A few kilometers from the pyramids,
a French archaeologist, is about to do
an exceptional discovery. - I'm coming to see you right away. Quick, don't delay. These workers just cleared walls
of bricks which delimit a vertical well, so far completely
filled with sand. - Under our feet, it can go down
at 4, 5, 6 or I know how many meters. For now I can only imagine, when we see what it is, we can
say there is something or not. This Frenchman of Bulgarian origin
His name is Vassil Dobrev. He has been searching the desert for 15 years
search for ancient Egyptian tombs. But discoveries
like today, he counts them on the fingers of one hand,
this well is particularly spectacular. It goes down 10 meters
deep in the heart of the desert. At the bottom, a cavity appears. This is what Vasile hoped for,
the entrance to a tomb, closed since antiquity. - For the moment, I do not see much. There is a bedroom,
dig in the mountain. Everything is decorated. It's beautiful. Abdou looks at this. Vassil has just cleared
the entrance to a burial vault, whose ceiling has partially collapsed. According to their style, these motifs have been
painted more than 2000 years before Christ. - We can only dream.
- For you, is it a great moment? - Yes, it's the first time
that on this site, there is a decorated bedroom downstairs. The colors are almost intact,
after more than 4 millennia under the sand. - We're happy, come on guys. To discover the contents of the tomb,
we will have to wait. - We will close with blocks for
thieves cannot come down, and go break the blocks are inside,
temporarily secure. It's frustrating, but Vassil has no other
choice but to seal the grave for the night. His name as well as that of Abdou, the inspector
Egyptian responsible for the excavation, are written on the wall
which closes access to discovery. - It's some sort of signature. - When the thieves will come,
they will say to themselves "I'm afraid it's Abdou, i can't touch it
because he has already seen it". If sees my name, it's over,
he's not leaving. Vasile is one of the few archaeologists,
to have continued his work, even at the worst times
of the Egyptian revolution. - The Saqqara is the very big one
cemetery in the Egyptian capital. If we can compare with Paris,
it's like Père-Lachaise. The capital of the pharaohs,
Memphis, was located here, on the site of this vast palm grove.
Today, almost nothing remains. As for Saqqara, no doubt the site
the most sacred in the history of the country, he was right in front,
overhanging, on a strip of desert, where the first were built
pyramids of Egypt. Vassil works there
For more than 20 years, it is now one of the best
knowers of these secrets. - It is a protected place,
exceptional in height, that is why kings
chose here to be buried. If we think of the pharaonic Egyptian,
it is the place closest to the sun. The sun is their creator God, if we want to get closer to the sun,
it is there that it is necessary to go up. Vasile chose to set up his excavation
on top of a hill, the highest point
of the entire site of Saqqara. A construction site where today emerge from the desert
the remains of built tombs over 4000 years ago. Constructions that the ancient Egyptians
called "the houses of eternity". This morning, Vassil will release
the tomb he has just discovered ten meters away,
under the surface of the desert. Under his orders, about fifty workers
bustle around the funeral well. No one is allowed to enter
in the tomb before the archaeologist. - Do the least
possible vibrations, because inside there is a lintel
on which there is sand, it doesn't have to break. This is the structure of the tomb
that Vassil brought to light, a vertical well of 10 meters
deep, which leads to the vault made of decorated limestone blocks. Inside, the archaeologist
hope to discover a sarcophagus and maybe a mummy,
and grave goods. Before that, we will have to empty the grave
which is completely filled with rubble. Impossible for the moment to know
what is always below. Soon the top of the walls appears. Despite the sand, the colors are intact,
the first registrations deliver quickly valuable hints. - Here we begin to see
an offering formula. It is the king who offers an offering
for the god Anubis, who is the god of mummification,
it's only at the end of this line that we may get the name and
the titles of the character who is buried here. There are other offerings that appear.
These are the pots, the jars, in which the oils were put.
Without them, we cannot be resurrected. In Egyptian civilization,
what is depicted on the walls, has magical power.
These beef legs, for example, allow the deceased,
to feed in the afterlife. - When you eat meat, you are strong,
we would like in the next life, to be too. Till today,
people say it in Arabic, when you see someone strong,
we don't say it has to be, we say "he eats meat". Vasile thinks that these paintings
are about 4200 years old, they are however in a state
of remarkable preservation. You can even see the clumsiness
of the painter who made them. The archaeologist can now
slip to the bottom of the grave. He will try to locate the hieroglyphs there,
which indicate the name and function, of the person who was buried here. - We see the end of the inscription:
Priest elector, scribe magician. I believe it's called Saabi. - Which means ?
- "My protection" something like that. This character comes
to resurrect in history, because we just said his name. This is exactly what they were looking for.
For them, that was the resurrection, that was life after death.
Imagine the significance, will someone pronounce
our name, 6000 years after our era? Today 4000 years later, it's 6000.
No one will think of my name, nor yours, nor that of the President of the Republic,
we won't even know. We just said the name
of a simple priest who is buried here, therefore he, on the other hand, exists. Rubble has piled up
on what remains of the ceiling, they have to be removed
to avoid collapse. In the rubble,
a surprise awaits the archaeologist. - Remove the sand above. objects appear,
a small lid in painted stone, and a more exceptional find. - I think it's a wooden statuette. It's rather rare for objects like this,
because in order for it to be preserved for millennia,
you need a good, well-closed place, otherwise, rotten wood.
What is she doing there? She must be downstairs
she's on the ceiling, someone took it and threw it away
behind, on the ceiling. The tomb was plundered in antiquity. Luckily, the thieves have
dropped several items. - It's a small limestone pot. A very simple coin whose value
however, is counted in thousands of euros. All these objects were supposed to help
the deceased to live again after death. - These are mock vases,
they just have a dummy function, they represent 10 jars, it's much smaller, let's imagine
be it jars with beer, with liquids, with oils,
with things like that. As for the statue, it represents
probably the owner of the tomb. The upper body did not resist. Unfortunately, she is rotten.
We can't move it. If you move it, it crumbles to dust.
You see, the head no longer exists. The lower body is perfect,
but the head is gone. It doesn't matter that the statuette
is not whole, we must save what can still be saved. Ali, the mission restorer,
is called upon to preserve this piece of wood, carved over 4000 years ago. - It is a cellulose-based product,
to consolidate the wood. Either it has rotted over time,
because she was in the sand, and did not keep well,
either the thieves who passed by here may have beheaded him,
they removed their eyes, because they didn't want
not be recognized. They were afraid when they fly,
the owner of the tomb, the one who will rise again,
who has already been resurrected, who sees him and who denounces him to Osiris,
this thief, he who hopes to resuscitate one day also hope to pass
like someone very good, like that, our Saabi, he will say to him:
"No, that one stole my grave, so he can't be resurrected." The statue, even very damaged,
is an indication of objects who were in the grave
at the time of the burial. For the archaeologist,
it is a very precious testimony. Last stop: Vasile and his workers,
empty the rest of the grave. They still have hope to find
the remains of the Saabi priest, may be remains of his mummy,
or his sarcophagus. But unfortunately,
nothing escaped the looters. - Things are clear,
it was completely stolen. We find the skull under the shattered stone. - Does it make you sad?
- Yes, it is mainly for Saabi, that's what's left of him. Although the tomb was plundered, today's finds
are exceptional. This entirely painted vault will join
Vassil's hunting board, on the Saqqara plateau. The other treasures he discovered
are a few meters away, under the surface of the desert, in a place
closed to visitors and very secure. 15 years ago, when he started
to dig Vasile had beginner's luck. - We are with the first grave
which we discovered in 2001, we were lucky to fall
immediately on an intact facade. She who dates from the old Empire,
the golden age of ancient Egypt, who will lead him to others
tombs, right next to it. All belong to priests,
characters who have passed their existence in the service of the pharaoh. Vasile, who reads hieroglyphs
like a comic, managed to get into
the intimacy of these characters. - Here we have an Egyptian priest, he was in the service of a pharaoh.
We are in front of his grave, in front of this man's facade,
it's his door, we go in, the tomb is behind.
His name is Pepihors it means "King Pepi is alive".
It's a bit like today I want to be well placed,
be a good civil servant of the French State, I will call myself
President Hollande is alive. It's exactly that. I will be well seen,
he is exactly that. Next is his wife Laimé,
he loves his wife so he calls her that, but we have a little problem,
because between the 2, another woman Her name is
"the one who makes the heart alive". That's the heart
therefore it is that which makes the heart alive. It's a whole program I imagine, of course it's a hypothesis
that may be his mistress. "the one who makes his heart alive",
of course, younger than his wife, It's everyone's dream
this dream he has in his earthly life, he wants to transpose it,
let it continue from the other world. These bas reliefs that decorate the facade
of the tomb are priceless. They are among the oldest
and the most beautiful works discovered at the site of Saqqara. - At the bottom, we have the well,
the tomb is below. A well 9 meters deep,
and a limestone vault, without any decoration,
which was empty at the time of its discovery. This grave was plundered
during antiquity. All these tombs are protected
by a metal ceiling, and through secure hatches,
to deter thieves. Looting is today,
the obsession of Vassil. The objects that the archaeologist
just found out, will all be brought to safety. - Give me the first one. Vassil and Abdou must first,
list them accurately. - It's a lid. The market value of all these items,
amount to tens of thousands of euros. They will be sheltered in the warehouses
of the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities. - We record it, we photograph it,
so it is protected. - The object has an identity.
- Exactly, but also it is known already.
Once the object is numbered, it must not disappear,
since that's it they exist. The Saqqara desert
is full of treasures, but also looters,
ready to do anything to get them back. All around the excavation, Abdou spotted
many traces of their passage. - Look at this hole,
if you look around you, you will find it everywhere.
The looters come and dig everywhere, they probe and move,
from place to place. They also dug there. In some places, it even seems that
the looters used bulldozers. Huge craters appeared
on the hillside. - In antiquity, we dug
burial chambers in the mountains. The grave robbers have arrived,
they broke the rock until they discover these cavities.
They followed the galleries to the tombs They grabbed everything inside.
You see all the sand they removed. According to Abdou, the looters
who dug his holes, would be none other than certain
inhabitants of the neighboring village, located below in the palm grove. Abdou wants proof
the wild extension of the local cemetery, who suddenly invaded the desert
in the middle of an archaeological site, towards the pyramids. - What you see,
all those white brick walls, these are tombs, which were built by some locals
around after the revolution. When it was a mess
and that there were no more police. - Aren't these real graves?
- For the vast majority, no. They build a room,
a ceiling, a door, when they are inside,
we can't know what they are doing, these are clandestine excavations,
invisible from the outside. In the alleys of the cemetery,
there are even very recent traces of the passage of looters, as here,
where they probed the ground with a machine. - The common people have lost their minds,
because of antiquities. They say to themselves that a small statuette
that they can put in their pocket, will bring them millions. Today in Egypt,
that's what everyone thinks. French archaeologist Vassil Dobrev,
attack a new phase of his excavation campaign. - Lets' go. For 15 years, Vassil has focused
on a small surface, a site of 50 meters on each side,
who explores it methodically. If he settled here,
It is not by chance. - This is Père Lachaise. Exactly, this is the main cemetery, like in Paris.
Père Lachaise over 3000 years. This cemetery is a real
vein for archaeologists. Vassil has just discovered
an impressive grave, the largest ever found here. This 12 meter side structure,
these are the foundations of a mastaba. A large brick tomb that housed
a multitude of funerary shafts. Each of them can lead to a
underground vault and new treasures. On the surface, the archaeologist also
discovered several skeletons who were buried on the mastaba,
more than 1000 years after its construction. - We have a skeleton here,
it can very well be placed on another. One day, I remember, I found
5 skeletons one below the other. The study of skeletons is the business of
Diane, the site's anthropologist. Today, exceptionally,
she came to work with her son Victor, 2 and a half years old,
and already a vocation as an archaeologist. - He is handsome. - You don't find it bad?
- He has eyes. - You explained to him what you
did and what you found? - I gave him the words,
he knows they are bones, bones and it's called a skeleton. For now, he doesn't know
that's what's under his skin, this is what we find afterwards,
he is still a bit small to conceptualize the fact that once
that one is dead, that remains afterwards. Here is the man who is responsible for making
mission records. His name is Oliver
and he's Victor's father. - He is in the fresh air, he is outside, most children at this age
are in nursery all day, he is with his parents outside,
in the desert on an archaeological site. Not all children can
participate in this kind of adventure. A little further the workers
called Vassil, because their tools just bumped into
a large block of limestone, who has nothing to do there. - This is the cover
of a stone sarcophagus. It's still sealed, still closed,
because we have the coating, this is the cover,
there it is the coating that it seals, at the bottom, it's going to be the tank. A sarcophagus still sealed.
On the construction site, the excitement goes up a notch because inside is
maybe still a mummy. The opening of a sarcophagus,
it is a highlight for an archaeologist. - Now let's open it. - No, it's not a real mummy,
it's just wrapped. - It's very interesting. First of all,
he is an immature between 15 and 18 years old. - How do you know that? - When the 3rd molars
haven't come out yet, that plus the epiphytes which
are not welded to the bones, all this shows us that
he is still a young teenager. Unlike a mummy, the body
was not embalmed to preserve it, but simply wrapped in bandages. It's the sign of a funeral,
particularly cared for. To study the skeleton and attempt
to understand the causes of death, Diane will take them out. - It was flax, probably,
in several thicknesses. There are a lot of strips
which are wrapped around the body. No objects in this burial,
for Vassil, each discovery teaches him a little more about how,
whose death the Egyptians contemplated. - Very important things
in ancient Egypt, we didn't say "he's dead",
they will say "his breath has flown away", it came out of the body. They need a body, so that
the breath can return to it. To preserve it, it had to be mummified. This obsession with life after death
was that of all Egyptian society, starting with the pharaoh who
had an unusual grave. The neighboring pyramid, which belongs
to King Djoser, almost 5000 years old, it is the oldest stone monument,
of the history of mankind. Its restoration was abruptly interrupted
to the Revolution 5 years ago. Today, exceptionally,
Vassil and Diane were allowed to ride to the top thanks to this scaffolding,
left in place when work is stopped. From here you can admire
the whole history of the old Empire. To the north, the Giza plateau,
the famous pyramids of Cheops, Chephren and Mykerinos. To the south, the 2 pyramids
of Pharaoh Renfrew, the father of Cheops. All around, a multitude of other
buildings more or less well preserved. - It's beautiful, it's the first
time that I hear myself top of a pyramid. - Here it started,
we climbed from 10 meters to 60 meters, there, we were 105 meters away,
anyway, 2 large pyramids. there, we went to 147.
- Is it a bit like a competition? - The idea was to join the sun.
The higher you are, the closer you are to the sun it's much closer to the sun than down below. Today we count
about 120 pyramids in Egypt. A wonderful playground
for archaeologists. End of the working day,
it's in Vassil's car let the whole family return to Cairo. Diane and Olivier arrived in Egypt
end of 2010, just before the Revolution. Despite the troubles, they chose
to stay to live fully their passion for ancient Egypt. Today they are installed in
a residential area south of Cairo. A comfortable apartment of 200 meters
squares, far from the frenzy of the city center. Cairo today counts
more than 16 million inhabitants. An impressive megalopolis
in which Victor, yet feels
like a fish in water. - He was born in Cairo,
in a small clinic, He's at home.
In the neighborhood, for now, I have never had a problem
in the street with him, on the contrary, people are very nice,
especially when there is a baby. It must be said that Victor begins
to be known in the neighborhood. - Do you want Victor strawberries? Traders have become attached to this
little Frenchman whom they see regularly, they do everything to please him. - You don't want it?
- No. - No, that's for me. If Diane is comfortable in her neighborhood,
however, she is reluctant to walk away from his apartment since the revolution. - There are places where we will not go,
sure, places we used to go and where we will not go any more, for the moment. The district of Islamic Cairo,
maybe it doesn't suck at all, but we prefer not to go there.
The city center, Tahrir Square, we are never safe from a demonstration, even if they are no longer regulated,
there were still a lot of problems around Tahrir Square.
Anyway for Victor for me, in the neighborhood, fine. Despite the situation
sometimes unstable in Egypt, Diane does not plan to return
in France at the moment. The next day, at the foot of what is
the most mysterious of the pyramids of Egypt, the tomb of Snefrou,
the father of Cheops, 105 meters high. Strictly closed to the public, it is very rare to be able to enter it,
even for an Egyptologist. Vassil was only able to explore it 4 times
since the beginning of his career. For him, all the other pyramids
only copied the principles which were invented here 4700 years ago. - This is the corridor that goes down to
the entrails of the pyramid, to the first bedroom, we have 70 meters,
we have to lean a lot because, it's barely 1 meter
almost 1 meter, when we return to the tomb
of the pharaoh, one must submit. To access the heart of the pyramid,
there are many obstacles to overcome. Vassil progresses through a series
increasingly narrow galleries. - Yes, it hits bats. A complex architecture that no one
never really understood the logic. What's the point ? It goes from the top,
and it goes down or I don't know where, there may still be,
another room found. After half an hour of exploration,
Vassil finally arrives in what was once the pharaoh's burial chamber. A mystery room, because unlike
to the other pyramids of Egypt, she was at his discovery, totally empty. - There should be a sarcophagus,
but we never found it for Snefrou. The pyramids worked
like resurrection machines. The king was reborn in his tomb,
then ascended to the sky through this long corridor, always pointing north.
It was probably there, in antiquity, that the looters have slipped in to
seize valuables. - This ruler for pyramids
it is also their weakness, because the thieves, knew
than to enter a pyramid, you have to go to the middle of the north face,
look for the corridor that goes down. The following kings changed,
they started to put false corridors, corridors to the east, south to west,
to deceive thieves. Despite their ingenuity, the pharaohs
rarely managed to put their treasures safe from thieves.
Tutankhamun is the only one to have succeeded. On the plateau of Saqqara,
Vassil pulled out all the stops to advance his excavation site. This crane will allow
to triple the rate. The archaeologist is in a hurry to empty
this well of exceptional dimensions, the most promising of the tomb
that he has just discovered. At Saqqara, where excavation methods
are entirely manual, the arrival of a crane is an event. The workers are more motivated than ever. At this rate, the bottom is quickly reached. Almost 15 meters below the surface, no more question of scale
to descend so low, Vassil has no choice,
he has to board this little basket, and he is not very reassured. In the background, the workers have stopped
at the entrance to a burial chamber. The first brush strokes
are promising, because it looks intact. - This is the start of the digging
for the bedroom, the vault of the mountain,
and it was completely sealed. You can clearly see the black coating, the black mud which was used to close,
the room behind. It shows us that no one
went inside, from the closing doors
of this room. - This is exceptional ?
- Yes, it can happen once in a lifetime. What Vassil hopes is that the grave
be closed since the funeral, over 4000 years ago. Inside could therefore be the
sarcophagus and precious objects who accompanied the deceased in the afterlife. But on the left side, the sealing
of the tomb seems to have been started. - There is something that I don't like,
there is still a small hole, and the bricks are not in place. I'm wondering
if someone hasn't come down in antiquity, from here,
leaving that aside. Vassil thinks that a looter may have
slip through this small opening, but would he have taken everything?
To get to the bottom of it, the opening must be cleared,
and in the rubble, first surprise. - This becomes interesting. A miniature alabaster vase. - If it's like that inside, my God. The quality of work
was still beautiful. It's very pretty, very fine, very well done, it shows a certain quality
and the importance of the character in it, man or woman, we don't know yet,
but it's a good sign. The market value of this small vase
exceeds ten thousand euros. From now on,
with such small objects and of such great value,
we have to proceed cautiously. The sand removed from the well and sieved,
so as not to miss anything. The team finally reaches the level
of the burial chamber. - The room starts here with registration,
it is fully decorated, and filled with sand it is much better than the other.
Yet another cool discovery. - Yes, she is very similar. That's much better work,
I can't see his name. It's much prettier, and it's empty. On the threshold of the tomb, a new
find, a very precious object. - It's a small tablet,
this is the tablet we've been waiting for. You see the little pots that we saw,
maybe they were sitting on it. The tablet is engraved
and she gives the name of the deceased. - It's very interesting. At the top there is a small line
which reads from right to left, who gives us the owner,
a Nartirhan, "powerful of life". Take it easy here. It's a very small vase,
maybe for oils, it's empty. I look if there was
a few more drops of oil to put in hand, to feel. Inside the tomb,
Vassil and Abdou discover ceramics. They must have contained beer,
oil and grain, so that the deceased can eat
after his resurrection and others. - All this has been in place since antiquity. We have the plaster cap,
you can clearly see the jar, it is exactly what we see here. There's a plug here,
we do not see on the drawing, it looks like it's this shape,
of course, it's a bit more elongated, It's the jars, maybe in oil. mixed with sand,
Vassil also finds tiny objects, to which most of us
would give no importance. However, it has magical power. - This is called "the knife
of the opening of the mouth, the instrument that allows
to open the mouth to the dead, the one who died for
the breath of life enters the mummy so that he can live again. A new surprise. - It's very thin gold leaf.
A magnificent job. A vestige of the jewels no doubt deposited
with the deceased at the time of burial, like this necklace depicted
on the walls of the tomb. - This is the proof, that in the grave,
there were valuable golden objects. Vassil's Mission
is financed by France, But all these discoveries belong
to Egypt and will remain in the country. Some will no doubt be exhibited in
Cairo museums. A great success. Although the archaeologist
can't stop dreaming to one day discover an intact tomb. - For us it is very important,
if one day we find an unbroken grave, that would really be top of the line. That's the most we can hope for.
It can happen, it doesn't have to. Last precaution before
to leave the excavation, Vassil has the well sealed
with custom-made armored doors. What to prevent thieves,
to plunder these treasures. - That's it, it closes well.
