52x04 - Egypt's Tombs of Amun

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NARRATOR: In Egypt, a
team of archaeologists has made

an extraordinary discovery.

ZAHI HAWASS: I never thought

that anything like this
would be discovered.

NARRATOR: A cemetery
hidden for millennia.

AFIFI ROHIM: We can
see the burial chamber.

NARRATOR: No one
knew of its existence.

We are in front
of a sealed tomb.

NARRATOR: How
many tombs will they find?

This is really exciting.

NARRATOR: What lies within?

ROHIM: We are sure

that this tomb intact tomb.

NARRATOR: Now,
from the Egyptian desert,

incredible artifacts emerge.

HAWASS: Beautiful...
this is the first time

I see something like this.

NARRATOR: Who was buried here?

These individuals were wealthy.

NARRATOR: Now these
lost tombs are revealing

a unique period
in Egyptian history,

when kings from the south
conquered and ruled Egypt

and Egyptian women

had more power and
prestige than ever before.

JULIA BUDKA: The
god's wife of Amun

was really the female
substitute of the king.

MARIAM AYAD: The
god's wife of Amun

was as important
as a medieval pope.

NARRATOR: Who were these
outsiders who ruled Egypt?

And how did they help
women rise to such heights?

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"Egypt's Tombs of Amun,"

right now, on "NOVA."

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NARRATOR: Ancient Egypt,

a civilization that lasted
for more than 3,000 years.

From towering pyramids

to palatial rock-cut tombs,

from sprawling temples

to soaring obelisks,

its long history is
meticulously recorded

on the walls of
Egyptian temples,

colossal statues,

and the artifacts the
Egyptians buried in their tombs.

Leading the Egyptian people

was a succession
of about 300 rulers,

divided into 31 dynasties

lasting from around


These were the pharaohs,
who were both heads of state,

as well as divine intermediaries

between the people
and their gods.

Most of the history
of Ancient Egypt

unfolds over three major
periods of unity and prosperity.

The Old Kingdom,
the era of the pyramids.

The Middle Kingdom,
a classical age,

when literature and
the arts flourished.

And the New Kingdom, when
Egypt extended its control

beyond its borders
and became an empire.

As well as three periods
of instability in between,

called the First, Second, and
Third Intermediate Periods.

The New Kingdom is
probably the best-known

period in Ancient Egypt

because we have
all those temples,

we have huge amounts

of royal stelar texts
and inscriptions.

Egypt was completely
connected with the Mediterranean,

with the Near East,

with the south.

It's really the first evidence

for globalization
in our history.

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People were living together,
people were copying things,

they're creating something new.

NARRATOR: The New Kingdom
is considered Egypt's golden age,

a time of wealth,
prosperity, and power.

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Pharaohs like Ramesses II

and Hatshepsut

build magnificent temples,
and incredible treasures,

like the ones found in
the tomb of Tutankhamun,

are produced.

But after nearly 500
years of splendor,

things start to change.

There were internal
political problems,

economic problems,

periods of hunger, civil wars.

NARRATOR: During this
time of declining prosperity,

the state collapses,

allowing self-proclaimed
regional rulers

to grab power and
divide the country.

After the fall of
the New Kingdom,

Egypt fell into a
dark, dark, dark age

of political fragmentation.

It's known as the Third
Intermediate Period.

NARRATOR: Starting in 1069 BCE,

the Third Intermediate Period
lasts for more than 300 years.

The archaeological record from
this period of Egyptian history

is fragmented.

The story of the people

who lived during these
times is largely unknown.

But now

new information
is being uncovered



in an excavation happening

in Egypt's richest
archaeological area:

Luxor.

BUDKA: The modern city of Luxor

was the ancient Thebes,
and for centuries, it was

the religious capital of Egypt.

NARRATOR: Some of the most
famous ancient sites are here:

temples to the
most important gods

on the East Bank of the Nile;

the funerary temples
of the pharaohs

and the vast Necropolis, or
city of the dead, to the west.

The popular belief is, we
know already everything.

We have deciphered
the hieroglyphs.

We have so many
temples and tombs.

We know what happened.

This is actually not the case.

And every single
archaeological dig

can teach you a lot.

NARRATOR: In September 2020,

a team of Egyptian
archaeologists

led by Zahi Hawass

started excavating
a new site there,

on the West Bank of the Nile,

and discovered a long-lost city.

We discovered one house,

and this house led us to
this major important discovery.

The lost golden city.

NARRATOR: Built by
Tutankhamun's grandfather

Amenhotep III

in the 14th century BCE,

the lost city is a sprawling
maze of serpentine walls,

houses, workshops, and
administration buildings.

For centuries, no one
knew of its existence.

The lost city is built on
prime ancient real estate

in the area known
as Medinet Habu

on the West Bank of
the ancient city of Thebes.

It took the archaeologists
nearly two years

to fully excavate it.

HAWASS: When we
found the lost golden city,

I really wanted to extend
the area in the north.

This is known in the map

as the Triangle.

This area is empty... no
one really ever excavated it.

NARRATOR: For decades,
it's been just a patch of desert

next to the main tourist route.

Every morning, dozens
of buses whiz past

on their way to
the famous sites.

Hundreds of tourists take
to the sky on hot air balloons.

It would seem an unlikely
place for a big discovery.

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In September 2022,

two years after the
lost city was discovered,

the team starts
excavating the Triangle.

As soon as the archaeologists

remove the first layer of
sand, they uncover mud bricks...

evidence that there
might be more to be found.

Zahi decides to concentrate
the team's efforts in this area.

Within days, they uncover a
row of large pottery vessels.

Remarkably, they
are still sealed.

As they open one, they are
about to find something very telling:

a clear indication of
what this site once was.

Huh.

What's this?

It's kind of plants.

NARRATOR: The plants
appear to have been burned.

What's this?

ROHIM: Linen. Linen?

And we will take
all the filling outside

to be sure what's behind this.

HAWASS: Oh!

Broken pottery!

This is a ritual.

NARRATOR: The
contents of the pots all relate

to a funerary ritual.

BUDKA: During mummification,

the embalming workshops
produced leftovers

that was regarded as
something important.

They were not just put somewhere

as trash, but they were
arranged in deposits.

Sometimes they deposited linen,

organic remains,
botanical remains.

Very often, we find broken
pots inside the vessels.

And this is what in general
we call embalming cache.

NARRATOR: An embalming
cache is the collection

of the precious
leftovers of materials

used during the
mummification process.

BUDKA: Finding a cache
of embalming material

tells you immediately

that you have found something
associated with a cemetery.

And you should probably
look for a tomb nearby.

NARRATOR: This
is a momentous find.

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Is the team on the verge of
a new important discovery?



Excited, they split into groups,

each tackling a different
corner of the Triangle.

Soon, they uncover
evidence of several tombs.

The archaeologists are standing

on a previously
unknown burial ground.

It's not every day that you
find a brand-new cemetery.

So this is really exciting.

NARRATOR: When
was this cemetery built?

And who was buried here?

HAWASS: Work in this big,
large cemetery, it's a challenge.

It needs to be
excavated completely

to understand the date.

The excavation will
give us more information

about the people who are
buried in this large cemetery.

BUDKA: The burials are
located on the West Bank,

because in the Egyptian
concept of the netherworld,

the entrance to the
netherworld is on the west.

The sun rises in the east

and sets in the west,

and this is what a
human life should repeat.

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NARRATOR: The Ancient
Egyptians invested vast amounts

of wealth and energy

preparing for life after death.

The belief of the
afterlife built Egypt.

That belief made the
Egyptian to build pyramids,

tombs, and temples.

NARRATOR: They believed
that life continued after death,

and the tomb was considered
the house for eternity.

For those who could afford it,

the mummified body
would have laid to rest

inside beautifully
decorated tombs.

BUDKA: There's the popular
belief that the Ancient Egyptians

were obsessed by death,
and that they were only

caring about life
in the netherworld.

This is, of course,
definitely not the case.

The Egyptians
were people like us,

so they wanted to live.

Mortuary rituals is
actually something

that helps the
living to overcome,

um, their sorrow, their grief.

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What you find in tombs

tells you so much about
society and about the living.

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NARRATOR: Tombs
are time capsules

that can preserve information

about ancient
people for millennia.

HAWASS: You can gain a lot of
knowledge and information about burials,

and that's why this cemetery
needs more excavation.

NARRATOR: The tombs in
the Triangle are all different.

Some have a shaft dug
straight into the ground.

And at the bottom, they
open up to the burial chamber.

Some have grand entrances,
complete with a staircase,

and more than one
room carved into the rock.

Archaeology is dangerous
for archaeologists.

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It's hard work.


talking in background)

It's to live dangerously.

But to live dangerously,
it's fun, also.

It's amazing when you make
a new, important discovery.

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You completely forget dangers.

Archaeology is like
a box of chocolate.

What is this?

You never know what you get.

Looks like part of a necklet.

NARRATOR: Four
months into the excavation,

and the archaeologists
haven't found any mummies yet.

But intriguing artifacts
emerge from the tombs.

ROHIM: Here I found a metal eye

used in wooden coffins.

Wow!

NARRATOR: A gold ring

with a carved carnelian.

Amulets believed to
protect the deceased

with their magical powers.

And shabtis, images
of the tomb owner,

who the ancient
Egyptians believed

did all the manual
labor in the netherworld.

With only one month left
before desert temperatures rise

and work must stop,

site director Afifi
Rohim starts working

in tomb number six, one
that he finds most promising.

The cut in the
mountain is very good.

We have a staircase
and we have this corridor.

Till now, most of the
debris is still original debris.

Mm.




speaking Arabic)

ROHIM:



ROHIM: Mm.



ROHIM:

BAGHDADI:

ROHIM:

BAGHDADI:

ROHIM: Mm.

NARRATOR: Most tombs discovered
in Egypt have been looted in antiquity.

If there are no objects
mixed in the sand,

it could mean two things:

either the tomb is unfinished
or no one has entered it

since it was sealed
thousands of years ago.

HAWASS: There is no tomb

that could be looted

if, in a shaft, you
have clean sand.

NARRATOR: This
is tantalizing evidence

that tomb number
six might be intact.

The workers remove
bucket after bucket of sand.

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Then, suddenly, the density
of the sediment changes.

ROHIM: He start to
find very compact layer.

Looks like mother rock.

And this means
that all this layer

was the original layer,

which, in the ancient
time, they make it

the filling for the shaft.

If it is, it will be
really untouch.

NARRATOR: What drives
archaeologists to endure

the hot desert
environment is the promise

of revealing
long-forgotten histories

and, sometimes, the chance

to come face to face
with an Ancient Egyptian.

In tomb number six,
skilled worker Baghdadi

is getting closer to
the bottom of the shaft.

For archaeologist
Ahmed El Nasseh,

this tomb is puzzling.

EL NASSEH: We are still confused
because we have natural layers,

the compact layer,

similar to the
bedrock, and below,

we have sandy
layer, which is loose.

We will follow the bedrock

to find the limit
of the burial shaft.


Nasseh speaking Arabic)

EL NASSEH: He found mudbrick,

so, I think we are

in front of the blocked doorway.

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NARRATOR: It's exciting news.

There's a good chance
the burial chamber

has not been opened

since it was originally
sealed with mudbrick

thousands of years ago.

Good news at the end of the day.

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NARRATOR: The following
day at the excavation site,

it all looks like a
normal morning.

But just below the
surface in tomb number six,

the expectations are high.

Afifi is checking the mudbricks
that block the entrance

to the burial chamber.

ROHIM: The seal of the doorway
is just directly under the mother rock.

It means that it, it
never open before.

This tomb was confusing for us.

In the beginning, we thought

there's nothing here.

Was thinking that, stop
the work and leave the shaft.

NARRATOR: And
Afifi is also concerned

about the safety of the
crew working in the tomb.

The mother rock is not straight,

so I try to check if it
is still in original situ

or just fall down.

NARRATOR: On closer inspection,

Afifi notices that a couple of
the mudbricks have collapsed

under the weight
of the rock above,

leaving a small opening.

Over time, the sand
has seeped through.

With great anticipation,

Baghdadi starts
removing the mudbricks.

Once the passage is cleared,

work inside the chamber begins.

At first, it's just clean sand.

But soon, artifacts emerge.

HAWASS: Is this amethyst?

Huh? ROHIM: Yeah, could be.

Oh, oh!

Beautiful vase... God!



This is not Egyptian.

This is so strange.

Doesn't looks Egyptian...
even the colors.

NARRATOR: The style
of this tiny pot is nothing

like any artifact the
team has found before.

Was it imported
from a distant land?

HAWASS: This is a
very important discovery.

The artifacts are
now really unique.

Very happy.

NARRATOR: Then
Zahi comes face to face

with a special object.

HAWASS (speaking Arabic):

This is the first time

I see something like this.

The lady is seated,

having a gazelle on her hand

and holding her son on the back.

Can you hold this?

This is another one.

She is standing,

and on her back,
she is holding a child.

This could be someone
from outside Egypt.

NARRATOR: The statuettes
confirm Zahi's hunch.

The style of the artifacts
is not traditionally Egyptian.

The depiction of the
face hints at people

originating from
beyond Egypt's borders.

And then there's
the speckled texture.

The distinctive spotted look,

combined with the
shapely woman's frame,

was only produced
during a crucial moment

in the history of Egypt,

when the country is
ruled by foreigners:

the 11th century BCE,

the start of the unstable
Third Intermediate Period.

Egypt had economic problems,
only very short-lived kings,

quarrels about the
inheritance of the throne.

Egypt was vulnerable.

NARRATOR: But this changes
when Egypt's southern neighbors,

the Kushites... also
known as the Nubians...

take advantage of Egypt's
weakness, and, in 712 BCE,

they move in and conquer
the Land of the Pharaohs.

We refer to the Kushites

as the kings of the XXV dynasty.

And this dynasty was originally
coming from modern Sudan.

NARRATOR: Known
for rich deposits of gold,

Nubia is home to some of
Africa's earliest kingdoms.

The Egyptians first
called Nubia Ta-Seti,

the Land of the Bow,

highlighting the skill
of Nubian warriors.

BUDKA: When the
Kushites invaded Egypt,

they erected a
very, very powerful

and very successful empire
for roughly 70, 80 years.

AYAD: The Nubians
were restorers.

After things were destroyed
and the temples were neglected,

the Nubians were now going
to take care of everything,

put everything back in order.

NARRATOR: Egypt
is prosperous again.

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BUDKA: They made themselves
kings of both Egypt and Kush.

The Egyptian culture was
part of their own heritage,

because, in the New Kingdom,
Nubia was an Egyptian colony.

NARRATOR: Few written
records or artifacts of the people

that lived under Kushite
rule in Egypt survive today.

Which makes what the team
is unearthing in the Triangle

especially rare.



I really could not believe

that statues like
this could exist.

It's unique.

The color.

They are very realistic.

NARRATOR: Not only do the
two statuettes both show a woman,

but some of the small
pots that have been found

are for makeup.

This tomb for sure
belonged this woman.

NARRATOR: Women in
Ancient Egypt have the right to buy

and inherit property.

They can represent
themselves in court,

own a business,
and get divorced.

But it isn't exactly
an egalitarian society.

BUDKA: There was a
small percentage of women

who were highly privileged,

but nevertheless, there was a
gender bias in Ancient Egypt.

This is why I think
it's not fair to say

it's a paradise for women
in the ancient world.

NARRATOR: But when
the Kushites take over Egypt,

they bring with them
a Nubian culture

in which women have power.

In the Kushite time,

women had a different status

than before and after.

There is a matrilineal system
for the Kushite kingdom.

It was more important

who was your mother
than who was your father.

And this might be
the main difference

between Egypt and Kush.

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NARRATOR: Mariam Ayad has
spent her entire career studying

Ancient Egyptian women,

and especially the
women of the XXV dynasty.

Zahi has invited Mariam

to see the objects
found in tomb number six.

HAWASS: This tomb
was really unique.

We found some very
impressive artifacts.

If you look at the
face... AYAD: Yeah?

it looks Nubian to me.

It does look Nubian, for sure.

This body type of the
standing woman... Yeah.

That body type we find a lot
during the XXV dynasty. Yes.

The heavier lower
body, the heavier hips.

I have never seen
statues like this.

I don't think there's
ever statues of that type

ever produced before
or possibly even after.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: When the Kushites
conquer Egypt around 700 BCE,

they decide to embrace

the Egyptians' religious
customs and beliefs.

BUDKA: In Ancient
Egypt, we cannot separate

kingship from religion.

Pharaohs invested so much

in the religious
landscape of Thebes.

NARRATOR: And this
strategy is best seen at Karnak,

a vast temple complex
where pharaohs dedicated

great building projects to
Amun, the king of the gods.

♪ ♪

When the Kushite kings arrive,

they, too, make
their marks here.

One of the monuments,
built by Kushite king Taharqa,

reveals a new and distinctive

level of power for
women in Egypt.

AYAD: We're here by the edifice
of Taharqa at the sacred lake.

We can't call it the temple,
because it doesn't have

some of the main features
we associate with temples.

The only part of the building

that survives is the
subterranean chambers.

NARRATOR: What's
special about this monument

is a relief on a wall
hidden from view.

AYAD: And because
there's no proper entrance,

we'll have to climb up.

It's a part of the
building with ritual scenes

that are unique and
not found elsewhere.

NARRATOR: The scene Mariam
is looking for is one-of-a-kind.

It depicts two figures
protecting a sacred tomb.

AYAD: On either side,

the figures are facing outward
as a way of protecting it.

In Egyptian art, it's
very rare for figures

to be facing outward
and not toward the center.

The king is throwing four ba*ls,

and he's aiming
at four targets...

east, west, north, and south.

NARRATOR: Opposite
the king, a female figure.

AYAD: She is
complementing his actions,

asserting the royal dominion

over the four
extremities of the Earth.

She is drawing an arrow
through a double-arched bow,

and this is very rare,

to find a woman
actively arching.

Very rare.

Even the goddess Neith, who's
known as the goddess of w*r,

and who's often called the
mistress of bow and arrows,

she's mostly holding
them in her hand.

As far as Egyptian
iconography is concerned,

this is a unique
representation of female power.

NARRATOR: Who is this woman?

Her title is god's wife of Amun.

To understand how a woman
might attain such power in Egypt,

we need to go back 800 years,

when the title of god's
wife of Amun first appears.

Carved on a
stone slab, or stela,

is the title's
earliest evidence.

This is the Ahmose
Nefertari's donation stela.

Ahmose Nefertari was
the wife of King Ahmose,

the founder of
the XVIII dynasty.

As part of his
larger state policy

to put trusted family members

in key positions
around the realm,

she was appointed as
the god's wife of Amun.

As far as we know,

she's the first woman
to hold that title.

NARRATOR: With this stela,

King Ahmose establishes
the estate of the god's wife

as a source of
revenue for his queen.

The stela records
large amounts of gold,

silver, and copper, as
well as servants and land.

AYAD: On the donation
stela of Ahmose Nefertari,

there is a very telling line.

It says, "No future
king shall ever revoke

the estate of the
god's wife of Amun."

NARRATOR: With this
line, Ahmose makes sure

that this newly established
estate will last in perpetuity.

AYAD: The women
who held that title

remained financially
independent,

and it seems
plausible to suggest

that it's because of
that initial endowment.

NARRATOR: Although the
title of god's wife of Amun

first appears during
the New Kingdom,

over time, the position
becomes less relevant.

But then,

during the Kushites'
reign, this role takes on

a completely new
and powerful meaning.

AYAD: When the
Nubians invaded Egypt,

they were quick to
recognize the political value

of having that institution.

The office was resurrected
after centuries of oblivion.

So Amenirdis I becomes
the first Nubian woman

to become a god's wife of Amun.

NARRATOR: The
Kushite princess Amenirdis

is the sister of Pianky,

the first king of
the XXV dynasty.

On becoming the
god's wife of Amun,

Amenirdis effectively
takes control of Thebes.

AYAD: Her installation served

to achieve a smooth
transition of power

from the preceding dynasty

to the Nubian rule in Egypt.

♪ ♪

Amenirdis
participated in rituals

that no other woman was
allowed to participate in before.

BUDKA: In the XXV dynasty,
the god's wife of Amun

was much more important
than in previous times.

The god's wife of Amun was

the female
substitute of the king.

AYAD: The god's wife of Amun

was as important
as a medieval pope

in terms of the temporal and
religious power that she held.

NARRATOR: In a side
corridor at the Cairo Museum,

a statue found in Karnak Temple

reveals how much power

the god's wife of Amun,
Amenirdis, really had.

It's carved from alabaster,

a soft, translucent
form of gypsum rock.



The one and only
Amenirdis I, royal princess.

It's not very common to find

statues of that
size in alabaster.

She looks exactly
like an Egyptian queen.

The headdress, the
modius crown on her head,

but she has that
pendant of Amun,

and that might be
a Nubian feature.

On the back pillar, she
asserts her moral character.

She gave bread to the
hungry, water to the thirsty,

and clothes to the naked.

Now, this is significant,

because if you are
giving food to the hungry,

water to the thirsty,
you have agency.

It's not just about generosity,

it's also about having
the means to do so

and having the
autonomy to do so,

and to have a woman
have that kind of inscription

is very rare.

NARRATOR: Back at the site,

the statuettes from
tomb number six

signal a burial of
the XXV dynasty,

the period when Amenirdis
was the god's wife of Amun.

♪ ♪

Now archaeologists are
on the hunt for more clues

that might reveal the
identity of the woman

buried in tomb number six.

But the excavation
season is coming to an end.

With summer approaching,

the soaring temperatures

would make work in
the tombs impossible.

♪ ♪

With only a couple
of weeks left,

Afifi has found a vessel.

ROHIM: We found
one of the canopic jars.

It's from fine limestone.

And even the sculpture
of the face is, is so good.

NARRATOR: During the
mummification process,

the organs of the
deceased would be removed

and placed in these containers.

They are known as canopic jars.

ROHIM: Each burial
have four canopic jars...

four organs of the deceased.

NARRATOR: Each
jar is topped with

a different symbolic sculpture.

The heads represent the
four sons of the god Horus.

Each was responsible for
protecting a particular organ:

the jackal for the stomach,

the human head for the liver,

the baboon for the lungs,

and the falcon
for the intestines.

ROHIM: It's empty.

NARRATOR: Afifi is
looking for any inscription

which could give us the
name of the owner of this tomb.

Just behind the first jar,
a second one appears.

I want to take the body first.

Oh!

It's nice inscriptions.

Yes, yes.

I am not specialist in
Ancient Egyptian language,

but I can read, "Osir...

djer,"

or, "djerek saa."

Mean something related to Osir.

NARRATOR: The inscription
is a prayer to the god Osiris,

ruler of the underworld.

I see the base of the lid.

It's complete.

No cracks... nothing.

It's baboon.



Now we have to
consolidate the writing.

NARRATOR: The jars
have been hiding in the tomb

for nearly 3,000 years.

Before they can be taken out,

conservator Seham Abdelazeim

needs to carefully
protect this ancient writing

with a water-soluble
cellulose binder.

The jars don't reveal the
name of the deceased,

but Afifi believes
there are more artifacts

waiting to be found.

But before he
continues to excavate,

he needs to secure the tomb.

This layers of
sediments is, is not strong

and it is not safe for working,

especially when you open it

and the fresh air gets inside.

So it's decayed, and
start to dry and fall down.

So we need to
make all this support

and, to continue our work.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: The excavation
season has come to an end.

The workers prepare supports

in an effort to secure
tomb number six.

Once ready, Afifi locks
it with a metal gate.

The team needs to
wait until September,

when the excavation will resume.

♪ ♪

When you discover
something interesting,

you can feel happy.

Of course, I have to
be more patient, and...

When we stop
excavation in the site,

doesn't mean that the work stop.

Because we continue working,

in writing the general report,

make analysis for the object,

and still thinking

about the future season.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: Five months later,

the heat has come and gone.

The archaeologists return
to the excavation site,

eager to pick up the
work from where they left it.

♪ ♪

As Afifi and Ahmed
reenter tomb number six,

something does not look right.

ROHIM (speaking Arabic):

EL NASSEH (speaking Arabic):

ROHIM:

ROHIM: All the tomb collapsed.

All the roof collapsed.

And there are cracks
everywhere inside the tomb.

NARRATOR: The
ground above has caved in,

filling the deep shaft that the
team spent days excavating.

And now, it's too
dangerous to clear the debris.

I think we lost this tomb.

We can't remove the debris.

We can't even just
get inside to check it,

because the cracks in the
roof and the walls everywhere.

It's not safe for the
workers and for my team,

and this is our
job in archaeology.

Nothing to do.

Moving to the next stop.



NARRATOR: With sadness,
the team has to give up

on ever finding the woman
who was buried here.

She will likely remain
in her tomb for eternity,

just as she originally planned.

The Ancient Egyptians
recorded everything,

especially on
their burial goods.

Thousands of years later,

the archaeologists
are on the hunt for clues

that might reveal
details of long-lost lives.

♪ ♪

At the southern
edge of the Triangle,

in tomb number nine,

the archaeologists haven't
found any mummies.

But sunk into the floor
of the burial chamber,

the lids of four
canopic jars appear.

ROHIM: We found this
set of four canopic jars here,

underneath the floor.

I have to take it out.

NARRATOR: Afifi examines
the vessel in the hope it will reveal

the name of the person
who was buried here.

There is no text,
just black decoration.

Something strange for me...

the body is made from alabaster,

but the head from limestone.

NARRATOR: He carefully
removes the second jar.

Oh, it's different.

It's made of alabaster,

but it has a stand
made of limestone.

It's rare to find canopic jar

with a stone stand like this.

And I think it has
some inscriptions.

NARRATOR: The
inscription is lightly carved,

but since alabaster
is translucent,

Afifi tries to read it
using a small light.

I can read the text now.

"Djet medu Duamutef."

It means "offering to

Duamutef," one of
four son of Horus.

"Satirdis."

Her name is Satirdis.

So it's for a woman,

and she was a female
singer in Amun house.

NARRATOR: Finally,
the team has a name

for the owner of
the tomb: Asetirdis,

the singer, or chantress,
in the Temple of Amun.

AYAD: The god's
wife had chantresses

in her entourage.

Chantresses were very
prominent in Theban society.

In temple ritual, we would
see women chantresses

making music to the gods.

It makes a lot of sense

that chantresses in
the House of Amun

would be buried just
outside the temple

at Medinet Habu, because
that was thought to be

the place of the primeval mound.

NARRATOR: In Egyptian mythology,

the primeval mound
was the first piece of land

to emerge from
the watery chaos...

where life was first created.

AYAD: The god Amun would
come across the river aged, tired.

He comes back to
this primeval place,

where he would commune
with eight primeval gods.

He would go back
rejuvenated and youthful again.

NARRATOR: The tombs in the
Triangle are located on this sacred land.

The people buried here
could have a close connection

to the god Amun.

The people who are buried here

could be working in
this great institution,

the office of the
god's wife of Amun.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: And in the
heart of this holy place,

the god's wife, Amenirdis,

has her own funerary chapel.

AYAD: We are at the great
temple of Medinet Habu,

and everyone knows it

for the funerary
temple of Ramesses III,

and they walk just straight past

this wonderful
chapel of Amenirdis.

Even though the façade itself
has wonderful inscriptions,

no one ever stops
to look at them.

Here we have
Amenirdis offering Maat,

which is the concept of truth
and harmony and global order,

to Amun and his
divine consort, Mut.

This representation
is unique for a woman.

It's unique because it's the
prerogative of the king only,

who is seen as the
ultimate preserver of Maat.

And we don't see that
any time before that period.

NARRATOR: In the XXV
dynasty, the god's wife of Amun

has a much more
active and visible role

than ever before.

Only the king can
build on sacred land,

so the fact that Amenirdis

has a large stone
monument here is meaningful.

AYAD: Construction
of funerary chapels,

any kind of temple,

is the royal prerogative, and
only the king could do that,

but repeatedly, we
see the god's wife

erect chapels on their own.

To anyone, even those
who could not read,

the iconography itself
told any bystander

that these women were
as important as the king.

NARRATOR: And historians
believe that this level of prestige

for women was only attained

when the Kushites
from Nubia ruled Egypt.

BUDKA: I believe we have

a certain difference

in the importance of women
during the XXV dynasty,

because they were just importing

their role from Kush to Egypt.

The role of women

was different in
the Kushite culture.

The royal women had much power,

and part of this was
imported to Egypt.

I don't think it's a coincidence

that this office
of the god's wife

really flourished
under foreign rule.

NARRATOR: Since
excavation began in the Triangle,

the team has
uncovered several tombs.

One has an impressive
wide staircase.

With a large quantity
of debris removed,

the archaeologists can now
access the burial chamber.

We remove all the
debris from the room itself

until we found a
group of coffins.

NARRATOR: The human remains

are in a very bad
state of preservation,

the mummy wrappings
and wooden coffins

completely decayed.

Only the bones of
these individuals survive.

EL NASSEH: Maybe
it's a family tomb,

and now we are working
to find some object

dating this tomb,

like canopic
jars with the titles

and the name of the owner.

NARRATOR: Skilled
excavator Badawi

carefully works around
one of the coffins.

Soon, the top of a
canopic jar appears.

HAWASS: The canopic
jars have some inscriptions.

It needs to be clear more.

We still have to look
for the other three.



♪ ♪

NARRATOR: A second jar.

♪ ♪

And soon a third.

HAWASS: Beautiful!

This person has to be
elite, an important person.

It's really well done, modeled.

The workshop that
made this canopic jars

are really perfect.

NARRATOR: And finally,

on the fourth and last jar,

the name of the
owner can be read.

This is the name of him.
ROHIM: His name is Mere.

The name Mere Ren-Amun,

the singer of the god Amun.

This is really wonderful.

This person was part
of this important office.

Those people, one
day, were working,

singing, dancing

behind the great
god's wife of Amun.

NARRATOR: But the
style of the canopic jars

is different from the
others found in the Triangle.

HAWASS: As an archaeologist,

you can look at canopic jars
and know the period exactly.

The modeling of the
faces show 500 BC,

the XXVI dynasty.

Through the
archaeological evidence,

you can say that the
big large cemetery,

it started in the north,

in dynasty XXV,

continued to the
edge of the city,

known as the golden lost city.

The tombs here
dated to dynasty XXVI.

NARRATOR: When Mere was alive,

the Kushites of Nubia
were no longer ruling Egypt,

yet he is buried next to the
people of the XXV dynasty.

AYAD: For the Theban elites,

this was a good burial ground.

It mattered very little

who the ruling king was
and from which dynasty.

Between the XXV dynasty
and the XXVI dynasty in Thebes,

there is no material break.

It's a continuous move from
the one dynasty to the other.

AYAD: The Theban
people are Theban people,

so there are generations
of the same families

living under different kings.

NARRATOR: The
reign of the XXV dynasty

ends around 653 BCE.

The new royal family

that establishes
the XXVI dynasty

comes from the north of
Egypt, from a city called Sais.

But a new king doesn't
mean that everything changes.

AYAD: The transition from
the XXV to the XXVI dynasty

is very interesting.

We have someone like Montuemhat,

who was really a
man for all seasons.

He was already
the mayor of Thebes

under the Nubian rulers,

he continued to be
the mayor of Thebes

under the new rulers,

and all the while, he took part

in the transition in the
office of the god's wife,

helping establish the
new god's wife in place.

NARRATOR: A new pharaoh.

A new god's wife of Amun.

And the people
associated with this office

keep Medinet Habu as
their chosen burial ground.

BUDKA: The title
god's wife of Amun

lasts until the end
of the XXVI dynasty.

AYAD: At the end of that time,

Egypt is invaded
by the Persians.

And everything changes.

NARRATOR: After
the Persian invasion,

evidence of the god's
wife of Amun disappears.

Lasting for more
than a millennium,

the title of god's wife of Amun

was created in
the XVIII dynasty.

But it's 800 years later,
in the XXV dynasty,

with the help of the Kushite
pharaohs from Nubia,

that the institution
reaches its zenith,

Amenirdis's legacy forever
imprinted on the artifacts

and monuments she left behind.

The archaeologists have
unearthed buried treasures

of a very special period
of Egyptian history,

when the Kushite pharaohs of
the XXV dynasty rose to power

and wrote a new chapter
into this rich civilization.

They embraced Egyptian
culture and beliefs,

but also brought elements
of their own culture,

where women were
financially independent

and the power of the
god's wife of Amun

rivaled that of the king.

AYAD: The god's wife of Amun

is very inspiring and empowering
to modern women today.

The fact that they're not
as well known to the public

as Cleopatra or Nefertiti

is just the sad reality
of modern pop culture.

♪ ♪

HAWASS: A unique cemetery

to bring more information
about this period.

Oh!

We are making history.

NARRATOR: Like the
shifting sands of the desert,

history is never static.

It is a quest for
understanding who we are,

where we've been,
and where we're going.

AYAD: People looking at us
from even 200 years from now,

or 2,000 years from now,

how they perceive women today

is dependent on how much
evidence do we leave behind.
♪ ♪

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