1 00:00:01,917 --> 00:00:04,208 [William Shatner] Mystical lost cities 2 00:00:04,375 --> 00:00:08,500 that have captivated explorers for hundreds of years, 3 00:00:08,667 --> 00:00:12,542 mysterious tunnels that draw extraordinary adventurers 4 00:00:12,750 --> 00:00:15,083 into hidden tombs, 5 00:00:15,208 --> 00:00:20,083 and entire lost worlds just waiting to be found. 6 00:00:21,917 --> 00:00:23,917 Africa. 7 00:00:24,083 --> 00:00:27,000 The immense size and immediately recognizable shape 8 00:00:27,167 --> 00:00:29,417 of this incredible continent 9 00:00:29,583 --> 00:00:32,792 can only be described with one word: 10 00:00:32,958 --> 00:00:34,458 iconic. 11 00:00:34,583 --> 00:00:38,833 Its landscape is endlessly diverse, 12 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:41,958 holding vast, uncharted wilderness, 13 00:00:42,125 --> 00:00:44,667 mysterious, ancient ruins, 14 00:00:44,833 --> 00:00:46,875 dramatic local legends, 15 00:00:47,042 --> 00:00:50,458 and not to mention paradigm-shifting discoveries 16 00:00:50,625 --> 00:00:52,250 that have both challenged 17 00:00:52,417 --> 00:00:55,917 and rewritten the history of our species on planet Earth. 18 00:00:56,042 --> 00:00:57,500 What is it 19 00:00:57,708 --> 00:01:01,167 that continues to draw explorers and adventurers 20 00:01:01,333 --> 00:01:04,875 to expansive and enigmatic Africa? 21 00:01:05,042 --> 00:01:08,833 Well, that is what we'll try and find out. 22 00:01:09,042 --> 00:01:11,167 ♪ ♪ 23 00:01:23,083 --> 00:01:25,167 [Shatner] The continent of Africa. 24 00:01:25,333 --> 00:01:27,125 This majestic landmass spans 25 00:01:27,292 --> 00:01:31,250 an incredible 11.7 million square miles, 26 00:01:31,417 --> 00:01:35,083 a space that would comfortably fit the United States, 27 00:01:35,208 --> 00:01:38,042 China, India and most of Europe. 28 00:01:38,208 --> 00:01:40,958 And Africa's massive scale 29 00:01:41,042 --> 00:01:43,208 is echoed in its natural features, 30 00:01:43,375 --> 00:01:46,833 like the world's largest hot desert, 31 00:01:47,042 --> 00:01:50,417 the planet's longest river, 32 00:01:50,583 --> 00:01:54,333 and Earth's highest freestanding mountain. 33 00:01:54,542 --> 00:01:57,542 Africa is also home to the largest 34 00:01:57,708 --> 00:02:01,167 and the tallest creatures on dry land. 35 00:02:01,375 --> 00:02:05,625 But even today, the sheer size of the continent 36 00:02:05,750 --> 00:02:09,042 is largely underestimated. 37 00:02:09,208 --> 00:02:10,375 [Ben McGee] Africa is actually 38 00:02:10,542 --> 00:02:12,000 a lot bigger than people think it is, 39 00:02:12,208 --> 00:02:13,333 and there's a reason for that. 40 00:02:13,542 --> 00:02:15,333 The type of world maps that we've used, 41 00:02:15,542 --> 00:02:17,500 the Mercator map, have effectively shrunk 42 00:02:17,708 --> 00:02:19,667 the size of Africa-- 'cause it's in the middle-- 43 00:02:19,792 --> 00:02:21,500 and stretched things near the poles... 44 00:02:22,542 --> 00:02:25,792 ...making Africa look much smaller than it actually is. 45 00:02:25,917 --> 00:02:28,292 Africa is unbelievably big 46 00:02:28,500 --> 00:02:32,208 and incredibly diverse when it comes to topography. 47 00:02:32,375 --> 00:02:36,000 It encompasses giant rift valleys, 48 00:02:36,208 --> 00:02:38,500 plains, 49 00:02:38,625 --> 00:02:41,000 desert savannas. 50 00:02:41,208 --> 00:02:43,000 Just when you move through one area, 51 00:02:43,208 --> 00:02:46,292 you get to another that's completely different. 52 00:02:46,417 --> 00:02:49,917 And, uh, this all has the effect of lending Africa 53 00:02:50,083 --> 00:02:52,292 a sense of perpetual mystery. 54 00:02:52,417 --> 00:02:56,292 [Shatner] Africa's unparalleled diversity and scale 55 00:02:56,458 --> 00:02:58,625 has created a legendary allure 56 00:02:58,750 --> 00:03:01,333 that has inspired countless explorers 57 00:03:01,500 --> 00:03:05,542 determined to reveal its hidden secrets. 58 00:03:06,542 --> 00:03:09,167 But might Africa's most profound mystery 59 00:03:09,375 --> 00:03:10,750 surround its role 60 00:03:10,875 --> 00:03:14,708 in the very birth of all mankind? 61 00:03:14,875 --> 00:03:17,583 One of the great mysteries of Africa is, 62 00:03:17,750 --> 00:03:19,458 "Is that where we're really from?" 63 00:03:19,583 --> 00:03:21,333 Did humans come from Africa? 64 00:03:21,542 --> 00:03:25,333 In 1871, Charles Darwin 65 00:03:25,500 --> 00:03:29,292 took on human evolution in his book Descent of Man. 66 00:03:29,458 --> 00:03:32,000 And he theorized that since the two animals 67 00:03:32,167 --> 00:03:34,458 that were most closely related to humans 68 00:03:34,625 --> 00:03:37,042 were gorillas and chimpanzees, and they're both from Africa, 69 00:03:37,208 --> 00:03:40,542 he says that is more likely than not where humans come from 70 00:03:40,750 --> 00:03:44,625 and that Africa is the cradle of humanity. 71 00:03:44,792 --> 00:03:48,250 So the search for the origin of our species became 72 00:03:48,417 --> 00:03:50,625 this great obsession of explorers. 73 00:03:51,667 --> 00:03:53,292 [Shatner] Darwin's monumental theory 74 00:03:53,500 --> 00:03:56,500 inspired many scientific adventures in Africa. 75 00:03:56,708 --> 00:04:00,167 And more than a century after his hypothesis, 76 00:04:00,375 --> 00:04:04,000 American paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson 77 00:04:04,208 --> 00:04:07,292 was scouring Ethiopia when he discovered 78 00:04:07,458 --> 00:04:09,500 three million-year-old bones 79 00:04:09,667 --> 00:04:14,750 that would ignite the attention of the entire world. 80 00:04:16,042 --> 00:04:17,667 [Karen Bellinger] In 1974, 81 00:04:17,875 --> 00:04:20,417 a paleoanthropologist working in Ethiopia discovered 82 00:04:20,583 --> 00:04:23,792 a fossil that was hugely important. 83 00:04:23,958 --> 00:04:25,375 They called her Lucy. 84 00:04:25,542 --> 00:04:28,125 And it was clear from her lower body 85 00:04:28,292 --> 00:04:29,958 that she walked upright. 86 00:04:30,083 --> 00:04:32,083 And this was a missing link. 87 00:04:32,250 --> 00:04:33,958 It was the first 88 00:04:34,083 --> 00:04:37,417 kind of transitional fossil discovered to link 89 00:04:37,583 --> 00:04:40,500 ape ancestors and early modern humans. 90 00:04:41,708 --> 00:04:43,208 [Stephanie Wynne-Jones] The discovery of Lucy 91 00:04:43,375 --> 00:04:44,875 was really important, 92 00:04:45,042 --> 00:04:47,500 um, because although there'd been this long recognition 93 00:04:47,625 --> 00:04:50,500 that human origins probably came from Africa 94 00:04:50,667 --> 00:04:52,417 and were to be found within Africa, 95 00:04:52,583 --> 00:04:55,250 Lucy remains that sort of moment 96 00:04:55,417 --> 00:04:58,792 when that point was proven for the first time. 97 00:04:59,833 --> 00:05:03,333 [Shatner] In 2026, exciting new fossil evidence 98 00:05:03,458 --> 00:05:07,042 of early man was discovered in a cave in Morocco, 99 00:05:07,208 --> 00:05:11,125 proving that the story of mankind is still unfolding 100 00:05:11,292 --> 00:05:13,958 on this mysterious continent. 101 00:05:16,208 --> 00:05:17,667 Since the 1800s, 102 00:05:17,792 --> 00:05:19,958 the Western world has been captivated 103 00:05:20,125 --> 00:05:23,292 by the exciting tales of legendary explorers 104 00:05:23,458 --> 00:05:25,500 like David Livingstone, 105 00:05:25,708 --> 00:05:28,583 the first European to cross the massive continent... 106 00:05:29,583 --> 00:05:31,458 ...and Henry Morton Stanley, 107 00:05:31,583 --> 00:05:34,917 who covered thousands of miles of Africa's interior 108 00:05:35,083 --> 00:05:39,792 and shared his adventures in a famous chronicle entitled 109 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:42,333 Through the Dark Continent. 110 00:05:42,500 --> 00:05:43,708 [Wynne-Jones] The idea 111 00:05:43,875 --> 00:05:46,708 of exploring into the heart of Africa 112 00:05:46,875 --> 00:05:48,625 really goes back to the 19th century. 113 00:05:48,750 --> 00:05:53,125 There were geographers and historians 114 00:05:53,292 --> 00:05:57,333 traveling through Africa on exploratory expeditions 115 00:05:57,542 --> 00:05:59,750 to try and shed light on places 116 00:05:59,875 --> 00:06:02,708 that were unknown to European science. 117 00:06:02,875 --> 00:06:06,333 But even today, there's so many places and areas 118 00:06:06,500 --> 00:06:10,125 about which we have very little knowledge. 119 00:06:10,292 --> 00:06:11,917 There's so much still to know. 120 00:06:13,292 --> 00:06:15,167 [Shatner] Today, modern-day explorers 121 00:06:15,333 --> 00:06:17,458 like ecologist Julian Bayliss 122 00:06:17,542 --> 00:06:21,292 are continuing to explore Africa and map the areas 123 00:06:21,375 --> 00:06:25,542 that remain difficult for humans to survey. 124 00:06:25,708 --> 00:06:29,458 I've probably organized and run over 50 scientific expeditions 125 00:06:29,625 --> 00:06:33,667 in mountains, in forests, in rainforests in Africa 126 00:06:33,875 --> 00:06:38,083 because it still holds largely unexplored areas 127 00:06:38,208 --> 00:06:42,000 that humankind haven't necessarily been to before. 128 00:06:42,167 --> 00:06:43,458 And it all started 129 00:06:43,625 --> 00:06:45,583 with Mount Mabu in northern Mozambique. 130 00:06:46,583 --> 00:06:48,708 I was using satellite imagery 131 00:06:48,875 --> 00:06:51,417 to locate these isolated forests. 132 00:06:51,542 --> 00:06:53,292 And that area of forest turned out to be 133 00:06:53,417 --> 00:06:56,458 the largest rainforest in Southern Africa. 134 00:06:56,625 --> 00:06:59,125 And we've been finding new species. 135 00:06:59,250 --> 00:07:01,458 It was tremendously exciting. 136 00:07:01,625 --> 00:07:03,500 But there are many, many dangers 137 00:07:03,708 --> 00:07:05,875 in running expeditions in-in Africa. 138 00:07:06,875 --> 00:07:08,250 We have to drive through the bush, 139 00:07:08,417 --> 00:07:10,833 and it's very easy to get lost. 140 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:14,292 We have the dangerous animal side of things, 141 00:07:14,417 --> 00:07:16,833 especially in this part of the world. 142 00:07:17,042 --> 00:07:19,667 Other dangers are things like traps. 143 00:07:19,792 --> 00:07:22,250 So, the local people use something called a gin trap, 144 00:07:22,458 --> 00:07:24,208 which is like a bear trap. 145 00:07:25,375 --> 00:07:27,500 They will basically sever your foot. 146 00:07:27,708 --> 00:07:30,208 And the traps are buried underneath the ground. 147 00:07:30,375 --> 00:07:32,500 You cannot see them. 148 00:07:32,667 --> 00:07:34,125 So there's many risks. 149 00:07:35,208 --> 00:07:37,000 [Shatner] In 2012, 150 00:07:37,208 --> 00:07:40,000 Julian Bayliss made a remarkable discovery. 151 00:07:40,167 --> 00:07:42,583 Satellite imagery revealed 152 00:07:42,708 --> 00:07:45,208 what he believed was an untouched, 153 00:07:45,375 --> 00:07:47,833 ancient forest in the sky 154 00:07:48,042 --> 00:07:50,208 known as Mount Lico. 155 00:07:50,375 --> 00:07:51,542 [Bayliss] So, immediately, 156 00:07:51,750 --> 00:07:53,458 all these questions started to come, 157 00:07:53,667 --> 00:07:55,292 having seen that first impression 158 00:07:55,417 --> 00:07:57,083 of Mount Lico on the satellite image. 159 00:07:58,125 --> 00:08:01,083 Mount Lico is known as a sky island. 160 00:08:01,250 --> 00:08:05,958 It has steep sides going up to the basin of a rainforest. 161 00:08:06,125 --> 00:08:08,583 What's going on here? 162 00:08:09,708 --> 00:08:11,583 Why isn't that forest disturbed? 163 00:08:11,708 --> 00:08:14,042 And of course, the only way to find out 164 00:08:14,250 --> 00:08:15,500 is to go and have a look. 165 00:08:15,625 --> 00:08:17,167 [Shatner] Despite the danger, 166 00:08:17,333 --> 00:08:20,208 in 2018, Julian and his team 167 00:08:20,375 --> 00:08:24,750 mounted an expedition to climb 400 feet of sheer cliff 168 00:08:24,958 --> 00:08:28,833 to explore this mysterious sky island. 169 00:08:29,042 --> 00:08:31,667 After their treacherous climb, they discovered 170 00:08:31,833 --> 00:08:36,917 what could only be described as a lost world. 171 00:08:37,875 --> 00:08:39,167 [Bayliss] So this forest, potentially, 172 00:08:39,375 --> 00:08:40,917 has been undisturbed 173 00:08:41,042 --> 00:08:43,000 for millions and millions and millions of years, 174 00:08:43,125 --> 00:08:44,500 providing sufficient time 175 00:08:44,667 --> 00:08:45,792 for the animals that are found in there 176 00:08:45,958 --> 00:08:47,500 to develop into new species. 177 00:08:47,667 --> 00:08:50,375 We found a new species of butterfly. 178 00:08:50,542 --> 00:08:52,500 We found a new species of frog. 179 00:08:52,667 --> 00:08:54,333 We even found a new species of crab 180 00:08:54,542 --> 00:08:58,292 in the only stream on top of Mount Lico. 181 00:08:58,458 --> 00:09:00,708 And seeing it with your own eyes, 182 00:09:00,875 --> 00:09:03,708 there's a feeling of exhilaration, excitement, 183 00:09:03,917 --> 00:09:07,958 reverence for a untouched, 184 00:09:08,125 --> 00:09:11,375 magical, ancient land 185 00:09:11,542 --> 00:09:14,167 that nobody, or very few people, 186 00:09:14,333 --> 00:09:17,083 have ever set foot in before. 187 00:09:17,250 --> 00:09:18,583 Africa 188 00:09:18,750 --> 00:09:21,000 is such a unique and wonderful place 189 00:09:21,167 --> 00:09:23,833 because it still holds a lot of mystery, 190 00:09:23,958 --> 00:09:26,667 a lot of magic, and a lot of adventure. 191 00:09:27,667 --> 00:09:28,958 [Shatner] Based on Julian's work, 192 00:09:29,125 --> 00:09:31,000 hundreds of new species have been discovered 193 00:09:31,167 --> 00:09:34,833 throughout these so-called sky islands of Africa. 194 00:09:35,875 --> 00:09:39,500 But beyond the continent's natural wonders, 195 00:09:39,625 --> 00:09:41,417 Africa is also home 196 00:09:41,583 --> 00:09:44,333 to legends of lost civilizations 197 00:09:44,458 --> 00:09:48,083 and a mythical lost city. 198 00:09:53,792 --> 00:09:55,500 [Shatner reads on-screen text] 199 00:09:55,708 --> 00:09:59,833 This endless expanse of dry savannah covers an area 200 00:10:00,042 --> 00:10:02,667 of 350,000 square miles 201 00:10:02,833 --> 00:10:07,333 from Botswana to Namibia and South Africa. 202 00:10:07,542 --> 00:10:10,417 Its name is derived from Tswana words 203 00:10:10,625 --> 00:10:13,000 that describe a "waterless place" 204 00:10:13,167 --> 00:10:15,167 and a "great thirst." 205 00:10:15,375 --> 00:10:17,667 [thunder crashing] 206 00:10:17,792 --> 00:10:20,167 But after a good rainy season, 207 00:10:20,375 --> 00:10:23,583 this semidesert becomes a thriving habitat 208 00:10:23,750 --> 00:10:27,208 for thousands of diverse animals 209 00:10:27,375 --> 00:10:31,500 and a magnet for curious and courageous adventure seekers 210 00:10:31,667 --> 00:10:35,125 like wildlife journalist Adam Cruise. 211 00:10:35,250 --> 00:10:37,708 The Kalahari is a very fascinating desert. 212 00:10:37,875 --> 00:10:39,542 And it's massive. 213 00:10:39,708 --> 00:10:43,083 I mean, it's this big blank space in Southern Africa. 214 00:10:43,208 --> 00:10:46,708 But the most interesting thing about the Kalahari is, 215 00:10:46,875 --> 00:10:50,167 it is packed with wildlife, 216 00:10:50,333 --> 00:10:52,708 especially lions. 217 00:10:52,875 --> 00:10:54,792 There are a lot of lions in the Kalahari. 218 00:10:54,958 --> 00:10:57,333 Exploring and walking around 219 00:10:57,500 --> 00:11:00,750 is not as easy as it could be. 220 00:11:00,917 --> 00:11:03,833 You've got to be very, very vigilant about temperatures, 221 00:11:04,042 --> 00:11:06,250 about wildlife, and about the expanse, 222 00:11:06,417 --> 00:11:07,833 because it's... 223 00:11:08,042 --> 00:11:10,792 it's easy to get lost there, and I have many times. 224 00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:13,833 I had always gone into the Kalahari, 225 00:11:14,000 --> 00:11:15,500 first as a boy with my family, 226 00:11:15,625 --> 00:11:18,542 and gone to do, uh, safaris, 227 00:11:18,708 --> 00:11:21,042 just go look at wildlife. 228 00:11:21,167 --> 00:11:22,500 And then I started reading more about 229 00:11:22,708 --> 00:11:25,167 the previous explorers into the Kalahari, 230 00:11:25,375 --> 00:11:28,167 which prompted me to go with more purpose. 231 00:11:28,333 --> 00:11:30,333 The last three or four expeditions I did 232 00:11:30,542 --> 00:11:34,667 into the Kalahari was for the sole purpose of searching 233 00:11:34,792 --> 00:11:36,708 for the Lost City of the Kalahari. 234 00:11:37,708 --> 00:11:39,375 [Shatner] The Lost City of the Kalahari 235 00:11:39,542 --> 00:11:42,667 is the stuff of myth and legend, 236 00:11:42,833 --> 00:11:45,167 an ancient metropolis believed to be hidden 237 00:11:45,333 --> 00:11:49,208 somewhere in Africa's great southern desert, 238 00:11:49,375 --> 00:11:51,500 constructed in antiquity 239 00:11:51,667 --> 00:11:54,208 by an unknown civilization. 240 00:11:55,208 --> 00:11:58,625 And the fascinating tale of this mysterious place 241 00:11:58,833 --> 00:12:01,333 began in 1885 242 00:12:01,500 --> 00:12:04,750 with the exploits of a famous Canadian entertainer 243 00:12:04,917 --> 00:12:08,667 turned explorer named William Leonard Hunt, 244 00:12:08,833 --> 00:12:11,333 who often went by the self-proclaimed name 245 00:12:11,542 --> 00:12:14,292 The Great Farini. 246 00:12:14,458 --> 00:12:15,708 [Cruise] The Great Farini. 247 00:12:15,875 --> 00:12:18,583 He was a showman. He was a circus man. 248 00:12:18,750 --> 00:12:21,833 But he wanted to be an explorer, 249 00:12:22,042 --> 00:12:24,542 and that's why he found himself in the Kalahari. 250 00:12:24,708 --> 00:12:26,750 And he thought he would write his name 251 00:12:26,917 --> 00:12:30,542 among the greats by crossing the Kalahari and back 252 00:12:30,667 --> 00:12:33,083 and documenting it. 253 00:12:34,125 --> 00:12:37,833 So Farini charts his journey through the Kalahari. 254 00:12:38,042 --> 00:12:39,542 He has a companion with him 255 00:12:39,708 --> 00:12:42,417 who was an early photographer. 256 00:12:43,792 --> 00:12:45,417 He photographed the dunes, 257 00:12:45,625 --> 00:12:49,000 documented the great waterfalls called the Augrabies, 258 00:12:49,167 --> 00:12:52,667 he photographed the trees and these massive nests 259 00:12:52,833 --> 00:12:55,042 that basically take up a whole tree. 260 00:12:56,375 --> 00:12:59,167 There was no doubt that Farini was there. 261 00:13:01,167 --> 00:13:03,917 So, Farini comes back from his trip to the Kalahari, 262 00:13:04,083 --> 00:13:07,792 and he writes a lengthy, galloping book 263 00:13:07,917 --> 00:13:11,708 about his exploits, Through the Kalahari. 264 00:13:11,875 --> 00:13:14,167 Three-quarters through the whole story, 265 00:13:14,292 --> 00:13:16,333 he drops in the fact that, one day, 266 00:13:16,500 --> 00:13:18,333 they stumbled across some ruins. 267 00:13:18,500 --> 00:13:21,125 He talks about a circular wall 268 00:13:21,250 --> 00:13:24,500 about three-quarters of a mile long. 269 00:13:24,708 --> 00:13:26,750 He talks about a fluted column. 270 00:13:26,917 --> 00:13:29,042 And then there's an altar. 271 00:13:29,208 --> 00:13:30,708 He can't find any inscriptions, 272 00:13:30,875 --> 00:13:32,458 and because they're running out of water, 273 00:13:32,667 --> 00:13:34,167 he says they have to leave. 274 00:13:34,333 --> 00:13:37,500 And that is the first full description 275 00:13:37,708 --> 00:13:39,667 of the Lost City of the Kalahari. 276 00:13:40,708 --> 00:13:45,625 And from that description, there were hundreds of people 277 00:13:45,792 --> 00:13:49,917 trying to find this mythical place. 278 00:13:50,917 --> 00:13:52,750 [Shatner] Farini's tantalizing tale 279 00:13:52,917 --> 00:13:55,250 electrified the public's imagination, 280 00:13:55,375 --> 00:13:58,167 and soon a new wave of fearless explorers, 281 00:13:58,333 --> 00:14:01,000 motivated by fortune and glory, 282 00:14:01,125 --> 00:14:02,792 ventured into the great sandy abyss 283 00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:07,542 of the Kalahari in search of this lost city. 284 00:14:08,583 --> 00:14:10,292 [Andrew] One of the people that became involved 285 00:14:10,458 --> 00:14:12,292 with the search for a lost civilization 286 00:14:12,458 --> 00:14:17,500 in the Kalahari was Joshua Norman Haldeman. 287 00:14:17,708 --> 00:14:20,667 He was the grandfather of Elon Musk. 288 00:14:20,833 --> 00:14:24,417 And from 1953 onwards, 289 00:14:24,583 --> 00:14:27,500 on 12 separate occasions, he would go 290 00:14:27,667 --> 00:14:29,917 to the Kalahari with his family 291 00:14:30,083 --> 00:14:32,167 and they would search for evidence 292 00:14:32,375 --> 00:14:35,542 of some kind of, um, you know, civilization. 293 00:14:36,750 --> 00:14:38,375 [Lance Geiger] In 1964, 294 00:14:38,542 --> 00:14:40,333 there's an explorer by the name of A.J. Clement. 295 00:14:40,500 --> 00:14:42,583 He publishes his narrative of the expedition. 296 00:14:42,750 --> 00:14:44,958 And A.J. Clement concludes that 297 00:14:45,125 --> 00:14:46,292 Farini was lost the whole time, 298 00:14:46,458 --> 00:14:48,042 that he didn't know where he was. 299 00:14:48,208 --> 00:14:50,917 And A.J. Clement does come upon 300 00:14:51,083 --> 00:14:53,167 a bunch of natural rocks-- dolerite-- 301 00:14:53,375 --> 00:14:55,792 which he thinks might be what Farini saw. 302 00:14:55,958 --> 00:14:58,000 So, maybe it was dolerite, 303 00:14:58,208 --> 00:15:00,583 and Farini just didn't know what he was seeing, 304 00:15:00,708 --> 00:15:02,833 or maybe he found something that is, right now, buried 305 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:05,625 under the sands of the Kalahari. 306 00:15:06,708 --> 00:15:09,250 [Shatner] For those inclined to take on the challenge, 307 00:15:09,417 --> 00:15:13,083 the possibility of discovering a mythical lost city in Africa 308 00:15:13,250 --> 00:15:14,833 is a seductive proposition 309 00:15:15,042 --> 00:15:18,958 that could rewrite Africa's ancient history. 310 00:15:19,167 --> 00:15:21,667 But to this day, no one has managed 311 00:15:21,833 --> 00:15:23,500 to confirm Farini's claims. 312 00:15:23,708 --> 00:15:27,125 And based on his background as an entertainer, 313 00:15:27,292 --> 00:15:30,583 many have wondered, was his monumental discovery 314 00:15:30,708 --> 00:15:33,208 just part of the act? 315 00:15:35,208 --> 00:15:37,458 [Geiger] The Great Farini made his fame 316 00:15:37,583 --> 00:15:41,458 walking on tightropes across Niagara Falls. 317 00:15:41,625 --> 00:15:46,125 And he becomes very famous as a performer, 318 00:15:46,333 --> 00:15:47,917 and then he makes the very odd choice 319 00:15:48,083 --> 00:15:51,625 to go and explore Africa. 320 00:15:53,458 --> 00:15:57,083 [Cruise] The unexplained mystery with this Lost City 321 00:15:57,250 --> 00:16:01,000 of the Kalahari is the man Farini himself. 322 00:16:01,167 --> 00:16:03,500 His job was to entertain. 323 00:16:03,625 --> 00:16:07,375 His job was to fabricate. 324 00:16:07,542 --> 00:16:10,667 So the question is, did he really see something, 325 00:16:10,875 --> 00:16:13,625 or was he entertaining us? 326 00:16:13,833 --> 00:16:15,833 He knew how to tell a story. 327 00:16:16,042 --> 00:16:19,250 Was it a real one, or was it fiction? 328 00:16:19,375 --> 00:16:22,167 [Shatner] Was the Lost City of the Kalahari 329 00:16:22,292 --> 00:16:26,833 a complete fabrication concocted by a convincing storyteller, 330 00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:30,125 or could it be a very real place? 331 00:16:30,292 --> 00:16:33,667 Perhaps clues can be found in the ancient stone structures 332 00:16:33,833 --> 00:16:36,792 that dot this epic landscape. 333 00:16:36,958 --> 00:16:41,375 Throughout Southern Africa, there are magnificent ruins. 334 00:16:41,542 --> 00:16:45,083 One just has to think of the Great Zimbabwe ruins. 335 00:16:45,208 --> 00:16:47,500 This was once a huge city. 336 00:16:47,667 --> 00:16:50,500 Mapungubwe in South Africa comes to mind. 337 00:16:50,667 --> 00:16:53,917 Another walled city, and they are all over the place. 338 00:16:54,083 --> 00:16:56,417 So, if they are there, there's a good chance 339 00:16:56,542 --> 00:16:58,667 that there could have been something similar 340 00:16:58,875 --> 00:17:00,125 in the Kalahari. 341 00:17:00,250 --> 00:17:03,167 If there is a lost city to be found, 342 00:17:03,333 --> 00:17:05,375 you cannot afford to not go and look for it. 343 00:17:05,542 --> 00:17:07,583 Imagine having that to your name. 344 00:17:07,750 --> 00:17:11,250 I'll definitely be going back to the Kalahari. 345 00:17:12,333 --> 00:17:14,208 I've got the Lost City fever, 346 00:17:14,375 --> 00:17:18,167 and I think, unfortunately, uh, it's a permanent one. 347 00:17:19,125 --> 00:17:21,833 Finding the Lost City of the Kalahari 348 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:24,583 remains a lofty goal for many explorers. 349 00:17:24,708 --> 00:17:26,833 However, if it's discovered, 350 00:17:27,042 --> 00:17:29,167 will a never-before-known civilization 351 00:17:29,375 --> 00:17:31,667 need to be added to the history books? 352 00:17:31,875 --> 00:17:33,250 Who can say? 353 00:17:33,417 --> 00:17:37,833 But there is another actual city in Africa 354 00:17:37,958 --> 00:17:40,083 sitting in complete ruin, 355 00:17:40,208 --> 00:17:43,708 and no one knows why, centuries ago, 356 00:17:43,875 --> 00:17:46,583 it was mysteriously abandoned. 357 00:17:50,875 --> 00:17:52,667 [Shatner reads on-screen text] 358 00:17:52,833 --> 00:17:57,333 Scattered along the majestic 330-mile coastline 359 00:17:57,500 --> 00:17:59,625 lies the remnants of a once thriving 360 00:17:59,708 --> 00:18:02,167 medieval trade network. 361 00:18:02,333 --> 00:18:07,000 Among the 116 historic Swahili settlements 362 00:18:07,208 --> 00:18:10,083 are the major port city of Mombasa 363 00:18:10,208 --> 00:18:13,167 and the breathtaking beaches of Malindi. 364 00:18:13,375 --> 00:18:17,500 And nestled between them, in an ancient rainforest, 365 00:18:17,667 --> 00:18:23,208 are the ruins of a mysteriously abandoned town called Gedi. 366 00:18:24,375 --> 00:18:26,833 [Wynne-Jones] When Gedi was first discovered, 367 00:18:27,042 --> 00:18:29,333 it wasn't a completely unknown site. 368 00:18:29,542 --> 00:18:32,000 The people who live around Gedi have always known 369 00:18:32,167 --> 00:18:33,417 about the ruins. 370 00:18:33,583 --> 00:18:37,167 There are many local stories 371 00:18:37,375 --> 00:18:39,958 about the association of the site with spirits, 372 00:18:40,083 --> 00:18:42,833 and many of the Swahili on the coast 373 00:18:42,958 --> 00:18:46,167 think of Gedi as being the site of many of their ancestors. 374 00:18:46,333 --> 00:18:49,167 And then some of the other local groups 375 00:18:49,375 --> 00:18:51,708 believed that it was the home of ancestral spirits 376 00:18:51,875 --> 00:18:53,583 and should be avoided. 377 00:18:53,792 --> 00:18:57,333 It was first excavated starting in the 1940s, 378 00:18:57,458 --> 00:19:01,625 by the pioneering archaeologist of the Swahili coast 379 00:19:01,833 --> 00:19:03,250 called James Kirkman. 380 00:19:03,417 --> 00:19:07,292 And there was a written account of Kirkman's excavations. 381 00:19:07,458 --> 00:19:09,042 And actually, it was the first Swahili site 382 00:19:09,208 --> 00:19:11,667 ever to be excavated. 383 00:19:11,875 --> 00:19:13,750 The inhabitants of Gedi 384 00:19:13,875 --> 00:19:18,333 are definitely part of what we understand 385 00:19:18,500 --> 00:19:20,625 as the Swahili coastal tradition. 386 00:19:20,750 --> 00:19:23,875 But there are no histories that relate to Gedi, 387 00:19:24,083 --> 00:19:27,000 um, which is quite unusual, because there are histories 388 00:19:27,208 --> 00:19:30,042 that relate to other towns nearby. 389 00:19:30,208 --> 00:19:33,458 Who exactly came to Gedi in the 11th century, 390 00:19:33,625 --> 00:19:36,125 um, we don't completely know. 391 00:19:36,250 --> 00:19:40,500 Kenyan archaeologist Dr. Freda Nkirote, 392 00:19:40,667 --> 00:19:43,375 with the National Museums of Kenya, 393 00:19:43,542 --> 00:19:46,500 has been studying the settlement for decades 394 00:19:46,708 --> 00:19:50,000 and has uncovered many clues about the prosperous culture 395 00:19:50,083 --> 00:19:53,583 that once thrived there. 396 00:20:33,417 --> 00:20:36,083 [Wynne-Jones] We have found glazed ceramics 397 00:20:36,250 --> 00:20:38,167 from the Islamic world, 398 00:20:38,333 --> 00:20:41,500 porcelains that had come all the way from China. 399 00:20:41,667 --> 00:20:43,667 They'd been trading far and wide. 400 00:20:43,833 --> 00:20:45,292 It had once been 401 00:20:45,458 --> 00:20:47,833 this sort of central point in Indian Ocean trade. 402 00:20:48,042 --> 00:20:52,083 Over many centuries, it grew as a center of wealth. 403 00:20:52,292 --> 00:20:55,000 [Shatner] The nature of the exotic artifacts 404 00:20:55,167 --> 00:20:56,792 discovered at the Gedi ruins 405 00:20:57,000 --> 00:21:00,792 suggest it was once a booming trade town. 406 00:21:02,083 --> 00:21:03,458 But for centuries, 407 00:21:03,625 --> 00:21:06,000 archaeologists have yet to uncover 408 00:21:06,208 --> 00:21:08,708 what caused thousands of people to flee 409 00:21:08,875 --> 00:21:12,542 such a well-built and successful city. 410 00:21:12,708 --> 00:21:14,875 [Wynne-Jones] The big question about Gedi 411 00:21:15,042 --> 00:21:17,333 is why it was abandoned. 412 00:21:17,458 --> 00:21:20,708 Mombasa and Malindi, two of Gedi's nearest neighbors, 413 00:21:20,875 --> 00:21:23,500 not only continued to be occupied 414 00:21:23,667 --> 00:21:25,708 but thrived in later centuries. 415 00:21:25,875 --> 00:21:27,458 They're still major centers today. 416 00:21:27,625 --> 00:21:32,167 So why Gedi became unlivable 417 00:21:32,333 --> 00:21:33,375 is something that we don't know. 418 00:21:33,542 --> 00:21:35,667 We can only speculate. 419 00:21:36,708 --> 00:21:38,125 [Shatner] What could have caused 420 00:21:38,292 --> 00:21:40,625 an alleged mass exodus? 421 00:21:40,833 --> 00:21:43,167 While some theorize it was disease 422 00:21:43,375 --> 00:21:45,292 or fresh water drying up 423 00:21:45,458 --> 00:21:49,542 or perhaps even a disruption in trade routes, 424 00:21:49,708 --> 00:21:53,833 what's confounding is that based on archaeological evidence, 425 00:21:53,958 --> 00:21:58,458 many believe Gedi was deserted practically overnight. 426 00:22:33,875 --> 00:22:35,583 [Shatner] Did the residents of Gedi 427 00:22:35,750 --> 00:22:38,750 really grab as much as they could carry and run? 428 00:22:38,875 --> 00:22:42,292 And if so, what were they running from? 429 00:22:42,500 --> 00:22:47,333 Well, local folklore suggests a haunting possibility. 430 00:22:47,500 --> 00:22:49,458 It is said that the people of Gedi 431 00:22:49,625 --> 00:22:53,500 may have been escaping evil spirits. 432 00:22:53,625 --> 00:22:55,042 [Bellinger] The idea 433 00:22:55,250 --> 00:22:56,500 that evil spirits had something to do 434 00:22:56,708 --> 00:22:59,542 with Gedi's abandonment comes from 435 00:22:59,708 --> 00:23:03,292 a-a real and deeply embedded spiritual belief 436 00:23:03,417 --> 00:23:05,917 in creatures known as jinn. 437 00:23:07,125 --> 00:23:09,417 The jinn inspires curiosity 438 00:23:09,583 --> 00:23:11,708 and a certain amount of fear, even today, 439 00:23:11,875 --> 00:23:16,750 among local tribespeople in the Gedi region. 440 00:23:17,792 --> 00:23:20,042 [Nkirote reads on-screen text] 441 00:24:00,875 --> 00:24:04,333 [Shatner] Was the belief in powerful, supernatural creatures 442 00:24:04,542 --> 00:24:08,042 somehow responsible for the abandonment of Gedi? 443 00:24:08,208 --> 00:24:11,083 It's just one of many questions yet to be answered 444 00:24:11,292 --> 00:24:16,792 about the history of this African archaeological enigma. 445 00:24:17,792 --> 00:24:20,667 Will the ruins of Gedi ever reveal the secret 446 00:24:20,875 --> 00:24:23,125 of why this city was abandoned, 447 00:24:23,125 --> 00:24:23,225 of why this city was abandoned, 448 00:24:24,708 --> 00:24:28,167 or will its history remain a fascinating tale of folklore? 449 00:24:28,375 --> 00:24:30,000 With so many different cultures, 450 00:24:30,208 --> 00:24:33,667 Africa is brimming with intriguing local legends, 451 00:24:33,875 --> 00:24:39,625 including tribal tales of mysterious blue stones 452 00:24:39,833 --> 00:24:44,125 that are said to be rarer than diamonds. 453 00:24:48,417 --> 00:24:50,167 [Shatner reads on-screen text] 454 00:24:51,958 --> 00:24:53,333 This small coastal country is known 455 00:24:53,542 --> 00:24:56,125 for its stunning natural beauty, 456 00:24:56,333 --> 00:25:00,917 diverse ecosystems, and a wealth of mineral resources. 457 00:25:01,083 --> 00:25:05,417 Since 1930, an estimated $15 billion 458 00:25:05,542 --> 00:25:08,458 worth of diamonds have officially been mined here, 459 00:25:08,542 --> 00:25:12,667 including the massive 969-carat rock 460 00:25:12,792 --> 00:25:15,667 known as the Star of Sierra Leone. 461 00:25:15,875 --> 00:25:20,125 But in 1990, a geological discovery 462 00:25:20,292 --> 00:25:23,792 of a very different kind would dazzle rock experts 463 00:25:23,917 --> 00:25:26,500 and launch a stone-hunting adventure 464 00:25:26,708 --> 00:25:29,792 that has spanned over 30 years. 465 00:25:29,917 --> 00:25:31,375 [Andrew] In 1990, 466 00:25:31,583 --> 00:25:33,375 an Italian geologist 467 00:25:33,583 --> 00:25:35,750 by the name of Antonio Pitoni 468 00:25:35,917 --> 00:25:39,333 went into Sierra Leone, 469 00:25:39,500 --> 00:25:43,625 and he found himself talking with one of the chiefs 470 00:25:43,750 --> 00:25:47,917 of the Fula tribes in that region. 471 00:25:48,125 --> 00:25:51,833 They started talking about where diamonds came from, 472 00:25:52,042 --> 00:25:53,375 and this chief said that they came from the sky, 473 00:25:53,542 --> 00:25:55,292 they fell from the sky. 474 00:25:55,458 --> 00:25:58,667 Pitoni said to him, "Well, what else falls from the sky?" 475 00:25:58,875 --> 00:26:02,000 And the chief said to him, "We can show you." 476 00:26:02,208 --> 00:26:05,833 And a shaman took him to a location, 477 00:26:06,042 --> 00:26:09,458 and he started digging up the ground 478 00:26:09,667 --> 00:26:13,000 and showed him these blue stones, 479 00:26:13,208 --> 00:26:16,000 or skystones, as they're also known. 480 00:26:16,208 --> 00:26:18,958 And the shaman said that these fell from the sky. 481 00:26:19,958 --> 00:26:22,667 [Shatner] Stones that fell from the sky? 482 00:26:22,875 --> 00:26:27,625 While the origin story was easy to dismiss as local mythology, 483 00:26:27,750 --> 00:26:29,333 the rocks' jagged shape 484 00:26:29,500 --> 00:26:32,833 and unusual blue patina was intriguing. 485 00:26:33,042 --> 00:26:36,042 And when gemologist and rare meteorite collector 486 00:26:36,208 --> 00:26:39,625 Jared Collins saw these enigmatic stones 487 00:26:39,750 --> 00:26:42,000 for the first time, it would set him 488 00:26:42,167 --> 00:26:46,333 on a 12-year quest to answer one simple question-- 489 00:26:46,500 --> 00:26:48,958 what are they? 490 00:26:49,125 --> 00:26:51,708 [Jared] In 2013, I was in Hong Kong 491 00:26:51,875 --> 00:26:53,958 for the yearly gem show, 492 00:26:54,083 --> 00:26:56,208 and a dealer had invited me to his house 493 00:26:56,417 --> 00:26:59,750 to see his collection of rare gemstones. 494 00:26:59,875 --> 00:27:01,625 I see a blue rock. 495 00:27:01,792 --> 00:27:03,875 The blue is very striking. 496 00:27:04,042 --> 00:27:06,750 And I picked it up, and I knew 497 00:27:06,875 --> 00:27:09,125 there was something unusual about this. 498 00:27:09,292 --> 00:27:11,375 And I asked the guy, "What is this?" 499 00:27:11,542 --> 00:27:14,458 And he said, "That's skystone, that's skystone." 500 00:27:14,583 --> 00:27:17,542 This is an object 501 00:27:17,708 --> 00:27:20,000 that supposedly came from the heavens 502 00:27:20,167 --> 00:27:22,250 and was thrust into the Earth. 503 00:27:22,417 --> 00:27:24,417 I asked him if he would sell it to me, 504 00:27:24,542 --> 00:27:26,125 and he said no. 505 00:27:26,208 --> 00:27:28,125 And this is a guy that would sell anything. 506 00:27:28,250 --> 00:27:31,500 I think for almost a year, I bothered this guy. 507 00:27:31,708 --> 00:27:34,583 He finally agreed to sell me one gram, 508 00:27:34,708 --> 00:27:35,958 the small piece. 509 00:27:36,125 --> 00:27:37,833 And as soon as I got ahold of it, 510 00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:40,292 I immediately cut it in half 511 00:27:40,500 --> 00:27:43,292 and I sent half of it over 512 00:27:43,458 --> 00:27:46,417 to University of Washington Earth and Space Sciences. 513 00:27:46,583 --> 00:27:49,833 And Dr. Tony Irving did what I think is 514 00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:52,333 the best analysis done to date. 515 00:27:52,542 --> 00:27:54,167 And he found 516 00:27:54,333 --> 00:27:57,958 that the stones are essentially calcium orthosilicate. 517 00:27:58,125 --> 00:28:01,542 So it could be natural, but his analysis was 518 00:28:01,708 --> 00:28:05,958 that it is probably artificial, 519 00:28:06,125 --> 00:28:08,292 it is a man-made material. 520 00:28:08,417 --> 00:28:11,542 He was not able to identify the blue colorant. 521 00:28:11,750 --> 00:28:13,292 It's not like a pigment. 522 00:28:13,458 --> 00:28:14,833 You can't paint with it. 523 00:28:15,042 --> 00:28:18,208 The blue colorant remains unknown. 524 00:28:19,292 --> 00:28:20,667 [McGee] The most anomalous characteristic is, 525 00:28:20,833 --> 00:28:22,000 why is it blue? 526 00:28:22,208 --> 00:28:23,792 There are ways you can add a dye, 527 00:28:23,958 --> 00:28:26,042 but we have no idea how 528 00:28:26,250 --> 00:28:28,500 that would have been achieved there. 529 00:28:28,667 --> 00:28:32,708 When the stone is sampled and pieces are broken off, 530 00:28:32,875 --> 00:28:35,583 the color kind of falls apart with it, 531 00:28:35,708 --> 00:28:37,208 and so we have no idea 532 00:28:37,375 --> 00:28:40,500 what whoever made the skystones used to turn them blue, 533 00:28:40,708 --> 00:28:42,125 and that's pretty cool. 534 00:28:43,208 --> 00:28:45,083 [Shatner] After the initial analysis, 535 00:28:45,208 --> 00:28:49,375 Jared sent skystone samples to 15 labs around the world. 536 00:28:49,542 --> 00:28:51,750 While the properties of the blue coloring 537 00:28:51,917 --> 00:28:54,083 of the rocks remain inconclusive, 538 00:28:54,250 --> 00:28:57,000 the extensive scientific tests seem to suggest 539 00:28:57,125 --> 00:29:00,167 that the stone itself was somehow 540 00:29:00,375 --> 00:29:03,292 forged by man. 541 00:29:04,208 --> 00:29:05,667 [McGee] The data produced 542 00:29:05,750 --> 00:29:08,042 when the skystones were analyzed provides a match, 543 00:29:08,250 --> 00:29:10,833 and that's with what we call a geopolymer-- 544 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:13,208 in other words, concrete or cement. 545 00:29:13,375 --> 00:29:16,667 According to the numbers I saw, this could be anywhere 546 00:29:16,833 --> 00:29:19,417 from a few thousand to tens of thousands of years old. 547 00:29:19,583 --> 00:29:20,833 We don't know. 548 00:29:21,042 --> 00:29:22,458 And so, maybe 549 00:29:22,583 --> 00:29:25,250 it's a mystery concrete from civilization past. 550 00:29:26,292 --> 00:29:29,000 [Shatner] The analysis of this mysterious material 551 00:29:29,167 --> 00:29:31,208 raises a fascinating question. 552 00:29:31,375 --> 00:29:33,875 Are the blue skystones the product 553 00:29:34,042 --> 00:29:36,292 of an ancient African lost technology? 554 00:29:36,458 --> 00:29:39,083 [Jared] One thing that we do know is 555 00:29:39,208 --> 00:29:43,042 that whatever created it needed a high temperature 556 00:29:43,208 --> 00:29:45,292 for a sustained period of time. 557 00:29:45,500 --> 00:29:50,000 That would require having a kiln in Sierra Leone 558 00:29:50,167 --> 00:29:52,583 5,000, 6,000, 7,000, 8,000 years ago, 559 00:29:52,708 --> 00:29:56,000 which I'm pretty sure that they didn't have. 560 00:29:57,042 --> 00:29:59,208 We know that the Mesopotamians were the first 561 00:29:59,375 --> 00:30:02,333 to invent kiln technology. 562 00:30:02,458 --> 00:30:04,417 That would be around 5000 or 6000 BC. 563 00:30:04,542 --> 00:30:05,750 So, 564 00:30:05,958 --> 00:30:08,542 is it a lost technology? 565 00:30:08,708 --> 00:30:10,500 The science keeps saying 566 00:30:10,708 --> 00:30:14,292 that it is potentially man-made, artificial. 567 00:30:14,458 --> 00:30:18,542 What is this material doing in Sierra Leone? 568 00:30:18,750 --> 00:30:20,167 I've spent more than 12 years now 569 00:30:20,375 --> 00:30:21,958 trying to get to the bottom of this thing. 570 00:30:22,042 --> 00:30:24,000 There is a mystery in here 571 00:30:24,167 --> 00:30:26,417 that is not yet revealing itself, 572 00:30:26,542 --> 00:30:29,958 and I would really like to find out what that is. 573 00:30:30,083 --> 00:30:32,500 Whatever the blue skystones are, 574 00:30:32,667 --> 00:30:36,208 they're undoubtedly extremely rare and exotic. 575 00:30:36,375 --> 00:30:39,292 But there's another African mystery, 576 00:30:39,458 --> 00:30:42,167 even more ancient, that has captivated the world 577 00:30:42,333 --> 00:30:43,875 for more than 2,000 years-- 578 00:30:44,083 --> 00:30:46,917 the yet-to-be discovered location 579 00:30:47,083 --> 00:30:50,333 of Cleopatra's tomb. 580 00:30:54,292 --> 00:30:55,625 [Shatner reads on-screen text] 581 00:30:55,792 --> 00:30:57,917 This arid land is home 582 00:30:58,083 --> 00:31:00,167 to the world's longest river, the Nile, 583 00:31:00,333 --> 00:31:03,083 and many ancient civilizations, 584 00:31:03,208 --> 00:31:07,250 including the kingdom of Kush in modern-day Sudan, 585 00:31:07,375 --> 00:31:10,958 the Aksumite Empire in Ethiopia, 586 00:31:11,083 --> 00:31:13,875 and the powerful and mysterious realm 587 00:31:14,042 --> 00:31:16,583 known as ancient Egypt. 588 00:31:17,583 --> 00:31:19,500 [Geiger] This great civilization of Egypt-- 589 00:31:19,667 --> 00:31:22,083 we don't always really think about that as Africa, but it is. 590 00:31:22,292 --> 00:31:24,667 It left behind the pyramids and the Sphinx, 591 00:31:24,792 --> 00:31:26,583 all these great structures 592 00:31:26,708 --> 00:31:29,167 that have lasted thousands of years. 593 00:31:29,333 --> 00:31:32,875 But one of the reasons that it so captivates us is that 594 00:31:33,083 --> 00:31:35,083 there's still so much we don't know. 595 00:31:36,375 --> 00:31:37,917 [Shatner] Evidence of a once advanced 596 00:31:38,042 --> 00:31:40,125 and thriving empire can be found 597 00:31:40,292 --> 00:31:42,500 in the extraordinary engineering at Cairo, 598 00:31:42,708 --> 00:31:44,125 the grand temples 599 00:31:44,208 --> 00:31:46,917 and immaculate royal tombs of Luxor, 600 00:31:47,083 --> 00:31:48,708 and the captivating ruins 601 00:31:48,875 --> 00:31:54,083 of ancient Egypt's last center of power, Alexandria. 602 00:31:55,125 --> 00:31:56,833 [Shatner reads on-screen text] 603 00:31:56,958 --> 00:31:58,833 30 miles west of Alexandria. 604 00:31:59,042 --> 00:32:02,625 According to renowned archaeologist Kathleen Martinez, 605 00:32:02,792 --> 00:32:05,750 who has led excavations here for 20 years, 606 00:32:05,917 --> 00:32:10,083 this massive two-square mile temple complex could unravel one 607 00:32:10,250 --> 00:32:12,167 of the greatest enduring mysteries 608 00:32:12,333 --> 00:32:14,792 of the ancient Egyptian world. 609 00:32:15,917 --> 00:32:18,500 [Martinez] This is an ancient temple, very sacred. 610 00:32:18,708 --> 00:32:20,083 And nobody 611 00:32:20,250 --> 00:32:23,167 thought it was an important temple 612 00:32:23,250 --> 00:32:27,208 because it was completely destroyed, abandoned, 613 00:32:27,375 --> 00:32:30,750 and there was very little information about this place. 614 00:32:30,917 --> 00:32:33,500 It was the only temple in Egypt 615 00:32:33,708 --> 00:32:37,125 where you don't know to whom it was dedicated. 616 00:32:37,292 --> 00:32:39,750 So I've said we need to excavate. 617 00:32:39,875 --> 00:32:41,833 It could be the final resting place 618 00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:43,833 of Queen Cleopatra. 619 00:32:44,875 --> 00:32:46,708 [Shatner] Uncovering the mysterious life and death 620 00:32:46,875 --> 00:32:50,083 of Queen Cleopatra-- the last pharaoh of Egypt-- 621 00:32:50,292 --> 00:32:53,708 has been the ambition of countless explorers. 622 00:32:53,875 --> 00:32:58,000 After ascending the throne in 51 BC at just 18 years old, 623 00:32:58,167 --> 00:33:02,542 Cleopatra became the richest, most powerful woman on Earth. 624 00:33:02,708 --> 00:33:08,083 Cleopatra VII was the last ruler of Egypt, the last queen 625 00:33:08,208 --> 00:33:11,250 at a time when men were really dominating all 626 00:33:11,417 --> 00:33:13,500 of the most important political positions. 627 00:33:14,542 --> 00:33:16,792 She was a powerful woman in her own right. 628 00:33:16,875 --> 00:33:19,833 Cleopatra's job really was to advocate 629 00:33:20,000 --> 00:33:22,667 for the needs of Egypt, which at this point 630 00:33:22,792 --> 00:33:25,417 was very much being ruled by Rome. 631 00:33:25,583 --> 00:33:28,500 One of the key ways in which Cleopatra did this was 632 00:33:28,667 --> 00:33:32,375 by aligning herself romantically with Rome's leaders. 633 00:33:32,542 --> 00:33:35,333 So she was very clever. 634 00:33:35,542 --> 00:33:37,708 But Cleopatra remains mysterious to us 635 00:33:37,875 --> 00:33:41,708 because she was written about by Roman writers, 636 00:33:41,917 --> 00:33:45,667 and Roman writers had a tendency to denigrate her 637 00:33:45,875 --> 00:33:48,375 and to paint her in a very particular light, 638 00:33:48,542 --> 00:33:50,125 which may or may not be true. 639 00:33:50,250 --> 00:33:51,500 And of course 640 00:33:51,708 --> 00:33:53,375 we don't know where she was buried. 641 00:33:54,375 --> 00:33:57,125 [Naunton] The question of the whereabouts 642 00:33:57,292 --> 00:33:59,875 and the nature of Cleopatra's tomb is one 643 00:34:00,042 --> 00:34:04,625 of the great problems for Egyptian archaeology. 644 00:34:04,708 --> 00:34:07,000 It seems almost like an anomaly. 645 00:34:07,125 --> 00:34:10,667 We are led to believe that that tomb was in Alexandria. 646 00:34:10,875 --> 00:34:13,333 But we have, in fact, 647 00:34:13,500 --> 00:34:17,000 just about no archaeological evidence for that tomb. 648 00:34:17,208 --> 00:34:18,917 [Shatner] For centuries, 649 00:34:19,083 --> 00:34:21,500 archaeologists and explorers have searched the ancient city 650 00:34:21,708 --> 00:34:25,292 of Alexandria for the legendary lost tomb of Cleopatra 651 00:34:25,458 --> 00:34:27,083 with no success. 652 00:34:27,208 --> 00:34:31,333 But based on her discoveries at Taposiris Magna, 653 00:34:31,542 --> 00:34:34,958 many believe Kathleen Martinez may be close 654 00:34:35,083 --> 00:34:39,000 to locating the great queen's final resting place. 655 00:34:39,167 --> 00:34:43,333 [Martinez] Plutarch, one of the most important ancient writers, 656 00:34:43,542 --> 00:34:46,958 said that Cleopatra was buried in a temple of Isis. 657 00:34:47,958 --> 00:34:51,292 I've been excavating now for 20 seasons. 658 00:34:51,458 --> 00:34:53,750 In the second season, 659 00:34:53,917 --> 00:34:57,458 we were able to discover that this is an ancient temple 660 00:34:57,625 --> 00:34:59,667 dedicated to goddess Isis. 661 00:34:59,875 --> 00:35:04,833 We have uncovered more than 3,000 artifacts, 662 00:35:05,042 --> 00:35:06,667 and most of the objects 663 00:35:06,875 --> 00:35:10,000 that we have discovered are from the time of Cleopatra. 664 00:35:10,167 --> 00:35:15,833 We have discovered more than 600 coins portraying the queen. 665 00:35:16,042 --> 00:35:19,042 We have 21 catacombs, 666 00:35:19,208 --> 00:35:24,292 and most of those catacombs are from the time of Cleopatra. 667 00:35:24,500 --> 00:35:26,875 And who was buried there? 668 00:35:27,042 --> 00:35:29,125 Generals, officials, 669 00:35:29,292 --> 00:35:32,708 high-rank people around the queen. 670 00:35:32,875 --> 00:35:38,000 We have several statues of Isis, including one 671 00:35:38,208 --> 00:35:41,500 that experts believe could have been a statue 672 00:35:41,625 --> 00:35:44,000 of Queen Cleopatra herself. 673 00:35:45,000 --> 00:35:47,292 All the evidence that we are getting 674 00:35:47,458 --> 00:35:51,083 confirm the link of this temple to the queen. 675 00:35:52,125 --> 00:35:55,042 [Naunton] The kinds of things that Kathleen has found 676 00:35:55,208 --> 00:35:56,958 strengthen the idea 677 00:35:57,042 --> 00:36:01,542 that this was a temple connected to Isis. 678 00:36:02,667 --> 00:36:05,667 And we also know that Cleopatra went to great lengths 679 00:36:05,792 --> 00:36:07,833 to associate herself with Isis 680 00:36:07,958 --> 00:36:10,042 and to present herself as a kind of manifestation of Isis. 681 00:36:10,208 --> 00:36:11,833 So it was very interesting 682 00:36:12,000 --> 00:36:13,750 that there's that clear association with the site 683 00:36:13,875 --> 00:36:16,667 and Isis and, therefore, perhaps by extension, Cleopatra. 684 00:36:17,708 --> 00:36:20,250 [Shatner] Could Taposiris Magna be the location 685 00:36:20,417 --> 00:36:22,625 of Cleopatra's lost tomb? 686 00:36:22,750 --> 00:36:25,542 While there are at least 20 more catacombs to unearth, 687 00:36:25,708 --> 00:36:28,458 the possibility became more plausible 688 00:36:28,625 --> 00:36:30,083 with an underground discovery 689 00:36:30,250 --> 00:36:32,333 that would change the course of the search 690 00:36:32,500 --> 00:36:36,583 and perhaps history as we know it. 691 00:36:42,125 --> 00:36:45,125 [Shatner reads on-screen text] 692 00:36:45,292 --> 00:36:47,708 After years searching 693 00:36:47,875 --> 00:36:49,167 for the lost tomb of Queen Cleopatra, 694 00:36:49,375 --> 00:36:52,750 archaeologist Kathleen Martinez 695 00:36:52,917 --> 00:36:55,500 discovers something extraordinary-- 696 00:36:55,667 --> 00:36:58,583 a mysterious, ancient tunnel 697 00:36:58,708 --> 00:37:02,708 hiding beneath this enormous temple complex. 698 00:37:02,875 --> 00:37:04,500 [Martinez] The discovery of the tunnel 699 00:37:04,667 --> 00:37:07,917 was with archaeological excavation, 700 00:37:08,125 --> 00:37:09,542 systematic excavations. 701 00:37:09,708 --> 00:37:11,333 But we didn't know 702 00:37:11,458 --> 00:37:16,542 that this shaft will go down 25 meters, 703 00:37:16,708 --> 00:37:21,458 and it was really hard to go down and to excavate. 704 00:37:21,625 --> 00:37:26,000 So we had to continue excavating with our hands. 705 00:37:26,167 --> 00:37:28,833 Encountering cobra, 706 00:37:28,958 --> 00:37:31,292 different type of snakes and scorpions, 707 00:37:31,500 --> 00:37:32,917 which make it very difficult. 708 00:37:33,083 --> 00:37:35,167 But we continue, 709 00:37:35,375 --> 00:37:37,833 because the tunnels go 710 00:37:37,958 --> 00:37:41,708 from the temple to the Mediterranean Sea. 711 00:37:42,708 --> 00:37:45,333 It opened to the Mediterranean Sea, 712 00:37:45,500 --> 00:37:48,375 leading me to understand that 713 00:37:48,542 --> 00:37:51,208 the temple was connected 714 00:37:51,333 --> 00:37:55,667 to another structure that today is underwater. 715 00:37:57,542 --> 00:37:59,667 So we are going to continue excavating 716 00:37:59,875 --> 00:38:01,375 and working in the sea. 717 00:38:01,542 --> 00:38:03,583 So there's a lot of work to do. 718 00:38:03,750 --> 00:38:06,458 The tunnel will be the key 719 00:38:06,667 --> 00:38:10,375 to discover the tomb of Queen Cleopatra. 720 00:38:10,542 --> 00:38:13,917 [Naunton] We have to remember that with ancient Egypt, 721 00:38:14,042 --> 00:38:15,917 the bodies of deceased individuals 722 00:38:16,083 --> 00:38:19,708 were often placed in chambers at the bottom of deep shafts, 723 00:38:19,833 --> 00:38:23,292 hidden away and protected for all eternity. 724 00:38:23,458 --> 00:38:25,500 So the presence of shafts and tunnels 725 00:38:25,667 --> 00:38:28,000 at the temple area immediately puts us in mind 726 00:38:28,208 --> 00:38:30,625 of perhaps a monumental tomb of some kind. 727 00:38:30,792 --> 00:38:32,708 And of course, until we know exactly where it goes, 728 00:38:32,875 --> 00:38:35,125 it's very difficult to say what it might be, 729 00:38:35,250 --> 00:38:38,333 but it is at the very least very intriguing. 730 00:38:39,375 --> 00:38:41,875 [Shatner] While excavation of the tunnel is far from complete, 731 00:38:42,042 --> 00:38:44,958 the search for Cleopatra's lost tomb 732 00:38:45,083 --> 00:38:48,208 has attracted another famous explorer, 733 00:38:48,375 --> 00:38:50,083 Dr. Robert Ballard, 734 00:38:50,250 --> 00:38:53,833 who famously found the sunken wreck of the Titanic. 735 00:38:53,958 --> 00:38:56,708 [Martinez] Now we are working on land and underwater 736 00:38:56,875 --> 00:39:00,000 with Dr. Robert Ballard, 737 00:39:00,208 --> 00:39:03,500 and we recently make a major discovery-- 738 00:39:03,667 --> 00:39:07,208 the port to the harbor of Taposiris Magna. 739 00:39:08,875 --> 00:39:11,833 We are writing pages of history. 740 00:39:12,000 --> 00:39:15,958 What kind of structures could be now underwater? 741 00:39:16,875 --> 00:39:19,458 Could be another temple, 742 00:39:19,625 --> 00:39:21,500 could be a town. 743 00:39:21,667 --> 00:39:24,333 We don't know, but we believe 744 00:39:24,542 --> 00:39:28,042 this is the beginning of another important journey. 745 00:39:29,083 --> 00:39:32,500 There's so much that people don't know about Cleopatra, 746 00:39:32,625 --> 00:39:35,833 and this is one of the things that we're trying to change. 747 00:39:35,917 --> 00:39:39,667 I'm convinced that the discovery of the tomb 748 00:39:39,792 --> 00:39:42,167 will be the greatest discovery of the century. 749 00:39:43,208 --> 00:39:44,875 [Bradshaw] If the tomb of Cleopatra is discovered 750 00:39:45,042 --> 00:39:46,833 within our lifetime, it would be 751 00:39:47,000 --> 00:39:49,500 unspeakably exciting. 752 00:39:49,667 --> 00:39:51,667 Partly, this is because people have been looking 753 00:39:51,833 --> 00:39:54,708 for it for so long but more importantly 754 00:39:54,917 --> 00:39:57,083 because of what it can reveal to us. 755 00:39:57,250 --> 00:39:59,125 How did she die? 756 00:39:59,292 --> 00:40:01,250 What did she look like? 757 00:40:01,375 --> 00:40:04,625 Royal tombs for Egyptian rulers were statements 758 00:40:04,792 --> 00:40:07,167 about how they wanted themselves to be perceived. 759 00:40:07,333 --> 00:40:10,208 So we get Cleopatra's perspective on things, finally. 760 00:40:11,792 --> 00:40:14,042 [Shatner] Will Cleopatra's elusive lost tomb 761 00:40:14,208 --> 00:40:16,250 soon be discovered? 762 00:40:16,458 --> 00:40:20,417 Like many mysteries in Africa, scientists, explorers 763 00:40:20,583 --> 00:40:24,167 and adventurers continue their never-ending quest 764 00:40:24,375 --> 00:40:29,458 for answers in the birthplace of all mankind. 765 00:40:30,625 --> 00:40:33,208 [Nkirote reads on-screen text] 766 00:40:57,750 --> 00:40:59,833 [Wynne-Jones] When you work in Africa, 767 00:40:59,958 --> 00:41:01,750 you're often literally writing the history 768 00:41:01,917 --> 00:41:03,458 for that place and that time. 769 00:41:03,625 --> 00:41:06,958 I think there are many more stories to be told because 770 00:41:07,167 --> 00:41:09,000 each time we go out there, 771 00:41:09,208 --> 00:41:12,000 we're telling something new 772 00:41:12,208 --> 00:41:14,750 'cause there's still so much to discover. 773 00:41:14,958 --> 00:41:18,417 Africa is a magnificent land, 774 00:41:18,583 --> 00:41:20,667 the cradle of civilization, 775 00:41:20,875 --> 00:41:23,917 offering unprecedented diversity. 776 00:41:24,042 --> 00:41:27,250 It's also home to lost cities and forgotten cultures, 777 00:41:27,375 --> 00:41:30,625 along with otherworldly treasures buried 778 00:41:30,833 --> 00:41:33,833 in its endless deserts and dense jungles. 779 00:41:34,000 --> 00:41:37,000 And to think that scientists and explorers could be 780 00:41:37,208 --> 00:41:39,208 on the precipice of a great discovery 781 00:41:39,375 --> 00:41:42,875 that could forever change the history of mankind-- 782 00:41:43,042 --> 00:41:44,667 well, it makes the hidden mysteries 783 00:41:44,875 --> 00:41:47,792 of this continent even more exciting. 784 00:41:47,958 --> 00:41:51,500 What might be uncovered? 785 00:41:51,625 --> 00:41:55,000 The possibilities are as monumental 786 00:41:55,208 --> 00:41:56,667 as Africa itself 787 00:41:56,833 --> 00:41:58,667 and for now remain... 788 00:41:58,875 --> 00:42:00,792 unexplained. 789 00:42:01,000 --> 00:42:04,042 CAPTIONING PROVIDED BY A+E NETWORKS