WEBVTT - Season 03 Episode 04: From Here to Eternity (RERUN) 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:03.560 Hello, it's Richard MacLean Smith here with Unexplained on an 0:00:03.640 --> 0:00:05.880 end of season break. We'll be dipping back into the 0:00:06.000 --> 0:00:10.560 archive each week until season nine begins on Friday, October thirty. First. 0:00:11.200 --> 0:00:14.120 This week's episode takes us to Egypt's Valley of the 0:00:14.200 --> 0:00:18.480 Kings in nineteen twenty two, where years of painstaking excavation 0:00:18.840 --> 0:00:23.240 were about to yield one of archaeology's most infamous discoveries. 0:00:23.760 --> 0:00:28.560 For centuries, these ancient burial grounds had surrendered their secrets reluctantly, 0:00:29.080 --> 0:00:32.960 and one tomb had remained stubbornly hidden, lying in the 0:00:33.040 --> 0:00:37.199 darkness beneath the desert sands. When that first crack of 0:00:37.280 --> 0:00:41.680 light pierced the burial chamber, it revealed wanders beyond imagination, 0:00:42.360 --> 0:00:46.680 golden treasures that had lain untouched for over three thousand years. 0:00:47.479 --> 0:00:50.760 But some believe that disturbing the eternal rest of a 0:00:50.760 --> 0:00:54.959 pharaoh comes with a price, and that some doors are 0:00:55.000 --> 0:00:59.480 never meant to be opened. This is Unexplained Season three 0:00:59.600 --> 0:01:16.640 episode From Eternity to Here. It is the year ten. 0:01:17.720 --> 0:01:21.039 Along the banks of the river are Sits, the majestic 0:01:21.120 --> 0:01:25.080 city of warst the largest in all the land and 0:01:25.200 --> 0:01:29.040 capital of the mighty Kingdom of Casset, the world leading 0:01:29.080 --> 0:01:34.320 beacon of knowledge, industry, and culture. It is the year 0:01:34.360 --> 0:01:37.720 ten because it is the tenth year of their king's reign. 0:01:39.040 --> 0:01:42.520 It is also his last, for on the edge of 0:01:42.560 --> 0:01:47.400 the city, inside a grand stone temple, their king, a 0:01:47.440 --> 0:01:52.480 young man of nineteen, lies dead. With his death comes 0:01:52.520 --> 0:01:56.440 great uncertainty for a nation only recently restored under the 0:01:56.440 --> 0:02:00.720 watchful eye of the great God mun though none of 0:02:00.720 --> 0:02:03.640 that matters for him now. It is not the end 0:02:03.800 --> 0:02:07.800 by any stretch, as is well understood by all who 0:02:07.800 --> 0:02:11.240 are gathered by his side. His death is but the 0:02:11.280 --> 0:02:15.800 first step in the ultimate journey, a journey that, with 0:02:15.880 --> 0:02:19.600 the correct preparations, will see his spirit in human form 0:02:20.280 --> 0:02:24.880 carried to the other side and voyage into eternity to 0:02:24.960 --> 0:02:36.040 walk forever among the gods in the golden fields of Aru. 0:02:36.520 --> 0:02:40.880 It begins with the ex cerebration, the washing of the body, 0:02:41.400 --> 0:02:43.960 followed by the puncturing of a hole through the back 0:02:44.000 --> 0:02:47.680 of the nasal cavity, into which a seven inch tall 0:02:48.400 --> 0:02:51.120 fashioned from the stem of palm leaf with a small 0:02:51.160 --> 0:02:55.840 hook carved into the end is inserted. Since the brain 0:02:56.080 --> 0:02:59.880 is thought to serve no function, the embalmer extracts what 0:03:00.120 --> 0:03:03.640 they can, before pouring a solution into the cavity to 0:03:03.720 --> 0:03:09.280 dissolve what is left. Next, the lungs, liver, stomach, and 0:03:09.360 --> 0:03:13.239 intestines are removed through a small incision cut into the 0:03:13.320 --> 0:03:17.320 left side of the torso, before being cleansed and packed 0:03:17.360 --> 0:03:23.440 into natron salts alongside the body. Forty days later, as 0:03:23.480 --> 0:03:27.559 the sweet smoke of incense fills the room, the desiccated 0:03:27.600 --> 0:03:31.480 body is smothered in a pungent concoction of herbs, oil 0:03:31.720 --> 0:03:36.160 and resin, before being carefully wrapped in linen, into which 0:03:36.320 --> 0:03:40.200 a number of totems for the gods are inserted, all 0:03:40.280 --> 0:03:45.840 the better to aid him in his journey. Priests solemnly 0:03:45.920 --> 0:03:50.480 chance spells read from papyrus scrolls known today as the 0:03:50.480 --> 0:03:54.080 Book of the Dead, urging Osiris, the great god of 0:03:54.120 --> 0:03:57.920 the underworld, to take their king from this mortal realm 0:03:58.080 --> 0:04:02.200 and lead him safely to paradise. As an exquisite mask 0:04:02.280 --> 0:04:06.600 of solid gold inlaid with precious stones and glass, is 0:04:06.680 --> 0:04:11.680 gently fitted onto his head, his lifeless body now seeming 0:04:11.720 --> 0:04:15.880 almost alive, as two bright eyes of obsidian and quartz 0:04:16.200 --> 0:04:22.880 stare back into the room. On the forehead stands the Euaeus, 0:04:22.920 --> 0:04:30.200 a vigilant cobra rearing up to protect its master. Fifteen 0:04:30.279 --> 0:04:34.120 days later, and this newly bedueled body is transferred to 0:04:34.160 --> 0:04:38.080 a coffin of solid gold, encasing the king in the 0:04:38.120 --> 0:04:42.279 flesh of the gods. This, in turn is placed in 0:04:42.360 --> 0:04:47.320 two further coffins before being lowered into a vast stone sarcophagus, 0:04:48.120 --> 0:04:52.760 all covered over in more spells for the dead. A 0:04:52.800 --> 0:04:55.960 short time later, under the searing heat of the great 0:04:56.080 --> 0:04:59.200 orb in the sky, the very eye of the great 0:04:59.240 --> 0:05:04.160 god Moon Rah, the funerary procession makes its way across 0:05:04.200 --> 0:05:09.240 the desert, the taut, sinuous bodies of the king's slaves 0:05:09.800 --> 0:05:13.480 strained with the weight of the three ton sarcophagus as 0:05:13.480 --> 0:05:16.440 it is dragged across the sand toward the Great and 0:05:16.560 --> 0:05:24.000 Majestic Necropolis. Two vast giants rear into view mighty sandstone 0:05:24.040 --> 0:05:28.599 statues of the King's grandfather, towering sixty feet high above 0:05:28.600 --> 0:05:33.400 the procession, their eyes following the sarcophagus as it moves 0:05:33.440 --> 0:05:37.360 across the dusty land, until finally stopping at the entrance 0:05:37.600 --> 0:05:42.600 of a small tomb carved into the rock. Here, the 0:05:42.640 --> 0:05:45.480 body of the king is delivered into the ground as 0:05:45.520 --> 0:05:49.880 the final spells are encanted, and his body left for eternity, 0:05:50.760 --> 0:05:54.320 the tomb blocked, sealed, and filled in with rubble to 0:05:54.360 --> 0:06:00.160 prevent his body from being disturbed. For most, the onely 0:06:00.240 --> 0:06:04.560 to paradise was a dangerous and terrifying ordeal, requiring the 0:06:04.560 --> 0:06:09.400 completion of a treacherous gauntlet while being chased by grotesque entities. 0:06:11.040 --> 0:06:15.000 For kings and queens, however, since they were considered virtual 0:06:15.040 --> 0:06:21.560 deities themselves, success was all but guaranteed, provided, of course, 0:06:22.080 --> 0:06:28.280 their bodies remained preserved and undisturbed for all eternity. And 0:06:28.400 --> 0:06:32.320 so we must leave our young king in peace or 0:06:32.400 --> 0:06:38.000 risk condemning his spirit to a lifetime of restlessness. After all, 0:06:38.880 --> 0:06:41.760 we wouldn't want to come between a king and his paradise, 0:06:42.320 --> 0:06:48.679 would we. You're listening to Unexplained, and I'm Richard MacLean Smith. 0:06:56.240 --> 0:06:59.479 Having left our king, we returned to the surface to 0:06:59.560 --> 0:07:03.840 find three thousand, two hundred years have passed and much 0:07:03.960 --> 0:07:10.239 has changed. The Eye of Amunrah now seemingly closed forever, 0:07:11.080 --> 0:07:15.760 known instead as merely the Sun. The once great city 0:07:15.880 --> 0:07:21.240 of war Set transformed into al Uxur, also known as 0:07:21.320 --> 0:07:27.840 luxor that Mighty River. Are more commonly referred to as 0:07:27.880 --> 0:07:32.920 the knee Ill or River Nile, the ancient kingdom of 0:07:33.000 --> 0:07:38.800 Carset and leading seat of civilization, known of course as 0:07:38.880 --> 0:07:46.480 Misron or Egypt. Though much remains of the majestic necropolis 0:07:46.920 --> 0:07:50.360 known today as the Valley of the Kings, the paean 0:07:50.600 --> 0:07:54.520 to a once mighty civilisation is now little more than 0:07:54.520 --> 0:07:59.640 a museum, reduced to rubble and dust, a valley of 0:07:59.680 --> 0:08:04.080 lifeless things where once the effigies of Titans passed as 0:08:04.120 --> 0:08:07.400 Shelley would have it compelled Ye mighty to look on 0:08:07.480 --> 0:08:11.880 their works and despair. Now only their weathered and crumbling 0:08:11.920 --> 0:08:18.480 statues remain a reminder of distant, unknowable and long forgotten people. 0:08:19.760 --> 0:08:22.720 Even their language would have all but vanished were it 0:08:22.840 --> 0:08:26.000 not for the discovery in seventeen ninety nine of a 0:08:26.080 --> 0:08:30.320 large broken tablet etched all over in words and symbols. 0:08:31.720 --> 0:08:35.320 The stone was dug up by French soldiers stationed at 0:08:35.360 --> 0:08:38.320 the fort of kite Bay, near the city of Rashid, 0:08:38.960 --> 0:08:44.120 also known as Rosetta, on Egypt's north coast. The writing 0:08:44.160 --> 0:08:48.760 on the Rosetta stone, although little more than a mundane decree, 0:08:48.920 --> 0:08:51.800 would ultimately turn out to be among the most important 0:08:51.800 --> 0:08:59.200 discoveries in archaeology composed of three languages, Hieroglyphics, Ancient Greek, 0:08:59.720 --> 0:09:03.640 and Demotic, a languish thought to have evolved from hieroglyphics. 0:09:04.520 --> 0:09:07.480 The writing on the stone proved to be nothing less 0:09:07.720 --> 0:09:11.319 than the key to unlocking the language of the ancient Egyptians. 0:09:12.840 --> 0:09:17.640 Roughly twenty years after its discovery, French linguist Jean Francois 0:09:17.800 --> 0:09:22.160 Champollion cracked the code, and with a very particular kind 0:09:22.160 --> 0:09:27.560 of magic, an entire civilization had been resurrected, and with 0:09:27.679 --> 0:09:31.240 it came a sudden resurgence of interest in this newly 0:09:31.360 --> 0:09:38.520 decipherable culture. Champollion's discovery heralded the birth of modern Egyptology, 0:09:39.320 --> 0:09:42.839 and goes some way to explaining why. In nineteen o seven, 0:09:43.120 --> 0:09:47.120 on the outskirts of Luxor, we find an Englishman sweating 0:09:47.120 --> 0:09:50.480 profusely in a three piece suit, next to his wife 0:09:50.760 --> 0:09:55.120 in equally ill suiting clothing, her expensive jewelry glinting in 0:09:55.120 --> 0:09:58.959 the sun as they watch workers in long white thobes 0:09:59.520 --> 0:10:04.880 scrape and dig at the ground before them. The man 0:10:05.040 --> 0:10:10.480 is George Edward Stanhope molneu Herbert, otherwise known as the 0:10:10.480 --> 0:10:15.800 Fifth Earl of Carnarvon born in eighteen sixty six. At 0:10:15.800 --> 0:10:19.760 the age of thirteen, George, like all Carnarvans before him, 0:10:20.280 --> 0:10:24.520 was sent to Eton College, the nation's most exclusive independent 0:10:24.600 --> 0:10:29.480 boarding school. Despite being an academic failure such as the 0:10:29.480 --> 0:10:33.040 way of Things, he was nonetheless granted a place at 0:10:33.040 --> 0:10:38.640 Cambridge University. In eighteen ninety after the death of his 0:10:38.720 --> 0:10:42.800 father at the age of twenty four, George inherited his 0:10:42.920 --> 0:10:47.600 title along with the number of properties, including the family's 0:10:47.600 --> 0:10:54.040 stately home, High Claire Castle, a vast and sprawling seventeenth 0:10:54.040 --> 0:10:57.640 century mansion and five thousand acre estate in the County 0:10:57.640 --> 0:11:01.839 of Hampshire. High Claire Ishashaps, best known as the home 0:11:01.920 --> 0:11:05.720 of the Crawley family from the wildly successful period drama 0:11:06.160 --> 0:11:11.600 Downton Abbey. Within a matter of years, George, who has 0:11:11.640 --> 0:11:15.720 a ponchant for automobiles and horse racing, has spent most 0:11:15.720 --> 0:11:20.840 of his inheritance racking up vast gambling debts. In the process. 0:11:22.600 --> 0:11:27.840 Spotting a fix, Lord Carnarvan proposes to Almina Wombwell, the 0:11:27.880 --> 0:11:32.160 illegitimate daughter of the banker Alfred de Rothschild, and the 0:11:32.200 --> 0:11:37.080 couple married soon after. In eighteen ninety five, the resultant 0:11:37.120 --> 0:11:40.520 settlement provided by Rothschild will be enough to keep the 0:11:40.559 --> 0:11:43.880 Rakish Canarvan from ever having to worry about anything as 0:11:43.920 --> 0:11:48.760 tiresome as getting a job. A son, Harry and daughter 0:11:48.800 --> 0:11:52.720 Evelyn arrived soon after, in eighteen ninety eight and nineteen 0:11:52.760 --> 0:11:58.880 oh one, respectively. Carnarvan's interest in Egypt had been slim 0:11:58.920 --> 0:12:02.120 at best until he is advised by a doctor to 0:12:02.200 --> 0:12:06.200 begin wintering in the newly fashionable location after suffering a 0:12:06.240 --> 0:12:11.480 near fatal car crash in Germany. Bored and alienated from 0:12:11.480 --> 0:12:14.880 his cars, he soon finds himself drawn to the intriguing 0:12:14.920 --> 0:12:19.000 world of archaeology and the thought of finding treasure in 0:12:19.080 --> 0:12:22.880 the desert, wondering if he too might not be able 0:12:22.920 --> 0:12:26.680 to find some of his own. It was a decision 0:12:27.080 --> 0:12:37.600 he would not live to regret. In the early nineteenth century, 0:12:38.040 --> 0:12:41.320 there was one Egyptian treasure more sought after than any other. 0:12:43.280 --> 0:12:46.240 What drew most archaeologists to the country at that time 0:12:47.080 --> 0:12:50.839 was the valley situated northwest of Luxor, known as the 0:12:50.920 --> 0:12:54.080 Valley of the Kings, the final resting place of over 0:12:54.200 --> 0:12:58.840 sixty pharaohs, nobles and royalty, each buried with a mountain 0:12:58.880 --> 0:13:03.800 of riches to take with them to the afterlife. By 0:13:03.880 --> 0:13:07.800 nineteen oh seven, however, the valley had been almost completely plundered, 0:13:08.520 --> 0:13:11.320 with many of the tombs having been robbed thousands of 0:13:11.400 --> 0:13:16.840 years previously. Of all the pharaohs buried in the valley, 0:13:17.520 --> 0:13:22.800 only two tombs were thought to remain undiscovered, that of Horemheb, 0:13:23.240 --> 0:13:26.920 the last ruler of the eighteenth dynasty, and that of 0:13:26.960 --> 0:13:31.360 a little known pharaoh, also of the eighteenth dynasty, a 0:13:31.360 --> 0:13:36.960 mysterious boy king known as two tank Armoun. It is 0:13:37.000 --> 0:13:39.920 this that has brought Lord Carnarvan to the edge of 0:13:39.960 --> 0:13:43.760 the desert in his thick cotton suit, swatting flies as 0:13:43.760 --> 0:13:49.040 he watches his workers scrape fruitlessly in the dirt. After 0:13:49.080 --> 0:13:52.400 a few years of little success, it becomes clear to 0:13:52.480 --> 0:13:57.160 the hopeless amateur that some expertise is needed, and on 0:13:57.200 --> 0:14:00.920 the advice of an acquaintance, Carnarvan dec to pair up 0:14:01.120 --> 0:14:07.439 with another Englishman named Howard Carter. Born in Kensington, London 0:14:07.720 --> 0:14:11.559 in eighteen seventy four. Carter had first traveled to Egypt 0:14:11.600 --> 0:14:14.520 at the age of seventeen, having fallen in love with 0:14:14.600 --> 0:14:18.600 the idea of it as a boy. Working initially as 0:14:18.640 --> 0:14:24.200 an artist, sketching ancient artifacts for archaeologists to study. Carter 0:14:24.280 --> 0:14:27.520 had soon become somewhat of an expert on the subject himself, 0:14:28.040 --> 0:14:30.760 and had, by the age of twenty five, risen to 0:14:30.800 --> 0:14:37.040 the position of Inspector General of Monuments for Upper Egypt. However, 0:14:37.760 --> 0:14:41.480 in nineteen oh five, Carter was forced to resign, having 0:14:41.520 --> 0:14:44.600 taken the side of local sight guards, allowing them to 0:14:44.600 --> 0:14:49.840 defend themselves against a group of drunk tourists Cutter drift. 0:14:50.480 --> 0:14:54.320 Carter feared his days as an archaeologist were over when 0:14:54.360 --> 0:14:59.560 Lord Carnarvan approached him in nineteen oh seven. Instantly taken 0:14:59.640 --> 0:15:03.400 by the u s young archaeologist, perhaps recognizing something of 0:15:03.440 --> 0:15:07.840 his roguish self, Carnarvan offered Carter the chance to work 0:15:07.880 --> 0:15:12.800 for him. Any hope of finding a pharaoh's tomb, however, 0:15:13.480 --> 0:15:16.160 was hampered by the fact that only one person was 0:15:16.200 --> 0:15:22.080 permitted to dig in the Valley of the Kings. Like Carnarvan, 0:15:22.600 --> 0:15:25.640 Theodore Davies had been lured to Egypt by the thrill 0:15:25.720 --> 0:15:30.320 of the chase. The wealthy American lawyer had secured the 0:15:30.320 --> 0:15:33.680 permit for the valley back in nineteen o two and 0:15:33.760 --> 0:15:37.600 had shown little sign of giving it up since convinced 0:15:37.720 --> 0:15:41.600 that the undiscovered tombs of teutonk Armen and horum Hep 0:15:41.960 --> 0:15:46.920 were lurking there. In nineteen oh eight, Carnarvon and Carter 0:15:47.240 --> 0:15:51.840 perceived the devastating news that horum Heep's tomb has been discovered, 0:15:52.800 --> 0:15:55.360 though little is lost when it is found to have 0:15:55.400 --> 0:16:00.000 been plundered many years before. Worse is to follow, however, 0:16:00.920 --> 0:16:04.680 with news of teutonk Aarmen's tomb being discovered a short 0:16:04.680 --> 0:16:10.600 time later. Davies's team had been excavating a site near 0:16:10.640 --> 0:16:14.000 the tomb of the nineteenth dynasty pharaoh SETI the First 0:16:14.760 --> 0:16:20.560 when they came across it. After careful excavations, a dozen 0:16:20.600 --> 0:16:25.720 sealed jars were discovered, containing, amongst other minor treasures, a 0:16:25.800 --> 0:16:30.600 series of linen bandages bearing the name of toutonk Aarmen. 0:16:30.880 --> 0:16:34.760 Everything else, according to Davies, had likely been stolen by 0:16:34.800 --> 0:16:38.160 tomb robbers shortly after the king had first been laid 0:16:38.200 --> 0:16:42.720 to rest. Davies promptly made an announcement to the press, 0:16:43.360 --> 0:16:48.160 and in nineteen fourteen published a detailed account of his findings. 0:16:49.800 --> 0:16:55.720 But something needles at Carter. Davies had undoubtedly found artifacts 0:16:55.800 --> 0:16:59.680 related to toutonk armen, and though such objects were often 0:16:59.720 --> 0:17:02.920 found near a tomb, they tended to be buried in 0:17:02.960 --> 0:17:08.119 a separate room away from the main body. Believing he 0:17:08.200 --> 0:17:11.919 had discovered everything of any significance in the valley, in 0:17:12.000 --> 0:17:17.120 nineteen fourteen, a victorious but exhausted Davies relinquished his permit 0:17:17.600 --> 0:17:22.520 and returned to his home in the United States. Perhaps 0:17:22.680 --> 0:17:26.640 at this point Carter and Lord Carnarvan should have taken heat. 0:17:28.119 --> 0:17:31.920 Although he may not have found Teuton Carman's body, those 0:17:32.040 --> 0:17:35.520 rags of linen had been buried close to it since, 0:17:35.600 --> 0:17:38.680 having come into contact with it during the burial process. 0:17:39.440 --> 0:17:43.080 They were considered a part of it. To disturb them 0:17:43.640 --> 0:17:47.440 was to disturb the body as a whole, and within 0:17:47.480 --> 0:17:50.639 a year the man who found them would be dead. 0:17:53.480 --> 0:17:58.280 Believing Davies to be mistaken about his find, Carter convinced 0:17:58.280 --> 0:18:01.120 Canarvan to take on his per so they can look 0:18:01.119 --> 0:18:06.479 for the tomb themselves. Within weeks of securing it, however, 0:18:07.240 --> 0:18:12.240 dark clouds were gathering. Two gunshots on the streets of 0:18:12.280 --> 0:18:17.320 Sarajevo start a diplomatic cascade that culminates in the outbreak 0:18:17.359 --> 0:18:20.919 of war. The brutal and bloody lights of which the 0:18:20.960 --> 0:18:25.719 world has never seen. Almost as if it were a warning, 0:18:26.600 --> 0:18:30.600 Carter and Carnarvan are forced to put their efforts on hold. 0:18:31.840 --> 0:18:35.399 Carnarvan returns home to manage his estate, though in truth 0:18:36.040 --> 0:18:39.439 his wife Almina shoulders the brunt of it, helping to 0:18:39.480 --> 0:18:44.280 transform High Claire Castle into a military hospital, working as 0:18:44.280 --> 0:18:48.639 a nurse for the duration of the war. Carter is 0:18:48.680 --> 0:18:52.159 also fortunate to escape the fighting, being employed as a 0:18:52.160 --> 0:18:56.080 diplomatic courier and translator for the British government in Egypt. 0:18:58.160 --> 0:19:02.879 In nineteen fifteen, Arta contacts the New York Metropolitan Museum's 0:19:03.000 --> 0:19:07.440 director of Egyptology, Herbert Winlock, to discuss his theory about 0:19:07.520 --> 0:19:13.440 Davies mistake. Winlock is convinced too it isn't the tomb 0:19:13.520 --> 0:19:19.359 that he has discovered that is still out there. A 0:19:19.400 --> 0:19:23.200 desperate Carter and Carnarvan can only sit back and wait 0:19:23.440 --> 0:19:35.400 in frustration. Back at High Claire, Invigorated by his adventures abroad, 0:19:36.200 --> 0:19:42.320 Lord Carnarvan is becoming increasingly fascinated with the occult. The 0:19:42.359 --> 0:19:45.800 mythology of ancient Egypt had long held a fascination for 0:19:45.880 --> 0:19:50.480 purveyors of esotericism, which was only intensified by the resurgent 0:19:50.560 --> 0:19:56.800 interest in Egyptology. Many secret orders, most notably the Freemasons, 0:19:57.080 --> 0:20:01.320 were influenced by the mysteries of the ancient Egyptians, incorporating 0:20:01.400 --> 0:20:05.320 many of their spells and beliefs into their rights and symbolism. 0:20:06.760 --> 0:20:10.320 It was the mythology of the great Egyptian gods of Osiris, 0:20:10.520 --> 0:20:14.320 Isis and Horace that Aleister Crowley would draw on when 0:20:14.400 --> 0:20:19.240 establishing his own esoteric order, having apparently communicated with an 0:20:19.280 --> 0:20:24.080 ancient Egyptian entity in Cairo in nineteen o five, it 0:20:24.119 --> 0:20:27.760 is unlikely that Lord Carnarvan, being a man of high society, 0:20:28.359 --> 0:20:33.720 was unaware of such connections. For his part, Carnarvon, who 0:20:33.760 --> 0:20:35.679 was thought to have been a member of the London 0:20:35.760 --> 0:20:40.639 Spiritual Alliance, would regularly hold seances in his grand family home, 0:20:41.359 --> 0:20:45.840 dedicating one room, the East Anglia Room, especially for the practice. 0:20:47.720 --> 0:20:51.199 Carnarvan's son Henry, spoke of one story that occurred in 0:20:51.240 --> 0:20:54.119 the spring of nineteen nineteen, whilst he was home from 0:20:54.160 --> 0:20:59.199 military duty in Mesopotamia. Having been invited to attend a 0:20:59.240 --> 0:21:03.399 seance along with his sister Evelyn and Howard Carter, amongst others, 0:21:04.240 --> 0:21:07.600 Henry had watched in astonishment as one of the guests 0:21:07.920 --> 0:21:11.000 entered into a trance and began to speak a strange, 0:21:11.160 --> 0:21:17.639 unrecognizable language. It wasn't strange to Carter, however, who slightly unnerved, 0:21:18.119 --> 0:21:23.400 recognized it as Coptic, the language of modern Egypt. Only 0:21:23.440 --> 0:21:26.600 the woman speaking it had never before uttered a word 0:21:26.600 --> 0:21:31.600 of it herself. Later, the group would witness a vase 0:21:31.640 --> 0:21:39.560 of flowers levitating above the table, with a form of 0:21:39.640 --> 0:21:44.520 peace being declared. In nineteen eighteen, Carnarvon and Carter reconvene 0:21:44.560 --> 0:21:49.000 their work in the Valley of the Kings. Four years later, 0:21:49.680 --> 0:21:53.359 having diligently and meticulously supervised the clearing of most of 0:21:53.400 --> 0:21:58.840 the valley, Carter had found nothing, and Carnarvan's money was 0:21:58.880 --> 0:22:03.560 beginning to run out by the end of an especially 0:22:03.600 --> 0:22:08.280 barren season of excavations. Having long ago grown bored by 0:22:08.320 --> 0:22:13.120 the laborious, mundane realities of his exotic hobby, Lord Carnarvan 0:22:13.280 --> 0:22:18.680 summons Carter to a meeting at High Claire. On arrival, 0:22:19.320 --> 0:22:22.760 Carnarvan informs the tired and broken Carter that he no 0:22:22.800 --> 0:22:28.920 longer wishes to finance this fool's errand in desperation, Carter 0:22:29.119 --> 0:22:32.240 requests the lord's permission to dig for one final season, 0:22:33.160 --> 0:22:36.040 with only a small section of the valley left to investigate, 0:22:36.920 --> 0:22:42.159 offering to cover all costs himself. Stirred by his friend's 0:22:42.200 --> 0:22:46.239 commitment and perhaps hearing the voice of his father, who 0:22:46.320 --> 0:22:49.920 had never thought his son would amount to anything, Carnarvan 0:22:50.080 --> 0:22:55.480 changes his mind and agrees to one more year, and 0:22:55.560 --> 0:22:58.919 so it is that Carter returns to Egypt in October 0:22:59.040 --> 0:23:10.480 nineteen twenty two for one final push. In late October, 0:23:10.800 --> 0:23:14.240 with digging due to start again the following week, Carter 0:23:14.440 --> 0:23:18.120 travels to Cairo to help an antique dealer friend inspect 0:23:18.160 --> 0:23:21.480 a number of antiques that have recently come into his possession. 0:23:23.080 --> 0:23:25.680 He has just arrived at the shop when his attention 0:23:25.920 --> 0:23:29.160 is caught by the sweet, lilting sound of bird song. 0:23:31.040 --> 0:23:35.600 Strangely uplifted and moved by the melody, Carter finds himself 0:23:35.600 --> 0:23:38.959 stepping into the cafe next door to locate its source, 0:23:39.880 --> 0:23:43.199 discovering it to be a bright yellow canary in an 0:23:43.320 --> 0:23:48.240 ornate cage. Unable to forget the bird song that night, 0:23:49.080 --> 0:23:52.240 he returns to the cafe the following morning, and, with 0:23:52.320 --> 0:23:56.080 the help of the antique dealer's assistant, convinces the proprietor 0:23:56.240 --> 0:24:01.399 to sell him the melodious canary. Arriving back at his 0:24:01.440 --> 0:24:05.040 home in Luxall, Carter is greeted by his house staff, 0:24:05.600 --> 0:24:08.240 who declare the bird a welcome addition to the house 0:24:08.800 --> 0:24:14.000 and a sure sign of good fortune. The next morning, 0:24:14.680 --> 0:24:18.119 Carter rode up to the Valley of Kings, its silent 0:24:18.240 --> 0:24:23.200 majesty and hidden secrets, never failing to move him there. 0:24:23.480 --> 0:24:26.760 Gazing out across the pale, low lying peaks before him, 0:24:27.520 --> 0:24:33.040 he knew this was his last chance. After five years 0:24:33.040 --> 0:24:36.800 of excavations, Carter and his team had only one small 0:24:36.840 --> 0:24:40.840 area left to investigate, a triangle of land to the 0:24:40.880 --> 0:24:45.200 northeast corner of the tomb of Rameses, the Sixth, mostly 0:24:45.240 --> 0:24:48.000 taken up by the ruins of some stone huts that 0:24:48.080 --> 0:24:53.560 had housed the slaves who built Rameses's tomb. Work began 0:24:53.640 --> 0:24:57.760 on November first, and by the third the last remnants 0:24:57.760 --> 0:25:00.960 of the huts had been removed, leaving only the three 0:25:01.000 --> 0:25:04.280 feet of earth they were constructed on, and below that 0:25:04.920 --> 0:25:09.560 the bedrock of the valley. At some point the following day, 0:25:10.240 --> 0:25:13.960 having eventually cleared away the mounds of earth, one of 0:25:14.000 --> 0:25:18.639 the workers noticed something strange about the ground. How oddly 0:25:18.680 --> 0:25:23.720 flat it seemed compared to the surrounding bedrock. Scraping away 0:25:23.800 --> 0:25:26.879 at the dirt and sand, he couldn't believe what he 0:25:26.960 --> 0:25:32.000 was looking at. It wasn't just bedrock, it was carved stone. 0:25:34.280 --> 0:25:37.040 As Carter rode up to the site that morning, he 0:25:37.160 --> 0:25:42.680 sensed immediately that something was up. The bustle and clanking 0:25:42.840 --> 0:25:47.199 of picks and spades was conspicuous by its absence, and 0:25:47.320 --> 0:25:50.639 up ahead he saw his team excitedly huddled around a 0:25:50.640 --> 0:25:56.119 small section of the dig. Carter dismounted and made his 0:25:56.160 --> 0:25:59.520 way to where the men had gathered. The circle of 0:25:59.560 --> 0:26:03.200 workmen opened up and they smiled at the Englishman as 0:26:03.240 --> 0:26:07.720 he drew near. Removing his hat, he squatted to the 0:26:07.800 --> 0:26:12.199 floor and ran his hand over the exposed stone, feeling 0:26:12.240 --> 0:26:17.639 his way around the edges. It wasn't just carved stone, 0:26:17.880 --> 0:26:23.320 it was a step. Further excavation soon after unveiled the 0:26:23.320 --> 0:26:26.840 clear outline of a stairwell, and as the men labored 0:26:26.840 --> 0:26:31.520 into the evening, one step after another was revealed, descending 0:26:31.600 --> 0:26:36.560 further into the ground. As a bright full moon rose 0:26:36.600 --> 0:26:39.520 into the sky, it was time to call it a night. 0:26:42.160 --> 0:26:46.240 That evening, an elated Carter returned home to find his 0:26:46.320 --> 0:26:59.399 canary strangely subdued. The bird had ceased its singing the 0:26:59.440 --> 0:27:03.800 following day. Twelve steps down, a short passage is discovered 0:27:04.240 --> 0:27:07.879 and an entrance way that has clearly been officially sealed off. 0:27:09.119 --> 0:27:12.919 Carter stoops down into the chamber, and shining a torch 0:27:13.000 --> 0:27:16.640 onto the plaster, finds the mark of the royal Necropolis 0:27:16.760 --> 0:27:20.399 stamped into it the clear image of a Nubis, the 0:27:20.480 --> 0:27:24.600 jackal god of the dead, with nine characters kneeling below, 0:27:25.320 --> 0:27:31.760 their arms held back and bound by rope. Whatever this was, 0:27:32.280 --> 0:27:35.560 at the very least it had been created by royal appointment. 0:27:37.600 --> 0:27:40.040 That it was found hidden under the tomb of a 0:27:40.080 --> 0:27:45.040 twentieth dynasty pharaoh would suggest it hadn't been seen for 0:27:45.119 --> 0:27:50.600 at least three thousand years. Taking a small chisel and hammer, 0:27:51.200 --> 0:27:55.320 Carter made a slight peephole through the plaster and peered 0:27:55.359 --> 0:27:59.760 through it to the passageway beyond. Though full of rubble, 0:28:00.160 --> 0:28:03.040 he could clearly see its stretching some way into the rock, 0:28:03.960 --> 0:28:07.080 but that was as far as he could go. With 0:28:07.240 --> 0:28:11.400 darkness approaching. Having made his most exciting discovery in over 0:28:11.440 --> 0:28:15.359 twenty years of work, Carter ordered the stairwell to be 0:28:15.400 --> 0:28:19.320 filled in once more and destructed his most trusted workmen 0:28:19.560 --> 0:28:24.960 to guard their find. Unable to proceed any further without 0:28:25.040 --> 0:28:29.600 Canarvan and the supervision of the egypt Antiquities Department, Carter 0:28:29.840 --> 0:28:33.440 composes a telegram to his friend and benefactor the next day, 0:28:34.200 --> 0:28:38.040 accompanied once again by the bright melodies of his pet Canary, 0:28:39.200 --> 0:28:42.680 almost as if it had become reanimated. At the returning 0:28:42.720 --> 0:28:47.920 of the earth to the excavated tomb back at High Claire, 0:28:48.480 --> 0:28:52.040 Canarvan has just returned from walking his beloved dog, Susie, 0:28:52.760 --> 0:28:55.960 when he is greeted by his butler carrying Carter's telegram. 0:28:57.480 --> 0:29:01.200 At last have made wonderful discos goovery in the valley. 0:29:01.440 --> 0:29:15.120 It reads, a magnificent tomb with seals intact. Congratulations. Carter 0:29:15.440 --> 0:29:18.400 is forced to wait over two weeks before Carnarvon can 0:29:18.480 --> 0:29:21.680 make it back to Luxell, arriving with his daughter Evelin 0:29:21.880 --> 0:29:26.640 on November twenty third. Two days later, under the watchful 0:29:26.640 --> 0:29:30.800 eye of Carnarvon and the Chief Inspector of Antiquities, Carter 0:29:31.080 --> 0:29:35.720 breaks through the first entrance to expose the passageway beyond. 0:29:36.480 --> 0:29:40.440 Over the next few days, the excavators work tirelessly to 0:29:40.480 --> 0:29:44.320 clear out the tunnel, until finally, twenty five feet in 0:29:45.120 --> 0:29:48.719 they hit another sealed entrance that also appears to be 0:29:48.760 --> 0:29:56.800 intact and marked with the seal of Touton Carmen. Moments later, Carter, Carnarvan, 0:29:56.880 --> 0:30:00.680 and his daughter Evelin stand on the precipice of quite 0:30:00.720 --> 0:30:04.560 possibly one of the greatest rediscoveries in the history of 0:30:04.680 --> 0:30:10.120 human kind. Barely able to keep his hands steady, a 0:30:10.160 --> 0:30:13.800 trembling Carter positions his chisel to the upper left hand 0:30:13.840 --> 0:30:19.200 corner and makes a tiny breech in the plaster. Holding 0:30:19.240 --> 0:30:22.560 a candle up to the hole, he tests for any 0:30:22.600 --> 0:30:26.960 toxic gases before widening it just enough so that he 0:30:27.040 --> 0:30:32.200 might peer through it. Taking the candle, he extends his arm, 0:30:32.800 --> 0:30:38.880 pulls himself up to take a look, and gasps, well, 0:30:39.640 --> 0:30:47.400 can you see anything, asks Canarvan. Yes, replies Carter, wonderful things. 0:30:49.600 --> 0:30:51.840 It had taken a moment for his eyes to adjust 0:30:51.880 --> 0:30:55.920 to the darkness, the candle flame almost going out as 0:30:55.960 --> 0:30:58.880 a sudden rush of warm air escaped from the chamber. 0:31:00.120 --> 0:31:03.840 Having adapted to the light, Carter had stood completely dumb 0:31:03.880 --> 0:31:06.640 struck as there on the other side of the wall, 0:31:07.160 --> 0:31:11.800 strange figures were beginning to emerge from the darkness, life 0:31:11.840 --> 0:31:16.960 sized statues of men, bizarrely shaped animals, and everywhere the 0:31:17.080 --> 0:31:22.160 unrelenting glint of gold. They had at last rediscovered the 0:31:22.240 --> 0:31:29.560 untouched tomb of King Teuton Carmen. Moments later, a young 0:31:29.600 --> 0:31:32.880 boy descends into the tunnel to deliver a message to 0:31:32.920 --> 0:31:37.560 the archaeologist. Just as Carter had been making his hole 0:31:37.680 --> 0:31:41.160 in the wall, a cobra had made its way into 0:31:41.240 --> 0:31:45.200