Egypt's Lost Cities

New this week

Monday 30 May

8.30-10.00pm BBC ONE

Liz Bonnin near a pyramid at Giza

The Pyramids, the Sphinx and the tombs of the Pharaohs are all fabulous monuments from Egypt's extraordinary past. But, according to Dr Sarah Parcak, the astonishing antiquities already discovered are just a tiny per cent of what was actually left behind by the ancient Egyptians.

Sarah is a pioneer in a completely new approach to archaeology that uses satellites armed with powerful infrared cameras to see beneath the Egyptian sands, revealing the ghostly outlines of what she believes are ancient pyramids, temples and lost cities.

Sarah has already identified several sites she thinks are of huge significance – a veritable street map of the ancient city of Tanis, a possible 13th-dynasty pyramid on the plain of Saqqara, and a potential lost tomb at Abydos, a place of pilgrimage for 3,000 years.

Joining her on this Indiana Jones-inspired adventure are Liz Bonnin and Dallas Campbell (Bang Goes The Theory). They are with Sarah every step of the way to see if the buildings she has seen on her high-resolution images from space are really there – going back to the traditional techniques of excavation, guided by some of the world's greatest archaeologists.

If Sarah is right then her satellite images could be the beginning of a new era in archaeology which could redraw the whole map of Ancient Egypt.

JW