1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,000 This is a temple for gods. 2 00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:06,000 Look at the size of this place. 3 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:11,000 So Nefertiti was not just a queen of Egypt. 4 00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:13,000 She was a king. 5 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:17,000 What ultimately happened to her body? 6 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:20,000 She may actually be lying in a glass case. 7 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:25,000 You believe 100% that Cleopatra's here? 8 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:29,000 Yes, no doubt. 9 00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:34,000 My brain has exploded here. It's crazy. 10 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:39,000 Snake, snake, snake, snake. 11 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:41,000 Something is underneath. 12 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:43,000 Incredible. I've seen this whole scene before. 13 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:45,000 Is that a head? 14 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:47,000 It's a head of the queen. 15 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:49,000 Get the hell out of here. 16 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:50,000 We're getting data. 17 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:52,000 Incredible. She'll live forever. 18 00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:54,000 That's a skull. 19 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:55,000 That's a human skull. 20 00:00:55,000 --> 00:00:57,000 Oh my God. 21 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:08,000 Egypt. 22 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:12,000 It was the richest, grandest empire in ancient history. 23 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:14,000 And thousands of years later, 24 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:16,000 we still marvel at its weathered monuments 25 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:19,000 and depictions of iconic pharaohs. 26 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:21,000 But many people overlook the fact 27 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:24,000 that some of Egypt's greatest rulers were women. 28 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:30,000 Hatshepsut, Nefertiti, and Cleopatra. 29 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:33,000 Three of the most powerful women who ever lived. 30 00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:36,000 And yet their fates are shrouded in mystery 31 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:38,000 or lost to the sands of time. 32 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:43,000 But now, a new generation of archeologists 33 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:45,000 may change all that. 34 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:50,000 Nefertiti, she is remembered as history's most beautiful queen. 35 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:53,000 But was she also a controversial pharaoh? 36 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:56,000 And could she be the mother to King Tut? 37 00:01:57,000 --> 00:01:59,000 Her body has never been identified. 38 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:03,000 But many believe that an anonymous mummy in the Egyptian museum 39 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:05,000 may be Nefertiti herself. 40 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:08,000 And a bold new experiment may finally put a face 41 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:10,000 on this legendary leader. 42 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:13,000 Then there's Hatshepsut. 43 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:17,000 Matriarch of Egypt's most powerful dynasty 44 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:19,000 who was nearly erased from history. 45 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:22,000 But what was the true source of her death? 46 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:25,000 What was the source of her power? 47 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:27,000 And why isn't she a household name? 48 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:29,000 Recent finds and an ancient quarry 49 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:32,000 may finally tell her true story. 50 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:36,000 Finally, we have Cleopatra, 51 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:38,000 the last monarch of Egypt 52 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:41,000 whose tomb has never been found. 53 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:44,000 I'll join two archeological teams 54 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:47,000 at a forgotten temple and beneath the waves 55 00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:50,000 on a hunt for her long lost grave. 56 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:55,000 So get ready for an adventure through time and history 57 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:57,000 as we head to the land of the pharaohs 58 00:02:57,000 --> 00:03:00,000 to rediscover the great women of Egypt. 59 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:08,000 My name is Josh Gates. 60 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:14,000 With a degree in archeology and a passion for exploration, 61 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:18,000 I have a tendency to end up in some very strange situations. 62 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:20,000 It's just straight down! 63 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:22,000 Unbelievable! 64 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:25,000 My travels have taken me to the ends of the earth 65 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:28,000 as I investigate the greatest legends in history. 66 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:30,000 We're good to fly, let's go. 67 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:33,000 This is Expedition Unknown. 68 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:52,000 Egypt has been called the land of the pharaohs, 69 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:55,000 an endless landscape of sand and sun. 70 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:59,000 In most places, time is measured in years, 71 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:02,000 but here in Egypt, I said no camels. 72 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:06,000 I really, I was so specific. 73 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:09,000 They hate me, and I don't care for them very much. 74 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:13,000 Can we do this? Can we work together? Is it possible? 75 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:15,000 I know, I'm heavy. 76 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:18,000 Let's get through this, we can do it. 77 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:20,000 Come on, here we go. 78 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:22,000 Okay, where was I? 79 00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:29,000 In most places, time is measured in years. 80 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:33,000 In Egypt, it's measured in kingdoms and dynasties. 81 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:37,000 And beneath these shifting sands 82 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:41,000 are the remains of one of humanity's most glorious civilizations. 83 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:49,000 Egypt has been in the civilization business for 5,000 years, 84 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:53,000 pioneering ideas like the calendar, astronomy, paper, 85 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:56,000 irrigation, makeup, and even breath mints. 86 00:04:56,000 --> 00:04:58,000 Look it up. 87 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:01,000 As an empire, ancient Egypt gets going around 3100 BC 88 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:04,000 under the reign of the pharaoh Menes. 89 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:06,000 More pharaohs have been built 90 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:08,000 in the ancient times, 91 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:11,000 and the pharaohs have been the first to build 92 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:13,000 the pharaohs' own kingdom. 93 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:16,000 More pharaohs follow in three periods 94 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:18,000 known as the Old Kingdom, 95 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:20,000 the Middle Kingdom, 96 00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:22,000 and the New Kingdom. 97 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:24,000 Eventually, lots of outsiders invade and conquer, 98 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:26,000 including Alexander the Great, 99 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:28,000 who ushers in the Greeks, 100 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:31,000 until finally the whole thing falls to Rome. 101 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:34,000 But the story of ancient Egypt is still being discovered. 102 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:38,000 Even here, at a place everybody thinks they know. 103 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:41,000 The Pyramids of Giza. 104 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:46,000 4,500-year-old monuments to death and immortality. 105 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:49,000 This is the Great Pyramid of Khufu. 106 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:52,000 It is the only one of the remaining original Seven Wonders 107 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:54,000 of the ancient world, 108 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:56,000 and until the 19th century, 109 00:05:56,000 --> 00:05:59,000 it was the tallest man-made structure on the planet. 110 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:06,000 Soaring 480 feet above the desert floor, 111 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:09,000 the Great Pyramid contains 2 million blocks, 112 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:12,000 each averaging about two and a half tons. 113 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:15,000 And just beyond are the Pyramids of Kafre and Menkara. 114 00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:19,000 But if you ride behind the pyramids, 115 00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:22,000 you see things from a different perspective. 116 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:26,000 I guarantee that every photo you've ever seen of the pyramids 117 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:28,000 just features the Big Three. 118 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:31,000 But in fact, there are nine pyramids here at Giza, 119 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:34,000 and incredibly, six of them are dedicated to women, 120 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:36,000 including this one. 121 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:43,000 And just the fact that queens and princesses 122 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:46,000 had their own pyramids totally defies 123 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:49,000 our modern expectations about the influence 124 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:52,000 and the power of women in the ancient world. 125 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:54,000 And perhaps the best example of that 126 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:56,000 can be found right over this hill. 127 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:06,000 I don't think there's any monument in the world 128 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:09,000 more mysterious looking than the Great Sphinx. 129 00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:12,000 It has been standing guard here for more than 40 centuries. 130 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:15,000 As a work of art, it is unparalleled. 131 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:18,000 It is carved out of the solid bedrock, 132 00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:20,000 the body of a fearsome lion. 133 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:23,000 The head is human, most likely the pharaoh Kafre, 134 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:25,000 whose pyramid stands directly behind it. 135 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:28,000 Now, the lower area of the Sphinx is off limits to the public. 136 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:30,000 But today I've been given special access 137 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:32,000 to get up close and personal. 138 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:35,000 But the world's most famous is the Great Pyramid. 139 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:37,000 The world's most famous feline. Come on. 140 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:47,000 When you view it from above or from the side, 141 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:50,000 what most people don't see is what's actually hidden at the base. 142 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:56,000 This is known as the Dream Stella. 143 00:07:56,000 --> 00:08:00,000 It was erected a full thousand years after the Sphinx was carved. 144 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:03,000 And it tells the story of an Egyptian prince 145 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:06,000 who came to rest here in the shadow of the Sphinx. 146 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:09,000 And while dreaming, the Sphinx spoke to him 147 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:12,000 and told him that one day he would become a great leader. 148 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:15,000 And the dream turned out to be prophetic. 149 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:18,000 Because he became one of Egypt's great pharaohs, 150 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:20,000 Tutmost IV. 151 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:23,000 But his reign and indeed his very existence 152 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:25,000 would never have been possible 153 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:27,000 without one of his extraordinary ancestors, 154 00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:29,000 a ruler named Hachepsur, 155 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:32,000 whose legacy was almost erased from history. 156 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:37,000 To investigate why one of Egypt's most powerful rulers 157 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:39,000 was nearly forgotten, 158 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:41,000 I sell my camel to a nearby glue factory 159 00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:43,000 and fly over 300 miles south 160 00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:45,000 to one of Egypt's ancient capitals. 161 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:47,000 Back then it was known as Thebes. 162 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:49,000 Today it's known as Luxor. 163 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:56,000 To learn why Hachepsut, one of the greatest queens in history, 164 00:08:56,000 --> 00:08:58,000 is nowhere to be found in history, 165 00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:02,000 I walk to a nearby temple that redefines the word huge. 166 00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:07,000 Thebes 167 00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:14,000 These are the hallowed halls of Karnak, 168 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:17,000 a place of immensity and eternity, 169 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:21,000 a maze of blocks and effigies where man and gods meet. 170 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:25,000 This is one of the largest religious structures on earth, 171 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:29,000 a collection of temples dedicated to the Egyptian gods. 172 00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:31,000 Talk about a showstopper. 173 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:33,000 I'm a pretty well-traveled guy, 174 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:36,000 and I can tell you there are only a handful of places on earth 175 00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:39,000 that can reduce me to awestruck silence. 176 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:45,000 At the center of the site is the Great Hippostyle Hall, 177 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:49,000 a jungle of columns in the shape of soaring papyrus stalks. 178 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:52,000 Karnak is more than 3500 years old, 179 00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:54,000 and one of the reasons it's so huge 180 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:57,000 is that it was added onto by many different rulers, 181 00:09:57,000 --> 00:10:00,000 including Egypt's mysterious queen Hachepsut. 182 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:04,000 To get the full story of who she was, 183 00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:06,000 I meet up with Baha Gaber, 184 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:09,000 the director of the Karnak Archaeological Site. 185 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:11,000 Do you still marvel at this place 186 00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:13,000 for as many times as you've probably walked through here? 187 00:10:13,000 --> 00:10:16,000 Yes, every day, every hour. 188 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:19,000 In the West, I think most people 189 00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:22,000 probably have never even heard the name Hachepsut. 190 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:24,000 So why should we have heard her name? 191 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:28,000 She was one of the great builders in the ancient world. 192 00:10:29,000 --> 00:10:32,000 The greatness of a pharaoh is measured in monuments, 193 00:10:32,000 --> 00:10:35,000 and among Karnak's greatest contributors was Hachepsut, 194 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:37,000 a queen of the 18th dynasty 195 00:10:37,000 --> 00:10:40,000 who came to power around 1479 BC 196 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:44,000 after the death of her husband and half-brother Tutmos II. 197 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:47,000 She oversaw Egypt's golden age 198 00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:49,000 and a period of unprecedented construction, 199 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:52,000 and one of the most impressive things she built 200 00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:55,000 is right here in the middle of Karnak. 201 00:10:55,000 --> 00:10:58,000 Wow, look at that! 202 00:10:58,000 --> 00:10:59,000 How big is it? 203 00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:00,000 Almost 100 feet. 204 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:01,000 Incredible. 205 00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:05,000 This is the tallest standing obelisk in the ancient world, 206 00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:08,000 meant to symbolize the union of heaven and earth, 207 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:11,000 a kind of spiritual antenna to the gods. 208 00:11:14,000 --> 00:11:16,000 What's inscribed on it? 209 00:11:16,000 --> 00:11:18,000 The names and the titles of the queen Hachepsut. 210 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:21,000 And what about the more complex stuff at the top? 211 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:24,000 To see the inscription, obviously, we can't climb 100 feet up. 212 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:27,000 But lucky for us, Hachepsut built two obelisks 213 00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:29,000 that are identical. 214 00:11:29,000 --> 00:11:32,000 The other one fell over so we can read the inscription. 215 00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:33,000 Great. 216 00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:34,000 Let's go. 217 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:37,000 Nearby, we find the twin to the ancient obelisk, 218 00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:41,000 which gives us a closer look at its shocking inscriptions. 219 00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:43,000 What are we seeing here? 220 00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:46,000 Queen Hachepsut standing with the god Amun Ray. 221 00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:47,000 This is Hachepsut here? 222 00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:50,000 Yes, she has a false beard, short-keld. 223 00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:53,000 The beard is something that is traditionally thought of as masculine, 224 00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:55,000 but here she is donning this fake beard. 225 00:11:55,000 --> 00:11:57,000 Yes, because she wasn't just a queen. 226 00:11:57,000 --> 00:11:59,000 She was a pharaoh. 227 00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:01,000 A proper pharaoh of Egypt. 228 00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:02,000 Exactly. 229 00:12:02,000 --> 00:12:06,000 She has been called the first truly powerful woman in history. 230 00:12:06,000 --> 00:12:09,000 She not only ascended the throne to become a pharaoh, 231 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:12,000 but she donned clothing traditionally reserved for men. 232 00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:15,000 She further empowered her female identity 233 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:18,000 by positioning herself as the offspring of a god. 234 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:20,000 If you look right here, you will see, 235 00:12:20,000 --> 00:12:21,000 you will see, 236 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:23,000 Sath-in-git-f, 237 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:28,000 which means daughter of the god from his body, 238 00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:31,000 daughter, not a son. 239 00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:34,000 So she's still proclaiming herself as a woman, 240 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:36,000 but she's also saying, 241 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:37,000 I'm a pharaoh. 242 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:38,000 So she was a badass. 243 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:39,000 Yes. 244 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:40,000 We can say that. 245 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:41,000 We can say that. 246 00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:43,000 Okay, so if she's so powerful, 247 00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:45,000 why don't we know her name? 248 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:46,000 To understand that, 249 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:49,000 we have to cross to the city of the dead, 250 00:12:49,000 --> 00:12:51,000 to the other side of the river Nile. 251 00:12:51,000 --> 00:12:52,000 City of the dead. 252 00:12:52,000 --> 00:12:53,000 Uh-huh. 253 00:12:57,000 --> 00:12:59,000 Stay tuned right after tonight's show 254 00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:01,000 for Egypt After the Hunt, 255 00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:04,000 an exclusive special featuring amazing new discoveries 256 00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:05,000 from our expedition, 257 00:13:05,000 --> 00:13:07,000 and much more. 258 00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:13,000 I'm in Egypt on a mission to find out why Hechepsa, 259 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:15,000 a powerful female pharaoh, 260 00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:17,000 is all but forgotten by history. 261 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:20,000 So I follow my expert guide, Baha Gaber, 262 00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:21,000 down to the riverbank, 263 00:13:21,000 --> 00:13:24,000 where we board a traditional boat known as a falooka 264 00:13:24,000 --> 00:13:26,000 to learn more about the lost queen. 265 00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:28,000 We're making the crossing in a vessel 266 00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:31,000 named after another woman of legend. 267 00:13:33,000 --> 00:13:37,000 The Nile really is the reason this whole civilization is here, right? 268 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:38,000 Of course. 269 00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:40,000 Without the Nile, it would be no Egypt. 270 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:42,000 It would be just desert. 271 00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:46,000 The boats all sail the same river 272 00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:48,000 that has been the lifeblood of Egypt, 273 00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:50,000 sustaining the agriculture, transport, 274 00:13:50,000 --> 00:13:54,000 and industry of the people here for over 5,000 years. 275 00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:56,000 It's also the physical manifestation 276 00:13:56,000 --> 00:13:59,000 of one of humanity's most powerful metaphors, 277 00:13:59,000 --> 00:14:02,000 the line between life and death. 278 00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:03,000 We're in Egypt. 279 00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:08,000 The river Nile divided the land into the east and the west. 280 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:09,000 The east won the sunrise, 281 00:14:09,000 --> 00:14:11,000 so this is the side of living, 282 00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:14,000 and the west, where the sun sets, 283 00:14:14,000 --> 00:14:16,000 it means the side of the dead. 284 00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:18,000 All right, let's go to the land of the dead. 285 00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:24,000 The name probably isn't helping real estate prices around here, 286 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:28,000 but it's where one of Hechepsut's most enduring structures remains. 287 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:32,000 Crossing over to the western shore, 288 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:34,000 we continue on foot to our first stop. 289 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:39,000 And it is spectacular. 290 00:14:39,000 --> 00:14:43,000 Welcome to the Mercer Temple of the Queen Hatshepsut. 291 00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:46,000 Look at the size of this place. 292 00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:52,000 This is Der Al-Bari, 293 00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:54,000 one of Egypt's most phenomenal shrines. 294 00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:56,000 It's not a burial, 295 00:14:56,000 --> 00:14:58,000 but a place to make offerings of devotion 296 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:00,000 to a pharaoh who went against tradition 297 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:02,000 by seizing her own destiny. 298 00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:07,000 When Hechepsut's husband Tutmos II died, 299 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:11,000 his son, Tutmos III, was next in line for the throne, 300 00:15:11,000 --> 00:15:13,000 but was too young to assume power. 301 00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:15,000 So in 1478 BC, 302 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:17,000 Queen Hechepsut became pharaoh 303 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:21,000 and ruled for 21 years until the day she died, 304 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:25,000 leading the empire into a golden age of construction and wealth. 305 00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:31,000 So this is not a tomb, this is a mortuary temple. 306 00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:34,000 Yes, this is the statue of the Queen Hatshepsut. 307 00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:39,000 She still has the face of a woman bar in the form of the god Osiris. 308 00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:42,000 Osiris was the Egyptian god of the dead, 309 00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:45,000 and the depiction of Hechepsut as Osiris 310 00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:48,000 makes a powerful statement about her authority as a leader. 311 00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:51,000 I mean, if I put up a temple with 36 statues of Josh here, 312 00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:54,000 it would be beautiful, it would be tasteful. 313 00:15:54,000 --> 00:15:56,000 Of course. 314 00:15:56,000 --> 00:15:58,000 But it seems egotistical, doesn't it? 315 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:02,000 Yeah, but a pharaoh wasn't just a ruler, he was a god. 316 00:16:02,000 --> 00:16:03,000 Right. 317 00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:05,000 This is a temple of a god. 318 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:11,000 Baha brings me inside Hechepsut's temple, 319 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:13,000 passing by her cartouche, 320 00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:18,000 a three-symbol signature representing life, stability, and power. 321 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:22,000 This is her stamp, this is her seal, this is how we know it's her sight. 322 00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:23,000 Yes. 323 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:25,000 This is like the world's first emoji. 324 00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:26,000 Yes. 325 00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:30,000 The vast temple is covered with scenes 326 00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:33,000 depicting the Queen's achievements, which were many. 327 00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:37,000 She commanded what may have been the largest army in the ancient world, 328 00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:41,000 and sent a massive fleet outside of Egypt to the land of Punt. 329 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:44,000 Her envoy brought back treasure, exotic goods, 330 00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:48,000 and even the world's first successful transplant of foreign trees. 331 00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:53,000 The walls also show her gigantic stone obelisks, 332 00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:55,000 which are depicted here on their sides, 333 00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:59,000 being transported by boat from the southern city of Aswan, 334 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:01,000 all the way to Karnak. 335 00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:04,000 And how far is it from Aswan to here? 336 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:06,000 Around 130 miles. 337 00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:07,000 Down the Nile? 338 00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:10,000 Yes. Each one of them, about 300 tons. 339 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:11,000 Impossible. 340 00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:14,000 And do we have any idea how many people it took to move them? 341 00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:16,000 More than 500 people. 342 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:20,000 So she is this incredible builder, 343 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:22,000 she's this incredible ruler, she's a pharaoh. 344 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:23,000 Yes. 345 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:25,000 So why isn't she a household name? 346 00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:27,000 Because of her stepson. 347 00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:28,000 Her stepson? 348 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:29,000 Yes. 349 00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:33,000 That stepson, Tutmos III, 350 00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:36,000 would have succeeded her husband after his death, 351 00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:38,000 but was too young to assume full power. 352 00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:40,000 She sent him away to the military, 353 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:42,000 till 21 years later, 354 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:45,000 he returned to take the throne. 355 00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:48,000 When she died, he became the pharaoh of Egypt, 356 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:51,000 and he started to raise hair from history. 357 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:53,000 Look, what happened? 358 00:17:55,000 --> 00:17:57,000 These are statues of her. 359 00:17:57,000 --> 00:17:58,000 Yes. 360 00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:01,000 All these heads have been damaged by the king Tutmos III. 361 00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:04,000 Even her name erased it from the temple. 362 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:07,000 Even in Karnak, on the obelisk itself, 363 00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:09,000 he chiseled her name. 364 00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:11,000 Why did he try to remove her name? 365 00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:13,000 Because she took the throne. 366 00:18:13,000 --> 00:18:14,000 Normally the pharaoh, 367 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:17,000 bathed in the throne of Egypt to his son, 368 00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:19,000 but Hatshepsut disrupted that. 369 00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:24,000 The removal of Hatshepsut from the historical record 370 00:18:24,000 --> 00:18:26,000 leaves some big questions unanswered. 371 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:29,000 Because her stepson was almost successful 372 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:31,000 in erasing her accomplishments, 373 00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:32,000 we're left to ask, 374 00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:34,000 what else don't we know 375 00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:37,000 about Egypt's most powerful female ruler? 376 00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:39,000 The answers might lie to the south 377 00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:41,000 in a remote and mysterious ruin, 378 00:18:41,000 --> 00:18:45,000 where archeologists have uncovered a shocking secret. 379 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:49,000 I'm in Egypt to learn the secrets of the pharaoh Hatshepsut, 380 00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:51,000 who despite ruling in a golden age 381 00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:53,000 was virtually erased from history. 382 00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:56,000 To find out how she was able to hold such power, 383 00:18:56,000 --> 00:19:00,000 I've taken to the back roads of what was once her mighty empire. 384 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:03,000 I'm headed about 100 miles south of Luxor 385 00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:05,000 to a site called Silcilla, 386 00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:07,000 where archeologists are uncovering 387 00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:09,000 the ancient history of the pharaoh. 388 00:19:09,000 --> 00:19:12,000 I'm headed about 100 miles south of Luxor 389 00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:14,000 to a site called Silcilla, 390 00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:17,000 where archeologists are uncovering even more secrets 391 00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:19,000 to what made Hatshepsut so formidable. 392 00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:22,000 To get there, I've rented a pretty serious 4x4 here, 393 00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:24,000 which has in the glove compartment, 394 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:26,000 and I swear to you this is true... 395 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:30,000 a huge bag of pita. 396 00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:32,000 We're all set for snacks. 397 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:38,000 The dust is endless, the weather is hot, 398 00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:41,000 and the road, well, it gets the job done. 399 00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:46,000 The road is full of the sun, 400 00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:48,000 and the water is clear, 401 00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:50,000 and the water is clear. 402 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:54,000 After hours behind the wheel, 403 00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:56,000 I pull over along the banks of the Nile. 404 00:19:56,000 --> 00:19:59,000 The site I'm traveling to can't be reached by road. 405 00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:04,000 So I'm linking up with my experts 406 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:07,000 on a shallow-bottomed boat, known as a Dahabiya. 407 00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:10,000 On board are Maria Nilsson and John Ward, 408 00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:12,000 archeologists who have dedicated 409 00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:14,000 the last seven years of their lives 410 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:17,000 to unearthing some of the answers I'm after. 411 00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:19,000 Maria, John, how are you? 412 00:20:19,000 --> 00:20:20,000 Hi. Nice to meet you. 413 00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:21,000 Hi, Josh. 414 00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:22,000 Hi, how are you? Hi. 415 00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:23,000 What's your name? 416 00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:24,000 Freya. 417 00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:25,000 Hi, Freya. 418 00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:26,000 Say hi. 419 00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:27,000 Can I have a handshake? 420 00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:28,000 Nice to meet you. 421 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:29,000 Is this your daughter? 422 00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:30,000 It is our daughter. 423 00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:31,000 Adorable. 424 00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:32,000 So, wait, is this your office? 425 00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:33,000 And home? 426 00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:34,000 All in one. 427 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:36,000 Lab as well, as you can see behind you. 428 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:38,000 Yeah, it's the very first time I've seen 429 00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:41,000 a kid's playhouse and a human skull in the same place. 430 00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:43,000 This is incredible. 431 00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:46,000 And if these two aren't impressive enough for you, 432 00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:48,000 they have another baby on the way. 433 00:20:48,000 --> 00:20:50,000 So you're working in 100-degree heat, 434 00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:52,000 raising a three-year-old, 435 00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:55,000 living on a boat on the Nile, six months pregnant. 436 00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:58,000 Yes, and that is far easier than to deal with a team. 437 00:20:58,000 --> 00:21:01,000 You are officially my hero. 438 00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:03,000 This is the queen of the Nile right here. 439 00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:04,000 Unbelievable. 440 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:05,000 Okay, so where are we going? 441 00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:06,000 Where is Silsila? 442 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:07,000 Silsila, south of here. 443 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:08,000 Okay. 444 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:09,000 It's got a day's travel. 445 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:10,000 I can handle an evening on this boat. 446 00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:11,000 Excellent. 447 00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:12,000 All right, let's set sail. 448 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:13,000 Let's do it. 449 00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:14,000 Let's do it. 450 00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:18,000 We unfurl the sails, and before you know it, 451 00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:21,000 John and Maria, as well as the crew, their kid, 452 00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:24,000 a dog, and one impressed TV host, 453 00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:27,000 set sail on a journey that will take us through the night. 454 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:32,000 And as the sun sets over the land of the dead, 455 00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:35,000 the upper Nile reveals its true charm. 456 00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:38,000 This time of day, anywhere on the Nile, 457 00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:39,000 it's just perfect. 458 00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:40,000 Yeah, it's perfect. 459 00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:42,000 There's no better place in the world to be. 460 00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:43,000 It's stunning. 461 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:46,000 You can see why they thought it was divine. 462 00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:47,000 A perfect place. 463 00:21:57,000 --> 00:21:59,000 Morning brings a golden glow to the terrain 464 00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:01,000 as we approach Silsila. 465 00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:04,000 Tombs dug into the sheer cliffs look like caves 466 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:06,000 hovering above the river. 467 00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:09,000 But this place isn't just another temple complex. 468 00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:10,000 It's something else. 469 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:13,000 We dock the boat, and John, Maria, 470 00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:16,000 and their trusty dog, Carter, lead me into the site. 471 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:21,000 While it looks like a natural canyon, 472 00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:23,000 this is in fact a rock quarry 473 00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:27,000 cut entirely by human hands over 3,000 years ago. 474 00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:32,000 Well, welcome, Josh, to Madame Silsila. 475 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:35,000 This is crazy. 476 00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:37,000 Look at the scale of this place. 477 00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:43,000 Silsila is associated with Hechepsut's stepson, 478 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:44,000 Tutmos III. 479 00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:46,000 In this impressive industrial mine, 480 00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:49,000 many of Egypt's grand monuments were born. 481 00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:55,000 So this is a quarry, a massive quarry. 482 00:22:55,000 --> 00:22:56,000 It is. 483 00:22:57,000 --> 00:22:59,000 You wouldn't have karnak. 484 00:22:59,000 --> 00:23:02,000 You wouldn't have any of the great sandstone temples 485 00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:05,000 that you see throughout Egypt if it wasn't for this. 486 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:08,000 How much stone was pulled out of these quarries? 487 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:10,000 Millions of tons. 488 00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:12,000 Wow. 489 00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:15,000 All right, my brain has exploded here. 490 00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:16,000 It's crazy. 491 00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:19,000 So you see the small blocks that are under the ledge? 492 00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:20,000 Yes. 493 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:22,000 And then you see the horizontal lines above the ledge? 494 00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:24,000 Big straight lines there, yes. 495 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:26,000 That's where you would have had obelisks. 496 00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:28,000 Each one of those is an obelisk. 497 00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:30,000 That's insane. 498 00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:35,000 Everything about this place is epic, 499 00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:37,000 but Maria and John have made a new discovery 500 00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:39,000 that may shed a whole new light 501 00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:42,000 on this quarry belonging to Hechepsut's stepson. 502 00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:46,000 We climb over a mountain of crushed stone. 503 00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:50,000 Every pebble of it, hand-carried and discarded from the quarry below. 504 00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:55,000 Nearby, we enter one of the site's hand-carved temples, 505 00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:58,000 used by workers and visitors in ancient times. 506 00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:01,000 Wow. 507 00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:04,000 Well, here we are in one of 508 00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:07,000 Silselas' many amazing monuments. 509 00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:10,000 This is the Rockett Temple. 510 00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:13,000 We spent many hours here. 511 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:15,000 We have an expert working here still, 512 00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:18,000 but recently we made a major discovery. 513 00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:20,000 I think it might be of interest for you. 514 00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:21,000 Okay, yeah. 515 00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:22,000 Let's go and have a look. 516 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:23,000 Sure, show me. 517 00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:24,000 What did you find? 518 00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:25,000 What did you find? 519 00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:34,000 There's more adventure right after the show. 520 00:24:34,000 --> 00:24:36,000 Join me and my team in EXU headquarters 521 00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:39,000 as we reveal incredible new finds 522 00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:43,000 and behind-the-scenes secrets from our Egypt expedition. 523 00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:52,000 In the ancient quarry from which many of Egypt's epic monuments originated, 524 00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:56,000 archaeologists Maria Nielsen and John Ward made a new discovery 525 00:24:56,000 --> 00:25:00,000 about one of history's most powerful women, Queen Hatshepsut. 526 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:03,000 Recently we made a major discovery. 527 00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:07,000 What do you see? 528 00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:11,000 I see some hieroglyphs, some cartouches. 529 00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:14,000 I see a scene here with several characters, 530 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:18,000 maybe somebody making offerings or something to a god or a pharaoh there. 531 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:20,000 That is true, 532 00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:25,000 but we have been able to establish something that is underneath. 533 00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:28,000 See that? 534 00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:30,000 Coming out the back of his head, see the triangular? 535 00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:31,000 Yes. 536 00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:32,000 See that? 537 00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:33,000 Yes. 538 00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:34,000 That's the tip of Noblis. 539 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:35,000 If you follow it, see the lines coming through? 540 00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:36,000 I do. 541 00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:37,000 And does it come through his chest? 542 00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:39,000 Yes, that's Noblis. 543 00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:40,000 Now follow my trail. 544 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:43,000 What do you see? 545 00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:44,000 I see a boat. 546 00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:45,000 Exactly. 547 00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:47,000 I've seen this whole scene before. 548 00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:50,000 This exact scene is at Hatshepsut's Mortuary Temple. 549 00:25:50,000 --> 00:25:51,000 That's it? 550 00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:52,000 At Del Bahari. 551 00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:53,000 At Del Bahari, yes. 552 00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:57,000 It's the transportation of the obelisks from Aswan to Luxor. 553 00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:03,000 When they first explored this temple, 554 00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:06,000 Maria and John initially believed that the mural on the wall 555 00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:08,000 was dedicated to Tutmost III, 556 00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:11,000 but a high-tech scan revealed that art hidden beneath 557 00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:13,000 had been deliberately covered up. 558 00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:18,000 Because we have this, we can actually redate this entire temple. 559 00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:21,000 It's actually from the time of Hatshepsut. 560 00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:24,000 So this site really is deeply connected to her? 561 00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:27,000 Well, yeah, I mean, because during that period, 562 00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:30,000 we saw this explosion of quarrying activity taking place 563 00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:32,000 right here at Silcilla. 564 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:35,000 And additional carvings and inscriptions in Silcilla 565 00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:38,000 reveal that this wasn't just a slave labor operation. 566 00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:42,000 There are depictions of skilled craftsmen, supervisors, 567 00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:45,000 and even doctors tending to patients. 568 00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:47,000 John and Maria have uncovered proper tombs 569 00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:50,000 with burials for workers and their families. 570 00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:54,000 In other words, this was a deeply organized community of people 571 00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:56,000 working under a powerful leader. 572 00:26:56,000 --> 00:27:00,000 She is establishing herself as a true ruler. 573 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:01,000 Right. 574 00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:05,000 And it's also showing her power by transporting the obelisks 575 00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:07,000 all the way up to Luxor. 576 00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:11,000 We actually have with us changed the history of this temple. 577 00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:13,000 Incredible. 578 00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:17,000 Hatshepsut's presence at this temple 579 00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:20,000 means that the vast operations here were another part of her reign, 580 00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:23,000 of which she was robbed her due credit. 581 00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:25,000 The whole site, the quarry, and the temples 582 00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:27,000 are a testament to her power. 583 00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:31,000 And this was the key to Hatshepsut's glorious reign, 584 00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:35,000 a construction boom that wouldn't be surpassed for 3,000 years. 585 00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:38,000 A great woman, a great queen, 586 00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:41,000 and one of Egypt's greatest pharaohs. 587 00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:47,000 We leave Silcilla behind and begin the long trip back down river. 588 00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:50,000 Hatshepsut's story has taught me an important lesson 589 00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:52,000 about ancient Egyptian history. 590 00:27:52,000 --> 00:27:54,000 Women could rise to great power, 591 00:27:54,000 --> 00:27:56,000 but often their achievements were obscured 592 00:27:56,000 --> 00:27:59,000 or erased by the men who followed them. 593 00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:02,000 If Hatshepsut was Exhibit A, 594 00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:06,000 I'm driving north to learn about Egypt's Exhibit B. 595 00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:13,000 So while the mighty Hatshepsut may have kicked off Egypt's golden age, 596 00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:18,000 it was another powerful woman who nearly ended it about 160 years later. 597 00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:22,000 And unlike Hatshepsut, her name is famous the world over. 598 00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:25,000 Nefertiti. 599 00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:28,000 Her name has become synonymous with beauty, 600 00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:31,000 but her achievements are anything but skin deep. 601 00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:35,000 She was queen during the wealthiest era of ancient Egypt, 602 00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:38,000 the royal wife of the pharaoh Akhenaten. 603 00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:42,000 Around 1351 BC, four years into his reign, 604 00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:45,000 the couple launched a shocking religious revolution, 605 00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:50,000 replacing the many powerful Egyptian gods with a single sun god, Atan. 606 00:28:50,000 --> 00:28:54,000 And they built a new capital city in a place called Amarna. 607 00:28:55,000 --> 00:28:59,000 But old gods die hard, and the new religion was controversial. 608 00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:04,000 So when Akhenaten died after 17 years of rule, Amarna was demolished. 609 00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:09,000 Leaving almost no evidence of Nefertiti, including the location of her body. 610 00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:13,000 But nothing remains lost forever in Egypt, 611 00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:18,000 and new discoveries may just reveal the final resting place of Egypt's iconic queen. 612 00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:23,000 So I'm driving back to Luxor and into the heart of the land of the dead. 613 00:29:35,000 --> 00:29:38,000 This is the legendary Valley of the Kings. 614 00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:43,000 In this winding canyon, archaeologists have discovered 63 lavish tombs, 615 00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:48,000 and in them clues that could completely rewrite what we know about Nefertiti. 616 00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:53,000 It starts with a piece of ancient graffiti. 617 00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:56,000 In a nearby tomb, someone scribbled a note claiming, 618 00:29:56,000 --> 00:30:00,000 Year 3 of Her reign as leader, Nefer Neferotan, 619 00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:02,000 King of Upper and Lower Egypt. 620 00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:04,000 That's the ruling name of Nefertiti, 621 00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:09,000 meaning that after her husband's death, she may have become a pharaoh in her own right. 622 00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:15,000 Like Hatshepsut, history seems to have forgotten the true scope and scale of Nefertiti's power. 623 00:30:15,000 --> 00:30:17,000 But what happened to her? 624 00:30:17,000 --> 00:30:19,000 Where is her royal mummy? 625 00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:23,000 The answer may lie with a pharaoh who needs no introduction. 626 00:30:24,000 --> 00:30:25,000 King Tut. 627 00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:35,000 Investigating the mysteries of Egypt's female pharaohs, 628 00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:38,000 I'm in Luxor to learn about the legendary queen Nefertiti, 629 00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:41,000 whose mummy has never been identified. 630 00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:47,000 But the path to finding Nefertiti may run through one of the most famous places on Earth. 631 00:30:48,000 --> 00:30:53,000 This is the tomb of Tut Anka Moon, otherwise known as King Tut. 632 00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:57,000 He ruled for only a short amount of time. 633 00:30:57,000 --> 00:31:00,000 He died sickly and young at the age of 19. 634 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:05,000 He's famous because unlike almost all of the other tombs in the Valley of the Kings, 635 00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:10,000 when Tut's tomb was found in 1922, it was nearly intact. 636 00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:15,000 It took seven years of digging before British archaeologist Howard G. 637 00:31:15,000 --> 00:31:19,000 Carter found the tomb, which contained thousands of treasures, 638 00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:22,000 including the iconic gold coffin and death mask, 639 00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:25,000 and most importantly, Tut himself. 640 00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:32,000 And Tut's mummy here is yielding up all sorts of incredible discoveries. 641 00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:38,000 In 2010, a DNA test proved that Tut is the son of the pharaoh Akhenan, 642 00:31:38,000 --> 00:31:40,000 and his mother? 643 00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:43,000 Well, that's where things get really interesting. 644 00:31:46,000 --> 00:31:49,000 In a tomb next to Tut's called KV-35, 645 00:31:49,000 --> 00:31:53,000 archaeologists discovered the mummified remains of three people. 646 00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:57,000 One was likely Akhenaten's mother, another a young prince, 647 00:31:57,000 --> 00:32:00,000 and the third, a woman they nicknamed the younger lady. 648 00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:04,000 DNA tests proved that she was King Tut's mother, 649 00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:06,000 a mummy of his mummy as it were. 650 00:32:08,000 --> 00:32:11,000 So, if Akhenaten is Tut's father, 651 00:32:11,000 --> 00:32:13,000 and the younger lady is his mother, 652 00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:16,000 and Nefertiti was Akhenaten's chief wife, 653 00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:19,000 could Nefertiti be the mother of King Tut? 654 00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:25,000 That's the million-dollar question, and one that I intend to answer. 655 00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:32,000 So I fly 350 miles north, up to the modern capital of Egypt, Cairo, 656 00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:36,000 where I have an appointment to meet a certain younger lady. 657 00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:43,000 I'm going to the city. 658 00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:49,000 Assalamu alaikum. 659 00:32:49,000 --> 00:32:50,000 Alaykum, sir. 660 00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:52,000 Akhena al-Khalili. 661 00:32:56,000 --> 00:32:58,000 Cairo is actually not an ancient Egyptian city. 662 00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:00,000 It started as a Roman fort, 663 00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:04,000 and it has ballooned to a population of more than 20 million people, 664 00:33:04,000 --> 00:33:07,000 7 million of whom commute in and out each day, 665 00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:10,000 which makes the traffic here something special. 666 00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:14,000 I'm going to die. 667 00:33:14,000 --> 00:33:16,000 I'm going to die. 668 00:33:19,000 --> 00:33:21,000 Yeah. 669 00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:25,000 I get out of my hell cab a few blocks away from my appointment 670 00:33:25,000 --> 00:33:28,000 and stroll through the Al-Khalili Bazaar. 671 00:33:33,000 --> 00:33:35,000 It's packed with exotic bargains, 672 00:33:35,000 --> 00:33:37,000 but unlike the Al-Khalili, 673 00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:40,000 it's packed with exotic bargains. 674 00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:44,000 But unlike most markets where you actually have to go to the things you want to buy, 675 00:33:44,000 --> 00:33:47,000 here, all you have to do is sit for a cup of coffee, 676 00:33:49,000 --> 00:33:51,000 and the market comes to you. 677 00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:54,000 Oh, beautiful. Very nice. 678 00:33:54,000 --> 00:33:56,000 But I need to see your money. 679 00:33:56,000 --> 00:33:57,000 You want to see my money? 680 00:33:57,000 --> 00:33:58,000 Sure. 681 00:33:58,000 --> 00:33:59,000 You need to see my money? 682 00:33:59,000 --> 00:34:00,000 Sure. 683 00:34:00,000 --> 00:34:01,000 Sir, is this a holdup? 684 00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:05,000 Oh, that's nice. 685 00:34:05,000 --> 00:34:06,000 That's very nice. 686 00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:09,000 Okay. 687 00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:10,000 Handsome? 688 00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:11,000 Very nice. 689 00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:13,000 You wouldn't lie to me, right? 690 00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:16,000 Wow, look at this. 691 00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:18,000 These are beautiful. 692 00:34:20,000 --> 00:34:22,000 I don't think this is going to fit me. 693 00:34:24,000 --> 00:34:27,000 I'm not in the market right now for any of this stuff, 694 00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:30,000 so I finish my coffee and head to Archaeology Heaven, 695 00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:32,000 a.k.a. the Egyptian Museum. 696 00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:36,000 100,000 items covering 70 centuries of history, 697 00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:39,000 all under one gigantic roof. 698 00:34:39,000 --> 00:34:42,000 This place is absolutely stuffed to the rafters. 699 00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:44,000 This is like the Home Depot of History. 700 00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:48,000 You could literally be killed by a falling sarcophagus in here. 701 00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:52,000 I carefully navigate to the Amarna Room, 702 00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:56,000 dedicated to the heretic Pharaoh Akhenaten and his legendary wife. 703 00:34:56,000 --> 00:34:58,000 There, I see the Archaeology Heaven, 704 00:34:58,000 --> 00:35:01,000 the heretic Pharaoh Akhenaten and his legendary wife. 705 00:35:01,000 --> 00:35:05,000 There, I meet with leading Egyptologist and Nefertiti expert, 706 00:35:05,000 --> 00:35:07,000 Dr. Aidan Dodson. 707 00:35:09,000 --> 00:35:10,000 Josh, nice to meet you. 708 00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:11,000 And you too. 709 00:35:11,000 --> 00:35:12,000 Thanks for joining me. I appreciate it. 710 00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:14,000 So, mystery number one. 711 00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:16,000 Why does everybody know the name Nefertiti? 712 00:35:16,000 --> 00:35:19,000 It's partly because of her physical beauty. 713 00:35:19,000 --> 00:35:23,000 A sculptured head of hers was found in the beginning of the 20th century 714 00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:25,000 and is now in Berlin. 715 00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:29,000 Before the 1900s, Nefertiti had been all but forgotten by history. 716 00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:32,000 But then, in the ruins of her former city of Amarna, 717 00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:35,000 a stucco-covered limestone bust was discovered 718 00:35:35,000 --> 00:35:38,000 that made her the cover girl for the ancient world. 719 00:35:38,000 --> 00:35:41,000 Another bust sits here in the Egyptian Museum, 720 00:35:41,000 --> 00:35:44,000 but neither object tells the real story of the queen 721 00:35:44,000 --> 00:35:47,000 who lived in Egypt's most tumultuous age. 722 00:35:47,000 --> 00:35:51,000 She lived the time when pretty well everything about Egypt 723 00:35:51,000 --> 00:35:53,000 was thrown into the air. 724 00:35:53,000 --> 00:35:56,000 Nefertiti's exact parentage is unclear, 725 00:35:56,000 --> 00:35:59,000 but she was likely born within a prominent military family. 726 00:35:59,000 --> 00:36:04,000 She became the chief wife of Akhenaten and bore him six daughters. 727 00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:06,000 But while he was a prodigious father, 728 00:36:06,000 --> 00:36:09,000 Akhenaten proved to be a revolutionary leader. 729 00:36:09,000 --> 00:36:12,000 He discarded centuries of Egyptian tradition 730 00:36:12,000 --> 00:36:15,000 by abolishing almost all of the gods in their pantheon 731 00:36:15,000 --> 00:36:20,000 and creating a new religion around a solitary sun god known as Aten. 732 00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:24,000 The country was still reeling when he made another shocking announcement. 733 00:36:24,000 --> 00:36:26,000 During his 16th year of reign, 734 00:36:26,000 --> 00:36:31,000 Akhenaten appointed his wife Nefertiti as co-king. 735 00:36:33,000 --> 00:36:35,000 So Nefertiti was not just a queen of Egypt. 736 00:36:35,000 --> 00:36:37,000 She was a king. 737 00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:38,000 Indeed. 738 00:36:38,000 --> 00:36:41,000 She might also have been a lot savvier than her husband, 739 00:36:41,000 --> 00:36:43,000 especially politically. 740 00:36:43,000 --> 00:36:47,000 While he angered his people by insisting they worship a single sun god, 741 00:36:47,000 --> 00:36:49,000 Nefertiti brought back some of the old gods, 742 00:36:49,000 --> 00:36:52,000 which endeared her to the Egyptian masses. 743 00:36:54,000 --> 00:36:57,000 And then afterwards, Tut becomes king famously, yes? 744 00:36:57,000 --> 00:37:00,000 He becomes king, but it's not universally agreed 745 00:37:00,000 --> 00:37:02,000 whether he becomes king immediately. 746 00:37:02,000 --> 00:37:04,000 After Akhenaten's death, 747 00:37:04,000 --> 00:37:07,000 a nine or ten-year-old king Tut took the throne. 748 00:37:07,000 --> 00:37:11,000 But it's possible that Nefertiti continued to pull the strings of power. 749 00:37:11,000 --> 00:37:15,000 Unfortunately, there's no definitive end to her story. 750 00:37:15,000 --> 00:37:17,000 We don't know how or when she died. 751 00:37:17,000 --> 00:37:21,000 We don't even know for sure if Nefertiti was Tut's biological mother. 752 00:37:21,000 --> 00:37:24,000 And so what ultimately do you think happened to her body? 753 00:37:24,000 --> 00:37:26,000 That's one of the great mysteries. 754 00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:30,000 There's a chance that she may actually be lying in a glass case 755 00:37:30,000 --> 00:37:33,000 just along the hallway from where we are now. 756 00:37:37,000 --> 00:37:39,000 He brings me to the very back of the museum 757 00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:42,000 to a face-to-face meeting with the woman I've come here to see, 758 00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:45,000 the mummy of the so-called younger lady, 759 00:37:45,000 --> 00:37:47,000 who might also be Nefertiti. 760 00:37:50,000 --> 00:37:53,000 Here, she is extraordinary. 761 00:38:00,000 --> 00:38:04,000 I'm on the hunt for the legendary and lost Queen Nefertiti. 762 00:38:05,000 --> 00:38:08,000 Now, in Cairo's Egyptian museum, 763 00:38:08,000 --> 00:38:11,000 archaeologist Aidan Dodson is about to introduce me 764 00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:14,000 to a 3400-year-old mummy that could be her. 765 00:38:15,000 --> 00:38:17,000 And here she is. 766 00:38:19,000 --> 00:38:21,000 Extraordinary. 767 00:38:25,000 --> 00:38:28,000 And so what evidence do we have that this is Nefertiti? 768 00:38:28,000 --> 00:38:31,000 Well, fairly recently, some DNA work was done, 769 00:38:31,000 --> 00:38:35,000 which determined that this mummy was the mother of Tutankhamun. 770 00:38:36,000 --> 00:38:39,000 The Pharaoh Akhenaten was the father of King Tut. 771 00:38:39,000 --> 00:38:41,000 The mummy of the so-called younger lady 772 00:38:41,000 --> 00:38:44,000 is now proven to be the mother of King Tut. 773 00:38:44,000 --> 00:38:47,000 And since Akhenaten's royal wife was Nefertiti, 774 00:38:47,000 --> 00:38:51,000 she becomes a prime candidate for the identity of our mummy. 775 00:38:51,000 --> 00:38:55,000 Several years ago, a facial reconstruction was done of King Tut, 776 00:38:55,000 --> 00:38:57,000 and it really gave the world their first look 777 00:38:57,000 --> 00:38:59,000 at what he would have looked like in life. 778 00:38:59,000 --> 00:39:04,000 In 2005, Egyptian authorities performed a CT scan on King Tut's mummy. 779 00:39:04,000 --> 00:39:07,000 An international team was then able to use that scan 780 00:39:07,000 --> 00:39:10,000 to build a 3D model of the Pharaoh's skull 781 00:39:10,000 --> 00:39:15,000 and then create a hyper-detailed forensic reconstruction of his face. 782 00:39:15,000 --> 00:39:18,000 If we can apply the technology to this mummy, 783 00:39:18,000 --> 00:39:22,000 we may be able to reveal her true identity. 784 00:39:22,000 --> 00:39:25,000 If this mummy's face could be reconstructed 785 00:39:25,000 --> 00:39:28,000 and was a match for the images that we have of Nefertiti, 786 00:39:28,000 --> 00:39:30,000 what would that mean? 787 00:39:30,000 --> 00:39:33,000 I think it massively increases the likelihood this is indeed Nefertiti. 788 00:39:34,000 --> 00:39:37,000 If we can do some imaging, it'd be a great step forward. 789 00:39:37,000 --> 00:39:39,000 Okay. 790 00:39:39,000 --> 00:39:41,000 This is the real reason I'm here. 791 00:39:41,000 --> 00:39:45,000 We've brought state-of-the-art equipment to digitally image the mummy's face, 792 00:39:45,000 --> 00:39:49,000 but it won't work through the glass case, which is sealed shut. 793 00:39:50,000 --> 00:39:54,000 Despite months of negotiations with the museum and the antiquities authority, 794 00:39:54,000 --> 00:39:56,000 we still don't know if they'll open the case, 795 00:39:56,000 --> 00:40:00,000 and all that Aiden, my producers, and I can do is hope. 796 00:40:00,000 --> 00:40:03,000 What do you give the chance to this right now? 797 00:40:03,000 --> 00:40:06,000 We've been talking about this for a pretty long time. 798 00:40:06,000 --> 00:40:10,000 They're just a little bit skittish because a lot of them work for me with the technology. 799 00:40:10,000 --> 00:40:14,000 The Egyptians are rightly protective of this fragile historic treasure. 800 00:40:14,000 --> 00:40:18,000 Minutes turn to hours as we work with authorities to review our proposal. 801 00:40:18,000 --> 00:40:25,000 So after a lot of talking and negotiating and begging, I think, is the word, 802 00:40:25,000 --> 00:40:28,000 I think this might actually happen. So let's see. Here come our guys. 803 00:40:28,000 --> 00:40:31,000 After a nerve-wracking wait, we finally get word. 804 00:40:31,000 --> 00:40:33,000 We've been given the green light. 805 00:40:33,000 --> 00:40:36,000 Museum personnel are brought in to open the case. 806 00:40:42,000 --> 00:40:48,000 Now, after 3400 years, it's time to find out the truth about Queen Nefertiti. 807 00:40:48,000 --> 00:41:06,000 Don't move because our after the hunt special is about to begin. 808 00:41:06,000 --> 00:41:11,000 But first, here's a sneak peek at next week's conclusion to our Egypt expedition. 809 00:41:13,000 --> 00:41:14,000 It's just awesome. 810 00:41:14,000 --> 00:41:17,000 On the next expedition unknown. 811 00:41:18,000 --> 00:41:22,000 I dive into the hunt for the legendary Cleopatra. 812 00:41:22,000 --> 00:41:27,000 Look at that. An actual sphinx sitting on the ocean floor. 813 00:41:27,000 --> 00:41:32,000 And open a lost tomb that could belong to the Queen of the Nile herself. 814 00:41:32,000 --> 00:41:34,000 Oh my word. 815 00:41:34,000 --> 00:41:38,000 And then the conclusion of our groundbreaking experiment. 816 00:41:38,000 --> 00:41:40,000 That is incredible. 817 00:41:40,000 --> 00:41:43,000 Our digital imaging and forensic reconstruction are complete. 818 00:41:43,000 --> 00:41:47,000 And the world will see a historic mummy brought back to life. 819 00:41:47,000 --> 00:41:49,000 Are you ready to see the final result? 820 00:41:49,000 --> 00:41:50,000 This is it. 821 00:41:50,000 --> 00:41:51,000 The moment of truth. 822 00:41:51,000 --> 00:41:54,000 One, two, three. 823 00:41:54,000 --> 00:41:56,000 Oh wow. 824 00:41:56,000 --> 00:42:00,000 Next time on Expedition Unknown.