On Sunday, April 7, 2019 Discovery viewers from 95 countries around the world witnessed history in the making in Expedition Unknown: Egypt Live as a team of Egyptian archaeologists and explorers uncovered a 2,500-year-old mummy of a high priest for the first time ever on live television. But that was not the only stunning find. In addition to the high priest mummy, two other mummies were revealed along with a treasure trove of antiquities, including a mysterious wax head.
Adventurer and avid explorer Josh Gates and world-renowned Egyptologist Dr. Zahi Hawass, whose legendary career spans nearly 50 years, explored the deep tunnels underground; while TV personality Chris Jacobs and Dr. Mostafa Waziri, the secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt, provided on-the-ground commentary.
Among the other discoveries found inside the “Family Tomb,” included unique objects such as an ancient Egyptian board game, the remains of a family dog and four intact canopic jars used to store a mummy’s organs. While the second mummy was not a high priest or fully preserved, the objects inside the tomb and inscriptions on his sarcophagus reveal that he was a singer in the temple of an Egyptian god known as Thoth.
Besides finding the mummies at the site, Dr. Hawass revealed to Josh Gates for the very first time a mysterious wax head that they believe is the mold of “Irt Hrw,” one of the high priests. This extraordinary wax head is the exact cast of a 2,500-year-old high priest mummy – with such detailed features that he could have easily been picked out on the street from it. This moment lead to the stunning finale of the broadcast with the opening of a sealed sarcophagus, which contained an exquisitely preserved 2,500-year-old high priest, a “Great of the Five Priest of Thoth,” covered from top to bottom with gold banding and other artifacts.
“Never in my 50 years in archaeology have I experienced something on such a grand scale as this,” Dr. Hawass said. “The findings here are completely special and totally unique. This is what keeps me going. It is what keeps me feeling young and alive!”
