1 00:00:01,711 --> 00:00:06,715 [narrator] Could this ancient Middle Eastern relic really produce electricity? 2 00:00:06,749 --> 00:00:09,718 [Dr. Mark Altaweel] How could they have batteries almost 1,700 years 3 00:00:09,752 --> 00:00:11,920 before batteries existed? 4 00:00:11,954 --> 00:00:17,459 [narrator] Why is this 3,000-year-old Egyptian mummy screaming? 5 00:00:17,493 --> 00:00:21,696 This person is being denied an afterlife for eternity. 6 00:00:21,731 --> 00:00:24,933 This is a huge deal. 7 00:00:24,967 --> 00:00:30,772 [narrator] And is this medieval device the hand of the world's first iron man? 8 00:00:30,840 --> 00:00:34,443 To the untrained eye, it just looks like a gauntlet on a suit of armor. 9 00:00:34,510 --> 00:00:37,612 This is something far, far stranger 10 00:00:37,647 --> 00:00:39,314 and more technologically advanced. 11 00:00:42,452 --> 00:00:47,756 [narrator] These are the most remarkable and mysterious objects on earth 12 00:00:47,824 --> 00:00:54,396 hidden away in museums, laboratories and storage room. 13 00:00:54,464 --> 00:00:56,531 Now, new research and technology 14 00:00:56,599 --> 00:01:00,135 can get under their skin like never before. 15 00:01:01,504 --> 00:01:06,508 We can rebuild them, pull them apart, 16 00:01:06,542 --> 00:01:11,446 and zoom in to reveal the unbelievable, 17 00:01:12,448 --> 00:01:17,385 the ancient and the truly bizarre. 18 00:01:18,754 --> 00:01:22,324 These are the world's strangest things. 19 00:01:31,534 --> 00:01:34,936 This priceless 2,000-year-old relic 20 00:01:34,971 --> 00:01:38,340 is the only one of its kind in the world. 21 00:01:39,308 --> 00:01:42,677 Since it was unearthed in Baghdad in 1936, 22 00:01:42,712 --> 00:01:43,912 it's become infamous 23 00:01:43,946 --> 00:01:47,749 as one of the most controversial finds of all time. 24 00:01:49,085 --> 00:01:53,355 For nearly 70 years, it was stored in an Iraqi museum. 25 00:01:54,657 --> 00:01:57,025 Now, it's gone. 26 00:01:59,562 --> 00:02:02,631 In 2003, during the Iraq War, 27 00:02:02,665 --> 00:02:06,434 Baghdad Museum was plundered, and it went missing. 28 00:02:09,872 --> 00:02:15,110 [narrator] But using the best available data, we've brought it back. 29 00:02:19,649 --> 00:02:20,916 Just six inches tall. 30 00:02:20,983 --> 00:02:24,386 At first glance, it looks like a dusty old jar... 31 00:02:25,621 --> 00:02:28,456 but opening it up reveals something intriguing... 32 00:02:29,492 --> 00:02:33,795 a tube of copper and an iron rod. 33 00:02:33,863 --> 00:02:38,166 And in between the two, you had this bitumen plug that separated the two items. 34 00:02:40,970 --> 00:02:42,871 [narrator] The archaeologist who finds it 35 00:02:42,905 --> 00:02:46,875 is struck by a similarity in this combination of parts, 36 00:02:46,943 --> 00:02:52,280 not to anything from the ancient world, but something from the modern. 37 00:02:53,516 --> 00:02:55,450 He basically, right there on the spot, 38 00:02:55,518 --> 00:02:58,453 thought that it may have been a battery... 39 00:02:58,487 --> 00:03:02,424 Which is kind of a crazy-sounding idea 40 00:03:02,458 --> 00:03:05,594 for something that's 2,000 years old. 41 00:03:05,661 --> 00:03:08,530 [narrator] Accepted history says the first-known battery 42 00:03:08,564 --> 00:03:11,433 won't be invented until 1799. 43 00:03:12,768 --> 00:03:15,670 How could they have batteries 1,700 years before 44 00:03:15,738 --> 00:03:18,640 when actually batteries existed? 45 00:03:19,709 --> 00:03:23,345 [narrator] It becomes known as the Baghdad Battery. 46 00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:28,350 No other jar like this has ever been found. 47 00:03:29,685 --> 00:03:31,686 What is it for? 48 00:03:31,754 --> 00:03:36,024 And could it really be an ancient electrical device? 49 00:03:38,594 --> 00:03:42,430 Why would an archaeologist identify it as a battery in the first place? 50 00:03:43,699 --> 00:03:46,768 One of the challenges that we have in interpreting the past 51 00:03:46,802 --> 00:03:50,472 is that we do have a kind of natural inclination 52 00:03:50,506 --> 00:03:54,609 to bring our own frames of reference to what we're seeing. 53 00:03:54,644 --> 00:03:59,514 So it doesn't surprise me that something unusual like this 54 00:03:59,582 --> 00:04:02,350 might have been interpreted as a battery. 55 00:04:03,686 --> 00:04:05,720 [Dr. Altaweel] Most scholars were very skeptical. 56 00:04:05,788 --> 00:04:08,490 As an archaeologist, I would sort of test an idea, 57 00:04:08,524 --> 00:04:10,025 um, see if it's possible or feasible. 58 00:04:10,059 --> 00:04:13,328 If it's not, then I would discount it and say, "Okay, it's not that." 59 00:04:16,465 --> 00:04:17,932 [narrator] So the first question is, 60 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:20,969 can it actually function as a battery at all? 61 00:04:21,003 --> 00:04:24,572 [Dr. Anna Ploszajski] A battery like this has three main components. 62 00:04:24,640 --> 00:04:26,941 There are two electrodes made of metal 63 00:04:26,976 --> 00:04:28,743 called the anode and the cathode. 64 00:04:28,778 --> 00:04:31,913 And the substance in between those is called an electrolyte. 65 00:04:31,947 --> 00:04:36,418 Electrolytes are liquids that allow for the flow of charged particles 66 00:04:36,485 --> 00:04:37,819 between the two electrodes. 67 00:04:37,887 --> 00:04:41,489 In a battery, it would commonly be an acidic liquid. 68 00:04:43,159 --> 00:04:45,593 [narrator] The copper and the iron in this ancient relic 69 00:04:45,628 --> 00:04:48,596 look strikingly like modern electrodes. 70 00:04:48,631 --> 00:04:51,499 And that's not the only similarity. 71 00:04:51,534 --> 00:04:56,071 What's really exciting is that there's evidence of an acidic solution inside. 72 00:04:56,105 --> 00:05:00,208 As well as this, the electrodes show evidence of corrosion, 73 00:05:00,242 --> 00:05:03,178 which is exactly what we would expect to find inside a battery. 74 00:05:04,313 --> 00:05:06,648 [narrator] So, it seems to have all the right parts, 75 00:05:06,682 --> 00:05:08,917 but can it actually make electricity? 76 00:05:10,052 --> 00:05:14,622 Scientific research has finally tested this idea. 77 00:05:14,657 --> 00:05:17,058 People have done a reconstruction of the Baghdad Battery 78 00:05:17,093 --> 00:05:20,729 and found that because of the chemistry and the materials involved, 79 00:05:20,796 --> 00:05:25,834 it kind of can't help but be a battery, which is really cool. 80 00:05:26,635 --> 00:05:28,636 [narrator] So, quite remarkably, 81 00:05:28,671 --> 00:05:31,839 the evidence suggests it really does work. 82 00:05:32,608 --> 00:05:34,809 But is this an accidental effect 83 00:05:34,844 --> 00:05:39,114 or are its makers actually trying to create electricity? 84 00:05:41,584 --> 00:05:44,886 Back in the third century, this region of Mesopotamia 85 00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:48,256 is at the heart of the Sasanian Empire. 86 00:05:49,658 --> 00:05:51,659 And for the time, the people who live here 87 00:05:51,694 --> 00:05:53,895 certainly have a sophisticated culture. 88 00:05:55,030 --> 00:05:58,533 The capital city of Ctesiphon is a vast metropolis 89 00:05:58,567 --> 00:06:00,101 of a quarter of a million people. 90 00:06:00,169 --> 00:06:03,471 [Dr. Altaweel] One of the remains of Ctesiphon is this large arch 91 00:06:03,506 --> 00:06:05,740 that you see if you go outside of Baghdad. 92 00:06:05,808 --> 00:06:08,777 So, clearly, the Sasanians were a very sophisticated society 93 00:06:08,811 --> 00:06:10,378 of very developed engineers. 94 00:06:12,014 --> 00:06:16,484 [narrator] If any civilization in this period is going to invent a battery, 95 00:06:16,552 --> 00:06:19,254 the Sasanians sound like a good prospect. 96 00:06:20,756 --> 00:06:24,392 In fact, one of the most ancient universities was built by the Sasanians. 97 00:06:24,427 --> 00:06:25,927 Um, they had an ancient school 98 00:06:25,961 --> 00:06:27,862 that brought scholars from India, from Rome, 99 00:06:27,897 --> 00:06:31,966 from the Greek world, uh, to basically conduct science. 100 00:06:32,001 --> 00:06:36,471 [narrator] If the Sasanians really do create this mysterious object, 101 00:06:36,505 --> 00:06:37,906 what is it for? 102 00:06:38,841 --> 00:06:41,976 One theory suggests its electrical charge 103 00:06:42,011 --> 00:06:44,679 could be used for plating metal. 104 00:06:44,747 --> 00:06:47,615 To do this, you put metal objects that you want to coat 105 00:06:47,650 --> 00:06:49,884 in a precious material into a vat 106 00:06:49,919 --> 00:06:54,823 of really nasty chemicals that contain gold, for example. 107 00:06:54,857 --> 00:06:59,060 When you pass a current through that solution, 108 00:06:59,094 --> 00:07:02,564 then the gold atoms stick to the metals that you want to plate. 109 00:07:02,598 --> 00:07:08,203 And what you ends up with is a really thin layer of gold onto the metal surface. 110 00:07:11,373 --> 00:07:12,707 [narrator] And there's no shortage 111 00:07:12,775 --> 00:07:16,878 of gold-plated objects from this period to support this idea. 112 00:07:16,912 --> 00:07:21,416 Plating gold, particularly on things like silver, or other metals, 113 00:07:21,450 --> 00:07:22,484 was very typical. 114 00:07:22,518 --> 00:07:24,552 Uh, gold, of course, was highly precious, 115 00:07:24,620 --> 00:07:27,222 highly desired, but was also very expensive. 116 00:07:27,256 --> 00:07:30,925 So you often would put a plate of gold on another item 117 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:33,828 to make it look like the entire item's made of gold 118 00:07:33,863 --> 00:07:36,731 to give it that, kind of, gold shine. 119 00:07:36,765 --> 00:07:39,534 [narrator] But there are some issues with this theory. 120 00:07:39,568 --> 00:07:42,770 [Dr. Ploszajski] The problem with the electroplating theory is that you would have needed 121 00:07:42,805 --> 00:07:47,442 a lot of Baghdad Batteries to power it, and we've only found one. 122 00:07:49,612 --> 00:07:52,013 [narrator] There's an even bigger problem. 123 00:07:52,047 --> 00:07:55,149 The Sasanians already know how to plate gold. 124 00:07:56,218 --> 00:07:58,853 It was a different process that was much better known 125 00:07:58,888 --> 00:08:01,723 and much easier to do called fire gilding, 126 00:08:01,790 --> 00:08:04,025 which would have achieved the same effect 127 00:08:04,059 --> 00:08:06,895 of plating these metal objects with gold. 128 00:08:07,663 --> 00:08:08,730 In fire gilding, what you do is 129 00:08:08,797 --> 00:08:12,166 you create an alloy out of gold and mercury. 130 00:08:12,201 --> 00:08:15,570 You apply that to the metal surface, and then you heat it up, 131 00:08:15,638 --> 00:08:18,439 which boils away the mercury into the air 132 00:08:18,507 --> 00:08:20,808 to leave the gold on the surface. 133 00:08:20,876 --> 00:08:23,678 This is a ridiculously dangerous process, 134 00:08:23,712 --> 00:08:25,380 and would have been extremely bad 135 00:08:25,414 --> 00:08:27,615 for the health of everyone involved 136 00:08:27,650 --> 00:08:29,217 in doing this fire gilding process. 137 00:08:29,251 --> 00:08:33,488 So, we know that now, but they probably didn't know that back then. 138 00:08:34,957 --> 00:08:37,892 [narrator] The electroplating theory doesn't hold up, 139 00:08:37,960 --> 00:08:41,296 and there's an even more bizarre idea. 140 00:08:41,330 --> 00:08:45,199 Could this strange object have been for childbirth? 141 00:08:51,807 --> 00:08:55,777 The Baghdad Battery, a mysterious ancient device 142 00:08:55,811 --> 00:08:58,980 that produces an electric charge. 143 00:09:00,683 --> 00:09:01,950 What is it for? 144 00:09:02,818 --> 00:09:05,353 There's been one argument that the device 145 00:09:05,387 --> 00:09:07,522 may have been used for a kind of electrotherapy. 146 00:09:07,556 --> 00:09:10,625 Uh, the idea of using electricity to numb the pain, 147 00:09:10,693 --> 00:09:12,827 perhaps in childbirth, labor. 148 00:09:12,861 --> 00:09:15,063 We do this in the modern world. 149 00:09:15,130 --> 00:09:20,268 [narrator] Surprisingly, using electricity in this way is not a new idea. 150 00:09:21,870 --> 00:09:24,539 There are ancient texts from the ancient Greek world, 151 00:09:24,607 --> 00:09:26,641 uh, the use of electric rays, for instance. 152 00:09:26,709 --> 00:09:28,543 Electricity derived from animals 153 00:09:28,611 --> 00:09:31,646 that could be used to numb the pain for individuals. 154 00:09:31,680 --> 00:09:34,616 So that's indicating there is a precedent for this, uh... 155 00:09:34,683 --> 00:09:37,185 potential use to the battery for that purpose. 156 00:09:37,219 --> 00:09:40,788 [narrator] The problem with this theory is that there was no shortage, 157 00:09:40,823 --> 00:09:43,725 of pain relief in this part of the world already. 158 00:09:44,560 --> 00:09:46,928 Almost 2,000 years before this jar... 159 00:09:46,962 --> 00:09:47,895 would have been made, 160 00:09:47,963 --> 00:09:50,498 you had text discussing the use of things. 161 00:09:50,566 --> 00:09:54,235 Probably comparable to opium or even cannabis. 162 00:09:54,737 --> 00:09:56,738 Used to numb pain. 163 00:09:56,805 --> 00:09:59,841 So, medicinal uses of different plants, 164 00:09:59,875 --> 00:10:03,645 would have been a well established practice, in this part of the world. 165 00:10:03,679 --> 00:10:07,015 [narrator] So probably not a miracle pain relief. 166 00:10:07,049 --> 00:10:10,551 Their seemed to be flaws in every ancient battery theory. 167 00:10:11,553 --> 00:10:14,656 Maybe the answer is it's not a battery at all. 168 00:10:16,091 --> 00:10:19,927 The form and shape of the Baghdad battery, is a very common shape. 169 00:10:19,962 --> 00:10:24,866 Very common looking jar, very plainly decorated. 170 00:10:24,900 --> 00:10:30,238 Such jars were often used to contain scrolls, parchment effectively. 171 00:10:31,974 --> 00:10:35,410 [narrator] But if this jar is designed to hold scrolls, 172 00:10:35,477 --> 00:10:37,712 why is there acid residue inside it? 173 00:10:38,647 --> 00:10:41,849 And why the copper tube and iron rod? 174 00:10:41,917 --> 00:10:47,155 Any theory has to explain the function of all four key elements. 175 00:10:47,189 --> 00:10:49,857 [Dr. Altaweel] You have the liquid inside the jar. 176 00:10:49,892 --> 00:10:50,825 You had the jar itself. 177 00:10:50,893 --> 00:10:54,529 The two items the rod and the cylinder. 178 00:10:54,563 --> 00:10:56,564 The fact that they're made of specific metals. 179 00:10:56,632 --> 00:10:57,799 You had iron and copper. 180 00:10:57,833 --> 00:10:59,901 So you had to come up with a solution, 181 00:10:59,935 --> 00:11:03,071 that effectively brings it all together. 182 00:11:03,706 --> 00:11:06,441 Now there is a new idea, 183 00:11:06,508 --> 00:11:09,477 one that could explain everything. 184 00:11:09,511 --> 00:11:11,312 A new and very exciting... 185 00:11:11,380 --> 00:11:12,680 theory about the Baghdad battery, 186 00:11:12,748 --> 00:11:15,817 is that it could have been used in the brewing of beer. 187 00:11:16,752 --> 00:11:19,520 When you ferment yeast to create beer, 188 00:11:19,588 --> 00:11:22,757 it also makes substances like hydrogen sulphide. 189 00:11:22,825 --> 00:11:26,327 This is a really smelly and disgusting material. 190 00:11:26,361 --> 00:11:27,595 You can smell it near volcanoes. 191 00:11:27,663 --> 00:11:29,797 It sort of smells like rotten eggs, 192 00:11:29,865 --> 00:11:32,767 and you really don't want that in your beer. 193 00:11:32,801 --> 00:11:35,703 So, today we take hydrogen sulphide out of beer, 194 00:11:35,771 --> 00:11:38,206 using electrochemical processes. 195 00:11:39,541 --> 00:11:40,742 [Dr. Altaweel] In modern beer making, 196 00:11:40,776 --> 00:11:42,810 copper barrels are often used, 197 00:11:42,878 --> 00:11:46,581 to remove smell and impurities from beer, 198 00:11:46,615 --> 00:11:48,483 so potentially the Baghdad battery 199 00:11:48,517 --> 00:11:49,917 is used for a similar purpose. 200 00:11:50,986 --> 00:11:53,588 To get rid of the hydrogen sulphide from beer, 201 00:11:53,622 --> 00:11:55,590 what you can do is put a copper electrode... 202 00:11:55,624 --> 00:11:58,693 into the beer and apply a voltage to it. 203 00:11:58,727 --> 00:12:01,329 When you do that, the hydrogen sulfide in the beer, 204 00:12:01,363 --> 00:12:04,465 reacts with the copper to produce a solid material, 205 00:12:04,500 --> 00:12:06,801 which just floats to the bottom of the vat, 206 00:12:06,869 --> 00:12:08,569 which you can then easily remove, 207 00:12:08,604 --> 00:12:09,904 which gets rid of your hydrogen sulphide. 208 00:12:09,972 --> 00:12:12,640 And it's possible that the Baghdad battery was used, 209 00:12:12,708 --> 00:12:13,875 for the same process back then. 210 00:12:15,144 --> 00:12:18,646 [narrator] But did the Sasanians really care enough about beer, 211 00:12:18,714 --> 00:12:20,381 to go to this much effort? 212 00:12:22,017 --> 00:12:24,886 Beer was a big deal and had been for a long time. 213 00:12:24,953 --> 00:12:29,557 We know of brewing in Iraq, from 3500 BCE, 214 00:12:29,591 --> 00:12:31,392 and possibly even older than that. 215 00:12:32,594 --> 00:12:34,061 Beer was a very common beverage, 216 00:12:34,096 --> 00:12:35,797 in this part of the world for a long time, 217 00:12:35,864 --> 00:12:38,533 perhaps even preferred beverage, 218 00:12:38,600 --> 00:12:40,668 but it was also full of impurities. 219 00:12:40,736 --> 00:12:44,839 And so, perhaps creating something that could diminish those impurities, 220 00:12:44,873 --> 00:12:48,009 would have been an innovation that would be desired by this period. 221 00:12:48,911 --> 00:12:51,612 [narrator] After 70 years of controversy, 222 00:12:51,680 --> 00:12:54,982 do we finally have an explanation, for this strange object? 223 00:12:55,617 --> 00:12:57,051 So I guess the question is, 224 00:12:57,119 --> 00:13:01,289 could the Baghdad battery have actually been part of a Baghdad brewery? 225 00:13:01,356 --> 00:13:02,890 Well, the beer is acidic, 226 00:13:02,925 --> 00:13:04,859 so yeah, that would work as the electrolytes. 227 00:13:04,927 --> 00:13:08,729 The copper and the iron together create the voltage. 228 00:13:08,764 --> 00:13:12,900 The copper can take the hydrogen sulphide out of the beer. 229 00:13:12,935 --> 00:13:16,604 And we also see that corrosion on the electrodes. 230 00:13:16,638 --> 00:13:19,440 So, yes, it could have worked in this way. 231 00:13:21,109 --> 00:13:24,712 [narrator] But like every theory about the Baghdad battery, 232 00:13:24,746 --> 00:13:25,813 there's a snag. 233 00:13:25,881 --> 00:13:28,649 There's only one problem with this brewery theory, 234 00:13:28,717 --> 00:13:32,620 which is that the Baghdad battery itself is extremely small. 235 00:13:32,688 --> 00:13:33,888 So, if it was used for brewing beer, 236 00:13:33,922 --> 00:13:37,592 it would have been the world's first craft beer. 237 00:13:37,626 --> 00:13:40,862 [narrator] Right now, proving this idea is impossible. 238 00:13:41,797 --> 00:13:44,732 Because the battery is still missing. 239 00:13:44,766 --> 00:13:45,900 Unless it's recovered, 240 00:13:45,934 --> 00:13:50,037 this new theory can't be properly tested. 241 00:13:52,741 --> 00:13:56,344 For now, at least, the Baghdad battery, 242 00:13:56,378 --> 00:14:01,015 remains one of the world's most perplexing, unexplained objects. 243 00:14:04,753 --> 00:14:06,687 Locked away in a Cairo museum, 244 00:14:06,722 --> 00:14:10,157 is one of the strangest Egyptian relics in history. 245 00:14:11,526 --> 00:14:13,427 Unlike the thousands of other mummies, 246 00:14:13,462 --> 00:14:14,762 unearthed from the sands of Egypt, 247 00:14:14,796 --> 00:14:17,832 that seem calm and composed, 248 00:14:17,900 --> 00:14:23,137 this one appears to be a snapshot, of the true horror of death. 249 00:14:25,007 --> 00:14:27,842 Now the body has been removed from its coffin, 250 00:14:27,876 --> 00:14:30,478 and painstakingly reconstructed. 251 00:14:31,813 --> 00:14:35,316 This is the Screaming Mummy. 252 00:14:38,854 --> 00:14:43,391 People think that the Screaming Mummy is screaming in agony, 253 00:14:43,425 --> 00:14:45,826 you know, it looks really horrific. 254 00:14:45,894 --> 00:14:49,530 [narrator] Even the gold earrings lost after the body was discovered, 255 00:14:49,564 --> 00:14:51,999 have been digitally restored. 256 00:14:52,034 --> 00:14:55,303 They're definitely not the jewelry of a peasant. 257 00:14:56,438 --> 00:14:59,073 His body tells a similar story. 258 00:15:01,643 --> 00:15:04,145 His hair was braided. He had henna on. 259 00:15:04,179 --> 00:15:10,284 All of this actually suggests that what we have here is a man of extreme status. 260 00:15:11,753 --> 00:15:12,987 [narrator] Yet this emaciated body, 261 00:15:13,055 --> 00:15:17,158 looks nothing like other high status Egyptian mummies. 262 00:15:18,193 --> 00:15:20,728 "Normal" mummies would be wrapped in linen bandages, 263 00:15:20,762 --> 00:15:22,897 which were symbolically important. 264 00:15:22,931 --> 00:15:26,467 It's really shocking that this mummy is not. 265 00:15:27,569 --> 00:15:30,805 And his hands and feet looked like they were tied up. 266 00:15:30,839 --> 00:15:34,475 [Dr. Rebecca] Why was he buried in this really disturbing manner? 267 00:15:35,444 --> 00:15:37,111 [narrator] Who is he? 268 00:15:37,713 --> 00:15:39,780 Why is he screaming? 269 00:15:39,848 --> 00:15:45,453 Now, the latest scientific analysis can reveal not only his identity, 270 00:15:45,487 --> 00:15:49,023 but the truth behind his gruesome demise. 271 00:15:56,732 --> 00:15:59,800 The Screaming Mummy is discovered in the late 19th century. 272 00:16:00,802 --> 00:16:04,972 Near Egypt's legendary Valley of the Kings, 273 00:16:05,640 --> 00:16:08,142 and he isn't found alone. 274 00:16:09,778 --> 00:16:14,081 Basically, this was a discovery of a cache of mummies. 275 00:16:14,149 --> 00:16:18,886 So there were about 40 in there, most of them richly decorated, 276 00:16:18,954 --> 00:16:23,024 with coffins and sarcophagi and things like that. 277 00:16:23,892 --> 00:16:25,559 Some of the mummies in this cache, 278 00:16:25,594 --> 00:16:27,628 are actually quite well known, what we might say, 279 00:16:27,662 --> 00:16:30,398 household names from ancient Egypt. 280 00:16:30,432 --> 00:16:33,267 So, for example, Ramses II. 281 00:16:33,301 --> 00:16:37,204 [narrator] Ramses II ruled for more than 60 years, 282 00:16:37,239 --> 00:16:41,175 and is considered one of ancient Egypt's greatest pharaohs. 283 00:16:41,209 --> 00:16:45,479 So this certainly wasn't just a group of unimportant people, 284 00:16:45,547 --> 00:16:46,647 but rather a bringing together, 285 00:16:46,681 --> 00:16:49,784 of some of the biggest names in ancient Egypt. 286 00:16:50,719 --> 00:16:53,187 [narrator] But inside one of the coffins, 287 00:16:53,221 --> 00:16:56,223 archaeologists make a shocking discovery. 288 00:16:57,626 --> 00:16:59,894 So when they opened up the lid of the coffin, 289 00:16:59,928 --> 00:17:04,565 they were really surprised to find, the body of a young man. 290 00:17:04,633 --> 00:17:08,235 His face was contorted in what seems like agony. 291 00:17:10,939 --> 00:17:12,773 [narrator] With no clue to his identity, 292 00:17:12,808 --> 00:17:16,811 archaeologists label him "Unknown Man E," 293 00:17:16,878 --> 00:17:21,315 What is this macabre body doing amongst such exalted company? 294 00:17:22,751 --> 00:17:26,420 Forensic analysis just adds to the mystery. 295 00:17:27,722 --> 00:17:30,791 You don't see any calluses, no thick skin. 296 00:17:30,859 --> 00:17:36,630 The person had beautiful earrings, fingernails were manicured. 297 00:17:36,698 --> 00:17:39,967 Person was in good health, as far as we could see. 298 00:17:40,001 --> 00:17:43,404 [narrator] This is not a man who works for his living. 299 00:17:44,539 --> 00:17:46,440 Combined with the location of his burial. 300 00:17:46,475 --> 00:17:50,978 This suggests he is a member of ancient Egypt's ruling elite. 301 00:17:51,947 --> 00:17:55,116 But there's a problem with that theory. 302 00:17:55,150 --> 00:17:58,185 His simple wooden coffin looks nothing like the others. 303 00:17:59,688 --> 00:18:01,455 [Dr. Rebecca] It's not highly decorated, 304 00:18:01,523 --> 00:18:03,591 so really, this is a huge question, 305 00:18:03,658 --> 00:18:06,927 why is this man of high status being buried, 306 00:18:06,962 --> 00:18:08,996 in this completely plain coffin? 307 00:18:09,030 --> 00:18:12,967 [narrator] Worse still, it doesn't record his name. 308 00:18:13,001 --> 00:18:17,571 This is almost unheard of in elite burials. 309 00:18:17,606 --> 00:18:21,742 This is not a small thing for the ancient Egyptians. 310 00:18:21,776 --> 00:18:24,745 Names were tied intrinsically, to your body. 311 00:18:24,813 --> 00:18:28,682 So if you wanted to have a successful transition, into the afterlife, 312 00:18:28,717 --> 00:18:30,751 you needed to have your body intact, 313 00:18:30,785 --> 00:18:34,455 and part of that was having a recognizable name. 314 00:18:36,791 --> 00:18:38,826 [narrator] Everything about Egyptian burials, 315 00:18:38,860 --> 00:18:42,263 is to assist your journey after death. 316 00:18:44,132 --> 00:18:45,299 [Dr. Rebecca] If you were buried properly, 317 00:18:45,333 --> 00:18:48,102 the idea would be that you could go into the afterlife. 318 00:18:48,136 --> 00:18:49,904 You could be in the Field of Reeds, 319 00:18:49,971 --> 00:18:54,542 which was at the ancient Egyptian conception of what we might call heaven, 320 00:18:54,576 --> 00:18:56,777 and you lived a life of paradise. 321 00:18:56,811 --> 00:19:00,981 [narrator] The nameless coffin sends a stark message. 322 00:19:01,049 --> 00:19:04,685 The implication of burying someone without their name, 323 00:19:04,753 --> 00:19:07,788 is huge when it comes to ancient Egyptian theology. 324 00:19:07,822 --> 00:19:13,527 This really means that this person is being denied, an afterlife for eternity. 325 00:19:13,595 --> 00:19:15,462 This is a huge deal. 326 00:19:17,966 --> 00:19:20,901 [narrator] The other essential component of a successful journey 327 00:19:20,936 --> 00:19:23,237 into the afterlife is mummification. 328 00:19:25,207 --> 00:19:27,975 Mummification was an extremely elaborate process. 329 00:19:28,043 --> 00:19:31,946 You would start by removing by removing the brain and the internal organs, 330 00:19:31,980 --> 00:19:36,250 um, washing the body and cleansing it with salt. 331 00:19:37,352 --> 00:19:38,986 [narrator] But a forensic examination of the corpse 332 00:19:39,020 --> 00:19:43,324 reveals something even more shocking than the nameless coffin. 333 00:19:45,193 --> 00:19:46,827 [Dr. Mark] If you look at the skull of the mummy, 334 00:19:46,861 --> 00:19:48,996 you see that the brain is still there. 335 00:19:49,030 --> 00:19:52,866 That is very unusual because the brain should have been removed. 336 00:19:54,002 --> 00:19:56,837 [narrator] The abdomen of the body is also unmarked, 337 00:19:56,871 --> 00:20:00,374 suggesting the other organs are still in place. 338 00:20:01,776 --> 00:20:02,977 [Dr. Mark] And that is something... 339 00:20:03,011 --> 00:20:06,714 Especially for a person from a very high social rank, 340 00:20:06,781 --> 00:20:10,217 that's something that I've never seen before. 341 00:20:10,252 --> 00:20:11,852 [narrator] And the material covering the corpse 342 00:20:11,886 --> 00:20:15,723 is completely out of place for a high status burial. 343 00:20:15,790 --> 00:20:18,525 It's really shocking that this mummy is wrapped 344 00:20:18,593 --> 00:20:20,961 not in linen but in a sheepskin. 345 00:20:22,330 --> 00:20:26,567 I've seen a lot of mummies, but none was ever wrapped into a skin 346 00:20:26,635 --> 00:20:29,570 of an animal that has a bad meaning, 347 00:20:29,638 --> 00:20:31,805 or an unclean meaning like a sheep. 348 00:20:31,873 --> 00:20:34,642 So that is something that is very, very unusual, 349 00:20:34,676 --> 00:20:37,278 and very offensive for that person. 350 00:20:39,047 --> 00:20:40,547 [Dr. Rebecca] So if we bring all of this together, 351 00:20:40,615 --> 00:20:42,916 the fact that there's no name on the coffin, 352 00:20:42,951 --> 00:20:44,618 the fact that he was wrapped in sheep skin, 353 00:20:44,686 --> 00:20:47,321 and the fact that his organs weren't removed. 354 00:20:47,355 --> 00:20:49,790 This all adds up to the idea 355 00:20:49,858 --> 00:20:52,626 that someone has done this intentionally, 356 00:20:52,694 --> 00:20:55,763 and that this man is being completely denied 357 00:20:55,797 --> 00:20:58,799 a chance of living in the afterlife. 358 00:21:00,068 --> 00:21:04,938 [narrator] A member of the elite buried in a royal tomb. 359 00:21:04,973 --> 00:21:10,544 His body treated with contempt, his soul damned to oblivion. 360 00:21:10,612 --> 00:21:14,081 Who is this cursed man? 361 00:21:19,788 --> 00:21:21,622 [narrator] The screaming Mummy, 362 00:21:21,656 --> 00:21:27,027 a 3,000-year-old unidentified corpse twisted in agony. 363 00:21:28,330 --> 00:21:29,730 For nearly 130 years, 364 00:21:29,764 --> 00:21:32,833 the identity of Unknown Man E remains a mystery. 365 00:21:34,302 --> 00:21:39,406 Now, 21st century forensics have been brought to bare on the body. 366 00:21:42,310 --> 00:21:45,846 In the late 2000s, an Egyptian archeologist named Zahi Hawass 367 00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:48,349 commissioned a number of DNA analyses. 368 00:21:49,984 --> 00:21:51,285 What these analyses tell us is that 369 00:21:51,319 --> 00:21:55,823 he was the son of one of Egypt's greatest pharaohs, Ramses III. 370 00:21:57,092 --> 00:22:02,196 Ramses III is quite a big deal in ancient Egyptian history. 371 00:22:02,230 --> 00:22:04,965 He had a number of military campaigns that he oversaw, 372 00:22:04,999 --> 00:22:09,136 and he built on an incredibly prolific scale. 373 00:22:09,204 --> 00:22:14,341 To some Egyptologists, he's actually the last of the great pharaohs. 374 00:22:15,877 --> 00:22:18,879 [narrator] If the Screaming Mummy is the son of a living God, 375 00:22:18,913 --> 00:22:23,150 what can he have done to deserve this terrible fate? 376 00:22:27,088 --> 00:22:29,556 An ancient document located two 2,000 miles away 377 00:22:29,624 --> 00:22:32,993 in Turin, northern Italy, might hold the key. 378 00:22:33,862 --> 00:22:36,930 It's known as the Judicial Papyrus. 379 00:22:36,965 --> 00:22:40,134 It seems to record the trial of a number of people 380 00:22:40,168 --> 00:22:46,039 who are high up in the court for conspiracy to assassinate Ramses III. 381 00:22:49,110 --> 00:22:53,547 The pharaohs in ancient Egypt were able to marry a number of wives, 382 00:22:53,581 --> 00:22:54,948 however many they liked, really. 383 00:22:54,983 --> 00:22:58,752 And these wives would usually be ranked. 384 00:22:58,787 --> 00:23:01,922 The Judicial Papyrus actually talks about a lesser queen 385 00:23:01,990 --> 00:23:05,793 whose name was T, um, and the fact that she had managed 386 00:23:05,827 --> 00:23:09,863 to recruit a huge number of courtiers, people of real power. 387 00:23:10,999 --> 00:23:14,601 [narrator] The Papyrus claims that this lesser queen, 388 00:23:14,669 --> 00:23:18,439 a wife of Ramses III plotted to murder him. 389 00:23:20,575 --> 00:23:25,546 And it goes on to suggest that Queen T had created this conspiracy 390 00:23:25,580 --> 00:23:28,782 in order to put her own son on the throne. 391 00:23:28,850 --> 00:23:32,786 And that son's name was Pentawere. 392 00:23:32,821 --> 00:23:35,556 [narrator] The story recorded in this ancient document 393 00:23:35,623 --> 00:23:38,826 is a dark tale of conspiracy and murder. 394 00:23:40,295 --> 00:23:45,199 One that might finally reveal the identity of the Screaming Mummy. 395 00:23:45,233 --> 00:23:50,304 From the DNA test, we know that this is one of the sons of Ramses III. 396 00:23:51,973 --> 00:23:54,975 And we also know that he was buried in disgrace. 397 00:23:55,009 --> 00:23:58,712 So if we put that together, there's only one solution. 398 00:23:58,780 --> 00:24:01,448 This must be Prince Pentawere. 399 00:24:02,984 --> 00:24:05,719 [narrator] There's one problem with this theory. 400 00:24:05,787 --> 00:24:09,356 Other than the Papyrus, the name Pentawere appears 401 00:24:09,390 --> 00:24:13,293 absolutely nowhere else in ancient Egypt. 402 00:24:13,328 --> 00:24:17,231 There's a very real possibility that Pentawere wasn't his real name. 403 00:24:17,265 --> 00:24:20,778 And that actually this is a pseudonym used specifically 404 00:24:20,802 --> 00:24:23,770 so that his real name wouldn't be said 405 00:24:23,805 --> 00:24:29,042 because the action of saying someone's name gives him life. 406 00:24:29,077 --> 00:24:31,612 [narrator] The Screaming Mummy may have been at the center 407 00:24:31,646 --> 00:24:33,313 of a treasonous plot. 408 00:24:34,716 --> 00:24:37,251 But did the plot succeed? 409 00:24:39,721 --> 00:24:42,990 On the one hand, we have the Judicial Papyrus, 410 00:24:43,057 --> 00:24:46,860 at which Ramses III, seems to be opening proceedings 411 00:24:46,928 --> 00:24:50,430 and presiding over the entire trial. 412 00:24:50,465 --> 00:24:52,799 However, he is referred to as the Great God, 413 00:24:52,834 --> 00:24:56,036 which is often a title reserved for people who were dead. 414 00:24:56,104 --> 00:25:00,707 So the Judicial Papyrus doesn't actually give us a firm answer 415 00:25:00,775 --> 00:25:04,444 as to whether the plot against Ramses III was successful or not. 416 00:25:06,314 --> 00:25:07,681 [narrator] In 2007, 417 00:25:07,749 --> 00:25:13,186 Ramses III's mummy is scanned using 21st century CT technology. 418 00:25:14,589 --> 00:25:16,623 The results are shocking. 419 00:25:16,691 --> 00:25:19,893 Under the linen, which was carefully placed and arranged there, 420 00:25:19,961 --> 00:25:24,031 there was a deep wound stretching from the front back to the spine, 421 00:25:24,098 --> 00:25:28,335 and that means that the veins here on his the sides of the neck 422 00:25:28,369 --> 00:25:29,736 were cut. 423 00:25:29,771 --> 00:25:33,373 And that means the brain doesn't get any oxygen and you die instantly. 424 00:25:35,543 --> 00:25:39,580 Meaning that he was assassinated. 425 00:25:39,614 --> 00:25:42,215 [Dr. Rebecca] As the most important man in ancient Egypt, 426 00:25:42,283 --> 00:25:46,987 there is no doubt that the Pharaoh would have been extremely, closely guarded. 427 00:25:47,021 --> 00:25:49,556 And this suggests that anyone who got to him 428 00:25:49,591 --> 00:25:51,491 may have been someone close to him. 429 00:25:53,361 --> 00:25:56,163 [narrator] Someone like a son. 430 00:25:56,197 --> 00:26:00,567 Which may explain why Pentawere is damned to oblivion. 431 00:26:00,602 --> 00:26:04,204 By killing this person who is seen to be a living God, 432 00:26:04,238 --> 00:26:08,742 you are committing the most heinous crime possible. 433 00:26:08,776 --> 00:26:12,913 The conspirators who were found guilty of being part of this plot 434 00:26:12,981 --> 00:26:17,918 actually were handed out some pretty heavy duty sentences. 435 00:26:17,986 --> 00:26:21,655 [narrator] 28 of them are sentenced to death. 436 00:26:21,689 --> 00:26:25,225 Royal members of the plot are ordered to commit suicide. 437 00:26:30,598 --> 00:26:34,468 Is this the fate of the Screaming Mummy? 438 00:26:34,502 --> 00:26:37,070 On the withered corpse is one final clue. 439 00:26:37,105 --> 00:26:41,541 [Dr. Mark] You see kind of indentations on the wrists, 440 00:26:41,576 --> 00:26:45,879 that means that the person was probably or most likely restrained before death 441 00:26:45,913 --> 00:26:49,116 because you even find pieces of leather inside of the tongue. 442 00:26:49,150 --> 00:26:52,352 So, I mean, why would the person be restrained? 443 00:26:53,888 --> 00:26:57,924 The fact that his hands were bound does suggest that if this was suicide, 444 00:26:57,959 --> 00:27:01,395 it was probably more likely to be assisted suicide. 445 00:27:03,564 --> 00:27:06,967 [narrator] We know his name and his fate. 446 00:27:07,669 --> 00:27:10,470 One final question remains. 447 00:27:10,538 --> 00:27:13,106 Why is he screaming? 448 00:27:22,784 --> 00:27:26,053 Why is this mummy screaming? 449 00:27:27,422 --> 00:27:30,090 It turns out he's not alone. 450 00:27:37,865 --> 00:27:39,733 Screaming Mummies exist everywhere. 451 00:27:40,802 --> 00:27:44,571 You see some Screaming Mummies in Sicily, in Italy, 452 00:27:44,639 --> 00:27:47,107 in the middle and Southern America. 453 00:27:47,141 --> 00:27:51,478 Wherever you see mummies, you often see a scream. 454 00:27:51,546 --> 00:27:54,314 [narrator] But are they really screaming at all? 455 00:27:55,683 --> 00:27:59,352 The Screaming Mummy looks as if it was screaming 456 00:27:59,420 --> 00:28:01,521 because it is poorly prepared. 457 00:28:01,556 --> 00:28:04,224 This was... this is not done with love. 458 00:28:06,627 --> 00:28:08,695 In most cases, when mummies are produced, 459 00:28:08,730 --> 00:28:13,200 the lower jaw is bound so that it doesn't open up. 460 00:28:14,802 --> 00:28:16,737 If you bind find the jaw, 461 00:28:16,771 --> 00:28:20,540 then you have joints over here and over there on both sides 462 00:28:20,608 --> 00:28:22,776 and then your lower jaw will just drop. 463 00:28:22,844 --> 00:28:25,812 And that obviously looks as if you were screaming. 464 00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:29,382 So it's just an accidental thing that happens 465 00:28:29,450 --> 00:28:32,753 by gravitational forces. 466 00:28:32,820 --> 00:28:34,755 [narrator] The reason he appears to be screaming 467 00:28:34,822 --> 00:28:38,425 says as much about us as it does about the Egyptians. 468 00:28:39,594 --> 00:28:42,829 It is completely normal that we see emotions, 469 00:28:42,897 --> 00:28:46,867 facial expressions in a face of a living or dead body. 470 00:28:46,901 --> 00:28:50,003 This is because our brain is just hard-wired in a way, 471 00:28:50,037 --> 00:28:53,607 because it is absolutely necessary to very quickly find out 472 00:28:53,641 --> 00:28:57,210 which emotion another person to react properly. 473 00:28:59,580 --> 00:29:02,415 [narrator] When we see a face with a gaping mouth, 474 00:29:02,483 --> 00:29:03,750 its head thrown backwards, 475 00:29:03,785 --> 00:29:07,854 our brains instantly compare it to what we know. 476 00:29:07,922 --> 00:29:12,392 And the closest resemblance to Pentawere's face, is a scream. 477 00:29:12,426 --> 00:29:13,794 [screaming sound] 478 00:29:13,828 --> 00:29:18,899 So it seems this corpse isn't actually screaming. 479 00:29:18,933 --> 00:29:23,203 But that doesn't stop the face from looking profoundly disturbing. 480 00:29:25,807 --> 00:29:30,377 [narrator] Locked forever in an expression of agonizing torment. 481 00:29:34,715 --> 00:29:37,484 [narrator] In a glass cabinet in Jagsthausen Castle 482 00:29:37,552 --> 00:29:39,619 deep in the German countryside, 483 00:29:39,687 --> 00:29:43,156 lies one of the world's most incredible objects. 484 00:29:43,191 --> 00:29:47,794 To the untrained eye, it just looks like a gauntlet you might see on a suit of armor. 485 00:29:47,862 --> 00:29:53,166 This is something far, far stranger and more technologically advanced. 486 00:29:54,735 --> 00:29:58,038 [narrator] Now painstakingly reconstructing it 487 00:29:58,072 --> 00:30:00,440 using cutting edge imaging technology... 488 00:30:06,581 --> 00:30:10,016 reveals it in forensic detail. 489 00:30:11,619 --> 00:30:15,655 It's a 500-year-old medieval marvel, 490 00:30:15,723 --> 00:30:19,659 a mechanical iron hand with a seven inch long cuff, 491 00:30:19,694 --> 00:30:22,295 the only one of its kind in the world. 492 00:30:23,664 --> 00:30:27,000 Its fingers are fully articulated, 493 00:30:27,034 --> 00:30:32,105 and inside is a complex mechanism of cods and springs. 494 00:30:35,676 --> 00:30:41,648 Its owner, Gotz Von Berlichingen made extravagant claims for this device. 495 00:30:41,682 --> 00:30:43,917 The iron hands allows him to hold a glass, 496 00:30:43,985 --> 00:30:48,555 wield a sword, ride a horse and all these things 497 00:30:48,589 --> 00:30:52,692 made you like pretty manly and active and virile. 498 00:30:52,727 --> 00:30:56,229 [narrator] It sounds fantastic, but maybe that's all it is. 499 00:30:57,531 --> 00:30:59,699 Because Gotz has a well earned reputation 500 00:30:59,734 --> 00:31:02,802 as a man given to wild and extravagant claims. 501 00:31:04,305 --> 00:31:08,541 At the end of the day, people thought, is it all true what he's writing there? 502 00:31:08,576 --> 00:31:11,111 Does this hand really properly work? 503 00:31:12,713 --> 00:31:15,215 [narrator] Why was this device built? 504 00:31:15,750 --> 00:31:17,684 Did it really work? 505 00:31:17,718 --> 00:31:21,288 And who was the man with the iron hand? 506 00:31:24,892 --> 00:31:28,528 He lives in 15th century Germany. 507 00:31:28,562 --> 00:31:31,164 It is a brutal, violent place. 508 00:31:31,766 --> 00:31:33,667 The Germanic area 509 00:31:33,701 --> 00:31:38,872 was divided up into dozens of little principalities. 510 00:31:38,940 --> 00:31:41,675 [Ruth Goodman] Some of them were ruled by princess and by Duke's. 511 00:31:41,742 --> 00:31:43,877 They're all at each other's throats all time 512 00:31:43,911 --> 00:31:46,546 trying to get their bit bigger than somebody else's. 513 00:31:46,614 --> 00:31:49,616 It's enormously chaotic, you know. 514 00:31:49,684 --> 00:31:51,885 The same political situation isn't in place 515 00:31:51,986 --> 00:31:57,357 more than about three weeks before, Bing, it's all changed again. 516 00:31:57,391 --> 00:32:01,561 [narrator] This is the world in which Gotz Von Berlichingen lives. 517 00:32:01,629 --> 00:32:07,334 He was born in 1480, and he was a knight by the age of 17. 518 00:32:09,337 --> 00:32:12,372 At the age of 20, he became a freelancer, so to speak. 519 00:32:13,741 --> 00:32:15,642 [narrator] Gotz may be called a knight, 520 00:32:15,710 --> 00:32:18,812 but in reality he's an infamous mercenary. 521 00:32:18,846 --> 00:32:22,816 He had his own gang and he was a weapon to hire. 522 00:32:22,850 --> 00:32:27,120 Anybody could hire the gang and then they would go there and fight for that person. 523 00:32:27,154 --> 00:32:32,292 And he was killing people and robbing people and making money out of that. 524 00:32:34,161 --> 00:32:38,398 [narrator] Then, at the age of 24, it all goes wrong for him. 525 00:32:39,600 --> 00:32:43,770 In 1504, Gotz is fighting for a Bavarian Duke. 526 00:32:43,804 --> 00:32:47,540 And during one of the battles, a cannonball hits his arm 527 00:32:47,608 --> 00:32:51,211 and slices of his hand and a part of his arm. 528 00:32:52,747 --> 00:32:57,083 [narrator] Before antibiotics, such wounds are often fatal. 529 00:32:57,585 --> 00:32:58,752 Gotz is in luck. 530 00:32:58,819 --> 00:33:03,990 He survives. But he loses his right forearm and hand. 531 00:33:04,025 --> 00:33:07,994 It seems his days as a fighting knight are over. 532 00:33:09,630 --> 00:33:12,399 Whilst Gotz is in bed being ill. 533 00:33:12,466 --> 00:33:13,533 He's not giving up. 534 00:33:13,601 --> 00:33:15,135 He's trying to figure something out. 535 00:33:15,169 --> 00:33:19,806 He wants to continue to do his job, so he designs a new arm and hand 536 00:33:19,840 --> 00:33:24,444 for himself to grab a weapon, and two continue to kill. 537 00:33:25,579 --> 00:33:27,180 [narrator] He certainly isn't the first person 538 00:33:27,214 --> 00:33:30,417 to come up with the idea of artificial body parts. 539 00:33:31,552 --> 00:33:33,820 I think there's a general idea that prosthetics 540 00:33:33,888 --> 00:33:36,856 haven't been around for that long. 541 00:33:36,891 --> 00:33:39,826 [Dr. Rebecca] There are a couple of really good examples from ancient Egypt, 542 00:33:39,860 --> 00:33:43,797 the best of which is probably a prosthetic toe 543 00:33:43,831 --> 00:33:48,935 that was designed to go onto the right toe of a noble woman. 544 00:33:49,003 --> 00:33:52,772 It's really amazing. It's made of wood and leather. 545 00:33:52,840 --> 00:33:55,542 It has a hinge so that it can move with her, 546 00:33:55,576 --> 00:34:01,648 fits movement more easily, and it has a nice leather strap for comfort we think. 547 00:34:01,682 --> 00:34:03,616 [narrator] Even the Romans get in on the act. 548 00:34:04,985 --> 00:34:10,390 Pliny the Elder describes a man who he finds to be incredibly heroic. 549 00:34:10,458 --> 00:34:13,660 His name is Marcus Sergius Silus. 550 00:34:13,727 --> 00:34:17,464 He is famous for having his arm cut off in battle 551 00:34:17,498 --> 00:34:19,866 and refusing to step down, 552 00:34:19,900 --> 00:34:24,671 and he actually had an iron bit added onto his arm, 553 00:34:24,705 --> 00:34:25,872 the shield's side arm, 554 00:34:25,940 --> 00:34:29,008 to hold up a shield so that he could continue fighting. 555 00:34:29,777 --> 00:34:32,445 He was on horse numerous times. 556 00:34:32,480 --> 00:34:34,447 He went on to fight numerous battles. 557 00:34:35,816 --> 00:34:39,986 [narrator] But Gotz has a vision of something far more sophisticated. 558 00:34:41,822 --> 00:34:45,859 Gotz goes to a blacksmith and really tries to find something that works, 559 00:34:45,893 --> 00:34:49,929 not just a hook or a wooden stump or something, 560 00:34:49,997 --> 00:34:55,268 but something that really allows him to continue to function and to work. 561 00:34:58,772 --> 00:35:01,508 [narrator] Two years after losing his hand, 562 00:35:01,542 --> 00:35:04,844 Gotz is back on the battlefield with a metal prosthetic. 563 00:35:05,880 --> 00:35:08,948 But he's not satisfied with his first attempt. 564 00:35:10,017 --> 00:35:14,554 First one was still rather relatively remarkable 565 00:35:14,622 --> 00:35:16,589 and that it would open and close, 566 00:35:16,657 --> 00:35:21,694 but more of a binary on and off sort of grip. 567 00:35:21,729 --> 00:35:24,297 But the second version is truly remarkable. 568 00:35:25,699 --> 00:35:26,833 [narrator] What Gotz comes up with 569 00:35:26,901 --> 00:35:31,004 appears to be a uniquely sophisticated iron hand. 570 00:35:31,038 --> 00:35:34,641 If you must have taken to his blacksmith, it was pretty incredible. 571 00:35:34,708 --> 00:35:38,478 He wanted to have each individual digits fully articulated, 572 00:35:38,512 --> 00:35:40,880 and he wanted to be able to hold a sword and take it into battle. 573 00:35:40,948 --> 00:35:43,583 That is a pretty incredible list of demands 574 00:35:43,617 --> 00:35:45,485 to take to a 16th century blacksmith. 575 00:35:46,787 --> 00:35:48,655 [narrator] It sounds astonishing, 576 00:35:48,689 --> 00:35:51,424 and Gotz certainly tells everyone it is. 577 00:35:52,760 --> 00:35:55,728 But does it actually work? 578 00:35:55,763 --> 00:36:00,033 Now new research can finally answer that question. 579 00:36:06,874 --> 00:36:10,510 [narrator] Gotz Von Berlichingen's 500-year-old iron hand 580 00:36:10,544 --> 00:36:13,379 is a masterpiece of medieval engineering. 581 00:36:14,782 --> 00:36:18,885 Challenge of building a prosthetic hand is having a combination 582 00:36:18,953 --> 00:36:21,988 of being able to move and adapt the grip. 583 00:36:22,056 --> 00:36:25,158 But then, actually, when you're ready to hold it, it actually have it fixed 584 00:36:25,192 --> 00:36:30,663 into a very robust mechanical hold say, especially in the case of guts. 585 00:36:30,731 --> 00:36:33,466 If he's holding a sword for the reign of a horse, 586 00:36:33,500 --> 00:36:35,868 he needs for that to be a very tight grip. 587 00:36:37,037 --> 00:36:40,940 [narrator] To understand just how clever Gotz's hand is, 588 00:36:41,008 --> 00:36:44,010 you need to look at the mechanisms inside it. 589 00:36:44,912 --> 00:36:48,381 The key is a ratchet and Paul system. 590 00:36:49,483 --> 00:36:51,517 A ratchet has a series of teeth. 591 00:36:51,552 --> 00:36:54,787 A paul falls into each tooth as it rotates, 592 00:36:54,822 --> 00:36:56,856 and because of the shape of the teeth, 593 00:36:56,890 --> 00:36:59,626 the paul prevents the joint going backwards. 594 00:36:59,693 --> 00:37:03,363 To do that, the paul has to be lifted clear. 595 00:37:06,133 --> 00:37:10,470 It's exactly the same mechanism still found in handcuffs. 596 00:37:13,073 --> 00:37:17,744 In the iron hand, each finger contains three of these mechanisms 597 00:37:17,778 --> 00:37:21,080 that can lock every knuckle joint in place. 598 00:37:21,815 --> 00:37:23,783 So Gotz can use his good hand 599 00:37:23,817 --> 00:37:29,055 to push the metal fingers around an object until the grip is tight enough. 600 00:37:29,089 --> 00:37:31,557 The ratchet and paul keeps it that way. 601 00:37:31,592 --> 00:37:33,626 Pressing a small button on the side of the hand 602 00:37:33,661 --> 00:37:38,665 disengages the paul and releases the ratchets allowing the hand to open. 603 00:37:40,200 --> 00:37:45,204 Another button on the back allows the hand to pivot at the risk joint. 604 00:37:46,940 --> 00:37:51,110 Gotz tells everyone how fantastic his new hand is. 605 00:37:51,178 --> 00:37:55,848 Gotz claimed that his new hand and arm rendered more service in the fight, 606 00:37:55,916 --> 00:38:00,153 then did his original hand and arm out of flesh and bone. 607 00:38:00,220 --> 00:38:04,424 [narrator] The problem with Gotz is that he is famously economical 608 00:38:04,491 --> 00:38:06,426 with the truth. 609 00:38:06,460 --> 00:38:08,561 He would write a beautiful autobiography 610 00:38:08,629 --> 00:38:10,963 and of course which only show the best of him. 611 00:38:11,031 --> 00:38:14,167 He would not tell about murder and rubbing people all the time, 612 00:38:14,201 --> 00:38:19,806 but he would always see that he's, you know, presented in a good light. 613 00:38:19,840 --> 00:38:24,444 [narrator] So can Gotz really hold a glass, grip the reins of his horse 614 00:38:24,511 --> 00:38:27,347 and wield a sword, as he claims? 615 00:38:29,683 --> 00:38:32,919 Over the last 500 years, there's been no shortage of doubters. 616 00:38:34,121 --> 00:38:38,558 Now new research can finally settle it once and for all. 617 00:38:39,960 --> 00:38:45,465 The University of Offenburg, they studied the design of the hand. 618 00:38:47,134 --> 00:38:51,270 [narrator] The research has started with his simpler mark one hand. 619 00:38:51,305 --> 00:38:55,942 Actually used 3D printing technology to replicate the design. 620 00:38:56,009 --> 00:39:00,046 And part of what that study demonstrated was the extremes 621 00:39:00,080 --> 00:39:04,517 that the hand was able to achieve from relatively robust grips 622 00:39:04,551 --> 00:39:05,885 that would be used, say, in a battle 623 00:39:05,953 --> 00:39:10,556 all the way to the more fine finely dexterous applications, 624 00:39:10,624 --> 00:39:12,458 such as holding a pen. 625 00:39:12,493 --> 00:39:15,962 [narrator] The mark one hand contains many of the key technologies 626 00:39:15,996 --> 00:39:18,931 that Gotz refines in the Mark II. 627 00:39:18,966 --> 00:39:24,237 So based on this research, it seems Gotz isn't boasting. 628 00:39:24,271 --> 00:39:27,673 His mechanical hand really does work. 629 00:39:28,509 --> 00:39:30,610 This is effectively a 500-year-old, 630 00:39:30,677 --> 00:39:35,782 almost fully functioning mechanical, prosthetic iron hand. 631 00:39:35,816 --> 00:39:38,551 [narrator] Perhaps the proof of just how well it works 632 00:39:38,619 --> 00:39:40,987 is the life Gotz lives. 633 00:39:41,021 --> 00:39:45,725 After losing his hands, Gotz continues to live for 58 years, 634 00:39:45,759 --> 00:39:49,262 and his work was blundering, murdering and, you know, 635 00:39:49,296 --> 00:39:54,367 drinking, gambling, so his hands quite obviously worked very well. 636 00:39:55,569 --> 00:39:58,571 [narrator] Gotz has become a German folk hero, 637 00:39:58,639 --> 00:40:00,940 and it's all because of something that happened 638 00:40:00,974 --> 00:40:03,409 two hundred years after his death. 639 00:40:03,444 --> 00:40:05,378 Gotz would probably not be known 640 00:40:05,412 --> 00:40:09,282 if German national poet Goethe would not have put him 641 00:40:09,316 --> 00:40:12,518 in to one of his plays, very famous play. 642 00:40:12,586 --> 00:40:16,422 In this play, Gotz is quoted as saying in German, 643 00:40:16,490 --> 00:40:19,725 [speaking in German] which roughly translates 644 00:40:19,793 --> 00:40:24,030 into "Kiss my ass," but actually it's much worse. 645 00:40:25,365 --> 00:40:28,901 [narrator] Gotz's iron hand is centuries ahead of its time, 646 00:40:28,969 --> 00:40:33,039 a fully functioning medieval prosthetic. 647 00:40:34,141 --> 00:40:36,943 The latest state of the art, electronic prosthetics 648 00:40:36,977 --> 00:40:41,247 appear to have moved on a long way from Gotz's cranks and levers. 649 00:40:42,549 --> 00:40:44,984 Neuro musculoskeletal prostheses 650 00:40:45,052 --> 00:40:48,554 connect the prosthetic directly into the user's nerves, 651 00:40:48,589 --> 00:40:51,090 muscles and skeleton. 652 00:40:52,526 --> 00:40:54,193 Through the use of electrodes, 653 00:40:54,228 --> 00:40:58,364 it's even possible for the wearer to control a prosthetic with their mind. 654 00:41:01,835 --> 00:41:06,839 Gotz's iron hand seems like a relic of the distant past. 655 00:41:06,874 --> 00:41:09,909 But the researchers who test his design don't agree. 656 00:41:11,044 --> 00:41:14,747 They believe it could have far reaching consequences 657 00:41:14,781 --> 00:41:16,983 for people all around the world. 658 00:41:17,851 --> 00:41:20,753 Cases like Gotz's are still relevant today 659 00:41:20,821 --> 00:41:23,623 because of the cost of prosthetics. 660 00:41:23,690 --> 00:41:27,093 And so especially in and some geographies, 661 00:41:27,127 --> 00:41:28,828 that just can't afford some of the most advanced prosthetics. 662 00:41:28,862 --> 00:41:33,566 So systems like Gotz is good still be very, very useful. 663 00:41:33,634 --> 00:41:37,470 [narrator] So, ironically, it's possible in the future 664 00:41:37,504 --> 00:41:39,071 there may be people around the world 665 00:41:39,106 --> 00:41:41,107 who will owe a huge debt of gratitude 666 00:41:41,174 --> 00:41:45,678 to a man who made a very successful career out of robbery and murder. 667 00:41:46,613 --> 00:41:48,714 If Gotz knew this was going to happen, 668 00:41:48,782 --> 00:41:51,751 he'd probably have put it in his autobiography. 669 00:41:51,785 --> 00:41:55,121 Anything to make him sound good.