The Golden Mummy

In the early hours of June 2016, four Egyptian mummies were quietly transferred from the National Archaeological Museum in Madrid to a hospital equipped with state-of-the-art scanning technology. What the medical team found beneath the bandages of one mummy stopped the investigation in its tracks: 25 gold plaques, hidden for more than two thousand years, raising urgent questions about who this person was and how they had lived.

The discovery set off a journey across two countries. Archaeologists moved from Spain to Egypt, from Saqqara to the necropolis of Giza, working to piece together the identity and life of the mummy known as Nespamedu. The programme follows that investigation in full, combining advanced radiological analysis with 3D reconstructions of Ancient Egypt, drone footage, and facial reconstructions of three of the mummies examined.

Directed by Regis Francisco López and co-produced by RTVE and Story Producciones, the documentary approaches ancient history through a medical and forensic lens, using non-invasive techniques to ask what daily life in pharaonic Egypt actually looked like. Shot in 4K across locations including Luxor, Karnak, and the Valley of the Kings, it won Best Historical Documentary at both the New York Festivals and the Cannes Corporate Media and TV Awards in 2019.