The Lost City of DeMillc Emerges from the Desert Sands of California
For 75 years, the majestic dunes that tower over this humble coastal village have held one of Hollywood’s oldest and strangest secrets.
Cedi B. DeMille, a founding father of motion pictures, once chose this remote, wind-swept site 170 miles (270 kilometres) north of Los Angeles to erect a plaster replica of ancient Egypt and stage his 1923 silent epic “The Ten Commandments.” It had all the right touches, on a monumental scale — from the walls of a pharaoh’s city rising 10 stories high to an avenue of nearly two dozen five-ton sphinxes lining the sand. That had never been anything like it, and it remains one of the largest movie sets ever built.
But once the cameras stopped rolling and a cast of thousands sent packing, it all vanished. Then in his memoirs, DeMille dropped a playful hint of the historic set’s mysterious fate. “If 1,000 years from now, archaeologists happen to dig beneath the sands of Guadalupe," he wrote, “I hope they will not rush into print with the amazing news that Egyptian civilization, far from being confined to the Valley of the Nile, extended all the way to the Pacific Ocean of North America."
They will not. Because now, in an only-in-Califomia endeavour as sublime as it is ridiculous, what's left of the lost duty of DeMille may soon be saved by an authentic archaeological dig like none other.
That all of the Egyptian relics to be excavated are fake hardly matters, at least not to the small and zealous band of filmmakers and archaeologists leading the unusual project, or to the curious towns around here that are beginning to help pay for it. Inside the new Dunes Discovery Center along the creaking and dusty old main street of Guadalupe (population 6,000), some worn, fragile DeMille props that already have been discovered are even being displayed reverently in glass cases, as if they were priceless artifacts.
“Digging up a fake Egyptian city in California is hard to do without laughing, I know,” said Peter Brosnan, 46, a documentary filmmaker who has made the buried set his abiding pastime. “But this is an important piece of early 20th century American history. It’s about the only set left from the era of silent film. We know it’s down there in the sand, and we think it’s mostly intact.”
Chunks of artful plaster are not all they are after. The sheer size of DeMille’s production also makes it a rich time capsule preserved in a mountain of sand, with abundant emblems of daily life from the 1920s. Something always turns up when the sands shift, such as cough syrup bottles once used to hold sips of alcohol.
To make the film, DeMille marched an army of 2,500 actors from Los Angeles and kept them captive there for two months in an elaborate tent city assembled on the 18-mile stretch of dunes. More than 1,500 construction workers also came to build the mammoth biblical set.
DeMille, who remade the film in the 1950s in Egypt with Charlton Heston playing Moses, even hired musicians to lug instruments into the sands of Guadalupe and play for the huge cast as it worked. But their performances on the set ended one day when a runaway horse-drawn chariot crashed into the orchestra pit.
“At first I thought that doing a real dig for this was a little strange,” said John Parker, an archaeologist who has worked extensively at the dunes. “In order not to destroy this stuff we have to use the same techniques we would use as if this was a 10,000-ycar-old prehistoric site. But along with the film history we find, it could be a great way to see what life was like here in the 1920s.”
By the time he was finished, DeMille had spent $1.4 million filming the biblical epic, a huge sum at the time. And he was way over budget. Mr. Brosnan said he suspects that DeMille buried the set because it was the cheapest option he had. Other film historians contend that he also may have been worried that another director would sneakily use it and release a similar movie faster.
Archaeologists are convinced that more than one third of the film set is long gone, ravaged by time and the powerful forces of nature along the ocean here. But after using ground-penetrating radar to probe the dunes, some of which slope as high as 500 feet (150 metres), they believe they finally know exactly where everything that’s left has been entombed. Many of the sphinxes, as well as several 35-foot statues of a pharaoh king that DeMille put outside the walls of his phony Egyptian city seem fairly well preserved, they said.
They really did a good job hiding it,” said Liz Scott-Graham, the programme manager at the Dunes Discovery Center, the non-profit group that owns the dunes and treats them like a nature preserve. “You would never know it’s all still there."
AI explanationShows the answer. Tap to open.
Question Focus: Detail question - asks which statement is true according to the passage
Correct Answer: D
Why this is correct: This is correct because the passage clearly says the relics are fake, but they are still treated as important history and handled like real archaeological finds.
Passage Reference: That all of the Egyptian relics to be excavated are fake hardly matters, at least not to the small and zealous band of filmmakers and archaeologists leading the unusual project. Inside the new Dunes Discovery Center along the creaking and dusty old main street of Guadalupe (population 6,000), some worn, fragile DeMille props that already have been discovered are even being displayed reverently in glass cases, as if they were priceless artifacts. 'But this is an important piece of early 20th century American history. It's about the only set left from the era of silent film.'
Paraphrasing: Passage: 'important piece of early 20th century American history' = Option: 'considered archaeologically important'
Tips: When an option sounds dramatic or shocking, always check if the writer actually agrees with it or is joking.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Students may choose this because the objects are displayed like museum items. However, the passage says the relics are fake, not priceless. This is a Contradiction trap.
- B: Students may notice the phrase Hollywood's oldest secrets. However, the text says it is one of the largest and oldest, not the single oldest set. This is a Qualification trap.
- C: This comes from DeMille's joke about archaeologists in the future. The writer clearly says this is not true. This is a Context shift trap.
Key Vocabulary:
- relics = old objects
- archaeological = related to studying the past
Question Focus: Detail question - asks the purpose for building the city
Correct Answer: A
Passage Reference: Cedi B. DeMille, a founding father of motion pictures, once chose this remote, wind-swept site 170 miles (270 kilometres) north of Los Angeles to erect a plaster replica of ancient Egypt and stage his 1923 silent epic 'The Ten Commandments.' It had all the right touches, on a monumental scale.
Why this is correct: This is correct because the passage directly states that DeMille built the city to stage the film The Ten Commandments.
Paraphrasing: Passage: 'stage his 1923 silent epic 'The Ten Commandments'' = Option: 'to shoot 'The Ten Commandments''
Tips: For why questions, look for verbs like built, chose, or decided in the passage.
Why the other options are wrong:
- B: Students may imagine tourists visiting such a big set, but tourism is never mentioned. This is a Not Given trap.
- C: The city looks Egyptian, which may suggest honoring a pharaoh. However, it was only a movie set. This is a Paraphrase trap.
- D: The city copies Egyptian culture, but the purpose was filming, not research. This is a Context shift trap.
Key Vocabulary:
- erect = build
- epic = long, important film
Question Focus: Purpose question - asks why archaeologists dug up the dunes
Correct Answer: C
Passage Reference: They will not. Because now, in an only-in-Califomia endeavour as sublime as it is ridiculous, what's left of the lost duty of DeMille may soon be saved by an authentic archaeological dig like none other. 'That all of the Egyptian relics to be excavated are fake hardly matters.'
Why this is correct: This is correct because the dig is described as a way to save what's left of the lost city, even though the relics are fake.
Paraphrasing: Passage: 'may soon be saved by an authentic archaeological dig' = Option: 'to save the DeMille city'
Tips: Do not confuse who is involved with why something is done.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Students may focus on the word Egyptian, but the passage clearly says the relics are fake. This is a Reverse meaning trap.
- B: A documentary filmmaker is involved, but the digging is not done to shoot a documentary. This is a Context shift trap.
- D: Film history is discussed, but the main reason for digging is preservation, not study alone. This is a Partial truth trap.
Key Vocabulary:
- excavate = dig up
- preserved = kept safe
Question Focus: Inference question - asks why filmmakers and archaeologists are interested
Correct Answer: A
Passage Reference: The sheer size of DeMille's production also makes it a rich time capsule preserved in a mountain of sand, with abundant emblems of daily life from the 1920s. 'But along with the film history we find, it could be a great way to see what life was like here in the 1920s.'
Why this is correct: This is correct because the passage directly says the site helps them understand daily life in the 1920s, not just the film itself.
Paraphrasing: Passage: 'see what life was like here in the 1920s' = Option: 'study people's life in the 1920s'
Tips: Inference answers often come from explanations or quotes, not just facts.
Why the other options are wrong:
- B: Film history is mentioned, but the passage expands beyond filmmaking to everyday life. This is a Partial truth trap.
- C: How the city was built is not the focus of their interest. This is a Not Given trap.
- D: There is no plan to remake the film. This is a Not Given trap.
Key Vocabulary:
- time capsule = preserved record of the past
- emblems = signs
Question Focus: Detail question - asks which statement is NOT true
Correct Answer: B
Passage Reference: By the time he was finished, DeMille had spent $1.4 million filming the biblical epic, a huge sum at the time. And he was way over budget. DeMille, who remade the film in the 1950s in Egypt with Charlton Heston playing Moses.
Why this is correct: This is correct because the passage says DeMille finished the film in the 1920s and later remade it, not because he failed to finish it.
Paraphrasing: Passage: 'By the time he was finished' = Option: 'did not finish the film'
Tips: For except questions, first mark all statements that are clearly true, then find the one that contradicts the passage.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: This is mentioned as a possibility by historians. This is true according to the passage.
- C: The passage says burying the set was the cheapest option. This is true.
- D: The numbers in the passage add up to more than 4,000 people. This is true.
Key Vocabulary:
- remade = made again
- budget = planned spending
Question Focus: Detail question - asks what happened to the buried city
Correct Answer: B
Passage Reference: Archaeologists are convinced that more than one third of the film set is long gone, ravaged by time and the powerful forces of nature along the ocean here. Many of the sphinxes, as well as several 35-foot statues of a pharaoh king that DeMille put outside the walls of his phony Egyptian city seem fairly well preserved.
Why this is correct: This is correct because although some parts are gone, much of the city remains well preserved and carefully hidden under the sand.
Paraphrasing: Passage: 'seem fairly well preserved' = Option: 'nearly everything remains intact'
Tips: Pay close attention to quantities like one third, most, or nearly everything.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: This statement is actually true in the passage, so it cannot be the correct choice here. This is a Wrong focus trap.
- C: There is no mention of other filmmakers using the set. This is a Not Given trap.
- D: The passage says only more than one third is gone, not most. This is a Qualification trap.
Key Vocabulary:
- ravaged = badly damaged
- intact = not broken
General Tips:
- MCQ questions follow passage order, so use the location of the last answer to find the next one faster.
- Always check if an option adds extra meaning that the passage does not state.
- Be careful with joke, opinion, or imagined future statements. They are often traps.
- For except questions, confirm which options are true before choosing.
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