MP: "Two years ago, an
American research team came to Giza and using ground-penetrating
radar reported odd readings underneath the Sphinx.
[camera shot running alongside the right paw and body of the
Sphinx]
MP: "The findings suggested the possibility of an underground
chamber. More recently however, Doctor Hawass discovered just
that - a subterranean chamber and it lies at the bottom of a
long shaft not far from the Sphinx. This long-hidden chamber
honours the greatest of Egyptian Gods, Osiris."
[an animated graphic swoops over the Giza plateau, around
Khafre’s pyramid, back down to the Sphinx, and up alongside the
causeway]
MP (voiceover): "In ancient myth, he’s the
principal figure of the country’s genesis, a benevolent God-King
who brought civilisation to Egypt but then was brutally murdered
by his brother. Osiris was reborn as the Lord of Eternity, Ruler
of the Dead, the chief judge at the trial of all souls, and as
we now learn, he is part of the wonders at Giza."
[exterior shot looking into the northern subway entrance. Suzy
is standing just inside the entrance]
SK: "Maury, we talk so much about dispelling myths - how
about confirming one?
[shot from inside the subway. Suzy walks south through the
subway towards the bars guarding the shaft entrance. Doctor
Hawass is waiting at the open gate]
SK: "About 2,500 years ago, the Greek historian Herodotus who I
guess you could call the world’s first foreign correspondent
visited this site. Local guides and villagers told him that he
could find the tomb of a King buried deep beneath the Giza
plateau. Well, about a year ago, Doctor Zahi Hawass, who joins
me here at the mouth of the shaft, embarked on what he calls his
greatest adventure ever. Zahi, you’ve been doing this for some
30 years. Why is this so amazing?"
ZH: "Well you know Suzy, it’s amazing because this is the first
time that I excavate underneath 100 feet in water. Before I
excavate on sand and dirt and also the same time, I discovered
that this is what Herodotus talked about, and I found that this
is the ’Tomb of Osiris’. let’s go and see what we’re talking
about."
[animated graphic depicting the layout of the three levels. Note
that the orientation of this graphic is incorrect. The correct
chamber orientations are given in the following descriptions.]
SK (voiceover): "Our first descent is about 20 feet, a chance to
get warmed up to the rickety rusty ladders. Now it gets
intimidating. The second leg is a major drop as the shaft
narrows before opening into a room once obscured with dirt and
sand. Zahi and his men cleared it to find a burial chamber with
six rooms."
[Shot of Suzy entering the second level chamber. The chamber is
rectangular in shape and orientated on a north/south axis. The
shaft enters the chamber on the southern side. There are three
small side-chambers along the west side, the centre one
containing a large sarcophagus with the lid moved to one side.
There is also a small chamber in the north side and three more
side-chambers along the east side, the southernmost of which
contains the shaft to the third level. The chamber and
side-chambers appear to be undecorated.]
SK: "So this is the second level 55 feet down right?"
ZH: "Yah."
[Suzy and Doctor Hawass make their way across the chamber as
they talk, halting next to a pile of pottery fragments and
bones]
SK: "What did you find here?"
ZH: "You know, I excavated this part. I found six rooms cut in
the rock, two red granite sarcophagus, and pottery and bones."
[Doctor Hawass, now crouching down, picks up a pottery fragment]
SK: "What did the bones teach you?"
ZH: "Bones tell us about the people. Pottery gave me the date of
this place, 500 B.C., 2,500 years ago."
SK: "And what made you think that there was anything beyond
this?"
ZH: "You have to look for the other level. This is the
adventure."
[shot looking down the shaft to the third level, then back up to
Suzy and Doctor Hawass as they walk over]
ZH: "Let me take you to show you the most amazing thing that
you’ll ever see in your life, but let us take our jackets off
because it’s so hot there."
[Suzy takes a good look down the shaft and says...]
SK: "Oh my!"
[animated graphic showing a shaft descending from the second
level to the third level chamber - the ’Tomb of Osiris’]
SK (voiceover): "Upon discovery, the third level was submerged.
When the water was pumped out, Doctor Hawass had the find of his
life."
[shot from the bottom of the shaft looking up as Suzy and Doctor
Hawass descend the ladder]
SK: "No fear of the unknown?"
ZH: "Yes, but there is great adventure - adventure in
archaeology."
[The next scene shows the interior of the third chamber. The
chamber is orientated on an east/west axis. The shaft enters the
chamber on the eastern side. The camera, positioned towards the
western side of the chamber, pans round to show Doctor Hawass
helping Suzy to step from a ladder into the chamber. There is a
raised rectangular area in the middle of the chamber, the centre
of which is hollow and filled with water. Two workmen are
operating a winch attached to ropes which are looped around a
sarcophagus lid hanging above the hollow area. After a while,
Doctor Hawass tells the men to stop, by saying "Halas", meaning
"enough".]
SK: "So we’re a hundred feet down now. What is this?"
ZH: "Suzy, this is the ’Tomb of Osiris’."
[animated graphic showing how the ’Tomb of Osiris’ might have
looked when it was intact]
SK (voiceover): "The God of the underworld. This
once extravagant mausoleum, a moat with four pillars engraved with
hieroglyphics constructed thousands of years ago was intended to
be a symbolic shrine for the keeper of the afterlife."
[Suzy and Doctor Hawass crouch down by the raised lid. As they
speak, the camera looks into the water to reveal the dim outline
of a submerged sarcophagus]
ZH: "If you will look down here, I will show you what is here.
Look. There is the second part of the sarcophagus, goes down
[measures the distance with a tape measure] I think about one
feet down, and up you see what we did. The lid is up. You will
see the length of that lid? O.K. Let us watch out..."
SK: "How much would something like this weigh?"
[as they talk, Suzy and Doctor Hawass measure the length of the
sarcophagus lid]
ZH: "Oh, the weight of this was eleven to twelve tons. What’s
the length?"
SK: "About nine feet."
ZH: "Nine feet. With the whole lid and the second part is about
eleven to twelve tons weight."
SK: "And how could they get twelve ton down a hundred feet?"
ZH: "You know when they cut the shaft they filled the shaft with
sand and they cut side shafts. They take the sand from the side
shafts and the sarcophagus will come down piece by piece."
[animated graphic showing tunnels extending from the third
chamber]
SK (voiceover): "And there’s more. Archaeologists agree that
below the Giza plateau lies a network of tunnels. Could this be
the centre, a gateway? Our first evidence is stunningly
revealed"
ZH: "I will go now and show you this exciting place."
[Doctor Hawass walks over a ladder placed as a bridge from the
centre island to a ’tunnel entrance’ located in the northwest
wall of the chamber. He turns round to face Suzy]
SK: "Zahi, the American prophet Edgar Cayce talked years and
years ago about a lost civilization, hidden tunnels that would
lead to answers about it. Can this have anything to do with
that?"
ZH: "You know Suzy, Cayce, Edgar Cayce and lost
civilization,
it’s a legend, it’s a myth. The arabs in the last century, they
talked about all this and psychic brought the past back, but, to
be fair, I did not excavate this tunnel yet. Then really, I
don’t know where it leads us but I always say you never know
what the sand and the tunnels of Egypt may hide of secrets."
SK: "Zahi, thank you so much for allowing us to experience this
adventure with you."
ZH: "You are welcome Suzy."
SK: "And Maury, I guess on a personal level, I am in awe of this
whole thing. What a once in a lifetime opportunity to be a part
of this great discovery that will certainly fuel the fire and
the speculation that we can find the answers , perhaps details
of a lost civilization, instructions for our future - maybe..."