October 20, 1997: Art's Egypt Trip

Art Bell returns from an 18-day journey through Greece, the Greek islands, Israel, Rome, and Egypt, dedicating the broadcast to recounting his extraordinary experiences. The centerpiece is his visit to Giza, where Director of Antiquities Dr. Zahi Hawass granted him unrestricted access to the entire plateau, including areas normally closed to visitors.

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.