The Mummy's Curse | Lost Treasures of Egypt

NARRATOR: Maria has spotted the fresh tracks of a snake in the sand, and it could still be hiding somewhere in the tomb. John joins them to lend some support. Good luck.

OK, if you're still in here, I come in peace. Tapping a bit. Maria, don't tap it, just lift it. Yank it. I don't want it to end up falling on our mummy.

JOHN: Just be safe.

NARRATOR: Many of the snakes in Egypt are deadly.

JOHN: You OK?

Yeah, there's tracks. Lift the stone. You want to keep back from the door, please.

I got it. Well.

JOHN: Nothing?

I tell you what. I'm going to carry on with my work and leave you with your snake.

NARRATOR: Maria and Tricia can't be completely sure the snake is gone.

I removed a hole where it ended. OK. You scared him off anyway, I think.

NARRATOR: But with the clock ticking, they decide they must press on.

We have to be careful to distinguish what is mummy and what is dirt here.

Yes. This stone can go.

NARRATOR: By excavating the body from the mud, they hope to discover more about the role of this person in Gebel El Silsileh community, but the state of the mummy makes their task tougher.

More pieces. Little piece of skull.

Yeah, I got more here.

Burnt. They burn to such heat that the white bones turn blue.

NARRATOR: Ancient looters would often burn the mummies they found inside a tomb. They're after gold, and by burning the mummies, it's easier for them to open them up.

Very sad.

NARRATOR: The ancient Egyptians would have dreaded this kind of mutilation. They went to huge lengths to mummify and protect their dead, believing that to succeed in the afterlife, key elements of the body and soul must be preserved intact.

The first was the Ren, your identity and name. It lived for as long as your name was spoken.

Ib was the heart, the seat of your soul, the good force in your life.

Sheut was the shadow, an image of yourself that was reborn every day at sunrise.

Ba was the unique personality. It left the body in the form of a bird at night and at death.

The Ka was the vital essence, the force that animated the individual.

And the Khat was the physical form of the body, which must be preserved or mummified for the dead to be granted eternal life.

I feel like I personally get attached when I'm working on a mummy, and you feel like you're getting to know them, and you feel like a caretaker.