR: For Ancient Egyptians,

mud was a symbolic replacement for food,

which they would offer to the Gods.

The jar is buried not far
from a curious row of stone basins.

Max and Mohamed believe
they were all part of an elaborate ritual,

presided over by the pharaoh.

Priests filled the stone basins
with water,

which flowed out
across the temple's limestone floor,

along 28 shallow grooves.

The sacred liquid
washed over jars placed in the channels,

purifying the offerings within.

The priests brought
the symbolic offerings to the altar

and left them to be consecrated
by the sun God's heat and light.

They then climbed through
a passage in the obelisk,

to emerge on the platform,

facing east to bless the rising sun.

The purification basins
have survived 4,500 years intact,

but the floor of Nyuserra's Sun Temple
has disintegrated.

Mohamed and the team
explore underneath its fragmented remains.

Just inches down,
they find a mysterious layer.

What we have here is the foundation
of the stone pavement of the stone temple.

And beneath that, there is an older
structure that used to be here.

We still don't know when exactly
but it was built out of mud bricks.

NARRATOR: Mohamed has found
mud bricks in several places

beneath the Sun Temple floor.

It suggests a large building existed here

before Nyuserra's Sun Temple was built.

If they find evidence that the earlier
mudbrick structure was sacred,

it could even be a missing Sun Temple
of another king of the Pyramid Age.

At Abusir on a desolate plateau

within sight of Max's dig,

are the pyramids of the pharaohs
who built the Sun Temples.

Little more than a century
after Khufu had built his Great Pyramid,

the Egyptian state
was weakened by drought.

The later pharaohs' treasuries
were emptied by the cost

of the previous kings' giant tombs.

We have in front of us a history
of more than 2,000 years

and most of the secrets
of this vast stretch of land

remain, uh, still unlocked.

NARRATOR: Czech archeologist,
Miroslav Barta,

has spent three decades
stripping back the sand

from this necropolis.

Twenty years ago, he pioneered the study
of pyramids as viewed from space.

Today, he's firmly on the ground
in search of the secrets

that explain how the later kings
of the Pyramid Age

clung to power
as their wealth and status drained away.

On this spot in 2018,

he discovered the tomb
of a legendary wiseman, Ka-Irsu.

Ka-Irsu was a powerful
royal court official

and close advisor
to one of the later Pyramid Kings.

As "Overseer of Royal Works,"
he designed the king's pyramid,

and the temples that brought
the pharaoh closer to the Gods.

But he was also the head
of the "House of Life,"

a philosopher bringing the king's message
to the people of Egypt.

His writings preached the importance
of complete loyalty to the pharaoh,

a message that was still being repeated
a 1,000 years later.

Miroslav is digging
in the very heart of the cemetery,

in search of more elite tombs.

He wants to know
how much the later Pyramid Kings relied

on powerful officials, like Ka-Irsu,

to improve their public relations
and promote loyalty.

Test pits have revealed a tomb

right next to the pyramid of Neferikara,
one of the later Pyramid Kings.

It could be exactly what he's looking for.

Only very important persons

most of them coming from the Royal family

could be, or had the privilege,
to be buried here.

NARRATOR: After three weeks of digging,

the team uncovers the exterior structure.

But a crucial clue is missing,
the walls are bare.

Without inscriptions,
Miroslav can't identify the tomb owner.

If he's to uncover the secrets
of the Pyramid Kings' power,

Miroslav will have to dig deeper,

and find the burial chamber.

Archeologist John Ward

has returned to the ancient quarry
of Gebel El-Silsila,

to join the Director of the Swedish
Archeological Mission,

his wife, Maria Nilsson.

Last season, they excavated
an incredible monument,

a Sphinx similar in form
to the Great Sphinx at Giza.

This year, Maria and John
want to investigate the connection

between the kings who built
the mighty monuments at Giza

and the pharaohs who carved out
Sphinxes 1,000 years later.

MARIA: Are you ready
for some more fun, Carter?

NARRATOR: They believe the site
still hides stone monuments

that could reveal the Great Pyramid Kings'
impact on Egyptian history.

A large pile of rock
not far from last season's statue,

is exactly the right size
to hide another Sphinx.

Today, they're going to try and dig it up,

but they're making a slow start.

JOHN: It's now coming up ten to eight,
and I've got absolutely no men here.

(shouting)

NARRATOR: Maria and John have just
under five hours digging time

to move hundreds of wheelbarrows
full of stone.

JOHN: My hypothesis is that we've got
another sphinx underneath.

NARRATOR: But the team
cannot afford to rush,

as they dig out
the mountain of loose rock.

JOHN: It's unstable spoil,
and if that came down on you,

then you're just-- you're just buried.

NARRATOR: With time already against them,

the operation is a fine balance
between reward and risk.

JOHN: Be careful, boys, be careful.

NARRATOR: At Abusir,
in between the pyramids

Miroslav's team has reached
the bottom of the burial shaft.

The chamber below
could contain the body

of a high-ranking member
of a pharaoh's court.

Two years ago, he discovered the tomb
of a wiseman called Ka-Irsu,

an official whose job
was to promote loyalty

to the king among the people of Egypt.

But was Ka-Irsu a one of, or did
all the later kings of the Pyramid Age

have a dedicated official
to help them cling to power?

(in native language)
Where are the lights, Osama?

(in English) So here we are.

NARRATOR: It's clear
that ancient robbers have ransacked

the tomb of treasures.

But though the tomb's been looted,

it may still contain evidence
of how the Pyramid Kings

held their power over Egypt,
even as their wealth declined.

The state of the sarcophagus
confirms Miroslav's fears,

the robbers did a thorough job.

They just set up fire

on the corner of the lid

then splashed it with water

so that the limestone
started to break into pieces.

Lifted the lid, grabbed the mummy,

pulled it out and searched it
for small valuables.

That's how he ended up his journey.

Sad story.

NARRATOR: The mummy may be destroyed,

but Miroslav's team
has alerted him to some faint red markings

on the back of the sarcophagus.

It's a crucial clue.

It could be the one piece
of information he needs

to identify the owner.

So here it is.

The only clue as to his identity
and social standing here.

NARRATOR: Was he, like Ka-Irsu,
an official propping up

a weakened Pyramid King?

The script is too degraded
to read with the naked eye,

but to an Egyptologist,
the general message is clear.

Here we have the name

and we have the principal title.

NARRATOR: A title
means the man was important.

He had a role
in the Pharaoh's court, but what?

Miroslav can't brush the dust
off the inscription

in case the paint flakes away.

Instead, he takes
high-resolution photographs

of every character.

We will use special filters,
software filters.

Um, we do...

general shots

and then we do details.

NARRATOR: Miroslav must now
process the images and determine

if enough detail survives
to read the script.

The signs are promising.

We are good, we are happy.

We can have no doubts
about the social standing of the guy.

NARRATOR: This man was honored
with a burial amongst the pharaohs.

So, could he have played
a role in consolidating

the ailing Pyramid Kings' power?

To find out, Miroslav must decipher
exactly what his titles were.

NARRATOR: In Abu Ghurab
Max and Mohamed's investigation

has thrown up surprising evidence
beneath Nyuserra's Sun Temple.

The mud brick structure
below its foundations,

could help them find
the lost sun temples

built by the later Pyramid Kings.

It's a delicate task, just identifying
the 4,500 year old bricks,

relies on technique
honed through years of experience.

MOHAMED: Finding mud bricks
is not an easy thing.

As it is actually buried in the same
material, the mud.

So the archaeologist
has to listen to the sound of the metal

because they really can recognize it only
by listening to the trowel.

So, uh, it's an amazing thing,
it's an amazing skill.

NARRATOR: They've uncovered
bricks all over the site.

It suggests this older mud structure
is far larger than expected.

At the edge of the site, the team foreman,

Reis Khaled, makes a discovery.

NUZZOLO:
We are cleaning this area where we found

a base of a column
which is pretty unexpected

because it was never found before

in previous excavation.

NARRATOR: It's a huge breakthrough,

a column could be evidence
that the mudbrick structure

had a grand entrance made of stone.

It's a really white,
high quality of white limestone

that means of course that the building
was quite impressive.

NARRATOR: The column base
goes down more than two feet,

suggesting it must have supported
a huge entrance arch.

I'm really excited
because we knew that there was something

below the stone temple of Nyuserra

but we don't know now if it is just
another building phase of the same temple

or if it is a new building.

Actually the fact that there
is such a huge monumental entrance

would point to a new building.

So why not another sun temple,
one of the missing four sun temples?

NARRATOR: If there is a lost
Sun Temple underneath

Nyuserra's Sun Temple,
it would be a career-defining discovery

for both Max and Mohamed.

This makes me feel excited
and also confused.

Uh, and a little bit frustrated
because, um,

what I would like to do now is actually
to dismantle the stone floor of Nyuserra

and go down to the next level

where I can find
the rest of the architecture.

NARRATOR: To prove the huge
mudbrick structure

is one of the legendary lost Sun Temples
of the later Pyramid Kings,

they still need more evidence.

On the Giza plateau
Egyptologist Steve Harvey

is trying to reach
a mysterious second chamber

in the heart
of Pharaoh Khufu's Great Pyramid.

STEPHEN: Oh, it's difficult.

NARRATOR: He's hunting
for clues to the mysterious

king's life, and death.

But deep in the Pyramid,
the tunnels get tighter

and more treacherous.

STEPHEN: What happened there?

(in native language)
There's no light at all!

STEPHEN: (in English)
I guess the power went out.

NARRATOR: In an ancient tunnel
riddled with pits,

the lack of light is a real threat.

STEPHEN: The echo and the dark
certainly really reinforce

the fact you're in a hidden tomb.

NARRATOR: At the bottom
of a tunnel

little more than three feet square,
Steve finds the second chamber.

It's extraordinary.

Just huge ceiling with this vault.

You almost feel the weight of millions
of tons of stones above you.

NARRATOR: Like Khufu's burial chamber,

archeologists found this room
entirely bare.

It was designed with a niche

believed to hold the giant statue
that housed Khufu's soul.

Even this stood empty.

But when archeologists explored
the finely polished walls,

they found small, secret passages
that led out from the chamber.

STEPHEN: These are really
interesting features,

kind of mysterious features.

They go all the way to the exterior of the
pyramid and head up towards the sky,

so what's most likely is that they have

some kind of symbolic connection
to the night sky and to the stars.

NARRATOR: Ancient Egyptians
were dedicated astronomers,

who religiously
charted the movements of the night sky.

Priests particularly
revered two bright stars,

ever-present in the north,

whose permanence
they associated with eternal life.

Khufu aligned his pyramid
directly with these stars,

believing that's where the Gods resided.

He may have built the shafts
to allow his soul to rise

to the heavens to join the ever-present
stars and become a God.

What still confounds archeologists,

is the Pharaoh's final mystery.

He didn't leave a single inscription
to celebrate his life.

They haven't decorated
with images,

they haven't put hieroglyphs
on the wall and that's a choice

and a decision they made.

And we have to think about why.

NARRATOR: The greatest Pyramid King
left no lasting clue to his life,

except his giant monument.

His plan was to put life behind him
and become a God in death.

The weaker Pyramid Kings who followed him
wanted more.

They needed the power of the Gods in life.

NARRATOR: At Abu Ghurab, Max
and Mohamed are uncovering a vast mudbrick

structure beneath the foundations
of the Pharaoh Nyuserra's Sun Temple.

It might be small steps going up.

NARRATOR: If it is one of the four
legendary missing Sun Temples,

it could help Max explain
how the struggling Pyramid Kings

held on to power
as their status began to fade.

But he needs evidence
that the building was sacred.

In the northeast corner
of the mudbrick structure,

workers unearth an astonishing find.

This is a huge accumulation of beer jars

which we found on the wall.

On the main enclosure wall

of the previous mud brick building.

Completely preserved.

NARRATOR: They delicately brush
the pottery to free the jars

from the surrounding earth.

It's heavy

and intact

and full of mud.

NARRATOR: Ancient priests used jars
full of mud as ritual offerings,

so these could be proof
this structure was a sacred temple.

You think they were all deposited?

I think they were deposited
and also very, like, carefully laid.

The deposit might reflect some respect

to the older building
that used to be here.

NARRATOR: Even single ritual
offerings in the foundations

of such old buildings are incredibly rare.

This is a huge cache.

Every time we remove a full jar,
we find another one.

NARRATOR: For Max, they're crucial.

They show the mudbrick building
was a religious site.

MOHAMED: Very exciting moment,
very exciting moment.

I'm pretty sure
that what we're excavating here

is a previous sun temple

on which Nyuserra built
his own new sun temple.

NARRATOR: By building on top
of a previous king's temple,

Nyuserra was making his Sun Temple
all the more sacred.

Max's decade-long search
has finally born fruit.

You have to imagine that a few years ago
when we arrived here for the first time

all this area was completely covered,
nothing was visible.

I have now many proofs
that what we are excavating here

is one of the lost sun temples.

NARRATOR: It's a huge discovery
and unlocks a new chapter

in the story of the kings
of the Pyramid Age.

The Pharaohs who followed Khufu
were weak shadows of the man

who built the Great Pyramid.

But whichever king built
this newly discovered Sun Temple,

did something Khufu did not,
he ensured he was worshiped

as the offspring of the sun God
while he was still alive.

His Pyramid may not have rivaled Khufu's,

but with his Sun Temple,
he claimed the power of a living God.

In the quarry at Gebel El-Silsila

Maria and John
are searching for a new Sphinx

to match the statue
they unearthed last season.

They're trying to understand the link

between the legendary
Pyramid Kings of Giza,

and the pharaohs
who ruled 1,000 years after.

JOHN: As a symbol of power,
the Sphinx is everything.

And when I look at the sphinx,
I can put myself

into-- into the sandals of the craftsman
chiseling this one away.

And he did it for the love of Pharaoh.

NARRATOR: John's team
strips away the top of a rockpile

beneath a quarried pillar of stone.

JOHN: We're gonna clear
this area, level off,

we'll keep on cutting into the sand
because there's a lot of sand here.

NARRATOR: The mound of spoil
has a core of ancient sand.

For John, it suggests
the pile could hide another find,

perhaps a sphinx.

JOHN: What happens is when sand
is blown in as you can see now

the wind is blowing,

coming from the north
and when it hits something,

of course, it starts to build up
and build up and build up,

and that's what we've got here.

NARRATOR: Just moments
after exposing the sand beneath the spoil,

the team hits something solid.

- (speaking in native language)
- MAN: Yeah!

(speaking in native language)

JOHN: It's always the sand.

Wherever there's a sand build-up.

You always guarantee
there's something there.

NARRATOR: The team delicately
works around the chunk of stone.

It could be a Sphinx,
or a precious part of another monument.

JOHN: One has to be patient,
that's archeology at the end of the day,

we don't rush things, it's not a race,

there's no reward for coming first.

MARIA: Isn't there?

We race to learn!

Knowledge is the key.

NARRATOR: In the field lab,
near the necropolis of Abusir...

Miroslav's computer software
has sharpened the script

from the high official's tomb.

The inscriptions should tell him
the tomb owner's name and titles.

If he played the same role
as the wiseman Ka-Irsu,

it could prove he was not unique,

and that other kings of the Pyramid Age
also depended

on their officials
to maintain the people's loyalty.

It's actually, um, a great result
because we have

two very important titles of the owner

and we have his full name
so we can congratulate ourselves.

We were extremely lucky, we have it.

We have the full story.

NARRATOR: In Ancient Egypt,
having a title meant power,

and sometimes, access to the pharaoh.

The inscription opens
with a very strange title.

The one with wonderful arm.

We understand what it says

but we have no idea, simply,
what it meant.

Followed by another
very important ranking title in this case.

Semer Wah'ty, "the only friend"
or the "sole friend of the king."

And then the name, the personal name
of the tomb owner which reads as Ka-Ires.

Ka-Ires.

NARRATOR: For Miroslav,
it's a highly significant combination.

Not only was the tomb owner
a close confidant of the Pyramid King,

but his name is similar
in form to the legendary wiseman,

Ka-Irsu, whose teachings of loyalty
to the pharaoh lasted 1,000 years.

Miroslav believes the owner of the new
tomb must be a direct descendant.

If so, Ka-Ires may have had the same role
in the royal court,

spreading word of the pharaoh's power.

It's a very rare opportunity
to really get in touch

with somebody
who was venerated for centuries, you know.

Now we can say that we've got at least

two generations of this famous sage.

So this is quite a feat.

NARRATOR: The pharaohs who followed Khufu
may not have had his wealth,

but they masterminded ways
to bolster their fragile power.

They used officials to promote loyalty,

and they cast themselves as living Gods.

So what legacy did they leave
to the Pharaohs 1,000 years later?

At Gebel El-Silsila...

Just a few feet
from an unfinished sphinx statue,

Maria and John's search
for more buried monuments

has turned up a stone,
embedded in windblown sand.

They hope it will reveal clues
to the legacy of the Pyramid Kings.

JOHN: It's nicely in the sand so the sand
is always a nice indication.

NARRATOR: The flat edges and sharp corners
suggest it's not another sphinx.

But it could be something even better.

MARIA: We got hieroglyphs.

JOHN: Oh!

NARRATOR: An inscribed stone
could reveal

more about the pharaoh
who carved the sphinx out of this quarry.

MARIA: Oh this is wonderful.

JOHN: Look at that.

NARRATOR: Decorated with engravings,

the block appears
to be a missing piece of a monument

John and Maria have been trying
to piece together for nearly a decade,

a shrine to the, New Kingdom pharaoh
who owned this quarry,

Amenhotep III.

JOHN: This really is beautiful.

We've worked with this monument for
years and when you find a piece like this,

it just... it makes your heart go.

MARIA: This is the crowning detail,

it makes it all worth it, the-- the sweat,
the-- the tears, the-- the hassle.

NARRATOR: As the crew begins the clean-up

after five solid hours
of digging in the sun,

Maria and John
begin to analyze their discovery.

MARIA: Well, I have to say
that with or without sphinx,

this has made my day.

It says the "great God,
and then you've got the son of Ra".

It is a real statement

- that Amenhotep III was the living God.
- Hmm.

NARRATOR: The shrine
stood above Amenhotep's quarry,

proclaiming him offspring of the Sun God,

exactly as the later
Pyramid Kings had done

to rescue their status as supreme rulers.

MARIA: By claiming to be the great God,
and the son of Ra,

the sun disk,
Amenhotep III is following a tradition

all the way back
from the great pyramid builders.

I love it.

JOHN: It's a major part of the jigsaw.

It's history. Wonderful.

NARRATOR: By carving sphinxes
and inscribing monuments

with statements of divine power,

Amenhotep III connected himself

to his predecessors
who claimed to be Gods on earth,

The Pyramid Kings.

Every season, archeologists draw these

ancient pharaohs further out
from the shadows of history.

Mysterious figures,

whose power rested not on force,
but devotion.

Their officials
promoted loyalty through teachings

that echoed down through the ages.

And their temples
helped cast them as divine descendants

of the life-giving God of the sun,
but they couldn't hold on forever.

Five hundred years
after they built the first pyramids,

Pyramid Age civilization collapsed.

When Egypt rose again,

the Pyramid Kings' extraordinary
monuments remained,

their ideas survived,

and their legacy inspired pharaohs
a 1,000 years later.