[Music] hello everybody and welcome to ancient Architects please subscribe to the channel for regular content on Ancient architecture as well as all of the latest news from the world of archaeology you may have seen the recent news from Petra in Jordan the archaeologists have discovered a secret tomb lay undisturbed for 2,000 years the discovery seems authentic a collaborative project between a number of respected parties the Jordanian Department of Antiquities Petra Development and Tourism region Authority the American Center of research the University of St Andrews and the Discovery Channel and I read the press release from the University of St Andrews with phrases like groundbreaking discovery and historic excavation name dropping and quoting Professor Richard bat from the school of Earth and environmental science and so the whole thing certainly feels legit so how could anyone question it and of course the media loves the story it’s a guaranteed click because
the discovery was made in the famous treasury as featured in the 1989 film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in the film Indiana Jones finds the holy grail and to make this new discovery even more exciting as well as a dozen ancient skeletons archaeologists apparently found a chalice it’s almost too good to be true and the media don’t just get to report an exciting find they can also show pictures of Harrison Ford with his Whip and well if they can an eye in the press release Professor Bates of the University of St Andrews said quote the discovery is of international significance as very few complete burials from the early naans have ever been recovered from Petra before he continues the burials their goods and the human remains can all be expected to help fill the gaps of our knowledge and how Petra came to be and
who the naans were end quote as stated the discovery was made at the treasury the truly remarkable Rocka structure in the heart of Petra and it dates back to around 2,000 years ago and whilst many of us might be excited by these findings the truth is pretty sad the tombs and burials have been known about for the past 20 years the so-called Discovery was recorded in dramatic fashion for the Discovery Channel TV show Expedition unknown oh my God presented by Indiana Jones wannabe Josh Gates on social media Gates has proudly posted the headlines the show has created and It’s featured in USA Today CNN the New York Times Men’s Journal and the Washington Post we’ve also got headlines on Sky News the independent Live Science and the list goes on no doubt he and Executives from the Discovery Channel are happy they have their free publicity and hence their
viewers and ratings but the truth has been well and truly stretched the article on the CNN website says how the Expedition and excavation was led by Dr Pierce Paul cman of the American Center of research to find out if there were tombs on the right side of the treasury like we know there are on the left apparently together with the University of St Andrews geophysical surveys were conducted and on detecting possible tombs chman contacted the Jordanian authorities and asked to dig and he also called Josh Gates as any professional archaeologist would do to ask him if he wanted to film it for the Discovery Channel so what is the truth well here’s where things seem to get a bit messy 20 years ago Dr sulaman farat and a Jordanian team of archaeologists explored the area in front of the treasury they identified five tombs in
the subsoil facing the famous rock cut structure two of them tomb 62d and 62e were located on the left side of the monument they were excavated and explored thoroughly and are clearly visible today artifacts from these tombs are displayed in the museum inside these tombs well preserved bones and ceramic fragments were discovered and they dated back to the first century BC to the first century [Music] ad the archaeologists then dug the tombs on the right the so-called brand new discoveries this year in 2005 they were opened entered into and explored but due to logistical reasons related to tourism and also a lack of time and funding the work had to end there was still a lot to do but these tombs on the right were not kept visible to the public the burials were covered over with protective sheeting and backfilled with fine sediment for
future work at the time a large excavation could not be opened and so the work was postponed indefinitely and so the truth is the tombs were all known about 20 years ago we now turn our attention to a Facebook post by lean badal an expert on the subject an associate professor of anthropology at Penn State she confirms the tombs in question are not new discoveries simply put in July 2024 the tombs were relocated using published information from the original excavation and they were then simply reopened and how does B know this because she was there in July this year she witnessed the events and took photographs and then Josh Gates and his film crew arrived the following month the Discovery Channel program depicts the use of grand penetrating radar but according to badal it’s all fake breaking the ground with picss and hoes was fake and the exciting
uncovering and peeking through a hole in the Rock was all acting it’s all fake inside the tomb the protective fabric coverings and clean backfill soil that was used to carefully cover and preserve the skeletons 20 years ago was removed and this was so the production company could pretend to excavate it oh my God she says a fake stone wall was even built and in the TV show on the Discovery Channel a row of people shielded an already exposed doorway into the tombs dror suan farat also commented on Facebook confirming that he excavated the site and made the discoveries in 2003 and 2005 people are now starting to call this out on social media and are quite rightly throwing disparaging remarks at Josh Gates and the Discovery Channel for their bogus show oh my God the experts working at the site this year are now merely continuing the work that began 20
]years ago everything they’ve apparently discovered was already known about 20 years ago oh and to add the so-called chalice is actually the top of a broken jug it is of course not the Holy Grail the man who actually made the discovery Dr sulan farat is clearly and rightly upset as we can see on his Facebook post he’s all for promoting the amazing history of Petra and the country he loves and is proud of but as he says quote not at the expense of dignity national identity the heart of historic facts and the falsification of historical Jordanian National places and symbols end quote the fake Discovery tramples all over the the work of the Jordanian archaeologists in 2003 and 2005 and now some low budget Indiana Jones wannabe claims involvement in a find he had absolutely nothing to do with as Gates himself said quote this is
perhaps the most significant tomb ever found at Petra and a discovery of historic proportions end quote yes mate but it wasn’t anything to do with you why don’t you give Dr Fara his flowers don’t you think he deserves the credit and I do understand it I’m not stupid right now tourism is low and because of that there’s now an opportunity to excavate at the treasury and continue the work that was started 20 years ago and of course I know that the true story of merely reopening tombs that were found two decades ago won’t generate the same kind kind of headlines well it may not generate any headlines at all and these headlines are important they put eyes on Petra in a positive way but I have to say I find the way it’s all been presented as very sad claiming it’s a new discovery when the truth is
we know it’s not thankfully we’re in the 21st century it’s the era of social media 30 years ago you could make false claims and get away with it but you can’t do that anymore but in all of this Josh Gates really is an easy target it’s easy to throw shade on him and the Discovery Channel so I want to know why Dr Pierce Paul cman Professor Richard Bates and the University of St Andrews are propping up this fake Discovery I didn’t see any mention of Dr farat in the press release from the University and they certainly say it’s a new discovery when the photos certainly confirm it’s not just look at these photos side by side one’s from 2005 and the other is from 2024 it’s the exact same opening the tombs were already known about oh my God Dr Fara and his team did make a
groundbreaking discovery and their work should not be forgotten and so I’ll happily stand beside him and make sure the truth is out thank you very much for watching this episode of ancient Architects if you enjoyed the video please subscribe to the Channel please like the video and please leave a comment below thank you very much [Music]
