An extraordinary quest to try and solve a mystery dating back 4,500 years: how did the Egyptians build the pyramids?

Length
  • 45 mins
Year of production
  • 2025
Producer
  • Excurio

An extraordinary quest across Ancient Egypt

With every discovery, new questions emerge: from hidden areas to unknown structures, the pyramids still hold more than a few secrets.

The Great Pyramid of Khufu, this wonder of the world standing tall on the Giza Plateau, continues to fascinate us all. Who built this masterpiece of engineering? How were the builders able to complete, in just a few decades, the greatest stone structure ever made by man? Informed by the latest archaeological discoveries, The Secret of the Pyramid Builders will take you on a unique, immersive expedition to attempt to solve this fascinating puzzle.

An epic journey to unravel the mystery

In the shadowy depths of the Great Pyramid, we reveal the latest findings from still-unexplored chambers. This will be a starting point of a preliminary quest, a fabulous voyage aboard the royal boat to the banks of the Red Sea.

During this breathtaking journey, you will cross the Dahshur Necropolis, get up close with the Sneferu pyramid, and pass through the galleries of Wadi al-Jarf, where the boats carrying the stone needed for construction would come to berth. You will meet the builders at work, infiltrate the ships of Merer, one of Pharoah Khufu’s works inspectors, and follow the paths of Vizier Ankh-haf, overseer of the royal pyramid.
New Mona

Your guide, Mona

And who better than Mona, a keen Egyptologist and guide, to lead you on this wonderful journey to some of Fourth Dynasty Egypt’s most iconic sites?

After taking her first tentative steps in the field, Mona has gained in confidence. She still remains humble, however, faced with the great expanse of knowledge not yet acquired by contemporary researchers on the Ancient Egyptians.

Mona’s thirst for knowledge and determination have helped her curry the favour of feline goddess Bastet, who, amused by the guide’s clumsiness, never misses an opportunity to tease her.

Myth illuminated by science

While the odyssey mesmerises with its mythical dimension, it is grounded in the most recent breakthroughs in research — always mindful that absolute certainty is rarely possible.

The Secret of the Pyramid Builders presents a range of hypotheses without taking any hard stance, placing contemporary scientific theories in dialogue with recent discoveries: two massive, undiscovered chambers recently revealed in the heart of the pyramid; the Diary of Merer’, found by archaeologist Pierre Tallet; the theories of architect Jean-Pierre Houdin; and the research of Egyptologist Peter Der Manuelian, who previously contributed to Horizon of Khufu, allowing us to recreate the setting of the Ankh-Haf Mastabas.  

The Secret of the Pyramid Builders was produced in collaboration with an international team of leading scientists.

Throughout the journey, scientific excellence feeds into the story, from the spinning scenes in the galleries and the recreation of a mastaba under construction to the sailing of the Nile alongside the pyramid builders. Every archaeological discovery prepares the ground, not for an absolute truth, but rather a patchwork of interpretations.

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Some of the Ancient Egyptian sites visited during this awe-inspiring journey. 

"Our aim is to reflect the current state of knowledge, while highlighting the debates that fuel ongoing research."  

Pierre Gable

— Pierre Gable,

Creative Director - Excurio

Credits

Producers
Emmanuel Guerriero, Fabien Barati, Catherine Seys, Etienne Tellier

Authors
Pierre Gable, Emmanuelle Piton

Creative Director
Pierre Gable

Scientific Advisor
Peter Der Manuelian
Barbara Bell Professor of Egyptology / Director, Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East

Theoretical References
Jean-Pierre Houdin
Independent Architect

Acknowledgements
Pierre Tallet
Egyptologist, Director of the French Institute for Oriental Archaeology in Cairo
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