Island of the Blessed follows the footsteps of a Canadian-led international team of archaeologists as they penetrate the Sahara to unlock the secrets of Egypt’s “everlasting oasis” -- Dakhleh. This fertile island in a sea of sand has been home to humans for almost half a million years. Archaeologists are using high-tech methods to decipher humankind’s prehistory and have unearthed a perfect Old Kingdom town, replete with palaces and temples from the Golden Age of ancient Egypt, a stunning cache of mummies, a Roman-era archive of 10,000 papyri, and the world’s two oldest books. As well, they are excavating an entire Roman city -- a “desert Pompeii” buried by the inexorable march of the Sahara.