1
00:00:01,059 --> 00:00:02,542
As an archaeologist,

2
00:00:02,566 --> 00:00:05,664
I'm most often asked
what my favorite discovery is.

3
00:00:06,601 --> 00:00:07,786
The answer's easy:

4
00:00:08,829 --> 00:00:10,363
my husband, Greg.

5
00:00:10,387 --> 00:00:11,758
(Laughter)

6
00:00:11,782 --> 00:00:13,544
We met in Egypt on my first dig.

7
00:00:14,149 --> 00:00:18,672
It was my first lesson in finding
unexpected, wonderful things.

8
00:00:19,941 --> 00:00:23,090
This began an incredible
archaeological partnership.

9
00:00:24,442 --> 00:00:29,585
Years later, I proposed to him
in front of our favorite pair statue

10
00:00:29,609 --> 00:00:32,770
of the Prince and Princess
Rahotep and Nofret,

11
00:00:32,794 --> 00:00:34,035
in the Cairo Museum,

12
00:00:34,059 --> 00:00:36,154
dating to 4,600 years ago.

13
00:00:36,615 --> 00:00:41,639
I thought if I was going to ask Greg
to spend the rest of this life with me,

14
00:00:41,663 --> 00:00:44,440
then I should ask him
in front of two people

15
00:00:44,464 --> 00:00:47,545
who had pledged
to be together for eternity.

16
00:00:49,182 --> 00:00:52,058
These symbols endure
because when we look at them,

17
00:00:52,082 --> 00:00:53,523
we're looking at mirrors.

18
00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:55,978
They are powerful reminders

19
00:00:56,002 --> 00:00:58,811
that our common humanity has not changed.

20
00:00:59,807 --> 00:01:05,187
The thrill of archaeological discovery
is as powerful as love,

21
00:01:05,211 --> 00:01:10,258
because ancient history is the most
seductive mistress imaginable.

22
00:01:11,116 --> 00:01:13,419
Many archaeologists
have devoted their lives

23
00:01:13,443 --> 00:01:15,872
to unraveling the mysteries of the past

24
00:01:15,896 --> 00:01:17,552
under hot suns

25
00:01:18,585 --> 00:01:20,039
and Arctic winds

26
00:01:20,550 --> 00:01:22,428
and in dense rainforests.

27
00:01:23,518 --> 00:01:24,996
Many seek.

28
00:01:25,020 --> 00:01:26,171
Some discover.

29
00:01:26,195 --> 00:01:29,013
All worship at the temple of possibility

30
00:01:29,037 --> 00:01:31,857
that one discovery might change history.

31
00:01:33,620 --> 00:01:36,125
On my first day in Egypt,
I worked at a site

32
00:01:36,149 --> 00:01:41,789
in the Northeast Egyptian Delta
called Mendes, dating to 4,200 years ago,

33
00:01:41,813 --> 00:01:42,964
in a cemetery.

34
00:01:42,988 --> 00:01:44,188
That's a picture of me --

35
00:01:44,212 --> 00:01:45,413
I'm just in my bliss.

36
00:01:45,888 --> 00:01:49,901
On the dig, surrounded
by emerald green rice paddies,

37
00:01:49,925 --> 00:01:52,413
I discovered an intact pot.

38
00:01:53,772 --> 00:01:55,398
Flipping it over,

39
00:01:55,422 --> 00:01:59,905
I discovered a human thumbprint
left by whoever made the vessel.

40
00:02:00,734 --> 00:02:02,958
For a moment, time stood still.

41
00:02:04,068 --> 00:02:05,414
I didn't know where I was.

42
00:02:05,955 --> 00:02:08,912
It was because at that moment I realized,

43
00:02:08,936 --> 00:02:10,314
when we dig,

44
00:02:10,338 --> 00:02:11,995
we're digging for people,

45
00:02:12,019 --> 00:02:13,230
not things.

46
00:02:14,664 --> 00:02:19,615
Never are we so present as when
we are in the midst of the great past.

47
00:02:20,513 --> 00:02:25,331
I can't tell you how many times I've stood
in front of the Pyramids of Giza,

48
00:02:25,355 --> 00:02:27,620
and they leave me speechless.

49
00:02:27,644 --> 00:02:30,621
I feel like the luckiest
person in the world.

50
00:02:31,975 --> 00:02:36,941
They're a monument to our human brilliance
and everything that is possible.

51
00:02:37,857 --> 00:02:40,826
Many cannot process
their brilliance as human --

52
00:02:40,850 --> 00:02:42,451
they think aliens built them.

53
00:02:43,250 --> 00:02:44,440
But this is ridiculous.

54
00:02:45,252 --> 00:02:48,576
All you need to do
is get up close and personal,

55
00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:51,072
and see the hidden hand of man

56
00:02:51,096 --> 00:02:54,673
in the chisel marks left
by the tools that built them.

57
00:02:56,204 --> 00:02:59,956
The Great Pyramid of Giza
was built one stone at a time

58
00:02:59,980 --> 00:03:03,148
with 2.3 million blocks,

59
00:03:03,172 --> 00:03:05,870
with incredible bureaucratic efficiency.

60
00:03:07,304 --> 00:03:10,269
It is not the pyramids
that stand the test of time;

61
00:03:10,293 --> 00:03:12,055
it is human ingenuity.

62
00:03:12,556 --> 00:03:16,462
That is our shared human brilliance.

63
00:03:17,523 --> 00:03:20,049
History may be cyclical,

64
00:03:20,757 --> 00:03:22,912
but we are singular.

65
00:03:23,768 --> 00:03:25,344
I love what I do,

66
00:03:25,368 --> 00:03:28,033
because I learn that we haven't changed.

67
00:03:29,486 --> 00:03:33,670
I get to read about mother-in-law
jokes from Mesopotamia

68
00:03:33,694 --> 00:03:35,246
from 3,500 years ago.

69
00:03:35,270 --> 00:03:36,801
(Laughter)

70
00:03:37,975 --> 00:03:41,379
I get to hear about neighbors
cursing each other

71
00:03:41,403 --> 00:03:43,901
from 4,600 years ago in Egypt.

72
00:03:43,925 --> 00:03:48,528
And my absolute favorite,
from 3,300 years ago in Luxor:

73
00:03:48,552 --> 00:03:54,060
an inscription that describes schoolboys
who cut class to go drinking.

74
00:03:54,084 --> 00:03:56,054
(Laughter)

75
00:03:56,078 --> 00:03:58,046
Kids these days.

76
00:03:58,070 --> 00:03:59,394
(Laughter)

77
00:03:59,882 --> 00:04:03,242
I get to see the most
incredible architecture,

78
00:04:04,044 --> 00:04:06,174
see stunning sculptures --

79
00:04:06,198 --> 00:04:09,041
I mean, this is basically
a selfie in stone --

80
00:04:09,065 --> 00:04:12,022
and see that we've always
rocked serious bling.

81
00:04:13,217 --> 00:04:16,187
And also, we've been posting on walls

82
00:04:16,211 --> 00:04:18,290
and obsessing about cats --

83
00:04:18,314 --> 00:04:19,321
(Laughter)

84
00:04:19,345 --> 00:04:20,858
for thousands of years.

85
00:04:20,882 --> 00:04:21,889
(Laughter)

86
00:04:21,913 --> 00:04:24,249
(Applause)

87
00:04:26,786 --> 00:04:30,136
Archaeologists are the cultural
memory preservers

88
00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:31,801
and the spokespeople

89
00:04:31,825 --> 00:04:35,157
for the billions of people
and the thousands of cultures

90
00:04:35,181 --> 00:04:36,515
that came before us.

91
00:04:37,136 --> 00:04:40,231
Good science, imagination
and a leap of faith

92
00:04:40,255 --> 00:04:43,695
are the trifecta we use to raise the dead.

93
00:04:44,993 --> 00:04:46,164
In the last year,

94
00:04:46,188 --> 00:04:49,364
archaeologists have made
incredible discoveries, including:

95
00:04:50,194 --> 00:04:52,516
new human ancestors from South Africa;

96
00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:56,578
tools from 3.3 million years ago --

97
00:04:56,602 --> 00:04:58,838
these are the oldest tools
ever discovered --

98
00:04:58,862 --> 00:05:00,210
in Kenya.

99
00:05:00,234 --> 00:05:03,878
And this, from a series
of medical implements found

100
00:05:03,902 --> 00:05:06,720
from Blackbeard's ship from 1718.

101
00:05:07,145 --> 00:05:12,238
What you're looking at is a medical tool
used to treat syphilis.

102
00:05:13,419 --> 00:05:14,639
Ouch!

103
00:05:14,663 --> 00:05:16,023
(Laughter)

104
00:05:16,047 --> 00:05:17,391
For each of these,

105
00:05:17,415 --> 00:05:20,858
there are thousands of other
incredibly important discoveries

106
00:05:20,882 --> 00:05:22,354
made by my colleagues,

107
00:05:22,378 --> 00:05:23,828
that do not make headlines.

108
00:05:24,724 --> 00:05:30,898
However, I believe that the most
important thing we do as archaeologists

109
00:05:30,922 --> 00:05:34,613
is acknowledge that past people existed

110
00:05:34,637 --> 00:05:36,511
and lived lives worth learning about.

111
00:05:37,773 --> 00:05:41,335
Can you even imagine
what the world would be like today

112
00:05:41,359 --> 00:05:44,601
if we acknowledged all
human beings in this way?

113
00:05:46,720 --> 00:05:49,836
So, on a dig, we have a challenge:

114
00:05:50,813 --> 00:05:52,552
it often looks like this.

115
00:05:52,576 --> 00:05:54,410
You can't see anything.

116
00:05:54,434 --> 00:05:56,183
Where are we going to start digging?

117
00:05:56,207 --> 00:05:57,918
This is from a site south of Cairo.

118
00:05:57,942 --> 00:05:59,675
Let's have a look from space.

119
00:06:00,589 --> 00:06:02,527
Again, you can't really see much.

120
00:06:02,551 --> 00:06:06,338
What you're looking at
is a WorldView-3 satellite image,

121
00:06:06,362 --> 00:06:09,421
which has a .3 meter resolution.

122
00:06:09,445 --> 00:06:10,823
That's 10 inches.

123
00:06:10,847 --> 00:06:15,121
This means that you can zoom in
from 400 miles in space

124
00:06:15,145 --> 00:06:16,582
and see your tablets.

125
00:06:17,631 --> 00:06:19,007
How do I know about this?

126
00:06:19,864 --> 00:06:22,988
It's because I'm a space archaeologist.

127
00:06:24,206 --> 00:06:25,571
Let me repeat that.

128
00:06:26,043 --> 00:06:28,812
I am a space archaeologist.

129
00:06:28,836 --> 00:06:29,988
This means --

130
00:06:30,012 --> 00:06:31,258
(Applause)

131
00:06:31,282 --> 00:06:32,568
Thank you.

132
00:06:32,956 --> 00:06:37,427
This means I use satellite images
and process them using algorithms,

133
00:06:37,451 --> 00:06:40,087
and look at subtle differences
in the light spectrum

134
00:06:40,111 --> 00:06:42,425
that indicate buried things
under the ground

135
00:06:42,449 --> 00:06:44,918
that I get to go excavate and survey.

136
00:06:45,497 --> 00:06:46,657
By the way --

137
00:06:46,681 --> 00:06:49,258
NASA has a Space Archaeology program,

138
00:06:49,282 --> 00:06:50,768
so it's a real job.

139
00:06:50,792 --> 00:06:51,942
(Laughter)

140
00:06:52,551 --> 00:06:54,015
So, let's have a look again.

141
00:06:54,039 --> 00:06:56,124
We're back at the site
just south of Cairo.

142
00:06:56,148 --> 00:06:57,831
You can't see anything.

143
00:06:57,855 --> 00:07:01,233
Keep your eye on the red rectangle.

144
00:07:01,257 --> 00:07:03,884
When we process the image
using algorithms --

145
00:07:03,908 --> 00:07:06,313
think like a space-based CAT scan --

146
00:07:07,451 --> 00:07:09,485
this is what you see.

147
00:07:10,074 --> 00:07:13,783
This rectilinear form is an ancient tomb

148
00:07:13,807 --> 00:07:16,408
that is previously unknown
and unexcavated,

149
00:07:16,432 --> 00:07:21,193
and you all are the first people
to see it in thousands of years.

150
00:07:21,842 --> 00:07:27,299
(Applause)

151
00:07:27,323 --> 00:07:30,150
I believe we have barely
scratched the surface

152
00:07:30,174 --> 00:07:32,254
in terms of what's left to discover.

153
00:07:33,098 --> 00:07:35,096
In the Egyptian Delta alone,

154
00:07:35,120 --> 00:07:38,938
we've excavated less
than one-1000th of one percent

155
00:07:38,962 --> 00:07:41,675
of the total volume of Egyptian sites.

156
00:07:42,316 --> 00:07:44,654
When you add to that
the thousands of other sites

157
00:07:44,678 --> 00:07:46,710
my team and I have discovered,

158
00:07:46,734 --> 00:07:50,489
what we thought we knew
pales in comparison

159
00:07:50,513 --> 00:07:52,411
to what we have left to discover.

160
00:07:53,118 --> 00:07:54,921
When you look at the incredible work

161
00:07:54,945 --> 00:07:57,366
that my colleagues are doing
all around the world

162
00:07:57,390 --> 00:07:59,197
and what they're finding,

163
00:07:59,221 --> 00:08:04,819
I believe that there are millions
of undiscovered archaeological sites

164
00:08:04,843 --> 00:08:06,003
left to find.

165
00:08:06,574 --> 00:08:09,189
Discovering them will do nothing less

166
00:08:09,213 --> 00:08:12,927
than unlock the full potential
of our existence.

167
00:08:14,414 --> 00:08:16,729
But we have a challenge.

168
00:08:17,323 --> 00:08:18,910
Over the last year,

169
00:08:18,934 --> 00:08:21,558
we've seen horrible headlines

170
00:08:21,582 --> 00:08:25,904
of incredible destruction going on
to archaeological sites,

171
00:08:25,928 --> 00:08:28,733
and massive looting by people like ISIL.

172
00:08:29,594 --> 00:08:33,216
ISIL has destroyed temples at Palmyra.

173
00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:34,855
Who blows up a temple?

174
00:08:35,437 --> 00:08:37,516
They've destroyed the Tomb of Jonah.

175
00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:43,011
And we've seen looting
at sites so rampant,

176
00:08:43,035 --> 00:08:45,855
it looks like craters of the moon.

177
00:08:47,180 --> 00:08:51,460
Knowing ISIL's desire to destroy
modern human lives,

178
00:08:51,484 --> 00:08:55,872
it's a natural extension for them
to destroy cultural identity as well.

179
00:08:55,896 --> 00:08:59,050
Countless invading armies
have done the same throughout history.

180
00:08:59,818 --> 00:09:03,677
We know that ISIL is profiting
from the looting of sites,

181
00:09:03,701 --> 00:09:05,242
but we don't know the scale.

182
00:09:06,014 --> 00:09:09,935
This means that any object
purchased on the market today

183
00:09:09,959 --> 00:09:11,115
from the Middle East

184
00:09:11,139 --> 00:09:13,773
could potentially be funding terrorism.

185
00:09:14,742 --> 00:09:16,589
When a site is looted,

186
00:09:16,613 --> 00:09:22,393
it's as if a puzzle already missing
90 percent of it pieces

187
00:09:22,417 --> 00:09:25,179
has had the rest obscured
beyond recognition.

188
00:09:25,678 --> 00:09:28,208
This is ancient identity theft writ large.

189
00:09:28,734 --> 00:09:31,226
We know that there are two kinds
of looting going on:

190
00:09:31,250 --> 00:09:33,936
looting by criminal elements like ISIL,

191
00:09:33,960 --> 00:09:37,826
and then more local looting
by those that are desperate for money.

192
00:09:38,249 --> 00:09:41,491
We would all do the same
to feed our families;

193
00:09:41,515 --> 00:09:43,664
I don't blame the local looters.

194
00:09:43,688 --> 00:09:48,366
I blame the middlemen,
the unethical traffickers

195
00:09:48,390 --> 00:09:50,374
and an international art market

196
00:09:50,398 --> 00:09:55,789
that exploits often ambiguous
or even completely nonexistent laws.

197
00:09:56,938 --> 00:10:01,321
We know looting is going on
on a global scale and it's increasing,

198
00:10:01,345 --> 00:10:04,429
but presently we don't have
any tools to stop it.

199
00:10:05,122 --> 00:10:06,617
This is beginning to change.

200
00:10:07,302 --> 00:10:11,740
My team and I have just completed a study
looking at looting in Egypt.

201
00:10:11,764 --> 00:10:14,111
We looked at open-source data

202
00:10:14,135 --> 00:10:17,070
and mapped the entirety
of looting across Egypt

203
00:10:17,094 --> 00:10:19,637
from 2002 to 2013.

204
00:10:20,474 --> 00:10:25,030
We found evidence of looting
and site destruction at 267 sites,

205
00:10:25,054 --> 00:10:29,031
and mapped over 200,000 looting pits.

206
00:10:29,901 --> 00:10:31,074
It's astonishing.

207
00:10:31,098 --> 00:10:32,771
And putting that data together --

208
00:10:32,795 --> 00:10:35,290
you can see the looting pits marked here.

209
00:10:36,442 --> 00:10:41,733
At one site, the looting got bad
from 2009, 2011, 2012 --

210
00:10:41,757 --> 00:10:43,318
hundreds and hundreds of pits.

211
00:10:43,784 --> 00:10:45,215
Putting all the data together,

212
00:10:45,239 --> 00:10:48,290
what we found is that,
contrary to popular opinion,

213
00:10:48,314 --> 00:10:53,375
looting did not start to get worse
in Egypt in 2011 after the Arab Spring,

214
00:10:53,399 --> 00:10:56,991
but in 2009, after the global recession.

215
00:10:57,531 --> 00:11:00,160
Thus, we've shown with big data

216
00:11:00,184 --> 00:11:03,647
that looting is fundamentally
an economic issue.

217
00:11:04,973 --> 00:11:08,149
If we do nothing to stop the problem,

218
00:11:08,173 --> 00:11:12,232
all of Egypt's sites will be affected
by looting by 2040.

219
00:11:12,684 --> 00:11:15,856
Thus, we are at a tipping point.

220
00:11:15,880 --> 00:11:19,003
We are the generation with all the tools
and all the technologies

221
00:11:19,027 --> 00:11:20,237
to stop looting,

222
00:11:20,261 --> 00:11:22,754
but we're not working fast enough.

223
00:11:25,968 --> 00:11:30,523
Sometimes an archaeological site
can surprise you with its resilience.

224
00:11:31,413 --> 00:11:33,769
I am just back from the field,

225
00:11:33,793 --> 00:11:37,372
where I co-led a joint mission
with Egypt's Ministry of Antiquities

226
00:11:37,396 --> 00:11:39,208
at a site called Lisht.

227
00:11:39,232 --> 00:11:44,054
This site dates to the Middle Kingdom
of Egypt between 2,000 and 1,750 BC.

228
00:11:44,494 --> 00:11:47,249
The Middle Kingdom was Ancient
Egypt's Renaissance period.

229
00:11:47,273 --> 00:11:51,177
After a time of intense internal strife
and environmental challenges,

230
00:11:51,201 --> 00:11:52,455
Egypt rebounded

231
00:11:52,479 --> 00:11:57,436
with an incredible resurgence
of art, architecture and literature.

232
00:11:57,460 --> 00:11:59,858
It's a favorite period of time
to study in Egypt,

233
00:11:59,882 --> 00:12:04,088
because it teaches us so much
about how we can survive and thrive

234
00:12:04,112 --> 00:12:05,327
after great disasters.

235
00:12:05,791 --> 00:12:10,456
Now at this site, we had already mapped
countless looting pits.

236
00:12:10,480 --> 00:12:11,643
Lisht is a royal site;

237
00:12:11,667 --> 00:12:14,341
there would have been thousands
of people buried there

238
00:12:14,365 --> 00:12:16,479
who lived and worked
at the court of Pharaoh.

239
00:12:16,503 --> 00:12:19,671
You can see this before and after;
you see dozens of looting pits.

240
00:12:19,695 --> 00:12:20,867
North Lisht.

241
00:12:20,891 --> 00:12:23,354
This is in South Lisht, before and after.

242
00:12:24,967 --> 00:12:26,472
When we first visited the site,

243
00:12:26,496 --> 00:12:29,100
we could see the tombs
of many high-ranking officials

244
00:12:29,124 --> 00:12:30,464
that had been looted.

245
00:12:31,030 --> 00:12:33,472
Let me put into perspective
for you what was taken.

246
00:12:33,890 --> 00:12:39,175
Imagine a two meter by two meter area
full of coffins, jewelry

247
00:12:39,199 --> 00:12:40,709
and incredible statuary.

248
00:12:41,235 --> 00:12:44,063
Multiply that times over a thousand.

249
00:12:45,302 --> 00:12:46,769
That's what was taken.

250
00:12:47,690 --> 00:12:48,908
So, when we started work,

251
00:12:48,932 --> 00:12:52,084
my Egyptian co-director, Mohamed Youssef,
approached me and said,

252
00:12:52,108 --> 00:12:54,369
"We must work at this one particular tomb.

253
00:12:54,943 --> 00:12:56,702
It's been attacked by looters.

254
00:12:56,726 --> 00:12:58,742
If we don't do anything, they'll be back."

255
00:12:58,766 --> 00:13:02,162
Of course I agreed,
but I didn't think we'd find anything.

256
00:13:02,186 --> 00:13:04,308
I thought the looters
had stolen everything.

257
00:13:04,332 --> 00:13:07,329
What we started to find
were the most incredible reliefs.

258
00:13:07,353 --> 00:13:09,519
Look at this painting --
it's just stunning.

259
00:13:09,543 --> 00:13:12,198
We started finding engraved inscriptions.

260
00:13:12,222 --> 00:13:14,293
And even the titles of the tomb owner --

261
00:13:14,317 --> 00:13:16,628
he had titles like,
"Overseer of the Army,"

262
00:13:16,652 --> 00:13:18,079
"Overseer of the Treasury."

263
00:13:18,103 --> 00:13:19,293
I began to have hope.

264
00:13:19,701 --> 00:13:23,304
Maybe, just maybe we would find his name.

265
00:13:23,328 --> 00:13:26,315
For the ancient Egyptians, having
their name last for eternity

266
00:13:26,339 --> 00:13:27,557
was their goal.

267
00:13:28,396 --> 00:13:29,969
And then one day,

268
00:13:29,993 --> 00:13:31,174
this appeared.

269
00:13:31,768 --> 00:13:35,657
This is the name of the tomb owner: Intef.

270
00:13:36,202 --> 00:13:38,835
You can see it written out
here, in hieroglyphs.

271
00:13:38,859 --> 00:13:41,615
Working together with my Egyptian team,

272
00:13:41,639 --> 00:13:45,601
we had restored someone's name
from 3,900 years ago.

273
00:13:45,942 --> 00:13:52,815
(Applause)

274
00:13:53,764 --> 00:13:55,918
Working together
with my Egyptian colleagues,

275
00:13:55,942 --> 00:13:58,220
we celebrated this moment
of shared discovery.

276
00:13:58,244 --> 00:14:00,782
What we were doing together
was right and true.

277
00:14:01,570 --> 00:14:04,049
We found this incredible
false door, mostly intact.

278
00:14:04,073 --> 00:14:07,197
On it we read about Intef
and his inscriptions.

279
00:14:07,221 --> 00:14:09,831
You can actually even see him seated here.

280
00:14:11,272 --> 00:14:15,865
What I realized is that everything
I had assumed about looted sites

281
00:14:15,889 --> 00:14:17,101
had been proven wrong.

282
00:14:17,580 --> 00:14:20,905
Every day on site we worked
together with 70 Egyptians

283
00:14:20,929 --> 00:14:23,009
as colleagues and friends.

284
00:14:23,870 --> 00:14:26,525
In the face of so much
hatred and ignorance

285
00:14:26,549 --> 00:14:28,549
against those in the Middle East,

286
00:14:28,573 --> 00:14:32,292
every moment on site felt like
a protest for peace.

287
00:14:33,326 --> 00:14:35,677
When you work with those
that don't look like you,

288
00:14:35,701 --> 00:14:37,793
or think like you, or speak like you,

289
00:14:37,817 --> 00:14:40,697
your shared mission
of archaeological discovery

290
00:14:40,721 --> 00:14:43,657
erases all superficial differences.

291
00:14:45,068 --> 00:14:46,608
What I learned this season

292
00:14:46,632 --> 00:14:49,248
is that archaeology
isn't about what you find.

293
00:14:49,809 --> 00:14:52,492
It's about what you can prove possible.

294
00:14:53,373 --> 00:14:56,510
Sometimes when you travel,
you end up finding long-lost family --

295
00:14:56,534 --> 00:14:59,041
not those with whom you share genes,

296
00:14:59,065 --> 00:15:01,056
but a shared entry in the book of life.

297
00:15:01,584 --> 00:15:04,208
This is Omer Farrouk, my brother.

298
00:15:04,949 --> 00:15:09,557
Omer's a Gufti from a village
just North of Luxor, called Guft.

299
00:15:09,581 --> 00:15:12,202
Guftis are part of a celebrated
tradition in Egyptology.

300
00:15:12,226 --> 00:15:14,995
They help with digging
and work crew organization.

301
00:15:15,499 --> 00:15:17,931
Omer is my COO and CFO.

302
00:15:17,955 --> 00:15:19,980
I simply couldn't do work without him.

303
00:15:21,146 --> 00:15:24,544
One day many years ago,
when I was a young graduate student

304
00:15:24,568 --> 00:15:28,651
and Omer was a young Gufti
who couldn't speak much English,

305
00:15:28,675 --> 00:15:30,651
we learned, completely randomly,

306
00:15:30,675 --> 00:15:33,121
that we were born in the same year,

307
00:15:33,989 --> 00:15:35,590
the same month

308
00:15:35,614 --> 00:15:39,254
and the same day, six hours apart.

309
00:15:40,618 --> 00:15:41,769
Twins.

310
00:15:41,793 --> 00:15:43,187
(Laughter)

311
00:15:44,036 --> 00:15:46,334
Separated by an ocean,
but forever connected

312
00:15:46,358 --> 00:15:48,431
for Ancient Egypt is our mother.

313
00:15:49,047 --> 00:15:51,240
I knew then we'd always work together --

314
00:15:51,264 --> 00:15:52,621
not in my brain,

315
00:15:53,517 --> 00:15:58,014
but in the part of your soul that knows
not everything can be explained.

316
00:15:59,530 --> 00:16:01,877
(Arabic) Omer by brother,

317
00:16:02,743 --> 00:16:05,662
I will always love you.

318
00:16:06,347 --> 00:16:09,887
(English) Omer my brother,
I will always love you.

319
00:16:11,252 --> 00:16:13,479
So, just before my first dig in Egypt,

320
00:16:13,503 --> 00:16:17,197
my mentor, the very famous Egyptologist
Professor William Kelley Simpson,

321
00:16:17,221 --> 00:16:18,516
called me into his office.

322
00:16:19,049 --> 00:16:22,406
He handed me a check for $2,000,

323
00:16:22,430 --> 00:16:25,104
and said, "This is to cover your expenses.

324
00:16:25,128 --> 00:16:27,232
Have a glorious adventure this summer.

325
00:16:27,728 --> 00:16:31,137
Someday you will do this
for someone else."

326
00:16:32,161 --> 00:16:36,272
Thus, my TED Prize wish
is partial payback, plus interest --

327
00:16:36,296 --> 00:16:37,550
(Laughter)

328
00:16:37,574 --> 00:16:41,731
for a great human being's
generosity and kindness.

329
00:16:43,771 --> 00:16:44,976
So, my wish.

330
00:16:45,835 --> 00:16:51,502
I wish for us to discover the millions
of unknown archaeological sites

331
00:16:51,526 --> 00:16:53,137
around the world.

332
00:16:53,161 --> 00:16:57,599
By creating a 21st-century army
of global explorers,

333
00:16:57,623 --> 00:17:00,643
we'll find and protect
the world's hidden heritage,

334
00:17:00,667 --> 00:17:05,278
which contains clues
to humankind's collective resilience

335
00:17:05,302 --> 00:17:06,612
and creativity.

336
00:17:07,464 --> 00:17:09,130
(Applause)

337
00:17:09,154 --> 00:17:10,344
Thank you.

338
00:17:10,368 --> 00:17:13,340
(Applause)

339
00:17:18,434 --> 00:17:20,315
So how are we going to do this?

340
00:17:21,079 --> 00:17:24,471
We are going to build
with the TED Prize money

341
00:17:24,495 --> 00:17:28,553
an online, crowdsource,
citizen science platform

342
00:17:28,577 --> 00:17:32,863
to allow anyone in the world
to engage with discovering

343
00:17:32,887 --> 00:17:34,314
archaeological sites.

344
00:17:35,843 --> 00:17:39,469
There are only a couple hundred of us
space archaeologists around the world.

345
00:17:39,493 --> 00:17:42,164
It is my dream to engage the world

346
00:17:42,188 --> 00:17:44,706
with helping to find sites
and protect them.

347
00:17:45,672 --> 00:17:48,803
What you'll do is sign in,
create a username --

348
00:17:48,827 --> 00:17:51,488
note that this particular username
is already taken.

349
00:17:51,512 --> 00:17:53,370
(Laughter)

350
00:17:53,394 --> 00:17:55,555
You'll take a tutorial
and you'll start work.

351
00:17:55,579 --> 00:17:56,994
I want to note at the outset

352
00:17:57,018 --> 00:18:01,113
that in no way will be sharing
GPS data or mapping data for sites.

353
00:18:01,137 --> 00:18:03,640
We want to treat them
like human patient data,

354
00:18:03,664 --> 00:18:05,427
and not reveal their locations.

355
00:18:05,997 --> 00:18:10,219
You'll then be dealt a card from a deck --
20 x 20 meters or 30 x 30 meters,

356
00:18:10,243 --> 00:18:12,465
and you'll be looking for features.

357
00:18:12,489 --> 00:18:14,459
My team and I will have batch-processed

358
00:18:14,483 --> 00:18:16,986
large amounts of satellite data
using algorithms

359
00:18:17,010 --> 00:18:18,553
in order for you to find things,

360
00:18:18,577 --> 00:18:20,452
so you'll be doing really good science.

361
00:18:20,476 --> 00:18:22,042
You'll then be starting to look.

362
00:18:22,066 --> 00:18:23,988
What do you see? Do you see a temple?

363
00:18:24,012 --> 00:18:26,948
Do you see a tomb? Do you see a pyramid?

364
00:18:26,972 --> 00:18:30,504
Do you see any potential
site damage or site looting?

365
00:18:30,528 --> 00:18:32,634
You'll then begin to mark what's there.

366
00:18:32,658 --> 00:18:36,152
And off to the side are always
going to be rich examples

367
00:18:36,176 --> 00:18:39,121
of exactly what you're seeing,
to help guide you.

368
00:18:39,145 --> 00:18:43,592
All the data that you help us collect
will be shared with vetted authorities,

369
00:18:43,616 --> 00:18:46,812
and will help create
a new global alarm system

370
00:18:46,836 --> 00:18:48,615
to help protect sites.

371
00:18:49,552 --> 00:18:51,476
But it's not just going to stop there.

372
00:18:52,668 --> 00:18:55,662
All the archaeologists with whom
we share your discoveries

373
00:18:55,686 --> 00:18:59,416
will take you with them
as they begin to excavate them,

374
00:18:59,440 --> 00:19:03,602
by using Periscope, Google Plus
and social media.

375
00:19:05,398 --> 00:19:08,452
A hundred years ago,
archaeology was for the rich.

376
00:19:09,469 --> 00:19:11,180
Fifty years ago,

377
00:19:11,204 --> 00:19:12,382
it was for men.

378
00:19:12,855 --> 00:19:15,128
Now it's primarily for academics.

379
00:19:15,859 --> 00:19:20,510
Our goal is to democratize the process
of archaeological discovery,

380
00:19:20,534 --> 00:19:23,095
and allow anyone to participate.

381
00:19:24,070 --> 00:19:26,063
Ninety-four years ago,

382
00:19:26,087 --> 00:19:28,877
Howard Carter discovered
the tomb of King Tut.

383
00:19:30,090 --> 00:19:32,036
Who is the next Howard Carter?

384
00:19:33,723 --> 00:19:35,075
It might be you.

385
00:19:38,098 --> 00:19:39,706
By creating this platform,

386
00:19:39,730 --> 00:19:44,455
we will find the millions of places
occupied by the billions of people

387
00:19:44,479 --> 00:19:45,905
that came before us.

388
00:19:46,710 --> 00:19:49,912
If we want to answer
the big questions about who we are

389
00:19:49,936 --> 00:19:51,197
and where we've come from,

390
00:19:51,221 --> 00:19:55,660
the answers to those questions
do not lie in pyramids or palaces,

391
00:19:55,684 --> 00:19:59,732
but in the cities and villages
of those that came before us.

392
00:20:00,561 --> 00:20:03,152
If we want to learn about the past,

393
00:20:03,176 --> 00:20:05,594
it's time we inverted the pyramids.

394
00:20:07,278 --> 00:20:10,798
Acknowledging that the past
is worth saving

395
00:20:10,822 --> 00:20:12,362
means so much more.

396
00:20:13,712 --> 00:20:17,279
It means that we're worth saving, too.

397
00:20:18,386 --> 00:20:21,998
And the greatest story ever told

398
00:20:22,950 --> 00:20:26,080
is the story of our shared human journey.

399
00:20:27,532 --> 00:20:30,825
But the only way we're going
to be able to write it

400
00:20:30,849 --> 00:20:33,720
is if we do it together.

401
00:20:35,270 --> 00:20:36,483
Come with me.

402
00:20:36,958 --> 00:20:38,110
Thank you.

403
00:20:38,134 --> 00:20:41,834
(Applause)