WEBVTT

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As an archeaologisit,

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I'm most often asked
what my favorite discovery is.

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The answer is easy:

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my husband, Greg.

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(Laughter)

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We met in Egypt on my first dig.

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It was my first lesson in finding
unexpected, wonderful things.

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This began an incredible
archaeological partnership.

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Years later,

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I proposed to him in front of our
favorite pair statue

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of the Prince and Princess
Rahotep and Nofret,

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in the Cairo Museum,

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dating to 4600 years ago.

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I mean, look at them,

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they're incredible.

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I think they should be everyone's
favorite pair statue.

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(Laughter)

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I thought if I was going to ask Greg
to spend the rest of this life with me

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that I should ask him

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in front of two people who had pledged
to be together for eternity.

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These symbols endure,

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because when we look at them,

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we're looking at mirrors.

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They are powerful reminders

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that our common humanity has not changed.

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The thrill of archaeological discovery
is as powerful as love

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because Ancient history is the most
seductive mistress imaginable.

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Many archaeologists
have devoted their lives

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to unraveling the mysteries of the past
under hot suns and Arctic winds,

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and in rainforests.

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Many seek,

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some discover,

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all worship at the temple of possibility

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that one discovery might change history.

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On my first day in Egypt,

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I worked at a site
in the Northeast Egyptian Delta,

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at a site called Mendes,

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dating to 4,200 years ago in a cemetary.

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That's a picture of me --

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I'm just in my bliss,

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on a dig,

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surrounded by emerald green rice patties,

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I discovered an intact pot.

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Flipping it over,

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I discovered a human thumb print
left by whoever made the vessel.

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For a moment,

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time stood still.

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I didn't know where I was.

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It was because at the moment I realized,

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when we dig,

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we're digging for people,

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not things.

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Never are we so present as when
we are in the midst of the great past.

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I can't tell you how many times I've stood
in front of the Pyramids of Giza,

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and they leave me speechless.

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I feel like the luckiest
person in the world.

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They're a monument to our human brilliance
and everything that is possible.

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Many cannot process
their brilliance as human --

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think that aliens built them --

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but this is ridiculous.

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All you need to do
is get up close and personal

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and see the hidden hand of man

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in the chisel marks left
by the tools that built them.

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The Great Pyramid of Giza
was built one stone at a time

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with 2.3 million blocks

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with incredible bureaucratic efficiency.

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It is not the pyramids
that stand the test of time,

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it is human ingenuity.

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That is our shared human brilliance.

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History may be cyclical,

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but are singular.

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I love what I do,

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because I learn that we haven't changed.

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I get to read about mother-in-law
jokes from Mesopotamia

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from 3500 years ago.

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I get to hear about neighbors cursing
each other from 4600 years ago

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in Egypt.

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And my absolute favorite,

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from 3,300 years ago in Luxor,

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an inscription that describes school boys
who cut class to go drinking.

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(Laughter)

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Kids these days.

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(Laughter)

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I get to see the most
incredible architecture,

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see stunning sculptures --

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I mean this is basically
a selfie in stone --

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and see that we've always
rocked serious bling.

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And also,

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we've been posting on walls,

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and obsessing about cats --

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(Laughter)

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for thousands of years.

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(Laughter)

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(Applause)

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Archaeologists are the cultural
memory preservers

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and the spokespeople for billions
of people

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and the thousands of cultures
that came before us.

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Good science, imagination
and a leap of faith

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are the trifecta we use to raise the dead.

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In the last year,

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achaeologists have made
incredible discoveries,

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including ...

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new human ancestors from South Africa,

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tools from 3.3 million years ago --

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these are the oldest tools
ever discovered --

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in Kenya.

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And this,

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from a series of medical implements found
from Blackbeard's ship from 1718.

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What you're looking at is a medical tool
used to treat syphilis.

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Ouch.

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But how cool is that?

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(Laughter)

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For each of these,

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there are thousands of other
incredibly important discoveries

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made by my colleagues

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that do not make headlines.

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However, I believe that the most
important thing we do as archaeologists

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is acknowledge that past people existed

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and lived lives worth learning about.

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Can you even imagine what
the world would be like today

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if we acknowledged all
human beings in this way?

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So, on a dig, you have a challenge:

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it often looks like this.

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You can't see anything.

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Where are we going to start digging?

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This is from a site south of Cairo,

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so let's have a look from space.

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Again, you can't really see much.

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What you're looking at is
a WorldView-3 satellite image,

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which has a .3 meter resolution.

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That's 10 inches.

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This means that you can zoom in
from 400 miles in space,

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and see your tablets.

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How do I know about this?

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It's because I'm a space archaeologist.

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Let me repeat that.

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I am a space archaeologist.

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This means --

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(Applause)

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Thank you.

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This means that I use satellite images,

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and process them using algorithms,

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and look at subtle differences
in the light spectrum

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that indicate buried things
under the ground

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that I get to go excavate and survey.

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By the way,

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NASA has a Space Archaeology program,

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so it's a real job.

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(Laughter)

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So let's have a look again.

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We're back at the site
just South of Cairo.

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You can' see anything,

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so keep your eye on the red rectangle.

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When we process the image
using algorithms --

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think like a space-based cat scan --

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this is what you see.

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This rectilinear form is an Ancient tomb

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that is previously unknown
and unexcavated,

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and you all are the first people
to see it in thousands of years.

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(Applause)

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I believe we have barely
scratched the surface

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in terms of what's left to discover.

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In the Egyptian Delta alone,

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we've excavated less than
one-1000th of one percent

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of the total volume of Egyptian sites.

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When you add to that

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the thousands of other sites
my team and I have discovered,

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what we thought we knew
pales in comparison

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to what we have left to discover.

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When you look at the incredible work
that my colleagues are doing

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all around the world,

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and what they're finding,

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I believe that there are millions
of undiscovered archaeological sites

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left to find.

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Discovering them will do nothing less

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than unlock the full potential
of our existence.

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But we have a challenge.

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Over the last year,

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we've seen horrible headlines

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of incredible destruction going on
to archaeological sites,

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and massive looting by people like ISIL.

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ISIL has destroyed temples at Palmyra.

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Who blows up a temple?

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They've destroyed the Tomb of Jonah,

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and we've seen looting at sites so rampant
it looks like craters of the moon.

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Knowing ISIL's desire to destroy
modern human lives,

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it's a natural extension for them
to destroy cultural identity as well.

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Countless invading armies
have done the same throughout history.

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We know that ISIL is profiting
from the looting of sites,

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but we don't know the scale.

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This means that any object purchased
on the market today from the Middle East

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could potentially be funding terrorism.

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When a site is looted,

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it's as if a puzzle already missing
90 percnet of it pieces

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has had the rest obscured
beyond recognition.

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This is ancient identity theft writ large.

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We know that there are two kinds
of looting going on:

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looting by criminal elements like ISIL,

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which of course is something that we
can barely come to terms with,

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and then more local looting
by those that are desperate for money.

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We would all do the same
to feed our families.

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I don't blame the local looters.

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I blame the middlemen,

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the unethical trafficers,

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and an International art market

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that exploits often ambiguous
or often completely nonexistent laws.

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We know looting is going on
on a global scale and it's increasing,

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but presently we don't have
any tools to stop it.

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This is beginning to change.

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My team and I have just completed a study
looking at looting in Egypt,

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and we looked at open source data,

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and mapped the entirety
of looting across Egypt

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from 2002 to 2013.

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We found evidence of looting
and site destruction

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at 267 sites,

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and mapped over 200,000 looting pits.

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It's astonishing.

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And putting that data together,

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you can see the looting pits marked here.

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And one site,

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as the looting got bad
from 2009, 2011, 2012 --

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hundreds of hundreds of pits.

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Putting all the data together,

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what we found is that contrary
to popular opinion,

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looting did not start to get worse
in Egypt in 2011 after the Arab Spring,

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but in 2009,

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after the global recession.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Thus, we've shown with big data

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that looting is fundamentally
an economic issue.

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If we do nothing to stop the problem,

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all of Egypt's sites will be
affected by looting by 2040.

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Thus, we are at a tipping point.

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We are the generation with all the tools
and all the technologies to stop looting,

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but we're not working fast enough.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Sometimes an archaeological site
can surprise you with its resilience.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
I am just back from the field

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
where I co-led joint mission
with Egypt's Ministry of Antiquites

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at a site called Lisht.

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This site dates to the middle
kingdom of Egypt between 2000 and 1750 BC.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
The middle kingdom was Ancient Egypt's
Renaissance period.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
After a time of intense internal strife,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and environmental challenges,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Egypt rebounded

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
with an incredible resurgence
of art, architecture and literature.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
It's a favorite period of time
to study in Egypt,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
because it teaches us so much

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
about how we can survive and thrive
after great disasters.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Now, at this site, we had already mapped
countless looting pits.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Lisht is a [royal] site,

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there would have been thousands
of people buried there

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
who lived and worked
at the court of Pharoah,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and you can see this before and after --

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
you see dozens of looting pits.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
North Lisht.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
This is in South Lisht:

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
before ...

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and after.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
When we first visited the site,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
we could see the tombs
of many high-ranking officials

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
that had been looted.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Let me put into perspective
for you what was taken.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Imagine a two meter-by-two meter area

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
full of coffins, jewelry
and incredible statuary.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Multiply that times over a thousand.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
That's what was taken.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
So when we started work,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
my Egyptian co-director,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Mohamed Youssef,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
approached me and said,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
"We must work at this one particular tomb,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
it's been attacked by looters.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
If we don't do anything,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
they'll be back."

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Of course I agreed,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
but I didn't think we'd find anything.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
I thought the looters
had stolen everything.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
What we started to find
was the most incredible reliefs.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
I mean, look at this painting --

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
it's just stunning.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
We started finding engraved inscriptions.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
And even the titles of the tomb owner --

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
he had titles like,
"Overseer of the Army,"

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
"Overseer of the Treasury."

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
I began to have hope.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Maybe,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
just maybe we would find his name.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
For the Ancient Egyptians,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
having your name last
for eternity was their goal.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
And then one day,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
this appeared.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
This is the name of the tomb owner,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Intf.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
You can see it written out
here in hieroglyphs.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Working together with my Egyptian team,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
we had restored someone's name
from 3,900 years ago.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
So here's the thing.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
I promised my team
that if we found his name,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
I would ululate.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Ululation is a modern Egyptian
woman's victory song.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
A promise is a promise.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Intf, son of [Ippe],

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
overseer of the army,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
the justified --

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
this is for you.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
(Ululating)

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
(Applause)

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Working together
with my Egyptian colleagues,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
we celebrated this moment
of shared discovery.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
What we were doing together
was right and true.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
We found this incredible false door,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
mostly intact.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
On it we read about Intf
and his inscriptions.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
You can actually even see him seated here.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
What I realized

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
is that everything I had assumed
about looted sites has been wrong.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Every day on site we worked together
with 70 Egyptians

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
as colleagues and friends.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
In the face of so much
hatred and ignorance

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
against those in the Middle East,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
every moment on site felt like
a protest for peace.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
When you work with those

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
that don't look like you
or think like you or speak like you,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
your shared mission
of archaeological discovery

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
erases all superficial differences.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
What I learned this season

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
is that archaeology
isn't about what you find,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
it's about what you can prove possible.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
So if sometimes when you travel
you end up finding long lost family,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
not those with whom you share genes,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
but a shared entry in the book of like.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
This is [Omar Farrouk],

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
my brother.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Omar's a Gufti from a village
just North of Luxor,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
called Guft.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Guftis are part of a celebrated
tradition in Egyptology.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
They help with digging
and [work crew] organization.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Omer is my COO and CFO.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
I simply couldn't do work without him.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
One day many years ago,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
when I was a young graduate student

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and Omer was a young Gufti
who couldn't speak much English,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
we learned,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
completely randomly,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
we were born on the same year,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
the same month

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and the same day six hours apart.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Twins.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
(Laughter)

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Separated by an ocean,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
but forever connected

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
for Ancient Egypt as our mother.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
I knew then we'd always work together.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Not in my brain,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
but in the part of your soul that knows
that not everything can be explained.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[eumar 'akhi,]

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[ wa'ana sawf 'ahabbak dayima.]

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Omer my brother,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
I will always love you.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
So just before my first dig in Egypt,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
my mentor --

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
very famous Egyptologist,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Professor William Kelley Simpson --

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
called me into his office.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
He handed me a check for $2,000,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and said, "This is to cover your expenses,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
have a glorious adventure this summer.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Someday you will do this
for someone else."

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Thus, my TED Prize wish
is partial payback plus interest --

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
(Laughter)

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
for a great human being's
generosity and kindess.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
So, my wish.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
I wish for us to discover the millions
of unknown archeological sites

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
around the world

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
by created a 21st century army
of global explorerers.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
We'll find and protect
the world's hidden heritage,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
which contains clues to humankind's
collective resilience and creativity.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
(Applause)

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Thank you.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
So how are we going to do this?

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
We are going to build
with the TED Prize money

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and online, crowd-sourced,
citizen science platform

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
to allow anyone in the world to engage
with discovering archaeological sites.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
There are only a couple hundred of us
space archaeologists around the world.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
It is my dream to engage the world

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
with helping to find sites
and protect them.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
What you'll do is you'll sign in,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
create a user name --

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
this particular username is already taken.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
(Laughter)

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
You'll take a tutorial
and you'll start work.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
I want to note at the outset

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
that in now way will be sharing GPS
data or mapping data for sites.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
We want to treat them
like human patient data,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and not reveal your locations.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
You'll know you're in Northern Italy
or Southern Peru,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
but you'll certainly not know
exactly where you are,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
we've got to protect the sites.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
You'll then be dealt a card from a deck,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
whether is 20-by-20 meters
or 30-by-30 meters,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and you'll be looking then for features.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
My team will have [batch] processed
large amounts of satellite data

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
using algorithms

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
in order for you to find things,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
so you'll be doing really good science.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
You'll then be starting to look.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
What do you see?

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Do you see a temple?

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Do you see a tomb?

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Do you see a pyramid?

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Do you see any potential
site damage or site looting?

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
You'll then begin to mark what's there,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and off to the side

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
are always going to be rich examples
of exactly what you're seeing

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
to help guide you.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
All the data that you help us collect
will be shared with vetted authorities,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and will help create
a new global alarm system

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
to help protect sites.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
But it's not just going to stop there.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
All the archaeologists with whom
we share your discoveries

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
will take you with them as they
begin to excavate them

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
by using Periscope, Google Plus
and social media.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
A hundred years ago,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
archaeology was for the rich.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
50 years ago,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
it was for men.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Now it's primary for academics.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Our goal is to democratize the process
of archaeological discovery,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and allow anyone to participate.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
94 years ago,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Howard Carter discovered
the tomb of King Tut.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Who is the next Howard Carter?

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
It might be you.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
By creating this platform,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
we will find the millions of places
occupied by the billions of people

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
that came before us.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
If we want to answer the big questions
about who we are

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and where we've come from,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
the answers to those questions do not lie
in pyramids or palaces,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
but in the cities and villages
of those that came before us.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
If we want to learn about the past,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
it's time we inverted the pyramids.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Acknowledging that the past
is worth saving

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
means so much more --

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
it means that we're worth saving, too.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
And the greatest story ever told

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
is the story of our shared human journey.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
But the only way that we're going
to be able to write it,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
is if we do it together.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Come with me.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Thank you.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
(Applause)