00:00Erasing a pharaoh's name didn't erase the ghosts they left behind.
00:04Ancient Egyptians called it demnatio memoriae.
00:08Chisel out the name.
00:10Destroy the person forever.
00:13Except it never quite worked.
00:15Chiseling leaves a faint recess in stone.
00:18That recess reflects light differently.
00:21Under ultraviolet light, the ghost of the name reappears.
00:25That's exactly how we confirmed pharaoh Yuserkare existed.
00:30He ruled around 2290 BCE.
00:33His successor erased him completely.
00:35But pigment trapped in microscopic scratches survived.
00:39Scientists reconstructed his cartouche from chemical shadows alone.
00:44Here's the jaw-dropping part.
00:46That same UV fluorescence technique is now used by forensic investigators.
00:51They recover erased handwriting at crime scenes.
00:54A royal cover-up from 4,300 years ago literally shaped modern detective science.
01:01Follow for more mind-blowing facts every day.
01:03Let's say
01:03you
01:04...
