0:00:05 > 0:00:09'At the dawn of the 20th century, a unique discovery was made.
0:00:11 > 0:00:15'It redefined how we understand life and death in Ancient Egypt.'
0:00:17 > 0:00:21How wonderful to have been in that team of archaeologists
0:00:21 > 0:00:25who came down that day in February 1906...
0:00:26 > 0:00:29..a procession of men eager to know what lay at the end
0:00:29 > 0:00:33of this really atmospheric series of tunnels and chambers.
0:00:35 > 0:00:37'What they'd found was an intact tomb,
0:00:37 > 0:00:41'undisturbed for over 3,000 years.
0:00:43 > 0:00:46'And inside were not the treasures of pharaohs
0:00:46 > 0:00:51'but a unique window on the world of ordinary Egyptians...
0:00:52 > 0:00:56'..the mummies and possessions of a working man called Kha
0:00:56 > 0:00:58'and his wife Meryt.
0:01:03 > 0:01:06'I'm Egyptologist Dr Joann Fletcher,
0:01:06 > 0:01:10'and I'm exploring the world of Kha and Meryt...
0:01:11 > 0:01:15'..to find out about their lives and their deaths.
0:01:17 > 0:01:21'Last time, we looked at how they lived in their tiny desert village.
0:01:24 > 0:01:26'We've seen where Kha worked...'
0:01:26 > 0:01:30What a treat, to be able to see this kind of working surface.
0:01:30 > 0:01:31'..what they ate...'
0:01:31 > 0:01:34It's a direct link back into their world,
0:01:34 > 0:01:38the smell of this wonderful stuff. the way it was made.
0:01:38 > 0:01:40'..and how they relaxed.'
0:01:40 > 0:01:43And this is where the gentleman of the house would sit of an evening,
0:01:43 > 0:01:45drinking beer, having a chat.
0:01:45 > 0:01:49'In many ways, their lives were quite similar to ours.
0:01:51 > 0:01:55'But their relationship with death was completely different...
0:01:57 > 0:01:59'..because to Ancient Egyptians,
0:01:59 > 0:02:01'life was really just a dress rehearsal
0:02:01 > 0:02:05'for the perfect afterlife that they were trying to reach.
0:02:06 > 0:02:10'I want to travel back into this strange and mysterious world.'
0:02:12 > 0:02:18This isn't a funerary building, this is a building to keep life going.
0:02:18 > 0:02:19'To reach the afterlife,
0:02:19 > 0:02:23'they spent fortunes on funerary equipment, buildings and rituals...'
0:02:23 > 0:02:27Kha's Book of the Dead would have been incredibly costly.
0:02:28 > 0:02:32'..and expected to face numerous trials along the way.'
0:02:32 > 0:02:34This is the great devourer.
0:02:36 > 0:02:41All evil souls, their hearts were fed to this creature, consumed,
0:02:41 > 0:02:43and that was it, finished for ever.
0:02:47 > 0:02:49'So with Kha and Meryt as our guides,
0:02:49 > 0:02:53'we'll journey back into the world of death in Ancient Egypt.'
0:03:10 > 0:03:14'The Ancient Egyptians held a fundamental belief...
0:03:16 > 0:03:22'..your death was in many ways the most important moment in your life.
0:03:22 > 0:03:27'If you'd prepared for it, you would enter the perfect afterlife...
0:03:28 > 0:03:33'..an idealised eternity based on life in Egypt.
0:03:34 > 0:03:39'So for any Ancient Egyptian, be they farmer or pharaoh,
0:03:39 > 0:03:43'the biggest investment they made was for death and the world beyond.
0:03:44 > 0:03:49'And here in Ancient Thebes, death was the biggest business in town.'
0:03:55 > 0:03:59Now, in this part of Egypt, death was THE major employer.
0:03:59 > 0:04:01From the men who built
0:04:01 > 0:04:04these wonderful funerary temples and the rock-cut tombs
0:04:04 > 0:04:07to the people who embalmed the dead,
0:04:07 > 0:04:10who provided all the funerary equipment they would need,
0:04:10 > 0:04:13the little funerary figures,
0:04:13 > 0:04:17the artists who composed the funerary text,
0:04:17 > 0:04:19even the florists who put together
0:04:19 > 0:04:23the huge bouquets of flowers offered to the dead in their tombs,
0:04:23 > 0:04:26this was THE major industry.
0:04:30 > 0:04:35'Our couple, Kha and Meryt, lived at the very heart of this industry,
0:04:35 > 0:04:38'in the desert village now known as Deir el-Medina.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42'It's close to the spectacular Valley of the Kings,
0:04:42 > 0:04:46'where Kha designed and built tombs for the mighty pharaohs.
0:04:51 > 0:04:55'And although he spent his working hours creating the tombs of kings,
0:04:55 > 0:04:59'he spent much of his spare time preparing for his own death.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04'But in order to be ready for the journey into the afterlife,
0:05:04 > 0:05:07'Kha needed to plan his route carefully.
0:05:10 > 0:05:14'This was where his investment started, with a guidebook.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18'This scroll is known as the Book of the Dead.
0:05:18 > 0:05:22'Kha's was found in his tomb, and this is a facsimile.'
0:05:23 > 0:05:25The Book of the Dead is a collection
0:05:25 > 0:05:28of funerary spells and texts and incantations,
0:05:28 > 0:05:31a kind of road map of the afterlife,
0:05:31 > 0:05:33and it was designed to allow the deceased,
0:05:33 > 0:05:35with the help of these spells,
0:05:35 > 0:05:39to navigate his or her way through into the next world.
0:05:39 > 0:05:42'Its words seem mysterious and strange,
0:05:42 > 0:05:44'but they had a definite purpose.'
0:06:00 > 0:06:01If you were going to meet
0:06:01 > 0:06:05some dangerous demons or monsters in the underworld,
0:06:05 > 0:06:07you had to have powerful spells to counteract them,
0:06:07 > 0:06:09to diffuse their magic
0:06:09 > 0:06:13and to negotiate your way past them to achieve eternity.
0:06:13 > 0:06:17'Most Books of the Dead were simply off-the-shelf versions,
0:06:17 > 0:06:20'mass-produced by local artists.
0:06:21 > 0:06:24'But Kha's copy was specially commissioned.
0:06:25 > 0:06:26'It was the deluxe version,
0:06:26 > 0:06:30'featuring personal references and grandiose claims.'
0:06:33 > 0:06:36Words spoken by the great chief Kha:
0:06:54 > 0:06:56'While plain rolls of papyrus were relatively cheap,
0:06:56 > 0:07:00'at around a fifth of a worker's monthly salary,
0:07:00 > 0:07:03'one inscribed with funerary texts like this
0:07:03 > 0:07:06'could cost the equivalent of six months' wages at least.'
0:07:08 > 0:07:14So many hours of work have gone into its almost 14 metres of texts.
0:07:14 > 0:07:18The ink's had to be prepared, the colours ground up and mixed
0:07:18 > 0:07:22and then applied so carefully and with such a lot of thought.
0:07:22 > 0:07:26'It's rare to find a Book of the Dead so intact.
0:07:26 > 0:07:29'Yet somehow, Kha and Meryt's had remained safe
0:07:29 > 0:07:33'in their undiscovered tomb for over 3,000 years.
0:07:38 > 0:07:43'The only evidence that they had existed at all was this.
0:07:44 > 0:07:47'I've come to see the small chapel
0:07:47 > 0:07:49'that Kha built on the outskirts of their village.
0:07:51 > 0:07:55'And although another major expense on Kha and Meryt's death bill,
0:07:55 > 0:07:59'it was the vital link between the living and the dead.'
0:08:12 > 0:08:14It's like a little jewel box of colour.
0:08:14 > 0:08:18You come in from the glare and heat of the desert and the cliffs
0:08:18 > 0:08:21and you enter this little oasis of calm and quiet.
0:08:23 > 0:08:26'The chapel is situated close to their house,
0:08:26 > 0:08:29'because when these Ancient Egyptians died,
0:08:29 > 0:08:31'they simply moved across the street.
0:08:32 > 0:08:36'And as the living and the dead existed side by side,
0:08:36 > 0:08:40'this was the place that families could pay their respects.'
0:08:40 > 0:08:43And looking around, the colours used are sumptuous.
0:08:43 > 0:08:45You've got the gold background,
0:08:45 > 0:08:48and then, as the vaulted ceiling rises up,
0:08:48 > 0:08:50the artist's done something very clever.
0:08:50 > 0:08:52They've changed the palette
0:08:52 > 0:08:55to these blues and greens of the Egyptian landscape.
0:08:55 > 0:08:58The Nile is suggested, the sky is suggested.
0:08:58 > 0:09:00Very cooling, refreshing
0:09:00 > 0:09:05and a wonderful juxtaposition of the gold, the blues and the greens.
0:09:05 > 0:09:09'Blues and greens were among the most costly colours to produce,
0:09:09 > 0:09:13'so Kha had clearly spared no expense.
0:09:13 > 0:09:17'The walls depict all the things he and Meryt loved in life
0:09:17 > 0:09:19'and hoped to enjoy in the afterlife.'
0:09:21 > 0:09:24It is like walking into Kha and Meryt's sitting room.
0:09:24 > 0:09:26They're all here. They're all around us.
0:09:27 > 0:09:33This isn't a funerary building, this is a building to keep life going,
0:09:33 > 0:09:35kind of like a giant generator
0:09:35 > 0:09:38with everything that life meant to Kha and Meryt
0:09:38 > 0:09:40encapsulated in this tiny little room.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44'This chapel was the first clue
0:09:44 > 0:09:47'in a trail that would ultimately lead archaeologists
0:09:47 > 0:09:49'to Kha and Meryt's tomb...
0:09:54 > 0:09:57'because after three millennia, the chapel was discovered
0:09:57 > 0:10:01'by an Italian diplomat, Bernardino Drovetti.
0:10:05 > 0:10:10'Appointed French consul to Egypt by Napoleon in 1803,
0:10:10 > 0:10:14'Drovetti's main interest was amassing antiquities.'
0:10:15 > 0:10:17I think it's safe to say
0:10:17 > 0:10:21that Drovetti's methods were very, very unscrupulous.
0:10:21 > 0:10:23He used a range of agents
0:10:23 > 0:10:27to basically ransack their way through Ancient Egypt.
0:10:27 > 0:10:30And in doing so, he managed to acquire
0:10:30 > 0:10:34a stupendous series of collections of Egyptian antiquities,
0:10:34 > 0:10:40many of which he then sold on to sufficiently wealthy individuals.
0:10:41 > 0:10:44'Drovetti sold his personal collection
0:10:44 > 0:10:47'to the King of Sardinia, who put it here...
0:10:47 > 0:10:51'in what is now the superb Egyptian museum in Turin.
0:10:54 > 0:10:56One of the most important items in this collection
0:10:56 > 0:11:00'was taken from Kha and Meryt's chapel.
0:11:00 > 0:11:04'This costly painted funerary stele was a kind of memorial stone
0:11:04 > 0:11:08'made to ensure that their names would live on,
0:11:08 > 0:11:10'and its presence in Turin
0:11:10 > 0:11:13'would eventually lead to the discovery of their tomb.'
0:11:16 > 0:11:19It shows Kha twice, both left and right,
0:11:19 > 0:11:22worshipping the archetypal gods of the dead,
0:11:22 > 0:11:26Osiris and then the black jackal-headed god Anubis.
0:11:26 > 0:11:31And you can see he's praying to them for a long and successful afterlife.
0:11:32 > 0:11:33And then in the register below,
0:11:33 > 0:11:36it's kind of like a family snapshot, if you like.
0:11:36 > 0:11:38You have Kha and Meryt
0:11:38 > 0:11:43seated in front of a huge table full of food, drink, flowers.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46And then on the right-hand side, with the arm raised,
0:11:46 > 0:11:48is their eldest son, Amenopet,
0:11:48 > 0:11:52and he's kind of saying his prayers to his parents.
0:11:52 > 0:11:53So in effect,
0:11:53 > 0:11:57the next generation is wishing a long and happy afterlife
0:11:57 > 0:11:59full of good things.
0:11:59 > 0:12:03It's likely that this funerary stele was actually made
0:12:03 > 0:12:05during the lifetime of Kha.
0:12:05 > 0:12:07He would have almost certainly commissioned it
0:12:07 > 0:12:11and would have selected which deities he wanted,
0:12:11 > 0:12:14the kind of whole layout, the scenario, the colours.
0:12:14 > 0:12:16And this was a typical thing for the Ancient Egyptians to do,
0:12:16 > 0:12:20to commission their funerary monuments in their lifetime
0:12:20 > 0:12:22so they could get things just right.
0:12:22 > 0:12:24And then, of course, after death,
0:12:24 > 0:12:29the images represented would magically continue to be effective
0:12:29 > 0:12:32throughout eternity, so it was kind of like good insurance
0:12:32 > 0:12:34for what was going to happen to them in the next world.
0:12:36 > 0:12:40'The elaborate Book of the Dead, their chapel and its funerary stele
0:12:40 > 0:12:43'were just the beginning of Kha and Meryt's preparations
0:12:43 > 0:12:45'for eternal life.
0:12:50 > 0:12:53'The main investment would be their tomb.
0:12:54 > 0:12:56'So I'm travelling to the Valley of the Kings,
0:12:56 > 0:13:00'where Kha supervised the building of royal tombs.
0:13:02 > 0:13:04'It's the best place to find out
0:13:04 > 0:13:07'how he might have organised and paid for
0:13:07 > 0:13:08'the construction of his own.
0:13:10 > 0:13:12I'm meeting geologist Steve Cross
0:13:12 > 0:13:16'to see an unfinished tomb, a work in progress.'
0:13:16 > 0:13:20The way they cut the tombs was they started with the slot of the ceiling.
0:13:20 > 0:13:25And then worked outwards, right? And then excavated downwards.
0:13:25 > 0:13:29'Slowly chiselling away at the bedrock, a tomb of this size
0:13:29 > 0:13:33'would have taken around 40 men years to complete.
0:13:33 > 0:13:35'And although a tomb like this
0:13:35 > 0:13:38'was way beyond the means of most ordinary Egyptians,
0:13:38 > 0:13:42'Kha had both the skills and the inspiration
0:13:42 > 0:13:44'to create such a tomb for himself.'
0:13:44 > 0:13:47Now, this of course is a royal tomb,
0:13:47 > 0:13:50but in terms of Kha's own personal tomb,
0:13:50 > 0:13:54how on earth would he have persuaded anyone on their time off
0:13:54 > 0:13:58to have given him a hand excavating his tomb?
0:13:58 > 0:14:02Well, what they did was they all helped each other, and it was barter.
0:14:02 > 0:14:05"You do work in my tomb, I'll do work in your tomb."
0:14:05 > 0:14:08Right? So Kha, being the architect,
0:14:08 > 0:14:10might have designed tombs for other people
0:14:10 > 0:14:13in trade-off for them coming to work on his tomb.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16- So he got the better part of the deal, really.- Probably he did, yes!
0:14:16 > 0:14:20Don't forget, these tomb makers are THE experts.
0:14:20 > 0:14:22That's why the tombs in Deir el-Medina
0:14:22 > 0:14:23are amongst the best in the world.
0:14:26 > 0:14:28'With the help of his colleagues,
0:14:28 > 0:14:33'Kha clearly invested a huge amount of time, effort and resources
0:14:33 > 0:14:35'into building his tomb.
0:14:35 > 0:14:38'So security was critical.
0:14:38 > 0:14:43'Tomb robbing had already been a big problem for 2,000 years,
0:14:43 > 0:14:47'and this explains why he did something highly unusual.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50'Ordinary Egyptians who could afford a tomb
0:14:50 > 0:14:52'built it directly beneath their chapel complex,
0:14:52 > 0:14:56'which of course made it easier to find and rob.
0:14:56 > 0:14:59'But Kha had learnt from the pharaohs.
0:14:59 > 0:15:01'He decided to hide his elsewhere.
0:15:07 > 0:15:11'It remained secret for over 3,000 years.
0:15:12 > 0:15:16'But in 1906, another Italian began explorations
0:15:16 > 0:15:18'in Kha and Meryt's village.
0:15:20 > 0:15:23'Egyptologist Ernesto Schiaparelli
0:15:23 > 0:15:27'was director of the Egyptian museum in Turin.
0:15:28 > 0:15:31'He was very familiar with the stele of Kha and Meryt
0:15:31 > 0:15:34'and also knew their tomb had never been found.'
0:15:37 > 0:15:38He could read the hieroglyphs.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41He knew there was an important individual called Kha,
0:15:41 > 0:15:43had a wife called Meryt,
0:15:43 > 0:15:44and he knew they had to be buried
0:15:44 > 0:15:48somewhere in the vicinity where the stele was discovered.
0:15:50 > 0:15:54'Schiaparelli was determined to find the tomb.
0:15:54 > 0:15:55'But where to look?'
0:15:59 > 0:16:01Look at that instrument there.
0:16:01 > 0:16:03'Eleni Vassilika,
0:16:03 > 0:16:06'the present-day director of the Egyptian museum in Turin,
0:16:06 > 0:16:10'has accompanied me to Egypt to follow in his footsteps.'
0:16:12 > 0:16:15They must have looked around and said, "The tomb is here, somewhere.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18"Is it that trench there or... Where can it be?"
0:16:18 > 0:16:21- But Kha was clever, wasn't he? - Kha was...- He was sly!
0:16:23 > 0:16:29He knew what was going to go into the tomb so he wanted to hide it.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36I think as Schiaparelli must have stood here,
0:16:36 > 0:16:38scratched his head and said -
0:16:38 > 0:16:42knowing the stele was already in the museum, since 1824 -
0:16:42 > 0:16:44he must've said, "Where the hell is the tomb?
0:16:44 > 0:16:46"It's got to be near here,"
0:16:46 > 0:16:50and looked at the landscape which most archaeologists do...
0:16:51 > 0:16:56..and said, "I think we need to take that detritus away."
0:16:58 > 0:16:59It was just a theory
0:16:59 > 0:17:03but Schiaparelli had a huge workforce at his disposal.
0:17:05 > 0:17:08He moved his 250 workmen to the foot of this rock face
0:17:08 > 0:17:10close to the chapel.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13They just dug for 30 days,
0:17:13 > 0:17:20he says, until they discovered the perforation in the bedrock there.
0:17:26 > 0:17:28And then they came to a bricked wall,
0:17:28 > 0:17:31took that down and then they saw the door.
0:17:31 > 0:17:35- Wow, that must've been an amazing feeling.- Yeah!
0:17:35 > 0:17:38A sealed door in an Egyptian tomb. Wow.
0:17:38 > 0:17:41It was a moment really incredible for them
0:17:41 > 0:17:44because all these tombs - most of these tombs - had been sacked
0:17:44 > 0:17:49at some point and very few intact tombs,
0:17:49 > 0:17:54and, of course, so well furnished as this one is...
0:17:54 > 0:17:57In essence, really, what Schiaparelli had found
0:17:57 > 0:18:01- is the most important non-royal tomb...- Yes.
0:18:01 > 0:18:03..probably from the whole of this period
0:18:03 > 0:18:07if not the whole of Egyptian history because it tells us so much
0:18:07 > 0:18:11about reality, real lives in ancient Egypt, not just gods and Pharaohs.
0:18:12 > 0:18:13What a moment.
0:18:21 > 0:18:25Since Schiaparelli, hardly anyone's been into the tomb.
0:18:28 > 0:18:32But Eleni and I have been granted special access.
0:18:32 > 0:18:34I think this is... This is it.
0:18:34 > 0:18:36- I think so.- This is it!- Yeah.
0:18:36 > 0:18:37BOTH GASP
0:18:37 > 0:18:42- He was a clever guy! He was really sly.- He was a very clever guy.
0:18:42 > 0:18:44That's why his tomb stayed secret for so long
0:18:44 > 0:18:47- because it is so unexpected. - Exactly, yes.
0:18:51 > 0:18:56Situated at the bottom of this rather deep shaft, getting down into
0:18:56 > 0:19:01the tomb is no easier today than it would have been in Kha's time.
0:19:01 > 0:19:03ELENI GASPS
0:19:03 > 0:19:06- Wow!- Look at this. - I don't believe it.
0:19:06 > 0:19:08Is that "Schiaparelli woz here?"
0:19:08 > 0:19:10BOTH LAUGH Yeah, more or less!
0:19:10 > 0:19:15It says, "Discovered intact by the Italian archaeological mission
0:19:15 > 0:19:18- "in 1906."- And look.
0:19:18 > 0:19:23- They've written over the ancient red ochre marks...- Yes, yes.
0:19:23 > 0:19:29- ..of the draughtsmen planning out the lines.- Yeah, here we go.
0:19:29 > 0:19:33These are the red ochre pigment that was applied by the workers as
0:19:33 > 0:19:37they were constructing the tomb to give them a sense of
0:19:37 > 0:19:41the measurements and so forth and simply whereabouts to chip away.
0:19:41 > 0:19:45They had to keep this as close to plan as was possible so they'd
0:19:45 > 0:19:49be using their equipment to give this lovely 90-degree angle here.
0:19:52 > 0:19:54It was blocked up twice.
0:19:54 > 0:19:57That sense of excitement Schiaparelli and his men
0:19:57 > 0:20:00must've felt because here they were,
0:20:00 > 0:20:05- not just one intact doorway blocked, but two.- But two, yes.
0:20:05 > 0:20:08Having removed the blockage from the second brick doorway,
0:20:08 > 0:20:12Schiaparelli and his team found themselves in a large antechamber.
0:20:15 > 0:20:18It contained Kha's exquisitely crafted bed,
0:20:18 > 0:20:22beautifully painted pottery and floral bouquets.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25But there was much, much more to come.
0:20:25 > 0:20:28It's really exciting approaching the burial chamber
0:20:28 > 0:20:31- and this is where presumably... - This is the door
0:20:31 > 0:20:36and this is where Schiaparelli rapped on the door
0:20:36 > 0:20:39and then turned around and said "How about the key?"
0:20:39 > 0:20:41BOTH LAUGH
0:20:41 > 0:20:44So he must've known that he was onto a good thing
0:20:44 > 0:20:47after having seeing a bed out here, he knew there was more to find.
0:20:47 > 0:20:49- Something beyond.- And this was sealed.
0:20:51 > 0:20:54'One of the men who entered the tomb with Schiaparelli was Englishman
0:20:54 > 0:20:58'Arthur Weigall, Chief Inspector of Antiquities for Upper Egypt.'
0:21:01 > 0:21:03'He immediately recorded the astonishing sight.'
0:21:19 > 0:21:21When Schiaparelli 's team arrived,
0:21:21 > 0:21:23the chamber was crammed full of objects.
0:21:24 > 0:21:28'But today, all that remains is a colony of bats.'
0:21:28 > 0:21:31BATS SQUEAK
0:21:31 > 0:21:34The photographer took a photograph from there, looking in.
0:21:38 > 0:21:42Then he stepped in right here where I'm standing right now,
0:21:42 > 0:21:46he turned around and he took a photograph of everything behind.
0:22:02 > 0:22:07Along this wall is the coffin of Meryt.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16- ELENI JUMPS - It's all right.
0:22:16 > 0:22:20- This place is full of...- Yes, I know, thank you!- ..small bats.
0:22:21 > 0:22:23- Stand behind me, I'll protect you. - OK.
0:22:25 > 0:22:30And then that back wall, that was Kha's sarcophagus and coffin.
0:22:30 > 0:22:33- Which was substantially larger than hers.- Yeah.
0:22:36 > 0:22:39In ancient Egypt, children didn't always inherit
0:22:39 > 0:22:41their parents' belongings.
0:22:41 > 0:22:45And almost everything Kha and Meryt owned was sealed up
0:22:45 > 0:22:47inside their tomb to be used in the afterlife.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53So very few people have been privileged to come in here
0:22:53 > 0:22:58and it makes so much more sense now, knowing all the material that
0:22:58 > 0:23:01was originally in here, the belongings of Kha and Meryt,
0:23:01 > 0:23:05placed so lovingly and so carefully in here and now displayed
0:23:05 > 0:23:07so beautifully in the museum in Turin.
0:23:09 > 0:23:13It's fantastic to be able to put all the pieces of the jigsaw together,
0:23:13 > 0:23:16to really get a feel how Schiaparelli
0:23:16 > 0:23:19must've felt coming in here in 1906.
0:23:19 > 0:23:21It's... It's a rare treat, it really is.
0:23:24 > 0:23:28The wealth of objects that had been discovered in the tomb
0:23:28 > 0:23:31testify to the great investment Kha and Meryt had made.
0:23:33 > 0:23:37Of their hundreds of belongings, many have been designed
0:23:37 > 0:23:41and made at great expense, purely for use in the afterlife.
0:23:43 > 0:23:46This intricate statuette of Kha shows him
0:23:46 > 0:23:51with his palms on his starched kilt, a sign of humility before the gods.
0:23:53 > 0:23:55Such statues were idealised,
0:23:55 > 0:23:58a vision of how the deceased wanted to look in the afterlife.
0:23:59 > 0:24:03It was also insurance providing an alternative home
0:24:03 > 0:24:07for your soul in case anything happened to your mummified body.
0:24:08 > 0:24:12The kilt is also inscribed with a funerary prayer
0:24:12 > 0:24:16and a small garland of real flowers still hangs around Kha's chest.
0:24:18 > 0:24:22One of the most precious purpose-made items found in the tomb
0:24:22 > 0:24:24is Meryt's fabulous death mask.
0:24:25 > 0:24:29Made with great skill and with costly materials, the eyes,
0:24:29 > 0:24:33brows and decorative collar are made with coloured glass
0:24:33 > 0:24:37which the Egyptians had only begun to manufacture in Kha's lifetime.
0:24:38 > 0:24:42Cheaper yellow ochre was often used to imitate gold
0:24:42 > 0:24:46but Kha had chosen the real thing for Meryt's mask
0:24:46 > 0:24:49which is covered in precious gold leaf.
0:24:51 > 0:24:55But the most costly of all, worth well over a year's wages,
0:24:55 > 0:24:58was the coffin in which Meryt was buried -
0:24:58 > 0:25:00again, covered in gold leaf.
0:25:02 > 0:25:07Almost certainly intended for Kha, it is only inscribed with his name.
0:25:08 > 0:25:12But it was used for Meryt because it seems she died first.
0:25:16 > 0:25:18But how did Meryt die?
0:25:18 > 0:25:21Was it the result of a long illness or was it a sudden death,
0:25:21 > 0:25:23perhaps in an accident?
0:25:24 > 0:25:27We've been granted special permission to examine Kha
0:25:27 > 0:25:30and Meryt's mummies and their CT scans.
0:25:34 > 0:25:36In order to preserve the mummies -
0:25:36 > 0:25:38they cannot be unwrapped, of course -
0:25:38 > 0:25:41but the scans allow us to see what lies beneath the wrappings.
0:25:46 > 0:25:49I've asked pathologist Peter Vanezis
0:25:49 > 0:25:53and radiologist Curtis Offiah to take a look at Meryt's CT scans
0:25:53 > 0:25:57to see what they reveal about her on the day she died.
0:25:57 > 0:26:01She's certainly not in the early 20s, I would've put her
0:26:01 > 0:26:06more in the middle age group so 30s, possibly even 40s.
0:26:06 > 0:26:09Yes, I would certainly agree with that.
0:26:09 > 0:26:11There is a good indication here of lifestyle.
0:26:11 > 0:26:15The fact her joints are quite well preserved indicates
0:26:15 > 0:26:17she's led rather a charmed life, so to speak.
0:26:17 > 0:26:22She's had a pretty lucky existence
0:26:22 > 0:26:25and I would say she probably lived in the lap of luxury.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28There's certainly no indication there of any chronic disease
0:26:28 > 0:26:31which has affected her bones.
0:26:31 > 0:26:34There's no indication that she has perhaps been lying immobile
0:26:34 > 0:26:37for a long time because that would reflect
0:26:37 > 0:26:40in the density of the bone structure as well
0:26:40 > 0:26:45so my feeling is that she's either had a very short illness
0:26:45 > 0:26:49- or she's died suddenly.- Mm. - Possibly unexpectedly.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54'So Meryt's death left Kha little time to prepare.'
0:26:56 > 0:27:00'But the costly and time-consuming process of mummification
0:27:00 > 0:27:01'had to begin immediately.'
0:27:03 > 0:27:06Mummification was a way to preserve the body
0:27:06 > 0:27:10so it could provide a home for the soul in the afterlife.
0:27:10 > 0:27:14The process took around 70 days and the first step was to remove
0:27:14 > 0:27:17the internal organs to prevent decomposition.
0:27:22 > 0:27:26This included the brain which was usually removed down the nose.
0:27:29 > 0:27:32But Meryt's scans reveal something very surprising.
0:27:36 > 0:27:40This is a cross-section looking down into Meryt's skull
0:27:40 > 0:27:41through the top of her head.
0:27:43 > 0:27:46As you can see quite clearly, this white feature is in fact
0:27:46 > 0:27:50her brain which has fallen down to the back of her head
0:27:50 > 0:27:54and wasn't removed. So what? Why is this important?
0:27:54 > 0:27:55Well, what it tells us
0:27:55 > 0:27:59is that there were other ways to preserve the brain.
0:27:59 > 0:28:03The next step was to dry out the body, which took about 40 days.
0:28:03 > 0:28:07This usually involved piling dry salt on top of the corpse
0:28:07 > 0:28:09to draw out all the body fluids.
0:28:09 > 0:28:13But analysis of Meryt's mummy has revealed that she was
0:28:13 > 0:28:15preserved differently.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18Instead of using dry salt, Meryt had in fact been
0:28:18 > 0:28:21submerged in a highly concentrated salt solution -
0:28:21 > 0:28:24essentially, pickling her.
0:28:24 > 0:28:27This allowed her organs to remain inside the body,
0:28:27 > 0:28:29without causing decay.
0:28:29 > 0:28:32If you look at the angle at which the brain has fallen to
0:28:32 > 0:28:36the back of the skull, it appears to be on a tilt because the body,
0:28:36 > 0:28:40when it was draining out, was laid at a different angle,
0:28:40 > 0:28:43a slightly different angle, at a tilt to allow the fluids,
0:28:43 > 0:28:46which would've initiated decomposition,
0:28:46 > 0:28:48to completely leave, to exit the body.
0:28:50 > 0:28:53It may have been the most up-to-date preservation technique
0:28:53 > 0:28:55but it didn't come cheap.
0:28:56 > 0:28:58And once Meryt's body had been dried out,
0:28:58 > 0:29:03she was wrapped in layers of costly linen and an outer red shroud.
0:29:03 > 0:29:05But the expense didn't stop there.
0:29:05 > 0:29:09By chemically analysing minute samples of Meryt's wrapping,
0:29:09 > 0:29:14we found something intriguing. Oil from the tilapia fish.
0:29:15 > 0:29:20Yet this oil had no preservative power, it was purely symbolic.
0:29:20 > 0:29:22And it set Meryt apart,
0:29:22 > 0:29:25for there was something special about this fish.
0:29:25 > 0:29:29What the tilapia does is to take its young into its mouth
0:29:29 > 0:29:32in times of danger and when the danger has passed,
0:29:32 > 0:29:34to then spit them out back into the water
0:29:34 > 0:29:36and when the Egyptians saw this,
0:29:36 > 0:29:40they saw it as a miraculous thing, as if it was a self generating fish
0:29:40 > 0:29:44that could simply spit out its young in this way.
0:29:44 > 0:29:48And so by association, the tilapia became connected directly
0:29:48 > 0:29:52with the goddess Hathor and fertility and rebirth.
0:29:52 > 0:29:57'This fish oil, which was also mixed with exotic, imported ingredients,
0:29:57 > 0:30:00'would've cost Kha a small fortune.
0:30:00 > 0:30:04'But it was worth it if it put Meryt on a fast-track to the afterlife.'
0:30:09 > 0:30:13But Kha's efforts didn't even stop there.
0:30:14 > 0:30:18As in today's most exclusive nightclubs, the Egyptians knew
0:30:18 > 0:30:22that they had to look their best to gain admittance to the afterlife.
0:30:24 > 0:30:28The scans reveal Meryt was all dressed up for death.
0:30:29 > 0:30:32And under her wrappings she still wears
0:30:32 > 0:30:34an amazing array of jewellery.
0:30:35 > 0:30:38So, what today would form a treasured inheritance
0:30:38 > 0:30:40went with her into the afterlife.
0:30:42 > 0:30:46The most striking piece is this huge, broad collar necklace.
0:30:49 > 0:30:51And to find out what it looks like,
0:30:51 > 0:30:55I've come to the Petrie Museum in London.
0:30:55 > 0:30:57It houses one of the most comprehensive
0:30:57 > 0:31:00collections of Egyptian jewellery in the world.
0:31:00 > 0:31:03Now, what we've got in front of us here
0:31:03 > 0:31:07is an absolutely superb broad collar necklace.
0:31:07 > 0:31:09It's the typical Egyptian necklace
0:31:09 > 0:31:11that you see in the tomb scenes and in the art,
0:31:11 > 0:31:16and it's basically made up of numerous little moulded amulets
0:31:16 > 0:31:20that have been made in these sumptuous, jewel-like colours.
0:31:22 > 0:31:27And this is exactly the same thing that Meryt still wears,
0:31:27 > 0:31:30her mummy is still adorned in this beautiful broad collar,
0:31:30 > 0:31:33which we can see on the image of Meryt here.
0:31:34 > 0:31:40Now, the top five rows were made up of these rather elongated,
0:31:40 > 0:31:44green beads, and they are actually cos lettuces.
0:31:44 > 0:31:48Now, the lettuce was sacred to the fertility god, Min,
0:31:48 > 0:31:52and, in wanting to be laid out in a necklace such as this,
0:31:52 > 0:31:57it basically associates Meryt with this god of fertility, of new life.
0:31:57 > 0:32:00You have then two more rows of what look like mini hand grenades,
0:32:00 > 0:32:03and they're actually bunches of grapes, these blue,
0:32:03 > 0:32:07shiny bunches of the grapes, which not only, again,
0:32:07 > 0:32:10look very beautiful, but produce the wine
0:32:10 > 0:32:12which was something sacred to Hathor,
0:32:12 > 0:32:16the goddess of sex, of love, of new life,
0:32:16 > 0:32:18the goddess who took the dead into her care.
0:32:18 > 0:32:23And Meryt was effectively dressed in a collar like this,
0:32:23 > 0:32:26not only to look beautiful, but to associate her
0:32:26 > 0:32:31with these two deities who were so intimately involved
0:32:31 > 0:32:35in new life, in rebirth, in eternal life.
0:32:36 > 0:32:38As well as the broad collar,
0:32:38 > 0:32:41Meryt wears two pairs of huge gold earrings,
0:32:41 > 0:32:46and around her waist a belt of gold cowrie shells similar to this one.
0:32:53 > 0:32:56She was laid out to appear very seductive,
0:32:56 > 0:32:59and we know this from tomb scenes where dancers, musicians,
0:32:59 > 0:33:02those associated with the goddess Hathor
0:33:02 > 0:33:04appear almost naked at this time.
0:33:04 > 0:33:08They're wearing broad collars, they're wearing huge earrings,
0:33:08 > 0:33:12their hair is very beautiful, and they have these gold belts
0:33:12 > 0:33:15with little cowrie shells and coloured elements
0:33:15 > 0:33:18to look very alluring, very erotic,
0:33:18 > 0:33:21capable of sex and of producing the next generation.
0:33:21 > 0:33:24So, it can only be compared, perhaps,
0:33:24 > 0:33:27to laying out a modern woman in like a negligee -
0:33:27 > 0:33:29a vital, sexual being,
0:33:29 > 0:33:33as capable of living in the next world as she had been in this one.
0:33:34 > 0:33:38So, Meryt didn't want to spend eternity as a wise old lady
0:33:38 > 0:33:40but as a youthful and attractive woman.
0:33:43 > 0:33:47In the afterlife, you wanted to be the very best you could be.
0:33:51 > 0:33:55And Kha made sure Meryt also had her most personal belongings
0:33:55 > 0:33:57with her, all carefully prepared.
0:34:00 > 0:34:04One of her most prized possessions was her magnificent wig.
0:34:05 > 0:34:08It was housed in its own tall box,
0:34:08 > 0:34:10to which funerary prayers had then been added.
0:34:12 > 0:34:15This one on the lid reads:
0:34:31 > 0:34:34Some of her other possessions were also adapted
0:34:34 > 0:34:38for Meryt's journey into the afterlife.
0:34:38 > 0:34:41This is her bed, which she'd used in life.
0:34:41 > 0:34:43It was now repainted to freshen it up.
0:34:44 > 0:34:48Another funerary inscription was added along the side.
0:34:48 > 0:34:50Kha clearly gave careful thought
0:34:50 > 0:34:53and spared no expense when preparing his wife for eternity.
0:34:57 > 0:35:00And, although he'd overseen her burial,
0:35:00 > 0:35:03Meryt probably remained very much alive to him.
0:35:03 > 0:35:07It's even likely he would have continued to communicate with her.
0:35:10 > 0:35:13We know the Egyptians actually wrote to their dead relatives
0:35:13 > 0:35:15about all sorts of things,
0:35:15 > 0:35:20from the mundane to the serious, in notes like this.
0:35:22 > 0:35:23What we're looking at here
0:35:23 > 0:35:26is one of the so-called Letters To The Dead,
0:35:26 > 0:35:31and it's a pottery bowl, it's a piece of everyday tableware.
0:35:31 > 0:35:36And the amazing thing about this is it's actually inscribed in black ink
0:35:36 > 0:35:40by a woman wanting to communicate with her dead husband.
0:35:40 > 0:35:43And we know for a fact that the living wrote to the dead.
0:35:43 > 0:35:46They sent them letters on papyrus,
0:35:46 > 0:35:50on small pieces of limestone, on ostraca.
0:35:51 > 0:35:54She says, "Oh, husband, you should be here helping me.
0:35:54 > 0:35:57"Settled the score with him who does what's painful to me,
0:35:57 > 0:36:00"for surely I shall triumph over anyone, dead or alive,
0:36:00 > 0:36:02"acting against me and our daughter."
0:36:02 > 0:36:05It's that typical, you know, "Where are you? What are you doing?
0:36:05 > 0:36:08"You might have died, but that's not really an excuse, is it?
0:36:08 > 0:36:10"Come on, help me."
0:36:10 > 0:36:14And it expresses this real belief that the dead can help the living,
0:36:14 > 0:36:17that they had just passed through
0:36:17 > 0:36:20into a different sphere of existence.
0:36:20 > 0:36:22And this woman is maintaining the dialogue
0:36:22 > 0:36:24that she would have had on Earth.
0:36:24 > 0:36:27She's bending her husband's ear.
0:36:31 > 0:36:34But the ancient Egyptians didn't only communicate
0:36:34 > 0:36:37with their dead through writing.
0:36:37 > 0:36:39They also did it through play.
0:36:40 > 0:36:42THEY LAUGH
0:36:46 > 0:36:49Now, we're playing the ancient Egyptian game of Senet.
0:36:49 > 0:36:53It's a board game that the Egyptians absolutely loved.
0:36:53 > 0:36:55It dates back to at least 3000 BC
0:36:55 > 0:36:58and was played by kings and commoners alike.
0:37:01 > 0:37:04It was the ancient Egyptians' version of turning on a soap opera
0:37:04 > 0:37:08on TV at night, putting their feet up and enjoying themselves.
0:37:10 > 0:37:14'Senet was essentially a race, a game of chance.
0:37:14 > 0:37:17'It is used in the Book Of The Dead as a metaphor
0:37:17 > 0:37:19'for the journey into the next world.'
0:37:21 > 0:37:24We're having a bit of a stab of it there, and it is quite fun,
0:37:24 > 0:37:27but I'm sure we don't get the complexities
0:37:27 > 0:37:31and the nuances that were inherent in the ancient Egyptian version,
0:37:31 > 0:37:36because for them it symbolised the ultimate game of chance.
0:37:36 > 0:37:40To succeed at Senet meant you succeeded in life
0:37:40 > 0:37:43and succeeded in the transition from this world to the next.
0:37:43 > 0:37:47Hence, the living played it not only at home
0:37:47 > 0:37:50but also in close proximity to the tombs.
0:37:50 > 0:37:53Because, by playing this game, step by step,
0:37:53 > 0:37:58they were assisting the transition of their deceased relatives through
0:37:58 > 0:38:03all the perils and problems they might encounter in the underworld.
0:38:03 > 0:38:06And so it kind of was a reflection of the great unknown
0:38:06 > 0:38:10to play Senet - the outcome was never sure.
0:38:10 > 0:38:14Would you win, or would death ultimately triumph?
0:38:15 > 0:38:16You win!
0:38:16 > 0:38:18THEY LAUGH
0:38:19 > 0:38:23This Senet board was one of the items found in Kha and Meryt's tomb.
0:38:24 > 0:38:28And Kha might have played this game close to their chapel,
0:38:28 > 0:38:31hoping to ease Meryt's path through the underworld.
0:38:32 > 0:38:36As there had probably been an age gap between them in life,
0:38:36 > 0:38:39it seems it wasn't long before Kha died, too.
0:38:43 > 0:38:46Peter and Curtis are examining the scans of his body.
0:38:49 > 0:38:54In terms of an age, I would have to put him of greater years
0:38:54 > 0:38:59than Meryt, and I think we're probably talking
0:38:59 > 0:39:0350s onwards, I think, at least, so maybe even 60s to 70s.
0:39:03 > 0:39:09The skeleton is of a very healthy - for his years - specimen.
0:39:09 > 0:39:12We're not seeing any evidence of broken bones
0:39:12 > 0:39:15or chronic healing of fractures in the spine.
0:39:15 > 0:39:20Looking at the skeleton overall, and the fact that he has got
0:39:20 > 0:39:23bones which look sturdy, he hasn't got anything
0:39:23 > 0:39:26which indicates that he's had a chronic disease,
0:39:26 > 0:39:31so, again, I think, like his wife, he has probably led
0:39:31 > 0:39:35a reasonably healthy life up until close to when he died.
0:39:38 > 0:39:41So, Kha died quite suddenly, like his wife,
0:39:41 > 0:39:45And, like Meryt, Kha would have undergone
0:39:45 > 0:39:47the costly mummification process.
0:39:49 > 0:39:55Again, his brain remains inside his skull cavity, just like hers.
0:39:57 > 0:40:00He, too, wears large hoop earrings,
0:40:00 > 0:40:03and valuable jewellery around his neck.
0:40:03 > 0:40:07But the scans also shows something else, placed on his forehead.
0:40:09 > 0:40:11This is a snake's head, the head of a cobra,
0:40:11 > 0:40:14beautifully rendered in carnelian, an orange stone,
0:40:14 > 0:40:18with the two menacing eyes of the cobra and the ridges on the body.
0:40:19 > 0:40:24This amulet was used to provide refreshment to the throat in the afterlife,
0:40:24 > 0:40:27since it refers to the way a snake's throat swells out.
0:40:27 > 0:40:31So it should really have been placed on Kha's throat,
0:40:31 > 0:40:32and not on his forehead.
0:40:34 > 0:40:37The only people in ancient Egypt allowed to have the cobra
0:40:37 > 0:40:41at the forehead was the king and the queen.
0:40:41 > 0:40:44So, I like to think that the embalmers
0:40:44 > 0:40:46were paying their own little tribute to Kha.
0:40:46 > 0:40:50They're sort of elevating Kha in death.
0:40:50 > 0:40:54He was their leader, he was their chief, he was their overseer,
0:40:54 > 0:40:58and the people in the village were maybe paying their own special tribute,
0:40:58 > 0:41:00and so he was sent off into eternity
0:41:00 > 0:41:04like a mini king in his own mini kingdom. I love that.
0:41:07 > 0:41:10Kha was an important man in the village.
0:41:10 > 0:41:13As such, the next step of his journey to the afterlife
0:41:13 > 0:41:15would have been a grand affair.
0:41:16 > 0:41:20His funeral would have begun with a magnificent procession
0:41:20 > 0:41:24up to their chapel, just as Meryt's would have done before him.
0:41:24 > 0:41:28The great procession would have wended its way up this path,
0:41:28 > 0:41:33up towards the cliffs up there, where their tomb was actually situated.
0:41:33 > 0:41:38Now, it's hard, here today, to try and get a sense
0:41:38 > 0:41:41of the noise, the colour, the life.
0:41:43 > 0:41:47That's a good word, actually, at a funeral ceremony, "the life".
0:41:47 > 0:41:51The vivacity of all the ingredients that the ancient Egyptians
0:41:51 > 0:41:55brought to their funeral ceremonies, because they were all there
0:41:55 > 0:41:59to try and get the dead to live again.
0:42:00 > 0:42:04Life, in some ways, was almost a dress rehearsal
0:42:04 > 0:42:07for this very moment, when the funeral ceremony
0:42:07 > 0:42:10marked the transition between this world and the next.
0:42:12 > 0:42:15The dead were going to be reborn in the safety of their tombs.
0:42:18 > 0:42:22So, it's essential that all the equipment they'd used in their lives
0:42:22 > 0:42:25and all the equipment that was there to give them a good send-off
0:42:25 > 0:42:28came with them, accompanied them into the darkness of the tomb,
0:42:28 > 0:42:31where everything would work in tandem to revive
0:42:31 > 0:42:34the soul of the deceased and send them off into eternity.
0:42:36 > 0:42:41And, as Kha's body in its nest of coffins was carried towards his tomb,
0:42:41 > 0:42:46all his worldly possessions would, of course, have accompanied him.
0:42:47 > 0:42:52These wall scenes give a real sense of what the procession would have looked like.
0:42:53 > 0:42:56This is the tomb of Ramos, governor of Thebes,
0:42:56 > 0:42:58who lived at the same time as Kha and Meryt.
0:43:00 > 0:43:02Now, this is a really colourful,
0:43:02 > 0:43:04lively portrayal of a funeral procession.
0:43:04 > 0:43:08You can see these sort of rows of men, of servants and bearers,
0:43:08 > 0:43:11carrying all the belongings of the deceased.
0:43:11 > 0:43:13You can see the bed made up with the bed linen,
0:43:13 > 0:43:18the headrest which acted as a pillow, just like Kha and Meryt's.
0:43:19 > 0:43:23You've got these beautiful painted wooden boxes
0:43:23 > 0:43:25carrying all the personal items of the deceased.
0:43:25 > 0:43:28A walking stick, just like Kha's.
0:43:28 > 0:43:30Then you've got the chair of the deceased,
0:43:30 > 0:43:34just like the one that Kha would have sat on that was found in his tomb.
0:43:35 > 0:43:37You've got all sorts of things -
0:43:37 > 0:43:41the jars of perfume, the flowers, the food and drink.
0:43:42 > 0:43:45WEEPING
0:43:45 > 0:43:48A funeral on this scale didn't come cheap,
0:43:48 > 0:43:52and these scenes reveal yet another expense.
0:43:52 > 0:43:54These are professional mourners.
0:43:54 > 0:43:57They were hired to make the maximum noise possible
0:43:57 > 0:43:59to give the deceased a great send-off,
0:43:59 > 0:44:03because the higher the decibel level, the more important this individual was.
0:44:03 > 0:44:07Their plaits are dishevelled and if you look really closely,
0:44:07 > 0:44:08they're crying.
0:44:08 > 0:44:12They're such professionals, they're crying so much,
0:44:12 > 0:44:16forcing themselves to produce tears, their black eyeliner is running.
0:44:16 > 0:44:19Any women that wear mascara understand the problem.
0:44:19 > 0:44:21You start to cry, the make-up runs down your face.
0:44:21 > 0:44:25The ancient artist has portrayed this so beautifully
0:44:25 > 0:44:29with these dots of black coming down the women's faces.
0:44:33 > 0:44:36Once the procession had reached their chapel
0:44:36 > 0:44:39it was time for yet another elaborate and opulent ritual.
0:44:42 > 0:44:44The Opening of the Mouth ceremony,
0:44:44 > 0:44:48a 75-stage, sensory assault to reanimate
0:44:48 > 0:44:52the soul of the deceased within their mummified body.
0:44:52 > 0:44:54In order for this to happen,
0:44:54 > 0:44:57every one of the five senses needed to be reawakened.
0:44:59 > 0:45:02Having dragged the huge, black sarcophagus of Kha
0:45:02 > 0:45:05all the way up here on ropes,
0:45:05 > 0:45:07the bearers would carefully raise up
0:45:07 > 0:45:11Kha's black and gold anthropoid coffin
0:45:11 > 0:45:13and place it here looking out,
0:45:13 > 0:45:15exactly where I'm sitting today,
0:45:15 > 0:45:18as if Kha was preparing to be
0:45:18 > 0:45:21relaunched into the next world if you like.
0:45:24 > 0:45:27It would have been a very dramatic, profound moment for the family
0:45:27 > 0:45:30as Kha once again stood upright
0:45:30 > 0:45:33in front of his tomb chapel
0:45:33 > 0:45:37and at this point the eldest son, Amenopet,
0:45:37 > 0:45:41would have stepped forward with the special chisel.
0:45:41 > 0:45:44He would have touched his father's mouth symbolically
0:45:44 > 0:45:46like this,
0:45:46 > 0:45:49to reanimate his power of speech, of breathing,
0:45:49 > 0:45:52so the eyes would have been magically opened,
0:45:52 > 0:45:55the ears touched
0:45:55 > 0:45:57so Kha could once again hear in the next world
0:45:57 > 0:45:59and all his senses restored.
0:46:00 > 0:46:04The ritual would also be performed on Kha's statuette,
0:46:04 > 0:46:08his insurance policy should his mummified body be destroyed.
0:46:09 > 0:46:12And it was vital that the sense of smell was restored,
0:46:12 > 0:46:15so incense too would be presented.
0:46:15 > 0:46:19The Egyptians loved to present flowers to the dead
0:46:19 > 0:46:24from the characteristic water lily, or the white and blue lotus,
0:46:24 > 0:46:28which are often shown in tomb scenes being literally pressed against
0:46:28 > 0:46:32the noses of the deceased, so they could inhale that fragrance.
0:46:33 > 0:46:35To restore the sense of taste
0:46:35 > 0:46:38delicious food offerings were presented.
0:46:41 > 0:46:44And after the Opening of the Mouth ceremony had finished,
0:46:44 > 0:46:48the funeral party moved on to the tomb for the final burial,
0:46:48 > 0:46:51where an entire banquet was laid out.
0:46:54 > 0:46:57This was for Kha and Meryt to enjoy in the afterlife.
0:47:06 > 0:47:10What we see in front of us here in glorious Technicolor
0:47:10 > 0:47:13is basically the food that was found in the tomb
0:47:13 > 0:47:15and it's quite wonderful stuff.
0:47:15 > 0:47:18You have the staple of your ancient Egyptian life,
0:47:18 > 0:47:23the bread accompanied by the all-important onions and garlic.
0:47:23 > 0:47:26This was the standard workman's packed lunch.
0:47:26 > 0:47:29One of these on a daily basis with the garlic here,
0:47:29 > 0:47:33that's an ancient Egyptian packed lunch, a glass of beer,
0:47:33 > 0:47:35an ancient Egyptian ploughman's.
0:47:35 > 0:47:38And we do know that in the case of the onions and garlic
0:47:38 > 0:47:41when Schiaparelli and his team went into the tomb
0:47:41 > 0:47:43they smelt them.
0:47:44 > 0:47:48For 3,500 years they were still as pungent as the day
0:47:48 > 0:47:50they'd been placed there.
0:47:50 > 0:47:53No fewer than 50 loaves of bread were found in the tomb,
0:47:53 > 0:47:55along with jars of roast duck, fish,
0:47:55 > 0:47:58bowls of vegetables, fruit and spices.
0:47:58 > 0:48:02There were grapes, dates and these amazing things.
0:48:02 > 0:48:06He had several sackloads of these - doum palm nuts.
0:48:06 > 0:48:09Although I've never personally eaten one
0:48:09 > 0:48:12they apparently taste like caramel.
0:48:12 > 0:48:16All this kind of food in the tomb of Kha and Meryt
0:48:16 > 0:48:18set out very carefully as a kind of
0:48:18 > 0:48:20formal banquet for the deceased
0:48:20 > 0:48:23would have allowed the very souls of Kha and Meryt
0:48:23 > 0:48:27to have enjoyed the very essence of all this food.
0:48:27 > 0:48:30But Kha's Book of the Dead
0:48:30 > 0:48:34shows he wanted his afterlife to be fuelled by drink as well as food.
0:48:34 > 0:48:37This is spell 148 in the Book of the Dead,
0:48:37 > 0:48:40which is basically the spell of provisioning
0:48:40 > 0:48:42the soul of the deceased in the next world
0:48:42 > 0:48:45with all the food and drink that they need.
0:48:45 > 0:48:48As well as the desire for goose, for beef,
0:48:48 > 0:48:51for wine and so forth,
0:48:51 > 0:48:55the basis of Kha's wish list is the standard bread and beer
0:48:55 > 0:48:58that formed the basis of the ancient Egyptian diet
0:48:58 > 0:49:00for rich and poor alike
0:49:00 > 0:49:03throughout the whole of ancient Egyptian culture.
0:49:03 > 0:49:05In fact the word "beer" does appear rather often.
0:49:05 > 0:49:08Here with the twisted symbol,
0:49:08 > 0:49:10the small, black one here,
0:49:10 > 0:49:14and then this wonderful determinative of the beer jar.
0:49:14 > 0:49:16But it's this repetition of the word "beer",
0:49:16 > 0:49:20this desire of Kha to have beer to drink for eternity -
0:49:20 > 0:49:23if you like, an eternal supply of beer. Which can be no bad thing.
0:49:29 > 0:49:32They wanted to enjoy an eternal banquet
0:49:32 > 0:49:34but there was also work to be done.
0:49:37 > 0:49:41In ancient Egypt, just about everyone was obliged to work the land.
0:49:43 > 0:49:45Even death was no excuse
0:49:45 > 0:49:47so you needed figurines like these,
0:49:47 > 0:49:49found in Kha and Meryt's tomb.
0:49:51 > 0:49:55Known as "shabti figures" they were the little helpers who would
0:49:55 > 0:49:57do all the work for you in the afterlife.
0:49:58 > 0:50:01They even have their own miniature farming tools.
0:50:04 > 0:50:07So with all the work taken care of, Kha and Meryt,
0:50:07 > 0:50:10like all ancient Egyptians,
0:50:10 > 0:50:13intended to have a really good time.
0:50:13 > 0:50:15This is clear to see from the scenes in their chapel.
0:50:17 > 0:50:21It's OK trying to understand ancient Egypt on a visual level,
0:50:21 > 0:50:24everybody does that - pyramids, King Tut, mummies.
0:50:24 > 0:50:27But to really get into the heads of the ancient Egyptians
0:50:27 > 0:50:30you've got to walk in their footsteps, you've got to experience
0:50:30 > 0:50:34the senses they experienced and one of these, a crucial one, is sound.
0:50:34 > 0:50:38What did it sound like to be in ancient Egypt?
0:50:38 > 0:50:41And this is Kha and Meryt giving us an idea of that.
0:50:44 > 0:50:47Here we have Kha and Meryt's band.
0:50:47 > 0:50:50These are the musicians playing their music
0:50:50 > 0:50:53to sort of lull them into eternity.
0:50:53 > 0:50:55And it's quite a pacey number
0:50:55 > 0:50:58because the lute player's legs are shown asymmetrically
0:50:58 > 0:51:00to give a kind of sense of movement,
0:51:00 > 0:51:02maybe dancing.
0:51:09 > 0:51:11The ancient Egyptians, then as now,
0:51:11 > 0:51:13loved music, loved to dance,
0:51:13 > 0:51:16loved to express themselves in a joyful manner.
0:51:20 > 0:51:23These musicians are from the University of Cairo.
0:51:23 > 0:51:26Using images from wall scenes
0:51:26 > 0:51:28and surviving ancient instruments,
0:51:28 > 0:51:32they've been able to recreate ancient Egyptian music.
0:51:32 > 0:51:38WIND INSTRUMENT PLAYS OVER DRUMS
0:51:43 > 0:51:46Kha was finally laid to rest in his tomb.
0:51:46 > 0:51:49His large black sarcophagus was already waiting for him.
0:51:52 > 0:51:55The belongings of Kha and Meryt were set out all around them
0:51:55 > 0:51:57and covered in dust sheets.
0:51:59 > 0:52:02Then, leaving the lamps still lit,
0:52:02 > 0:52:05the funeral party left the burial chamber, sweeping away
0:52:05 > 0:52:07their footprints as they went
0:52:07 > 0:52:10and locking the wooden door behind them.
0:52:10 > 0:52:12LOCK TURNS
0:52:12 > 0:52:15The workmen then bricked up and plastered the two walls
0:52:15 > 0:52:18and backfilled the tunnel with rubble.
0:52:20 > 0:52:24But Kha's journey into the afterlife was not yet complete.
0:52:27 > 0:52:31No matter how much you'd spent, there was one final test
0:52:31 > 0:52:33that all Egyptians must pass.
0:52:39 > 0:52:44Although this scene dates from about 1,000 years after Kha's time,
0:52:44 > 0:52:47it clearly depicts the crucial moment
0:52:47 > 0:52:50in the soul's journey to the afterlife.
0:52:50 > 0:52:52This remarkable scene
0:52:52 > 0:52:55is known as the Weighing of the Heart.
0:52:55 > 0:52:58It's the ultimate judgement of the dead.
0:52:58 > 0:53:01It shows that the deceased, their soul,
0:53:01 > 0:53:06has successfully negotiated all the hazards into the next world
0:53:06 > 0:53:09to arrive here at the ultimate Hall of Judgement.
0:53:11 > 0:53:15It's presided over by the goddess Ma'at, the goddess of truth,
0:53:15 > 0:53:18who is shown here with the feather of truth,
0:53:18 > 0:53:22which she wears as a kind of crown on her head.
0:53:22 > 0:53:24At the far end is the goddess Iris,
0:53:24 > 0:53:28the kind of ultimate judge of all dead souls.
0:53:28 > 0:53:31He's here to watch over these proceedings
0:53:31 > 0:53:34because we have here central to the scene
0:53:34 > 0:53:38a typical Egyptian-style balance.
0:53:38 > 0:53:40And here on this pan
0:53:40 > 0:53:44it's the heart of the deceased individual
0:53:44 > 0:53:48and it's being weighed very carefully against this.
0:53:48 > 0:53:51This is the feather of Ma'at which she wears on her head.
0:53:51 > 0:53:55It represents truth, goodness, purity.
0:53:55 > 0:53:58If the deceased had lived a good and blameless life,
0:53:58 > 0:54:02their heart would be light and free of sin.
0:54:02 > 0:54:06However, if they'd been naughty, bad,
0:54:06 > 0:54:09done anything to upset the gods,
0:54:09 > 0:54:12then the heart would be heavy with sin.
0:54:12 > 0:54:15And as such, they couldn't then pass through
0:54:15 > 0:54:18into a blessed afterlife, into eternity.
0:54:18 > 0:54:22And so the heart was literally taken up like a piece of meat
0:54:22 > 0:54:25and thrown to this terrifying creature here.
0:54:25 > 0:54:28This is the Great Devourer,
0:54:28 > 0:54:32a kind of terrible composite of lions' parts
0:54:32 > 0:54:36a sort of crocodile- or hippo-featured being
0:54:36 > 0:54:37with the tongue out
0:54:37 > 0:54:41dribbling at the thought of a fresh heart to consume.
0:54:41 > 0:54:43And it's at this point
0:54:43 > 0:54:46that the deceased would ultimately die.
0:54:46 > 0:54:49This would be dying a second death, the final death.
0:54:49 > 0:54:51Earthly death isn't anything to be afraid of
0:54:51 > 0:54:55because you pass through into a subliminal state of existence,
0:54:55 > 0:54:57if you've been good.
0:54:57 > 0:55:01All evil souls, their hearts were fed to this creature,
0:55:01 > 0:55:04consumed, and that was it, finished for ever.
0:55:08 > 0:55:11But once again there was something you could buy to help you
0:55:11 > 0:55:13through this final trial.
0:55:14 > 0:55:17And Kha's scans show that on a chain around his neck
0:55:17 > 0:55:21there is also a large amulet known as a heart scarab.
0:55:26 > 0:55:28This example from the Petrie Museum
0:55:28 > 0:55:31gives us a sense of what it actually looks like.
0:55:31 > 0:55:34For the Egyptians the heart was the seat of all learning,
0:55:34 > 0:55:36of all intelligence.
0:55:36 > 0:55:39When the deceased's spirit was in the presence of the gods
0:55:39 > 0:55:43in the next world and had to account for their actions in life,
0:55:43 > 0:55:46had they lead a good life, they were interrogated by the gods.
0:55:46 > 0:55:49Sometimes there was always the danger the heart might
0:55:49 > 0:55:51suddenly speak up against its owner.
0:55:51 > 0:55:55"Oh, well, they didn't lead such a blameless life after all."
0:55:55 > 0:55:59And so the heavy heart scarab was a means of suppressing the heart,
0:55:59 > 0:56:02keeping it quiet.
0:56:02 > 0:56:05The spell invokes, employs the heart, "Keep quiet,
0:56:05 > 0:56:07"do not give false witness against me."
0:56:07 > 0:56:09Basically, "Shut it."
0:56:12 > 0:56:15So it seems that Kha had purchased every form of insurance
0:56:15 > 0:56:18he possibly could to ensure the perfect afterlife
0:56:18 > 0:56:22that he and Meryt had always dreamed of.
0:56:22 > 0:56:25From their elaborate golden coffins,
0:56:25 > 0:56:28to their well hidden, subterranean tomb
0:56:28 > 0:56:31and expensively decorated Memorial Chapel.
0:56:35 > 0:56:38And, of course, the intricate Book of the Dead
0:56:38 > 0:56:40in which Kha describes
0:56:40 > 0:56:42how he wants to spend his eternity.
0:56:45 > 0:56:48In Kha's Book of the Dead by far the largest section,
0:56:48 > 0:56:51200 separate rolls,
0:56:51 > 0:56:54are devoted to the so-called spells of transformation
0:56:54 > 0:56:58listing all the variations that Kha wanted his soul to become,
0:56:58 > 0:57:02all the many forms he could take in the afterlife.
0:57:02 > 0:57:04A lot of these relate to birds,
0:57:04 > 0:57:07the soul wants to rise up to join the gods
0:57:07 > 0:57:09and fly through the heavens.
0:57:09 > 0:57:12He wanted to be a Phoenix, he wanted to be a heron,
0:57:12 > 0:57:16he wanted to be a great, golden sparrowhawk.
0:57:16 > 0:57:18Yet I think for me what is most poignant
0:57:18 > 0:57:21is that in addition to all these various things
0:57:21 > 0:57:23that he could become at will
0:57:23 > 0:57:26his heart's desire was simply to sit
0:57:26 > 0:57:28with his beloved wife Meryt in a garden
0:57:28 > 0:57:30in the summerhouse.
0:57:47 > 0:57:49Now, for us in the modern West
0:57:49 > 0:57:53it's all too easy to see these elaborate preparations for death
0:57:53 > 0:57:56as completely pointless.
0:57:56 > 0:57:59Death is death and that is that.
0:57:59 > 0:58:02And yet, and yet.
0:58:02 > 0:58:04Having met Kha and Meryt,
0:58:04 > 0:58:06having entered their world,
0:58:06 > 0:58:09I think they've really achieved a kind of immortality
0:58:09 > 0:58:12because 3,500 years later,
0:58:12 > 0:58:14we're still talking about them.
0:58:15 > 0:58:19The ancient Egyptians truly believed that to speak
0:58:19 > 0:58:22the name of the dead was to make them live again.
0:58:22 > 0:58:24And surely they do.
0:58:53 > 0:58:56Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd