[narrator]
The enigmatic culture of ancient Egypt. This was once the site of the pharaohs' largest
and most glorious temple. The Egyptians considered it to be the cradle of the world. It's here that the gods are said to have given the pharaohs
their dominion. Many obelisks decorated the temple city. Today, they are scattered all over the world. This most important temple
served as a template for the famous sanctuary in Karnak. After 3,000 years, the city of temples suddenly declined. But why? Archaeologists are running out of time to excavate ancient Egypt's holiest site. The megacity of Cairo looms ever closer, threatening to eventually
build over the remaining relicts. The City of the Sun became a myth with the name the Greeks gave it: Heliopolis. [dramatic Egyptian music plays] [narrator] Cairo.
Egypt's pulsating metropolis. Hidden under its streets lies
one of ancient Egypt's best-kept secrets: Heliopolis, City of the Sun. Nobody knows just what the pharaohs'
holiest city once looked like. An Egyptian-German team is searching
for remains of the fabled Sun City. It is said to have contained
the country's largest and most significant temple. Aiman Ashmawy and Dietrich Raue
are leading this emergency dig. It's a race against time. New buildings
are about to spring up here, apartments
for the ever-increasing population. And then,
Heliopolis will be lost forever. It's a dream come true
for Dietrich Raue and his team [male voice] In 2011, the Egyptian
Ministry of Antiquities informed me that following the revolution, pressure was mounting
regarding the temple site, and that any help would be appreciated. Heliopolis is a place
we know a lot about from inscriptions, from other locations, but little from the site itself. As an Egyptologist, finding yourself
able to research this cultural center with its 3,000 years of history is the best thing that can happen to you. [narrator] Most of what was once Sun City
has long been covered over. It's almost a miracle
that this area has remained accessible. But digging in the Mataria district is far from easy for the archaeologists. [male voice 2] We are, as a mission here, one of the most
challengeable missions in the work. Most of the missions in Egypt
on the sites are far away on the edge of the desert
or in the Mid-East, even. Even of cultivations. You don't have such interaction
between the buildings, the people. And you work in the middle of all this. You need first to control
your archaeological and scientific work, but also to be clever in communicating and how to control and accept, and people and try
to live together in a proper way. [narrator] This is all that remains
of the temple city's former glory: a stone obelisk, 20 meters in height,
the last of about 30 of its kind. It stands today where it was erected
almost 4,000 years ago, at the entrance to a holy site. Like Cairo today, Heliopolis was located
in a strategically favorable position at the entrance
to the fertile Nile Delta. It was from here that they controlled
vast agricultural areas. Important trade routes intersected here. March 2017. On the site where the temple
of Ramesses the Great used to stand, archaeologists find
remnants of a colossal statue. It must have stood
directly in front of the entrance. A find that makes waves, and headlines, around the world. [excited chattering] [narrator] Excavation and transport
pose a challenge. The gigantic torso is transported
through Cairo at night. The capital's daytime traffic would be
impossible to navigate for the truck. The fragments of the colossal statue
have found a new home in the gardens of the Egyptian Museum
on Tahrir Square. It is here we discover
just whom Dietrich Raue has found. From the start, the style of the statue suggested it didn't fit the period
of Ramesses II or any other king. This was confirmed
by the inscription on the back. It's original and hasn't been reworked, with one his five names,
"Neb a," master of energy. This name is exclusively
used to describe Psamtik I, which made the identity certain. [narrator] Psamtik I, 26th Dynasty. Egypt had ceased to be a major power
by the 26th Dynasty. The north is controlled by the Assyrians and their governor, Psamtik. The south
has been conquered by the Nubians. It is Psamtik's goal to reunite the north and south, Upper and Lower Egypt, to reanimate the glorious past. He succeeds
in this seemingly impossible task, becomes Pharaoh
and the founder of a new dynasty. Psamtik immortalizes
himself in Heliopolis. [Raue] While Psamtik, thanks to
his deft politics, rules all of Egypt, he must go to Heliopolis
to ask the creator-god for support. He follows the tradition
of king Ramesses II, by placing his own colossal statue
amongst the effigies of former kings. [narrator] On site in Mataria, workers are drilling windows
into the past. Geomorphologist Morgan De Dapper
is working to discover just how things used to look here. Ordinary digs are no longer possible. The groundwater table is too high. [male voice 3] This is a mixture of floodplain, silt and clay. There is also some charcoal. This is manmade.
We have to do with mud-brick material. [narrator] It was used to build houses
and surrounding walls. What else did
the Ancient Egyptians leave behind? This time, they drill
to a depth of one meter. [De Dapper] We have a lot
of flakes of limestone. There is charcoal, heterogeneous. And here starts... the sediment, which is natural, so it comes from the flooding of the Nile. So this is manmade, this is nature. [narrator]
They drill into the earth one last time. [workers chant] [narrator] At a depth of four meters, they come across a very special layer. [workers speaking Egyptian] [narrator]
The workers have discovered a sand dune. It is 15,000 years old. [De Dapper] I can already make
a reconstruction of that original island that very slowly was flooded by the Nile sediments,
or the floodplain sediments. So originally,
I think for the first people living here, this was an enormous hill
in a flat landscape. Something which is ten meters high... This must have been fantastic. So that's the origin of Heliopolis. [narrator] The primordial hill? According to Egyptian belief,
this is where the world originated. In the beginning,
there was only the primordial ocean. And Atum, the first god, who has always existed:
the hidden, the unknown. Atum raised the primordial hill
from the water, thus creating the land. Atum did not remain
the only one for long. From himself,
he created the first godly couple: Shu, god of air,
and Tefnut, god of humidity. They begat Geb, god of the earth
and Nut, goddess of the sky. They ruled the world together
with their children: Osiris, Isis, Nephthys and Seth. It was not until later
that they gave dominion to the pharaohs. [Raue] Heliopolis is where
the primordial material is celebrated, resulting in the idea that the kingdom
is both just and justified, as it is a direct heir
to the creator-god himself. [narrator] This myth of creation
is soon linked to the sun god. Heliopolis is of particular importance
for each of the pharaohs. Even prior to the construction
of the Great Pyramids, the city constituted
the country's spiritual center. The Egyptians believed that the sun god
traveled in a boat across the sky, bringing both light and life. It's a perilous journey, because a snake-like dragon
is out to destroy the god. [male voice 4] Rituals accompanied
the path of the sun from dawn until dusk. Their aim was to articulate
a successful journey, to encourage the sun god
to reach a successful outcome. There are some critical moments:
the depth of the underworld at midnight, the zenith of the heavens at noon, times at which the sun's enemy,
the dragon, is slain. But that proves futile.
He keeps coming back. [narrator]
Nine kilometers from Heliopolis, the Fatimides founded
the city that became Cairo in around 1000 after Christ. Those searching for remnants
of the sun city can find them here. Dietrich Raue
and his Belgian colleague Simon Connor regularly discover building materials
from Heliopolis in the old city walls. On this stone,
a hand is still clearly visible. [man] The royal scepter.
Ramesses II is making sacrifices. The stone is quartzite,
typical for him at Heliopolis. [narrator]
With the decline of the pharaohs, Heliopolis becomes a quarry
for new structural projects. Stones from the temple of Ramesses II were sought-after
building material for the Fatimides, as it was for later conquerors. We can only guess how much material
from Heliopolis was used to build Cairo. [muezzin sings] [narrator] Prior to the Egyptian-German
team's emergency dig, there were hardly any finds
worth mentioning. With one exception. Egypt, 1903. The temple city stands in an open field. The Italian archaeologist
Ernesto Schiaparelli is digging near the obelisk. He is searching
for the sun god's large temple. He finds walls of clay bricks
and numerous artifacts. Schiaparelli's finds are now in Turin. Some are on display. Most of them are in storage
in the Egyptian Museum's collection. They are important puzzle pieces
for Dietrich Raue, as he tries to piece together
an image of Heliopolis. One of the artifacts is amongst the oldest depictions
of a god in human form. Federica Ugliano
is responsible for these finds. These pieces are from a shrine. It contains the effigy of a god. On the outside, the Pharaoh. At least in part. [female voice] You can see the detail
of a leg of the Pharaoh, who is performing a so-called ritual run to celebrate his jubilee. The small female figure
you can see just on the left of the leg of the Pharaoh is his daughter. [narrator]
As unassuming as these fragments appear, they offer valuable clues
to the archeologists. [Ugliano] It's the first proof that we have of the building activity
of a pharaoh. With Djoser we are just
at the beginning of the Third Dynasty. So early in the Egyptian history, we already have pharaohs that are really
interested in Heliopolis, in this site. That recognize
the religious importance of the site. So they decided to build monuments
or dedicate little shrines to the gods. [narrator] Djoser, Third Dynasty. Pharaoh Djoser
left us the oldest pyramid, a towering tomb,
built by his architect Imhotep. Later, he too is deified. Imhotep is not merely
an ingenious master builder. His title, The Great Observer, tells us he was also
high priest of Heliopolis. As such, he guards the secret sciences. To understand the earthly powers,
they observe the sky, and thus become outstanding astronomers. By tracing the movements of the stars, they develop a calendar, subdivide the years
into weeks and months, day and night into hours. The priests can predict crucial events,
such as the flooding of the Nile, by the position
of the star Sirius in the night sky. In Turin's Museo Egizio, Dietrich Raue is examining
another significant find from Heliopolis. This stone tablet is a sensation
amongst Egyptologists. It's marked
with the ground plan of a temple. Only very few such depictions
showing how temples were designed have survived to the present day. [Ugliano] We think that this is the plan of one of the temples that were inside the big walls surrounding
the famous area of Heliopolis. [narrator] The temple
was probably founded under Sesostris I, and subsequently expanded. Thanks to these markings,
we know the floor plan, which in turn allows us to draw
conclusions regarding other temples. There were three inner courtyards,
each with a massive gateway, decorated with flagpoles. [Raue] This temple must have been
a very large sanctum, a great and holy sanctuary. The temple district is massive and might have been located in
various areas we have not yet excavated. But given the names
of Sesostris I and Tuthmosis III, we would probably have to go
into the central temple district, an area in which large portions
also remain unexplored. [narrator] The undeveloped area
in the center of the city is vast. Archaeologists have only been able
to cut into certain key areas. Considering the sum of the yellow areas, researchers have only
excavated a fraction of the ancient City of the Sun. By far the larger part
lies buried under Cairo's buildings. Area 221. Initially, archaeologists had to shift meter-thick layers of debris. Only then could they begin their work. This is where Dietrich Raue
and Christopher Breninek suspect that one
of the large main temples of the City of the Sun was located, from the time of Ramesses the Great. The position of each find
is meticulously recorded, in the hope of resurrecting Heliopolis. The city of the Sun constitutes the largest temple complex ever constructed in Egypt. Thanks to their digs and old maps
dating back to Napoleon's time, Dietrich Raue and Klara Dietze are able to determine the exact
position and size of Heliopolis. The temple city covered an area
of approximately one square kilometer. In the lower part, they were able
to reconstruct two temples of Ramesses. A large wall
encircled the City of the Sun. A processional avenue ran along
the front of the temples of Ramesses. The researchers also find
remnants of the temple that once stood behind the obelisk. But something irritates them. The orientation of the temple is unusual. [Raue] The position
of the obelisk has not changed. The dromos,
the processional avenue into Heliopolis, does not follow
the usual east-west orientation, but is significantly slanted. Naturally, we wondered: why? [narrator] Sesostris I, 12th Dynasty. Sesostris I and his father
rule together for ten years. Then, the father is murdered. In the third year of his reign
after his father's death, Sesostris I summons
his architects and councilors. He intends to construct
a magnificent temple in Heliopolis dedicated to the sun god. Nothing is to be left to chance
in the plans for a sanctum, and its orientation
is particularly important. It normally runs along the east-west axis as is prescribed by the sun cult. The build commences with the ritual of the tightening of the rope. This temple, however, is built with
a marked deviation towards the north. What was the reason? Did the Pharaoh
neglect to consider the sun? With the aid of a computer program, French archaeologist Luc Gabolde happens upon a surprising answer. The day on which the sun rose
directly over the temple was February 26, 1936 Before Christ. It was the day after
the second anniversary of his father's assassination. He decided to summon all his court and to inform them
of his ambitious endeavor: a new reconstruction
of Heliopolis's Great Temple. [narrator]
The Great Temple is only the first step in a gigantic building program. Sesostris endows Heliopolis
with new splendor. In the south of the city:
the sacrosanct area of the gods. The northern part is home to the mortals. It contains the king's palace, the houses of the priests
and their families. It's a city
with thousands of inhabitants. [Re-enactment actress]
Maatka from Heliopolis writes to her sister Iryt
in the City of the South. I wish you life, strength and health. How are you? Every day I pray to Atum,
Lord of Heliopolis, that you may be well, that he may protect you. [narrator] It is a unique document, written by a woman
from the city of the gods, a testament
to the importance that Egyptians paid to the blessing of the sun god. The letter accompanies a valuable gift, a flower arrangement
blessed in the Great Temple, dedicated to Atum. Its postal path stretches 650 kilometers
upriver to Thebes, the City of the South, where Iryt lives. Today, the main temple
in Thebes is an impressive ruin, surrounded by the city of Karnak. Few are aware that the complex
was modeled after Heliopolis during the period of the Middle Kingdom. Thebes around 2100 Before Christ. It's from this city that a prince manages to reunite the fragmented Egypt
under a new pharaoh. He founds a new dynasty
and erects a magnificent temple for the god of his city: the shrine of Amun-Re. [male voice 5] All legitimacy
necessarily derived from Heliopolis. The kings of the Middle Kingdom
needed a theology that required a sun-being at its center. So they borrowed the idea
of the hidden god of Heliopolis and merged him with the sun god,
thus creating Amun-Re. [narrator] Amun-Re was, on occasion,
put on the same level with Atum, the creator and sun god of Heliopolis. This elevated the smaller local god to a more prestigious position. The celestial path of the sun
was instrumental in aligning structures in Karnak, too. The architects wanted to create a link
between the worldly and divine spheres. That was the function of the obelisks. Originally,
they were invented in Heliopolis. Ramesses II immortalized himself by erecting these pillars
in the honor of the sun god. The obelisks are a sun element, which link the earth
to the celestial realm of the gods. Writings dating
from the epoch of Hatshepsut are very clear on the matter. They state that the obelisks were built to pierce the highest realm of the sky
with their points, the place considered
to be the home of the gods. [narrator] A purposeful effort
was made to expand the capital and the royal residence of Thebes
during the Middle Kingdom. But the worship of its many gods
brings forth a pharaoh who wants to radically change
the world of the Egyptians. He will close the temple of Amun-Re and attempt to obliterate
all the cultic rituals. But this king, too,
will pay obeisance to Heliopolis. Akhenaten, 18th Dynasty. For Akhenaten,
there was only one single god, the cult of Aton, the sun disc. He had effigies
of many other gods destroyed, but did not touch Heliopolis. On the contrary, he built there. [Assmann] Akhenaten understood that the entire Egyptian
concept of the world and the state revolved around the sun. The sun god was not merely
the most important of the gods, he was, essentially, the only god. Akhenaten traced this Egyptian cosmology
and political science back to its origins in Heliopolis. [narrator]
Even the heretic king Akhenaten makes sacrifices in the City of the Sun to stay in contact with the gods,
observing established rituals. In this place, the cradle of the world, where the gods gave
the pharaohs dominion over the earth, the priest and the pharaoh
personally sacrifice to the gods. They do so to ensure their own prosperity and that of their country,
and the people. There are 50 stations,
firmly established generations ago, that must be observed
during the daily sacrificial rites. When, in around 700 Before Christ, the Nubians conquered Egypt
from the south, the first black pharaoh, Piye, observes the holy rites in Heliopolis. He, too. has to present himself
to the City of the Sun in order to be recognized as king. Piye requires
legitimization from the sun god, as he is no direct heir
to a rightful pharaoh. He's not even Egyptian. He is an outsider who wants to rule. [Assmann] Something new
begins with him in this 25th Dynasty. And such a break
requires validation by ritual. A continuity needs to be established,
and only rites can do that. So he observed these rites in Heliopolis, and thus showed himself
to be the rightful king. [narrator] The breaking of a new day
must have been an awe-inspiring sight. More than 30 obelisks, their points presumably covered in gold, caught the first light and flooded
the temple in the divine rays. One particular pharaoh
left us with a great number of statues. Ramesses II, 19th Dynasty. On this stone slab, Ramesses describes how he's rewarded
his stonemasons for their work. [Raue] Here: "King of Upper
and Lower Egypt, User-maat-ra, Setep-en-ra, Son of Re,
Ramesses, beloved by Amun. He himself speaks: Oh you laborers, you chosen and skilful craftsmen, who are erecting
numerous memorials for me..." [voice actor, Ramesses]
"...Hard-working and diligent, so that I may furnish
all the temples I have built. For you, I have filled
the warehouses with bread, cake, meat and sandals. I have provided
for you in every way possible, so that you will work for me
with love in your hearts." [narrator] On the slab, Ramesses
also imparts how he made his way to the stonemasons to bring them gifts. An incredible honor. The earthly descendent
of the sun god visits them in person. With his gifts, the king wants
both to cheer his workers on and to improve their sustenance. Ramesses not only praises them,
he provides for them. This secures their loyalty. And he has big plans. Ramesses II is a pharaoh of superlatives. He reigns over the land of the Nile
for 67 years. Three generations of subjects know only him as their king. For the craftsmen, these are good times. No other pharaoh has
as many temples and memorials built, redesigned or improved. Ramesses is the greatest builder
in ancient Egypt. But his gigantic structures in Heliopolis
have not stood the test of time. A new structure is being built
within sight of the pyramids: the Grand Egyptian Museum. It's soon to house
the world's largest Egyptian collection. In the entrance,
the statue of Ramesses the Great welcomes arriving visitors. The preparations
for the opening are in full swing. The legendary treasure from
Tutankhamun's tomb is being restored. It will dazzle in its renewed splendor. There are further finds from new digs.
Some are artifacts from Heliopolis. The statues from the City of the Sun are hewn
from a particular quartzite rock. It comes from a quarry
in the vicinity of the temple city, the very material
used for the statue of Psamtik. [Raue] This is the left ear. Or this, from the lower part, is exiting. It changes color. The stone is beige at the top,
towards the middle, it becomes dark brown and near the base, it turns pink. These are natural color-shifts
that happen in the Gebel Ahmar quartzite. Here we have a big toe
from the royal statue. [narrator] Over 6,500 fragments of the
colossal statue have been recovered. Eissa Zidan,
director of the restoration department, has an ambitious plan
for the inauguration. [male voice 6]
It is our target to bring all fragments, all parts from the statue and reassemble it again
and display as one piece, as one statue in the gallery
of the Grand Egyptian Museum. [narrator] So far,
the upper torso of the ten-meter statue has only been virtually reassembled. What the archaeologists
found on other fragments, surprised them. The first fragments
were part of the upper body. Yellowy-brown quartzite,
very well preserved. So it was surprising to find
that the fragments from the lower body showed traces of soot. There was evidence of immense heat,
which is how we can be sure that the statue
was intentionally destroyed by fire. A fire that was started around the legs. [narrator]
Upon Psamtik's death, the sun darkens. An evil omen. Around 525 Before Christ,
Egypt is under threat. The Persians attack,
destroying cities and villages. Heliopolis is no exception. The Persians plunder the temple city
and make away with plenty of loot. We can infer this from excavations in the market district
of the temple area. Animal bones
are found in surprising numbers. This seems to indicate
extensive stable blocks in which the animals were kept. American Egyptologist Louise Bertini specializes in animal remnants. It is immediately clear to her
that these are all bovine bones, more specifically from young animals. Cows were particularly valuable in Egypt. Only such a large and important
cultural site as Heliopolis could have afforded such numbers of them. [female voice 2] Temples
very much were not just cultic activity to help to basically feed,
to keep the cult going, but also you can think of it
as a little microeconomy in a way, because various goods
would be stored at the temple, animals would be property of the temples. So even if they were being slaughtered, possibly for ritual offering,
they can also be used to be sold and actually help
to make money for the temple. And it was in many ways part
of this whole redistributive economy that was quite common
throughout ancient Egypt, but would've been
especially prevalent here, because this was such a major cult center. [narrator] In the aftermath
of the Persian attacks, cultic rituals resumed. Not far from the bovine remains, researchers find numerous
sacrificial offerings. Kings and priests perform rituals
and large celebrations, attract people from all over Egypt. This is evident from the large ceramic
vessels dedicated to the sun god. To archaeologist Klara Dietze, these sacrificial offerings
indicate something else. The Persians were not the only ones
to have devastated the City of the Sun. [female voice 3] We can clearly prove
that large parts of the temple had already been destroyed
before the late period. But who was responsible? That is of great interest, and something
we are still trying to work out. And yet, another renaissance follows, and with it a rebirth
of the temple of Heliopolis. [narrator] Researchers are looking
for relicts of this renaissance in the southwest part of the city. They're looking for a specific temple
from the late period, the last one to be built here. Nectanebo I, 30th Dynasty. A new dynasty begins with Nectanebo, but it will not prevail for long. His grandson, Nectanebo II
will be the last Egyptian pharaoh. This block is part
of the so-called "Gau" tablets. They show
the country's administrative districts and specify
the goods produced in each of them. The blocks were attached
to the external temple wall. To date, archaeologists
had only seen their counterparts for administrative districts
in Upper Egypt. The blocks for Upper Egypt
were found in a row 30 meters from here in this direction. Now we have the blocks for Lower Egypt,
for the northern parts of the country, which has given us some insight
into the length, breadth and depth of the temple
for the first time. This is exactly
what we had hoped for in this project. [narrator] At the outer edge
of the temple complex, archaeologists happen upon
another structure commissioned by Nectanebo: a gigantic wall made of clay bricks 17 meters across,
and approximately 12 to 20 meters high. That is twice as high and deep
as the Great Wall of China. It turned the temple complex
into a fortress, since attacks by hostile powers
were becoming ever more frequent. But not all foreigners
come with hostile intentions. The 1,000-year-old
religious center is also a destination for the tourists of antiquity. The Greeks consider the City of the Sun
the cradle of an ancient culture. The "life houses" there,
connected to the temple, are early universities. Priests studied here, documented their findings on papyrus, handed down their knowledge. They created important tracts
and handbooks for rituals. Heliopolis also stands for knowledge,
even wisdom. This, in particular,
is what attracts scholars from abroad. Purportedly, even famous
Greek philosophers and thinkers came to Heliopolis in order
to study the wisdom of the Egyptians, among them Pythagoras, Eudoxus and Plato. Later, the Greeks
will appropriate this knowledge. [Raue] We can assume that the life house, that is to say the temple's library,
was very extensive. And there is also the question
of whether the Library of Alexandria, which we know
housed old Egyptian manuscripts, might have contained parts
of the Heliopolis temple's collection. Perhaps the Library of Heliopolis
eventually migrated there. This is only a theory,
but I think it has a lot going for it. [narrator] Alexandria. Alexander the Great
conquers Egypt in 332 BC. After his death, Macedonian and Greek Ptolemies
rule the land. It's only from descriptions that we can imagine
the splendor of Alexander's white city. But one thing is certain: Here at the port stood sphinxes
that had come from Heliopolis, since the Ptolemies furnished their city
with monuments from the City of the Sun. Near the old citadel,
Dietrich Raue has a clear view of a place that hid
something astonishing. At the bottom of the harbor,
French underwater archaeologists discover chiseled blocks
with ancient Egyptian inscriptions. In antiquity, they were destroyed
by a powerful earthquake and catapulted into the sea. For the first time, it becomes clear just how many monuments
the Ptolemies appropriated and transported to Alexandria. Dietrich Raue and Simon Connor
are searching for effigies and monuments from Heliopolis. Original inscriptions
are still recognizable on many statues. On this sphinx, for instance, the Egyptian name for Heliopolis is clearly visible: Iunu. In Alexandria, we mainly rediscovered
sphinxes from Heliopolis. So many of them, but different types
and materials and dimensions. They did not line an avenue.
They are too different for that. But there must have been
incredible numbers of sphinxes. They were part of the core decorations
of the City of the Sun. [narrator] The Serapeum. A Ptolemien shrine. Here too, Dietrich Raue and Simon Connor
come across old acquaintances that hail from Heliopolis. This block depicts Ramesses. He's sacrificing to the sun god. Over the centuries, many monuments
fell victim to earthquakes. Some were systematically destroyed. Both head and beard of this sphinx
has been carefully removed. There are two possibilities.
Either the statue was decapitated during the time of the pharaohs,
the time of the Greeks and Romans, because it was needed
as a block in a wall. In that case, you would first
need to neutralize its magic by removing head and beard. It was treated like a living object. Or, the Christians were the culprits. The statue was in the Serapeum, a place where Christians
and pagans fought in the 5th century. It may have been the early Christians, who knew about the culture
of the pharaohs. And while they no longer believed
in the Egyptian gods, they did still believe a little
in the magic of the statue. [narrator] The Ptolemies remove
more than just sphinxes from Heliopolis. They also dismantle the obelisks
and reassemble them in Alexandria. In the year 31 BC,
the Romans conquered Egypt. The Roman emperors have the stone giants
transported back to Rome, which becomes
the city with most obelisks. Five of them are from Heliopolis. Modern European powers like France
and Great Britain also crave
Ancient Egypt's impressive sun-catchers towards the end of the 19th century. They become an emblem of global power. Two 20-meter-high obelisks
from Heliopolis stood in Alexandria for centuries. The so-called Cleopatra's Needles. The Egyptian government makes gifts
of the massive 180-ton objects to England and to the United States. The obelisks from Heliopolis
are now scattered all over the world. Over 3,000 years ago, Heliopolis was the most significant
cultural site in the land. Nonetheless, both Ptolemies
and Romans dared to loot its treasures. One of Italian archaeologist
Ernesto Schiaparelli's finds could help explain why. At the beginning of the 20th century,
he made an unusual discovery. It is a petrified sea urchin
with a miniscule inscription. A fossil such as this one was considered
a miracle of nature in Ancient Egypt, so it was offered up to the sun god. Federica Ugliano
has studied it in detail. [Ugliano] And here we can read: "Found south to the Ik by the priest Tjanefer. [narrator]
Ik, according to the archaeologists, is a quarry close to Heliopolis. This is where priest Tjanefer
found the fossilized urchin, and he takes it to the temple. Before offering it up to the sun god, he eternalizes himself
with these incisions. This proves how valuable and significant
this find was for the priest. Researchers can no longer determine just when Tjanefer
sacrificed his treasure. But the location of the find
could be a clue to finding an answer to the question
of just what happened in Heliopolis. In the layer
in which the urchin was discovered, many more broken fragments are found. Not a single find is undamaged. All of them show evidence
of systematic destruction. By and by, the researchers
arrive at a theory to explain the demise of the City of the Sun. [Raue] In the end,
Alexandria is the political capital, while Memphis turns into
the spiritual capital in the north. Heliopolis becomes obsolete, quite quickly in fact, which is why the Ptolemies,
these kings of Greek descent, no longer did anything in Heliopolis. That is surprising,
and begs an explanation. Perhaps one of the final destructions
of the temple was so devastating that they simply gave up on the holy site. [narrator] Perhaps the worship
of the sun was no longer paramount for the Ptolemies, and Heliopolis lost its importance. Before the priests
finally abandon their city, they amass the broken
and fragmented offerings and statues and bury them, as everything that
has been consecrated by the gods is sacrosanct and must never
leave the temple district. This even applies
to the petrified urchin. Even so,
Heliopolis was not entirely abandoned. At least that's what another unexpected
find made by the archaeologists in the business area seems to suggest. While excavating, Klara Dietze
comes across several large ovens. Near them lie small lime splinters, peculiar objects from the Ptolemaic time that initially
do not seem to fit together. But then, large lime blocks
appear as well. Many of them are decorated with relief. They come from a temple. There can only be one explanation. [Dietze] So there happened to be
ceramics ovens in both these courtyards, with large heaps of limestone
next to them, and we wanted a joint explanation
for this state of affairs, to find a functional connection. So initially,
we thought in terms of lime kilns. [narrator] Was Heliopolis turning into
a flourishing production site for building materials? With the destruction
of the temple district, there would have been
plenty of stone blocks as raw material. The production of mortar
by burning limestone was already common practice at the time. But these ovens
would not have generated sufficient heat. The archaeologists decide
that they are baking ovens, producing bread
for the ever-growing population. The lime fragments only prove
that the City of the Sun had ultimately been demolished in 150 BC. By whom still remains a mystery. Nevertheless, the myth
surrounding the City of the Sun lives on. The Romans arrive
to visit the tourist attraction. They only know about Heliopolis
from old stories. Around the year 0,
the temple city is finally abandoned. And it disintegrates. [Raue] The enduring fascination,
when you work in a place like that, is the sheer duration of time. We are looking at 3,000 years. For at least 2,400 of them, this one kingdom
is focused on this location. It is as if one of today's leaders
were to go to a place built 400 years Before Christ
to ask for a blessing for his reign. [narrator] The ruins stood
for another thousand years. People used the site as a quarry. Finally, with the growth of Cairo, old Heliopolis irrevocably disappears. But the memory
of the resplendent city of the gods endures for millennia. One of the last wastelands
is in the center of Cairo. A little time still remains
for the archaeologists before the building firms arrive
with their heavy machinery. That's when the old City of the Sun will be permanently buried
under new structures. But thanks to the dedicated work
of the researchers, Heliopolis will never be forgotten.
