Ancient Egypt: The Search for Imhotep’s Tomb I DOCUMENTARY

We've been accompanying Egyptologist Zayyawas and his team on an exclusive excavation expedition at the Saqqara Necropolis complex near the mysterious pyramids of the old kingdom. Oh, oh, I see treasures. They've been making exceptional discoveries. This is fantastic. This is pieces, it's for a museum. But Zayyawas' secret dream is to find what's considered a holy grail of Egyptology, the tomb of a mythical man, one of humanity's greatest geniuses and the architect of the first pyramid in history, Vizier Imhotep. It would be a major discovery in the field of Egyptology. It would have been a massive monument, gleaming bright. It would have been quite a beautiful sight. The viziers may well be one of Egypt's best hidden tombs. Every excavation season at Saqqara reveals absolutely amazing tombs that remain hidden in the Necropolis complex sand and that could lead us to Imhotep's treasure. Wonderful. This could be the best moment in my life as an archaeologist. We have followed the titanic work accomplished by the archaeologists on this unprecedented expedition, who relentlessly, every day, dig into the Saqqara plateau, trying to get closer to Imhotep's tomb. This is a treasure, really. I mean it. It touched me a lot. When I came for the first time and I entered inside, it trembled my heart. State-of-the-art technologies will help us read remains that have just been unearthed after thousands of years underground. Can we find out the age of death? Almost 30 to 35 years. 30 means you died early. Then, accompanied by the world's best Egyptologists, we're setting out to discover buried ancient coffins and mummies, which are about to reveal before our cameras the secret messages they've conserved for thousands of years. They will provide clues that may enable us to discover Vizier Imhotep's tomb. It is eight o'clock in the morning on the Saqqara plateau in Egypt. For weeks now, workers have been patiently clearing out a shaft that was completely covered by sand over the course of millennia. At first sight, this hole in the ground doesn't seem any different from hundreds of others nearby. However, it's going to reveal an archaeological treasure. It is such an important discovery that Nermin Mwamen, director of the excavation site, notifies archaeologist Zayi Hawass in person. Doctor, you should come with me now because there is an interesting thing, a shaft, and you should, you must come down. Okay, let's go. Zayi Hawass has been exploring the desert for over 50 years to extract from it some of ancient Egypt's most beautiful treasures. He is always hoping to find new clues that could take him closer to his holy grail, Imhotep's tomb. It is a risky descent. This shaft is over 10 meters deep. In the dimly lit shaft, the archaeologist sees an imposing limestone sarcophagus. It's a rare and exceptional discovery. His tension and excitement are tangible because this is exactly what the archaeologist has been looking for. It's inside this type of grave that could be lying the famous architect of Djoser's pyramid. So, does this tomb still hold the remains of the deceased? Oh, God! The mummy is in a perfect condition. You know, the mummy is in a good condition. Mummification is really good. It's covered completely with linen. But to have in a big room, cut in the rock like this, with a mummy in a good condition like this, it's really rare. Zayi Hawass is in for more surprises. He notices an astonishing detail. Beside him is a very large wooden stick that he wants to use it after life, walking. Maybe he used that stick in his lifetime. But I don't see any artifacts inside to help me for more dating of this mummy. Then I think maybe I should enter inside to see if there is more inscriptions or not. There is no artifacts, no inscriptions. Clues are scarce. So, given the presence of that intriguing stick, Zayi Hawass decides to have the mummy analyzed. He's determined to get to the bottom of this mystery no matter what. Who could possibly be hiding behind this mummy? Zayi Hawass hopes to make the discovery of the century, finding the tomb of Imhotep, who was the architect of the very first step pyramid and grand vizier to Pharaoh Djoser. His tomb should look like the one that's just been discovered, but much more luxurious. To have an idea of what it could look like, imagine a big tomb like the ones in the Valley of the Kings near Luxor. Pharaoh Ayes is a good example of what is expected for such an important personage of the old kingdom. Luckily, the king's tomb, which was discovered in 1816, is in a perfect state of preservation. The pharaoh's imposing sarcophagus still sits in the center of the burial chamber, but his mummy has never been found. As for Imhotep's tomb, it is the object of every archaeologist's dream. It would have been a massive monument. It would have been whitewashed, maybe some paint on the outside, gleaming bright. It would have been quite a beautiful sight. There would certainly be the underground part of the tomb with his burial chamber where his body would have been placed, maybe in a stone sarcophagus, which would have been very expensive. I imagine that his tomb will be full of silver and gold and wonderful things, wonderful things. But above all, what the Egyptologists truly hope to find is information about who Imhotep really was. That's where the actual interest of this discovery lies. So we would expect to find images and hieroglyphs on the walls naming Imhotep and giving his titles with a separate section for a burial. There would probably be some kind of biography of Imhotep, which would be so incredibly important to decipher and read. And maybe that would tell us something about whom he really was as a person. So that would be incredibly valuable. The discovery of Imhotep's tomb would contribute to advancing knowledge about the old empire. That's why everyone on this campaign is mobilized to find its exact location. For over 10 years now, archaeologists have been excavating on a little-known but exceptional site of the Saqqaraq Necropolis complex, 30 kilometers south of Cairo. It is called Gizr el-Mudir, a 650-meter long and 350-meter wide enclosure. It is situated just a few hundred meters west of the famous Pyramid of Djoser, humanity's very first pyramid, which was built by the great architect of the time, Imhotep. The Gizr el-Mudir graveyard was built around 2600 BC and is home to thousands of mummies and tombs. It was a historic necropolis of the very first kings. Following Djoser's funerary complex, all the great kings, including Khufu, Khafre, Menkor, as well as those of the Middle Kingdom, chose to be buried near that complex because it was a very important burial ground. Over the centuries, this necropolis complex accommodated people from all social classes who wished to be buried near the pharaoh in order to benefit from his aura or baraka. Ziawas therefore decided to concentrate the excavations around Djoser's pyramid in order to finally find the tomb of Imhotep, an erudite architect that's famous for his knowledge and wisdom. The main necropolis for royalty and high officials would be at Saqqara. So we assume that it would be something that he would have done. He would have commissioned a tomb for himself at Saqqara, somewhere near maybe the royal cemetery. A colossal task given the extent of the site. It stretches for approximately six and a half kilometers and it's wide by a kilometer and a half. So it is a large area, but not so much when you think about 3,000 years of funerary activity on that particular spot. All the mysteries surrounding this civilization keep fascinating all archaeologists, especially since Napoleon Bonaparte's campaign in Egypt at the turn of the 19th century. This was a particularly shaped kingdom. It's often said that Egypt has four colors. It is built around the Nile, which is blue and surrounded by green oases. Then there's the ochre desert and the blue sky above. So it's like a microcosm where an extremely brilliant civilization developed, with the pharaohs holding a special position. Imhotep was not a pharaoh, but he was so renowned and influential that he ended up being considered a god. Today, this genial architect is indeed the main focus of everyone's attention. On the day following the discovery of the mummy with a stick, radiology specialist Bassem Gehad comes to Gizir el-Munir with his high-tech equipment. This medical technology is typically used to detect bone fractures through x-ray scans, but in our case, it will enable the Egyptologists to unlock the mysteries of the mummy without so much as touching its linen bandages. The machine is handled with the utmost care. The workers slip into the sarcophagus and carefully catch the mummy, which weighs under 10 kilos. Easy there, be careful. The last people to touch it were the priests who laid it here several thousand years ago. Enormous patience and precaution is required to take it to the place where it will be analyzed. It looks like the mummy in the movies that scare people. The mummy is meticulously swaddled in linen bandages, proof of all the care bestowed on the deceased by his or her relatives in order to make sure they would enjoy a wonderful afterlife. Imhotep's body was also most certainly embalmed. Such a privilege was reserved for the nobles and the royal family in the old kingdom. But this particular mummy is from a later period than the grand architects. They're 2,000 years apart. When I look at the style of mummification, it's for sure, it's dated to the late period. This is the style of mummification in 500 BC, which could be the 26th dynasty. Exactly the same draping, the same covering. Who is the person that lies buried here? Why is there a stick? Those are only two of the questions Zahihawas would like to find answers to. They put this mummy inside with this stick because this person, maybe he was an overseer. He was a leader of some of the workmen. And this is the style of holding a stick. The scanner may help him solve part of the mystery. The first X-ray scan was performed on an Egyptian mummy in 1896. Since then, the technology has evolved greatly, even if the principle remains the same. A machine emits X-rays that go through the object scanned and the image is printed on a plate known as a detector. X-rays go through certain types of matter, like a mummy's bandages, but they're stopped by the bones, which can therefore be seen in the X-ray images. And then, just like a forensic expert, the radiologist can scrutinize the mummy's secrets. In this particular case, the X-ray scan will reveal a completely unexpected story. Now from the pelvis here, we have this very wide angle that is identical for a woman. Yeah, if it's like narrow angle, it's a man. But this is a really wide angle. She might give birth as well. The scanner has just revealed some amazing news. Contrary to what Zahihawas thought upon seeing the stick, this is a woman's mummy. It's the first discovery of this kind the archaeologist has ever made. He wants to find out more. From the teeth, can we find out the age of death? Yep. How old? We just checked the eruption of teeth in both the mandibula and the maxilla. And she has older wisdom teeth, meaning that she exceeded 20 or 23 years. But then she lost one of these wisdom teeth, meaning that she exceeded almost 30 to 35 years. 30 means she died early. Early, she was young when she died. She was just becoming an adult and then she died. But no cause of death can be defined through the deceased woman's bones. Her skeleton is in perfect condition. The only clue is that missing tooth. Let's not forget that something that is harmless nowadays could prove fatal 2,500 years ago. There was no antibiotics or something like this. So even if she lost one of the teeth that is here, this could be one of the reasons. If she lost one teeth, then any infection could go directly to the blood. The young woman could have been killed by an infection. That's an important piece of information that can help Zayelwas better understand her story. But he's still intrigued by the presence of the stick. Oh, it was used. It's sycamore, sycamore type of wood. Why was this stick placed in the tomb? Was it a device to help her walk? Or something completely different, like a stick of symbolic power that was placed next to a priestess? The unprecedented find inspires multiple hypotheses, and Zayelwas can't tell for sure which one is right. When I first looked inside the sarcophagus and I saw the stick, I was sure that this is the mummy of a man. Because a stick means power. Power for a pharaoh or an important man. I thought that this could be an overseer of the workmen. But now, why we have this stick inside and beside the mummy? It's a mystery to me. Even if this woman was buried over 2,500 years ago without leaving many clues as to the cause of her death, the analysis performed by the archaeologists does unveil part of the mystery. We know it's the mummy of a woman. Maybe she was a priestess with her intriguing stick. If the dead woman's identity is a mystery, one thing is for sure, she was a member of an elite that was able to afford a luxurious grave. Nobles and viziers like Imhotep, who was a top politician, were also probably buried in imposing sarcophagi. But not everyone in the Egyptian society was as lucky. This morning, the excavation team made a surprising discovery right in the sand. It seems to be a rudimentary grave, a modest reed coffin. Fragile though it may seem, this plant has crossed millennia with no difficulty. No one could have imagined that reed stalks had been laid here several thousand years ago, and they might still be protecting someone's bones. Afaf Waba is an archaeologist and osteologist. She has just arrived to analyze the coffin. In the previous season, she examined an astonishing grave containing two skeletons intertwined. She eventually pieced together the moving story of the coffin's occupants. They weren't lovers, but a mother and her son buried together. Today, she hopes to once again be able to find clues about the Egyptians of ancient times. This reed coffin is situated only a few meters from the luxurious stone sarcophagus of the mummy with the stick that was found a few days earlier. Even though they were neighbors in eternity, these two people had certainly belonged to two different worlds. The plated reed coffins found indicate that some people were buried in pseudo coffins. For those who couldn't pay for a proper tomb, a type of coffin was designed that they could afford. Preserving their bodies after death was imperative for ancient Egyptians, regardless of social background. This coffin and the human remains in it will provide plenty of information about the people of Egypt, because little is known about the lower classes of that civilization. The top part of the grave is removed because the reed stalks collapsed into the coffin. There's the body. In exactly the same position it was buried thousands of years ago, it is a moving discovery. A typical position in the old kingdom, the period in which Imhotep lived. For all we know, the person who was buried here might have crossed paths with the architect. That's why any discovery like this one takes us one step closer to the vizier and enables us to better imagine the society in which he lived. For thousands of years, the spiritual appeal of this necropolis attracted thousands of Egyptians wishing to be buried at this mythical place. Which is why Gizir el Mudir holds such an incredible wealth of remains, especially human remains. Afaf Waba unveils the secrets of this tomb. Once Afaf Waba has completed her in-situ analysis of the tomb, she decides to have the bones transported to her lab. In a few days, she will extract some astonishing information from these human remains. A few days later, the archaeologists make another sensational discovery also dating back to the old kingdom. This fabulous treasure was brought to light in late 2022 and it immediately hit the headlines across the world. There are statues of a mysterious character that were found right there in the sand. Exposure to daylight could easily damage them so restorer Amir Abdel Fattah is trying to save them. The ancient Egyptians used a lot of material from nature to make red color and black color and green color. But if you found a blue color, this blue color is destroyed quickly because it's fragile. So when I found a blue color, this is the first color I consolidate. The limestone of the statues has also suffered the ravages of time. This part is destroyed and this a lot of parts I fixed it. Sometimes we can't find all pieces like this so we use a mortar to complete this part. What makes this an exceptional discovery is the considerable number of statues found at the same spot. There are nine of them in total representing a mysterious figure. Look at this one. It's a small size, a masterpiece of a statue of the old kingdom. The deceased is standing and look at this skirt and the color you have red and black and this wig is really beautiful. The statue depicts the image of the deceased in a way which is worth noting. Just as hieroglyphic writing was alive, images were alive as well. Placing a statue inside a tomb meant the deceased would be living forever. This is a discovery of incalculable archaeological and artistic value. Archaeologists rarely find remains this old dating back to the early days of the Egyptian civilization. But this is also a particularly moving testimony. This person wished to be represented in the company of all his loved ones a bit like a family photo of the time. This is a family tomb contained the husband, the wife but you can see the concentration here on the husband because he's the head of the family. His son was not left out. He accompanied his father in the afterlife. This is a beautiful child statue maybe 12 years old. With ancient Egypt, always they show children like this. They have the hair this side and it's naked. Ancient Egyptians wanted to make sure that when they transitioned to the afterlife that they had images of their children that could also join them and they could still enjoy their family together. Following this exceptional discovery, Zahi Hawass tried to reconstruct this man's life but a key piece of the puzzle was missing. His identity. Who was this man that was wealthy and powerful enough to afford all those statues in his honor? Necessarily a dignitary that was close to the pharaoh. Could it be Imhotep? Why there is no names? What is the hieroglyphic? This person was crazy. How he can leave the sculptors to make nine statues for him without a name? After several weeks investigation, a stroke of luck. The archaeologists have unearthed a magnificent false door which was found just a few meters from the statue. They bring this totally unexpected discovery to Zahi Hawass. By arranging all the pieces of this puzzle that lay scattered in the Saqqara desert, the Egyptologist finally finds the answer he has been searching for for months. Now that the final missing piece of the puzzle has been found, Zahi Hawass can finally complete the biography of the man with the nine statues. This is a key moment for the archaeologists investigation. The nine statues belong to someone. His name was Messi and it's dated back 4,300 years ago. The mystery the archaeologists had been racking their brains over since those statues were found has been solved at last. The owner's name engraved in stone has traveled across the ages to leave us a testimony of his life. To the archaeologists, these objects which dazzled the entire world prove that there are still marvelous discoveries waiting to be made in the desert sands. And I really believe the discovery of the nine statues can tell us for the first time that Saqqara is still a virgin site and there is many things can be discovered. I always say that we found in Egypt now only 30 percent and there is 70 percent buried underneath the ground. These tombs and sumptuous treasures relate only to the Egyptian upper classes. But the Saqqara necropolis complex held such an appeal over the entire society that everyone wanted to be buried here so as to be as close as possible to the pyramid built by Imhotep, including the poor, whose tombs, modest as they may seem, are treasure troves of information for the archaeologists. This morning, Nirmin Mohamed and Amir Abdel Fattah have precisely discovered a rudimentary tomb that could have completely gone under the radar. Okay, we will remove this layer of sand. After that, we will use brushes and we will cover the mummy and we will pick up. But slowly because the weather is very bad today. Despite the harsh working conditions, the two archaeologists insist on seeing their task through. They carefully remove the sand that was built up by wind and time. It has a small size. Yeah, small size? And they make a moving discovery. This burial exactly belonged to a baby. We try to discover the story of it. After four hours of meticulous work by the two Egyptologists, the child's mummy finally sees daylight again, having spent thousands of years in the dark. Preserved by the arid climate conditions, it is in very good condition. We hardly ever really, at least at Saqqara, find burials of children. They're very rare. And that really doesn't mean that children were not frequently dying. It simply is an indication that potentially small children were treated differently. What was the place of children in Egyptian civilization? These discoveries can teach us a great deal about that. Children are often depicted. So the family unit is sufficiently significant for artisans to be commissioned to represent the family. So children are important. If children die, they are mummified, they are treated carefully, and they join their parents in a family tomb. The children were very important also because they have to go to paradise like the father and the mother. And that's why they mummified them, they buried them in sarcophagus like anyone. Then they were very important to the family. The archaeologists will try to establish who this child was and why he or she died. In order to do that, they're going to have the mummy x-ray scanned and analyzed. The workers are asked to transport it to Zahihawas' tent. The operation is even more difficult this time because of the strong winds. They must move fast if they want to avoid losing crucial information about this mummified child. Zahihawas has sent for the radiologist Bassem Gehad, who is going to methodically scan every single part of the mummy's body. The style of mummification for this child, I don't know if it's a girl or a boy, is actually 500 BC, the late period. What has allowed Zahihawas to date the mummy is the weave of the linen bandages. It's characteristic of the late period. And it's exactly the same as that of the mummy with the stick found in the sarcophagus. Both people lived in the same period of ancient Egypt, around 2,500 years ago. And now, through the x-ray, we can understand more about the person. The first images are displayed on the screen. They show the child's skeleton. The arms are crossed over the chest and the skull is fractured. Here is the first mystery for the Egyptologists to solve. The head is damaged. Can we find out if this damage happened in his life? You think? How can we find out? If there is any kind of healing of bones, this might give us indication that happens before this. What do we see in the bones now? No, it happens after this, not before. You mean damage recently? Recently, yes. OK, now go to see if any cause of death? There is an issue with the bones. The bones is just curved. Curved. It seems that he has a disease that affected on the health and the bones. Can you find out now the age of death first? Yes, almost four years old. Four years old. Yeah. Then he died at the age of four. It's difficult for him to find out that this mummy is for a boy or a girl. And he thinks that maybe he died because he suffered of a disease. Child mortality rates were very high in ancient Egypt. Studies estimate that 20% of children died before the age of one and 30% of them didn't live past the age of five. For a number of reasons, children are generally very vulnerable and it's all about their immature immune system. Many diseases would have plagued small children and that for a child to grow up and make it past their adolescence into adulthood was not always guaranteed. So there was a considerable amount of child mortality in the Old Kingdom that would have continued throughout ancient Egypt. A lot of children would not have survived diseases that couldn't be treated at the time. Things like diphtheria could have been a major problem and potentially fatal for children. Diarrhea, malaria again, tummy bugs and things like that would have been really serious things for children. Malaria was endemic in ancient Egypt. This mosquito-borne infectious disease affected children and adults alike, regardless of social background. Analysis performed on Tutankhamen's mummy revealed that he had contracted malaria in his life. But in order to know more about children's living conditions, their place in society and how they were treated in death, more tombs would have to be found. This excavation campaign will perhaps enable specialists to acquire further knowledge about this little-known part of Egyptian population. The modest reed coffin discovered a few days ago at the foot of the pyramid built by Imhotep will shed some light on the living conditions of the poor in Egyptian society. The bones it contained have been brought to Afaf Waba's lab. The osteologist is now ready to examine them in detail. She can already confirm that her initial assumption was correct. The state of the hip bone also enables her to determine a key fact to build an accurate portrait of this lady, her age. What is also striking for the osteologist is the poor state of the deceased lady's teeth. Dental problems were common among the ancient Egyptians, regardless of their social class. The analysis of several royal mummies has shown that even the pharaohs also had very bad teeth. The reason why ancient Egyptians would suffer from dental disease would be because of the type of diet primarily. So thinking about what kind of food you eat and whether it is highly cariogenic, meaning it can contribute to development of dental decay. Osteology is a way of reading the bones. Diseases, anemia, fractures and the size of the disease are only some of the information inscribed in them. Bones are like an open book that tells a person's story. These human remains have the great advantage of resisting the passing of time over millions of years sometimes. These ones may help Afaf Waba to find some indication about how this lady died. Gradually, the veil is lifted about the woman who was buried here in great poverty. Despite her poor living conditions, apparently she died of natural causes, not of an infection. The identikit picture of the dead lady in the reed coffin is coming through little by little thanks to the osteologist's analysis. It is a woman in her 50s who was 1 meter 58 and suffered from dental problems but had no infection. Who doesn't have the luxury or the chance to keep their memory in the big tombs and big nice painting, the only chance to keep their memories is by studying their human remains like this. Through her work, Afaf Waba brings back to life people who died several thousand years ago. The bones found in even the most rudimentary tombs have crossed the ages and today they enlighten us about the living conditions of people in the different layers of ancient Egypt's social pyramid. This morning, another team has started working in a part of the necropolis complex that remains practically unexplored. Zahihawas is still tracking down antiquity's greatest sage, Imutep, and something tells him an extraordinary discovery is about to be made. A new shaft has just been cleared and it's ready for exploration. Ours is the first camera to penetrate this secret place. At the bottom of this 15 meter shaft, there lies a magnificent limestone sarcophagus. It is a rare and unique find. The style of this sarcophagus, it has to be old, it's not late period. Its size is impressive, about two meters long and 1.5 meters tall. The sarcophagus is like maybe more than 25 tons weight and the lid is big, I think it's more than three tons. Its owner's name is inscribed on it in red hieroglyphs. Hey, doctor, I try to make translation and the translation for the owner of the sarcophagus. You know what's his name? Yeah, Hekel Sheves. His name in a graffiti is not really beautiful writing. The scribe who did that was not really trained well. He did maybe quickly after they put the deceased inside, they wrote this graffiti with red paint and it shows that it's difficult to read it. It's now time to open this stone envelope. The lid weighs several tons and the expert skill of workers who are used to this type of operation will be required to open this precious sarcophagus without damaging it. The moment before I look, this could be the best moment in my life as an archaeologist. And after an effort of several minutes... Oh, oh, wonderful. It's an exceptional discovery. Hekel Sheves, the man who was laid to rest here, was buried in a sumptuous manner. His entire body is decked with magnificent jewelry. Zayawas realizes that the mummy has fallen apart, but some items glimmer under the beam of his torch. To the archaeologist's surprise, it is indeed gold. This is one of the most beautiful discoveries he has ever made on this site. For this person to put the golden leaves around him, maybe it would be damaged. Then what they did, they had sticks to cover the sticks with the layers of gold. Then the guy could show himself golden in the afterlife. Then there is no sticks here that he can hold. This is not a type of a stick that he used in his life to be walking at all. Gold fascinated the Egyptians. That is why the wealthiest members of society wanted to take it with them to the afterlife. In a way, gold is the flesh of the gods. It's yellow, it glows, it's rot-resistant, and it reflects the sun rays. The Egyptian world had strong ties with the sun, which was divinized as the god Ra. And the sun emits its rays onto earth and its rays fertilize the land. But gold was still very rare and hard to get. So in the Old Kingdom, we know they had gold artifacts. But to find something now in a tomb made of gold from the Old Kingdom is just such a beautiful and remarkable discovery. The mummy is also adorned with very beautiful beaded finery, whose purpose was to dress the deceased in the afterlife. You have this beautiful color with the blue beads on the chest. And you have this belt that maybe was made of turquoise. Zayawas also spots fragments of broken white stone by the mummy's head. It's broken for three parts? Limestone or plaster. Limestone. The person wanted to have this beautiful headdress under him, then he can rest peacefully for the afterlife. It's beautiful. To establish the mummy's date with precision, they would have to move it. But it's much too fragile and could disintegrate. I will ask the workmen to make the lid down. Then we can make him to live in the afterlife peacefully. But we can say, because the cemetery is dated to Dynasty 5 and Dynasty 6, we can say that this mummy is dated back at least 4,200 years ago, the beginning of Dynasty 6. This is a historic discovery for Egyptian archaeology. This is something important. When the people will see it, they will be amazed, because this also could be one of the oldest mummies mummified covered with gold. Before our very eyes, this incredible find has started a new chapter in the history of ancient Egypt, as it's one of the oldest Egyptian mummies ever discovered. The man who was buried here lived during the Old Kingdom, and he decided to be buried near Djoser's Pyramid, built by Imhotep a few centuries before. Zahihawas' investigation is taking him closer to the great architect. It's the last days of this excavation campaign. Archaeologists Nermin Moamen and Mohamed Fatih have decided to open a tomb that was unearthed not long ago. No one has had the opportunity to study it yet, as its entrance is barred by stones. This tomb is situated in a part of the necropolis that dates back to the Old Kingdom. This is their last hope of finally finding the Vizier Imhotep's resting place. Yeah, come down. Take care, take care when you come down. The step of the stairs is very destroyed. A few seconds later, once they've adjusted to the dim light, the two Egyptologists are finally able to make something out. Their efforts have not been in vain. Oh, wow. It's good for the sarcophagus. The tomb is still sealed, which raises hopes of discovering treasures hidden inside the sarcophagus. But before taking any further action, the archaeologists want to make sure there's no risk of a cave-in. The ancient Egyptians built this to support, because the local limestone is very weak. The rock here is very weak? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think it's dangerous. It's very dangerous here. Yeah. So they are exploring this burial chamber with extreme caution. However, they're in for a bad surprise. They notice that the tomb lid is broken, which means the sarcophagus was looted. Unable to raise the lid weighing several tons, the robbers made a hole to remove the valuable objects. Nermin and Mohamed will have to make do with what the robbers left behind. Inside the sarcophagus, some bones? Or what can we see here? Yeah. From the ocean? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, inside some debris and some bones. There might have been gold or precious amulets in this sarcophagus. But if that was the case, the robbers took it all away. And they also destroyed all the clues that could have helped identify the deceased. So the two archaeologists decide to leave the mummy to its eternal slumber. They'll have to wait till the next excavation season to maybe bring to light Imhotep's resting place. Because tonight, the members of Zahihawas' team are putting away their tools and carefully closing the tombs they haven't as yet got around to exploring. And each of them hold the promise of new discoveries about ancient Egypt. While the archaeologists have found dozens of tombs, they haven't come across any signs of antiquity's most famous architect. Tombs in pharaonic times in Egypt are on the edge of the desert. So they're surrounded by sand. And unless you are constantly brushing the sand away, they will disappear. So I think Imhotep was one of these structures, his tomb was one of those once impressive monuments that disappeared simply because it wasn't being actively maintained. In the 4th century AD, Christianity reached Egypt and wiped out the civilization of the pharaohs by banning pagan cults. The location of Imhotep's tomb may have been lost. But Zahihawas defends a different theory that is causing a stir among the Egyptologists. Imhotep, in my opinion, is buried inside the steppe pyramid of Djoser. What's interesting is seal imprints with Imhotep's name associated to Djoser's name were found in the burial chambers of the steppe pyramid. Despite the challenges, the quest for Imhotep's tomb hasn't been abandoned. And the researchers keep amassing clues to maybe one day unveil the resting place of that genius of antiquity. The discovery of Imhotep's tomb will have gigantic media repercussions because it will be a major discovery in the field of Egyptology. The person who makes that discovery will make the headlines of newspapers across the world, that's for sure. And in fact, if after centuries of research, that tomb hasn't been uncovered yet, it might be because Imhotep never wished to be found. All tombs have been stored in antiquity. And that's why, as a genius architect, he will never build his tomb to be in the eyes or to be in front of the eyes of thieves to steal it. He will hide it in a way that no one really can find it. And I really believe I am the one who will discover it. Excavations have revealed treasures buried in the desert sand. All the finds made at Saqqara will enable researchers to enhance their knowledge about ancient Egyptians. Zahihawas' final quest doesn't end here. For as long as his strength allows, he will carry on trying to reach his and all Egyptians' holy grail. The tomb of Imhotep is still hidden under the sand. I always know, and I always say, you never know when the sand of Egypt may hide secrets. Zahihawas knows it. The person who finds the resting place of one of the greatest architects ever will go down in history. Like Howard Carter, when he revealed Tutankhamen's fantastic treasure to the entire world in 1922. Every year, new exploration techniques are developed to assist the Egyptologists in their mission. Those innovations help them to carry out increasingly accurate research. They should allow them one day to unveil part of the mystery that shrouds Imhotep, as well as other icons that ancient Egypt keeps secretly concealed beneath the desert sand.