Egypt's 'most exciting' archaeological discovery in decades - BBC REEL

The discovery of a 3,000-year-old city that was lost to the sands of Egypt has been hailed as one of the most important archaeological finds in recent Egyptology.
Uncovered in 2020, this ancient Egyptian settlement, known as Aten, has left experts amazed at the preservation of buildings and artefacts. Egyptologists hope further investigation will answer important questions about life during the reign of one of Egypt's most powerful pharaohs, Amenhotep III.
Video by Howard Timberlake
Watch more from BBc Reel's 'Hidden Histories' playlist here: www.bbc.com/re...
#bbcreel #bbc #bbcnews

[@Native-Kitty]

Am I the only one who absolutely LOVES Professor Salima? She makes me happy every time I see her on TV talking about ancient Egypt. There is something about her personality that is loving, engaging, humble and energetic.

[@kiabtoomlauj6249]

It's called passion. Some people have passion for garden snails, others for dragon flies, others for molecular genetics, others for algorithms, others for virology, others for grasses, etc., etc. Hers is Egyptology.

[@yup6730]

Me too! She’s very passionate about her work and it shows

[@Scho-penhauer]

Yes, I think you are the only one who absolutely loves her for just watching her on TV. But why do care to know if you're the only one?! If there are many does it make a difference to you?

[@Vejur9000]

I like when too. Not a fan of Zahi tho.

[@MadeleineLynskey]

I completely agree 💯😊.

[@AM-pe8zq]

Honestly, I love Dr. Salima, I've seen her in many documentaries and she always explains everything to perfection

[@tobyport5873]

and she's not so up herself, unlike Hawas

[@anthonywinebarger]

Salima is like the Howard Carter of our century

[@tseamus8288]

Yess agreed.

[@robo1989]

Only legends know that she is wild on bed

[@Red_Rebel]

She’s closer to the field than anyone, I really admire her dedication! Long live the Queen!

[@Delosian]

Those serpentine walls are still use today in England. We plant fruit trees in the recesses and the sun warms the bricks during the day and at night the bricks release the heat, reducing the chance of frost damage to the fruit trees. History says that the idea came from Egypt.

[@milesmarshall]

Or is the knowledge from a lost creator civilization from Peru?

[@daveincambridge]

They're also sturdier than straight-line walls, almost as much as a double-thickness wall but requiring fewer bricks.

[@harveysmith100]

I have been a bricklayer for 40 years and I never knew that. Thanks for the information. When I looked at the curves I thought is was to do with shade, which may have been the case in Egypt. Dave is also correct, the curves make it much stronger in the same was as corrugated steel sheet is stronger that flat sheet steel.

[@Delosian]

@@harveysmith100 Perhaps it depends on the orientation as to what their objective was. In England the walls for fruit trees are aligned east-west to maximise the wall's absorption of solar radiation during the day on the southern side. These walls can increase the temperature at night by up to 10 degrees Celsius. As you mention, in Egypt I would imagine an east-west configuration with trees planted on the southern side would provide shade for the trees and get the sun to warm the bricks and thereby keep the fruit warm in the much colder night.

[@jessicas.6235]

That’s fascinating! I was disappointed they didn’t address the walls so thank you!

[@nyxi6689]

That whole country is like one massive open museum. You throw a rock in Egypt and you hit an ancient ruin ❤❤

[@edgarhons]

And the rock itself was itself part of a ruin

[@nyxi6689]

@@edgarhons hahahahaha yeah

[@jayawilder3835]

Nooo! Don't throw that rock! You might hit an ancient ruin!!!

[@nyxi6689]

@@wthomas7955 You should look up Siwa.

[@nyxi6689]

@@wthomas7955 No argument there, but that makes it all the more fascinating just how much there is over there, I mean other civilizations like Ancient Greece and Mesopotamia might have existed in easier circumstances but none of them have even close the amount of items that Ancient Egypt had. I find it so fascinating tbh

[@AmerBoyo]

I must say that when I visited the Egyptian museum in Cairo a few years back, it was the “everyday” items that were most impressive. The workmanship would rival many modern day items.

[@imhoteparchitect1787]

❤️

[@jopuk9518]

There is no worksmanship in the modern world. Only mass produced cheap crap by exploited workers who have few minutes to spend on each item

[@jackjack3358]

@@jopuk9518 and you think Egyptians or any other ancient civilization didn't exploited workers? lol That being said, no one is stopping you from buying handcrafted items. You can still do that if it annoys you this much. But it will be more expensive

[@qarmatianwarhorse6028]

I once saw a very exquisite egyptian comb as a child when I visited the British Museum in London. That image is vividly preserved in my mind still.

[@ggsay1687]

It's only looks like that, cheap ones simply wasn't shown or didn't survive.

[@pawstravel]

I'm happy to hear about discoveries like this. And I can imagine young Egyptologists around the world are amazed to hear it too, because that means that there are more hidden & undiscovered cities, ruins, temples and places where to make new discoveries. It is mindblowing to make a find like this, to be able to see in detail how people lived long before us. Wholesome ! 😊

[@frozengamer3030]

Egypt is amazing country to visit. So much history

[@robinlillian9471]

Amazing that one piece of pottery still had blue and white paint on it. It is said that everything they made/built was brightly painted when it was new.

[@PiXie232]

What an absolutely incredible find. How I’d love to work on a dig like this!

[@josip09]

You would not, believe me

[@nour_osman]

Omg me too! I live here in Egypt, wonder if there are any opportunities? How amazing would that be?!

[@robinlillian9471]

I think it's mostly free labor from college students on the digs.

[@nour_osman]

@@robinlillian9471 Ahh okay yeah that would make sense.

[@deliriumbee4678]

@@robinlillian9471 it's mostly locals lol

[@KinchasaurasRex]

Egypts lost gold??? Have they tried looking in the British museum. Everything "Lost" usually shows up there.

[@Paul22192]

Actually British museum did steal pyramids outer laier. Fortunately they were stopped in time and what is left is for everybody to admire.

[@expmimrankhan3881]

@@Paul22192 what about india😏

[@Paul22192]

Yes, they did grow opium in India and sold it to China. The money was spent for developing India.

[@expmimrankhan3881]

@@Paul22192 wtf... 💯 Wrong brooooo🤥🤥🤥🤥 British destroy india and it's culture... see British museum full of hindu gods statue and kohinoor diamond give us back 🤬

[@expmimrankhan3881]

@@Paul22192 india is rich and great civilization before mugal and British rule ... Only gift given by british is poverty and english 🙂

[@avasophia2527]

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[@edwardsimon7877]

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[@mottajr1776]

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[@dissisit6586]

Europeans: those are kinda cute, might take and put it in our museum 😋

[@SuperBenette]

Thats mean and arrogant, dont make a war out of everything, be proud and show some manners .

[@Chatham]

I was there right before they announced this discovery! Akhenaten was my favorite pharaoh. That period in time is so interesting! Praise the Aten! 🙌☀️

[@petethundabox5067]

(Above) I theorized that the abandonment of this city was when Akhenaten dragged everyone out to the desert for his new capital and that when Tutankhamun moved the city back this site held a bad superstition (among other I musings stated)

[@bobbybates2614]

If I could build a time machine ancient egypt I would definitely travel back to

[@flintdavis2]

Watch a movie or read a book The next best thing to a time machine.

[@BorkPlays]

Egypt...the gold mine of archeology!

[@barbaralemons4741]

Just seeing so many intact pottery vessels was amazing. The vast majority of the time, you don't see that. I have a speculative take on why the town was found in this condition. The town's name was Aten. Akhenaten, a monotheistic Pharaoh, son of Amenhotep III, father of Tutankhamen, had been fiercely opposed by the powerful Egyptian polytheistic priests for ordering that all subjects should only worship Aten, ( Egypt's god of the sun.). He was recently out of power and/or dead in that approximate time frame. (about1353,BCE) Almost every reference to him was destroyed, monuments defaced, references chiseled from everywhere his likeness or name appeared. In recent years, fragments were finally found as construction rubble and rock fill for other, newer royal structures . If I'm not mistaken, this town NAMED for the sun god might have been ordered abandoned or even cursed to make the inhabitants flee. Possibly by those triumphant priests ro bring heretics back into line (also the power and riches previously diverted from their coffers, back into their hands).

[@leathorns1751]

I remember coming across something that mentioned Akhenaten's dad had already started more of a focus towards aten, that Akhenaten went further, but wasn't the (only) originator. Possibly linked to the discovery of this city?

[@Amal757]

Prof. Salima, your enthusiasm is contagious!

[@Red_Rebel]

Wow! It’s so fascinating that wonderful history is still being found to this day, and there’s still a vast of secrets buried under the sand out there!

[@coffeefish]

Can we believe anything the BBC says?

[@MelanieFromCanada]

I love that we are still making archeological discoveries, that we haven't just given up and said "well, there's nothing more"

[@NicholasTranscends]

Everything is a lie.

[@eddiesaninocencio7486]

Its astonishing after 3000+ years they're still finding artifacts, can wait for the mother of all finds.

[@sketchye5943]

The walls in a squiggly formation is very interesting and looks very well preserved

[@adrianabonitaaziz]

Stunning pieces ! Look at those shapes and how thin they are 😍 Oh Beautiful Egypt ❤ You fascinate me .

[@dianalee3059]

OMG I am so fascinated by ancient Egypt, can you imagine a find like this!!

[@LittleTut]

Beautiful find! 🤗🤗🤗

[@petethundabox5067]

One distinct possibility for its abandonment could be when Akhanertan(sic) dragged everyone out to the desert to build his new capital, and when Tutankhamen brought them back to the region the settlement was either covered in sand, impractical to repair, in poor condition, or held a superstition about the family's "sacrilege" of monotheism.

[@db44491]

Amazing..

[@bikinggal1]

Watching these types of digs makes me wish I were an archeologist. I would say I would love to be one in my next life but that would be disappointing. All we would find is mounds of plastic, discarded cell phones and pieces of IKEA furniture

[@MegaLivingIt]

The size of those jugs , wonderful! I can imagine the walls being white plastered originally, wish I could be there to visit the site.

[@JohnPaul-yf9xd]

Thanks for a real documentary

[@mariadaluzmoutinho5701]

Este excelente acervo Egiptológico...mais se irá descobrir?!! O esplendor e magnitude das suas construções da época em ruínas, bem como tributos dos tesouros! De onde vieram estas peças de arte, verdadeiras provas de valor?! Valeu esta prospecção ...a recompensa de toda uma herança para a humanidade!! Podemos nós discernir perfeitamente o que a humanidade deve ao pensamento e obra Egípcia?!!

[@komradkyle]

Not everything was a tomb or a temple. And most of the amazing work is pre dynamic Egypt thousands of years older.

[@xOFFtheCUFF]

Simply amazing.

[@shastrachakshu108]

I like how she emphasized funding bodies at the end

[@christiangoodall2158]

Those are very very precious indeed. I say cherish them for life and at all costs.

[@stevedelacruz3749]

Fantastic..why did they take this off the history channel..it was so kool to watch these discoveries

[@2by3]

We are very curious about who build the layers of the whole Giza Plateau, stones weighting tens of thousands of tonnes.

[@forthezorz]

From the year of the ruler mentioned, could it be from where the israelites left around 1300BC?

[@karlokulas5677]

Its too far south for the Israelis to live there, but maybe the Egyptians abandoned it after the catastrophes

[@fromabove422]

@@karlokulas5677 how would it to be too far south? have you read the bible? It says they went down to egypt and further south from genesis.

[@karlokulas5677]

@@fromabove422 They were in the land of Goshen, which is north

[@fromabove422]

@@karlokulas5677 what verse

[@karlokulas5677]

@@fromabove422 genesis 46:34

[@jonathanharris9924]

Them standing in line with the pots you would swear you were watching the Antiques Road Show.

[@womobewo]

Hope to see more of this

[@dennisking1555]

It wasn’t always a desert,so hopefully lots more to come

[@michaelpoat485]

Awesome to see

[@getzvalerevich6565]

yesss, good stuff. congrats

[@chaina357]

Great explanation thanks

[@BriarRouge]

Who else geeked out when they heard Dr. Ikrams voice narrating? I squealed SALIMAAAAA! An absolute rock star of Egyptology.

[@suecrowhurst4393]

Very interesting love history like this

[@reseviladik]

I cant imagine our cities today will be underground too after a million of years from now..

[@laurencelance586]

I'm really curious bout the fish at 3:37

[@dankseid3793]

As a child I used to think egypt was a land where mummies wake up a terrorize people.

[@daelanthony7027]

I cant believe that criminal Hawass is still involved in anything to do with with these digs

[@daelanthony7027]

@war sinai Not true. The west steals artifacts and won't give them back. They acknowledge what they have done. No need to blame anyone other than themselves. Mainly the French and English But Hawass on the other hand should be behind bars, not overseeing anything to do with Egypt's rich history.

[@daelanthony7027]

@war sinai Again not true. I've been to Egypt more than once and have friends who work in the field. It is a known fact about Hawass amongst many Egyptians. I have been told stories about this man that have not been told on the media. But you can believe what you want about him.

[@daelanthony7027]

@war sinai Pretty sure? On who's information? I have spoken with Egyptologists in the field and heard many stories from those who worked directly with this criminal. But like I said, you can believe what you want. I don't care either way

[@daelanthony7027]

@war sinai Again what you write is Not True. But here's some questions for you. Are you Egyptian? Have you ever been to Egypt? Have you studied Egyptology or archaeology? Have you spoken with any one who works in these fields or do you just have your opinions from what you read on the internet?

[@darkknight-yu8pq]

Wow original Egyptian culture was really beautiful.

[@peterpaulsmith5587]

The truth can’t be hidden forever. Imagine what’s still unseen and will be a lot harder to hide now.

[@angamanu162]

I love the armenian duduk playing in the background!

[@sandman8993]

What are those walls made of? Mud brick?

[@debbiehenri345]

You'd have thought the people of the day would have taken all those lovely painted pots and other goods before the city was abandoned. They look far too good to just leave around, especially after all the work it takes to make them. Makes you wonder if there might have been a sickness in the area and people feared to take the goods, believing they might catch something from them. Or perhaps it was deliberately buried when the pharaoh died and, just like he is is buried with goods to take him into the afterlife, the idea was this part of the city would follow him into the afterlife as well.

[@BoudiccaPLG]

what's the giant fish about. Was it preserved?

[@CEOofSleep]

I wish Assassin's Creed makes another on ancient Egypt, wish I could play origins for the first time again

[@foylad4862]

I take everything that the BBC covers with a pinch of salt.

[@HeWhoMustNotBeNamedYouKnowWho]

Never updated us about the black tomb room

[@poisonmusic8354]

This is soooo interesting

[@2011Matz]

What is the story of the fish?

[@Saucyakld]

Amazing they survived in one piece!

[@yvettemarshallTWN]

The populace went “up” in Rapture or Ascension. Return to Aten or Heaven to the One True Diety. Earth School was adjourned! The harmonics from even just seeing the site. I got the goosebumps. 😭🤩

[@rahulpaddy3188]

Ppl left this city just like ppl left Sindhu cities of Mohenjedaro and Harappa. Something might hv happened that time which made ppl leave cities they lived in for so long.

[@Henrikbuitenhuis]

Thanks so much for the video and info but why is Hawas not in jail....

[@Adilrajasoldierspeaks9702]

ok, so what I don't understand about Humans is that they are trying to preserve what is very much lost. But keep on bombing each other without even taking a sigh. At the end of this video, an advert about helping Syrian refugees came up and I am just baffled !!!

[@niteshagrawal3600]

does anyone know the background music?

[@Greenpoloboy3]

Be cool had they had KZbin, the internet and cameras back them

[@nicholasturner7931]

With hawass involved I’m slightly skeptical

[@kurakuson]

Nice music.

[@ilouse]

As soon as I hear Egyptology or zahi hawass I think of stolen relics and false claims made from false beliefs.. one word, Kemet.

[@Blackowl44]

Same

[@george6977]

Why the curvy walls rather than straight ones?

[@george6977]

Why was the city abandoned? Was it struck by some plague?

[@martinbinkier7278]

Anything discovered by Zahi Hawass was discovered by someone else. He is the real reason we don't have more discoveries of the ancient time. Also he is the reason we never have the true story of Egypt.

[@jenniefrench1338]

I wonder if it was an artesan’s area dealing with the trade and work in that making them temporary homes for the workers.

[@markchermside]

Where are all the pots and pans? Where are all the bed, kids toys, cutlery, and bodies?

[@iamdanielrobles]

I think they want everything they find to align with everything else they know it is concerning when the brick laying method is just looked over as if it was not important it clear that it is from the dynastic periods. There is no way of telling how early without getting to the base foundation first

[@obama-bin_laden]

She really loves mummies, the way she said bodies

[@shahzadazulfiqar1]

Jaa-e-Ebrat ! AllahuAstaghfar. LahaulaWala Quata Ilabillah. Rehem Ya ArhamurRahymeen. Ameen Ya RabulAlameen.

[@judechopper]

I saw planet x necklaces, are you guys letting us know something?

[@karmakazi219]

Omg BBC needs to chill out with their soundtracks!

[@africancultureghettoking1019]

Cool running under water

[@Arthur-Silva]

How can someone be “basically” someone’s grandfather?

[@sarahr3076]

Tutankhamun's family line was very incestuous.

[@M-L450]

will these be sold on the black market to be found in Paris on diaplay 10 years from now?

[@eric_hates_the_poor]

I’d put it all back.

[@thegoldenlamp7536]

Pawns will be pawns. And many many are less than pawns in the Eyes of God!

[@johnjames2307]

Way cool

[@KristianGrig]

The civilization of the THRACIAN-ARIANS / TRACOARIY - Bulgaria

[@adamalsaffar5988]

The question is : are these treasures going to be robbed by the thiefs who carry on stealing from our countries like all the other treasures that have been stolen from Egypt and Iraq ???

[@amitkurian1693]

when is the mummy part 5 coming releasing?

[@jimmyzbike]

What is it being called a “golden city”

[@churasbro6246]

Purely clickbate.

[@spicyroads]

Dry Dirt City doesn’t have a ring to it

[@imhoteparchitect1787]

Because it is a city built by orders from highest authority for the craftsmans, who make special jewelry and gold.

[@jimmyzbike]

@@imhoteparchitect1787 ?source?

[@nukliozz]

2:47 Bes

[@irishokel]

No talk of the redhead mummies yet….

[@williamfowler616]

plague killed them?

[@michaeldeierhoi4096]

The end of the bronze age in about 1200 bc was marked by extreme drought and also raids by an unidentified "Sea Peoples". Many cultures through out the region went into decline and did not recover like the Hittites in Anatolia. Egypt did recover however.

[@joemartin3271]

That's Yoda at 3:49-3:53.

[@markering3956]

Why does it look like dr salima is standing in front of a green screen

[@nneichan9353]

Ghosts. Archaeologists need to be able to talk with ghosts.

[@nieverainmaker384]

Interrogating sands

[@psychiatry-is-eugenics]

2:41 yea sure

[@nafriz2010]

No statues right ?

[@hughdillon6166]

3 minutes 50 secs alien artifact. Kind of looks like Yoda.