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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.
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Your body is then covered in a salt called natron and left
to dry for up to 40 days.
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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 was 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.