[dramatic music]
It's a breathtaking moment for me.
NARRATOR: In the sands of the necropolis,
Basem has made an incredible discovery.
BASEM GEHAD: So what we are looking here
is one fragment of a mummy portrait
that is painted with the wax, the encaustic technique.
NARRATOR: Greek artists from Alexandria
traveled South through Egypt along the Nile.
People commissioned their portraits
from the artists, who painted with hot beeswax onto wood.
The lifelike portraits were unlike anything
in Egyptian art.
People hung their colorful portraits in their homes.
When they died, the portrait was put on their face
before they were mummified in the hope
their spirit would remember what they
looked like in the afterlife.
[dramatic music]
It's really a masterpiece.
NARRATOR: Despite the layers of dust,
Basem can clearly make out the face of the woman it depicts.
BASEM GEHAD: We can realize all the detail--
the hairs, eyes, nose, lips, and even the necklace,
the green necklace from emerald.
And the tunic, the Greek tunic, which is painted in purple.
NARRATOR: It's a beautiful portrait of a Greek woman who
lived and died here at Philadelphia
around the time of Cleopatra some 2,000 years ago.
Basem thinks tomb robbers must have broken
the fragile painting when they tried
to remove it from the grave.
BASEM GEHAD: When it's broken into small fragments
or slides, for them, it's useless.
They could not sold it to the market.
So most probably, they left it at the site.
For us, it's a treasure.
I can't see any kind of object that could be
more beautiful than this face.
NARRATOR: It's a great discovery,
everything Basem has hoped for.
BASEM GEHAD: The aim of the mission--
we can say that it's accomplished.
This single piece makes our work here worth it.
Because it's-- in itself, it's unique.
NARRATOR: It's possible that Cleopatra
too would have been buried with a lifelike portrait of herself.
We know very well that ancient Egyptians
were very keen in keeping the picture of the deceased.
It seems that the tradition continued
during the Ptolemaic Period.
They kept the same tradition, but they
did it their own way using a new tradition of paintings.
And then they put these wonderful, amazing, awesome
portraits on the face and then they wrapped the whole mummy
in an Egyptian style.
NARRATOR: Basem's discovery suggests
that even outside Alexandria, the Greeks of her reign
followed Cleopatra's example and embraced Egyptian customs.
And Cleopatra's respect for the old ways
won her favor with the Egyptians,
allowing her to rule over a prosperous
multicultural empire.
[music playing]