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NARRATOR:
Deep beneath the sands of Egypt

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lie 24 enormous stone coffins,

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and every one of them is empty.

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GIORGIO TSOUKALOS: They're some
of the biggest stone sarcophagi

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ever discovered in Egypt.

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And we still have not answered

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what was inside the boxes.

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NARRATOR: What purpose
they served remains a mystery.

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ROBERT SCHOCH: The precision
in which they were carved

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and polished is beyond words.

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KATHLEEN McGOWAN:
There has been some theorizing

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that the boxes themselves are
a type of technology.

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NARRATOR:
And there are many

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who believe
these giant stone boxes

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were designed not by humans

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but by otherworldly visitors.

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ERICH VON DÄNIKEN:
One thing is clear.

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The Egyptians definitely had
contact with extraterrestrials.

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NARRATOR:
There is a doorway

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in the universe.

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Beyond it is
the promise of truth.

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It demands
we question everything

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we have ever been taught.

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The evidence is all around us.

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The future is
right before our eyes.

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We are not alone.

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We have never been alone.

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French archaeologist
Auguste Mariette

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embarks on an expedition
to purchase ancient manuscripts

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for the Louvre Museum in Paris.

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A self-taught
expert in hieroglyphics,

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Mariette is at the forefront

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of the budding field
of Egyptology.

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SALIMA IKRAM:
When Mariette started to work
in Egypt, people were

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increasingly interested
in the culture

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of the ancient Egyptians.

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So this was a time
when Egyptology

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really started
to come into being.

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Mariette, being a Frenchman,
was well-versed

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in French history
concerning Egypt.

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In 1798, Napoleon Bonaparte,

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along with his army of savants,

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came into Egypt
and massively documented

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the wonders of ancient Egypt.

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Champollion had just
translated the hieroglyphics

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from the Rosetta Stone
just 30 years before.

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And so,
as he's coming into Egypt,

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he's thinking he's gonna
make his mark on history.

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According
to mainstream historians,

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ancient Egyptian civilization

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began over 5,000 years ago

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and flourished
until it was conquered

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by Alexander the Great
in 332 BC.

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At its fall,
this empire left behind

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30 centuries of rich history

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and wondrous monuments

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that continue
to reveal hidden secrets.

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IKRAM: Egypt is
the one place in the world

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that is filled with sites,

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with monuments and stories

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that really capture
everyone's imagination.

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You have the pyramids,

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massive temples,

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and of course mummies.

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Egypt has been fascinating
people for millennia.

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McGOWAN:
When Auguste Mariette
is, uh, in Egypt,

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the world is going through

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a huge explosion

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of obsession with Egypt
that happens

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post-the Napoleonic Wars.

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French artists had come
and drawn the monuments.

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Engravings of Egypt were
being sold all across Europe.

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NARRATOR: As researchers
descended on Egypt,

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Auguste Mariette
found himself on the verge

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of failing his assignment.

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He was on commission
by the Louvre

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to look
for Egyptian manuscripts.

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But he's in competition
with private collectors

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and other museums,
and he's kind of desperate.

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He's really
not finding anything.

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NARRATOR: Mariette was
determined not to leave Egypt

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empty-handed and had heard
from a tribe of Bedouins

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that there were treasures
to be found

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beneath the sands of Saqqâra.

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Located 20 miles
south of the Giza Pyramids,

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Saqqâra served
as a burial ground

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for the ancient Egyptian capital
of Memphis.

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It was the destination

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of all ancient Egyptians

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across the thousands
and thousands of years.

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The destination
for religious beliefs,

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for a burial, funeral.

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And then, after
the ancient Egyptian empire

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had completely fallen
and the Greek

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and Roman Empire took over,

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they still went and prayed
in Saqqâra.

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HENRY: One of the greatest
monuments in Egypt is

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the step pyramid at Saqqâra.

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It's referred to
as "the stairway to heaven."

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It's considered to be
the oldest stone structure

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on Earth, built for King Djoser

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by the great Imhotep.

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It's a place of immense mystery.

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ANDREW COLLINS:
The ancient accounts said

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that there was an avenue
that ran all the way

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from Memphis all the way
out into the desert

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that was lined by sphinxes.

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And Auguste Mariette

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realized
that there was something still

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to be discovered
in the area of Saqqâra.

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NARRATOR: Mariette decided
that the best place

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to start exploring Saqqâra

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was near
its towering step pyramid.

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While surveying the area,
he was astonished

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to find a stone object
protruding from the ground

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that appeared
to be the head of a sphinx.

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IKRAM: He started to clear
the area, and his team

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dug down and revealed sphinx
after sphinx after sphinx.

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HENRY: He soon lines up
over 100 sphinxes,

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follows the pathway,

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and is led
to an underground tunnel.

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An entrance that's blocked.

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He dynamites the entrance.

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He's now
in a 700-foot-long tunnel

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that's been carved
out of the limestone.

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The walls are rough,
and he must have imagined

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that these walls must have
been painted and covered,

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but that's no longer there.

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Instead there's these rough and
sort of primitive looking walls

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and there are alcoves that are
also cut out of the limestone.

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And he's not quite sure
what this place is

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or even what he's looking at,

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but he knows he's made
the discovery of a lifetime.

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NARRATOR:
Inside the ancient structure,

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Mariette discovered inscriptions

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that identify
the underground complex

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as the Serapeum.

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And within its chambers

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Mariette found more than
7,000 precious artifacts,

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including ancient figurines...

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ornate amulets...

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and a gold mask.

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After shipping much
of his discovery to the Louvre,

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Mariette opened the Serapeum
to the public.

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People came
in carriages from Cairo.

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Took a couple of hours.

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But when they descended
into this place,

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it was all dark.

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But he had people
from the villages around

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holding flaming torches,

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and so people could come
and visit the Serapeum,

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and it
must have been extraordinary

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to see this place
in the flickering light

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just like the ancient Egyptians
would have.

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NARRATOR: Word of Mariette's
discovery of the Serapeum

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and its treasures
spread throughout Europe.

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But the most extraordinary
objects found

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within the underground labyrinth

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were not made of silver or gold.

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They were made of stone.

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TSOUKALOS: The Serapeum has been
cut out of the granite bedrock,

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and inside that Serapeum are

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24 niches

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that contain boxes
made of basalt

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and rose granite.

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Now, when I say boxes,

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they're not little sarcophagi,
but they're humongous.

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They're some of the biggest
stone sarcophagi

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ever discovered in Egypt.

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The boxes themselves
range in weight

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from 70 to 75 tons,

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and the lids alone

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weigh between 20 and 25 tons.

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Most of these sarcophagi
were discovered empty.

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At the time, it was thought

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that most of the sarcophagi

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were broken into

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and completely looted.

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NARRATOR:
Mariette assumed the giant boxes

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were enormous stone coffins.

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Who or what they contained

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remains a mystery.

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But Mariette believed
he would find the answer

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when he came upon one box
that was completely sealed.

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COLLINS: We know
that of the 24 sarcophagi

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that were found
by Auguste Mariette,

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23 of them were empty,

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their lids just slightly ajar.

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But it's
that one unopened sarcophagi

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that is
the greatest mystery because

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what Mariette decided was,
he would dynamite it

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to try and blow it open,

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and when he looked inside,

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he was
absolutely staggered to find

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that it was completely empty.

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NARRATOR: What are the giant
stone boxes within the Serapeum?

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Are they simply
giant sarcophagi?

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Or might they have
a more profound purpose?

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Ancient astronaut theorists
suggest clues can be found

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by further examining
the Serapeum

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and its connection

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to otherworldly beings.

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The mysterious subterranean
structure in Saqqâra, EgyptAT:

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known as the Serapeum

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is an extraordinary feat
of engineering

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built 100 feet beneath the earth

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and spanning the length of
more than two football fields.

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But even more impressive

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are 24 massive stone boxes

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found within the complex

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that are carved from
exceptionally hard stone

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like granite,
basalt and diorite.

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ROMANY:
Each sarcophagus was
over 70 tons.

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70 tons is not a weight

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that 200 people can carry.

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It is an impossible weight

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to move anywhere,

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let alone a hundred feet
under the ground

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and then 700 feet
into a tiny corridor

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and then inside
a little chamber.

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COLIN READER:
If you think of a pyramid

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or a temple,
it's in the open air.

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If you're hauling
a big block of stone

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or an obelisk,

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you've got space to
get teams of people.

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You can get draft animals on it.

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But the thing that
really startles me,

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they didn't have
the space to get

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huge teams of men
to start moving them.

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And they couldn't get
animals down there

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for any practical intent.

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NARRATOR:
Just as baffling as
how the ancient Egyptians

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managed to move
these giant boxes is

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how they were able to carve them
with such incredible precision.

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Machinists have gone in there
with tools to measure

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just how precisely
carved they were.

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We're talking, in some cases,
to the thousandths of an inch,

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right angles,
which are incredibly perfect.

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TSOUKALOS:
Now, you need sophisticated
technology for this

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because, in some cases,

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we're talking about basalt.

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Basalt is harder than granite.

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And according to what we know,

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the ancient Egyptians
only had bronze

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and copper tools.

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It is wishful thinking
to suggest that you can

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cut basalt with copper.

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You just can't do it.

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But the surface is as if

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you're touching glass.

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So, to me, it's possible that

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the ancient Egyptians
figured out a way

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to vitrify stone.

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NARRATOR:
What compelled
the ancient Egyptians to

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place 24 enormous and
precisely crafted stone boxes

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deep beneath the earth?

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Based on inscriptions found
within the underground chamber,

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Egyptologists determined
that the Serapeum

259
00:13:05,375 --> 00:13:09,458
was built to be the burial
place of the sacred Apis bull.

260
00:13:11,875 --> 00:13:13,833
IKRAM: The ancient Egyptians
believed that

261
00:13:14,042 --> 00:13:16,917
animals and the gods
had special relationships,

262
00:13:17,125 --> 00:13:21,042
and each deity was associated
with one particular animal.

263
00:13:23,000 --> 00:13:26,083
The Apis bull is related
to the Egyptian god Ptah,

264
00:13:26,208 --> 00:13:29,083
who was a major creator god.

265
00:13:29,250 --> 00:13:31,792
He was the god of Memphis,
the capital city.

266
00:13:31,917 --> 00:13:33,833
He was the god of all craftsmen.

267
00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:36,917
The Egyptians believed
that the spirit of the god

268
00:13:37,083 --> 00:13:39,500
would enter into
the body of that animal.

269
00:13:40,708 --> 00:13:44,208
During its lifetime, it would
be treated as a god on Earth.

270
00:13:44,375 --> 00:13:46,500
When it died,
it would be buried with

271
00:13:46,625 --> 00:13:48,375
great pomp and circumstance.

272
00:13:48,542 --> 00:13:51,167
The Apis bull was one of

273
00:13:51,375 --> 00:13:55,875
the most sacred animals
in all of ancient Egypt.

274
00:13:56,042 --> 00:13:57,667
But here is the thing.

275
00:13:57,833 --> 00:14:01,750
When Auguste Mariette
opened the sarcophagus,

276
00:14:01,917 --> 00:14:04,292
they were empty.
There was nothing in there.

277
00:14:04,417 --> 00:14:07,333
DAVID CHILDRESS:
What Egyptologists
will speculate is that

278
00:14:07,458 --> 00:14:12,542
somehow the Serapeum
was looted in antiquity

279
00:14:12,708 --> 00:14:16,000
and the mummified bulls were
removed from the sarcophagi.

280
00:14:17,292 --> 00:14:20,708
But who would want
a mummified bull?

281
00:14:21,750 --> 00:14:24,542
NARRATOR:
Were the giant stone
containers in the Serapeum

282
00:14:24,708 --> 00:14:27,958
simply designed to hold
the remains of an Apis bull?

283
00:14:28,125 --> 00:14:31,750
Some researchers believe
that these massive objects

284
00:14:31,917 --> 00:14:34,250
served an entirely
different purpose.

285
00:14:36,250 --> 00:14:39,833
SCHOCH:
Most of these boxes have
no inscriptions on them,

286
00:14:40,042 --> 00:14:41,292
but there's one
in particular that has

287
00:14:41,375 --> 00:14:43,292
a lot of hieroglyphics
all over it.

288
00:14:44,500 --> 00:14:48,000
Those inscriptions
are incredibly crude

289
00:14:48,208 --> 00:14:51,833
compared to the finesse,
the precision of

290
00:14:51,958 --> 00:14:54,167
the actual stone boxes.

291
00:14:54,292 --> 00:14:57,458
So this leads me,
and I'm not alone in this,

292
00:14:57,667 --> 00:14:59,708
to suggest that these boxes

293
00:14:59,875 --> 00:15:02,917
go back to
a much earlier period,

294
00:15:03,083 --> 00:15:06,417
and they were being
reused and reappropriated

295
00:15:06,542 --> 00:15:08,792
at a much later time.

296
00:15:08,875 --> 00:15:11,333
It's thought by
some researchers that

297
00:15:11,500 --> 00:15:14,792
the Serapeum was used
at a later date

298
00:15:14,958 --> 00:15:18,042
for the mummified Apis bulls.

299
00:15:18,208 --> 00:15:21,417
But the Serapeum itself
predates this,

300
00:15:21,583 --> 00:15:25,500
and its original purpose
was for something else.

301
00:15:25,708 --> 00:15:28,250
So what was the Serapeum for?

302
00:15:28,417 --> 00:15:30,833
NARRATOR:
While the purpose
of the stone boxes

303
00:15:31,042 --> 00:15:33,250
continues to
perplex researchers,

304
00:15:33,417 --> 00:15:35,333
some believe clues can be found

305
00:15:35,500 --> 00:15:38,000
by examining the contents
of another box

306
00:15:38,125 --> 00:15:40,000
found in the Serapeum,

307
00:15:40,167 --> 00:15:42,750
one not made of stone

308
00:15:42,917 --> 00:15:44,583
but wood.

309
00:15:50,208 --> 00:15:53,833
After discovering
24 massive stone sarcophagi

310
00:15:54,042 --> 00:15:56,958
within the Serapeum,
Auguste Mariette

311
00:15:57,167 --> 00:15:59,333
comes upon a much smaller coffin

312
00:15:59,542 --> 00:16:01,083
made of wood.

313
00:16:01,250 --> 00:16:03,500
There is a body inside it,

314
00:16:03,625 --> 00:16:05,292
and at first glance

315
00:16:05,458 --> 00:16:07,500
it appears human.

316
00:16:08,875 --> 00:16:12,292
He came across
a very unique burial.

317
00:16:12,375 --> 00:16:13,833
It looked human.

318
00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:17,167
And yet, when
the bones were examined,

319
00:16:17,250 --> 00:16:20,958
they were actually found
to be those of a bull.

320
00:16:21,917 --> 00:16:24,000
IKRAM:
Mariette found no head of a bull

321
00:16:24,167 --> 00:16:26,958
but just bits of bone

322
00:16:27,083 --> 00:16:29,667
of a bull wrapped up and then

323
00:16:29,833 --> 00:16:32,375
sort of a mask
of a human being on it.

324
00:16:33,833 --> 00:16:36,542
Egyptologists assumed
that the mask

325
00:16:36,708 --> 00:16:39,333
must belong to the builder
of the Serapeum

326
00:16:39,500 --> 00:16:41,167
and determined
the face it depicts

327
00:16:41,375 --> 00:16:42,833
is that of a prince who lived

328
00:16:43,042 --> 00:16:44,833
in the 13th century BC

329
00:16:45,042 --> 00:16:47,167
named Khaemweset.

330
00:16:48,208 --> 00:16:50,292
IKRAM:
People think that
the person who built

331
00:16:50,458 --> 00:16:53,458
the Serapeum
was Prince Khaemweset.

332
00:16:53,583 --> 00:16:56,750
Khaemweset was the fourth
son of King Ramses II.

333
00:16:58,000 --> 00:17:00,333
He was in charge of
the Temple of Ptah

334
00:17:00,500 --> 00:17:03,000
and also, therefore,
the temple of the Apis bull

335
00:17:03,208 --> 00:17:06,167
in the capital city of Memphis.

336
00:17:07,208 --> 00:17:08,875
NARRATOR:
There are many
researchers, however,

337
00:17:09,042 --> 00:17:10,875
who believe that Khaemweset

338
00:17:11,042 --> 00:17:12,875
did not build the Serapeum

339
00:17:13,042 --> 00:17:15,542
but only restored it.

340
00:17:15,708 --> 00:17:18,417
HENRY:
He's considered
the first Egyptologist.

341
00:17:18,542 --> 00:17:20,625
He starts documenting
who are the builders of

342
00:17:20,750 --> 00:17:21,750
all of these massive temples.

343
00:17:23,083 --> 00:17:24,625
He goes up to the Giza plateau,

344
00:17:24,792 --> 00:17:27,167
he restores the pyramids.

345
00:17:27,333 --> 00:17:30,125
All his life,
he is not a builder

346
00:17:30,292 --> 00:17:33,250
but a restorer and a documenter

347
00:17:33,375 --> 00:17:35,208
of these ancient structures.

348
00:17:35,333 --> 00:17:39,125
NARRATOR:
Archaeologists also
discovered evidence

349
00:17:39,250 --> 00:17:42,083
that the only two bulls
found in the Serapeum

350
00:17:42,208 --> 00:17:44,583
were put there
by Prince Khaemweset

351
00:17:44,750 --> 00:17:47,250
around 1200 BC.

352
00:17:47,417 --> 00:17:51,167
ROMANY:
He has a couple
of sarcophagi down there

353
00:17:51,292 --> 00:17:55,083
that he had put
Apis bull mummies in them.

354
00:17:55,292 --> 00:17:57,167
And he wrote that
on a little tablet

355
00:17:57,375 --> 00:18:00,667
next to that specific chamber

356
00:18:00,792 --> 00:18:03,625
that he added to the place
and he added to the Serapeum.

357
00:18:04,792 --> 00:18:07,458
CHILDRESS:
This was a typical thing
in ancient Egypt

358
00:18:07,625 --> 00:18:10,333
because many of
the monuments in Egypt were

359
00:18:10,500 --> 00:18:12,833
thousands of years old,
even for them.

360
00:18:13,042 --> 00:18:14,667
So the idea that the Serapeum

361
00:18:14,833 --> 00:18:16,667
is actually much older than

362
00:18:16,875 --> 00:18:19,125
even we think it is

363
00:18:19,250 --> 00:18:21,167
is a pretty valid theory.

364
00:18:22,917 --> 00:18:26,042
NARRATOR:
If the Serapeum
predates Prince Khaemweset,

365
00:18:26,208 --> 00:18:29,500
just how old is this
underground structure?

366
00:18:30,958 --> 00:18:32,667
Some researchers suggest

367
00:18:32,750 --> 00:18:36,000
the Serapeum is associated
with the Apis bull

368
00:18:36,167 --> 00:18:39,083
not because it was
a tomb for burying them

369
00:18:39,208 --> 00:18:41,333
but because it was
built at a time

370
00:18:41,458 --> 00:18:43,500
when worship of
the Apis bull cult

371
00:18:43,708 --> 00:18:45,375
first appeared in Egypt

372
00:18:45,542 --> 00:18:48,500
around 3200 BC.

373
00:18:58,708 --> 00:19:01,917
NARRATOR:
While excavating the underground
structure at Saqqâra,

374
00:19:02,083 --> 00:19:04,750
Egyptologist Auguste Mariette

375
00:19:04,917 --> 00:19:07,958
discovers a stela
that identifies the complex

376
00:19:08,083 --> 00:19:09,792
as the Serapeum.

377
00:19:10,833 --> 00:19:15,875
The Serapeum gets its name
from, uh, Serapis...

378
00:19:17,083 --> 00:19:19,750
...which was a Greek god

379
00:19:19,917 --> 00:19:22,458
that was a combination between

380
00:19:22,625 --> 00:19:26,292
an ancient Egyptian bull Apis

381
00:19:26,458 --> 00:19:28,500
and a Greek god at the time.

382
00:19:28,625 --> 00:19:31,708
The combination between
both was Serapis,

383
00:19:31,875 --> 00:19:33,500
and the Serapeum was the place

384
00:19:33,667 --> 00:19:36,708
where you go pray
for that specific god.

385
00:19:38,083 --> 00:19:40,208
McGOWAN:
The cult of the Apis bull,

386
00:19:40,375 --> 00:19:43,958
uh, which later
becomes known as Serapis,

387
00:19:44,125 --> 00:19:46,167
dates back to
the very first dynasty.

388
00:19:46,375 --> 00:19:48,000
The very early kings of Egypt

389
00:19:48,167 --> 00:19:50,750
worshipped
these particular bulls.

390
00:19:50,917 --> 00:19:54,125
ROMANY:
The Apis bull cult was

391
00:19:54,292 --> 00:19:56,375
extremely popular in Egypt
all the way back

392
00:19:56,583 --> 00:19:57,833
5,000 years ago.

393
00:19:59,458 --> 00:20:01,500
One of the first kings
of ancient Egypt,

394
00:20:01,667 --> 00:20:04,292
the First Dynasty, King Menes,

395
00:20:04,458 --> 00:20:07,542
who unified North Egypt
and South Egypt together,

396
00:20:07,708 --> 00:20:10,625
would represent himself
as a bull.

397
00:20:11,667 --> 00:20:15,625
NARRATOR:
King Menes is documented
as the first human pharaoh

398
00:20:15,750 --> 00:20:19,833
and is believed to
have ruled around 3200 BC.

399
00:20:20,042 --> 00:20:22,083
According to
their written history,

400
00:20:22,250 --> 00:20:23,958
before the reign of Menes,

401
00:20:24,125 --> 00:20:26,042
Egypt was ruled by the gods,

402
00:20:26,208 --> 00:20:28,542
who lived among humans on Earth.

403
00:20:28,750 --> 00:20:32,167
When the gods left,
Menes inherited the throne

404
00:20:32,333 --> 00:20:34,583
from the god-king Horus.

405
00:20:34,750 --> 00:20:36,792
HENRY:
The ancient Egyptians
believed that Horus

406
00:20:36,958 --> 00:20:38,667
was actually a god-man.

407
00:20:38,833 --> 00:20:41,875
He was a being
of flesh and blood.

408
00:20:42,042 --> 00:20:45,458
The ancient Egyptians
were in contact with the gods,

409
00:20:45,625 --> 00:20:48,333
physical manifestations,
extraterrestrial beings

410
00:20:48,542 --> 00:20:49,958
who came and lived with them.

411
00:20:51,167 --> 00:20:52,625
NARRATOR:
At the end of Horus's reign,

412
00:20:52,792 --> 00:20:54,958
the Egyptians wrote
that the gods

413
00:20:55,167 --> 00:20:57,667
no longer lived among humans

414
00:20:57,875 --> 00:21:00,417
but still held influence
over earthly events.

415
00:21:00,583 --> 00:21:03,750
One point of connection
between the gods

416
00:21:03,875 --> 00:21:07,083
and the mortal world
was the Apis bull.

417
00:21:07,208 --> 00:21:10,292
COLLINS:
In many ways,
the Apis bull was seen to be

418
00:21:10,458 --> 00:21:13,250
a personification
of that contact

419
00:21:13,375 --> 00:21:17,708
between this world
and the star world.

420
00:21:17,875 --> 00:21:19,625
So, is it possible that

421
00:21:19,792 --> 00:21:24,667
the Serapeum is associated
with the Apis bulls

422
00:21:24,875 --> 00:21:27,833
because there is
some kind of connection

423
00:21:28,042 --> 00:21:29,625
with a celestial intelligence

424
00:21:29,708 --> 00:21:34,000
and what these underground
structures really represent?

425
00:21:35,042 --> 00:21:38,167
NARRATOR:
Could it be that
the Serapeum of Saqqâra

426
00:21:38,292 --> 00:21:41,333
was built more than
5,000 years ago

427
00:21:41,458 --> 00:21:45,583
and has a connection
to otherworldly visitors?

428
00:21:45,792 --> 00:21:47,958
Ancient astronaut
theorists suggest

429
00:21:48,083 --> 00:21:52,458
clues can be found by examining
the size of these boxes.

430
00:21:52,625 --> 00:21:54,542
CHILDRESS:
When you think of a sarcophagus,

431
00:21:54,708 --> 00:21:57,750
you don't think
of something so large

432
00:21:57,917 --> 00:22:00,125
as what's in the Serapeum.

433
00:22:00,250 --> 00:22:03,167
They're about ten feet high

434
00:22:03,375 --> 00:22:06,583
and almost 20 feet long.

435
00:22:06,708 --> 00:22:11,708
And it's way too large
for these Apis bulls.

436
00:22:12,750 --> 00:22:15,333
HENRY:
In traditional
Egyptian sarcophagi building,

437
00:22:15,500 --> 00:22:17,458
they would create
the sarcophagus so that

438
00:22:17,542 --> 00:22:19,500
it very closely matched
the dimensions

439
00:22:19,708 --> 00:22:22,458
of the body inside it
in order to preserve it.

440
00:22:22,625 --> 00:22:26,250
These boxes
are many times too large

441
00:22:26,375 --> 00:22:29,000
for even an Apis bull,

442
00:22:29,167 --> 00:22:30,750
so this is pointing to the idea

443
00:22:30,917 --> 00:22:35,000
that something else was
concealed within these boxes.

444
00:22:35,125 --> 00:22:39,917
NARRATOR:
Some ancient astronaut theorists
believe an important clue

445
00:22:40,042 --> 00:22:43,292
as to what the giant
stone boxes may have held

446
00:22:43,458 --> 00:22:47,417
can be found at a site
400 miles to the south.

447
00:22:49,042 --> 00:22:52,333
Armant, Egypt. 1929.

448
00:22:52,500 --> 00:22:55,500
British archaeologist
Sir Robert Mond

449
00:22:55,583 --> 00:22:58,583
begins an excavation
of an ancient catacomb

450
00:22:58,708 --> 00:23:02,917
called the Bucheum and makes
an extraordinary discovery.

451
00:23:03,042 --> 00:23:07,500
TSOUKALOS:
There is a place called
the Bucheum

452
00:23:07,667 --> 00:23:11,333
where they found
similar type sarcophagi

453
00:23:11,500 --> 00:23:13,250
to the Serapeum,

454
00:23:13,417 --> 00:23:15,333
and it was at the Bucheum

455
00:23:15,500 --> 00:23:17,500
where they found
remains mummified

456
00:23:17,708 --> 00:23:20,000
in the shape of a bull.

457
00:23:20,125 --> 00:23:24,333
And they thought,
"Finally, we found the remains

458
00:23:24,542 --> 00:23:26,917
of a mummified Apis bull."

459
00:23:27,958 --> 00:23:30,500
And they opened up
the mummified remains

460
00:23:30,708 --> 00:23:34,500
and they were confronted with
this stinking mass of bitumen,

461
00:23:34,667 --> 00:23:37,958
which is asphalt,
in which they found

462
00:23:38,125 --> 00:23:41,583
tiny, tiny fragments of bones.

463
00:23:41,750 --> 00:23:45,167
Now, it was anathema
in ancient Egypt

464
00:23:45,333 --> 00:23:48,333
to destroy any dead bodies.

465
00:23:48,542 --> 00:23:50,833
You had to mummify them

466
00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:54,375
and you had to
mummify them intact.

467
00:23:55,375 --> 00:23:58,333
VON DÄNIKEN:
All Egyptians,
they mummified everything.

468
00:23:58,542 --> 00:24:00,833
They mummified not only humans.

469
00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:03,458
They mummified birds.

470
00:24:03,667 --> 00:24:07,750
They mummified apes.
They mummified dogs.

471
00:24:07,875 --> 00:24:11,292
Why do they mummify
every animal?

472
00:24:11,500 --> 00:24:13,583
Because you can only
be reincarnated

473
00:24:13,750 --> 00:24:15,708
when your body is conserved.

474
00:24:17,458 --> 00:24:18,833
NARRATOR:
What could explain the mixture

475
00:24:18,958 --> 00:24:22,750
of broken animal bones
found in this one sarcophagus?

476
00:24:22,917 --> 00:24:25,667
According to
ancient astronaut theorists,

477
00:24:25,833 --> 00:24:29,667
they could be the remains
of a monster.

478
00:24:29,833 --> 00:24:32,292
I have speculated
and I have suggested

479
00:24:32,458 --> 00:24:34,333
that these broken bones

480
00:24:34,542 --> 00:24:38,792
come from mixed creatures
in mythology.

481
00:24:39,875 --> 00:24:41,292
TSOUKALOS:
All throughout ancient Egypt,

482
00:24:41,417 --> 00:24:44,042
you have not just
ancient stories

483
00:24:44,167 --> 00:24:46,792
of these hybrid mixture beings

484
00:24:46,917 --> 00:24:49,583
between half-man, half-animal,

485
00:24:49,750 --> 00:24:53,250
but you have thousands
of depictions

486
00:24:53,417 --> 00:24:54,542
in figurines,

487
00:24:54,708 --> 00:24:57,792
in statues, in carvings,

488
00:24:57,958 --> 00:25:00,500
in all the ancient
Egyptian texts,

489
00:25:00,625 --> 00:25:03,750
you have reference
to these hybrid creatures.

490
00:25:03,875 --> 00:25:08,167
COLLINS:
The classical writer
Alexander Polyhistor

491
00:25:08,333 --> 00:25:10,417
talked about the ancient world

492
00:25:10,542 --> 00:25:13,458
being filled
with hybrid creatures.

493
00:25:13,625 --> 00:25:16,250
And he said that
these actually existed

494
00:25:16,417 --> 00:25:18,167
as living creatures.

495
00:25:19,542 --> 00:25:21,750
TSOUKALOS:
The Egyptians were very clear

496
00:25:21,917 --> 00:25:24,417
in making
the distinction between

497
00:25:24,583 --> 00:25:28,292
regular animals and then
these celestial creatures

498
00:25:28,458 --> 00:25:31,375
that they themselves say
these beings existed.

499
00:25:31,583 --> 00:25:34,208
And in the opinion
of the classic

500
00:25:34,417 --> 00:25:35,875
ancient astronaut theory,

501
00:25:36,042 --> 00:25:38,708
they were genetic experiments
by extraterrestrials.

502
00:25:39,750 --> 00:25:42,083
I think it's quite possible
that the reason

503
00:25:42,292 --> 00:25:43,667
why these boxes were built

504
00:25:43,833 --> 00:25:45,833
is that these hybrid monsters,

505
00:25:46,042 --> 00:25:49,458
these genetic mutations
by extraterrestrials

506
00:25:49,625 --> 00:25:51,000
were placed in there

507
00:25:51,167 --> 00:25:54,042
so they would be ensured
never to come back.

508
00:25:54,208 --> 00:25:58,667
Because the ancient Egyptians
were very, very adamant that,

509
00:25:58,875 --> 00:26:03,875
if you bury your dead intact,
they will one day come back.

510
00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:08,458
NARRATOR:
Could it be that the Serapeum
and the giant stone boxes

511
00:26:08,667 --> 00:26:11,208
found within it
were built to entomb

512
00:26:11,375 --> 00:26:14,000
dangerous hybrid creatures?

513
00:26:14,208 --> 00:26:17,500
Is this why it is buried
so deep beneath the earth

514
00:26:17,667 --> 00:26:21,125
and also why the sarcophagi
are so massive?

515
00:26:21,333 --> 00:26:23,625
Some ancient astronaut theorists

516
00:26:23,750 --> 00:26:26,542
suggest the Serapeum
wasn't built

517
00:26:26,708 --> 00:26:28,167
to hold dangerous creatures

518
00:26:28,375 --> 00:26:32,208
but rather dangerous technology.

519
00:26:40,375 --> 00:26:42,500
NARRATOR:
In the 1970s,

520
00:26:42,667 --> 00:26:45,250
archaeologists begin
a massive excavation

521
00:26:45,375 --> 00:26:46,458
and restoration effort

522
00:26:46,583 --> 00:26:49,833
in the ancient burial complex,

523
00:26:50,042 --> 00:26:54,875
which includes a deeper
examination of the Serapeum.

524
00:26:55,000 --> 00:26:59,250
The undertaking sparks interest
among engineers,

525
00:26:59,458 --> 00:27:01,125
who hope that modern technology

526
00:27:01,333 --> 00:27:04,833
can shed new light on
the structure's mysterious past.

527
00:27:05,042 --> 00:27:07,667
And in 1978,

528
00:27:07,875 --> 00:27:10,750
American construction expert
James Ernest Brown

529
00:27:10,917 --> 00:27:14,625
makes a curious discovery.

530
00:27:14,750 --> 00:27:18,208
He goes into this crypt,
into the catacombs,

531
00:27:18,375 --> 00:27:21,625
and he notices that the walls
are covered with salt

532
00:27:21,750 --> 00:27:24,875
and sodium chloride
that's actually visible.

533
00:27:25,875 --> 00:27:28,208
This is curious to Brown
because in Europe

534
00:27:28,375 --> 00:27:32,000
proposals had been made
to house nuclear waste

535
00:27:32,167 --> 00:27:35,625
in granite boxes that
were filled with salt water.

536
00:27:35,750 --> 00:27:37,542
And in his mind, he's thinking

537
00:27:37,708 --> 00:27:40,167
this is some kind of
a toxic waste dump.

538
00:27:41,292 --> 00:27:43,833
NARRATOR:
After noticing salt
on the stone boxes,

539
00:27:44,042 --> 00:27:47,292
Brown decided to measure
radiation levels

540
00:27:47,458 --> 00:27:48,750
within the Serapeum.

541
00:27:48,917 --> 00:27:50,125
COLLINS:
What he found

542
00:27:50,333 --> 00:27:53,917
was that the levels of, um,

543
00:27:54,125 --> 00:27:58,167
radiation inside the sarcophagi

544
00:27:58,333 --> 00:28:03,417
was as much as three times that
of the corridors

545
00:28:03,583 --> 00:28:08,417
that linked to the side chambers
that contained the sarcophagi.

546
00:28:09,458 --> 00:28:13,917
So why is it that there are
such high levels of radiation?

547
00:28:14,042 --> 00:28:16,292
These are not dangerous levels,
by the way,

548
00:28:16,458 --> 00:28:18,000
so don't worry
about going there.

549
00:28:18,167 --> 00:28:23,125
But it's certainly very, very
interesting that you have

550
00:28:23,292 --> 00:28:27,292
this radiation present
inside the Serapeum.

551
00:28:28,458 --> 00:28:31,333
NARRATOR:
Is it possible
that the Serapeum was used

552
00:28:31,500 --> 00:28:33,833
to house radioactive material?

553
00:28:34,000 --> 00:28:36,708
While it may sound far-fetched,

554
00:28:36,875 --> 00:28:40,042
aerospace engineer
and machinist Chris Dunn

555
00:28:40,208 --> 00:28:43,542
has measured the boxes
and believes their precision

556
00:28:43,708 --> 00:28:47,792
supports the idea that they
were designed to be airtight.

557
00:28:48,708 --> 00:28:51,667
To say it was
a mind-blowing experience

558
00:28:51,875 --> 00:28:54,167
would be an understatement

559
00:28:54,292 --> 00:28:56,875
because when I measured

560
00:28:57,042 --> 00:28:59,875
the precision of the box
on just the outside,

561
00:29:00,042 --> 00:29:05,000
I found that they were
quite precise, quite flat.

562
00:29:05,208 --> 00:29:07,917
And the question in my mind was,

563
00:29:08,083 --> 00:29:10,625
why do they need to be
so precise?

564
00:29:10,750 --> 00:29:13,792
Because in manufacturing
and engineering,

565
00:29:13,958 --> 00:29:16,333
we don't manufacture
that kind of precision

566
00:29:16,542 --> 00:29:18,833
unless there is a need for it.

567
00:29:18,958 --> 00:29:22,750
The extraordinary precision
with which they were crafted

568
00:29:22,875 --> 00:29:27,083
speaks to a much higher purpose
than a-a simple coffin.

569
00:29:28,875 --> 00:29:31,667
COLLINS:
So what exactly
is going on down there?

570
00:29:31,875 --> 00:29:35,458
Is it possible that
the granite sarcophagi

571
00:29:35,667 --> 00:29:37,792
give off an energy

572
00:29:37,917 --> 00:29:41,333
that somehow increases
the radiation levels down there?

573
00:29:41,542 --> 00:29:45,333
Or is that radiation seeping up

574
00:29:45,542 --> 00:29:49,083
into the corridors and chambers

575
00:29:49,208 --> 00:29:54,000
that is mixing with the natural
electromagnetic properties

576
00:29:54,208 --> 00:29:57,833
of the sarcophagi to make them
into some kind of

577
00:29:58,042 --> 00:30:00,167
functional chamber?

578
00:30:01,500 --> 00:30:05,125
CHILDRESS:
I mean, one of the ideas, too,
of the sarcophagi is that

579
00:30:05,292 --> 00:30:08,750
they're super high-tech
storage devices.

580
00:30:08,958 --> 00:30:11,833
They're hermetically sealed.
They're, you know,

581
00:30:12,042 --> 00:30:14,917
in spaces that would be
difficult to get to.

582
00:30:15,083 --> 00:30:17,958
Uh, the lids are very heavy.
It would be hard to remove them.

583
00:30:19,542 --> 00:30:21,833
NARRATOR:
Could it be that
the giant stone boxes

584
00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:25,750
of the Serapeum
had a technological function?

585
00:30:25,875 --> 00:30:28,792
Some scientists suggest

586
00:30:28,917 --> 00:30:31,750
that the type of rock
the giant boxes were made from--

587
00:30:31,875 --> 00:30:34,042
which is rich
in quartz crystal--

588
00:30:34,250 --> 00:30:36,542
can produce
electromagnetic energy

589
00:30:36,667 --> 00:30:40,625
through what's known as
the piezoelectric effect.

590
00:30:40,750 --> 00:30:43,167
It's a known effect
that pressure

591
00:30:43,333 --> 00:30:46,833
on some natural crystals
can generate light.

592
00:30:47,042 --> 00:30:48,500
For quartz,
you can get it to glow.

593
00:30:48,708 --> 00:30:49,833
If you strike
two crystals together,

594
00:30:50,042 --> 00:30:51,000
you will get them to glow.

595
00:30:51,208 --> 00:30:53,208
TRAVIS TAYLOR:
Quartz crystal

596
00:30:53,375 --> 00:30:54,917
have a distribution

597
00:30:55,083 --> 00:30:57,125
of negative charges on one side

598
00:30:57,250 --> 00:30:59,000
and more positive charges
on the other.

599
00:30:59,167 --> 00:31:02,083
And if you squeeze that,

600
00:31:02,250 --> 00:31:04,958
you can actually get an
electrical current through that.

601
00:31:05,042 --> 00:31:07,375
This is called
the piezoelectric effect.

602
00:31:08,875 --> 00:31:10,917
It's really interesting
that this box

603
00:31:11,083 --> 00:31:13,750
is made out of this material.

604
00:31:13,875 --> 00:31:15,917
It's really intriguing to me

605
00:31:16,083 --> 00:31:17,708
what the
electromagnetic conditions

606
00:31:17,875 --> 00:31:19,875
might be inside this box.

607
00:31:20,042 --> 00:31:23,000
Is this some sort of
shielded box

608
00:31:23,208 --> 00:31:25,917
for, uh, of
electromagnetic energy?

609
00:31:26,125 --> 00:31:29,458
Is it an amplifier
of electromagnetic energy?

610
00:31:29,542 --> 00:31:31,500
Is it doing something else?

611
00:31:33,542 --> 00:31:36,250
NARRATOR:
Is it possible that
the giant granite boxes

612
00:31:36,417 --> 00:31:39,750
in the Serapeum were able
to generate energy?

613
00:31:39,875 --> 00:31:42,750
Is this the answer
as to why the boxes

614
00:31:42,917 --> 00:31:45,167
of the Serapeum are so large?

615
00:31:46,375 --> 00:31:48,750
Ancient astronaut theorists
say yes

616
00:31:48,875 --> 00:31:53,000
and believe further evidence can
be found in historic accounts

617
00:31:53,167 --> 00:31:56,542
that claimed the giant boxes
could transport people

618
00:31:56,708 --> 00:31:59,292
through space and time.

619
00:32:05,958 --> 00:32:08,458
NARRATOR:
The 24 mysterious stone boxes

620
00:32:08,583 --> 00:32:12,500
inside the Serapeum
have fascinated Egyptologists

621
00:32:12,625 --> 00:32:15,667
for more than 170 years.

622
00:32:15,833 --> 00:32:18,167
But even with modern technology,

623
00:32:18,333 --> 00:32:22,500
archaeologists are no closer
to unraveling their secrets.

624
00:32:22,708 --> 00:32:24,667
While there are many theories

625
00:32:24,875 --> 00:32:26,833
as to what they might have held,

626
00:32:27,042 --> 00:32:29,000
some researchers suggest

627
00:32:29,125 --> 00:32:33,833
that the boxes themselves
were a technological instrument.

628
00:32:33,958 --> 00:32:35,500
HENRY:
One interesting line of thought

629
00:32:35,625 --> 00:32:38,083
concerning these boxes
involves sound.

630
00:32:38,292 --> 00:32:39,833
The boxes are granite.

631
00:32:40,042 --> 00:32:42,250
Granite is mostly
quartz crystal,

632
00:32:42,417 --> 00:32:45,333
which responds
to sound when activated.

633
00:32:45,500 --> 00:32:47,500
I've literally been
in the presence

634
00:32:47,667 --> 00:32:51,542
of one of the obelisks, which is
also composed of granite,

635
00:32:51,667 --> 00:32:53,500
that when struck with a fist,

636
00:32:53,667 --> 00:32:55,333
that obelisk will start humming,

637
00:32:55,500 --> 00:32:57,458
-massively humming.
-(humming)

638
00:32:57,583 --> 00:33:00,083
It's profound.

639
00:33:00,208 --> 00:33:01,833
So what if there was
something like that

640
00:33:02,000 --> 00:33:04,333
that was involved
with the granite boxes as well?

641
00:33:04,542 --> 00:33:07,250
That they're activated by sound
and they're doing something

642
00:33:07,417 --> 00:33:10,083
to whatever is held
within that box?

643
00:33:11,375 --> 00:33:15,750
CHILDRESS:
One idea about the sarcophagi
at the Serapeum is

644
00:33:15,917 --> 00:33:18,125
that the measurements
and dimensions

645
00:33:18,292 --> 00:33:21,958
of the box itself
can have like

646
00:33:22,125 --> 00:33:24,333
a harmonic vibration.

647
00:33:24,542 --> 00:33:28,417
And it's been suggested
that it's a vibration tool.

648
00:33:31,208 --> 00:33:32,625
COLLINS:
It almost seemed important

649
00:33:32,792 --> 00:33:35,375
that there was some kind
of vibration

650
00:33:35,542 --> 00:33:39,125
associated with these sarcophagi
that will

651
00:33:39,292 --> 00:33:41,833
affect human consciousness,

652
00:33:42,042 --> 00:33:44,375
send us into altered states
of consciousness.

653
00:33:45,583 --> 00:33:48,667
SCHOCH:
Some researchers
and others have gone

654
00:33:48,875 --> 00:33:50,708
to the Serapeum

655
00:33:50,875 --> 00:33:54,875
and they've experienced
psychic-type experiences.

656
00:33:55,042 --> 00:33:57,083
And I don't dismiss that
out of hand.

657
00:33:57,250 --> 00:33:59,458
Some people have suggested
that maybe they were used

658
00:33:59,625 --> 00:34:02,000
for some kind
of initiation rites,

659
00:34:02,125 --> 00:34:04,875
out-of-body experiences,

660
00:34:05,042 --> 00:34:08,042
some kind
of increased consciousness,

661
00:34:08,208 --> 00:34:11,375
or going into altered states
of consciousness.

662
00:34:11,542 --> 00:34:15,292
Many of these ancient sites
could be multipurpose

663
00:34:15,458 --> 00:34:19,208
even if they were being used
for "practical purposes."

664
00:34:19,375 --> 00:34:23,042
In some cases
they may have been used also

665
00:34:23,208 --> 00:34:25,167
to induce psychic phenomena.

666
00:34:26,375 --> 00:34:30,708
NARRATOR:
Could it be that the sarcophagi
in the Serapeum

667
00:34:30,875 --> 00:34:32,667
were crafted so precisely

668
00:34:32,875 --> 00:34:36,625
in order to produce some sort
of vibrational effect?

669
00:34:36,792 --> 00:34:39,375
One that can alter the mind,

670
00:34:39,542 --> 00:34:42,292
perhaps to communicate
with beings existing

671
00:34:42,458 --> 00:34:45,167
in higher dimensional realms?

672
00:34:47,958 --> 00:34:49,542
While some researchers believe

673
00:34:49,667 --> 00:34:53,208
that energy produced
by the sarcophagi was intended

674
00:34:53,375 --> 00:34:56,208
to induce altered states
of consciousness,

675
00:34:56,375 --> 00:35:00,583
others have proposed an even
more profound possibility.

676
00:35:01,625 --> 00:35:06,292
That the stone boxes were used
for teleportation.

677
00:35:06,458 --> 00:35:09,000
HENRY:
The granite boxes
at the Serapeum have connections

678
00:35:09,167 --> 00:35:11,667
with the sacred Apis bulls.

679
00:35:11,833 --> 00:35:14,625
And what's fascinating is
that the later Greeks claimed

680
00:35:14,792 --> 00:35:18,583
that Apis bulls were created
by flashes of light.

681
00:35:18,750 --> 00:35:21,375
-[thunder cracking]
-They connected them
with lightning.

682
00:35:22,917 --> 00:35:24,583
They also connected
their creation

683
00:35:24,750 --> 00:35:27,208
with flashes of light
that came from the Moon.

684
00:35:28,167 --> 00:35:31,083
What are we talking about here?

685
00:35:31,292 --> 00:35:33,250
We're talking about a bull

686
00:35:33,417 --> 00:35:35,792
-produced by a flash
of lightning?
-[thunder cracks]

687
00:35:35,958 --> 00:35:37,542
Or are we talking about a god

688
00:35:37,708 --> 00:35:40,958
who suddenly appears
in a flash of lightning?

689
00:35:41,167 --> 00:35:43,333
This flash of lightning business
is really integral

690
00:35:43,458 --> 00:35:46,333
to what we're talking about
because

691
00:35:46,500 --> 00:35:49,042
we also have the pyramid texts.

692
00:35:49,208 --> 00:35:51,167
They have utterances
within them that say

693
00:35:51,375 --> 00:35:53,333
the pharaohs became
like lightning.

694
00:35:53,500 --> 00:35:55,250
The pharaoh went
through the portal.

695
00:35:55,417 --> 00:35:57,542
The pharaoh is now a god.

696
00:35:57,708 --> 00:36:00,500
When we put
all these pieces together,

697
00:36:00,667 --> 00:36:04,042
it sounds as if that
the Serapeum could be a place

698
00:36:04,208 --> 00:36:06,958
where a god could enter
the box

699
00:36:07,083 --> 00:36:09,458
and somehow,
in a flash of lightning,

700
00:36:09,625 --> 00:36:13,542
could return
to its place of origin.

701
00:36:13,667 --> 00:36:17,208
CHILDRESS:
The idea that these sarcophagi

702
00:36:17,375 --> 00:36:22,000
or boxes are some kind
of teleportation device

703
00:36:22,167 --> 00:36:24,667
may seem, you know,
pretty amazing,

704
00:36:24,833 --> 00:36:28,625
but the ancient Egyptians did
believe in this kind of a thing.

705
00:36:28,833 --> 00:36:35,583
And the idea of pharaohs going
to stars and other places--

706
00:36:35,708 --> 00:36:39,167
that's part
of the Egyptian religion.

707
00:36:39,375 --> 00:36:42,542
HENRY:
This is not far-fetched
in light of what we know

708
00:36:42,708 --> 00:36:45,000
about the ancient
Egyptian belief

709
00:36:45,167 --> 00:36:47,125
in the transfiguration
of the human body

710
00:36:47,333 --> 00:36:48,667
into light or lightning.

711
00:36:48,833 --> 00:36:52,500
It seems
that that idea is pointing us

712
00:36:52,667 --> 00:36:55,250
to the actual purpose
of the Serapeum

713
00:36:55,417 --> 00:36:58,000
and a true understanding
of what the bull represents.

714
00:36:59,042 --> 00:37:01,667
NARRATOR:
Is it possible
that the giant stone boxes

715
00:37:01,875 --> 00:37:05,917
at the Serapeum are
ancient teleportation devices?

716
00:37:06,042 --> 00:37:08,708
Were they designed
to hold the mummified remains

717
00:37:08,917 --> 00:37:10,625
of an Apis bull?

718
00:37:10,833 --> 00:37:15,750
Or could they even have been
used to contain hybrid monsters?

719
00:37:16,708 --> 00:37:19,458
Ancient astronaut theorists
believe

720
00:37:19,583 --> 00:37:22,167
new discoveries being made
beneath the sands of Saqqâra

721
00:37:22,375 --> 00:37:27,250
may soon provide the key
to solving the mystery.

722
00:37:37,708 --> 00:37:41,167
NARRATOR: Archaeologists digging
near the Step Pyramid of Djoser

723
00:37:41,375 --> 00:37:45,792
make a remarkable find
33 feet beneath the earth--

724
00:37:45,958 --> 00:37:50,292
a mummy that may be
the oldest ever found in Egypt.

725
00:37:50,458 --> 00:37:53,917
The mummy--
believed to date to 2300 BC--

726
00:37:54,083 --> 00:37:57,333
is sealed tightly
within a limestone sarcophagus.

727
00:37:57,500 --> 00:38:00,000
And this sarcophagus,

728
00:38:00,167 --> 00:38:02,625
like the more than 450 others

729
00:38:02,792 --> 00:38:04,708
that have been unearthed
in Saqqâra,

730
00:38:04,875 --> 00:38:08,917
is nowhere near as large
or precisely crafted

731
00:38:09,083 --> 00:38:12,792
as the stone boxes
that reside in the Serapeum.

732
00:38:12,958 --> 00:38:16,292
As far as ancient astronaut
theorists are concerned,

733
00:38:16,458 --> 00:38:18,333
this serves as further evidence

734
00:38:18,500 --> 00:38:21,042
that the Serapeum belongs
to a far older

735
00:38:21,250 --> 00:38:23,333
and more sophisticated
civilization

736
00:38:23,500 --> 00:38:26,458
than most Egyptologists propose.

737
00:38:26,625 --> 00:38:28,125
CHILDRESS:
What we're learning is

738
00:38:28,292 --> 00:38:32,333
that whoever was making
these sarcophagi

739
00:38:32,500 --> 00:38:37,250
had technology that's at least
equal to us today.

740
00:38:37,375 --> 00:38:40,083
So it really shows us

741
00:38:40,250 --> 00:38:43,042
that things were going on
in ancient Egypt

742
00:38:43,208 --> 00:38:44,667
that are just inexplicable

743
00:38:44,833 --> 00:38:48,000
and cannot be explained
by normal science.

744
00:38:49,792 --> 00:38:52,667
TSOUKALOS:
One of the things
that is crystal clear to me

745
00:38:52,792 --> 00:38:57,583
is that a technology was used,
especially in the Serapeum,

746
00:38:57,708 --> 00:38:59,333
that has since been lost.

747
00:39:00,708 --> 00:39:03,833
We today would
have great difficulties

748
00:39:04,000 --> 00:39:06,417
recreating the Serapeum.

749
00:39:06,542 --> 00:39:08,250
And today we would use

750
00:39:08,417 --> 00:39:13,083
the most sophisticated
technology available to us.

751
00:39:13,250 --> 00:39:17,958
Nobody in their right mind would
take on a construction project

752
00:39:18,125 --> 00:39:21,958
like that unless
there was a pressing reason.

753
00:39:23,000 --> 00:39:25,667
NARRATOR:
While nothing like
the Serapeum of Saqqâra

754
00:39:25,833 --> 00:39:28,792
has ever been found
anywhere else on Earth,

755
00:39:28,958 --> 00:39:31,292
experts believe
that many lost marvels

756
00:39:31,500 --> 00:39:34,125
of the ancient world
still lie hidden

757
00:39:34,292 --> 00:39:37,250
beneath the sands of Egypt.

758
00:39:37,458 --> 00:39:39,042
McGOWAN:
They are finding new things

759
00:39:39,208 --> 00:39:41,917
in Saqqâra literally every day.

760
00:39:42,083 --> 00:39:43,667
It is one of the most active

761
00:39:43,875 --> 00:39:46,250
and exciting archaeological
sites in the world.

762
00:39:46,417 --> 00:39:49,333
There could be more Serapeums,

763
00:39:49,458 --> 00:39:51,417
there could be more temples.

764
00:39:51,583 --> 00:39:54,500
The possibilities
are literally endless.

765
00:39:54,625 --> 00:39:57,417
And the more technology
we have moving into the future,

766
00:39:57,583 --> 00:40:00,458
the more we can survey
the land in Egypt

767
00:40:00,625 --> 00:40:04,583
and understand how much
there is still to be excavated.

768
00:40:06,375 --> 00:40:11,792
ROMANY:
Two-thirds of ancient Egypt
is still under the sands.

769
00:40:12,833 --> 00:40:16,333
There will be discoveries
in Saqqâra,

770
00:40:16,542 --> 00:40:18,625
maybe right next
to the Serapeum,

771
00:40:18,708 --> 00:40:20,833
maybe inside the Serapeum,

772
00:40:21,042 --> 00:40:25,333
that will uncover more and more
of the secrets

773
00:40:25,500 --> 00:40:28,667
and mysteries
about the Serapeum.

774
00:40:29,750 --> 00:40:33,000
The question is not if,
the question is when.

775
00:40:33,208 --> 00:40:36,708
And it might be right there,
right under our noses.

776
00:40:37,708 --> 00:40:40,292
TSOUKALOS:
The Serapeum is a treasure trove

777
00:40:40,375 --> 00:40:43,292
for the ancient
astronaut theory

778
00:40:43,375 --> 00:40:47,000
because the stories
which are combined

779
00:40:47,208 --> 00:40:50,500
with the gigantic boxes
is always

780
00:40:50,708 --> 00:40:54,667
in reference to the so-called
guardians of the sky.

781
00:40:54,875 --> 00:40:56,542
Now, who were these guys?

782
00:40:56,708 --> 00:40:58,500
Well, according
to the ancient Egyptians,

783
00:40:58,708 --> 00:41:00,167
they were their gods,

784
00:41:00,375 --> 00:41:03,125
gods that lived
in a celestial realm.

785
00:41:03,333 --> 00:41:04,917
But at some point

786
00:41:05,083 --> 00:41:10,833
those celestial gods mingled
with people on Earth.

787
00:41:11,042 --> 00:41:12,750
And that, in my opinion,

788
00:41:12,917 --> 00:41:15,750
cannot be a figment
of somebody's imagination.

789
00:41:15,875 --> 00:41:17,542
And so,

790
00:41:17,708 --> 00:41:24,167
is the smoking gun still waiting
somewhere underneath the sand?

791
00:41:24,292 --> 00:41:28,000
I think the answer
to that is a resounding yes.

792
00:41:30,125 --> 00:41:33,167
NARRATOR:
170 years since its discovery,

793
00:41:33,292 --> 00:41:35,833
the Serapeum of Saqqâra
remains one

794
00:41:35,958 --> 00:41:38,000
of the world's
greatest mysteries.

795
00:41:38,208 --> 00:41:39,958
Could it have been built

796
00:41:40,125 --> 00:41:42,917
to entomb monstrous
hybrid creatures?

797
00:41:43,042 --> 00:41:47,500
Was it connected
to an advanced alien technology?

798
00:41:47,625 --> 00:41:50,625
Or might it have served
a more profound purpose

799
00:41:50,792 --> 00:41:53,375
than we can even imagine?

800
00:41:53,500 --> 00:41:57,500
Perhaps the answer lies buried
beneath the sands of Egypt,

801
00:41:57,625 --> 00:41:59,542
and when
it is finally uncovered,

802
00:41:59,708 --> 00:42:01,375
it will reveal the truth

803
00:42:01,500 --> 00:42:05,500
about our
extraterrestrial origins.

804
00:42:05,667 --> 00:42:08,042
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