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  • [dramatic music]

  • NARRATOR: Egypt, birthplace of one

  • of the most enigmatic civilizations in history.

  • The pyramid tombs, and the Valley

  • of the Kings, the final resting places of powerful pharaohs.

  • Of the possible 63 tombs in the Valley,

  • there is one that outshines the rest

  • and has captured the world's imagination,

  • the tomb of Tutankhamun.

  • [dramatic music]

  • The Boy King was just 18 years old when he died,

  • but his priceless, golden treasures

  • have made him the most famous pharaoh of all time.

  • His funerary riches have been displayed all over the world,

  • but now they are all coming back to Egypt.

  • [dramatic music]

  • Cairo, in the shadows of the Great Pyramids.

  • Engineers are building a $1 billion

  • museum and research facility.

  • [suspenseful music]

  • The Grand Egyptian museum will house all Tutankhamun's

  • 5,000 treasures in one place for the first time in 100 years.

  • [dramatic music]

  • One of the centerpieces of the museum

  • will be Tutankhamun's golden coffin.

  • [dramatic music]

  • Ahmed Abdrabou is leading the research

  • process to get it ready.

  • AHMED ABDRABOU: I must be very careful.

  • One of the bigger challenge for me

  • to be responsible for the restoration

  • of one of the masterpiece of the Tutankhamun collection.

  • NARRATOR: The coffin was one of many priceless treasures

  • found in Tutankhamun's tomb.

  • When Howard Carter's team opened the tomb in November 1922,

  • they discovered a wealth of treasures and gifts

  • the king would need in the afterlife, six

  • disassembled golden chariots, his throne, and provisions

  • of food and wine.

  • Concealed behind a false wall was

  • a stone sarcophagus protecting a gold plated coffin.

  • [stone scraping]

  • Inside it, two more coffins, the innermost made of solid gold

  • and covered in gemstones.

  • And inside that, the mummy of Tutankhamen,

  • wearing a magnificent death mask,

  • the most famous find in all of Egypt.

  • Ahmed needs to discover how the ancient artisans built

  • Tutankhamun's golden coffin.

  • The inside is made of wood, but the outside

  • is covered with a thin layer of precious gold.

  • AHMED ABDRABOU: Must to be very, very

  • careful, because I am working on one of the masterpiece.

  • [soft music playing]

  • NARRATOR: Under the lens, Ahmed discovers

  • an extraordinary secret.

  • AHMED ABDRABOU: The thickness of the gold leaf ranged

  • in between 14 and 18 micron.

  • NARRATOR: The ancient artisans could craft gold as thin

  • as shrink wrap, but to get a flawless finish,

  • they could not apply the gold directly

  • onto the uneven, chiseled wood.

  • Ahmed investigates closer, and finds a mystery layer

  • between the gold and the wood.

  • AHMED ABDRABOU: This is for the first time to see this.

  • NARRATOR: Ahmed finds a 3,300-year-old secret,

  • known only to the top craftsmen closest to the king.

  • AHMED ABDRABOU: This textile layer I think is linen.

  • [dramatic music]

  • NARRATOR: The ancient craftsmen used linen bandages

  • to smooth out the jagged wood and create a perfect finish

  • for the thin gold.

  • Almost 3,500 years later, we are still solving

  • the mysteries of Tutankhamun.

  • Ahmed is on the hunt for more clues.

[dramatic music]

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