National Geographic will premiere a brand new documentary series Kingdom of the Mummies on May 12 on National Geographic. This four-part documentary follows the exploration of what is the first known fully intact ancient Egyptian funeral home.
PHOTOGRAPH BY PIERS LEIGH, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
What’s happening:
- Next week, National Geographic will premiere a brand new four-part series Kingdom of the Mummies which follows a team of professors and historians as they uncover secrets from ancient Egypt.
- National Geographic recently released never-before-seen footage and photographs from within ancient Egypt's first known fully intact funeral home.
- In conjunction with Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, a team of archaeologists led by Dr. Ramadan Hussein from Germany's Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, uncovered the burial complex, dating back to 600 BC, deep beneath the sands at the Saqqara necropolis less than an hour's drive south of Cairo.
PHOTOGRAPH BY WILL CHURCHILL, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
- Kingdom of the Mummies follows Dr. Hussein's team, along with:
- Egyptologist Prof. Salima Ikram from American University in Cairo
- Mummy expert Dr. Stephen Buckley from University of York
- Digital archaeologist Dr. Matthias Lang from University of Tübingen
- Geoengineer Dr. Ayman Hamed of Suez University
- Paleoradiologist Prof. Sahar Saleem from Cairo University
PHOTOGRAPH BY PIERS LEIGH, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
- The group explores the subterranean chambers and opens four sealed, 2,600 year-old sarcophagi to unlock secrets and decipher clues about Egyptian burial processes.
- In addition to uncovering the first known fully integrated funeral complex with dedicated areas for organ removal, embalming and burial, the team's learnings are helping reveal more about death – and the business of death – in ancient Egypt.
- The latest scientific testing and scanning of the tombs, their relics and the remains of the deceased also add layers of meaning and context to the lessons being gleaned about the sacred rites and commerce that were conducted in this subterranean space.
PHOTOGRAPH BY BARNEY ROWE, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
What they’re saying:
- Dr. Ramadan Hussein: "The tomb contains mummies of both rich and poor people, as well as evidence of the funeral packages and quality of goods on offer. The evidence we uncovered shows the embalmers had very good business sense. They re-used chambers and re-sold sarcophagi to maximize the capacity of the complex."
PHOTOGRAPH BY PIERS LEIGH, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
About the series:
- Kingdom of the Mummies is produced by BBC Studios for National Geographic.
- For BBC Studios, executive producers are:
- Sarah Gibbs
- Lisa Ausden
- For National Geographic, the executive producer:
- Helen Hawken
- Executive vice president, programming and development:
- Hamish Mykura
- Executive vice president of global unscripted entertainment:
- Geoff Daniels
Kingdom of the Mummies will premiere Tuesday, May 12 at 10/9c on National Geographic in the US before rolling out globally