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00:00The reign of Ramses II, Ramses the Great, one of the most long-lived and prosperous
00:10pharaohs of all time. His was a time of miracles and a time of plagues, where the seas part
00:19and myth and reality collide. 3,000 years later, a tomb in the Valley of the Kings
00:26is rediscovered. A skull inside it bears signs of a violent death. Are these the
00:33remains of Ramses' firstborn son, the child the Bible says was cut down by the
00:38hand of God? Using the latest forensic techniques, a team of researchers wants to
00:44make sense of fact from fiction. Will they find evidence of divine wrath or uncover
00:50clues to an unsolved murder, unearthing an ancient secret that will revolutionize
00:56history as we know it?
01:18Deep beneath the Valley of the Kings, one of the most important finds in the history of Egyptology,
01:23a rediscovered ancient tomb, untouched for over 3,000 years.
01:31Professor Kent Weeks is the man who found it. He spent his whole life studying ancient Egypt,
01:38a real-life Indiana Jones. Since I was eight years old, there is nothing I have wanted to do
01:43except be an Egyptologist. This is truly one of the most rewarding ways I could think of to spend a life.
01:48In 1978, he launched an ambitious project. He decided to map every tomb in the Valley of the Kings,
01:57a breathtaking area that was for almost 500 years the last resting place for generations of pharaohs.
02:05The valley is peppered with tombs, each one with its own corridors, chambers, and hidden tunnels.
02:11Undaunted by the task, Kent Weeks studied 19th-century maps, some of the earliest records of this area.
02:17To his astonishment, he found the entrance to a forgotten tomb. Although it was first unearthed almost two centuries ago,
02:26it was never properly explored, and then it was forgotten. The tomb was named KV-5. It would turn out to be the largest burial site ever found in this valley.
02:31The find made headlines around the world. KV-5 is a staggering multi-floored warren of tunnels and rooms. To this day, most of its chambers haven't been properly studied.
02:50But one chamber did give up its secrets. Weeks found an inscription, and then some remains, including a skull. A very special skull.
03:02It was here in this pit that we found the human remains of an individual I believe could well be the firstborn son of the Pharaoh Ramses II.
03:09The son's name was Amon-Her-Kepeshev. His death played a key role in the history of Egypt. The story of his end is told in the Bible.
03:24It's part of one of the most famous and studied records in the Scriptures, the story of Exodus.
03:30Moses parts the seas, freeing his people by leading them out of Egypt towards the Promised Land.
03:38According to scriptures, Amon-Her-Kepeshev died when little more than a child during the tenth plague to hit Egypt.
03:47This was divine punishment after Ramses first tried to stop Moses from freeing the Israelites.
03:55Any physical evidence that could shed light on these biblical records has the potential to shake both history and religion to their cores.
04:04The skull found by Professor Weeks needs careful analysis. If these truly are the remains of the child who supposedly died at the hand of God, their importance is incalculable.
04:15Is this the firstborn son that is referred to in the story of the Exodus?
04:20Weeks is given special permission to examine the remains with the help of a group of scientific experts.
04:26The team first needs to determine if this skull really belongs to Ramses' firstborn son. Using the latest reconstructive techniques, they'll try to recreate his face.
04:38For comparison, the face of his famous father, Ramses II, is also being recreated from his remains at Cairo's museum.
04:47Forensic science will then establish how old Amon-Her-Kepeshev was when he died.
04:53They hope a detailed analysis of the skull can also explain the wound on the side of his head.
05:00Is it a sign of a mysterious biblical plague or evidence of a brutal and violent end at the hand of man?
05:08Charlie Sennett is an expert on the Bible and an award-winning investigative journalist.
05:18Kent has asked him to join the investigation.
05:21He hopes that together they can make sense of how the scientific data collected from the tomb is related to the biblical history of the Ramses' story.
05:29Anxious to start, Sennett wants to see the tomb for himself.
05:35So for 3,000 years, people walked right by the big prize.
05:39Payed no attention, whatever, yeah.
05:41Yet in the sprawling depths of tomb KV-5, Professor Weeks found what could be a key link to the Exodus story.
05:49The first thing we saw was a wall that had a series of columns of hieroglyphic texts.
05:55And these texts give the names and the title of the firstborn son of Ramses II, Amon-Her-Kepeshev, who is shown, here's his head.
06:04Amon-Her-Kepeshev is walking into the tomb following his father, Ramses II, to be introduced to the gods in the next life.
06:14Now this made the tomb particularly interesting, obviously.
06:19But entering the tomb isn't easy.
06:21We had to slither on our bellies across these rough, sharp, limestone ships to get inside.
06:27Professor Weeks had no idea what he would find.
06:32We thought this was going to be a small chamber.
06:35But when I push my light down, it doesn't bounce off anything.
06:39It just goes on and on into total darkness.
06:43Clearly, this was not a small chamber.
06:45The vast labyrinth that unfolds before him contains over 130 chambers.
06:51KV-5 looks like an octopus with a 16-pillared hole for his body and then tentacles going off in every which direction.
07:00Not just on a single level, but on three, even four different levels.
07:04It is unlike any other tomb that is known to have been dug in ancient times.
07:10At the end of the central tunnel, a statue depicting the tomb's builder.
07:14The pharaoh Ramses II, also known as Ramses the Great.
07:21This is Ramses II as the god Osiris, the quintessential god of the afterworld.
07:27Looking out back down this hallway at the burial places of his many sons.
07:33Building KV-5 would have required years of toil and involved countless workers.
07:39It was a monstrous endeavor.
07:41This underground labyrinth was constructed 3,000 years ago.
07:48Steel reinforcements and other modern building techniques hadn't yet been developed.
07:53So how did it stand the test of time so effectively?
07:57Egyptian builders were masters at working with rock.
08:01Their stonemasons learned about the properties of different kinds of stone and planned their work around it.
08:06The Valley of the Kings is mostly made of limestone, a sedimentary rock that is laid down in strata over several million years.
08:16The slow formation of this stone creates different qualities of rock.
08:20Most of the valley's limestone is very fine and sturdy, perfect for this kind of construction.
08:25But in some places, pockets of soft shale are present.
08:30This material expands when exposed to moisture.
08:34This has been the cause of several collapsed tunnels and chambers.
08:38Even Ramses' own resting place has been damaged by the presence of shale.
08:42The walls of KV-5 show 20 representations of Ramses' sons.
08:50There's no doubt in Kent's mind that the Pharaoh built this massive tomb for his children.
08:56But was this remarkable project started in honor of his firstborn child?
09:00The son that died in such mysterious circumstances?
09:05Is the key to understanding that biblical death still locked in this endless tomb?
09:21Ramses the Great was responsible for building KV-5.
09:24With over 130 chambers, it's the largest and most remarkable of the tombs in the Valley of the Kings.
09:32Rediscovered by Professor Kent Weeks, KV-5 contains remains thought to be those of Ramses' firstborn son,
09:39the child the scriptures say was killed by the hand of God.
09:44But the skull that's been recovered shows a deep fracture.
09:48Is it a sign of a mysterious biblical plague or evidence of foul play by man?
09:54How did the Pharaoh's son die?
09:58Kent knows that to uncover the truth about what happened, he needs to first investigate Ramses' reign.
10:04When you start making a list of the attributes of Ramses II, you're almost immediately talking in superlatives.
10:10He was a king who lived well into his 80s at a time when the average Egyptian male probably lived only about 35 to 40 years.
10:18He had scores of wives, probably hundreds of children.
10:21He built more temples than any pharaoh in Egyptian history.
10:25He fought more battles.
10:27By any standard, this man was a gigantic figure.
10:31A figure that lived at a key historical moment.
10:35He was at the center of events that still today are central to a number of the world's religions.
10:40For Ramses has long been identified as the Pharaoh of the Exodus.
10:47The time when according to the Koran, the Torah, and the Bible, Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt.
10:54But of all the people mentioned in those scriptures, he is unique.
11:01Because his body has been recovered and his mummy is on display at the Cairo Museum.
11:08He was an actual person with a real son.
11:11A child that scriptures say was cut down by the hand of God.
11:14Kent Weeks' discovery could help uncover hard evidence that relates directly to what is described in the Bible.
11:22A story beyond belief.
11:25The Egyptians enslaved the Israelites, forcing them to build temples, monuments, and great cities.
11:31Then God instructed Moses to demand that the Pharaoh let his people go.
11:38When the Pharaoh refused, God visited plague after plague on Egypt.
11:43Disease, storms, and infestations.
11:46After ten terrible plagues, the last of which was responsible for the death of his firstborn son,
11:53the Pharaoh Ramses relented.
11:55But then he changed his mind.
11:57His chariots pursued the Israelites across the desert to the Red Sea.
12:01According to the Bible, Moses took his staff and parted the waters.
12:06His people passed through safely.
12:09And then the waves closed over the Pharaoh's men.
12:17Professor Weeks' investigation has major implications for one specific part of this story.
12:23The tenth plague that rocked Egypt.
12:25The death of the firstborn son.
12:27At the hour of midnight, I will go out into the midst of Egypt.
12:32And all of the firstborn in the land shall die.
12:36The scriptures record that the hand of God took Ramses' firstborn son.
12:43Kent Weeks believes that he has found his body.
12:48Can the team identify scientifically the nature of this mysterious hand of God?
12:54Before doing so, they have to confirm the identity of the skeleton.
12:58To do so, they are using the latest reconstruction techniques.
13:01After 3,000 years, the faces of Ramses and the person believed to be his son will be brought back to life.
13:08Will there be a resemblance between the two?
13:11Professor Caroline Wilkinson is a forensic anthropologist and leading expert in facial reconstruction techniques.
13:21As well as being responsible for identifying the skull, she is overseeing the task of recreating Amon Herkepshev's face.
13:30The first step in creating a model involves taking dozens of high resolution digital images of the skull.
13:38A complete and accurate record.
13:39But before making a start, Professor Wilkinson must assess the skull's condition and identify its pieces.
13:46It's actually much more sturdy than I thought it would be.
13:50Yeah, the bone is in good condition. The bricks are ancient.
13:54Yeah, and it's quite thick bone too.
13:57Yes, it is. I think all of this can be easily put back together.
14:01The mandible's in very good condition considering because we've got a lot of teeth.
14:05Yeah.
14:06They begin the risky business of cleaning the skull.
14:10Three thousand year old bone is particularly brittle because conditions in the tomb cause it to dry out.
14:17Professor Weeks is all too aware that one slip of the hand could destroy vital clues.
14:25Can forensics really link these bones to the biblical story of Exodus?
14:31A story whose authenticity is questioned by many of archaeology's leading academics.
14:36Maybe there is something there in the story, some sort of a core or a nucleus of truth in the very remote past, but I can assure you that the picture that archaeology provides is completely a negative picture.
14:50All the scientific team can do is record and analyze any data they retrieve from the find.
14:56We're looking at this from above at the moment, so we've got the back of the skull here, and this is the brow here, so the face of this individual will be underneath this cushion.
15:07You can see that he's got quite a long sagittal contour, which is basically in profile, you get a very long length to the skull, which is something that's common with ancient Egyptians.
15:17The country of origin reflects Professor Weeks expectations, but it's not enough to confirm this is the firstborn son of Ramses the Great.
15:28The scientists have finished cleaning and assembling the remains.
15:32Dozens of images are taken and scanned.
15:34They are used as data to rebuild the face of the person believed to be Amun-Herkepyshev.
15:40Many of the photos are also sent to other laboratories, so every aspect of the bones can be studied.
15:46Could the results show that the child Amun-Herkepyshev was struck down by God?
15:52A skull has been found in KV-5, the largest tomb in the Valley of the Kings.
16:07It bears signs of a violent attack.
16:10Could this be the skull of Amun-Herkepyshev, the firstborn son of Pharaoh Ramses the Great?
16:15In the story of Exodus, scriptures say the boy's life was cut short by the hand of God.
16:22A team of scientists is examining the body, trying to make some sense of this claim.
16:28Up until now, archaeology has failed to provide clear answers about the facts relating to this major biblical event.
16:35But why is that?
16:37The simple answer? The Egyptians left no record of the events in Exodus.
16:41This could make it easy to dismiss the whole story as a myth.
16:46But the meaning of Egyptian records is never clear.
16:52Ramses II was a great pharaoh.
16:56Like a modern politician, he knew his image was extremely important.
17:01Archaeological evidence shows that he made sure the official records portrayed him as the greatest and most powerful of all Egyptian leaders.
17:11In the story of Exodus, he is left defeated by a group of rebellious slaves.
17:17It's not an image he would have wanted to record.
17:20We will never get an Egyptian record of the Exodus in our formal sense, ever, if we found every stone block in Egypt, because that was not done.
17:30Knowing Egyptian records can be flawed, Charlie Sennett keeps up his hunt for other physical evidence that could make sense of events described in Exodus.
17:38The investigation in KV-5 is now key to finding out what really happened.
17:46The scientists could provide the facts needed to understand the events surrounding the departure of the Israelites from Egypt.
17:52Well, at this early stage, it's unfair of me to ask, but do you think he is a member of the royal Ramessid line?
18:01There's nothing remarkable with this school that would help us suggest a family link.
18:09And I was a little surprised by the lower proportions of this school, because on Ramesses, he's got very long proportions between the nose and the mouth and the chin.
18:17And this one doesn't really show the similar proportions.
18:22That doesn't, however, mean that they're not related and it's just not a consistency.
18:28Kent is going to have to wait for his answers, but the team is making progress.
18:33Having already cleaned and taken digital photographs of the skull, the team begins the final process, the craniometrics.
18:40Craniometrics are precise measurements of the skull that reveal family similarities through key points, like the distance between the nose and mouth and the proportions of the face.
18:54Professor Wilkinson hopes to show a clear family link between Ramesses and the skull believed to belong to his firstborn son.
19:01While the team is busy extracting information from the remains in tomb KV5, Charlie Sennett is applying his in-depth knowledge of the Bible to try and uncover clues that will make sense of the events described in Exodus.
19:18The Bible records that Ramesses forced the Israelites to build him the most lavish of cities, packed with temples and monuments.
19:26The first and greatest of these cities was Pi-Ramesses.
19:28Charlie Sennett believes that if the scriptures are accurate, evidence of such large-scale building projects should remain today.
19:37For centuries, no trace of Pi-Ramesses was found.
19:41Some archaeologists thought it was just a legend, but lengthy investigations finally showed the city to be real.
19:48Most of its remains now lie hidden beneath this field of crops.
19:52Egyptologist Ted Rock shows Sennett the only artifact that can still be seen above the ground.
19:59A pair of feet.
20:01So we know we have Pi-Ramesses here.
20:03Exactly.
20:04We know that Pi-Ramesses is mentioned in the Bible.
20:06Are we getting closer to narrowing down this as the setting, do you think?
20:09If you accept the idea that Ramesses was the Pharaoh of the Exodus, then yes, this would be the site of all of the drama that's described in that chapter of the Bible.
20:20This is the site where, according to the Bible, Moses confronted Ramesses, and where the Pharaoh's firstborn son was cut down by the hand of God.
20:33In tomb KV-5, the scientific team has been busy trying to uncover the truth about that death.
20:39Now this is what fascinates me, this wound. Can you tell whether this was caused before death or after death?
20:47Can science reveal the true nature of Amun-Herkepshef's wound?
20:52The Bible says Ramesses' son was killed by a plague, divine punishment for the Pharaoh's treatment of the Jewish slaves.
20:59But if this is the Pharaoh's son, what would have caused this wound? Is this evidence of a murder?
21:16In Egypt's Valley of the Kings, Professor Kent Weeks has recovered a skull.
21:21He believes it belongs to the firstborn son of the great Pharaoh Ramses.
21:25It shows signs of a violent encounter.
21:29But the Bible says the child's life was cut short by the hand of God.
21:35Is this skull proof he was murdered instead?
21:39Now this is what fascinates me, this wound.
21:42Can you tell whether this was caused before death or after death?
21:46Well, my initial impression is that it's not a post-mortem wound, that it's at the time of or before death.
21:52You think it could have been the cause of death?
21:53Possibly, but this isn't really my area of expertise, so I'd like to take our images and measurements back to a colleague and consult with her.
22:01Professor Wilkinson has finished her examination of the skull in KV-5.
22:06She takes all the data back to the lab for further analysis and processing.
22:12First, the identity of the skull has to be confirmed.
22:15We use facial reconstruction primarily for forensic identification, so when the police find a body that they can't identify by the usual channels, they'll get a reconstruction done, and that'll go out to the public in the hope that someone will recognize the individual.
22:32We have about 70% success rate with recognition and identification.
22:38The data gathered in KV-5 is also processed by a forensic anthropologist.
22:42She wants to answer two key questions.
22:46What was the cause of death?
22:49And how old was the victim when he died?
22:52Scriptures don't reveal much about the daily life of Amenherah Kepeshef or say much about his character.
23:04Biblical investigator Charlie Sennett wants to build a picture of Ramsey's son to help him determine the factual accuracy of the events described in Exodus.
23:13To help him do this, he's traveled to the Temple of Abu Simbel to meet Egyptologist Dr. Gabala.
23:22The Temple of Abu Simbel was one of Ancient Egypt's most fabulous constructions.
23:27Its inner sanctum was even aligned so that the sun would strike Ramsey's statue on the summer solstice.
23:36Come to the Holy of Holies itself.
23:38And these, of course, are the gods.
23:40These are the four gods.
23:41And Ramesses has chosen to seat himself with the gods.
23:44Right, with the gods.
23:45Because he considered himself as one of them.
23:49The Temple holds key evidence for Sennett's quest to find out more about Ramsey's firstborn son.
23:56It contains wall carvings that depict Amenherah Kepeshef in all his pomp and glory.
24:01Well, here is the evidence of the eldest son of Ramesses II, Amenherah Kepeshef, great commander of the Egyptian army, royal scribe, the eldest son of the king.
24:15So you can see here the written and pictorial evidence of Amenherah Kepeshef.
24:21For Sennett, this is a revelation.
24:27The general understanding is that the Pharaoh's son was an innocent child, even though the scriptures never actually state his age.
24:35The person described here is a man old enough to hold a position of power, old enough to command an army.
24:43The question is, how does this information relate to the forensic evidence that the scientific team has found in KV-5?
24:53Professor Sue Black is a top forensic anthropologist based at Dundee University in Scotland.
24:59She's worked on some of Britain's toughest murder cases.
25:02She's been analyzing photos of Amenherah Kepeshef's skull.
25:06The first task is determining the skull's likely age at death.
25:10On the surface of the skull, when you look at them, there are little lines that look like little interlocking sort of jigsaw lines.
25:17And these are the sutures where different bones of the skull come together.
25:22And they close with age.
25:24And what you can see is that it is elevated.
25:27It hasn't started to fuse across yet.
25:30And that's a good indication that we're not looking at an individual of advanced middle years.
25:35So happily in the 30s, I would say more than anything.
25:38A man in his 30s would be the right age to be a military commander.
25:44So this skull could potentially belong to Amenherah Kepeshef.
25:49For generations, it's been assumed Ramsey's firstborn son died as a child.
25:55If this is his skull, those assumptions must be wrong.
25:59So how does this new evidence affect the story of the Exodus?
26:04And why does his skull appear to show signs of a violent death?
26:08The story of the Exodus, one of the most famous records from the Bible.
26:20God, angered by King Ramsey's enslavement of the Israelites, punishes the Pharaoh when he fails to free them.
26:26He sends Egypt 10 plagues.
26:29The last kills Ramsey's firstborn son.
26:32Now, Professor Kent Weeks thinks he's found this son's remains.
26:36And they point to something no one had expected.
26:39This new evidence reveals Amenherah Kepeshef did not die as a young child.
26:44He reached adulthood.
26:45The forensic analysis of the bone structure matches the information from the inscriptions at the ancient temple of Abu Simbel.
26:55Professor Weeks believes this is enough evidence to make it a credible theory.
26:59He also thinks the historical records contain important clues about the relationship between father and son.
27:06Ramsey's reign for an extraordinarily long time.
27:09And in the 30th year of his reign, he organized a jubilee, called a sed festival.
27:16This was a traditional celebration.
27:19Its purpose was to officially turn Ramsey's, already a Pharaoh, into a god.
27:29It's extremely important that the power of the king be kept fresh, solid and strong.
27:36And the sed festival was one way of ensuring that his relationship with the gods and his relationship with the people continued to be as strong and wholesome as possible.
27:49By becoming a god, Ramsey's would not only glorify himself.
27:54He would also automatically transfer his secular powers to his firstborn son.
27:58As heir apparent and commander in chief of the army, Amun-Herr Kepeshev was made the effective ruler of Egypt.
28:07He became Pharaoh in all but name.
28:11There had to be, in effect, a secular king.
28:15Someone who could deal with the more mundane royal activities.
28:18The most logical candidate for that would be the heir apparent, the crown prince, who in effect became an assistant Pharaoh.
28:24If these events took place, Amun-Herr Kepeshev was not the sacrificial innocent child described by biblical tradition.
28:33He was a politician, a leader and a general.
28:37But how does this theory sit with the enduring account given in the book of Exodus?
28:42Charlie Sennett is investigating one of the most mythical parts of the Exodus story, the visiting of ten plagues upon Egypt.
28:52It's easy to dismiss biblical stories like the Exodus and say, these are fables, mystical stories of the ancient world.
28:59But the plagues, as they afflicted Egypt in the story of Exodus, they're not about sea monsters or dragons or witches.
29:09These are natural occurring phenomena.
29:11Frogs, flies, boils.
29:14These are things that happened in nature right here on the Nile.
29:19Is there a scientific explanation that can account for the ten plagues?
29:23The river Nile has been at the center of Egyptian civilization for millennia.
29:29Its water is the lifeblood of the kingdom, and its importance made it a central feature of the country's religion and beliefs.
29:37A drought was a sign of the gods' displeasure.
29:41Regular floods were a divine blessing, a source of rich, fertile soil and water.
29:46But on very rare occasions, that divine blessing could become a curse.
29:50Egypt was wholly dependent on the Nile.
29:55The flood comes down in July, August, and they can plant and they can live on the crops.
30:00But if it comes down extra high, extra heavy, it can be a curse.
30:05A series of plagues in Egypt might be explainable by a precise sequence of events.
30:14The trigger for this disaster starts thousands of miles away, in Ethiopia.
30:18Here, the torrential monsoon rains swell the Nile's many tributaries.
30:24When the rains are relentless, they cause heavy soil erosion.
30:29The soil contains large quantities of iron hydroxide particles.
30:34This component makes the water rusty red.
30:36If too much of this nutrient-rich dirt is picked up, a red tide of Ethiopian silt pours into the Nile.
30:45A deadly chain reaction begins.
30:49It will bring dense masses of soil, including what the Germans call rot erder, or red earth.
30:55Very fine earth. And this is blood.
30:57The fish are both poisoned and suffocated. They die en masse.
31:04The second plague strikes soon after. Frogs.
31:08Fleeing the polluted Nile, frogs swarm the land.
31:11In the absence of this predator, flies and gnats multiply unchecked, the third and fourth plagues.
31:18In turn, waterlogged fields breed anthrax, source of the fifth and sixth plagues.
31:24In fact, there were possibly two forms of anthrax.
31:28A very deadly anthrax, which came into the grasses, which the cattle ate and they died.
31:34There's another anthrax through insects, a skin anthrax.
31:38And that means that people get very nasty skin diseases.
31:43Hail rarely strikes in Egypt.
31:45But in an unusually cold February, the seventh plague wipes out whole crops.
31:50So by March, the traditional time of year for locusts, Egypt's eighth plague, the country is in ruin.
31:58The locusts are driven out by the ninth plague.
32:02The hot, dry winds of the Kamsin, the seasonal sandstorms that begin in April.
32:08As they blow across Egypt, the sun disappears for days at a time.
32:13Then finally, by March, April, Kamsin, darkness.
32:18Dense, dark cloud. You can't see your hand in front of your face, we would say.
32:23And the whole place is choked up. What a year!
32:27The last plague is the most deadly of all.
32:31The death of Egypt's firstborn sons.
32:33In the Bible, the Hebrews are instructed by God to paint lamb's blood on their doors,
32:40so that the angel of death will pass over them without taking life.
32:43Thus saith the Lord, at the hour of midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt,
32:55and all of the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die.
33:00And there shall be a great cry throughout the land,
33:04such as there was never like it, nor shall be like it evermore.
33:09If it took place, this is one event that defies all scientific explanation.
33:18Could the skull Kent Weeks found explain how Egypt's firstborn sons actually died?
33:24A skull is found in the Valley of the Kings.
33:38It could belong to Amenher Kepeshev, firstborn son of Pharaoh Ramses the Great.
33:43The Bible records that Amenher Kepeshev died by the hand of God during the tenth plague to hit Egypt.
33:49But if the skull found in tomb KV-5 is that of Amenher Kepeshev, Professor Sue Black believes the cause of death is far less mysterious than the hand of God.
34:03The depression on the skull suggests that the victim took a heavy blow to the head.
34:08It's not a pre-mortem injury because there's no evidence of it showing healing.
34:15So it either has to have occurred peri-mortem around the time of death or after death.
34:21So I'm very happy to consider this to be a peri-mortem injury.
34:25The cause of death is blunt force trauma.
34:27But what happened to cause such an injury?
34:31There are a number of theories that could explain this.
34:34One is an accident.
34:36In Egypt, a chariot was the equivalent of a fast motorbike or an MG.
34:42The two really strong horses up in front, you could go whoosh across the parade ground and if you hit anything, oh boy.
34:49An Egyptian chariot could reach 25 miles an hour. Falling off could be lethal.
34:58Another possibility is foul play.
35:01There are other recorded incidences of murder within the Egyptian royal household.
35:06As heir to the throne, Amenher Kepeshev would have been the center of much envy and rivalry, making him a prime target.
35:12There is a very famous story of a conspiracy hatched out by the princesses of the Harim to kill Ramesses III.
35:23We have the documents that tell us this story and therefore we know that there was rivalry.
35:32Yet another possibility is death in battle.
35:35We know that as the heir to the throne, Amenher Kepeshev was also the commander in chief of Egypt's armies.
35:40Since Amenher Kepeshev is the one son of Ramesses II who was consistently and most clearly associated with army life,
35:49then in all likelihood he was done in on the field of battle.
35:53The evidence suggests that if this was Amenher Kepeshev, it's more likely he died by the hand of an enemy combatant than the hand of God.
36:01It's the part of a skull that presents the closest, so it's one that's most likely to be hit.
36:05The fact that Amenher Kepeshev, if that is who it is, was out fighting a battle, doesn't tell us where the battle was, but it doesn't tell us who he was fighting.
36:20Professor Weeks and Charlie Sennett have constructed a theory around the data they've collected.
36:26It could bring together the biblical account and the archaeological evidence that's available.
36:31It rests on the account that Moses parted the Red Sea to enable the Israelites to escape the Egyptians.
36:37And then, according to scripture, he let the waters close over the chariots that pursued them.
36:43Sennett has spoken to a religious expert who believes the name Red Sea is a mistranslation.
36:48In fact, the Red Sea is not the Red Sea in Hebrew, it's Yom Suf.
36:55And Yom Suf means literally the Sea of Reeds.
37:00But where would such a Sea of Reeds be?
37:04One location fits the description.
37:07The marshlands of Eastern Egypt.
37:10They lie on the route the Hebrews were believed to have taken.
37:16Seeing the terrain, Sennett can easily picture a new way in which the Pharaoh's army and his firstborn son might have met their doom.
37:24If the Reed Sea was one of these marshland areas, then you can really start to wonder that maybe the parting of the sea was actually more like a marshland, which would have been very treacherous terrain for a chariot.
37:35The Exodus narrative is very straight. The Pharaoh sent his chariots. He didn't go himself. He was above that sort of thing. I don't chase slaves.
37:45Amun Herr Kepeshev, as commander in chief and heir to the throne, would have been the most likely candidate to lead such a mission.
37:56But why would Ramses have sent such a large and elite force to dispose of some defenseless slaves?
38:02One theory is that Moses' Israelites were not a defenseless procession of refugees, but a smaller, warlike band of rebel slaves.
38:12The Old Testament says he comes out in a mixed company with armed people.
38:18So did the Pharaoh dispatch his forces into the Reed Sea, only for the Hebrews to lure them into an ambush?
38:25Trapped in marshland and unable to maneuver, chariots might have been easy prey for a band of armed slaves.
38:33Did they take vengeance on their former masters?
38:40Did they kill the Pharaoh's own son?
38:43As yet there is no scientific evidence to confirm this idea, but no evidence has been found that rules this theory out.
38:56So could the biblical references in Exodus be a metaphor for such an event?
39:05Professor Weeks and Charlie Sennett believe the clues they've uncovered point to events unfolding in this way.
39:11However it happened, the death of Aminher Kepeshev must have been a terrible loss to Ramses.
39:18Kent Weeks believes the tomb he found was built by Ramses to send this son into the afterlife.
39:26And now he has the chance to see the face of the man he believes is Aminher Kepeshev.
39:32Professor Wilkinson has worked with a team of graphic artists to create two virtual models.
39:37How will they look side by side?
39:41First, the face of Ramses, the father.
39:44Then, the face of the man Weeks is found, possibly Ramses' son and heir.
39:49Okay, this is the frontal view that Caroline has given us.
39:52This is the man.
39:54He's a rather stern-looking fellow, isn't he?
39:56Yeah, he is. I mean, certainly the most obvious thing is he looks nothing like the classical depictions of the Pharaoh.
40:01Well, that's to be understood because Egyptian art was an idealizing art. It was not an attempt at portraiture.
40:08Ramses would never have been shown as an aged, balding man. He always would have been shown in the prime of his life.
40:14No, this is a human being.
40:17It's time for the final comparison.
40:20Will the two models share similar features?
40:22I'm not used to looking at members of the Ramisade Court like this. I'm used to seeing them carved or painted on temple walls.
40:32It's certainly interesting to finally see the man who we've been looking for.
40:36It's hard to define the emotions at this point.
40:40But certainly we're looking at two individuals who seem to have a strong resemblance to each other.
40:49The resemblance is unquestionable.
40:52These are the faces of Egypt's greatest king and quite probably the son who never inherited his father's throne.
40:59When Ramses died, he was over 90 years old. He had outlived almost all of his family and left countless memorials to them all over his kingdom.
41:12The greatest of them all is KV-5, the largest tomb complex ever built in the Valley of the Kings.
41:18This was Ramses great demonstration, not only of his power, but also of his grief for Amun-Her-Khepeshev, his firstborn son, the Pharaoh who never was.
41:30Killed perhaps by a blow to the head, a blow delivered by an unknown hand that men would later call the hand of God, laid to rest in a tomb fit for a God.
41:40A tomb that holds over 130 chambers, some still closed and unexplored.
41:46Who knows what they will reveal?
41:49Perhaps one holds the key to this mystery and one day it could help unearth an ancient secret buried for over 3,000 years.