1
00:00:02,200 --> 00:00:06,066
-High in the cliffs near Luxor
lies a mysterious mass grave.

2
00:00:06,100 --> 00:00:08,633
-Filled with bodies.
Wow.

3
00:00:08,666 --> 00:00:10,200
What a nice foot.

4
00:00:10,233 --> 00:00:11,833
-Who were these people?

5
00:00:11,866 --> 00:00:14,300
-Generally, you don't get
mass graves in Ancient Egypt.

6
00:00:14,333 --> 00:00:15,800
It's a very rare thing.

7
00:00:15,833 --> 00:00:17,600
-And how did they end up here?

8
00:00:17,633 --> 00:00:21,200
-Something like a mace struck
him on the side of the head.

9
00:00:21,233 --> 00:00:24,800
These people have died
bloody fearsome deaths.

10
00:00:24,833 --> 00:00:27,233
[ Suspenseful music plays ]

11
00:00:27,266 --> 00:00:31,200
-Now, archaeologists and
scientists from around the world

12
00:00:31,233 --> 00:00:32,933
scour through the sands

13
00:00:32,966 --> 00:00:36,933
in search of clues
to solve this mystery.

14
00:00:36,966 --> 00:00:39,366
-It's great. For me, it's great
because it's the first time

15
00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:41,233
for me to get
inside this pyramid.

16
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Really exciting.

17
00:00:42,766 --> 00:00:45,500
-From the Great Pyramids at Giza

18
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[ Wind whipping ]
to the glaciers

19
00:00:46,600 --> 00:00:48,033
of Mount Kilimanjaro...

20
00:00:48,066 --> 00:00:50,133
-The fact that the pyramid
was robbed

21
00:00:50,166 --> 00:00:53,200
means the government
was losing control.

22
00:00:53,233 --> 00:00:55,733
-...a series
of political crises...

23
00:00:55,766 --> 00:00:59,266
-Setting fire to a temple,
a sacred place

24
00:00:59,300 --> 00:01:04,100
belonging to the king shows
a direct attack against Pharaoh.

25
00:01:04,133 --> 00:01:06,600
-...and environmental
catastrophes...

26
00:01:06,633 --> 00:01:08,300
-This represents
a major drought.

27
00:01:08,333 --> 00:01:12,000
-...plunged Egypt and its people
into anarchy...

28
00:01:12,033 --> 00:01:14,166
-If anything goes wrong
with the Nile,

29
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then it would be
famine and chaos.

30
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-...and triggered
a dramatic civil war

31
00:01:19,366 --> 00:01:22,733
which would last
almost 150 years.

32
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Were these mysterious bodies
casualties of this war?

33
00:01:26,533 --> 00:01:30,100
If so, who were they
fighting for?

34
00:01:30,133 --> 00:01:33,200
"Egypt's Darkest Hour."

35
00:01:33,233 --> 00:01:34,633
[ Suspenseful chords striking ]

36
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♪♪

37
00:01:41,266 --> 00:01:43,733
[ Suspenseful music plays ]

38
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♪♪

39
00:01:52,233 --> 00:01:55,766
♪♪

40
00:01:55,800 --> 00:01:59,566
-The desert cliffs of Luxor,
in Southern Egypt...

41
00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:00,700
-[laughing]
As-salamu alaykum.

42
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-...are home
to an exceptional tomb.

43
00:02:03,300 --> 00:02:05,533
♪♪

44
00:02:05,566 --> 00:02:08,366
Dating back more
than 4,000 years,

45
00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:12,900
long before Cleopatra,
before Tutankhamun and Ramses,

46
00:02:12,933 --> 00:02:15,566
it's a rare mass grave.

47
00:02:15,600 --> 00:02:19,466
First discovered in 1923,
it was sealed off

48
00:02:19,500 --> 00:02:22,366
and very few people
have entered since.

49
00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:26,300
But, today, this unique grave
is being opened

50
00:02:26,333 --> 00:02:28,500
for archaeologist Salima Ikram.

51
00:02:28,533 --> 00:02:31,533
-It's amazing to be able
to go into this tomb.

52
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It's a huge privilege.

53
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No one's been allowed
to go in for a long time

54
00:02:35,300 --> 00:02:38,633
and I've always wanted to go in
since I was a baby Egyptologist,

55
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so this is a real treat.

56
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♪♪

57
00:02:42,633 --> 00:02:45,600
-Little is known
about this burial site

58
00:02:45,633 --> 00:02:50,166
and Salima wants to find out
who is inside, and why.

59
00:02:50,200 --> 00:02:51,766
-Door's open,
but we have to wait

60
00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:53,333
for the air to clear a bit.

61
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There's still a lot of dust
and there's still a lot of

62
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dead stuff.

63
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♪♪

64
00:02:59,633 --> 00:03:01,333
[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

65
00:03:01,366 --> 00:03:03,400
♪♪



66
00:03:08,589 --> 00:03:10,255
Finally, we can really go in

67
00:03:10,324 --> 00:03:12,658
and see this tomb
for the first time.

68
00:03:12,726 --> 00:03:18,230
♪♪

69
00:03:18,299 --> 00:03:20,632
<i>Shukran.</i>

70
00:03:20,701 --> 00:03:22,467
Wow!

71
00:03:22,536 --> 00:03:25,070
-Carved out of rock by hand,

72
00:03:25,139 --> 00:03:29,074
the tomb consists of 200 feet
of branching tunnels

73
00:03:29,143 --> 00:03:32,277
that reach back<i> deep</i>
into the cliff.

74
00:03:32,346 --> 00:03:34,413
-It's like a labyrinth in here.

75
00:03:34,481 --> 00:03:35,948
It keeps on going.

76
00:03:36,016 --> 00:03:39,685
There are rooms and twists
and turns and tunnels.

77
00:03:39,753 --> 00:03:41,119
It's fantastic!

78
00:03:41,188 --> 00:03:43,455
♪♪

79
00:03:43,524 --> 00:03:46,425
And it's<i> filled</i> with bodies.

80
00:03:46,493 --> 00:03:48,594
Wow!

81
00:03:48,662 --> 00:03:50,696
And lots of bandages.

82
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♪♪

83
00:03:54,235 --> 00:03:56,034
[ Grunts ]

84
00:03:56,103 --> 00:03:58,203
Here's a shoulder.

85
00:03:58,272 --> 00:03:59,605
You can see the scapula,

86
00:03:59,673 --> 00:04:02,774
a little bit of scapula here,
and here's a humerus.

87
00:04:02,843 --> 00:04:07,279
So, so, it'd sorta be like this.

88
00:04:07,348 --> 00:04:11,416
You can see whoever it was
was taller than I am,

89
00:04:11,485 --> 00:04:14,286
quite robust, probably male.

90
00:04:14,355 --> 00:04:17,189
♪♪

91
00:04:17,258 --> 00:04:19,825
Here, you can see
all the folds of flesh.

92
00:04:19,893 --> 00:04:23,161
♪♪

93
00:04:23,230 --> 00:04:26,365
And over here,
we have someone's leg.

94
00:04:26,433 --> 00:04:28,033
♪♪

95
00:04:28,102 --> 00:04:30,602
All these bandages would've
been wrapped around the bodies,

96
00:04:30,671 --> 00:04:35,140
protecting them,
allegedly, for eternity.

97
00:04:35,209 --> 00:04:38,877
-The tunnels contain the remains
of least 60 people.

98
00:04:38,946 --> 00:04:41,413
♪♪

99
00:04:41,482 --> 00:04:43,282
-Just keeps on going.

100
00:04:43,350 --> 00:04:45,250
♪♪

101
00:04:45,319 --> 00:04:46,251
Oh!

102
00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:48,920
What a nice foot.

103
00:04:48,989 --> 00:04:52,257
Left foot with his
big toe intact.

104
00:04:52,326 --> 00:04:54,826
Small toes have fallen off.

105
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Quite a large foot.

106
00:04:56,530 --> 00:04:58,063
It's probably male.

107
00:04:58,132 --> 00:05:01,667
-To add to the mystery,
<i>all</i> the bodies seem to be male.

108
00:05:01,735 --> 00:05:05,070
<i>-And</i> here's its mate.

109
00:05:05,139 --> 00:05:06,605
They're all intact.

110
00:05:06,674 --> 00:05:08,473
♪♪

111
00:05:08,542 --> 00:05:14,279
-This grave is extremely
unusual for Ancient Egypt.

112
00:05:14,348 --> 00:05:16,848
-There are<i> huge</i> numbers
of bodies in here

113
00:05:16,917 --> 00:05:20,052
and, generally, you don't get
mass graves in Ancient Egypt.

114
00:05:20,120 --> 00:05:24,189
-Normally, Egyptians were buried
alone, or with their family.

115
00:05:24,258 --> 00:05:26,625
-But it's only when you have
plagues or battles,

116
00:05:26,694 --> 00:05:29,528
where you might have
a mass grave, like this one.

117
00:05:29,596 --> 00:05:32,264
It's a very rare thing.

118
00:05:32,333 --> 00:05:35,600
-Can science provide
the identities of these bodies?

119
00:05:35,669 --> 00:05:42,841
♪♪

120
00:05:42,910 --> 00:05:45,243
French archaeologist
Audran Labrousse

121
00:05:45,312 --> 00:05:48,280
is an expert on this period
of Egyptian history,

122
00:05:48,349 --> 00:05:51,216
known as the Old Kingdom.

123
00:05:51,285 --> 00:05:53,318
To find out
who these people were,

124
00:05:53,387 --> 00:05:56,621
he begins with an ancient text.

125
00:05:56,690 --> 00:06:00,392
Written by the poet Ipuwer,
it's thought to describe Egypt

126
00:06:00,461 --> 00:06:03,962
at the time leading up
to the mass burial.

127
00:06:04,031 --> 00:06:06,631
And Ipuwer's poem suggests

128
00:06:06,700 --> 00:06:11,236
something terrible happened
to Egyptian civilization.

129
00:06:11,305 --> 00:06:14,773
-See now, the land
is deprived of kingship.

130
00:06:14,842 --> 00:06:19,344
The king has been robbed,
deposed by beggars.

131
00:06:19,413 --> 00:06:24,116
Every town says,
"Let's expel our rulers."

132
00:06:24,184 --> 00:06:29,588
The people of the land weep
because their enemies

133
00:06:29,656 --> 00:06:34,559
have entered the temple
and burned the images.

134
00:06:34,628 --> 00:06:37,696
Upper Egypt becomes
a wasteland.

135
00:06:37,765 --> 00:06:39,531
♪♪

136
00:06:39,600 --> 00:06:43,668
-According to the text,
Egypt was in total chaos,

137
00:06:43,737 --> 00:06:47,539
which could help explain
the dead in the mass grave.

138
00:06:47,608 --> 00:06:50,942
Some historians doubt
the veracity of Ipuwer's text,

139
00:06:51,011 --> 00:06:54,679
rejecting it as exaggeration
or pure fiction.

140
00:06:54,748 --> 00:06:57,215
However, Audran thinks
there may be some truth

141
00:06:57,284 --> 00:06:59,618
to what the ancient poet wrote.

142
00:06:59,686 --> 00:07:03,388
♪♪

143
00:07:03,457 --> 00:07:06,291
Together with his colleague
Philippe Collombert,

144
00:07:06,360 --> 00:07:09,461
he's come to Saqqara,
where the pharaohs were buried

145
00:07:09,530 --> 00:07:12,164
in their pyramids,
just south of Cairo.

146
00:07:12,232 --> 00:07:15,367
♪♪

147
00:07:15,436 --> 00:07:17,602
Between them,
Audran and Philippe

148
00:07:17,671 --> 00:07:21,807
have spent more than 50 years
studying the pyramids.

149
00:07:21,875 --> 00:07:23,942
Today, they've been
given permission

150
00:07:24,011 --> 00:07:28,079
to open a very special pyramid
they believe contains evidence

151
00:07:28,148 --> 00:07:32,451
explaining why the bodies
were interred in the mass grave.

152
00:07:32,519 --> 00:07:34,052
-We're going now to the pyramid,

153
00:07:34,121 --> 00:07:36,054
the last pyramid,
of the Old Kingdom

154
00:07:36,123 --> 00:07:39,191
and we're quite excited
because we'd like to open it

155
00:07:39,259 --> 00:07:41,293
and to see exactly
what is inside.

156
00:07:41,361 --> 00:07:45,864
♪♪

157
00:07:45,933 --> 00:07:48,366
-It will be very interesting
to get inside the pyramid.

158
00:07:48,435 --> 00:07:50,869
It has been closed for<i> years.</i>

159
00:07:50,938 --> 00:07:53,472
And we have the luck,
the chance, the privilege,

160
00:07:53,540 --> 00:07:55,674
to get to the sarcophagus

161
00:07:55,742 --> 00:07:58,743
and make a<i> complete</i> study
of the monument.

162
00:07:58,812 --> 00:08:01,780
♪♪

163
00:08:01,849 --> 00:08:03,181
-It's just over there.

164
00:08:03,250 --> 00:08:05,250
You can see it
in the background.

165
00:08:05,319 --> 00:08:11,089
♪♪

166
00:08:11,158 --> 00:08:12,757
And here we are.

167
00:08:12,826 --> 00:08:14,493
-Yes, the pyramid.

168
00:08:14,561 --> 00:08:22,033
♪♪

169
00:08:22,102 --> 00:08:26,571
-So here it is and it belongs
to the Pharaoh Pepi II.

170
00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:28,707
-The story of the bones
in the tomb

171
00:08:28,775 --> 00:08:32,310
starts with the end
of Pepi's reign.

172
00:08:32,379 --> 00:08:36,314
Who<i> was</i> Pepi II?

173
00:08:36,383 --> 00:08:41,286
Pepi II came to the throne
around 4,300 years ago,

174
00:08:41,355 --> 00:08:44,022
at the age of just six,

175
00:08:44,091 --> 00:08:47,025
250 years
after the Great Pyramids

176
00:08:47,094 --> 00:08:49,127
and the Sphinx were built.

177
00:08:49,196 --> 00:08:55,100
By this time, the pharaohs had
ruled Egypt for about 700 years.

178
00:08:55,168 --> 00:08:57,669
This great civilization extended

179
00:08:57,738 --> 00:09:01,873
from the Mediterranean to Aswan.

180
00:09:01,942 --> 00:09:06,444
As pharaoh, Pepi was believed
to be the son of a god

181
00:09:06,513 --> 00:09:11,883
and he ruled for at least 60,
some say even 90, years,

182
00:09:11,952 --> 00:09:14,619
the longest reign
in Egyptian history.

183
00:09:14,688 --> 00:09:18,690
♪♪

184
00:09:18,759 --> 00:09:21,159
His long reign gave him
plenty of time

185
00:09:21,228 --> 00:09:23,595
to build a magnificent pyramid.

186
00:09:23,664 --> 00:09:29,601
Its grandeur demonstrates the
extent of his wealth and power.

187
00:09:29,670 --> 00:09:31,770
-The main masonry of the pyramid

188
00:09:31,838 --> 00:09:36,007
is made of small stones
cemented with mud,

189
00:09:36,076 --> 00:09:39,778
as to form a huge staircase
toward the sky.

190
00:09:39,846 --> 00:09:43,248
Against these small stones,
you had a thickness

191
00:09:43,317 --> 00:09:49,988
of about 5 meters
of huge limestones blocks.

192
00:09:50,057 --> 00:09:54,526
-And, finally, on top of this,
the outer layer of the pyramid,

193
00:09:54,595 --> 00:09:58,863
made of the finest, whitest,
limestone in all of Egypt.

194
00:09:58,932 --> 00:10:03,935
-This casing covered the pyramid
on 50 meters high

195
00:10:04,004 --> 00:10:07,706
and a golden top was added.

196
00:10:07,774 --> 00:10:10,809
It must have been
a very impressive monument.

197
00:10:10,877 --> 00:10:15,914
♪♪

198
00:10:15,983 --> 00:10:21,086
-The funerary complex
had a temple dedicated to Pepi

199
00:10:21,154 --> 00:10:24,856
and included small, satellite
pyramids for his spirit

200
00:10:24,925 --> 00:10:30,462
and three medium-sized pyramids
where his wives were entombed.

201
00:10:30,530 --> 00:10:33,665
But this magnificent pyramid
was to be the last

202
00:10:33,734 --> 00:10:35,634
of this golden era.

203
00:10:35,702 --> 00:10:40,438
After Pepi's death,
around 4,200 years ago,

204
00:10:40,507 --> 00:10:45,810
traces of the Old Kingdom
disappear into the sand.

205
00:10:45,879 --> 00:10:49,981
Perhaps the turmoil written
about in Ipuwer's ancient poem

206
00:10:50,050 --> 00:10:51,049
was real.

207
00:10:51,118 --> 00:10:53,418
♪♪

208
00:10:53,487 --> 00:10:56,021
[ Conversing in Arabic ]

209
00:10:56,089 --> 00:10:58,590
Audran and Philippe
are entering the pyramid

210
00:10:58,659 --> 00:11:01,893
to find out what was happening
in Egypt at this time.

211
00:11:01,962 --> 00:11:03,695
-[ Speaking in Arabic ]
-Audran mudir!

212
00:11:03,764 --> 00:11:09,167
[ Conversing in Arabic ]

213
00:11:09,236 --> 00:11:12,437
-But the pyramid isn't giving up
its secrets easily.

214
00:11:12,506 --> 00:11:13,872
-So we're in it now.

215
00:11:13,940 --> 00:11:17,909
We're approaching the entrance
of the Pharaoh Pepi II.

216
00:11:17,978 --> 00:11:19,210
[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

217
00:11:19,279 --> 00:11:21,579
♪♪

218
00:11:21,648 --> 00:11:24,382
-It's taken the workers
more than four<i> days</i>

219
00:11:24,451 --> 00:11:28,219
to dig down through nearly
15 feet of sand.

220
00:11:28,288 --> 00:11:32,857
♪♪

221
00:11:32,926 --> 00:11:35,694
-We are nearly coming
to the end of the work.

222
00:11:35,762 --> 00:11:40,632
We still have some bit of sand
to take out of the entrance

223
00:11:40,701 --> 00:11:42,567
and we will be in it.

224
00:11:42,636 --> 00:11:46,337
-Finally, the sealed entrance
to the pyramid is revealed.

225
00:11:46,406 --> 00:11:47,572
-So, now, we're ready to start.

226
00:11:47,641 --> 00:11:49,741
We're gonna break the cement.

227
00:11:49,810 --> 00:11:53,278
♪♪

228
00:11:53,346 --> 00:11:56,748
-The pyramid was last
studied in the 1930s

229
00:11:56,817 --> 00:12:00,385
and hardly anyone has had the
privilege of entering it since.

230
00:12:00,454 --> 00:12:04,055
♪♪

231
00:12:04,124 --> 00:12:07,726
It is an amazing opportunity
for Audran and Philippe.

232
00:12:07,794 --> 00:12:13,498
♪♪

233
00:12:13,567 --> 00:12:15,834
-It's great. For me, it's great
because it's the first time

234
00:12:15,902 --> 00:12:17,736
for me to get
inside this pyramid.

235
00:12:17,804 --> 00:12:18,870
Really exciting.

236
00:12:18,939 --> 00:12:27,212
♪♪

237
00:12:27,280 --> 00:12:29,948
♪♪

238
00:12:30,016 --> 00:12:32,584
-The passageway descends steeply

239
00:12:32,652 --> 00:12:36,988
and then levels off,
continuing for about 85 feet

240
00:12:37,057 --> 00:12:41,159
directly into the heart
of the pyramid.

241
00:12:41,228 --> 00:12:43,161
-Well, now, we're in the passage

242
00:12:43,230 --> 00:12:45,663
and just leading
to the burial chamber.

243
00:12:55,442 --> 00:13:00,411
-At the very center,
they reach the antechamber,

244
00:13:00,480 --> 00:13:03,248
which then leads
to the burial chamber,

245
00:13:03,316 --> 00:13:06,951
where the pharaoh
was laid to rest.

246
00:13:07,020 --> 00:13:08,486
-[gasp] Ooh la la la.

247
00:13:08,555 --> 00:13:10,855
Pssh!

248
00:13:10,924 --> 00:13:13,725
This is really amazing, amazing.

249
00:13:13,794 --> 00:13:23,201
♪♪

250
00:13:23,270 --> 00:13:33,211
♪♪

251
00:13:33,280 --> 00:13:39,417
♪♪

252
00:13:39,486 --> 00:13:43,188
I'm really amazed by the state
of preservation of this pyramid,

253
00:13:43,256 --> 00:13:47,625
with all these marvelous
texts all around.

254
00:13:47,694 --> 00:13:51,029
It look like the painter
just left yesterday

255
00:13:51,097 --> 00:13:52,997
and we're just
coming afterwards.

256
00:13:53,066 --> 00:13:56,968
You see the green color
and the white surface;

257
00:13:57,037 --> 00:14:00,305
even the line here, the black
line, are still present.

258
00:14:00,373 --> 00:14:04,809
♪♪

259
00:14:04,878 --> 00:14:07,812
And, here,
we have the sarcophagus

260
00:14:07,881 --> 00:14:11,916
with the inscription
with the name of Pepi II.

261
00:14:11,985 --> 00:14:13,351
This sarcophagus
is the master piece

262
00:14:13,420 --> 00:14:15,220
of the Old Kingdom.

263
00:14:15,288 --> 00:14:19,657
It's really huge and
magnificent, really nicely done.

264
00:14:19,726 --> 00:14:24,262
-This massive stone sarcophagus
weighs 11 tons.

265
00:14:24,331 --> 00:14:26,564
-The sarcophagus is made
of a black stone

266
00:14:26,633 --> 00:14:29,767
but you have to imagine
that it was covered of gold.

267
00:14:29,836 --> 00:14:32,604
The inscription was in gold

268
00:14:32,672 --> 00:14:35,907
and inside it was a thick,
gold leaf.

269
00:14:35,976 --> 00:14:39,377
And you have also to imagine
in front of the sarcophagus,

270
00:14:39,446 --> 00:14:42,380
filling the room,
all the golden furniture,

271
00:14:42,449 --> 00:14:47,285
the vases, everything that the
king needed in his afterlife.

272
00:14:47,354 --> 00:14:50,421
-And the walls of the chamber
are covered in hieroglyphs

273
00:14:50,490 --> 00:14:53,191
of ancient Egyptian
religious texts.

274
00:14:53,260 --> 00:14:56,294
♪♪

275
00:14:56,363 --> 00:15:00,164
-All these texts are
ritual texts

276
00:15:00,233 --> 00:15:05,670
for the rebirth of the king
in the afterlife.

277
00:15:05,739 --> 00:15:08,907
-For Audran and Philippe,
the interior of the pyramid

278
00:15:08,975 --> 00:15:12,543
reveals the state of the country
during Pepi's reign

279
00:15:12,612 --> 00:15:16,347
and the events leading
to the mass grave.

280
00:15:16,416 --> 00:15:18,116
-When you see the sarcophagus,

281
00:15:18,184 --> 00:15:22,820
with all these marvelous texts
all around, that shows that,

282
00:15:22,889 --> 00:15:25,857
at the beginning
of the reign of Pepi II,

283
00:15:25,926 --> 00:15:29,827
the state is still
really powerful.

284
00:15:29,896 --> 00:15:32,497
-Egypt is triumphant.

285
00:15:32,565 --> 00:15:34,799
-But Philippe and Audran
have spotted signs

286
00:15:34,868 --> 00:15:36,501
that things changed.

287
00:15:36,569 --> 00:15:40,538
For one, the pyramid was looted.

288
00:15:40,607 --> 00:15:43,241
-As you can see, the sarcophagus
has been opened up

289
00:15:43,310 --> 00:15:48,179
and all that was inside
has been robbed and taken out.

290
00:15:48,248 --> 00:15:53,084
-Including Pepi II's mummy,
which has never been found.

291
00:15:53,153 --> 00:15:54,919
-When the robbers arrived,

292
00:15:54,988 --> 00:15:57,121
they pushed the lid
of the sarcophagus,

293
00:15:57,190 --> 00:16:01,125
opened the coffin, took the
royal mummy, throw it away.

294
00:16:01,194 --> 00:16:03,861
And, of course, all this
gold, it was fabulous.

295
00:16:03,930 --> 00:16:07,932
They took everything out
and the archaeologists

296
00:16:08,001 --> 00:16:12,036
found absolutely nothing
in this room, unfortunately.

297
00:16:12,105 --> 00:16:16,207
[ Sinister music plays ]

298
00:16:16,276 --> 00:16:19,477
-Back at the entrance tunnel,
Audran is studying evidence

299
00:16:19,546 --> 00:16:21,946
which shows that the pyramid
must've been robbed

300
00:16:22,015 --> 00:16:25,350
shortly after Pepi's death.

301
00:16:25,418 --> 00:16:27,018
After Pepi was buried,

302
00:16:27,087 --> 00:16:31,022
the original passage was sealed
with massive stone blocks,

303
00:16:31,091 --> 00:16:33,591
but the looters
found a way around them.

304
00:16:33,660 --> 00:16:38,229
-Here, we see the evidence
of the pillaging of the pyramid.

305
00:16:38,298 --> 00:16:41,065
The looters break the façade.

306
00:16:41,134 --> 00:16:43,801
-They then dug through the
limestone brickwork,

307
00:16:43,870 --> 00:16:46,404
until they bypassed
the stone blocks.

308
00:16:46,473 --> 00:16:50,174
-The looters cut the lintels

309
00:16:50,243 --> 00:16:53,978
and went into the
descending passage.

310
00:16:54,047 --> 00:16:57,682
-Farther on, they dug a second
tunnel above the main passage.

311
00:16:57,751 --> 00:17:01,753
It's now been filled, but Audran
has found traces of it.

312
00:17:01,821 --> 00:17:05,456
-The looters arrived
to this lintel.

313
00:17:05,525 --> 00:17:06,457
They break it.

314
00:17:06,526 --> 00:17:09,293
You can see some traces above.

315
00:17:09,362 --> 00:17:11,929
-Why did they dig
this second tunnel?

316
00:17:11,998 --> 00:17:13,931
-The passage was blocked

317
00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:17,535
by three unpenetrable
granite portcullis.

318
00:17:17,604 --> 00:17:20,138
-Today, they are raised,
but, at the time,

319
00:17:20,206 --> 00:17:23,307
these massive, granite blocks
barred the way.

320
00:17:23,376 --> 00:17:26,677
The looters had to dig
through the softer limestone

321
00:17:26,746 --> 00:17:27,879
to get around them.

322
00:17:27,947 --> 00:17:30,648
[ Suspenseful music plays ]

323
00:17:30,717 --> 00:17:32,784
♪♪

324
00:17:32,852 --> 00:17:37,922
-They came down here,
after the third portcullis,

325
00:17:37,991 --> 00:17:42,894
and then, their passage was
clear to the funerary chamber.

326
00:17:42,962 --> 00:17:47,532
-The efficiency of the looters'
route belies<i> when</i> they broke in.

327
00:17:47,600 --> 00:17:51,035
-It means that the looters
knew perfectly

328
00:17:51,104 --> 00:17:53,204
the plans of the pyramid.

329
00:17:53,273 --> 00:17:56,874
They had in their crew somebody
who had built the monument

330
00:17:56,943 --> 00:18:00,611
and it shows that
this must have happened

331
00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:06,017
shortly after the death
of Pepi II.

332
00:18:06,086 --> 00:18:07,685
[ Sinister music plays ]

333
00:18:07,754 --> 00:18:10,755
-Looting the pyramid so soon
after Pepi's death

334
00:18:10,824 --> 00:18:14,659
is a sure sign
the country was in turmoil.

335
00:18:14,727 --> 00:18:17,929
-When they took out
the mummy of Pepi II,

336
00:18:17,997 --> 00:18:22,033
first, of all,
it was a very big sacrilege.

337
00:18:22,102 --> 00:18:24,602
-Ancient Egyptians believed
they needed their body

338
00:18:24,671 --> 00:18:26,771
to live again in the afterlife,

339
00:18:26,840 --> 00:18:30,441
which is why mummification
was so important to them.

340
00:18:30,510 --> 00:18:33,711
-Destroying his body means
that Pepi II

341
00:18:33,780 --> 00:18:35,580
will never be able
to live again.

342
00:18:35,648 --> 00:18:38,616
That's real death
for the pharaoh.

343
00:18:38,685 --> 00:18:42,553
-Protecting the pharaoh's
mummy was a critical task.

344
00:18:42,622 --> 00:18:46,257
-The pyramid was closed
after the burial of the king

345
00:18:46,326 --> 00:18:49,827
and it was guarded by a lot
of people around the pyramid,

346
00:18:49,896 --> 00:18:51,729
so nobody could approach.

347
00:18:51,798 --> 00:18:55,366
The fact that the pyramid was
robbed means that the state,

348
00:18:55,435 --> 00:18:59,303
the government, was not
controlling anything here.

349
00:18:59,372 --> 00:19:03,040
[ Suspenseful music climbs ]

350
00:19:03,109 --> 00:19:04,075
[ Suspenseful
chord strikes ]

351
00:19:04,144 --> 00:19:05,409
-And that's not all.

352
00:19:05,478 --> 00:19:08,880
Nearby, next
to Pepi's father's pyramid,

353
00:19:08,948 --> 00:19:10,982
Audran has found<i> more</i> evidence

354
00:19:11,050 --> 00:19:15,653
that the country was in trouble
shortly after Pepi II died.

355
00:19:15,722 --> 00:19:19,290
-We are here in one
of the storerooms

356
00:19:19,359 --> 00:19:22,260
of the temple of Pepi I.

357
00:19:22,328 --> 00:19:27,064
And you can see that the stones
are black, they are burned,

358
00:19:27,133 --> 00:19:33,337
and it shows a very violent
and destructive fire.

359
00:19:33,406 --> 00:19:36,507
The fire, of course,
was deliberate.

360
00:19:36,576 --> 00:19:40,978
-Crucially, Audran's team
was able to date this fire.

361
00:19:41,047 --> 00:19:45,149
-We were able to date
the fire by radiocarbon

362
00:19:45,218 --> 00:19:48,186
and it dates from the end
of the Old Kingdom.

363
00:19:48,254 --> 00:19:49,453
[ Flames crackling ]

364
00:19:49,522 --> 00:19:51,789
-The date of the fire
supports Audran's theory:

365
00:19:51,858 --> 00:19:53,424
that Pepi II's pyramid

366
00:19:53,493 --> 00:19:56,661
was pillaged
not long after his death.

367
00:19:56,729 --> 00:20:00,064
-Setting fire to a temple,
a sacred place,

368
00:20:00,133 --> 00:20:04,468
belonging to the king,
shows a direct attack

369
00:20:04,537 --> 00:20:08,839
against power, against royalty,
against Pharaoh.

370
00:20:08,908 --> 00:20:10,675
-Shortly after he died,

371
00:20:10,743 --> 00:20:13,611
law and order broke down
to such an extent,

372
00:20:13,680 --> 00:20:16,314
his pyramid,
and those of his family,

373
00:20:16,382 --> 00:20:18,249
were robbed and desecrated.

374
00:20:18,318 --> 00:20:20,518
[ Flames crackling ]

375
00:20:20,587 --> 00:20:22,119
More evidence to suggest

376
00:20:22,188 --> 00:20:24,956
Ipuwer may have been
telling the truth.

377
00:20:25,024 --> 00:20:27,658
-The king has been robbed.

378
00:20:27,727 --> 00:20:31,896
The people of the land weep
because their enemies

379
00:20:31,965 --> 00:20:35,299
have entered the temple
and burned the images.

380
00:20:35,368 --> 00:20:39,737
♪♪

381
00:20:39,806 --> 00:20:41,672
-What happened?

382
00:20:41,741 --> 00:20:44,809
How and why did
the pharaohs lose control

383
00:20:44,877 --> 00:20:49,046
and how did this lead
to the dead in the mass grave?

384
00:20:49,115 --> 00:20:52,083
All over Egypt, archaeologists
are finding signs

385
00:20:52,151 --> 00:20:53,918
of the growing
political problems

386
00:20:53,987 --> 00:20:56,988
that were festering
before Pepi II's death.

387
00:20:57,056 --> 00:20:59,223
♪♪

388
00:20:59,292 --> 00:21:02,660
As Pepi's reign continued
and he grew older,

389
00:21:02,729 --> 00:21:05,496
he began ceding more
and more power

390
00:21:05,565 --> 00:21:07,531
to his provincial governors.

391
00:21:07,600 --> 00:21:12,303
♪♪

392
00:21:12,372 --> 00:21:17,008
500 miles south of Saqqara,
on the banks of the Nile,

393
00:21:17,076 --> 00:21:21,245
lies the necropolis
of Qubbet el-Hawa.

394
00:21:21,314 --> 00:21:25,483
It's here that the governors
of Southern Egypt are buried

395
00:21:25,551 --> 00:21:26,717
and, with them,

396
00:21:26,786 --> 00:21:31,122
striking evidence
of their growing influence.

397
00:21:31,190 --> 00:21:33,190
Archaeologist Martin Bommas
<i>-As-salamu alaykum.</i>

398
00:21:33,259 --> 00:21:36,193
-has been digging here
for three years.

399
00:21:36,262 --> 00:21:38,162
Comparing the tombs
of governors

400
00:21:38,231 --> 00:21:40,898
from the start and end
of Pepi's reign,

401
00:21:40,967 --> 00:21:43,100
he points out signs
that their authority

402
00:21:43,169 --> 00:21:44,835
was increasing over time.

403
00:21:44,904 --> 00:21:46,137
[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

404
00:21:46,205 --> 00:21:47,938
-Here we are,
right at the entrance

405
00:21:48,007 --> 00:21:51,976
into the Tomb of Harkhuf,
the governor of Upper Egypt,

406
00:21:52,045 --> 00:21:55,346
at roughly the time
when Pepi II was a child

407
00:21:55,415 --> 00:21:59,250
and, as part of his role,
he went to Nubia four times,

408
00:21:59,319 --> 00:22:01,852
to bring back exotic goods,
like leopard skin,

409
00:22:01,921 --> 00:22:03,454
elephant tusks, and so on.

410
00:22:03,523 --> 00:22:08,793
♪♪

411
00:22:08,861 --> 00:22:09,927
[ Suspenseful chord strikes ]

412
00:22:09,996 --> 00:22:12,530
♪♪

413
00:22:12,598 --> 00:22:14,265
He was sent out
by the king, obviously.

414
00:22:14,334 --> 00:22:16,967
The king financed
all these expeditions.

415
00:22:17,036 --> 00:22:19,070
What is really
interesting is that,

416
00:22:19,138 --> 00:22:22,073
although Harkhuf was one
of the most important men

417
00:22:22,141 --> 00:22:24,375
in the region, really
running the business here,

418
00:22:24,444 --> 00:22:26,410
he still had to ask Pepi II

419
00:22:26,479 --> 00:22:28,779
for permission
to build his tomb.

420
00:22:28,848 --> 00:22:30,481
-At the start of his reign,

421
00:22:30,550 --> 00:22:34,719
Pepi II was very much
in control of the country.

422
00:22:34,787 --> 00:22:37,822
-When we look into the political
situation of Egypt

423
00:22:37,890 --> 00:22:39,223
at this point in time,

424
00:22:39,292 --> 00:22:41,592
we see that the king
is still very strong.

425
00:22:41,661 --> 00:22:45,730
-But during the course of his
long reign, things changed

426
00:22:45,798 --> 00:22:48,299
and those changes
are reflected in the style

427
00:22:48,368 --> 00:22:51,235
and construction
of the governors' tombs.

428
00:22:51,304 --> 00:22:53,738
Because, as grand
as this grave is,

429
00:22:53,806 --> 00:22:56,540
it's<i> nothing</i> compared
to the tombs of two governors

430
00:22:56,609 --> 00:22:59,076
from the latter part
of Pepi's life,

431
00:22:59,145 --> 00:23:01,979
which are at the far end
of the necropolis.

432
00:23:02,048 --> 00:23:05,683
The first one belonged
to a governor of Elephantine.

433
00:23:05,752 --> 00:23:07,785
-Look at the size of this tomb

434
00:23:07,854 --> 00:23:09,820
and look at the columns,
how high they are.

435
00:23:09,889 --> 00:23:11,989
That gives us an idea
about the importance

436
00:23:12,058 --> 00:23:14,492
of the governor of Elephantine.

437
00:23:14,560 --> 00:23:15,793
Eighteen columns here.

438
00:23:15,862 --> 00:23:18,362
It's almost like
a forest of columns.

439
00:23:18,431 --> 00:23:20,164
-The majesty of this tomb

440
00:23:20,233 --> 00:23:23,934
illustrates Pepi II's
weakened authority,

441
00:23:24,003 --> 00:23:25,503
while the regional governors

442
00:23:25,571 --> 00:23:29,039
were becoming
increasingly important.

443
00:23:29,108 --> 00:23:32,109
And the adjoining tomb,
belonging to his son,

444
00:23:32,178 --> 00:23:34,578
is even more elaborate.

445
00:23:34,647 --> 00:23:37,548
-Now, look at this lavish
painting here,

446
00:23:37,617 --> 00:23:39,950
that shows Sabni on a boat,

447
00:23:40,019 --> 00:23:42,186
on a river,
but not during this life.

448
00:23:42,255 --> 00:23:44,522
It's the next life.
It's the beyond.

449
00:23:44,590 --> 00:23:48,225
-The painting, together with
the sheer size of the tomb,

450
00:23:48,294 --> 00:23:50,995
tells a story of wealth
and influence.

451
00:23:51,063 --> 00:23:52,863
-If we relate what we see here

452
00:23:52,932 --> 00:23:56,033
to the beginning
of the reign of Pepi II,

453
00:23:56,102 --> 00:23:58,369
like what we've seen
in the tomb of Harkhuf,

454
00:23:58,438 --> 00:24:01,839
this clearly points out that,
by the end of Pepi II's reign,

455
00:24:01,908 --> 00:24:06,243
when he was an old man,
local governors had more power.

456
00:24:06,312 --> 00:24:07,912
♪♪

457
00:24:07,980 --> 00:24:11,982
-And this situation was
replicated across Egypt.

458
00:24:12,051 --> 00:24:14,351
Pepi II gradually relinquished

459
00:24:14,420 --> 00:24:17,721
more power and control
to the local governors.

460
00:24:17,790 --> 00:24:20,624
-Suddenly, local governors
had too much power,

461
00:24:20,693 --> 00:24:25,095
compared to the power that
was decreasing in the capital.

462
00:24:25,164 --> 00:24:28,132
-A political crisis was brewing.

463
00:24:28,201 --> 00:24:30,935
Then, at the age of 94,

464
00:24:31,003 --> 00:24:32,770
Pepi II died,

465
00:24:32,839 --> 00:24:37,775
and the fragile political
situation finally unraveled

466
00:24:37,844 --> 00:24:40,678
and so began a series of events

467
00:24:40,746 --> 00:24:43,714
that led to the remains
in the mass grave.

468
00:24:43,783 --> 00:24:47,618
[ Flames crackling ]
♪♪

469
00:24:47,687 --> 00:24:52,089
There are hardly any traces
of Pepi II's successors.

470
00:24:52,158 --> 00:24:56,060
Audran has been searching
for these kings for years.

471
00:24:56,128 --> 00:24:58,529
One of his few sources
of information

472
00:24:58,598 --> 00:25:02,666
provides insight into the
leaders who followed Pepi.

473
00:25:02,735 --> 00:25:07,872
-We are lucky enough to have
the list of Abydos.

474
00:25:07,940 --> 00:25:10,774
It is a list engraved
on a temple,

475
00:25:10,843 --> 00:25:15,479
giving the names of all
the kings of Ancient Egypt.

476
00:25:15,548 --> 00:25:19,350
And we have the names
of five sons of Pepi II.

477
00:25:19,418 --> 00:25:23,487
-None of Pepi II's five sons
reigned for very long.

478
00:25:23,556 --> 00:25:28,993
-The first successor of Pepi II
was called Merenre II

479
00:25:29,061 --> 00:25:33,030
and we know, according to the
Greek historian Herodotus,

480
00:25:33,099 --> 00:25:37,434
he was murdered after a very
short reign of two years.

481
00:25:37,503 --> 00:25:39,103
♪♪

482
00:25:39,171 --> 00:25:43,040
-And his brothers
didn't last much longer.

483
00:25:43,109 --> 00:25:46,610
-We know that Pepi II
has a very long reign,

484
00:25:46,679 --> 00:25:49,780
between 60 and 90 years.

485
00:25:49,849 --> 00:25:54,218
So, his sons were very old
when they arrived at the throne.

486
00:25:54,287 --> 00:25:57,521
Perhaps they just die
because they were too old.

487
00:25:57,590 --> 00:26:01,292
-After his five sons,
the crisis worsened

488
00:26:01,360 --> 00:26:02,826
and the Abydos list shows

489
00:26:02,895 --> 00:26:06,096
13 more kings
in quick succession.

490
00:26:06,165 --> 00:26:10,467
That's 18 kings
in roughly 50 years.

491
00:26:10,536 --> 00:26:13,270
The Old Kingdom
was clearly in freefall.

492
00:26:13,339 --> 00:26:15,639
♪♪

493
00:26:15,708 --> 00:26:18,542
To this day, archaeologists
have not been able to find

494
00:26:18,611 --> 00:26:21,845
any physical evidence
related to these kings.

495
00:26:21,914 --> 00:26:25,249
With the exception of one.

496
00:26:25,318 --> 00:26:26,817
It might not look like it,

497
00:26:26,886 --> 00:26:29,486
but this uninspiring
pile of rubble

498
00:26:29,555 --> 00:26:32,256
is actually the remains
of a pyramid.

499
00:26:32,325 --> 00:26:34,625
It belonged to Qakare Ibi,

500
00:26:34,694 --> 00:26:37,428
the fifteenth king
after Pepi II.

501
00:26:37,496 --> 00:26:39,597
♪♪

502
00:26:39,665 --> 00:26:44,001
And it's tiny: less than half
the height of Pepi's pyramid.

503
00:26:44,070 --> 00:26:47,204
♪♪

504
00:26:47,273 --> 00:26:50,941
The small size of Ibi's pyramid
illustrates how weak

505
00:26:51,010 --> 00:26:56,547
the royal authority had become
following Pepi II's reign.

506
00:26:56,616 --> 00:26:57,948
And, after Ibi's,

507
00:26:58,017 --> 00:27:02,553
it seems, no pyramids were built
for about 200 years.

508
00:27:02,622 --> 00:27:07,157
♪♪

509
00:27:07,226 --> 00:27:08,759
[ Horn toots ]

510
00:27:11,931 --> 00:27:15,432
[ Poignant tune sweeps ]

511
00:27:15,501 --> 00:27:18,135
What was happening in the rest
of the country,

512
00:27:18,204 --> 00:27:22,106
while the power of the
pharaoh was waning?

513
00:27:22,174 --> 00:27:25,142
400 miles to the south

514
00:27:25,211 --> 00:27:26,510
lies El Mo'alla.

515
00:27:26,579 --> 00:27:29,647
♪♪

516
00:27:29,715 --> 00:27:32,816
Once again,
the style of a tomb signifies

517
00:27:32,885 --> 00:27:34,818
how the local
governors responded

518
00:27:34,887 --> 00:27:38,956
to this succession
of ephemeral kings.

519
00:27:39,025 --> 00:27:42,793
Archaeologist
Antonio Morales explains.

520
00:27:42,862 --> 00:27:45,362
-This is Ankhtifi,
the owner of this tomb,

521
00:27:45,431 --> 00:27:47,398
the local ruler of Hefat,

522
00:27:47,466 --> 00:27:49,600
the third province
in Upper Egypt.

523
00:27:49,669 --> 00:27:51,769
-Ankhtifi governed
in the tumultuous years

524
00:27:51,837 --> 00:27:53,437
between Pepi II's death

525
00:27:53,506 --> 00:27:55,572
and the creation
of the mass grave.

526
00:27:55,641 --> 00:27:58,742
-These inscriptions tell us
a lot about social disruption,

527
00:27:58,811 --> 00:28:00,878
civil war, conflict,

528
00:28:00,946 --> 00:28:05,249
lack of order or control
by the central administration.

529
00:28:05,317 --> 00:28:10,087
There was a big gap
of royal control of the country.

530
00:28:10,156 --> 00:28:12,389
-Most tomb walls are covered
with references

531
00:28:12,458 --> 00:28:16,026
to the ruling king,
but not here.

532
00:28:16,095 --> 00:28:18,128
-This is the only place
in the whole tomb

533
00:28:18,197 --> 00:28:21,098
where Ankhtifi mentioned
the name of a king.

534
00:28:21,167 --> 00:28:22,466
The rest of the tomb

535
00:28:22,535 --> 00:28:25,269
does not have a single
mention to any king,

536
00:28:25,337 --> 00:28:28,539
which probably means that,
with the passing of time,

537
00:28:28,607 --> 00:28:31,508
the central government
lost control of the country

538
00:28:31,577 --> 00:28:33,210
and Ankhtifi felt that

539
00:28:33,279 --> 00:28:37,347
he was the single power
in his province.

540
00:28:37,416 --> 00:28:38,916
-And, on his tomb walls,

541
00:28:38,984 --> 00:28:42,553
he's portrayed himself as king
and ruler of his province.

542
00:28:42,621 --> 00:28:45,556
-He used kinds of phraseology,
expressions,

543
00:28:45,624 --> 00:28:48,125
and even iconography
that usually was used

544
00:28:48,194 --> 00:28:51,762
during the Old Kingdom,
only by the kings.

545
00:28:51,831 --> 00:28:53,931
This section
of the inscription says

546
00:28:53,999 --> 00:28:55,599
"I am taking care of the orphan.

547
00:28:55,668 --> 00:28:59,036
I am giving a boat to the one
who cannot cross the Nile."

548
00:28:59,105 --> 00:29:03,173
By doing this, he was somehow
comparing himself to the king,

549
00:29:03,242 --> 00:29:05,075
since these kinds of expressions

550
00:29:05,144 --> 00:29:07,277
referred to the capacity
of the king

551
00:29:07,346 --> 00:29:09,713
to provide for his people
and his country.

552
00:29:09,782 --> 00:29:12,015
-It seems that,
after Pepi's death,

553
00:29:12,084 --> 00:29:14,218
rather than submitting
to a rapid succession

554
00:29:14,286 --> 00:29:15,819
of weak pharaohs,

555
00:29:15,888 --> 00:29:18,255
the local governors,
like Ankhtifi,

556
00:29:18,324 --> 00:29:20,858
decided to rule for themselves.

557
00:29:20,926 --> 00:29:24,428
The regional governors
began jockeying for power

558
00:29:24,497 --> 00:29:28,565
and the inevitable consequence
was civil war.

559
00:29:28,634 --> 00:29:31,235
-Some of the inscriptions
in the tomb of Ankhtifi

560
00:29:31,303 --> 00:29:33,871
talk a lot about civil war.

561
00:29:33,939 --> 00:29:38,108
Here, for example, we have the
verb "to attack, to fight,"

562
00:29:38,177 --> 00:29:41,545
and includes the determinative
of man with a stick

563
00:29:41,614 --> 00:29:43,213
and he's expressing how

564
00:29:43,282 --> 00:29:46,550
he was going to attack
the Theban province.

565
00:29:46,619 --> 00:29:48,519
♪♪

566
00:29:48,587 --> 00:29:51,088
So, we have a situation
of social disruption,

567
00:29:51,157 --> 00:29:53,490
civil war, conflict.

568
00:29:53,559 --> 00:29:57,528
♪♪

569
00:29:57,596 --> 00:29:59,530
[ Tranquil tune plays ]

570
00:29:59,598 --> 00:30:00,864
-All of this supports

571
00:30:00,933 --> 00:30:04,067
what the ancient poet
Ipuwer's work described.

572
00:30:04,136 --> 00:30:06,870
-The land is deprived
of kingship.

573
00:30:06,939 --> 00:30:10,808
-Pepi II's heirs lost their
grip on the country.

574
00:30:10,876 --> 00:30:15,345
Egypt split apart
and plunged into chaos and war.

575
00:30:15,414 --> 00:30:18,715
[ Suspenseful music plays ]

576
00:30:18,784 --> 00:30:21,118
Salima thinks it's possible
that the bodies found

577
00:30:21,187 --> 00:30:23,954
in the mass grave near Luxor

578
00:30:24,023 --> 00:30:26,623
perished in the civil war.

579
00:30:26,692 --> 00:30:30,360
-I've got some photos of men
who were inside the tomb

580
00:30:30,429 --> 00:30:35,232
and a lot of them
had<i> horrible</i> trauma.

581
00:30:35,301 --> 00:30:37,668
You can see, over here,

582
00:30:37,736 --> 00:30:40,037
there's a hole here
and he's probably hit by,

583
00:30:40,105 --> 00:30:42,539
you know,
a rock from a slingshot.

584
00:30:42,608 --> 00:30:45,976
This one's even worse,
'cause you can really see

585
00:30:46,045 --> 00:30:49,246
that there've been attacks
here, on both sides.

586
00:30:49,315 --> 00:30:51,849
So, this is quite possibly
something like a mace

587
00:30:51,917 --> 00:30:53,483
struck him
on the side of the head

588
00:30:53,552 --> 00:30:58,155
and blew it out and killed
him rather viciously.

589
00:30:58,224 --> 00:31:00,691
So, this was not someone
who died in bed.

590
00:31:00,759 --> 00:31:04,294
This was someone who died
in battle.

591
00:31:04,363 --> 00:31:05,696
And some of them

592
00:31:05,764 --> 00:31:08,632
actually had arrows going
through their bodies.

593
00:31:08,701 --> 00:31:12,135
So, here's the arrow
and so he was pierced through

594
00:31:12,204 --> 00:31:15,572
and he would've been lying,
bleeding, on the battlefield,

595
00:31:15,641 --> 00:31:17,808
probably waiting to be rescued

596
00:31:17,877 --> 00:31:21,178
or slowly dying and having
birds pecking at him.

597
00:31:21,247 --> 00:31:24,514
These people have died
bloody fearsome deaths.

598
00:31:24,583 --> 00:31:26,416
[<i> Voices shouting</i> ]

599
00:31:26,485 --> 00:31:29,119
-In addition to the brutal
manner of their deaths,

600
00:31:29,188 --> 00:31:32,990
there are other clues
to their identities.

601
00:31:33,058 --> 00:31:35,192
-They were buried
with their bows and arrows.

602
00:31:35,261 --> 00:31:37,661
So, we have those.

603
00:31:37,730 --> 00:31:39,429
And this is really the clincher.

604
00:31:39,498 --> 00:31:41,498
♪♪

605
00:31:41,567 --> 00:31:44,501
This one's got a wrist guard
that goes all the way up

606
00:31:44,570 --> 00:31:46,169
and that's what archers wore

607
00:31:46,238 --> 00:31:49,306
to protect themselves
from the bow's recoil.

608
00:31:49,375 --> 00:31:52,342
So, these people
were archers themselves.

609
00:31:52,411 --> 00:31:54,444
So, all the evidence
points to the fact

610
00:31:54,513 --> 00:31:57,047
that these were soldiers
who died in battle.

611
00:31:57,116 --> 00:31:58,415
♪♪

612
00:31:58,484 --> 00:32:02,185
-But who were these soldiers
fighting for, and why?

613
00:32:02,254 --> 00:32:05,055
♪♪

614
00:32:06,959 --> 00:32:09,726
♪♪

615
00:32:09,795 --> 00:32:11,995
The hieroglyphs
on Ankhtifi's tomb

616
00:32:12,064 --> 00:32:16,300
reveal a catastrophic event
that might explain.

617
00:32:16,368 --> 00:32:19,569
-Here, it says the whole
southern country

618
00:32:19,638 --> 00:32:21,438
was dying of hunger,

619
00:32:21,507 --> 00:32:25,842
so that every man
was eating his own children.

620
00:32:25,911 --> 00:32:29,579
♪♪

621
00:32:29,648 --> 00:32:33,350
Also, in this section
of the inscription, it says,

622
00:32:33,419 --> 00:32:38,155
the whole country has become
like a starving locust.

623
00:32:38,223 --> 00:32:41,658
That is a clear way
for Ancient Egyptians to express

624
00:32:41,727 --> 00:32:45,595
that there was a dramatic famine
in this section of the country.

625
00:32:45,664 --> 00:32:48,065
♪♪

626
00:32:48,133 --> 00:32:50,934
-Already politically weakened
by the rise of the governors

627
00:32:51,003 --> 00:32:53,971
and the succession crisis
after Pepi's death,

628
00:32:54,039 --> 00:32:56,573
a famine could have been
the final blow

629
00:32:56,642 --> 00:32:58,475
that brought down
the Old Kingdom.

630
00:32:58,544 --> 00:33:05,349
♪♪

631
00:33:05,417 --> 00:33:07,684
There is mounting evidence
from all over the world

632
00:33:07,753 --> 00:33:11,154
that planetary forces
could have caused such a famine.

633
00:33:11,223 --> 00:33:15,225
♪♪

634
00:33:15,294 --> 00:33:19,463
Scientists are discovering
that, long before Pepi,

635
00:33:19,531 --> 00:33:22,466
Egypt wasn't the desert
it is today.

636
00:33:22,534 --> 00:33:27,804
♪♪

637
00:33:27,873 --> 00:33:31,908
Back in Saqqara, Audran
has found something revealing

638
00:33:31,977 --> 00:33:34,678
on the pathway leading
to another pyramid,

639
00:33:34,747 --> 00:33:39,316
that of Unas, Pepi II's
great-great-grandfather.

640
00:33:39,385 --> 00:33:44,488
-The wall of the causeway
were covered with reliefs.

641
00:33:44,556 --> 00:33:47,924
Among them,
one is specially interesting.

642
00:33:47,993 --> 00:33:49,159
What do we see?

643
00:33:49,228 --> 00:33:51,461
We see various animals.

644
00:33:51,530 --> 00:33:54,498
We see antelopes,

645
00:33:54,566 --> 00:33:56,233
oryx,

646
00:33:56,301 --> 00:34:00,837
gazelle, and among them
there are small bushes

647
00:34:00,906 --> 00:34:03,573
and we see, for instance,
here a very small gazelle,

648
00:34:03,642 --> 00:34:07,411
more or less sleeping
among bushes.

649
00:34:07,479 --> 00:34:12,716
In fact, it's the
representation of a savanna.

650
00:34:12,785 --> 00:34:16,119
-Audran believes these carvings
show that Egypt once had

651
00:34:16,188 --> 00:34:20,223
a very different climate
than it does today.

652
00:34:20,292 --> 00:34:24,194
-It means that, at the time
of the Old Kingdom,

653
00:34:24,263 --> 00:34:26,563
the pyramids were not
surrounded by a desert.

654
00:34:26,632 --> 00:34:29,466
They were surrounded
by a savanna,

655
00:34:29,535 --> 00:34:33,136
very close to what we
found now in Kenya.

656
00:34:33,205 --> 00:34:36,907
The necropolis was not
a place of death.

657
00:34:36,975 --> 00:34:40,010
It was a place of life.

658
00:34:40,079 --> 00:34:42,245
-But are these decorations
enough to prove

659
00:34:42,314 --> 00:34:45,348
these animals lived nearby

660
00:34:45,417 --> 00:34:48,285
and that the climate
was so different?

661
00:34:48,353 --> 00:34:51,688
Or are these carvings simply
fanciful illustrations

662
00:34:51,757 --> 00:34:55,625
of animals seen while
on expedition?

663
00:34:55,694 --> 00:34:58,495
There should be
scientific evidence,

664
00:34:58,564 --> 00:35:00,831
if Egypt's environment
was radically different

665
00:35:00,899 --> 00:35:03,166
in the past.

666
00:35:03,235 --> 00:35:07,904
That evidence comes
from a very unlikely source:

667
00:35:07,973 --> 00:35:09,372
crocodiles.

668
00:35:09,441 --> 00:35:14,444
♪♪

669
00:35:14,513 --> 00:35:19,583
To find out more, Salima has
come here, to Kom Ombo Temple,

670
00:35:19,651 --> 00:35:22,953
where Ancient Egyptians
worshipped the god Sobek,

671
00:35:23,021 --> 00:35:26,556
who had the head of a crocodile.

672
00:35:26,625 --> 00:35:27,791
She's here to examine

673
00:35:27,860 --> 00:35:30,961
an altogether different
type of mummy.

674
00:35:31,029 --> 00:35:33,396
-One of the most important
gods in Ancient Egypt

675
00:35:33,465 --> 00:35:35,465
was the crocodile god Sobek

676
00:35:35,534 --> 00:35:39,369
and, as a result, priests
actually raised crocodiles,

677
00:35:39,438 --> 00:35:43,406
so you have places where you
have hatcheries for the eggs

678
00:35:43,475 --> 00:35:44,941
and then they also would have

679
00:35:45,010 --> 00:35:46,409
nurseries for the
baby crocodiles

680
00:35:46,478 --> 00:35:49,112
and sometimes these
were killed deliberately,

681
00:35:49,181 --> 00:35:50,814
with their heads
being bashed in

682
00:35:50,883 --> 00:35:52,382
so that they could
then be mummified

683
00:35:52,451 --> 00:35:55,318
and be given to Sobek
as an offering.

684
00:35:55,387 --> 00:35:58,321
♪♪

685
00:35:58,390 --> 00:36:01,224
The ones that were recognized
by the priests

686
00:36:01,293 --> 00:36:02,959
as having the divine spirit
in them

687
00:36:03,028 --> 00:36:06,730
were allowed to grow to their
full length, 5, 6 meters,

688
00:36:06,798 --> 00:36:08,765
and, during the lifetime
of that animal,

689
00:36:08,834 --> 00:36:10,967
he would be fed and revered

690
00:36:11,036 --> 00:36:14,371
and looked after
and spoilt rotten, in general.

691
00:36:14,439 --> 00:36:16,406
Some of them, according
to the Greek writers,

692
00:36:16,475 --> 00:36:18,074
had earrings of gold

693
00:36:18,143 --> 00:36:20,677
and bracelets made of gold
put on them,

694
00:36:20,746 --> 00:36:24,648
so someone had to be very brave
to go and do this to the god.

695
00:36:24,716 --> 00:36:27,184
♪♪

696
00:36:27,252 --> 00:36:28,618
-And, after their death,

697
00:36:28,687 --> 00:36:31,321
the crocodiles
were carefully mummified.

698
00:36:31,390 --> 00:36:33,523
♪♪

699
00:36:33,592 --> 00:36:37,627
Surprisingly, these sacred
crocs can provide details

700
00:36:37,696 --> 00:36:39,863
on Ancient Egypt's climate.

701
00:36:39,932 --> 00:36:43,633
In 2003, zoologists studied
crocodiles living

702
00:36:43,702 --> 00:36:49,506
in isolated pools
in Mauretania and Chad.

703
00:36:49,575 --> 00:36:53,443
These West African crocs
are smaller and more docile

704
00:36:53,512 --> 00:36:55,512
than the more familiar
Nile crocodiles

705
00:36:55,581 --> 00:36:58,048
found in East Africa today.

706
00:36:58,116 --> 00:37:01,952
And DNA analysis has revealed
these smaller animals

707
00:37:02,020 --> 00:37:04,688
are, in fact,
a separate species,

708
00:37:04,756 --> 00:37:07,390
called<i> Crocodylus suchus.</i>

709
00:37:07,459 --> 00:37:11,895
The DNA analysis also revealed
they're the exact same species

710
00:37:11,964 --> 00:37:14,864
as the sacred
Ancient Egyptian crocodiles.

711
00:37:14,933 --> 00:37:18,568
-Recently, we've been doing DNA
on mummified crocodiles

712
00:37:18,637 --> 00:37:20,937
and the results have been
truly spectacular

713
00:37:21,006 --> 00:37:24,407
because we did a<i> huge</i>
crocodile from Kom Ombo

714
00:37:24,476 --> 00:37:26,943
and it turned out to be
<i>Crocodylus suchus,</i>

715
00:37:27,012 --> 00:37:29,546
which is a desert crocodile.

716
00:37:29,615 --> 00:37:31,348
In a way, it makes sense

717
00:37:31,416 --> 00:37:33,817
that these nicer,
kinder, gentler ones

718
00:37:33,885 --> 00:37:35,385
were allowed to grow

719
00:37:35,454 --> 00:37:38,021
and sort of co-habit with humans

720
00:37:38,090 --> 00:37:41,424
and be the benign version
of the crocodile god.

721
00:37:41,493 --> 00:37:44,060
-How did the pharaohs'
sacred crocodiles end up

722
00:37:44,129 --> 00:37:46,830
on the other side
of the African continent

723
00:37:46,898 --> 00:37:51,001
and what does that mean
for Ancient Egypt's climate?

724
00:37:51,069 --> 00:37:56,840
-So we know that we have
mummified<i> suchus</i> in Egypt

725
00:37:56,908 --> 00:37:59,576
and we know that we have
living<i> suchus,</i>

726
00:37:59,645 --> 00:38:02,946
quite a few of them, in fact,
in the deserts of Mauritania,

727
00:38:03,015 --> 00:38:06,249
as well as in Chad.

728
00:38:06,318 --> 00:38:08,652
So here we've got
these populations

729
00:38:08,720 --> 00:38:11,554
that are quite far apart,
but they're the same animal.

730
00:38:11,623 --> 00:38:13,823
So what was going on here?

731
00:38:13,892 --> 00:38:15,525
We started to look for fossils,

732
00:38:15,594 --> 00:38:18,228
to see if we could find<i> any</i>
other evidence that could link

733
00:38:18,297 --> 00:38:21,698
these different populations
of crocodiles together.

734
00:38:21,767 --> 00:38:24,701
And, throughout the Sahara,
we've, in fact, found lots

735
00:38:24,770 --> 00:38:27,504
of fossils of crocodiles,

736
00:38:27,572 --> 00:38:29,406
in Libya,

737
00:38:29,474 --> 00:38:31,474
Niger,

738
00:38:31,543 --> 00:38:33,209
in Mali,

739
00:38:33,278 --> 00:38:35,111
throughout Algeria,

740
00:38:35,180 --> 00:38:38,148
and also in Morocco.

741
00:38:38,216 --> 00:38:41,551
So that means that,
in ancient times,

742
00:38:41,620 --> 00:38:44,020
all of the space
must've been connected

743
00:38:44,089 --> 00:38:45,488
by a series of waterways,

744
00:38:45,557 --> 00:38:47,824
for the crocodiles
to move to and fro,

745
00:38:47,893 --> 00:38:50,627
and it wasn't always
the desert that it is today.

746
00:38:50,696 --> 00:38:55,632
♪♪

747
00:38:55,701 --> 00:38:57,434
-5,000 years ago,

748
00:38:57,502 --> 00:39:00,637
the Sahara Desert
was actually a savanna,

749
00:39:00,706 --> 00:39:04,207
crisscrossed by a network
of interconnected waterways,

750
00:39:04,276 --> 00:39:08,778
which allowed crocodiles to move
freely throughout North Africa.

751
00:39:08,847 --> 00:39:12,549
The carvings on Unas's
causeway reflected reality.

752
00:39:12,617 --> 00:39:14,851
[ Birds chirping ]

753
00:39:14,920 --> 00:39:16,453
When the pyramids were built,

754
00:39:16,521 --> 00:39:18,855
they were<i> surrounded</i>
by savanna.

755
00:39:18,924 --> 00:39:21,224
[ Insects chirping ]

756
00:39:21,293 --> 00:39:24,994
But, when did Egypt dry out
and become a desert

757
00:39:25,063 --> 00:39:26,663
and could<i> this</i>
have played a part

758
00:39:26,732 --> 00:39:31,101
in the demise of the Old Kingdom
and led to the mass grave?

759
00:39:31,169 --> 00:39:35,038
♪♪

760
00:39:35,107 --> 00:39:37,107
Elephantine,
in the middle of the Nile,

761
00:39:37,175 --> 00:39:39,609
between Qubbet el-Hawa
and Aswan,

762
00:39:39,678 --> 00:39:41,111
can shed some light.

763
00:39:41,179 --> 00:39:44,814
♪♪

764
00:39:44,883 --> 00:39:48,418
The ruins here show what was
happening to Egypt's climate.

765
00:39:48,487 --> 00:39:50,153
♪♪

766
00:39:50,222 --> 00:39:54,190
Archaeologist Miroslav Barta
describes the changes.

767
00:39:54,259 --> 00:39:56,393
♪♪

768
00:39:56,461 --> 00:40:00,430
-This is a fortress
dating back to 3,000 BC.

769
00:40:00,499 --> 00:40:03,533
At the time, the island
of Elephantine consisted

770
00:40:03,602 --> 00:40:05,468
of two separated islands:

771
00:40:05,537 --> 00:40:07,704
the eastern one

772
00:40:07,773 --> 00:40:10,740
and then the western island.

773
00:40:10,809 --> 00:40:12,475
♪♪

774
00:40:12,544 --> 00:40:17,080
The fortress is located in here,
on the eastern island.

775
00:40:17,149 --> 00:40:19,616
-The fortress was built
on the highest ground,

776
00:40:19,684 --> 00:40:22,619
315 feet above sea level.

777
00:40:22,687 --> 00:40:25,121
-The reason was
that the Nile flood

778
00:40:25,190 --> 00:40:27,157
at the beginning
of the Old Kingdom

779
00:40:27,225 --> 00:40:28,591
was very high.

780
00:40:28,660 --> 00:40:32,328
♪♪

781
00:40:32,397 --> 00:40:34,664
-But the buildings
surrounding the fortress

782
00:40:34,733 --> 00:40:38,568
show that the level
of the Nile began to fall.

783
00:40:38,637 --> 00:40:42,038
And, as the water level fell,
the city expanded

784
00:40:42,107 --> 00:40:43,940
over the rest
of the eastern island,

785
00:40:44,009 --> 00:40:47,143
which had been
partially submerged.

786
00:40:47,212 --> 00:40:49,145
And there are even ruins
from the lowest part

787
00:40:49,214 --> 00:40:51,948
of the island,
where the Nile once flowed,

788
00:40:52,017 --> 00:40:54,717
that date from<i> after</i> Pepi II.

789
00:40:54,786 --> 00:40:56,653
♪♪

790
00:40:56,721 --> 00:41:00,123
-Now, we stand in the middle
of the original depression

791
00:41:00,192 --> 00:41:01,891
that was separating the eastern

792
00:41:01,960 --> 00:41:04,027
and western island
of Elephantine.

793
00:41:04,095 --> 00:41:06,563
And, as we can see here,
the ancient Egyptians

794
00:41:06,631 --> 00:41:09,532
were able to use up
the original depression

795
00:41:09,601 --> 00:41:12,435
to construct
their houses over it.

796
00:41:12,504 --> 00:41:14,471
-After Pepi II's death,

797
00:41:14,539 --> 00:41:18,007
the level of the Nile
had dropped so significantly

798
00:41:18,076 --> 00:41:21,344
that the two islands
merged into one

799
00:41:21,413 --> 00:41:24,514
and the city expanded
onto what had previously been

800
00:41:24,583 --> 00:41:27,250
the marshes in between.

801
00:41:27,319 --> 00:41:31,354
Here is evidence that Egypt's
climate was gradually changing

802
00:41:31,423 --> 00:41:34,390
and becoming drier
during the Old Kingdom.

803
00:41:34,459 --> 00:41:37,093
[ Triumphant music plays ]

804
00:41:37,162 --> 00:41:40,830
But things would get worse,
much worse.

805
00:41:40,899 --> 00:41:43,733
[ Foreboding music plays ]

806
00:41:43,802 --> 00:41:47,270
[ Wind blowing ]

807
00:41:47,339 --> 00:41:50,940
The key to understanding the
collapse of the Old Kingdom,

808
00:41:51,009 --> 00:41:53,543
<i>and</i> the reasons
for the mass grave,

809
00:41:53,612 --> 00:41:56,913
lies almost 2,000 miles away,

810
00:41:56,982 --> 00:41:59,649
in the glaciers
of Mount Kilimanjaro.

811
00:41:59,718 --> 00:42:03,786
In 2000, an expedition
of American glaciologists,

812
00:42:03,855 --> 00:42:06,055
led by Professor
Lonnie Thompson,

813
00:42:06,124 --> 00:42:10,693
discovered proof of a global
climate catastrophe.

814
00:42:10,762 --> 00:42:13,196
♪♪

815
00:42:13,265 --> 00:42:14,731
An ice cap is built

816
00:42:14,799 --> 00:42:18,768
of layers and layers of snow
gradually piling up

817
00:42:18,837 --> 00:42:21,504
that are then compressed
into ice.

818
00:42:21,573 --> 00:42:24,474
By extracting cores
from the ice,

819
00:42:24,543 --> 00:42:27,610
Lonnie is able to look
back in time.

820
00:42:27,679 --> 00:42:30,346
The ice captures a record
of what was in the air

821
00:42:30,415 --> 00:42:33,249
at the time it was laid down.

822
00:42:33,318 --> 00:42:36,386
Studying this ice back
in the lab,

823
00:42:36,454 --> 00:42:40,557
Lonnie can reconstruct
the past climate.

824
00:42:40,625 --> 00:42:42,892
These precious cores
are preserved

825
00:42:42,961 --> 00:42:46,896
in Lonnie's freezer
at Ohio State University.

826
00:42:46,965 --> 00:42:50,400
-We have over 7,000 meters
of ice cores

827
00:42:50,468 --> 00:42:52,802
collected from around the world.

828
00:42:52,871 --> 00:42:54,704
We have,
on this particular rack,

829
00:42:54,773 --> 00:42:59,142
those cores which we recovered
from Kilimanjaro in 2000.

830
00:42:59,210 --> 00:43:02,845
It dates back 11,700 years

831
00:43:02,914 --> 00:43:05,348
and, in that record,

832
00:43:05,417 --> 00:43:08,251
about the depth of 33 meters,

833
00:43:08,320 --> 00:43:11,988
we would find the time
that corresponds

834
00:43:12,057 --> 00:43:14,190
to the Old Kingdom in Egypt,

835
00:43:14,259 --> 00:43:18,428
so we'll take this out and
examine it on the light table.

836
00:43:18,496 --> 00:43:21,631
-This piece of ice holds
a unique record of the climate

837
00:43:21,700 --> 00:43:24,300
around the time
the Old Kingdom fell apart.

838
00:43:24,369 --> 00:43:27,270
-This is what's left
after all the measurements

839
00:43:27,339 --> 00:43:28,771
have been made on the core, so.

840
00:43:28,840 --> 00:43:33,309
And this record starts about
5,000 years before present,

841
00:43:33,378 --> 00:43:35,411
so we're coming forward in time

842
00:43:35,480 --> 00:43:38,915
and you see this
very distinct band.

843
00:43:38,984 --> 00:43:43,519
♪♪

844
00:43:43,588 --> 00:43:45,989
And it was really amazing,
in the field,

845
00:43:46,057 --> 00:43:48,024
when this thing showed up, yeah.

846
00:43:48,093 --> 00:43:49,392
There's a lot of excitement

847
00:43:49,461 --> 00:43:51,494
because you know
you have something.

848
00:43:51,563 --> 00:43:56,399
It's gonna take you a while
to figure out.

849
00:43:56,468 --> 00:43:58,267
No, it's very exciting.

850
00:43:58,336 --> 00:44:00,203
-This ominous, dark layer

851
00:44:00,271 --> 00:44:02,705
is the result of the
dramatic climate change

852
00:44:02,774 --> 00:44:04,841
that led to the collapse
of the Old Kingdom.

853
00:44:04,909 --> 00:44:07,810
-This black line that you
see here in the core

854
00:44:07,879 --> 00:44:10,179
is a layer of dust,
windblown dust,

855
00:44:10,248 --> 00:44:13,149
that accumulated
on the ice field.

856
00:44:13,218 --> 00:44:16,619
This is the largest dust event
we've found in an ice core,

857
00:44:16,688 --> 00:44:19,689
so it's very,
very highly concentrated.

858
00:44:19,758 --> 00:44:21,190
It would suggest that there was

859
00:44:21,259 --> 00:44:24,927
a massive drought
throughout this region.

860
00:44:24,996 --> 00:44:28,431
-And Lonnie has found more
physical signs of this drought,

861
00:44:28,500 --> 00:44:31,701
on the other side of the world.

862
00:44:31,770 --> 00:44:35,071
-In the same time period,
we have found a similar layer

863
00:44:35,140 --> 00:44:38,808
in the Huascarán ice cores
in the Andes, in Peru.

864
00:44:38,877 --> 00:44:42,011
We also see it
over in the Himalayas,

865
00:44:42,080 --> 00:44:43,279
which suggests that there was

866
00:44:43,348 --> 00:44:46,149
a major drought
throughout the tropics.

867
00:44:46,217 --> 00:44:48,418
♪♪

868
00:44:48,486 --> 00:44:51,254
-Crucially, he was able
to date this drought.

869
00:44:51,322 --> 00:44:53,289
[ Music intensifies ]

870
00:44:53,358 --> 00:44:56,526
-Based on our
Kilimanjaro timescale,

871
00:44:56,594 --> 00:45:00,697
we estimate the event occurs
around 4,200 years ago,

872
00:45:00,765 --> 00:45:02,965
the time of the collapse
of the Old Kingdom.

873
00:45:03,034 --> 00:45:05,101
♪♪

874
00:45:05,170 --> 00:45:07,236
-Could this massive global
drought have been

875
00:45:07,305 --> 00:45:10,940
what brought the Old Kingdom
to its knees

876
00:45:11,009 --> 00:45:14,444
and led to the death of the
soldiers in the mass grave?

877
00:45:14,512 --> 00:45:16,713
[ Suspenseful music climbs ]

878
00:45:16,781 --> 00:45:20,316
[ Suspenseful chords striking ]

879
00:45:20,385 --> 00:45:24,854
[ Foreboding music plays ]

880
00:45:24,923 --> 00:45:27,190
Over the course
of the Old Kingdom,

881
00:45:27,258 --> 00:45:32,128
Egypt was gradually turning
from savannah into desert.

882
00:45:32,197 --> 00:45:34,230
Agriculture was
entirely dependent

883
00:45:34,299 --> 00:45:37,200
on the annual flooding
of the Nile.

884
00:45:37,268 --> 00:45:41,003
Each summer, the rains falling
on the highlands of Ethiopia

885
00:45:41,072 --> 00:45:45,408
flow into the Nile, causing it
to overflow its banks,

886
00:45:45,477 --> 00:45:46,876
flooding the fields

887
00:45:46,945 --> 00:45:50,146
and depositing rich soil
which fertilizes the crops.

888
00:45:50,215 --> 00:45:52,548
[ Suspenseful music plays ]

889
00:45:52,617 --> 00:45:55,685
If Lonnie is right,
this climate spike

890
00:45:55,754 --> 00:45:59,388
would have had a disastrous
impact on the Nile floods

891
00:45:59,457 --> 00:46:01,758
<i>and</i> the people
of the Old Kingdom.

892
00:46:01,826 --> 00:46:04,894
[ Wind blowing ]

893
00:46:04,963 --> 00:46:08,131
Back in Egypt, geologist-
turned-archaeologist

894
00:46:08,199 --> 00:46:10,199
Professor Fekri Hassan

895
00:46:10,268 --> 00:46:13,136
has been looking for proof
that this global calamity

896
00:46:13,204 --> 00:46:16,139
did, indeed, hit the land
of the pharaohs.

897
00:46:16,207 --> 00:46:19,809
-There were indications
that there are problems

898
00:46:19,878 --> 00:46:21,677
in other parts of the world
at that time,

899
00:46:21,746 --> 00:46:24,914
caused by climate change.

900
00:46:24,983 --> 00:46:27,750
It was tempting to think

901
00:46:27,819 --> 00:46:30,887
that this might be the case
in Egypt as well.

902
00:46:30,955 --> 00:46:33,723
-But, in Egypt, there is no ice.

903
00:46:33,792 --> 00:46:36,926
He's had to find another way
of seeing into the past:

904
00:46:36,995 --> 00:46:38,227
mud.

905
00:46:38,296 --> 00:46:41,230
He takes cores from the
bottom of Lake Qarun,

906
00:46:41,299 --> 00:46:43,099
just south of Cairo.

907
00:46:43,168 --> 00:46:46,536
The lake is fed by the Nile,
which deposits layers

908
00:46:46,604 --> 00:46:49,672
of sediment on the bottom,
and, just like ice,

909
00:46:49,741 --> 00:46:53,409
these layers hold a record
of the past climate.

910
00:46:53,478 --> 00:46:58,714
Back in the lab in Cairo,
Fekri has analyzed the cores.

911
00:46:58,783 --> 00:47:00,750
-These were the cores we got.

912
00:47:00,819 --> 00:47:03,085
It consisted of a sequence

913
00:47:03,154 --> 00:47:08,391
from the bottom of the lake
that spans 10,000 years.

914
00:47:08,459 --> 00:47:10,126
These are the oldest ones,

915
00:47:10,195 --> 00:47:13,196
that were before the rise
of civilization,

916
00:47:13,264 --> 00:47:17,166
where the lake was quite deep
and, as we move

917
00:47:17,235 --> 00:47:18,301
to this way,

918
00:47:18,369 --> 00:47:20,403
this part it the Old Kingdom.

919
00:47:20,471 --> 00:47:23,306
This is the whole history
of the Nile floodplain

920
00:47:23,374 --> 00:47:24,574
over the last 10,000 years.

921
00:47:24,642 --> 00:47:28,311
It's never been
available before.

922
00:47:28,379 --> 00:47:31,614
-The core reveals that,
during the Old Kingdom,

923
00:47:31,683 --> 00:47:35,117
the lake was much larger
and deeper than today...

924
00:47:35,186 --> 00:47:38,087
♪♪

925
00:47:38,156 --> 00:47:43,693
...its depth fluctuating
around 200 feet.

926
00:47:43,761 --> 00:47:47,129
-This part of the core here
is the part

927
00:47:47,198 --> 00:47:49,365
that represents the Old Kingdom.

928
00:47:49,434 --> 00:47:53,202
What is amazing in this part
is this break,

929
00:47:53,271 --> 00:47:55,738
where we had the presence

930
00:47:55,807 --> 00:48:01,210
of a thick layer of gypsum,
the whitish material.

931
00:48:01,279 --> 00:48:05,081
This is a mineral, which forms
under shallow water conditions

932
00:48:05,149 --> 00:48:07,149
and evaporative conditions.

933
00:48:07,218 --> 00:48:12,088
Mixed with the gypsum, we have
the deposits of the iron oxide,

934
00:48:12,156 --> 00:48:14,323
the reddish material.

935
00:48:14,392 --> 00:48:17,660
Iron oxide usually form under
very shallow water conditions,

936
00:48:17,729 --> 00:48:19,962
where oxygen is present,

937
00:48:20,031 --> 00:48:23,599
either very, very shallow water
or almost no water.

938
00:48:23,668 --> 00:48:26,502
That would mean that
the lake was almost dry;

939
00:48:26,571 --> 00:48:30,106
if not bone-dry,
just extremely shallow pools.

940
00:48:30,174 --> 00:48:31,774
[ Ethereal vocals join ]

941
00:48:31,843 --> 00:48:35,111
-The layer of gypsum and iron
ore shows that this deep,

942
00:48:35,179 --> 00:48:37,880
freshwater lake dried up,

943
00:48:37,949 --> 00:48:41,617
leaving behind just a few
ephemeral pools of water.

944
00:48:41,686 --> 00:48:44,387
-You know, maybe 60, 70 meters
of water disappeared.

945
00:48:44,455 --> 00:48:48,524
♪♪

946
00:48:48,593 --> 00:48:53,562
From the different radio carbon
age determinations of the core,

947
00:48:53,631 --> 00:48:56,933
we were able to determine
that this layer here

948
00:48:57,001 --> 00:49:01,804
represents time
around 4,200 years ago,

949
00:49:01,873 --> 00:49:04,907
which correlates to the end
of the Old Kingdom.

950
00:49:04,976 --> 00:49:06,909
♪♪

951
00:49:06,978 --> 00:49:10,479
-Fekri's discovery confirms
that the global drought seen

952
00:49:10,548 --> 00:49:13,983
in the ice cores
also hit Egypt hard,

953
00:49:14,052 --> 00:49:16,953
just at the time
the Old Kingdom collapsed.

954
00:49:17,021 --> 00:49:22,692
-We were able to find
the smoking gun.

955
00:49:22,760 --> 00:49:26,796
This is the hard evidence
for this event,

956
00:49:26,864 --> 00:49:29,198
this catastrophic event.

957
00:49:29,267 --> 00:49:31,667
The thickness of this layer
and the fact

958
00:49:31,736 --> 00:49:34,737
that the very deep lake
had to dry up,

959
00:49:34,806 --> 00:49:37,139
it would indicate that we
are dealing with no less

960
00:49:37,208 --> 00:49:41,143
than 20 years
of reduced Nile floods.

961
00:49:41,212 --> 00:49:43,179
-This disastrous drought

962
00:49:43,247 --> 00:49:47,717
was the knockout punch
which pushed Egypt into chaos.

963
00:49:47,785 --> 00:49:51,554
-I think climate change leading
to a reduction of Nile floods

964
00:49:51,622 --> 00:49:54,223
is the cause of the collapse
of the Old Kingdom.

965
00:49:54,292 --> 00:49:56,359
Egypt depends on the Nile.

966
00:49:56,427 --> 00:49:58,961
If anything goes wrong
with the Nile,

967
00:49:59,030 --> 00:50:03,199
then it would be
famine and chaos.

968
00:50:03,267 --> 00:50:07,103
If the Nile is low
for 20 years or even more,

969
00:50:07,171 --> 00:50:10,439
it means that agriculture
production would stop.

970
00:50:10,508 --> 00:50:13,943
-Ankhtifi, the local
governor, was right:

971
00:50:14,012 --> 00:50:17,179
the whole of Egypt would've
been like a starving locust.

972
00:50:17,248 --> 00:50:21,384
-That means that the king
does not have enough revenues,

973
00:50:21,452 --> 00:50:23,352
not even for his own household,

974
00:50:23,421 --> 00:50:25,788
not to mention for the
viziers and the managers

975
00:50:25,857 --> 00:50:28,657
and people engaged
in the governments,

976
00:50:28,726 --> 00:50:32,061
so, the whole civilization
comes to a stop.

977
00:50:32,130 --> 00:50:33,462
[ Suspenseful music climbs ]

978
00:50:33,531 --> 00:50:35,064
It's a great lesson

979
00:50:35,133 --> 00:50:38,467
about how abrupt
climate change can be

980
00:50:38,536 --> 00:50:42,171
and how civilizations,
no matter how mighty they are,

981
00:50:42,240 --> 00:50:45,241
can really suffer
from events like that.

982
00:50:45,309 --> 00:50:46,509
[ Outro plays ]

983
00:50:46,577 --> 00:50:48,878
-This terrible climate crisis,

984
00:50:48,946 --> 00:50:51,847
combined with the underlying
political problems,

985
00:50:51,916 --> 00:50:56,685
created the perfect storm,
which destroyed the Old Kingdom

986
00:50:56,754 --> 00:51:00,322
and ultimately set the stage
for the mass grave.

987
00:51:00,391 --> 00:51:03,392
In the face of famine
and economic crisis,

988
00:51:03,461 --> 00:51:06,095
Pepi II's politically
weak successors

989
00:51:06,164 --> 00:51:08,631
lost control of the country.

990
00:51:08,699 --> 00:51:11,867
Egypt fractured
into city-states.

991
00:51:11,936 --> 00:51:13,402
But the turmoil and violence

992
00:51:13,471 --> 00:51:16,739
would last far longer
than the drought itself.

993
00:51:16,808 --> 00:51:19,742
[<i> Swords clinking</i> ]

994
00:51:19,811 --> 00:51:23,813
Even as the 20-year drought
ended and the Nile level rose,

995
00:51:23,881 --> 00:51:26,782
Egypt remained divided
and vulnerable.

996
00:51:26,851 --> 00:51:29,618
As prosperity
gradually returned,

997
00:51:29,687 --> 00:51:32,188
it wasn't long before the
regional governors,

998
00:51:32,256 --> 00:51:34,123
like Ankhtifi,
developed ambitions

999
00:51:34,192 --> 00:51:36,892
to conquer the whole country.

1000
00:51:36,961 --> 00:51:40,963
The consequence was war
for 130 years.

1001
00:51:41,032 --> 00:51:44,467
[<i> Shouting, swords clinking</i> ]

1002
00:51:44,535 --> 00:51:47,103
The soldiers in the
mass grave likely died,

1003
00:51:47,171 --> 00:51:50,372
not in the initial chaos
caused by the famine,

1004
00:51:50,441 --> 00:51:51,607
[ Poignant tune plays ]
but right at the end

1005
00:51:51,676 --> 00:51:55,511
of the protracted civil war
that followed.

1006
00:51:55,580 --> 00:51:58,314
Roughly 40 years
after the drought ended,

1007
00:51:58,382 --> 00:52:01,584
the rulers of Thebes,
modern-day Luxor,

1008
00:52:01,652 --> 00:52:03,252
took control of the South

1009
00:52:03,321 --> 00:52:06,122
and the location of the mass
grave near Luxor

1010
00:52:06,190 --> 00:52:08,858
suggests the soldiers
were Thebans.

1011
00:52:08,926 --> 00:52:11,660
Meanwhile, another family
of local rulers,

1012
00:52:11,729 --> 00:52:13,696
from a town called
Heracleopolis,

1013
00:52:13,764 --> 00:52:16,332
had taken control of the North.
[ Sinister music plays ]

1014
00:52:16,400 --> 00:52:18,968
Egypt was split in two

1015
00:52:19,036 --> 00:52:22,571
and both sides wanted control
of the entire country.

1016
00:52:22,640 --> 00:52:27,510
In 2040 BC, the Thebans
captured most of the North

1017
00:52:27,578 --> 00:52:30,446
and they reached
Heracleopolis itself.

1018
00:52:30,515 --> 00:52:33,816
They were led by a king
named Mentuhotep II.

1019
00:52:33,885 --> 00:52:35,651
He was a great general.

1020
00:52:35,720 --> 00:52:40,222
His name even means "Montu
the god of war is satisfied,"

1021
00:52:40,291 --> 00:52:42,992
and he finally conquered
Heracleopolis,

1022
00:52:43,060 --> 00:52:44,627
[<i> Shouting, swords clinking</i> ]
in a bloody siege.

1023
00:52:44,695 --> 00:52:47,730
[ Suspenseful music climbs ]

1024
00:52:47,798 --> 00:52:50,966
[<i> Cheering, swords clinking</i> ]

1025
00:52:51,035 --> 00:52:52,735
[ Wind whistles ]

1026
00:52:52,803 --> 00:52:54,403
Salima believes it's possible

1027
00:52:54,472 --> 00:52:58,607
that these soldiers,
now more than 4,000 years old,

1028
00:52:58,676 --> 00:53:01,844
took part in this final battle.

1029
00:53:01,913 --> 00:53:04,480
-Amongst these bodies,
there was a lot of linen

1030
00:53:04,549 --> 00:53:07,816
and some of the linen
had marks on it.

1031
00:53:07,885 --> 00:53:09,485
And these are
actually associated

1032
00:53:09,554 --> 00:53:11,620
with the temple
of Mentuhotep II.

1033
00:53:11,689 --> 00:53:14,623
This, together with the fact
that the temple is right there,

1034
00:53:14,692 --> 00:53:16,091
underneath his tomb,

1035
00:53:16,160 --> 00:53:19,528
means that the soldiers were
fighting for Mentuhotep II.

1036
00:53:19,597 --> 00:53:22,364
[ Sinister music plays ]

1037
00:53:22,433 --> 00:53:23,832
-And that's not all.

1038
00:53:23,901 --> 00:53:25,668
Close analysis of the injuries

1039
00:53:25,736 --> 00:53:29,471
provides more details
about what caused them.

1040
00:53:29,540 --> 00:53:30,739
-Looking at these arrows

1041
00:53:30,808 --> 00:53:34,276
that went into the necks
of these soldiers,

1042
00:53:34,345 --> 00:53:37,413
you can see that the
trajectory is from above

1043
00:53:37,481 --> 00:53:41,517
and it's the same thing
with all of these head wounds.

1044
00:53:41,586 --> 00:53:44,086
It's like someone
was hitting them from above.

1045
00:53:44,155 --> 00:53:47,323
So, clearly, it would seem
that these soldiers were

1046
00:53:47,391 --> 00:53:50,059
up against an enemy
that was higher than they were,

1047
00:53:50,127 --> 00:53:51,694
as if they were in a fortress,

1048
00:53:51,762 --> 00:53:53,996
as if there were some sort
of siege situation,

1049
00:53:54,065 --> 00:53:56,332
and that these soldiers
of Mentuhotep

1050
00:53:56,400 --> 00:53:58,601
were attacking
some kind of fort

1051
00:53:58,669 --> 00:54:00,569
and people were
hitting them from above,

1052
00:54:00,638 --> 00:54:03,639
raining down arrows,
throwing rocks.

1053
00:54:03,708 --> 00:54:05,708
And, maybe,
when they came too close,

1054
00:54:05,776 --> 00:54:08,444
hitting them hard
with clubs and maces.

1055
00:54:08,512 --> 00:54:11,380
[ Suspenseful chords strike ]

1056
00:54:11,449 --> 00:54:14,583
-It would seem these soldiers
were fighting for Mentuhotep

1057
00:54:14,652 --> 00:54:18,120
in the deciding battle
of the civil war.

1058
00:54:18,189 --> 00:54:20,723
-All of this put together
makes us think that

1059
00:54:20,791 --> 00:54:26,395
these soldiers were fighting
at the siege of Heracleopolis.

1060
00:54:26,464 --> 00:54:29,198
-After the battle was won,
Mentuhotep II

1061
00:54:29,267 --> 00:54:32,268
declared himself king
of the entire country,

1062
00:54:32,336 --> 00:54:35,371
reunifying Egypt at last,

1063
00:54:35,439 --> 00:54:37,840
and he is believed to have had
the soldiers buried

1064
00:54:37,908 --> 00:54:41,944
above his own mortuary temple
as a sign of honor.

1065
00:54:42,013 --> 00:54:44,246
-It's a huge honor
for anyone to be buried

1066
00:54:44,315 --> 00:54:47,449
that close to the king,
so, clearly, he valued them

1067
00:54:47,518 --> 00:54:49,952
and he, himself, must have
paid for the funeral,

1068
00:54:50,021 --> 00:54:53,122
with all of these
temple linens being used.

1069
00:54:53,190 --> 00:54:57,126
So, obviously, he valued
their work and their loyalty

1070
00:54:57,194 --> 00:54:59,428
and their bravery
and kept them near him

1071
00:54:59,497 --> 00:55:02,631
so that they would be
united for eternity.

1072
00:55:02,700 --> 00:55:06,435
[ Suspenseful chords striking ]

1073
00:55:06,504 --> 00:55:09,071
[ Suspenseful music climbs,
chords striking ]