National Geographic Mysteries of Egypt

en
00:00:33 No land on Earth possess
00:00:40 wonders long hidden
00:00:42 but revealed occasionally
00:00:46 or a curious tale.
00:01:02 Our story begins with a death
00:01:05 the death of an unusual boy.
00:01:11 Worshipped as the son of Re,
00:01:15 he was a pharaoh of Egypt
00:01:24 We don't know how he died,
00:01:27 only that his death was
00:01:33 His body was preserved
00:01:34 in the manner of other pharaohs
00:01:37 and priests anointed his
00:01:39 for his final journey
00:02:01 The rituals had to be finished
00:02:04 the Sun,
00:02:18 So this young pharaoh
00:02:21 surrounded by kingly treasures
00:02:23 and his seal was pressed
00:02:28 From that time on
00:02:33 hidden and undisturbed
00:02:37 This young King's name
00:02:47 For 3,000 years,
00:02:49 King Tut and his tomb
00:02:51 remained concealed
00:02:58 Other tombs were discovered
00:03:01 but not his.
00:03:05 Believing he could find it,
00:03:06 an Englishman named
00:03:09 five arduous expeditions
00:03:12 but they yielded nothing.
00:03:16 In 1922, he returned to
00:03:39 That year he brought a
00:03:41 to brighten his spirits.
00:03:48 The workmen called it
00:03:49 the Golden Bird and told Carter
00:03:52 it would bring them good luck.
00:03:58 But as work began success seemed
00:04:03 And time was running out.
00:04:09 Carter's benefactor,
00:04:10 Lord Canarvon
00:04:12 fascinated by Egypt
00:04:14 but even he was losing faith...
00:04:17 and had threatened
00:04:19 Yet Carter persisted
00:04:22 if found intact
00:04:24 the tomb would be filled
00:04:28 that would help us peer
00:04:31 to glimpse a world of human
00:04:36 to glimpse our very beginnings.
00:05:09 That's a great story Grandpa
00:05:10 but I want to know more.
00:05:12 You live here and
00:05:13 I know you can tell me
00:05:16 About?
00:05:17 Well, my friends want me
00:05:20 how anyone who entered
00:05:21 ...will have some terrible
00:05:24 Yes, yes, I know.
00:05:26 I don't know if I believe it.
00:05:28 But will you tell me about it?
00:05:29 So the pharaohs, the tombs
00:05:34 the great civilization
00:05:36 you are not interested in?
00:05:38 But the Mummy's curse you find...
00:05:40 Exciting!
00:05:42 Yes, I can see that.
00:05:47 All right then.
00:05:48 you shall hear all about it.
00:05:50 But first we must
00:05:53 Where will we start then?
00:05:55 At the source, of course.
00:05:59 The source of the Nile.
00:07:05 It is the longest river on Earth,
00:07:08 the greatest river in Africa
00:07:09 crossing nearly half
00:07:12 It is born of two rivers
00:07:16 which rises near Lake Victoria
00:07:18 and heads north
00:07:19 through Uganda-and
00:07:21 which descends from the
00:07:24 They meet in the
00:07:26 forming the main trunk
00:07:28 By the time it drains
00:07:32 its waters have journeyed
00:08:01 To the outside world
00:08:02 the source of the great river
00:08:04 was an enduring mystery.
00:08:07 But to the ancient Egyptians,
00:08:08 the source was clear:
00:08:10 the Nile flowed
00:08:14 But what has the Nile
00:08:15 to do with mummies and curses?
00:08:17 Everything.
00:08:18 There would be no mummies,
00:08:20 no ancient Egypt-in fact,
00:08:22 no Egypt at all without her.
00:08:27 You see,
00:08:27 Egypt without the Nile
00:08:30 suitable for
00:08:32 but not great civilizations.
00:08:35 It's only here along the
00:08:38 that the desert's heat
00:08:41 and arid sand is turned
00:08:45 Nourished and irrigated
00:08:48 Egypt became the longest
00:08:50 lived of all the
00:08:55 In ancient times,
00:08:57 so much water raced down
00:08:59 from the lush valleys
00:09:01 that the Nile overflowed
00:09:10 Mineral-rich silt was carried
00:09:12 toward the desert of Egypt
00:09:15 where wildlife flourished.
00:09:44 Rich land made possible
00:09:48 and a stable civilization able to
00:09:50 turn from daily survival
00:09:58 science, mathematics,
00:10:04 They studied the heavens
00:10:07 gave us the 24-hour day
00:10:15 Egypt, an old saying goes,
00:10:21 But the Egyptians believed
00:10:23 even mightier than the Nile:
00:10:26 the sun-the God they called Re,
00:10:30 the God who created everything.
00:10:37 Each morning with its rising
00:10:39 the Sun God would be born.
00:10:43 Each night in setting
00:10:49 But the next morning
00:10:50 he would rise again
00:10:54 He was eternal.
00:11:00 When a king died,
00:11:02 it was believed that
00:11:05 His son
00:11:08 the falcon,
00:11:17 And so the Egyptians accorded
00:11:19 their rulers absolute power
00:11:20 which they used to build
00:11:37 an empire of buildings
00:11:39 and art so exquisite
00:11:43 how such wonders were created
00:11:48 how stones from the
00:11:50 into timeless monuments.
00:12:15 Some of the oldest buildings
00:12:19 preserved by the desert air
00:12:20 and the skill of their creators.
00:12:23 Some are so old that
00:12:26 a thousand years
00:12:42 The enormous obelisks of Karnak
00:12:44 were carved from single blocks
00:12:47 moved hundreds of miles by boat
00:12:50 and perhaps levered up
00:13:04 Giant statues of Ramses the Great
00:13:08 are still some of the largest figures
00:13:10 ever sculpted from solid stone.
00:13:15 We don't know how they did it,
00:13:17 but we do know why
00:13:22 both in life and after death.
00:13:26 Honor the pharaohs after death?
00:13:28 Does that have anything
00:13:30 Yes.
00:13:35 When the young kind died,
00:13:36 the priests sought
00:13:38 a magical new body for him.
00:13:41 For 70 days they labored,
00:13:43 drying and preserving the
00:13:46 and ointments,
00:13:47 then wrapping it in hundreds
00:13:51 with protective jewels,
00:14:00 And finally,
00:14:01 crowning the mummy with
00:14:02 an exquisite golden death mask.
00:14:12 Tutankhamen was ready
00:14:28 Had the boy king lived
00:14:29 and died a thousand years earlier,
00:14:31 he would have been buried
00:14:33 like pharaohs long
00:14:34 before him in a monument
00:14:36 of colossal proportions
00:14:38 the man-made mountain
00:14:56 They probably saw the
00:14:58 as a mystical link
00:15:02 providing the pharaoh's soul
00:15:03 with a stairway to the heavens.
00:15:35 Of the fabled Seven Wonders
00:15:39 only the pyramids of
00:15:42 more than 4,000 years ago.
00:15:52 Nearly 500 feet tall
00:15:55 they contain some
00:15:57 of stone ever moved by
00:15:58 humans-as much as 50 tons or more.
00:16:03 Yet this was accomplished
00:16:07 or even iron tools.
00:16:16 How in the world did they do it
00:16:17 without modern machinery?
00:16:19 The gods certainly didn't do it.
00:16:21 They used their minds.
00:16:23 Knowledge built these great
00:16:27 Highly sophisticated knowledge.
00:16:28 Look.
00:16:36 All of the Giza pyramids are built
00:16:38 in perfect alignment
00:16:42 That takes a knowledge
00:16:47 The pyramids' foundations are laid out
00:16:49 in perfect angles
00:16:52 precisely correct for the height
00:16:54 they wanted to reach.
00:16:56 Now that takes
00:16:59 and mathematics.
00:17:01 And finally,
00:17:02 you must get these big stones
00:17:03 from down here to up there
00:17:04 and you must make them
00:17:09 Now that takes knowledge
00:17:12 an incredible knowledge of
00:17:13 engineering and organization.
00:17:16 Organization?
00:17:17 Absolutely.
00:17:19 You just said so yourself.
00:17:20 It wasn't the gods who built
00:17:22 these great monuments.
00:17:24 It was people.
00:17:26 Thousands and thousands of people.
00:17:37 Imagine being one of
00:17:39 living in a tiny village
00:17:40 more than 4,000 years ago.
00:17:43 Life would be pretty much
00:17:45 the same day in
00:17:47 herding cattle
00:17:51 Then one day,
00:17:53 you're selected to journey
00:17:55 by boat down the Nile.
00:17:58 You're now part of
00:17:59 the great national project
00:18:00 to build the pharaoh's tomb.
00:18:03 But you have no idea
00:18:08 And then you see a monument
00:18:12 to the sun to life eternal.
00:18:35 How did they move such heavy
00:18:37 stones to such great heights?
00:18:39 There are many theories,
00:18:41 but they probably pulled
00:18:42 the blocks up mud-slickened ramps
00:18:45 raising the ramps
00:18:48 Masons then set the stones
00:18:49 with such precision a postcard
00:18:51 couldn't fit between them.
00:18:59 To create the
00:19:01 it took over 20 years...
00:19:04 more than two million
00:19:06 and some 20,000 people.
00:19:09 And they might have been slaves,
00:19:12 but now we think
00:19:13 they were mostly peasant farmers
00:19:14 recruited to work here
00:19:18 With their help,
00:19:20 the early pharaohs built
00:19:22 pyramids-80 of which survive today.
00:19:47 But what about the kings
00:19:49 You told me King Tutankhamen
00:19:51 wasn't buried in a pyramid?
00:19:52 No, he wasn't.
00:19:54 They stopped building them.
00:19:56 And for good reason.
00:20:02 There were robbers who cared far
00:20:05 more about heaps of gold
00:20:06 than an eternal journey.
00:20:10 The pyramids,
00:20:11 were like enormous
00:20:14 "We've buried the king in here
00:20:16 and all his treasure with him."
00:20:24 At any rate,
00:20:29 That's why 500 years after
00:20:31 the last pyramids were built
00:20:33 a new era of kings decided
00:20:35 that instead of building tombs
00:20:38 which everyone could see
00:20:41 why not build tombs
00:20:52 Three hundred miles
00:20:55 across the Nile
00:20:59 is this barren maze of
00:21:01 of a natural pyramid.
00:21:08 Here no thief could
00:21:12 Here the kings and queens of Egypt
00:21:15 would remain immortal
00:21:18 or so they thought.
00:21:28 But greed breeds ingenuity.
00:21:31 Cleverly hiding their
00:21:34 robbers scoured
00:21:42 Over time,
00:21:43 each of the valley tombs
00:21:46 broken into and completely
00:21:49 plundered-except for one
00:21:52 Except for the tomb
00:21:54 That
00:21:55 is what Howard Carter believed.
00:21:57 And, if he was right
00:21:59 it would be the
00:22:01 discovery of modern times
00:22:04 But after five years
00:22:07 and the situation
00:22:15 Then, on the morning of
00:22:17 November the 4th, 1922,
00:22:20 a waterboy trying to
00:22:21 secure his jug hit
00:23:18 Carter sent a telegram
00:23:19 to Lord Canarvon in England
00:23:21 to come quickly and went to
00:23:23 Cairo to meet his benefactor.
00:23:25 But while he was away something
00:23:28 very strange happened.
00:23:45 The golden bird that had
00:23:47 brought them luck
00:23:56 Well, now the cobra was
00:23:57 the protector of the pharaoh.
00:23:59 And the canary represents those
00:24:01 who had entered the tomb.
00:24:03 So the cobra ate the canary
00:24:04 because of the mummy's curse.
00:24:06 More likely he ate it
00:24:07 because he was hungry.
00:24:09 I like the curse idea better!
00:24:11 Well, certainly the workmen
00:24:12 believed it was the curse.
00:24:14 The death of the golden bird
00:24:16 was a bad omen to them.
00:24:18 It meant that someone close to
00:24:19 the project would die within the year.
00:24:22 Rumors of a curse mattered
00:24:26 He hoped his dig would uncover
00:24:30 the tomb of a pharaoh
00:24:33 who ruled long after King Tut.
00:24:36 Carter wanted to find treasure.
00:24:40 But if not, something
00:24:45 Pictures...
00:24:46 hieroglyphs that would
00:24:48 of how the ancients lived
00:24:54 These images are from the
00:24:58 passports to eternity which
00:25:08 To help a dead king reach
00:25:12 they supplied answers to
00:25:16 spells to deflect dangers
00:25:39 But preparation for the afterlife
00:25:41 began long before death.
00:25:47 In grand temples once supported
00:25:48 by these pillars-among
00:25:51 the largest places
00:25:53 the living pharaohs gave offerings
00:25:55 as a way of communicating
00:25:57 with the gods in the world beyond
00:25:59 and courting their favor.
00:26:08 Both immense and colorful,
00:26:10 temples like the great structure
00:26:14 were the settings for
00:26:17 that proclaimed to all
00:26:18 not only the pharaoh's power and wealth
00:26:22 but his devotion to the gods
00:26:23 he would one day join
00:26:38 They sure seemed preoccupied
00:26:42 Yes,
00:26:43 and probably because
00:26:46 as much as they did.
00:26:49 There are picture stories
00:26:54 of board games and ball games,
00:27:01 of acrobats and mechanical toys...
00:27:06 of the affection between
00:27:09 and of family unity and love.
00:27:14 It was the most advanced
00:27:18 and it went on for 3,000 years.
00:27:21 But the empire they
00:27:26 Among the stories on
00:27:29 are accounts of
00:27:31 who tried to conquer the
00:28:01 But, the invading empires
00:28:03 became more powerful
00:28:09 and so gradually, inevitably,
00:28:14 the kingdom of Egypt began to crumble.
00:28:19 Well, how could a place
00:28:20 as powerful as Egypt just collapse?
00:28:24 Actually, many things happened,
00:28:27 but mostly it was the weakening
00:28:30 through civil turmoil,
00:28:32 making Egypt vulnerable to invaders.
00:28:37 Little by little
00:28:39 much of the pharaohs' great
00:28:41 with its secrets
00:29:17 But even as the monuments
00:29:20 the stories are rediscovered
00:29:24 deciphering the distant past.
00:29:39 Scholars and artists are
00:29:40 preserving the Great Sphinx for all humanity.
00:29:51 Research within the
00:29:53 the brilliance of
00:29:56 whose sophisticated
00:29:58 the collapse of these
00:30:04 DNA analysis is helping to
00:30:06 identify family ties of the royal
00:30:09 and to give us clues about
00:30:18 New excavations are uncovering
00:30:20 the support system of settlements
00:30:22 and facilities for the workers
00:30:23 who built the Giza pyramids.
00:30:33 These new discoveries
00:30:37 at least in part,
00:30:38 to one discovery
00:30:42 of the tomb of a
00:30:50 On November 26, 1922,
00:30:54 Howard Carter reached the wall
00:30:55 outside the first chamber
00:30:59 What can you see?
00:31:13 Carter, please,
00:31:17 Yes.
00:31:21 Yes.
00:31:26 Wonderful things
00:31:51 And they were wonderful things...
00:31:53 kept hidden for over
00:31:56 in four chambers carved
00:32:00 They entered to find the only
00:32:03 ever discovered in modern times.
00:32:14 And in the burial chamber,
00:32:20 Inside the fourth shrine,
00:32:23 one inside the other,
00:32:27 the mummy of the boy
00:32:38 This was the greatest treasure
00:32:43 well over 2,000 objects of gold
00:32:47 lapis and precious jewels
00:32:52 by master craftsmen.
00:33:16 They gave us a personal
00:33:19 in ancient Egypt-and fueled
00:33:23 our drive to continue searching
00:33:26 to continue learning.
00:33:35 So through discoveries
00:33:37 and those of modern archeologists,
00:33:41 the ruins of ancient Egypt
00:34:26 The stone creations
00:34:29 from the desert are
00:34:32 great stride forward
00:34:36 to builders of
00:34:38 to dreamers of grand dreams.
00:34:42 These stone wonders are
00:34:46 towering symbols of our
00:34:49 artists,
00:35:53 These great monuments
00:35:57 After all, they managed to survive
00:35:59 for nearly 5,000 years.
00:36:02 How long has our modern
00:36:03 civilization been around in comparison?
00:36:06 Not very long.
00:36:10 Not very long.
00:36:12 Now as to the matter
00:36:17 Lord Canarvon died from
00:36:20 five months after King
00:36:24 So it is true, after all.
00:36:27 Well, Lord Canarvon did
00:36:31 but Howard Carter lived to be 65
00:36:34 and the little waterboy
00:36:36 who was one of the first into
00:36:37 the tomb because of his size
00:36:41 lived to a ripe old age,
00:36:43 as did most of the workers.
00:36:46 Clearly,
00:36:51 But beyond all of that,
00:36:55 flies in the face of
00:36:59 You mean life.
00:37:02 Yes, life.
00:37:30 Death, for them,
00:37:31 wasn't an end, it was the
00:37:35 journey through eternity,
00:37:36 where their gods and
00:37:39 across a lake of flames
00:37:42 rising in new life
00:39:42 Two thousand years after
00:39:46 a modern film crew
00:39:49 to bring their
00:40:00 But putting history on film
00:40:01 is always a delicate business
00:40:05 and tackling ancient Egypt
00:40:07 may be the toughest
00:40:36 Ancient Egypt began
00:40:39 and its remarkable
00:40:49 The magnificent remains of
00:40:52 include the pyramids... temples
00:40:56 Tut's tomb and its treasures
00:40:59 yet the people that created
00:41:01 them were a mystery to us.
00:41:09 But today we know more than
00:41:10 ever about life in ancient Egypt
00:41:13 and director Bruce Neibaur is
00:41:14 celebrating our knowledge
00:41:15 in a larger-than-life film.
00:41:19 The thing that draws me
00:41:21 that we are all part of the
00:41:23 we're all linked together
00:41:26 What's happened in the past
00:41:29 to bear on what's happening
00:41:33 Bruce is filming the
00:41:36 a giant-screen
00:41:37 Imax feature for National Geographic
00:41:39 and destination cinema.
00:41:41 It's a monumental undertaking
00:41:43 there are hundreds of extras
00:41:44 thousands of costumes and props
00:41:47 and over eight tons of
00:41:49 specialized equipment designed
00:41:50 to shoot the biggest film
00:41:52 stock in the world.
00:41:57 A standard 35mm frame
00:42:00 70mm is about this big,
00:42:02 Imax is about this big and
00:42:04 it's thrown up on a screen
00:42:07 every detail shows up.
00:42:09 Authenticity is everything.
00:42:11 And the crew is under constant
00:42:13 pressure to achieve perfection.
00:42:18 Costume designer Jackie Crier
00:42:20 has been working since dawn.
00:42:22 Today, she must transform hundreds
00:42:24 of extras into pyramid
00:42:26 builders for a crucial scene.
00:42:34 Down river
00:42:35 archeological advisor Zahi Hawass
00:42:37 waits for shooting to start
00:42:38 with producers Scott Swofford
00:42:44 I take full responsibility
00:42:44 for everything bad in the film.
00:42:49 If anything goes wrong
00:42:52 Scott and Bruce in the Nile.
00:42:56 Getting it right can be difficult,
00:42:59 because just how the Egyptians
00:43:01 did build the pyramids is still a mystery.
00:43:08 We know they devised a system
00:43:09 for moving mammoth
00:43:12 We know the system was efficient
00:43:14 one 5,000-pound stone could be
00:43:16 added to a rising mound
00:43:22 But what we don't know is how
00:43:23 they did it without wheels or cranes.
00:43:39 They simply do not show
00:43:42 and so what we
00:43:45 are surmises or inferences
00:43:47 that we make from the stones
00:43:50 But you know the rules
00:43:52 We have found sledges.
00:43:54 We have found ropes or
00:43:57 We have found ramps of pyramids.
00:44:03 The evidence has an
00:44:06 but getting the story on film
00:44:07 requires some distinctly modern tricks.
00:44:20 Production designer Michael Buchanan
00:44:22 knows everything has to look just right.
00:44:24 I'm trying to make the plaster
00:44:26 look like real stones.
00:44:26 So it doesn't look
00:44:37 The plaster stones weigh only
00:44:39 a fraction of the real thing,
00:44:41 but the actors' efforts are real.
00:44:44 As the camera rolls,
00:44:46 20-man teams haul the blocks
00:44:48 on sledges up increasingly steep ramps.
00:44:55 It's a dazzling sight...
00:44:57 and one not seen on the
00:44:58 Giza plateau in over 4,000 years.
00:45:05 Until now
00:45:06 I haven't seen any film
00:45:07 that is done on ancient
00:45:11 All that we see is like
00:45:17 When I saw the stones
00:45:19 it really looked like
00:45:21 So this is a huge pay off
00:45:24 of approval is a big,
00:45:29 But more than stone was moved
00:45:32 20,000 laborers
00:45:34 traveled to the isolated Giza plateau.
00:45:37 How they got here
00:45:42 Four thousand years ago,
00:45:44 the pyramids weren't
00:45:47 The Egyptians built harbors
00:45:49 the Nile deep into the
00:45:52 We can imagine,
00:45:57 Cheops building his pyramid,
00:46:00 what he did
00:46:03 and the harbor was
00:46:06 The harbor was used every morning
00:46:07 when the workmen are coming.
00:46:10 Everyone is holding his lunch
00:46:14 and coming in boats, and
00:46:16 they work here and building
00:46:17 the pyramid from the sunrise
00:46:24 Bringing that ancient harbor
00:46:26 one of the most difficult tasks
00:46:30 but Bruce wants
00:46:35 All the modern tools
00:46:38 the river are cued
00:46:41 and even the sailboat
00:46:46 Duck out, man!
00:46:49 Turnover! Roll it
00:46:51 please turning, turning, turning.
00:46:54 But nothing goes as planned
00:46:55 the wind won't cooperate
00:46:57 and the Nile's current forces
00:47:04 Oh, man-collision!
00:47:07 What was done with ease
00:47:11 may be too much to
00:47:18 We have a panic moment here.
00:47:19 See what I'm wondering...
00:47:21 if we had some good lengths
00:47:22 we could throw on shore and
00:47:24 It's a last ditch attempt
00:47:28 near the shore and have
00:47:30 the extras drag it in with ropes.
00:47:37 Throw the damn rope.
00:47:38 But the nightmare continues.
00:47:40 The light is going,
00:47:43 I quit... the boat looks great...
00:47:46 yeah all the physical
00:47:48 just, you know,
00:47:50 we just want to get the boat
00:47:53 turn around and come back.
00:47:55 And we finally just
00:47:56 we have to move on and
00:47:59 At least there were no casualties.
00:48:01 During the actual building
00:48:02 mistakes often resulted
00:48:04 in serious injury and sometimes death.
00:48:08 Building the pyramid for sure
00:48:11 we found about 12 skeletons.
00:48:13 At least ten of them
00:48:17 two of them had accidents
00:48:19 It means maybe a stone
00:48:25 Pyramid-building was dangerous work.
00:48:28 In the next scene,
00:48:29 the crew will film a runaway
00:48:33 It's only a prop,
00:48:41 Actors, extras, and an
00:48:43 Egyptian stuntwoman must scramble
00:48:46 out of the column's path
00:48:49 There is little room for error.
00:48:59 While the prop gets
00:49:02 the film crew shoots
00:49:13 She's quick! Thank God.
00:49:17 I've done things like this before
00:49:19 but not as dangerous.
00:49:22 Finally, both camera and
00:49:27 Three, two, one, go!
00:49:48 The shot comes off without a hitch
00:49:51 and the crew now turns to
00:49:55 recreating the funeral procession
00:49:57 of Egypt's most famous pharaoh.
00:50:07 Carter, please,
00:50:12 Yes, wonderful things.
00:50:18 Wonderful things.
00:50:20 In 1922,
00:50:22 an obscure English archeologist
00:50:26 unearthed the remains of an
00:50:27 even more obscure pharaoh
00:50:29 named Tutankhamen.
00:50:33 Carter had discovered
00:50:35 what all others had
00:50:36 despaired of ever finding
00:50:38 a virtually unlooted
00:50:42 And the treasures of King Tut
00:50:45 their grip
00:50:52 Now director Bruce Neibaur's crew
00:51:01 High above a desert valley,
00:51:02 the crew prepares to capture
00:51:08 In Tut's time,
00:51:09 the pharaohs no longer built pyramids for
00:51:14 filled burial sites in the
00:51:22 The valley can be a tricky place to
00:51:26 Reed Smoot,
00:51:29 It's tough because the sun
00:51:32 it's beautiful for about 30 seconds,
00:51:34 It's midday.
00:51:40 But everyone feels the pressure
00:51:42 and lining up extras can be the bane
00:51:54 Meanwhile, costume designer
00:52:03 I'm not always calm.
00:52:11 Months of research, design and
00:52:16 And into the props as well.
00:52:19 Egypt's finest artisans have carved
00:52:24 Made of gold over plaster,
00:52:28 And like the original,
00:52:32 How heavy is the coffin,
00:52:34 It's a nightmare.
00:52:40 Advisor Nicholas Reeves
00:52:43 The author of several
00:52:45 Reeves is here to
00:52:47 king's last rites are performed
00:52:53 His only reference source lies deep
00:52:59 on the walls of the tomb itself.
00:53:02 Reeves also thinks these walls
00:53:06 about how the young pharaoh died.
00:53:10 Why should he have died at 17?
00:53:12 There's no trace of TB
00:53:16 Nothing at all.
00:53:17 He was healthy when he died.
00:53:19 And x-rays taken of Tut's skull
00:53:24 Certainly x-rays of the head
00:53:27 have been caused by a blow.
00:53:31 In fact,
00:53:34 and that his killer
00:53:37 But as the sun creeps up
00:53:39 the immediate concern is
00:53:43 and on film.
00:53:48 But before they can start,
00:53:49 another question-what sound
00:53:53 Taking their cues from
00:53:56 they decide on wailing.
00:53:58 And production designer
00:54:01 for the bemused extras.
00:54:07 But there's a last
00:54:10 Reeves is bothered by
00:54:13 There's no time for
00:54:16 They've got to go.
00:54:36 Action!
00:54:39 Three thousand years
00:54:42 golden light and mournful
00:54:46 as the coffin of the 17-year-old
00:54:50 its way to a final resting place.
00:54:53 From an Egyptologists point of view,
00:54:54 what's quite striking is the colors...
00:54:57 the contrast of the gold
00:55:01 and the noise and the
00:55:05 I think it's captured very well.
00:55:10 A filmmaker's imagination brings
00:55:25 At last it's time to rehearse
00:55:29 Ay, administers last rites...
00:55:32 just as recorded
00:55:34 But Reeves suspects Ay had more
00:55:38 in the young pharaoh's death.
00:55:40 Ay may well have had a hand
00:55:45 I suspect.
00:55:49 It was Ay who took over the
00:55:54 but we may never know the truth.
00:56:13 With the sacred rites finished,
00:56:14 Tut's coffin was carried deep within a
00:56:24 sealed in for an eternity...
00:56:27 which turned out to
00:56:37 Tutankhamen in life
00:56:40 He's quickly forgotten by his successors
00:56:44 Now he's probably the most famous
00:56:48 I think if he's looking
00:56:50 he's probably quite happy.
00:56:54 One of my hopes for this film
00:56:58 and they'll be stimulated enough
00:57:01 learn more about the project.
00:57:09 I keep looking at this stuff
00:57:13 because I do feel at times like
00:57:18 Creating a sense of past
00:57:22 these days under the desert sun...
00:57:25 hoping to share the secrets