The Mummification of Seti I | Ultimate Treasure Countdown

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NARRATOR: Seti the First was the father of our friend Ramesses the Great. Just like his son, he was a hugely successful pharaoh. But in father-son rivalry, there's one category where he wins hands down: his mummy. Because Seti the First boasts some of the finest mummification work in all of ancient Egyptian history. Mummification is an incredible process of drying out and embalming the body to preserve it, ready for its journey to immortality in the afterlife.

Key to it all was the preparation of the body. Typically, your brain is pulled out through your nostrils with an iron hook. Next, all of your major organs are removed apart from the heart. Ancient Egyptians believed this was the center of your being. These organs are then preserved in special jars, so they can be reunited with their owner in the afterlife. [music playing] Your body is then covered in a salt called natron and left to dry for up to 40 days. [music playing]

Finally, the now mummified body is wrapped head to foot in hundreds of meters of linen bandages attached with a glue, and magical spells are cast to protect the mummy and prepare it for safe arrival in the afterlife. But Seti's mummy is unusual. His face is incredibly well-preserved. He looks almost perfect, not what you might expect from a body over 3,000 years old. But frankly, Seti's has had quite a lot of work done.

Unlocking the secrets behind Seti's youthful good looks is professor of radiology Sahar Saleem. I always looked at his mummy and I said, "This is no mummy. This is a sleeping beauty," and I've always wondered, what were his secrets? The secrets revealed to me that the ancient Egyptians were very efficient as plastic surgeons.

So was it really plastic surgery? Yeah. And they actually placed feathers around the nose and the mouth, in this region, in the cheeks, and even in the temporal. What does this tell you about their ideas of ancient beauty for men as well as for women? The ancient Egyptian would like to look like his gods. There is something very, very charismatic about him. He was the most well-mummified person from ancient Egypt that I've ever looked at.

I love the way you talk about him. I bet you wish you'd met him. Definitely. We will meet one day. Yeah, in the afterlife. Brilliant. Brilliant. Well, good luck. [laughs]

NARRATOR: Egyptians beautified Seti's mummy to make sure it was in the best possible shape to travel to the afterlife. Once there, Seti would need a stunning home for all eternity.