Egypt's Unexplained Files

Narrator: Pyramids, temples, tombs...

these ancient wonders promise even greater secrets

still to be found under the sands of Egypt.

Now cutting-edge science

decodes the mysterious land of the Pharaohs.

With modern technology, we are gaining an insight

into the way ancient Egyptians lived

and the manner in which they died.

Narrator: This time, mysteries of villainy and vice

at the heart of ancient Egypt.

Can cutting-edge science reveal evidence

of a 5,000-year-old homicide?

So like a forensic scientist,

we were able to reconstruct a probable weapon.

Narrator: Does the discovery of this mass cemetery

prove ancient Egyptians broke the ultimate taboo?

People are eating people.

Cannibalism.

Narrator: And can modern pharmacology

reveal the surprising antics

involved in ancient Egyptian worship?

The aim of the game is to get as drunk as you can.

Ancient Egyptians were getting high.

Narrator: Ancient clues unearthed.

Long-lost evidence reexamined.

Precious artifacts brought into the light of the 21st century.

These are "Egypt's unexplained files."

The British Museum, London...

among the star exhibits, two mysterious mummies.

They've been on display for over 100 years,

but Egyptologists know very little about them.

What secrets are held by one of the most famous mummies

in the world today?

Narrator: Modern science, at last,

reveals some extraordinary and unexpected clues.

We started to examine them like a forensic scientist today,

like a cold case investigator.

It's right there in front of your nose,

and you had no idea it was there the whole time.

Narrator: Now, five millennia later,

scientists in the 21st century make a shocking discovery.

It is quite astonishing that he would appear

to have been the victim of murder.

Narrator: Could experts have uncovered evidence

of a 5,000-year-old murder?

Gebelein, in upper Egypt,

25 miles south of modern-day Luxor.

It's here in 1896

that a British archaeologist discovered

six bodies in the sand.

They appeared to have been carefully buried.

These bodies were found in the fetal position,

and the fetal position is very important

for the ancient Egyptians because essentially it's

returning a dead person back to a rebirth context,

so they can be reborn again in the afterlife.

Narrator: The bodies discovered at Gebelein

are unlike other mummies found preserved in Egypt.

They are not embalmed, nor are they wrapped in linens.

Instead, they were buried directly into the sand.

Antoine: They weren't intentionally mummified,

as far as we can determine.

These were preserved, if you want, by accident.

A hot desert environment has led to

the natural drying out of the body.

Godenho: So when we discover these bodies,

they're preserved.

The sand desiccates the body, draws the moisture out.

The male is better preserved of the pair.

He still has ginger hair.

Johnston: Within the museum community,

because he has these little strands of ginger hair,

he has been known for many years as "ginger."

narrator: In 1901, two of the bodies,

Gebelein man and woman,

are brought to the British museum.

He is better preserved and put on display.

But Egyptologists at that time

can decipher very little about either of them.

They remain a mystery for over a century.

Then, in 2012, new scientific techniques

give forensic archaeologists Daniel Antoine

narrator: And Renée Friedman the chance to finally unlock

the story of the Gebelein mummies.

We did a lot of research on how old he was,

so we did carbon dating.

Probably lived between 3,000 because and 3,300 because.

Narrator: Incredibly, that makes Gebelein man and woman

among the oldest mummies ever found in Egypt.

They died before the invention of mummification,

which explains why they were buried directly into the sand.

This was a time before even the earliest pharaohs.

The period in which this person lived was right

before Egypt becomes a state.

It wasn't like the pharaonic Egypt

that happens a little bit later in time.

As we're dealing with some of the very earliest periods

of Egyptian history,

we're dealing with a period where life is fairly savage.

It was a period we know was very much filled with violence

because we have famous Egyptian pieces of art

that depict violence.

"this violent world is the first clue when piecing together"

the Gebelein mummies' ancient story.

Daniel Antoine now hopes science will reveal even more detail

and turns first to the man.

Daniel uses the latest C.T. Scanning techniques

to study ginger in detail, unimaginable in the 19th century

when the bodies were first found.

So what's extraordinary about this individual

is that he'd been on this

on and off for over 100 years,

and we knew relatively nothing about him.

I was very keen on getting new insights into him as a person,

and this is why we took him to get C.T. Scanned.

That's really revealed so much new information.

So it's wonderful that science is now stepping in

to tell us about these individuals.

The C.T. Scan produces a 3-d image

not just of the surface of the mummy.

It captures detail deep inside to reveal brand new information

about ginger, the Gebelein man.

Antoine: We were keen to find out how old he was,

and one way to do that is to actually look at his skeleton.

So you can see the head of the humerus

is in the process of fusing here,

suggesting he was a young man when he died,

probably between the ages of 18 and 21.

Narrator: Egyptologists now know Gebelein man lived during

a turbulent and violent era of Egyptian history,

and that he died as a young man.

But the C.T. Scan reveals these two facts

may be more than just coincidence.

What puzzled us is that there was damage

to his left shoulder blade.

If we look closely, we can see there's damage

when you compare it to the right over here.

You can see that the underlying bone is shattered.

You can see the fourth rib is also broken.

The C.T. Scan has uncovered startling evidence Gebelein man

suffered a brutal injury.

Daniel and Renée study the wounds for clues

to what could have caused them and arrive

at a chilling conclusion.

This appears to be a single, violent blow

to his left shoulder blade.

He may have never seen it coming.

So like a forensic scientist today,

like a cold case investigator,

we were able to reconstruct the probably weapon,

which was probably a thin, metal stiletto dagger

that went all the way into the hilt.

Johnston: Gebelein man "a" had been stabbed in the back,

and that's almost certainly the cause of his death.

Narrator: It's a remarkable discovery.

100 years after gebelein man was first discovered

and put on public display,

modern science has revealed he is,

in fact, the young victim of a 5,500-year-old murder.

Johnston: It is quite astonishing this individual

has been on display in the British museum

for over 100 years,

but it's only now that we discover

that he was the victim of murder.

Narrator: Modern science has at last illuminated

one of the darkest eras of ancient Egypt.

It reveals a violent world where life was dangerous

and could be cut brutally short.

But the gebelein mummies have even more secrets

to share from this ancient time,

and science is now ready to unlock them.

Johnston: In 2012, it was discovered

that gebelein man "a" had been murdered.

In 2018, something quite different is discovered.

We had no idea that there was some kind of richer evidence

to their cultural origins.

Narrator: Armed with new technology,

experts uncover another clue hidden for millennia.

You're just looking through the view finder and you go,

"oh, my goodness."

godenho: The Egyptian couple have what we can identify

as pictures on their skin.

Narrator: Experts ask what this ancient body art could mean?

narrator: Egyptologists Daniel Antoine and Renée Friedman

have used the latest science to reveal gebelein man

was murdered.

Then, in 2018, they turned to the woman

he was found buried beside,

to ask what secrets her body could reveal.

Acting on a hunch, Renée studies gebelein woman

with a handheld infrared camera.

Friedman: I got myself a little pre-converted infrared camera,

which is generally used for wildlife photography.

I hadn't really expected there to be anything,

but you're just kind of looking through the viewfinder

and you go, "oh, my goodness!"

narrator: Renée's infrared camera revealed clear markings

on the woman's shoulder, invisible to the naked eye...

a series of "s" shapes and a stick or stave.

To see that it was an area that was very well visible,