From the "documentary" Nefertiti resurrected.
Transcript with line numbers for references.

[ 1 ] -----------------------
[ 2 ] Nefertiti resurrected 2007
[ 3 ] -----------------------
[ 4 ] The program begins with a woman speaking as if it were
[ 5 ] Nefertiti saying these words. Nothing but concocted
[ 6 ] padding.

[ 7 ] They were jealous of my beauty; furious with my
[ 8 ] beliefs; resentful of my power.
[ 9 ] Is it any wonder they tried to erase me from history?
[ 10 ] Lost for 3, 000 years, rediscovered at last. The truth
[ 11 ] will not stay buried.

[ 12 ] "Nefertiti resurrected."
[ 13 ] She ruled the most powerful empire the ancient world
[ 14 ] had ever known. 3, 000 years ago, Egypt was the world's
[ 15 ] only superpower, and it was ruled by the most
[ 16 ] beautiful, the most powerful woman the world has ever
[ 17 ] seen.

[ 18 ] Her name means "perfection" A queen of legendary
[ 19 ] beauty, she was the royal consort of the pharaoh
[ 20 ] Akhenaton and loving mother to six daughters and
[ 21 ] stepson Tutankhamen.

[ 22 ] She was queen Nefertiti, and she ruled as an equal to
[ 23 ] any man, past or present.

[ 24 ] With her husband, they challenged the established
[ 25 ] religious order; an unforgivable sin, even for a
[ 26 ] pharaoh; a sin so great, it may have led to her murder.

[ 27 ] Nefertiti vanished from history like a mirage. Now a
[ 28 ] lone Egyptologist may have made the greatest discovery
[ 29 ] since Howard Carter found the tomb of king Tut.

[ 30 ] Walled up in a secret chamber in the valley of the
[ 31 ] kings lie three unwrapped bodies.

[ 32 ] Could one of these forgotten mummies be Egypt's lost
[ 33 ] queen Nefertiti, one of the greatest icons of beauty
[ 34 ] the world has ever known? Through the science of
[ 35 ] special effects and facial reconstruction, Nefertiti
[ 36 ] will be resurrected.

[ 37 ] Flesh is put to bone as her face is finally revealed.
[ 38 ] She was a queen, a living god, and one of the most
[ 39 ] powerful women to ever live. Now, after 3, 000 years,
[ 40 ] her story of power, love, and betrayal will finally be
[ 41 ] told.
[ 42 ] =============================


[ 43 ] Man: The Egyptian book of the dead speaks of a terrible
[ 44 ] curse. If a mummy is mutilated, the gods cannot
[ 45 ] recognize it.

[ 46 ] It cannot enter the afterlife and is trapped between
[ 47 ] the world of the living and the world of the dead.

[ 48 ] A mummy like this has lain forgotten in the valley of
[ 49 ] the kings for 3, 000 years.
[ 50 ] Who is it, and why was it cursed?

[ 51 ] Narrator: In 1912, in the shifting sands of the
[ 52 ] Egyptian desert, German archaeologists found a relic; a
[ 53 ] bust of a forgotten queen.

[ 54 ] This astonishing find is now an icon of beauty the
[ 55 ] world over, yet her life remains a mystery.

[ 56 ] {Nicole Douek - Egyptologist

[ 57 ] Nefertiti is one of the most extraordinary female
[ 58 ] characters in the history of ancient Egypt.

[ 59 ] There are a number of important queens, but amongst all
[ 60 ] of them, Nefertiti really does stand out as something
[ 61 ] quite special.

[ 62 ] Narrator: It's said Nefertiti's power was unsurpassed.

[ 63 ] Raised in a harem, she married a pharaoh; ; bore six
[ 64 ] children, and helped lead a revolution that changed
[ 65 ] Egypt forever.

[ 66 ] She and her husband led an exodus from the ancient
[ 67 ] capital and built a dazzling city in the heart of the
[ 68 ] desert.

[ 69 ] For some, she was a religious zealot, a conspirator; a
[ 70 ] traitor.

[ 71 ] Others saw a heroine; who made the ultimate sacrifice
[ 72 ] to save her country.

[ 73 ] Hawass: A queen of mystery and a queen of magic, queen
[ 74 ] of love, queen of jealousy, queen of revenge.

[ 75 ] Nefertiti is the most important queen in Egypt.

[ 76 ] Narrator: What happened to Nefertiti is one of Egypt's
[ 77 ] greatest unsolved mysteries.

[ 78 ] One Egyptologist has spent the last 13 years trying to
[ 79 ] solve it.

[ 80 ] In a walled-up chamber deep in a tomb, Dr. Joann
[ 81 ] Fletcher she's found the
[ 82 ] missing queen.

[ 83 ] Douek: To identify a royal mummy as Nefertiti is a very
[ 84 ] significant find.

[ 85 ] Very, very significant and extremely important, and I
[ 86 ] wish her luck.

[ 87 ] Narrator: Dr. Fletcher's hunt for evidence has taken
[ 88 ] her from abandoned cities and forgotten temples to the
[ 89 ] tombs of the pharaohs.

[ 90 ] Little remains from Nefertiti's time.

[ 91 ] Drawing on fragmentary texts and unprecedented access
[ 92 ] to rare images, Dr. Fletcher has painted a new portrait
[ 93 ] of the legendary queen.

[ 94 ] And now with the support of discovery quest, Dr.
[ 95 ] Fletcher mounts the largest scientific expedition in
[ 96 ] the valley of the kings in 25 years. Yeah, yeah, good.

[ 97 ] Narrator: Joining her, a team of experts eager to
[ 98 ] employ the latest technology to uncover the truth about
[ 99 ] the mummy thought to be Nefertiti.

[ 100 ] Can modern science reveal the mummy's secrets? Is this
[ 101 ] severed arm the hallmark of a pharaoh? Why does the
[ 102 ] mummy have a stab wound in its side? Using experimental
[ 103 ] forensic techniques, the experts hope to re-create the
[ 104 ] mummy's death.

[ 105 ] This could be a murder.

[ 106 ] Narrator: And what did Nefertiti really look like? Was
[ 107 ] she the beauty portrayed by her famous bust? Using the
[ 108 ] latest advances in forensic graphics, science will re-
[ 109 ] create the mummy's face.

[ 110 ] But where does the mummy's story start? Joann believes
[ 111 ] the trail begins in the valley of the kings.

[ 112 ] Here several centuries after Nefertiti's death, her
[ 113 ] tomb was plundered and her mummy defiled; ; every trace
[ 114 ] of rank and power stripped.

[ 115 ] Even the wig from her head was torn away.

[ 116 ] Then the ultimate sacrilege; her face smashed,
[ 117 ] obliterating not just her beauty but her identity,
[ 118 ] denying her entrance to the afterlife; a fate worse
[ 119 ] than death.

[ 120 ] But they left behind a telltale clue; a clue overlooked
[ 121 ] by everyone except Dr. Joann Fletcher.

[ 122 ] She's an expert in a rare field; ancient Egyptian hair.

[ 123 ] 13 years ago, buried among the treasures of the Cairo
[ 124 ] museum, Joann noticed an ancient wig.

[ 125 ] Fletcher: With certain specialization's, you do zoom in
[ 126 ] to quite a close-range level.

[ 127 ] You tend to see things that otherwise tend to get
[ 128 ] dismissed as trivial.

[ 129 ] I'm actually drawn to things which other people may
[ 130 ] have missed.

[ 131 ] Narrator: A wig is like a fingerprint leading to the
[ 132 ] time it was made and who it was made for.

[ 133 ] Fletcher: What we're actually looking at here is
[ 134 ] basically the Nubian wig, the Nubian hairstyle, which
[ 135 ] generally was only worn by royal women between around
[ 136 ] 1400 and 1300 B.C.

[ 137 ] Narrator: Pictorial evidence shows Nefertiti wearing a
[ 138 ] wig exactly like this one.

[ 139 ] Could the wig in the museum be hers? Fletcher: It was
[ 140 ] one of those little light-bulb moments when; ding!;
[ 141 ] When you sort of think, "it's interesting but no way.

[ 142 ] " And that probably explains why it's taken 13 years to
[ 143 ] get to this point because it just seems so incredible.

[ 144 ] Narrator: In hopes of finding Nefertiti, Joann has
[ 145 ] traced down the story behind the wig.

[ 146 ] In 1898, a Frenchman named victor Loret began
[ 147 ] excavating a tomb sealed for thousands of years.

[ 148 ] Deep underground, he stumbled on a hidden chamber.
[ 149 ] Inside; three anonymous mummies. One seemed mutilated.
[ 150 ] Beside it, Loret found a wig.

[ 151 ] If the records are right, the mummy still lies in the
[ 152 ] valley of the kings.

[ 153 ] A century after victor Loret, Joann heads for the tomb.

[ 154 ] It lies 400 miles south of Cairo in the burial ground
[ 155 ] of the pharaohs.

[ 156 ] 7: 00 A.M. And already the temperature in the valley of
[ 157 ] the kings soars to 120 degrees.

[ 158 ] For five centuries, almost all Egypt's kings were
[ 159 ] buried here. The valley is honeycombed with tombs.

[ 160 ] Could Joann be about to make one of the greatest
[ 161 ] discoveries since the tomb of king Tut? Can science
[ 162 ] rebuild the face of ancient Egypt's most legendary
[ 163 ] beauty? Will she look like her famous bust? Will
[ 164 ] Nefertiti be restored to the afterlife once more?

[ 165 ] Narrator: Nefertiti was one of ancient Egypt's most
[ 166 ] powerful queens.

[ 167 ] Said to be a woman of dazzling beauty, she vanished
[ 168 ] from history 3, 000 years ago.

[ 169 ] After 13 years of painstaking research, Egyptologist
[ 170 ] Dr. Joann Fletcher believes she's finally found her in
[ 171 ] the valley of the kings.

[ 172 ] Fletcher: This is it; valley of the kings. It's just so
[ 173 ] weird. I mean, been coming here for more than 20 years,
[ 174 ] and today, it feels like no other day I've ever been
[ 175 ] here at all.

[ 176 ] Narrator: Joann is entering a tomb called KV35.
[ 177 ] One of the deepest and most spectacular tombs in the
[ 178 ] valley, KV35 contains four side chambers. One of these
[ 179 ] contains the lost mummy.

[ 180 ] The tomb was used by priests to house mummies whose own
[ 181 ] tombs had been looted. A deep drainage piton the way in
[ 182 ] doubled as a deadly trap for tomb robbers.

[ 183 ] One chamber was walled up. Do the remains of Nefertiti
[ 184 ] lie inside? Here we are; the wall; the burial chamber.
[ 185 ] Unreal.

[ 186 ] Narrator: It remains sealed save for a small breach to
[ 187 ] periodically check the contents within. So exciting.

[ 188 ] Narrator: Joann is waiting for Dr. Zahi Hawass, Egypt's
[ 189 ] leading mummy hunter.

[ 190 ] Hawass: Mummies captured our hearts. They have secret
[ 191 ] magic.

[ 192 ] If you say the word "mummy, " it turns the eyes of
[ 193 ] every child and every man because mummies has magic.

[ 194 ] Hi, Dr. Hawass. Hello.

[ 195 ] Narrator: Dr. Hawass' official sanction is essential,
[ 196 ] and the tomb can't be opened with out his say-so. I
[ 197 ] still can't believe it's happening.

[ 198 ] Narrator: Time is short; the work, agonizingly slow.
[ 199 ] The temperature passes 100 degrees Fahrenheit; the
[ 200 ] humidity; 90%.

[ 201 ] An hour later, and the hole becomes a window. Three
[ 202 ] mummies lie within.

[ 203 ] Oh, my god. There they all are. Unbelievable. Thank
[ 204 ] you. Can you see them? Hawass: Yes, all of them. Aren't
[ 205 ] they beautiful? They are.

[ 206 ] Okay, do you want to come in? Oh, yes, please. Thanks.

[ 207 ] Narrator: All three mummies are unwrapped. This is a
[ 208 ] major problem in identifying them. Their names would
[ 209 ] have been written on their bandages.

[ 210 ] That is a brilliant mummification job. The embalmers
[ 211 ] did an excellent job on this lady; really superb.

[ 212 ] Narrator: One is an old woman. Another, a young man.
[ 213 ] The third, Joan believes, could be Nefertiti.

[ 214 ] To guard her theory, Joan has spent the last 13 years
[ 215 ] referring to the mummy as "lady X." She hasn't even
[ 216 ] told Dr. Hawass who she thinks the mummy is.

[ 217 ] Hawass: The three mummies here are still making
[ 218 ] mystery, and they're still making people wonder why
[ 219 ] they were left here. No one could identify them. Some
[ 220 ] people tried. Everyone had a theory about them.

[ 221 ] Narrator: Can Joan find enough evidence to prove her
[ 222 ] own theory? After inspecting the mummies, Dr. Hawass
[ 223 ] leaves Joan to continue her investigation.

[ 224 ] Joann has just two hours to identify lady x as
[ 225 ] Nefertiti. She's a real enigma.

[ 226 ] Now I'm here, literally face-to-face with this woman.
[ 227 ] It is so reminiscent of a very famous piece of
[ 228 ] sculpture. I mean, purely from a visual point of view,
[ 229 ] it is a striking, striking similarity.

[ 230 ] Narrator: The long neck is a clue. So is the band mark
[ 231 ] around the head. Beneath her high crown, Nefertiti's
[ 232 ] head was shaved, a precaution against lice, disease,
[ 233 ] and the Egyptian heat.

[ 234 ] Fletcher: It's possible that something rather tight-
[ 235 ] fitting would have been worn.

[ 236 ] And because there is no natural hair because it's been
[ 237 ] removed, it would have made the wearing of a tight-
[ 238 ] fitting, tall crown, for instance.

[ 239 ] But certainly, this individual had some thing quite
[ 240 ] tight worn on the head when she was prepared for her
[ 241 ] burial, the funeral regalia of royalty.

[ 242 ] Narrator: Another distinct feature appears in some
[ 243 ] depiction's of Nefertiti; double ear piercing.

[ 244 ] For Joan, the double ear piercing is compelling
[ 245 ] evidence.

[ 246 ] Damage to the mouth reveals another tantalizing clue.

[ 247 ] In the middle of all this, all these wonderful clues,
[ 248 ] you have perhaps the most telling thing of all.

[ 249 ] You have this terrible, malicious damage.

[ 250 ] After death someone hated this woman so much, it
[ 251 ] appears that they wanted to literally smash her face in
[ 252 ] with some kind of blunt instrument.

[ 253 ] It is just quite amazing. It really is quite
[ 254 ] extraordinary. I'm almost lost for words.

[ 255 ] Narrator: After Nefertiti's death, almost all
[ 256 ] depiction's of her were mutilated. The damage to the
[ 257 ] face fits the pattern.

[ 258 ] Fletcher: It's very difficult to see this purely as an
[ 259 ] act of tomb robbery because jewelry was never placed
[ 260 ] around the mouth area.

[ 261 ] And so to smash this feature in, this very specific
[ 262 ] feature, it's as if they're trying to make a very
[ 263 ] strong point.

[ 264 ] Narrator: The other mummies hold the final clues. They
[ 265 ] could be Nefertiti's in-laws, her husband, the pharaoh
[ 266 ] Akhenaton's, brother and mother.

[ 267 ] For Joan, finding lady x entombed with members of
[ 268 ] Nefertiti's close family is an intriguing clue.

[ 269 ] Fletcher: There's absolutely no mistaking that these
[ 270 ] are royal mummies, and I firmly believe these are
[ 271 ] members of Akhenaton's own family, his mother, possibly
[ 272 ] his elder brother who died young, and his great royal
[ 273 ] wife, and, I believe, successor, Nefertiti herself.

[ 274 ] Narrator: Joan's time is up. The mummies are walled up
[ 275 ] again.

[ 276 ] I'm sad. They've gone. They've gone away again.

[ 277 ] Narrator: Joann feels her long years of research have
[ 278 ] finally paid off, yet her quest is far from over. To
[ 279 ] prove her theory to the world, she must examine the
[ 280 ] mummy again, this time with the latest technology.

[ 281 ] But the last team to be granted permission to perform
[ 282 ] scientific tests on mummies in the valley of the kings
[ 283 ] did so more than a quarter of a century ago.

[ 284 ] While she waits for permission, Joan embarks on an
[ 285 ] archaeological odyssey in search of the hidden story of
[ 286 ] Nefertiti's life.

[ 287 ] Narrator: Egyptologist Dr. Joann Fletcher has inspected
[ 288 ] the mummy she believes is the legendary queen
[ 289 ] Nefertiti. She's a real enigma.

[ 290 ] Narrator: Joann waits for permission to scientifically
[ 291 ] examine the mummy. For now, she picks up the
[ 292 ] archaeological trail in hopes it leads back to the
[ 293 ] tomb.

[ 294 ] Her quest begins on the west bank of the Nile in the
[ 295 ] ruins of Malqatta. In this once lavish palace, Joan
[ 296 ] thinks Nefertiti may have spent her childhood.

[ 297 ] At its height, Malqatta was the most spectacular palace
[ 298 ] in ancient Egypt, home of the pharaohs.

[ 299 ] Joann thinks Nefertiti grew up in this sprawling
[ 300 ] compound.

[ 301 ] 500 consorts and concubines, the vast harem of
[ 302 ] Amenhotep03, one of Egypt's greatest pharaohs.

[ 303 ] Perhaps his chief wife, the formidable queen Tiy,
[ 304 ] plucked from this harem a bride for her son.

[ 305 ] Fletcher: She would have no doubt had a lot of
[ 306 ] influence in her son's choice of wife, and I don't
[ 307 ] think she'd have just selected anybody.

[ 308 ] It's quite possible that Nefertiti was sort of hand
[ 309 ] picked and sort of groomed for this role.

[ 310 ] Narrator: Nefertiti's bond with queen Tiy might explain
[ 311 ] why the two mummies were entombed together.

[ 312 ] The teenage youth between them, thought to be queen
[ 313 ] Tiy's eldest son, Tuthmosis, plays a crucial role in
[ 314 ] Nefertiti's childhood.

[ 315 ] Heir to the throne, Tuthmosis dies young, a twist of
[ 316 ] fate that places Akhenaton and Nefertiti next in line
[ 317 ] to rule Egypt.

[ 318 ] [ Screeching ]
[ 319 ] Narrator: But from the day they're crowned, tension is
[ 320 ] growing with the high priests, guardians of Egypt's
[ 321 ] most important god.

[ 322 ] Called the cult of Amon, their power rivals that of the
[ 323 ] pharaoh himself.

[ 324 ] Fletcher: They were the traditional elite.

[ 325 ] They were conservative, predominantly male, very set in
[ 326 ] their ways, and very, very rich.

[ 327 ] Narrator: Vowing to curb their power, the royal couple
[ 328 ] take the fight to the heart of the Amon cult's power
[ 329 ] base; the temple of Karnak.

[ 330 ] Built in the ancient capital of Thebes, Karnak was
[ 331 ] probably the most spectacular temple complex the world
[ 332 ] has known.

[ 333 ] The priests' daily rituals of purification helped
[ 334 ] maintain order in the entire universe, an all-important
[ 335 ] concept the ancient Egyptians called "maat.

[ 336 ] " Weeks: Basically it just meant the right way of doing
[ 337 ] things, the proper way, truth, justice, freedom, all of
[ 338 ] these things that we consider positive.

[ 339 ] The alternative to it was chaos, was fear, danger,
[ 340 ] death, torture, the heat of the desert.

[ 341 ] `antithesis = opposite
[ 342 ] All of these unpleasant things were its antithesis.

[ 343 ] The whole point of the exercise really in ancient Egypt
[ 344 ] was to maintain maat, to maintain the proper order of
[ 345 ] things.

[ 346 ] Narrator: The very center of this ordered cosmos lies
[ 347 ] within the temple itself, where, in the midst of a
[ 348 ] quarter-mile long corridor, the god Amon was said to
[ 349 ] dwell; hidden in darkness.

[ 350 ] Joann has come to Karnak to uncover evidence of a
[ 351 ] conflict that would tear Egypt apart, a clash of ideas
[ 352 ] in which Nefertiti her self would play a leading role.

[ 353 ] Karnak was built up over generations.

[ 354 ] By time-honored custom, each pharaoh was expected to
[ 355 ] dedicate yet more temples to Amon.

[ 356 ] Akhenaton and his wife broke with tradition and plunged
[ 357 ] Karnak into chaos.

[ 358 ] In search of clues, Joan climbs a secret passage once
[ 359 ] used by priests.

[ 360 ] It leads to the top of a pylon, a traditional gate
[ 361 ] tower.

[ 362 ] It's really, really narrow.

[ 363 ] And then I can hear the noise of bats.

[ 364 ] This must have been where the priests of Amon came to
[ 365 ] get to the very top of the temple, where they'd have
[ 366 ] their observatories, and they could chart the stars,
[ 367 ] the course of the planets, and work out when exactly to
[ 368 ] celebrate the sacred rituals that were so important for
[ 369 ] the running of the country.

[ 370 ] Wow. Amazing.

[ 371 ] Narrator: From her vantage, Joan can see the birthplace
[ 372 ] of a revolution.

[ 373 ] In the distance, four gigantic temples once stood.

[ 374 ] Within, the royal couple worshipped the new supreme
[ 375 ] being, the sun god, the Aton.

[ 376 ] Appointing themselves the Aton's high priest and
[ 377 ] priestess, the king and queen vowed to wrest power from
[ 378 ] the priests of Amon.

[ 379 ] [ Chanting indistinctly ]

[ 380 ] Narrator: Within a few years, the monuments they built
[ 381 ] to the Aton have eclipsed the old temples of Karnak.

[ 382 ] To the Amon priests, whose gods and rituals are
[ 383 ] shrouded in darkness, the Aton temples are sacrilege.

[ 384 ] The Aton temples no longer remain, but an earthquake
[ 385 ] revealed their building blocks hidden for thousands of
[ 386 ] years inside this vast pylon. Come in. Sure can.

[ 387 ] Searching for clues to Nefertiti's role in the new sun
[ 388 ] religion, Joan gets special permission to view the
[ 389 ] rarely seen blocks.

[ 390 ] Wow, this is amazing; absolutely amazing.

[ 391 ] The carvings capture a snapshot of a revolution.

[ 392 ] You can see here. Oh, wow, that is wonderful. It's very
[ 393 ] fantastic. This is wonderful. "Nefertiti. " And again.

[ 394 ] Man: As you see here; more and m--she's everywhere. Oh,
[ 395 ] these are fantastic.

[ 396 ] Narrator: Nefertiti's portrayal is unprecedented.

[ 397 ] Fletcher: This really just confirmed that she was a
[ 398 ] woman of tremendous importance to be shown so
[ 399 ] frequently in this way.

[ 400 ] Narrator: The images confirm Nefertiti played a key
[ 401 ] role in building the sun temples to the Aton.

[ 402 ] Fletcher: They really are so much more than just pretty
[ 403 ] pictures, aren't they? And to deface them and to use
[ 404 ] them as filling, that really does neutralize any force
[ 405 ] they had.

[ 406 ] It takes away all their magical, mystical power.

[ 407 ] Narrator: Garbed in his ceremonial wig, the high priest
[ 408 ] of Amon saw the sun temples as blasphemy and a threat
[ 409 ] to his power.

[ 410 ] Fletcher: Around regnal??? year 5, Akhenaton's been
[ 411 ] king for 5 years, and there's a very oblique reference
[ 412 ] in the text which talks about evil words he heard.
[ 413 ] There was some kind of plot or conspiracy, perhaps. The
[ 414 ] priests had enough.

[ 415 ] Narrator: To thwart the conspiracy, the royal couple
[ 416 ] makes a radical move.

[ 417 ] They decide to abandon Thebes, capital of Egypt for
[ 418 ] hundreds of years.

[ 419 ] Inspired by a vision of his sun god, the Aton,
[ 420 ] Akhenaton sets off into the desert.

[ 421 ] He seeks a place to build a new capital, a haven far
[ 422 ] from his enemies, and a base for launching a
[ 423 ] revolution; a revolution that led to Nefertiti becoming
[ 424 ] the most powerful woman in the world.

[ 425 ] Narrator: Seeking to found a new city, Nefertiti's
[ 426 ] husband sets off into the desert.

[ 427 ] The pharaoh Akhenaton vows to abandon the ancient
[ 428 ] capital of Thebes sand build a new Egypt.

[ 429 ] On her quest to re-create Nefertiti's life,
[ 430 ] Egyptologist Dr. Joann Fletcher heads for the spot
[ 431 ] Akhenaton chose. 200 miles north of Thebes, it's now
[ 432 ] called Amarna.

[ 433 ] Akhenaton picked one of the most remote and
[ 434 ] inhospitable regions in all Egypt.

[ 435 ] Fletcher: He actually announces that he decided to
[ 436 ] found the city in this spot because the Aton, his
[ 437 ] father, led him to it.

[ 438 ] Narrator: The site looks much as it did when Akhenaton
[ 439 ] found it more than 3, 000 years ago.

[ 440 ] Thousands of people follow the pharaoh and his wife
[ 441 ] into the desert.

[ 442 ] They have little choice. Where the pharaoh is, so is
[ 443 ] the work. Masons and craftsmen come to build the new
[ 444 ] city. Converts come to worship the new god. And
[ 445 ] opportunists come to exploit the new frontier.

[ 446 ] As Amarna nears completion, the king and queen journey
[ 447 ] from Thebes to their new home.

[ 448 ] Built within a few years at lightning speed, Amarna is
[ 449 ] one of the first planned settlements in history.

[ 450 ] The royal couple arrives to the acclaim of their
[ 451 ] subjects, soon to number 50, 000.

[ 452 ] As a sign of the new times, they seem to adopt an
[ 453 ] informality never before displayed by royalty.

[ 454 ] Freed from tradition, the royal couple is poised to
[ 455 ] create a new Egypt.

[ 456 ] The country hovers on the brink of upheaval.

[ 457 ] Fletcher: They'd taken away the traditional gods by
[ 458 ] year 5, and they'd simply replaced the gods with
[ 459 ] themselves.

[ 460 ] The only way, effectively, to reach the Aton, to reach
[ 461 ] the gods, was through the royal family.

[ 462 ] You had to worship them, and they would in turn pass on
[ 463 ] your best wishes to the Aton.

[ 464 ] Narrator: In Amman's ruins, Joan looks for clues to
[ 465 ] Nefertiti's life.

[ 466 ] Ancient art depicts a happy family playing with their
[ 467 ] daughters; the loving couple, the queen ever at the
[ 468 ] king's side.

[ 469 ] The art style itself is more natural than ever before.

[ 470 ] From Amarna comes the most famous image ever made of
[ 471 ] Nefertiti.

[ 472 ] But how realistic was this bust? Joann is seeking the
[ 473 ] woman behind the image.

[ 474 ] In a nobleman's tomb beneath the ruined city, she
[ 475 ] scrutinizes paintings for clues to Nefertiti's life.

[ 476 ] So, here I am entering the first chamber of this
[ 477 ] wonderfully well-carved rock-cut tomb. Some wonderful
[ 478 ] carvings on here.

[ 479 ] That's amazing; really, really amazing. Got two chariot
[ 480 ] riders here; one on the left, one on the right.

[ 481 ] I'm just checking out the hieroglyphs. In fact, this I
[ 482 ] can actually read. This is the great royal wife, so the
[ 483 ] figure on the left must be Nefertiti herself.

[ 484 ] There she is, driving her own chariot.

[ 485 ] Independent woman; very nice.

[ 486 ] [ Horse whinnies ]

[ 487 ] Narrator: A scene that would have incensed Egypt's old
[ 488 ] order.

[ 489 ] [ Crowd cheering ] A queen competing with a king?
[ 490 ] Unthinkable.

[ 491 ] More proof that Nefertiti wielded power behind the
[ 492 ] throne.

[ 493 ] [ Cheers and applause ] Unlike most queens in ancient
[ 494 ] Egypt, she played a very significant role in the court,
[ 495 ] and, indeed, she and her husband are frequently shown
[ 496 ] and described as equals.

[ 497 ] Narrator: Some depiction's of Nefertiti go even
[ 498 ] further.

[ 499 ] She assumes the duties of the pharaoh himself.

[ 500 ] Hawass: She was depicted in a scene smiting an enemy.

[ 501 ] Only kings; kingship could smite enemies, not queen
[ 502 ] ship at all.

[ 503 ] This is a requirement of a king.

[ 504 ] Narrator: Dr. Fletcher believes Nefertiti paid a
[ 505 ] terrible price for her independence. The clues lie in
[ 506 ] these pictures.

[ 507 ] Fletcher: What's this coming right along? Registers of
[ 508 ] running men.
[ 509 ] It looks as if they're soldiers almost.

[ 510 ] They're actually holding a whole array of weapons;
[ 511 ] axes, spears, shields, bows, and arrows.

[ 512 ] I've never seen this before, a royal couple surrounded
[ 513 ] by so many military men; gives it a very, very kind of
[ 514 ] sinister air, in fact.

[ 515 ] Narrator: Amarna was built on dreams and propaganda,
[ 516 ] but the one enemy the guards couldn't keep out was
[ 517 ] truth.

[ 518 ] Reality was about to come crashing in for Nefertiti.

[ 519 ] Can science rebuild the face of ancient Egypt's most
[ 520 ] legendary beauty? Will she look like her famous bust?
[ 521 ] Will Nefertiti be restored to the afterlife once more?

[ 522 ] Narrator: From the sands of Egypt, Dr. Joann Fletcher
[ 523 ] resurrects a legend.

[ 524 ] She believes she's found Nefertiti's mummy hidden in a
[ 525 ] sealed chamber in the valley of the kings.

[ 526 ] To restore its identity, Joan must re-create the lost
[ 527 ] queen's mysterious life.

[ 528 ] Amid the ruins of the capital built by Nefertiti and
[ 529 ] her husband, Akhenaton, wall paintings suggest a state
[ 530 ] of fear.

[ 531 ] Fletcher: I've never seen this before, a royal couple
[ 532 ] surrounded by so many military men.

[ 533 ] Narrator: What really went on during the couple's
[ 534 ] supposed idyllic reign? Though portrayed as a utopia,
[ 535 ] Amarna is designed for a darker purpose.

[ 536 ] Flanked by cliffs on three sides and the Nile on the
[ 537 ] fourth, Amarna is a citadel.

[ 538 ] From this bastion, the royal couple unleash a
[ 539 ] revolution.

[ 540 ] First target; the priests of Amon.

[ 541 ] To pay for Amarna and settle old scores, Nefertiti and
[ 542 ] Akhenaton plunder the temples of Karnak.

[ 543 ] Thousands of priests are thrown out of office.

[ 544 ] The shock wave reverberates across Egypt.

[ 545 ] Fletcher: The traditional heart of each community was
[ 546 ] the temple.

[ 547 ] These were now closed down.

[ 548 ] There was mass unemployment, and yet it just wasn't
[ 549 ] done to openly criticize the king.

[ 550 ] Narrator: What began as a utopia turns into a reign of
[ 551 ] terror.

[ 552 ] The old gods are brutally swept aside by the new cult
[ 553 ] of the Aton.

[ 554 ] Having outlawed thousands of years of tradition,
[ 555 ] Akhenaton and Nefertiti create a crisis of faith in
[ 556 ] Egypt.

[ 557 ] Akhenaton had taken away people's belief system and
[ 558 ] given them nothing real in return.

[ 559 ] And it's also interesting, it's at this point when
[ 560 ] people are not just shown as bowing to the royal family
[ 561 ] but face down in the dirt, groveling.

[ 562 ] And I think this is a really disturbing undercurrent.

[ 563 ] Narrator: Egypt lurches into economic crisis and
[ 564 ] massive social disorder.

[ 565 ] With the army suppressing dissent at home, Egypt’s
[ 566 ] borders go unguarded.

[ 567 ] Tablets found in the sands addressed to Akhenaton
[ 568 ] reveal a country sliding toward catastrophe.

[ 569 ] Unrepentant, Akhenaton presses on with the
[ 570 ] transformation of Egypt, no matter the cost.

[ 571 ] Fletcher: We can only imagine what Nefertiti must have
[ 572 ] thought because she was ever the pragmatist.

[ 573 ] I don't think Akhenaton would have even noticed or
[ 574 ] cared.

[ 575 ] He was such a terrible politician.

[ 576 ] But Nefertiti, for her, alarm bells must have rung,
[ 577 ] "how can we pull this back? "How can we retrieve this
[ 578 ] situation? It's all starting to fragment.

"

[ 579 ] Narrator: Nefertiti, though, faces a crisis of her own;
[ 580 ] a rival threatening her position in the royal
[ 581 ] household.

[ 582 ] Nefertiti bore Akhenaton six daughters, but a minor
[ 583 ] wife named Kiya gives him what he really wants; a son,
[ 584 ] the future king Tutankhamen.

[ 585 ] [ Baby crying ] Yet Kiya's time as the pharaoh's
[ 586 ] favorite seems short-lived.

[ 587 ] In year 11 of Akhenaton's reign, she disappears from
[ 588 ] the records.

[ 589 ] No one knows why.

[ 590 ] Some think she fell victim to a jealous Nefertiti.

[ 591 ] Nefertiti's ability to manipulate situations to her own
[ 592 ] advantage seems to be confirmed a year after Kiya's
[ 593 ] disappearance.

[ 594 ] Her response to the crisis came soon enough.

[ 595 ] In year 12 of Akhenaton's reign, while Egypt totters on
[ 596 ] the brink of collapse, an extraordinary event takes
[ 597 ] place in Amarna; a huge, public celebration called a
[ 598 ] Durban, perhaps planned by Nefertiti herself, to
[ 599 ] reassure the people that all is well.

[ 600 ] The sight that greets the guests is unprecedented.

[ 601 ] Nefertiti sits at her husband's side not as a mere
[ 602 ] queen, but co-regent; his equal.

[ 603 ] She is now the most powerful woman on earth.

[ 604 ] But her moment of triumph is marred by disaster.

[ 605 ] Amid the tribute for the royal couple is a deadly gift;
[ 606 ] plague.

[ 607 ] What the disease was the records don't say, but it must
[ 608 ] have spread throughout the city and into the heart of
[ 609 ] the royal palace because it seems to have killed one of
[ 610 ] Nefertiti's beloved daughters.

[ 611 ] In year 14, Nefertiti herself vanishes from the
[ 612 ] records.

[ 613 ] Some Egyptologists believe she died of plague.

[ 614 ] Others think she lost power to a male rival called
[ 615 ] Smenkhkare, whose name replaced hers in the records.

[ 616 ] This mysterious figure became Akhenaton's co-regent and
[ 617 ] succeeded him as Egypt's next pharaoh.

[ 618 ] Some believe this skeleton in the Cairo museum is
[ 619 ] Smenkhkare.

[ 620 ] But many Egyptologists now believe Smenkhkare was
[ 621 ] another name for Nefertiti, a theory Joan hopes to
[ 622 ] confirm.

[ 623 ] Could the legendary queen have lived on and ruled Egypt
[ 624 ] as the pharaoh Smenkhkare? To prove the theory, Joan
[ 625 ] must find evidence that the mummy in KV35 is actually a
[ 626 ] female pharaoh.

[ 627 ] After six months of waiting, she at last has the chance
[ 628 ] to prove it.

[ 629 ] The Egyptian authorities have given her permission to
[ 630 ] re-enter the tomb.

[ 631 ] Back in Britain, one of the world's leading human-
[ 632 ] remains specialists, professor Don Brothel, gathers a
[ 633 ] team of experts.

[ 634 ] One of the first scientists to examine the famous ice
[ 635 ] man, Brothel has also investigated mass graves in
[ 636 ] Kosovo.

[ 637 ] His team tests a portable, digital x-ray on a mummified
[ 638 ] body.

[ 639 ] The most advanced of its kind in the world, it delivers
[ 640 ] digital images in seconds that will help to identify
[ 641 ] the mummy in KV35.

[ 642 ] They will also form the basis of a unique experiment
[ 643 ] under taken by a team of leading facial-reconstruction
[ 644 ] experts.

[ 645 ] They'll use the latest forensic graphics to re-create
[ 646 ] the face of lady X.

[ 647 ] After 3, 000 years, will we gaze on the real face of
[ 648 ] Nefertiti?

[ 649 ] Narrator: Egyptologist Dr. Joann Fletcher has returned
[ 650 ] to the valley of the kings.

[ 651 ] Six months ago, Joan found what could be the mummy of
[ 652 ] Nefertiti.

[ 653 ] Now she's back with a team of top British scientists to
[ 654 ] try and prove it.

[ 655 ] Not for a quarter of a century has a scientific
[ 656 ] expedition of this size been allowed in the world's
[ 657 ] most famous graveyard.

[ 658 ] It takes 22 porters to carry the delicate equipment
[ 659 ] down into tomb KV35.

[ 660 ] Once again, the wall comes down.

[ 661 ] For Joan, it's nerve-racking.

[ 662 ] Will the tests help prove the mummy is Nefertiti or
[ 663 ] prove her wrong? Joann knows she'll have to overcome
[ 664 ] long-established views held by other experts.

[ 665 ] Weeks: I think we have several problems with the
[ 666 ] available data.

[ 667 ] The difficulty even of determining conclusively that
[ 668 ] this is the mummy of a female is a problem.

[ 669 ] She looks like a young lady at the age of 15.

[ 670 ] Narrator: Could the mummy be the wrong age and sex?
[ 671 ] It's a question for the scientists.

[ 672 ] To prevent bias, they are operating blind, unaware of
[ 673 ] Joan's theory about the mummy's identity.

[ 674 ] Wow.

[ 675 ] So, yeah, I can see them now.

[ 676 ] Who wants to come and have a look? Absolutely
[ 677 ] fantastic.

[ 678 ] Oh, yes, the bodies are in very good preservation; in
[ 679 ] very good condition, too, I see; dusty but
[ 680 ] nevertheless.

[ 681 ] Narrator: Carefully, the team begins unpacking their
[ 682 ] precious equipment.

[ 683 ] Forbidden to perform invasive DNA tests, they rely on
[ 684 ] the latest x-ray technology.

[ 685 ] We got 55 and 12.

[ 686 ] The digital imaging equipment will yield x-rays in
[ 687 ] seconds.

[ 688 ] A specially designed rig has been built for the
[ 689 ] examination.

[ 690 ] It's tense work.

[ 691 ] One tiny slip could shatter the brittle mummies.

[ 692 ] Can you see whether in fact if it's straining anything?
[ 693 ] Carefully, radiographer Andrea Bates begins the digital
[ 694 ] scans.

[ 695 ] 1.6? It's very new technology.

[ 696 ] This is using electronics to get a digital image the
[ 697 ] same way as digital cameras can get an instant picture.

[ 698 ] It goes straight into the computer, and it can be post-
[ 699 ] processed.

[ 700 ] It can be moved around much more easily.

[ 701 ] It's much more flexible for the viewer than
[ 702 ] conventional x-ray film.

[ 703 ] Narrator: In the heat and humidity, the equipment seems
[ 704 ] to be holding up.

[ 705 ] That's perfect, yeah. Fine.

[ 706 ] Narrator: The x-rays quickly answer one question; the
[ 707 ] mummy's gender.

[ 708 ] It's female.

[ 709 ] Brothel: In terms of its skeletal morphology, it's
[ 710 ] fairly gracile???, and I think with out any doubt it's
[ 711 ] female.

[ 712 ] You have her, doctor?

[ 713 ] Narrator: Moving on to the chest, the team gets their
[ 714 ] first tantalizing clues to the mummy's identity.

[ 715 ] [ Beeps ] Okay.

[ 716 ] That's a good image.

[ 717 ] Narrator: What emerges is full of promise.

[ 718 ] Brothel: Abdominal area.

[ 719 ] There's the top of the pelvis.

[ 720 ] The lumbar vertebrae, the lower part of the ribs.

[ 721 ] Lots of packing, as you see, and her heart up there.

[ 722 ] Now, that's not normal packing.

[ 723 ] It's clearly metallic.

[ 724 ] That looks like a jewelry element.

[ 725 ] Yeah, it does, doesn't it?

[ 726 ] Narrator: The tiny shapes are beads left behind when
[ 727 ] tomb robbers ripped jewelry from lady x's neck.

[ 728 ] At once, Joan recognizes their significance.

[ 729 ] Can we zoom in on those again? Because that looks like
[ 730 ] a little amulet, an ancient Egyptian amulet that they
[ 731 ] used in jewelry.

[ 732 ] Sort of a nefer??? shape.

[ 733 ] And these things would be worn in profusion all around
[ 734 ] the neck.

[ 735 ] Narrator: Nefertiti shares her name with distinctively
[ 736 ] shaped beads called "nefer??? beads, " known to have
[ 737 ] been worn by Amarnan royalty.

[ 738 ] Next, they begin scanning the mummy's head and spine.

[ 739 ] Start with that.

[ 740 ] [ Beeps ] Okay.

[ 741 ] Yeah, good detail of the skull and the teeth.

[ 742 ] Narrator: Is this the skull of ancient Egypt's most
[ 743 ] beautiful woman? These images may hold the answer.

[ 744 ] Detail is beautiful, isn't it?

[ 745 ] Narrator: From them, scientists will attempt to
[ 746 ] forensically reconstruct lady x's face.

[ 747 ] The x-rays also show she still has her brain, a telling
[ 748 ] clue for mummy chemist Dr. Stephen Buckley.

[ 749 ] Traditionally, the brain was removed during
[ 750 ] mummification, but Nefertiti's immediate predecessors
[ 751 ] broke with custom and kept their brains intact.

[ 752 ] The x-rays provide Buckley another clue; signs of a
[ 753 ] distinctive embalming fluid.

[ 754 ] What interests me are these bits here, these sort of
[ 755 ] artifacts that are in with the tissue.

[ 756 ] It looks sort of crystal.

[ 757 ] Yeah, that's right.

[ 758 ] Narrator: It shows up as a snowflake effect.

[ 759 ] Buckley: The snowflake effect in the x-rays is very
[ 760 ] characteristic of the 18th dynasty.

[ 761 ] That combined with the very fine quality of embalming
[ 762 ] and the brain remaining in situ confirm the late 18th
[ 763 ] dynasty date for this mummy.

[ 764 ] Narrator: Nefertiti came from the 18th dynasty, an
[ 765 ] encouraging coincidence.

[ 766 ] As the day draws on and the tests continue, don Brothel
[ 767 ] hits a stumbling block.

[ 768 ] His assessment is tentative but potentially
[ 769 ] devastating.

[ 770 ] What can you tell from this? Brothel: The wisdom teeth,
[ 771 ] which are immature, not developed and erupted properly,
[ 772 ] so all in all, it does look as if the individual is
[ 773 ] young; late teens to early adult.

[ 774 ] You said early adult.

[ 775 ] The vertebrae, the spine shows some evidence of this.

[ 776 ] Narrator: Age is notoriously difficult to assess using
[ 777 ] x-rays, but if Brothwell's first guess is correct, it's
[ 778 ] the end of the road for Joan.

[ 779 ] Nefertiti gave birth to six children.

[ 780 ] She can't be a young woman.

[ 781 ] Even if she married in childhood, as Egyptian royalty
[ 782 ] often did, she must have reached her mid-20s by her
[ 783 ] death.

[ 784 ] With two more days to go, could Joan's theory be
[ 785 ] disproved and Nefertiti vanish once more?

[ 786 ] Narrator: In the valley of the kings, the investigation
[ 787 ] in tomb KV35 reaches the halfway mark.

[ 788 ] Okay, x-rays.

[ 789 ] Armed with forensic science, the team examines a mummy
[ 790 ] walled up in a hidden chamber for more than 3, 000
[ 791 ] years.

[ 792 ] Dr. Joann Fletcher believes it's none other than the
[ 793 ] legendary queen Nefertiti.

[ 794 ] But a shadow of doubt is cast by don Brothel, the
[ 795 ] team's human-remains expert.

[ 796 ] I see a youngish individual, late teens to early adult.

[ 797 ] You said early adult.

[ 798 ] If true, the mummy dubbed lady x died too young to be
[ 799 ] Nefertiti.

[ 800 ] Joann won't know for sure until the whole body is x-
[ 801 ] rayed.

[ 802 ] Sure.

[ 803 ] We're in the thoracic area.

[ 804 ] There's the top of the pelvis.

[ 805 ] Here are the lumbars.

[ 806 ] There's the lower part of the ribs.

[ 807 ] Fletcher: As the x-rays moved down the body, more
[ 808 ] details emerged.

[ 809 ] The radiographers decided that, no, this is probably
[ 810 ] somebody considerably older than this.

[ 811 ] The long bones had fused.

[ 812 ] The detail around the pelvis area indicated some body
[ 813 ] of greater maturity, so we're looking at someone aged
[ 814 ] at least 25, possibly as old as 30.

[ 815 ] Brothel: The aging information is fairly good.

[ 816 ] I could narrow it a wee bit and suggest that maybe it's
[ 817 ] not quite up to 30, but I wouldn't want to, say, extend
[ 818 ] it to 35.

[ 819 ] Narrator: So far, so good.

[ 820 ] A royal mummy about the right age.

[ 821 ] The whole thing was a total roller coaster.

[ 822 ] It was a man, it was a woman.

[ 823 ] It was a young girl, it was an older woman.

[ 824 ] It was very, very stressful.

[ 825 ] Let's start with an estimate.

[ 826 ] Yeah, desiccation.

[ 827 ] Narrator: But there's another enigma.

[ 828 ] How did she die? I just noticed there is a small cut
[ 829 ] there.

[ 830 ] Yes, there is.

[ 831 ] You can see it from this angle really clearly.

[ 832 ] What we thought was ragged damage is straight.

[ 833 ] It follows on into that superficial mark there.

[ 834 ] So, that is in fact a sharp blade, so it's cut.

[ 835 ] It would have come down from this angle? From this
[ 836 ] angle.

[ 837 ] So, behind from the left.

[ 838 ] Narrator: Joann assumed the damage to the face was
[ 839 ] caused centuries after the mummy's burial.

[ 840 ] Don disagrees.

[ 841 ] The big question is how dry the bodies were; in other
[ 842 ] words, whether it could have happened not so many
[ 843 ] months after mummification.

[ 844 ] Joann begins a close examination of the body.

[ 845 ] She's joined by Dr. Elle??? Maghani, a mummy
[ 846 ] conservationist from the Cairo museum.

[ 847 ] They probe for more clues.

[ 848 ] What do you think that is? Maghani: It's a cut.

[ 849 ] It's a cut.

[ 850 ] Maybe a wound? Maybe.

[ 851 ] Across the rib cage, they notice a 12-centimeter gash.

[ 852 ] The wounds raise disturbing questions about the mummy's
[ 853 ] fate.

[ 854 ] The next revelation suggests lady x was more than a
[ 855 ] queen.

[ 856 ] It lies in the wrappings torn from the body by tomb
[ 857 ] robbers.

[ 858 ] This really is royal.

[ 859 ] Beautiful, royal linen.

[ 860 ] Gorgeous.

[ 861 ] Look how fine that is.

[ 862 ] Only for the kings.

[ 863 ] Only for the kings, exactly.

[ 864 ] This is wonderful.

[ 865 ] What's that? What's under there? The fingers.

[ 866 ] There are some fingers here.

[ 867 ] Something under there.

[ 868 ] This could be the missing arm.

[ 869 ] Oh, I don't believe it.

[ 870 ] This is fantastic.

[ 871 ] Could I; oh, it's dusty.

[ 872 ] [ Laughs ] Oh, look at the dust rising up.

[ 873 ] I don't believe this.

[ 874 ] This is the arm that's been missing for nearly 100
[ 875 ] years.

[ 876 ] It's an extraordinary find.

[ 877 ] 100 years ago, the mummy was found with a bent right
[ 878 ] arm.

[ 879 ] Some time later, it was replaced with a straight arm.

[ 880 ] Fantastic.

[ 881 ] It was seen in the 1900s, and then no one's seen it
[ 882 ] since.

[ 883 ] It's a right arm just like the original report said.

[ 884 ] It's clutching a scepter; definitely a woman's hand.

[ 885 ] And henna again; can you see on the fingernail? Henna.

[ 886 ] Henna.

[ 887 ] So, that is tremendously exciting.

[ 888 ] Can I see if it; oh, this is the crowning moment, it
[ 889 ] really is, if this is this lady's hand.

[ 890 ] Oh, wow, look.

[ 891 ] It is so.

[ 892 ] Yeah.

[ 893 ] That is the position.

[ 894 ] That is superb.

[ 895 ] And this one that doesn't seem to fit, if that was
[ 896 ] returned to its rightful owner; we can imagine now this
[ 897 ] ladylike this with a scepter.

[ 898 ] [ Gasps ] This is fantastic.

[ 899 ] This is really fantastic.

[ 900 ] [ Laughs ]

[ 901 ] Narrator: The newfound limb is a crucial piece of
[ 902 ] evidence.

[ 903 ] A bent right arm was the symbol of a pharaoh.

[ 904 ] The discovery supports the theory that Nefertiti out
[ 905 ] lived her husband and took the throne herself; a
[ 906 ] pharaoh in her own right.

[ 907 ] Fletcher: We only find this in the art of kings, who
[ 908 ] are buried with their right arm or both arms like this.

[ 909 ] Queens have the left, kings have that or that.

[ 910 ] And that really does speak volumes because if this
[ 911 ] right arm does belong to the younger woman, then it is
[ 912 ] evidence that she wielded incredible powers in her
[ 913 ] life.

[ 914 ] Narrator: Does the bent right arm belong to lady x? The
[ 915 ] team undertakes a series of x-rays to find out.

[ 916 ] X-rays.

[ 917 ] Brothel: We can seethe break there.

[ 918 ] It's a beautifully defined kind of break, isn't it?
[ 919 ] We'll have to do a careful comparison.

[ 920 ] Does it correspond to the body? It's not only a
[ 921 ] question of looking at bone density and so forth, but
[ 922 ] also the way that the arms, both arms were mummified.

[ 923 ] And the question is whether they are similar to the
[ 924 ] left arm on the body.

[ 925 ] Narrator: No one can say until the x-rays are
[ 926 ] meticulously analyzed.

[ 927 ] Confirmation must wait until the team returns to
[ 928 ] Britain.

[ 929 ] The expedition's time is up.

[ 930 ] Joann may never again get this close to the mummy.

[ 931 ] I've established in my own mind certainly that this is
[ 932 ] a royal woman of the late 18th dynasty, potentially a
[ 933 ] female pharaoh.

[ 934 ] She's quite incredible, and I certainly think she could
[ 935 ] well be the great queen Nefertiti.

[ 936 ] Narrator: Science has solved some of the mysteries
[ 937 ] surrounding lady x, but others persist.

[ 938 ] Were the terrible wounds to her face and body
[ 939 ] accidental or premeditated? The scientific team returns
[ 940 ] to Britain to find out.

[ 941 ] Joann heads back to Amarna to solve another riddle;
[ 942 ] whether Nefertiti succeeded Akhenaton as the pharaoh
[ 943 ] Smenkhkare.

[ 944 ] To prove it, Joan needs evidence Nefertiti outlived her
[ 945 ] husband.

[ 946 ] Akhenaton died in year 17 of his reign.

[ 947 ] His cause of death remains unknown.

[ 948 ] What matters more is who buried him.

[ 949 ] His tomb lies 4 miles from Amarna, facing the rising
[ 950 ] sun.

[ 951 ] [ Drum beating ] Fletcher: I believe it would have been
[ 952 ] she who led the funerary rituals, the funerary rites,
[ 953 ] as Akhenaton's chosen successor and heir.

[ 954 ] Certainly as his co-regent, she would have fulfilled
[ 955 ] the criteria.

[ 956 ] She would have been the proper choice.

[ 957 ] Narrator: As her husband's heir, only Nefertiti could
[ 958 ] have conducted the sacred opening of the mouth ritual
[ 959 ] that gave him immortality.

[ 960 ] Fletcher: Wow, this is amazing.

[ 961 ] Narrator: According to history, Nefertiti should
[ 962 ] already have been buried in this section of the tomb.

[ 963 ] Joann finds evidence to the contrary.

[ 964 ] Fletcher: This is supposed to be the tomb of queen
[ 965 ] Nefertiti, but this is completely, completely
[ 966 ] unfinished.

[ 967 ] It's in a very, very rough state.

[ 968 ] The ceilings, the walls, the pillars, they're all very
[ 969 ] rough.

[ 970 ] I just don't buy it for a minute.

[ 971 ] I don't think she was buried here at all.

[ 972 ] Narrator: But Akhenaton was.

[ 973 ] [ Speaking Egyptian ] Oh, wow, so this is Akhenaton's
[ 974 ] burial chamber.

[ 975 ] His tomb was definitely finished.

[ 976 ] And this slab in front of me would have been where his
[ 977 ] sarcophagus was with his mummified body inside it.

[ 978 ] It's almost certain she would have stood absolutely
[ 979 ] where I'm standing now, conducting the funeral rites of
[ 980 ] a dead husband.

[ 981 ] Narrator: More proof Nefertiti was alive when Akhenaton
[ 982 ] was buried appears on his sarcophagusin??? the Cairo
[ 983 ] museum.

[ 984 ] Fletcher: She's standing at each corner of the
[ 985 ] sarcophagus with her arms out in a protective pose.

[ 986 ] She's obviously been selected to replace the
[ 987 ] traditional goddesses.

[ 988 ] She's there in a protective capacity.

[ 989 ] Only she can protect the soul of the king in the
[ 990 ] afterlife.

[ 991 ] Narrator: The queen became a goddess, pharaoh in her
[ 992 ] own right.

[ 993 ] But her husband's death signaled the end of the
[ 994 ] revolution.

[ 995 ] The empire teetered on the verge of collapse.

[ 996 ] To save Egypt, Nefertiti would turn her back on every
[ 997 ] thing she held dear, even her god.

[ 998 ] Narrator: Egyptologist Dr. Joann Fletcher has led a
[ 999 ] team to x-ray the mummy she believes is Nefertiti.

[ 1000 ] Now the data will be used to re-create the mummy's
[ 1001 ] face.

[ 1002 ] A specialist unit based at Nottingham university,
[ 1003 ] England, has been selected for the task.

[ 1004 ] They're pioneers in computerized facial reconstruction,
[ 1005 ] more used to working on unidentified murder victims
[ 1006 ] than 3, 000-year-old mummies.

[ 1007 ] Schofield: When we do any sort of forensic work, we
[ 1008 ] always work as blind as we can.

[ 1009 ] We work with the data we are given and nothing more,
[ 1010 ] which may affect our judgment on that particular case.

[ 1011 ] Narrator: The first hurdle; turning x-rays into a3-
[ 1012 ] dimensional computer model of the mummy's skull.

[ 1013 ] It's time-consuming work and requires mapping thousands
[ 1014 ] of points.

[ 1015 ] Once complete, markers are placed on the 3-d skull to
[ 1016 ] indicate skin depth.

[ 1017 ] The head is now ready for the complicated task of
[ 1018 ] adding muscle and flesh.

[ 1019 ] In Egypt, Dr. Joann Fletcher tracks down a final
[ 1020 ] mystery.

[ 1021 ] Joann believes Nefertiti opened the temple of Karnak
[ 1022 ] and reinstated the Amon priests; a diplomatic coup that
[ 1023 ] turned former enemies into unlikely allies.

[ 1024 ] The old god Amon held sway over Egypt once more.

[ 1025 ] Clues to Nefertiti's determination still survive at
[ 1026 ] Karnak.

[ 1027 ] Statues depict Tutankhamen and his wife,
[ 1028 ] Ankhesenamun???, as traditional gods.

[ 1029 ] Perhaps Nefertiti ordered them instructed in the old
[ 1030 ] ways.

[ 1031 ] For her dynasty to survive, order had to be restored,
[ 1032 ] whatever the cost.

[ 1033 ] But the chaos Nefertiti and her husband wrought was not
[ 1034 ] easily forgotten; or forgiven.

[ 1035 ] Joann thinks Nefertiti reigned in Thebes until her
[ 1036 ] death a year or so later.

[ 1037 ] How she died, we can only guess.

[ 1038 ] Was it foul play? A mystery that may be on the verge of
[ 1039 ] being solved.

[ 1040 ] I just noticed there is a small cut there.

[ 1041 ] Narrator: During the examination in the tomb, the team
[ 1042 ] made a dramatic discovery.

[ 1043 ] It's straight.

[ 1044 ] Signs of foul play.

[ 1045 ] What do you think that is? It's a cut.

[ 1046 ] It's a cut? Yeah.

[ 1047 ] The theory is tested by professor don Brothel, the
[ 1048 ] team's human-remains expert.

[ 1049 ] Just like a mummy, this is.

[ 1050 ] Narrator: Substituting pig carcasses for human bodies,
[ 1051 ] he tries to simulate the damage to lady X.

[ 1052 ] He begins by duplicating the wounds on a fresh pig
[ 1053 ] whose flesh is similar to a human's.

[ 1054 ] Well, that's not penetrated as deep as the ax by any
[ 1055 ] means.

[ 1056 ] Brothel repeats the test on a vacuum-dried pig.

[ 1057 ] To the back.

[ 1058 ] Almost all moisture has been removed from the body, a
[ 1059 ] process that imitates mummification.

[ 1060 ] Did that one take? It certainly did.

[ 1061 ] Brothel replicates the wounds, carefully noting the
[ 1062 ] differences.

[ 1063 ] Brothel: There were some impressive differences.

[ 1064 ] What is absolutely certain is that the cut into her
[ 1065 ] chest is only seen in the fresh pig, whereas, in the
[ 1066 ] case of the dried pig, in fact, we couldn't get a knife
[ 1067 ] to penetrate through at all, so that argues very
[ 1068 ] strongly that the body was fairly fresh.

[ 1069 ] On the snout area in the fresh pig, both machete and
[ 1070 ] the ax produced injuries which are far more similar, I
[ 1071 ] think, to the injury we have on the young woman mummy.

[ 1072 ] This could be a murder.

[ 1073 ] My guess is that these were received about the time of
[ 1074 ] death or after death.

[ 1075 ] In fact, she would not have survived.

[ 1076 ] Narrator: When the facial wound was delivered remains
[ 1077 ] uncertain, but the wound to the ribs was almost
[ 1078 ] certainly dealt before death.

[ 1079 ] Certainly Nefertiti and Akhenaton made plenty of
[ 1080 ] enemies in their life.

[ 1081 ] Certainly they whipped up enough hatred amongst the
[ 1082 ] traditionalists of Egypt to have warranted a sticky
[ 1083 ] end, shall we say.

[ 1084 ] As to whether it's evidence for murder, I really
[ 1085 ] wouldn't like to say because, again, it's such
[ 1086 ] speculation.

[ 1087 ] I think all we can is it's very interesting.

[ 1088 ] Narrator: Whether Nefertiti was murdered, we may never
[ 1089 ] know.

[ 1090 ] But if lady x is Nefertiti, someone went to a lot of
[ 1091 ] trouble to erase her identity.

[ 1092 ] Joann believes they even ripped off the bent arm,
[ 1093 ] symbol of her power as pharaoh, but is she right? Does
[ 1094 ] the bent right arm found by Joan belong to lady x?
[ 1095 ] Chemist Dr. Stephen Buckley has pieced together the
[ 1096 ] puzzle.

[ 1097 ] Buckley: The proportions of the bones is about the
[ 1098 ] right sort of robustness, if you like, and also the
[ 1099 ] coloration on the forearm is similar to that on the
[ 1100 ] left forearm of lady x that is still attached.

[ 1101 ] Narrator: Joann believes the work of the scientists has
[ 1102 ] helped identify a female pharaoh.

[ 1103 ] For her, it can only be one woman.

[ 1104 ] Some experts remain skeptical.

[ 1105 ] They think final identification will require future
[ 1106 ] developments in DNA testing.

[ 1107 ] Hawass: DNA is not accurate for the mummies.

[ 1108 ] Scientists will do DNA today.

[ 1109 ] They still say that we need more years to do more to
[ 1110 ] improve DNA method, and that's why I would wait.

[ 1111 ] A few years down the line I think we'll be in a much
[ 1112 ] better position to say whether this is or is not
[ 1113 ] Nefertiti.

[ 1114 ] We're not at that point yet.

[ 1115 ] I think this identification of the third mummy to be
[ 1116 ] queen Nefertiti, it's speculation.

[ 1117 ] Narrator: But Joan remains convinced she's made the
[ 1118 ] discovery of a lifetime; and with her team, assembled
[ 1119 ] the best case now possible.

[ 1120 ] Fletcher: The completely shaven head, the double
[ 1121 ] pierced ears, the fact that we know from the bone
[ 1122 ] measurements that the right arm was originally in this
[ 1123 ] position, the age; could be someone as old as 30.

[ 1124 ] All these things add up to a rather compelling, in my
[ 1125 ] mind, the idea that this individual is indeed
[ 1126 ] Nefertiti.

[ 1127 ] Narrator: Her quest to identify the lost mummy nears an
[ 1128 ] end.

[ 1129 ] The final clue has yet to be examined; one that could
[ 1130 ] convince skeptics lady x is Nefertiti; her
[ 1131 ] reconstructed face.

[ 1132 ] Will the mummy look like the famous bust of Nefertiti?

[ 1133 ] Narrator: Armed with x-rays of the mummy known as lady
[ 1134 ] x, a team of computer specialists re-creates her face.

[ 1135 ] On a 3-d model of her skull, they graft muscle and
[ 1136 ] flesh.

[ 1137 ] The technique has major advantages over old-fashioned
[ 1138 ] clay reconstruction.

[ 1139 ] If I did a facial reconstruction in clay from a skull
[ 1140 ] and then a little later I did another one, I'd get a
[ 1141 ] slightly different face.

[ 1142 ] With a computer, if we have the same skull and the same
[ 1143 ] data, we get the same face.

[ 1144 ] Narrator: Once complete, the face is handed to a
[ 1145 ] graphic artist for the finishing touches.

[ 1146 ] Could the mummy's face really be that of Nefertiti?
[ 1147 ] Joann believes Nefertiti was buried in the valley of
[ 1148 ] the kings, her funeral procession led by her stepson,
[ 1149 ] king Tut, and her daughter, Ankhesenamun???, the new
[ 1150 ] heirs to her throne.

[ 1151 ] Little did the children suspect their mother's mortal
[ 1152 ] remains would be violated.

[ 1153 ] The unforgiving priests of Amon, the men Nefertiti and
[ 1154 ] her husband tried to destroy, exacted a terrible
[ 1155 ] retribution.

[ 1156 ] In Karnak, the monuments she helped build were defaced,
[ 1157 ] torn down; and trampled into dust.

[ 1158 ] The great sun temples vanished.

[ 1159 ] Amarna was dismantled block by block.

[ 1160 ] Joann believes she's traced Nefertiti's story back to
[ 1161 ] Thebes and the burial ground of the pharaohs to tomb
[ 1162 ] KV35, where a desecrated body was abandoned and walled
[ 1163 ] up with her relatives, never meant to be found.

[ 1164 ] Fletcher: They've been anonymous for 3, 000 years.

[ 1165 ] They've been mis-identified.

[ 1166 ] So, at the very least, what we've done is placed them
[ 1167 ] in the correct space in time.

[ 1168 ] They are members of the late 18th dynasty royal family.

[ 1169 ] Of that, I have no doubt.

[ 1170 ] And if this is indeed Nefertiti, then it would be
[ 1171 ] wonderful to think that we've given back a name which
[ 1172 ] was taken away from her with such malice so very long
[ 1173 ] ago.

[ 1174 ] Narrator: The reconstructed face is almost complete.

[ 1175 ] A computer graphic artist adds features believed to be
[ 1176 ] close to those of the ancient Egyptians.

[ 1177 ] What will the finished face look like? Joan's about to
[ 1178 ] find out.

[ 1179 ] Slowly, the process of creating lady x's face unfolds
[ 1180 ] before her.

[ 1181 ] Fletcher: That's incredible.

[ 1182 ] That's absolutely incredible.

[ 1183 ] Oh, it's amazing.

[ 1184 ] She looks such a kind of charismatic figure.

[ 1185 ] Very strong, very capable, but perfect.

[ 1186 ] It was such a beautiful face.

[ 1187 ] Narrator: Next, Nefertiti's characteristic crown and
[ 1188 ] earrings are added.

[ 1189 ] Will life imitate art? Fletcher: And you can really see
[ 1190 ] what it is the art's trying to put across because if
[ 1191 ] this is indeed ??? t he face of Nefertiti then it
[ 1192 ] encapsulates so many of the features that you see in
[ 1193 ] the art.

[ 1194 ] Narrator: Gazing upon what she believes to be Nefertiti
[ 1195 ] is a deeply symbolic moment for Joan.

[ 1196 ] Very nice.

[ 1197 ] That's amazing.

[ 1198 ] Narrator: The likeness is uncanny.

[ 1199 ] After her 13-year quest, Joan believes she's restored
[ 1200 ] the mummy's identity and given Nefertiti back her name.

[ 1201 ] Fletcher: Having restored their potential identity is
[ 1202 ] sort of giving them access back into the afterlife.

[ 1203 ] You are restoring their name.

[ 1204 ] To speak the name of the dead is to make them live
[ 1205 ] again.

[ 1206 ] That's what the ancients believed, and in some ways,
[ 1207 ] that's what I believe, too.

[ 1208 ] Narrator: After more than 3, 000 years, he curse on
[ 1209 ] Nefertiti has been lifted.

[ 1210 ] Man: The Egyptian book of the dead describes the trials
[ 1211 ] of a lost soul.

[ 1212 ] Woman: [ Echoing ] Nefertiti.

[ 1213 ] [ Echoing ] Nefertiti.

[ 1214 ] Man: For when a soul recovers its name, it is once
[ 1215 ] again made whole.

[ 1216 ] It can speak to the gods and be restored to its
[ 1217 ] rightful place in the afterlife.

[ 1218 ] Returning to the land it once knew, it can complete the
[ 1219 ] soul's last journey to eternity.

[ 1220 ] [ Whinnying ] [ Whinnying ] Hail to you, o gods, for
[ 1221 ] now I know my name.

[ 1222 ] Whatever evil speech I made, whatever evil deed I did,
[ 1223 ] let the Aton himself rise up to defend me; for now at
[ 1224 ] last, I, Nefertiti, shall enter eternity.

[ 1225 ] The identity of the mysterious mummy which some people
[ 1226 ] believe is Nefertiti is still the subject of academic
[ 1227 ] debate.

[ 1228 ] However, since this film was made, Egypt's supreme
[ 1229 ] council of antiquities has taken steps to ensure that
[ 1230 ] the mummies in the tomb are fully preserved.

[ 1231 ] -- Captions by vitac.www.com

[ 1232 ] Vitac.Com captions paid for by discovery
[ 1233 ] communications, inc.
[ 1234 ] ================================