October 20, 1997: Art's Egypt Trip
Art describes watching a single worker split a five-ton granite block with only a sledgehammer in two minutes, which Hawass presented as proof of ancient construction methods. Inside the Great Pyramid, Art climbed to the King's Chamber and lay in the sarcophagus, experiencing what he describes as a deep, unmistakable vibrational resonance unlike anything he had ever encountered. He also visited the Sphinx excavation site and a then-undisclosed burial ground containing hundreds of graves of pyramid workers, complete with pristine hieroglyphics.
Beyond Egypt, Art recounts seeing Pope John Paul II at the Vatican by pure chance, touching the birthplace of Christ in Bethlehem and the site of the crucifixion in Jerusalem, sneaking into the closed Colosseum in Rome, and making what he believes was the first live radio broadcast from the base of the Great Pyramid using a satellite phone.
Key Moments
Hawass hands Bell carte blanche at Giza: Bell describes meeting Zahi Hawass, director of antiquities for Giza, getting a personal two-hour tour, and watching Hawass sign a legal paper handing it to an aide that gave Bell unrestricted access to the entire site - 'barred from absolutely nothing.'
One man, one sledgehammer, one limestone block: Hawass walks Bell to a several-ton limestone block where a single workman with a sledgehammer demonstrates how the pyramid blocks were made. Bell is convinced it cannot work - until the man pauses, picks the hammer back up, swings once more, and the block splits cleanly in half on camera.
The two faces of Hawass on the climb to the King's Chamber: On the cramped, scrunched-over wooden climb up to the King's Chamber, Bell catches Hawass on videotape losing his temper at tourists blocking the way: 'I'm Dr. Zahi Hawass, don't you know who I am? Move, move, go, go.' Bell contrasts this 'other Dr. Hawass' with the warm host who gave him carte blanche.
Lying in the sarcophagus inside the King's Chamber: Bell climbs into the granite sarcophagus in the King's Chamber of the Great Pyramid and describes a deep resonance returning to him with every word he speaks - 'a frequency that you feel, a vibration, which I have never felt anywhere before in my life.' He insists this is not psychological; it is physical and unmistakable.
The hidden burial ground of the pyramid builders: Hawass's aide takes Bell over a hill far from the pyramids to a year-old excavation: hundreds, possibly thousands, of graves - sarcophagi inscribed with hieroglyphics showing the jobs the dead held in life. Hawass says these are the people who actually built the pyramids. Bell is told to stop photographing; he had already taken two stills and some video.