Documentary, History
A doc about how the Valley of Kings in Egypt was built.
#History #Ancienthistory #Ancient Egypt #Pyramids #Archeology
A doc about how the Valley of Kings in Egypt was built.
#History #Ancienthistory #Ancient Egypt #Pyramids #Archeology
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📚
LearningTranscript
00:00HUNDREDS OF TONS OF STONE TO PORTRAY A MIGHTY PHARAOH.
00:12COLOSSAL TESTAMENT TO EGYPT'S GOLDEN AGE.
00:23I THINK IT'S PROBABLY HERE, AT THE FEET OF THE COLOSSY OF MEMNON,
00:27WE GET A REAL SENSE OF WHO.
00:29AMENOTEP III WAS.
00:33IN MY OPINION, AMENOTEP III WAS ANCIENT EGYPT'S GREATEST PHARAOH.
00:40HE PRESIDED OVER THE ZENITH OF EGYPTAN CULTURE AND CIVILIZATION.
00:44HE IS THE GOLDEN AGE.
00:46HE IS THE EPITOME OF EVERYTHING THAT MADE ANCIENT EGYPT BRILLIANT.
00:51THE RISE OF THIS GREAT CIVILIZATION WAS POWERED BY ITS EXTRAORDINARY BELIEF SYSTEM.
01:00WHERE THE PURSUIT OF THE PERFECT AFTERLIFE WAS EVERYTHING.
01:06CAPABLE OF WITHSTANDING DISASTERS AND DARK AGES.
01:16TO THEN RE-EMERGE AS THE MOST POWERFUL EMPIRE IN THE ANCIENT WORLD.
01:25IN THIS EPISODE, I'M GOING TO ENTER WHAT I REGARD AS EGYPT'S GREATEST ERA.
01:34THE NEW KINGDOM.
01:36WHOA.
01:39WHAT AN AMAZING CHAMBER.
01:42A TIME OF LUXURY, GRAND DESIGNS, AND UNPARALLELED SPLENDOR.
01:49ISN'T THIS ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL?
01:53BUT LIKE ALL GOOD THINGS, IT COULDN'T LAST FOREVER.
01:57EGYPT'S POWERFUL RELIGION WOULD PROVE TO BE ITS GREATEST WEAKNESS.
02:02AND I'LL DISCOVER HOW THE PRIESTS BECAME SO RICH.
02:05THEIR POWER STRUGGLE WITH THE CROWN DESTROYED THE VERY UNITY OF EGYPT.
02:12IT WAS THIS VERY CONFLICT THAT WOULD TRANSFORM THIS GOLDEN AGE INTO ONE OF DECADENCE AND CORRUPTION.
02:20AND WOULD EVENTUALLY TEAR EGYPT APART.
02:25AND BY LOOKING AGAIN AT EGYPT'S GREATEST SUPERSTARS,
02:28I'M GOING TO INVESTIGATE WHAT REALLY HAPPENED DURING THE GLITTERING NEW KINGDOM.
02:34WELCOME TO MY STORY OF ANCIENT EGYPT.
02:39THE NEW KINGDOM, NEILLY 3,500 YEARS AGO, AND THE TIME OF AMENOTEP III.
02:54WHEN EGYPT'S EXPRESSION OF POWER AND BELIEF REACHED NEW HEIGHTS OF ENORMITY.
03:01I'VE JOINED AN INTERNATIONAL TEAM OF ARCHEOLOGISTS
03:08FOR EXCAVATING JUST ONE OF THE VAST MONUMENTS AMENOTEP CREATED, HIS FUNERARY TEMPLE.
03:15NOW BEING HERE, YOU REALLY GET A SENSE OF WHAT IT MUST HAVE BEEN LIKE 3,500 YEARS AGO,
03:22WHEN THIS PLACE WAS A BUILDING SITE, MUCH AS IT IS TODAY.
03:27ALL THESE STATUES ALL AROUND AMENOTEP III'S IMAGE COMING UP IN THEIR HUNDREDS.
03:33AND YET, AS THE ARCHEOLOGISTS TODAY ASSEMBLE ALL THESE PIECES, THIS IS LITERALLY HISTORY
03:41COMING OUT OF THE GROUND, PIECE BY PIECE.
03:46IN THE PYRAMID AGE, ROYAL TOMBS AND FUNERARY TEMPLES WERE A SINGLE COMPLEX.
03:51BUT 1300 YEARS LATER, THE TWO WERE BUILT SEPARATELY, REFLECTING A NEW ERA OF OPULENCE
03:58EPITOMIZING THE GREATEST DYNASTY OF ALL, THE 18TH, THE TIME OF AMENOTEP III.
04:08FOR CENTURIES, PRETTY MUCH THE ONLY VISIBLE REMAINS OF AMENOTEP'S FUNERARY TEMPLE
04:13WERE HIS TWO COLOSSAL STATUES.
04:17NOW ARCHEOLOGIST DR. HOORIG SERUSIAN AND HER TEAM ARE FINALLY UNCOVERING
04:22THE FULL SPLENDOR OF THIS ONCE MIGHTY MONUMENT.
04:26YOU TOUCH AND IT'S... IT'S LIKE GLASS.
04:31COVERING OVER 86 ACRES, THIS WAS NOT A TOMB LIKE THE PYRAMIDS, BUT A HUGE COMPLEX,
04:37THE LARGEST FUNERARY TEMPLE EVER CREATED.
04:41IT'S A MASSIVE, MASSIVE AREA.
04:43YOU HAVE TO IMAGINE, THIS IS ONLY THE MAJOR TEMPLE, THE MAIN TEMPLE.
04:47YOU HAVE TO IMAGINE OTHER TEMPLES, PROCESSIONAL WAYS, SPHINX AVENUES,
04:51MAGAZINES, WORKSHOPS, TREASURES, POOLS, GARDENS, PRIEST HOUSE, ADMINISTRATIVE HOUSES.
04:59ALL THIS WAS A BIG CITY IN THE CAPITAL.
05:05OVERWHELMING INSIDE.
05:07THIS GRAND DESIGN WAS BUILT AS THE PLACE WHERE HIS SOUL COULD BE WORSHIPPED FOR ETERNITY,
05:13WHILE HIS MOMMIFIED BODY WAS BURIED IN THE VALLEY OF THE KINGS NEARBY.
05:17BUT DURING HIS LIFETIME, INSIDE THE TEMPLE, A PERMANENT PRIESTHOOD WAS EMPLOYED,
05:23ALL RULED OVER BY THE PHARAOH.
05:27AMENOTEP'S MASSIVE STATUES FLANKED THE TEMPLE'S MAIN ENTRANCE.
05:33BEYOND THEM LAY A SECOND PAIR, AND THEN A THIRD.
05:39AMENOTEP'S IMAGE REPEATED THROUGHOUT THE TEMPLE COMPLEX.
05:45I WISH ONE DAY THEY FIND THE TIME MACHINE, I GO BACK ONE DAY.
05:55CAN I COME? I'LL COME WITH YOU.
05:58WE MAY NOT HAVE A TIME MACHINE, BUT 15 YEARS OF WORK
06:02HAVE BEGUN TO REVEAL SOME OF THE TEMPLE'S FORMER GLORIES.
06:06NORMALLY, THESE WOULD HAVE BEEN METERS UP IN THE AIR,
06:09BUT TO ACTUALLY ENGAGE, IT'S SO VERY TACTILE.
06:14SO VERY INTIMATE, HOLDING HANDS WITH THE PHARAOH.
06:20THIS COLOSSUS FROM THE TEMPLE'S SECOND GATEWAY IS FLANKED
06:24BY ONE OF THE BEST PRESERVED STATUES OF AMENOTEP'S PRINCIPAL CONSORT,
06:28QUEEN TAI, HIS GREAT ROYAL WIFE.
06:32HERE STANDING, AND BY MIRACLE, HAVING BEEN SAVED BY ALL THE CATASTROPHES
06:38WHICH STRUCK THIS TEMPLE.
06:40SO HE'S PROTECTED HER FOR CENTURIES, REALLY, HASN'T HE?
06:44CARVED TO BE NO BIGGER THAN AMENOTEP'S LOWER LEG,
06:48QUEEN TAI'S SIZE SERVED TO EXAGGERATE THE PHARAOH'S SUPERHUMAN STATUS.
06:56THESE MASSIVE STATUES WERE MORE THAN A MEMORIAL, EACH WORSHIPED TO GUARANTEE
07:01THE IMMORTALITY OF THE KING'S SOUL, THE PHARAOH AS GOD.
07:06THIS IS MY GREAT SURPRISE TO YOU.
07:10AND HOORIG HAS SAVED THE VERY BEST TILL LAST.
07:16HOLY LAH.
07:22OH. OH, FLIPPING OUT.
07:26RUH MANALAH.
07:29IT'S AMENOTEP'S HEAD AT THREE METERS TALL,
07:33CARVED FROM THE FINEST WHITE ALABASTER.
07:36OH.
07:38DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY.
07:42OVER THE YEARS, I'VE SEEN MANY OF HIS PORTRAITS,
07:45BUT RARELY ONE AS STUNNING AS THIS.
07:48LOOK AT HIS NOSE.
07:50THIS IS AN ABSOLUTELY AMAZING PORTRAIT,
07:54SCULPTED FACE OF AMENOTEP HIMSELF.
07:56NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT.
08:00WITH HUNDREDS OF STATUES LIKE THIS,
08:03AMENOTEP WAS MULTIPLYING THE IMAGE OF HIMSELF
08:06AS EGYPT'S MOST POWERFUL GOD,
08:08BRINGING LIGHT AND LIFE TO THE WORLD.
08:10BECAUSE WHOEVER CONTROLLED EGYPT'S RELIGION CONTROLLED EGYPT,
08:24AND WITH IT, A VAST AMOUNT OF WEALTH.
08:28NOW AMENOTEP WORE GOLD FROM TOP TO TOE,
08:31AND HE HANDED IT OUT TO HIS COURTIERS AS GIFTS,
08:34BUT HE ALSO USED IT AS A DIPLOMATIC WEAPON.
08:42AMENOTEP'S CLEVER USE OF EGYPTIAN GOLD
08:44IS RECORDED ON STONE SCARABS LIKE THIS ONE.
08:48THEY SERVED AS THE PHARAOH'S NEWS BULLETINS,
08:52WHICH HE CIRCULATED AROUND HIS EMPIRE
08:54WITH UPDATES INSCRIBED ON THEIR BASE.
08:57IN THIS CASE, IT WAS A NEW MARRIAGE OF THE KING.
09:03IT EFFECTIVELY RECORDS HIS MARRIAGE TO A SYRIAN PRINCESS,
09:07A PRINCESS FROM THE LAND OF MITANI,
09:10AND IT RECOUNTS HOW HAVING SENT GOLD TO THE PRINCESS'S FATHER,
09:15HE THEN SENT OUT ONE OF HIS DAUGHTERS FOR THE PHARAOH TO MARRY,
09:20SO A KIND OF MALE ORDER BRIDE, IF YOU LIKE.
09:24IT REPORTS THAT HER NAME WAS KILAHIPA,
09:29AND THAT SHE ARRIVED FROM MITANI IN SYRIA.
09:32WITH NO FEWER THAN 317 LADIES-IN-WAITING.
09:38CLEARLY IMPRESSED, AMANOTEP ADDED THE COMMENT,
09:42IT'S A MARVEL.
09:48WITH THIS DIPLOMATIC MARRIAGE ONLY ONE OF MANY,
09:51THEY WERE AN EFFECTIVE WAY OF SECURING PEACE AND PROSPERITY.
09:56AMANOTEP WAS ABLE TO UTILIZE HIS KEY RESOURCE, HIS GOLD,
10:04TO KIND OF GET EVERYTHING HE WANTED TO MAINTAIN HIS STATUS
10:08AS THE SUPREME MONARCH IN THE ANCIENT WORLD AT THAT TIME.
10:16GOLD BOUGHT EGYPT PEACE WITH ITS NEIGHBOURS,
10:18WITH AMANOTEP III'S EMPIRE STRETCHING FROM WHAT IS NOW SYRIA
10:23AS FAR AS MODERN SIDAN.
10:28BUT WITHIN EGYPT ITSELF, GOLD HAD A DIFFERENT USE,
10:31AND COULD EVEN GUARANTEE A FAST TRACK TO THE AFTERLIFE,
10:36EMPHATICALLY EXPRESSED BY A GREAT TREASURE IN THE MUSEUM IN WIGAN.
10:42A STUNNING GOLDEN FACE.
10:44ORIGINALLY PART OF A WOMAN'S COFFIN, HER LIFELIKE FEATURES WERE PRESERVED
11:00TO ALLOW HER SOUL TO RECOGNIZE HER IN THE AFTERLIFE.
11:04ISN'T THIS ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL?
11:07CLEARLY THE GOLD SUGGESTS TO US THAT THIS WAS SOMEONE OF VERY SPECIAL,
11:11VERY HIGH STATUS, VERY WEALTHY.
11:14ALTHOUGH WE CAN NEVER KNOW HER NAME,
11:18SHE HAD CLEARLY SPENT A FORTUNE IN PREPARING FOR HER PERFECT AFTERLIFE.
11:24COVERED IN GOLD LEAF, SHE STARS OUT AT US WITH EYES OF ALABASTER AND BLACK OBSIDIAN.
11:31WE CAN REALLY SEE INTO THE WORLD, INTO THE THOUGHT PATTERNS OF THE EGYPTIANS THEMSELVES
11:38BECAUSE AS STUNNING AS THIS FACE IS, IT WAS SIMPLY BURIED IN A TOMB.
11:42LITERALLY BURIED IN A HOLE IN THE GROUND.
11:45NOT FOR HUMAN EYES, BUT TO BE SEEN BY THE GODS AND THE SPIRITS OF THE DEAD WITH WHOM THIS WOMAN WANTED TO JOIN.
11:52AND THAT'S WHY HER SKIN IS GOLD, BECAUSE THE GODS HAD GOLDEN SKIN.
11:57AND SHE WANTED TO BE RECOGNIZED BY THEM AS ONE OF THEIR OWN, TAKEN INTO THEIR ETERNAL CARE.
12:04FOR THE EGYPTIANS IT WAS A SPECIAL PACT BETWEEN THEMSELVES AND THE GODS THAT MADE THEIR COUNTRY, MADE THEIR EMPIRE SO VERY POWERFUL, SO VERY SPECIAL.
12:14IN THE GOLDEN AGE, THIS SPECIAL PACT SHOWN MORE BRIGHTLY THAN EVER BEFORE, WITH EGYPT'S WEALTH POURED INTO THEIR FAITH IN THE AFTERLIFE.
12:24AND WITH INCREASING AMOUNTS OF GOLD ACCOMPANYING THE ROYAL MUMMIES, THEIR TOMBS NEEDED TO BE KEPT SECURE AT ALL COSTS.
12:37SO A SECRET BURIAL PLACE WAS ESTABLISHED FOR EGYPT'S PHAROES ON THEBE'S WEST BANK.
12:51THE VALLEY OF THE KINGS.
12:55IT WAS ESSENTIAL THAT EACH ROYAL MUMMY WAS BURIED SAFELY IN THEIR TOMB, IN A CUSTOM DATING BACK TO THE BEGINNING OF TIME.
13:05BECAUSE EACH ONE BECAME A ROYAL ANCESTOR, WHOSE CUMULATIVE SOULS FORMED THE VERY ESSENCE OF EGYPT.
13:12THE ROYAL TOMBS HAD BEEN DESECRATED ONCE BEFORE, BREAKING EGYPT'S SPIRITUAL LINK TO ITS ANCESTORS.
13:25SO TO PREVENT THIS HAPPENING AGAIN, THE PHAROES OF THE NEW KINGDOM CHOSE BURIAL DEEP IN THIS REMOTE VALLEY,
13:36WHERE THEY COULD LIE UNDISTURBED IN ROCK-CUT TOMBS.
13:43AND THIS BECAME EGYPT'S MOST SACRED PLACE.
13:46SUCH ELABORATE PREPARATIONS FOR THE AFTERLIFE ALSO FUELLED A GROWING ECONOMY.
14:00AND JUST AS IN THE PYRAMID AGE, THE INDUSTRY OF DEATH SHAPED THE LIVES OF MANY ORDINARY EGYPTIANS.
14:06FOR NOT ONLY WERE THERE TOMBS TO CUT AND TEMPLES TO BUILD, BUT STATUES, SHRINES, COFFINS, CERCOPHAGI,
14:16AND ALL THE PARAPHERNALIA OF THE AFTERLIFE.
14:23AND WITH THIS CAME ALL THE INGENUITY OF SOURCING EVERYTHING FROM ALABASTER TO GRANITE TO GOLD.
14:30THIS IS A COPY OF THE WORLD'S EARLIEST SURVIVING GEOLOGICAL MAP,
14:37DATING FROM AROUND 1150 B.C. AND THE REIGN OF RAMSES IV.
14:43THIS MAP IS A GUIDE TO THE STONE QUARRIES AND GOLD MINES OF A 15 KILOMETRE STRETCH OF EGYPT'S EASTERN DESERT.
14:53IT'S ALMOST AS DETAILED AS A MODERN GEOLOGICAL MAP,
14:57WITH DIFFERENT COLORS FOR THE DIFFERENT ROCK TYPES.
15:02SO OVER HERE, THESE LARGE AREAS OF BLACK ARE THE SEDIMENTARY ROCKS.
15:08BACK HERE, WHERE IT TURNS PINK, THESE ARE THE IGNEOS ROCKS LIKE GRANITE.
15:14OTHER LITTLE FEATURES INCLUDE AREAS OF GOLD MINING.
15:19AND THEN THROUGHOUT, YOU HAVE THIS VERY SUBTLE SPECKLING.
15:22AND THESE ARE THE AREAS OF GRAVEL.
15:26KNOWN TO BE VERY ACCURATE, THE MAP WAS MADE FOR ONE SPECIFIC QUARRIING EXPEDITION.
15:33WHEN 8,000 MEN WERE SENT INTO A DESERT VALLEY, 130 KILOMETRE FROM THEEBES,
15:40TO MINE STONE FOR ROYAL MONUMENTS.
15:43BUT WHAT'S SPECIAL ABOUT THIS MAP IS THAT IT LEADS US TO THE ORDINARY PEOPLE,
15:53WHO WERE EMPLOYED BY THE PHARAOH TO BUILD THE TOMBS IN THE VALLEY OF THE KINGS.
15:57IT WAS DISCOVERED BY ARCHEOLOGISTS AT THE WORKERS' VILLAGE OF DEAR EL MEDINA,
16:05A PURPOSE-BUILT SETTLEMENT TO HOUSE THE TOMBILDERS, ARCHITECTS, ARTISTS AND SCRIBES,
16:12TOGETHER WITH THEIR FAMILIES.
16:13THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN A BUSTLING PLACE.
16:16IT'S STREETS FULL OF CHILDREN PLAYING, DELIVERIES BEING MADE,
16:20AND ALL THE COLOURS, SOUNDS AND SMELLS OF EVERYDAY LIFE.
16:24IT'S ONE OF THE WORKERS WHO LIVED HERE WHO MADE THE MAP.
16:29NOW, WE EVEN KNOW THE IDENTITY OF THE MAPMAKER, THE SCRIBE, AMON NAGT.
16:36HIS DISTINCTIVE HANDWRITING IS WELL KNOWN FROM A RANGE OF OTHER LITERARY WORKS,
16:40FROM POEMS TO PRAYERS, MAPS TO TOMB PLANTS.
16:45AND IT'S THANKS TO ONE PARTICULAR LITTLE INSCRIPTION WITH HIS NAME ON
16:49THAT WE EVEN KNOW WHERE HE LIVED. AMON NAGT LIVED HERE.
16:54THIS IS THE SCRIBE'S HOUSE.
17:01AMON NAGT WAS ONE OF THE MANY SKILLED WORKERS THAT ROSE THROUGH THE RANKS OF SOCIETY.
17:06IN THE GENERATIONS FOLLOWING THE REIGN OF AMONOTEP III.
17:12HE BECAME THE HEAD SCRIBE OF THIS ENTIRE VILLAGE.
17:16SO A VERY, VERY IMPORTANT MAN.
17:19AND YET IT'S A VERY SAD TALE AS WELL BECAUSE AS HE GETS OLDER,
17:23WE KNOW THAT HIS EYESIGHT STARTED TO FAIL BECAUSE A PRAYER OF HIS HAS SURVIVED
17:27IN WHICH HE MAKES THIS VERY PERSONAL ADDRESS TO THE LOCAL GODDESS, MERET SEGA,
17:33WHO LIVED AT THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN UP THERE.
17:36AND HE'S IMPLORING THE GODDESS, HE'S SAYING,
17:38MY EYESIGHT IS FAILING, I SEE DARKNESS BY DAY.
17:42AND FOR A SCRIBE, FOR A CONSUMATE DRAFTSMAN LIKE AMON NAGT,
17:45HOW SAD THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN.
17:50HERE AMON NAGT PRAISED TO MERET SEGA,
17:53BOTH OF THEM SYMBOLICALLY PORTRAYED WITHOUT THEIR EYES.
17:59IT'S HARD NOT TO RESIST THIS IMAGE THAT AS HE GOT OLDER AND MORE INFIRM,
18:04HE WOULD HAVE GONE UP THE STEPS TO THE FLAT ROOF.
18:07WITH FAILING EYESIGHT TRY TO FOCUS ON THE JOB IN HAND,
18:12TRYING TO MIX HIS PAINTS, APPLY THE LINES AND THE WORDS AND SO FORTH,
18:18AND NEEDING THE FULL SUN ON A DAY LIKE THIS,
18:22JUST TO GET THROUGH THE WORKING DAY.
18:28BUT JUST LIKE HIS PREDECESSORS WHO BUILT THE PYRAMIDS,
18:32AMON NAGT WOULD HAVE FELT A SENSE OF GREATER PURPOSE.
18:37WE CAN IMAGINE HIM AND HIS NEIGHBOURS IN DIER EL MEDINA
18:40WORKING TOWARDS A SINGLE AIM, CREATING THE ROYAL TOMB.
18:49THE NEW KINGDOM PHAROHS HAD CREATED A NEW IMAGE FOR THEMSELVES,
18:54ELABORATE BUILDING SCHEMES REQUIRING NEW TOWNS FULL OF WORKERS,
18:59A STRONG ECONOMY SUPPORTING AN EVER GRANDER VISION,
19:02BOTH FOR THIS WORLD AND THE NEXT.
19:04BUT THE SPIRITUAL CONVICTIONS THAT HAD BROUGHT EGYPT TO ITS SENITH
19:19HAD ALSO CREATED A SERIOUS THREAT.
19:21IN THE NEW KINGDOM, MUCH OF THE EGYPTAN STATE CENTERED ON THEEBES.
19:28WHILE ITS WEST BANK WAS MAINLY DEDICATED TO ITS CITY OF THE DEAD,
19:33THE EAST BANK WAS WHERE MOST PEOPLE LIVED,
19:38AND THE SITE OF EGYPT'S MAIN STATE TEMPLE, KARNAK.
19:41AS KARNAK WAS RAPIDLY BECOMING THE LARGEST RELIGIOUS COMPLEX OF THE ANCIENT WORLD,
19:54ITS INFLUENCE GREW EXPONENTIALLY.
20:00AND, LIKEWISE, THE POWER OF ITS PRIESTS.
20:03TO GET A REAL SENSE OF WHAT'S GOING ON, WE NEED TO GO BEHIND THE SCENES.
20:14I'M BEING ALLOWED THROUGH AN ANCIENT PASSAGEWAY,
20:20ONCE ONLY ACCESSIBLE TO KARNAK'S CLERGY.
20:24MORE, MORE, MORE, WONDERFUL SIGN.
20:26IT LEADS TO THE TOP OF THE TEMPLE'S MAIN GATEWAY,
20:30AND GIVES A VIEW OF KARNAK. NOT MANY GET TO SEE.
20:36JUST LOOK AT THAT.
20:42YOU COULD FIT NOTREDAM AND ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRALS IN HERE,
20:47AND STILL HAVE ACRES TO SPARE.
20:50IT IS IMMENSE.
20:59WITHIN KARNAK, A SERIES OF CHAPELS, SHRINES, AND SACRED PRECINTS
21:04COVERED A TOTAL AREA OF MORE THAN 250 ACRES.
21:08THIS WAS EGYPT'S RELIGIOUS HEART FOR ALMOST 2,000 YEARS.
21:26THE REASON WHY KARNAK IS SO VAST IS THAT EVERY PHARAOH
21:32PODS SO MUCH OF THEIR WEALTH INTO THIS TEMPLE.
21:35THEIR GOLD AND THEIR SPOILS OF WAR ALL FILLED THE TEMPLE'S COFFERS.
21:41AND EACH PHARAOH ALSO WANTED TO BUILD THEIR OWN HALLS, SHRINES,
21:46AND OBELISKS IN AN ATTEMPT TO OUTDO THEIR PREDECESSORS,
21:50AND YET ALL TO THE GREATER GLORY OF KARNAK'S CHIEF GOD, AMUN.
21:56OVER THE COURSE OF CENTURIES, AMUN HAD RISEN FROM A LOCAL THEBAN GOD
22:01TO EGYPT'S STATE DEITY.
22:05AND HIS WORSHIP WAS THE ENGINE THAT FUELED THE NATION.
22:11SO EVERY PHARAOH HAD TO KEEP AMUN CONTENT, OFFERING HIM THEIR WEALTH
22:17AND TENDING TO HIS EVERY NEED.
22:19AND THIS PRIVILEGE FELT TO KARNAK'S HIGH PRIEST,
22:24AND WAS PERFORMED IN THE TEMPLE'S INNER SANCTUM.
22:28SECRET CEREMONIES AT WHICH THE ONLY OTHERS PERMITTED WERE THE ROYALS.
22:32HERE WE ARE IN THE VERY HEART OF KARNAK TEMPLE.
22:38THIS IS WHERE THE GOD LIVED.
22:40THE GOD HIMSELF LIVED INSIDE HIS SACRED STATUE.
22:46THE ORIGINAL WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN MUCH BIGGER THAN THIS.
22:49IT WOULD HAVE BEEN SOLID GOLD.
22:51IT WOULD HAVE LIVED INSIDE A LITTLE GOLDEN SHRINE, SEALED BY A PAIR OF SMALL DOORS.
22:55EACH MORNING THE HIGH PRIEST WOULD COME IN, HE WOULD AWAKEN THE GOD'S SPIRIT.
23:05HE WOULD GREET HIM, HE WOULD WASH HIM, ANOINT HIM WITH PERFUME, APPLY HIS EYE MAKEUP,
23:12AND THEN DRESS HIM IN VARIOUS LINEN OUTFITS, APPLY THE SMALL PIECES OF JEWELRY TO THE GOD'S STATUE,
23:20AND THEN THE GOD WOULD PROCEED TO ENJOY HIS DAY.
23:23A MOON RECEIVED DAILY MEALS OF THE FINEST FOODS,
23:28ROAST MEATS, BREAD, FRUIT AND VEGETABLES, ACCOMPANIED BY WINE AND BEER.
23:36CLOUDS OF INCENSE WOULD DRIVE AWAY EVIL FORCES,
23:40AND MUSICIANS AND DANCERS ENTERTAINED HIM.
23:46AND BY KEEPING THEIR MOST IMPORTANT DEITY CONTENT,
23:49IT WAS BELIEVED THAT A MOON WOULD IN TURN MAKE THE NILE FLOOD EACH YEAR,
23:55MAKE THE SUN RISE EACH MORNING, AND MAINTAIN EGYPT'S SUPREME STATUS.
24:01THE HIGH PRIEST'S DIRECT ACCESS TO A MOON MADE THEM THE GREATEST BENEFICIRIES OF KARNAK'S GROWING PROSPERITY.
24:15THIS TRANQUIL LAKE IS WHERE THE MALE AND FEMALE CLERGY BATHE TWICE EACH DAY AND NIGHT TO MAINTAIN THEIR RITUAL PURITY BEFORE THE GODS.
24:28KNOWN AS THE PURE ONES, THEY SET THEMSELVES APART FROM THE REST OF SOCIETY,
24:39WITH THEIR DISTINCTIVE APPEARANCE ACHIEVED THROUGH THEIR OWN SET OF DAILY RITUALS.
24:47PART OF THIS PROCESS OF RITUAL PURITY INVOLVED USING AN ARRAY OF IMPLEMENTS ON A DAILY BASIS TO TRANSFORM THEIR APPEARANCE.
24:55AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS THEY DID, THEY HAD TO REMOVE ALL BODY HAIR, MALE AND FEMALE CLERGY, USING RAISERS LIKE THIS.
25:05SO EVERY DAY HAVING TO SHAVE THEIR HEADS AND THEIR ENTIRE BODIES, KEEP THEM FREE FROM LICE AND ALL THESE KIND OF THINGS,
25:12WHICH WOULD HAVE INHIBITED THEIR SENSE OF CLEANLINESS.
25:15IT WAS ESSENTIAL THAT THEY ALSO HAD A VERY CLEAN MOUTH, BECAUSE THEY'D BE SPEAKING THE WORDS BEFORE THE GOD.
25:22AND SO THEY USED SOMETHING WHICH IS QUITE A MODERN THING.
25:28BASICALLY AN ATRON SALT, A KIND OF BICARBONATE, RATHER LIKE A MODERN BICARBONATE TOOTHPASTE, WHICH WOULD GET THEIR TEETH NICE AND CLEAN.
25:36SCRUPULOUS NOT ONLY WITH DENTAL HYGIENE, THEY WORE REED WOVEN SANDALS AND ROBES OF PURE WHITE LINEN.
25:46AND HAVING TRANSFORMED THEMSELVES IN THIS WONDERFUL WAY, THEY ALSO HAD ACCESS TO THESE POLISHED METAL MIRRORS.
25:57THEY COULD THEN ADMIRE THEIR TRANSFORMED APPEARANCE BECAUSE IT WAS IMPORTANT TO DISTANCE THEMSELVES FROM THE GREAT UNWASHED.
26:04FOR THE ANCIENT PRIESTS CLEANLINESS REALLY WAS NEXT TO GODLINESS, AND THEY WERE THE GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE.
26:22AS THE WEALTH AND POWER OF CARNAK'S PRIESTS GREW, THEIR AUTHORITY OVER EGYPT BEGAN TO RIVAL THAT OF THE KING.
26:34CARNAK'S PRIESTS HAD FAR REACHING INFLUENCE, ACTIVE NOT ONLY BY DAY, BUT ALSO BY NIGHT.
26:45ONE OF THESE PRIESTS WAS CALLED NAKT. HE WAS A PRIEST OF THE HOURS OF A MOON, WHICH BASICALLY MEANS HE WAS AN ASTRONOMER.
26:53AND HE WOULD SIT BY NIGHT ON THE FLAT TEMPLE ROOF, WHICH WAS EFFECTIVELY AN ANCIENT OBSERVATORY.
26:59AND HE'D BE ABLE TO CHART THE PROGRESS OF THE STARS AND PLANETS IN THE SKY, WATCH THE MOVEMENT OF THE HEAVENS.
27:06AND BY DOING SO, THE PRIESTS OF EGYPT WERE ABLE TO WORK OUT WHEN TO CELEBRATE SPECIFIC EVENTS.
27:12BUT, OF COURSE, WHAT THIS MEANT IS THAT CARNAK NEVER CLOSED. IT WAS A 24-HOUR-A-DAY CONCERN.
27:20IT MEANT THE PRIESTS WERE ALWAYS THERE. IT MEANT THE PRIESTS WERE ALWAYS WATCHING.
27:25FULLY AWARE OF THE POTENTIAL THREAT POSED BY THE CARNAK CLERGY, AMANOTEP III EMPLOYED HIS OWN RELATIVES IN THE TEMPLE TO GUARANTEE THEIR LOYALTY.
27:41BUT SUCH SUBTLE MEANS OF CONTROL WERE ABOUT TO EVAPORATE. ENTER A NEW PHARAO, AKINATEN.
27:56SON AND HEIR OF AMANOTEP.
28:00BUT UNLIKE HIS FATHER, AKINATEN WAS NO DIPLOMAT.
28:05HIS ZEALOUS AMBITIONS WOULD SOON PLUNGE EGYPT INTO AN AGE OF POLITICAL AND RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM.
28:17EARLY IN HIS REIGN, AKINATEN FOUND A SWIFT WAY TO STAMP HIS AUTHORITY ON THE PRIESTS BY BUILDING A CONTROVERSIAL NEW TEMPLE COMPLEX AT CARNAK.
28:26AND WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT HERE IS SOMETHING VERY, VERY UNUSUAL.
28:35IT'S PART OF A WALL FROM CARNAK TEMPLE, BUT NOT THE TRADITIONAL PART OF CARNAK TEMPLE.
28:41IT'S A SECTION THAT WAS BUILT A LITTLE WAY BEYOND, AND IT WAS A NEW REVOLUTIONARY BUILDING.
28:47IT WASN'T BUILD LIKE THE OLD STYLE CARNAK IN HUGE, BIG, MONOLITHIC BLOCKS OF STONE, BUT THESE SMALL, EASIER-TO-HANDLE BLOCKS,
28:53WHICH MEANT, OF COURSE, IT COULD ALMOST SPRING UP OVERNIGHT.
28:58BUT MOST SHOCKING OF ALL WERE THE IMAGES THAT THIS NEW TEMPLE PORTRAYED.
29:04AKINATEN HAD BEGUN TO DISMANTLE EGYPT'S TRADITIONAL RELIGION, AND REPLACE ITS MANY DEITIES WITH A SINGLE GOD.
29:12IF YOU LOOK VERY CAREFULLY, THE IMAGES ARE VERY DIFFERENT TO WHAT WENT BEFORE.
29:18A MOON IS NOWHERE PRESENT. THE GOD OF KARNAK HIMSELF ISN'T REPRESENTED IN HIS OWN TEMPLE,
29:25BECAUSE THE GOD SHOWN HERE IS A FORM OF THE SUN GOD CALLED THE ARTEN.
29:30AND YOU CAN SEE THE MULTIPLE RAYS COMING DOWN, ENDING IN HUMAN HANDS, GIVING THEIR BLESSINGS TO THE MAIN FIGURE HERE.
29:39AND IT ISN'T THE HIGH PRIEST OF AMUN.
29:43FARAMUN'S PRIESTS WERE NO LONGER IN CONTROL AT KARNAK.
29:51AND AMUN HIMSELF WAS NOW REPLACED BY THE ARTEN SUN GOD.
29:56IN FACT, LIFE IN EGYPT WAS TURNED ON ITS HEAD.
30:03AND WHEREAS PREVIOUSLY, COURTIES WOULD BOW VERY LOW BEFORE THEIR MONARCH, NOW TIMES HAVE CHANGED.
30:10THESE PEOPLE HAVE THEIR FACES IN THE DIRT BEFORE PHARAOH.
30:15THEY'RE LYING PROSTRATE BEFORE HIM.
30:17THIS MARKED THE BEGINNING OF A NEW AGE.
30:23IT WAS AN AGE WHEN THE ONLY WAY TO REACH GOD WAS THROUGH HIS INTERMEDIARIES,
30:29TWIN MONARCHS, AKINATAN AND HIS WIFE AND CO-RULER, NEFETITI.
30:34AND WHEN THE PRIESTS OBJECTED, THE ROYAL COUPLE CLOSED KARNAK, SACKED ITS PRIESTS AND SEIZED ITS TREASURY.
30:45THEY THEN MOVED THEIR WHOLE COURT 400 KILOMETRES DOWNRIVER FROM THEEBES
30:51AND IN LESS THAN 10 YEARS BUILT A BRAND NEW CITY.
30:54KNOWN TODAY AS A MANA, ITS PALACES, TEMPLES AND TOMBS WERE FILLED WITH IMAGES OF THE ARTAN, THE SUNDISK GOD.
31:16GONE WERE THE MULTIPLICITY OF GODS TO WORSHIP.
31:18NOW IT WAS THE SUN THAT WAS CELEBRATED EACH DAY WITH HYMNS, PRAYERS AND OFFERINGS PRESENTED ON A TRULY LAVISH SCALE.
31:28BUT THE COUPLE'S VISION OF UTOPIA CAME AT A PRICE.
31:42AND WHEN AKINARTAN DIED AFTER A 17 YEAR REIGN, EGYPT WAS BANKRUPT.
31:48HIS SON BECAME KING OF EGYPT.
31:54AND ALTHOUGH HE REIGNED FOR LESS THAN 10 YEARS, HE STILL BECAME THE MOST FAMOUS PHARAOH FROM THE WHOLE OF EGYPTAN HISTORY.
32:05TUTON CARMEN.
32:06HIS TREASURE, DISCOVERED BY HOWARD CARTER IN 1922, WAS THE MOST FAMOUS ARCHEOLOGICAL FIND OF ALL TIME.
32:19TUTON CARMEN'S MASK IS THE EPITOME OF ANCIENT EGYPT.
32:24SO VERY FAMILIAR, YET LIKE SO MANY OF HIS TREASURES, HOLDING A LONG-STANDING SECRET.
32:30I'VE COME TO OXFORD UNIVERSITY'S GRIFFITH INSTITUTE TO EXAMINE THE MOST DETAILED RECORDS OF HIS BURIAL.
32:46SO IN THIS FIRST STACK, THESE ARE ALL CARTER'S NOTES, DIARIES, JOURNALS, AND THEN RIGHT AT THE BOTTOM DOWN HERE, WE'VE GOT ALL HARRY BURTON'S ORIGINAL GLASS NEGATIVES.
33:00CAPTURED ON DELICATE GLASS SLIDES, THESE ARE THE ORIGINAL NEGATIVES, TAKEN BY HOWARD CARTER'S PHOTOGRAPHER AT EVERY STAGE OF THE TEN-YEAR EXCAVATION.
33:11SO THIS SHOWS THE VERY FIRST VIEW THEY HAD OF THE MUMMY.
33:17THEY REVEAL TUTON CARMEN'S BURIAL IN A WAY NOT USUALLY SEEN, FOR THIS IS THE LINEN SHROWD OVER HIS THIRD INNERMOST COFFIN.
33:26THIS IS AS IF THE EMBALMERS HAVE JUST FINISHED, THE FAMILY HAVE LAID THEIR WREATH AND FLORAL TRIBUTES BEFORE THE LINK FINALLY WENT ON.
33:38WHAT A PRIVILEGE TO ACTUALLY SEE THIS IN BLACK NIGHT. WOW. THAT'S PRETTY PROFOUND.
33:48FOR ALL HIS FABLED WEALTH, TUTON CARMEN WAS, IN LIFE, A FAIRLY INSIGNIFICANT PHARAOH.
33:59BUT HIS PREMATURE DEATH, AFTER ONLY A DECADE AS KING, OFFERED CARNAK'S PRIESTS THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY TO OBLITERATE ALL TRACE OF AKINATAN, NEFETITI AND THE AMANA PERIOD.
34:12AND THESE WONDERFUL PHOTOS OF HIS BURIAL TREASURE REVEAL HOW THEY DID IT.
34:24ON HIS FAMOUS GOLDEN THRONE, TUTON CARMEN AND HIS WIFE ON CASENA MOON ARE DEPICTED TOGETHER.
34:34BUT ALL IS NOT WHAT IT SEEMS, AS RECENT RESEARCH HAS DISCOVERED.
34:40IF WE LOOK AT THE BACK OF THE QUEEN'S HEAD, WHERE HER WIG ORIGINALLY WAS, IT'S BEEN SLIGHTLY CUT DOWN THERE.
34:48THE SAME WITH TUTON CARMEN'S CROWN. A NEW CROWN HAS BEEN ADDED HERE.
34:54SO IT'S LITTLE THINGS LIKE THIS, BECAUSE HEADGEAR REGALIA WAS CRUCIAL IN IDENTIFYING THESE ROYAL INDIVIDUALS.
35:00BY ALTERING THE IMAGES, THE THRONE HAD BEEN CUSTOMIZED FOR TUTON CARMEN.
35:08BUT THE BIGGEST GIVEAWAY AS TO WHOM THIS ONCE BELONGED IS IN THE DEITY THAT LOMS LARGE ABOVE THE KING AND QUEEN.
35:16SO ALTHOUGH AMUN IS ALSO NAMED ON THIS THRONE, IT'S THE ARTAN SUN DISC THAT DOES TAKE CENTER STAGE
35:24AND REALLY DOES CEMENT THIS PEACE AS A ROYAL THRONE FROM THE AMANA AGE.
35:29SO IT SEEMS THAT THE TWO FIGURES, ONCE BELIEVED TO BE TUTON CARMEN AND HIS WIFE, WERE ORIGINALLY AKINARTAN AND NEFETITI.
35:38ANOTHER CLUE COMES FROM THE MOST FAMOUS ARTIFACT FROM ANCIENT HISTORY, THE GOLDEN MASK OF TUTON CARMEN.
35:51OR IS IT?
35:53RECENT RESEARCH HAS ZONED IN ON ONE LONG OVERLOOKED FEATURE AND THAT IS THE DECIDEDLY PIERCED EARS
36:00BECAUSE IT'S BEEN SUGGESTED THAT THIS MASK WAS ORIGINALLY MADE FOR SOMEONE ELSE.
36:07THE RESEARCH SUGGESTS THAT TUTON CARMEN WOULDN'T HAVE WONE EARINGS BEYOND CHILDHOOD.
36:12SO BY THE AGE OF 20, WHEN HE DIED, HE WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN PORTRAYED WITH PIERCED EARS.
36:19THIS MASK WAS NOT MADE FOR AN ADULT MALE PHARO.
36:23INDEED, WHEN THE GOLD HAS BEEN COMPARED, THE FACE IS MADE OF COMPLETELY DIFFERENT GOLD TO THE REST.
36:31EVIDENCE OF SOLDERING IS CLEARLY VISIBLE ON THE MASK.
36:35IT NOW SEEMS AS IF TUTON CARMEN'S OWN FACE WAS EFFECTIVELY GRAFTED ON TO THE MASK OF A PREVIOUS RULER,
36:43A PREVIOUS RULER WHO HAD PIERCED EARS FOR EARINGS, A PREVIOUS RULER WHO MAY WELL HAVE BEEN A WOMAN,
36:50OR MAY WELL HAVE BEEN NEFETITI.
36:58IN FACT, IT'S ESTIMATED THAT AROUND 80% OF THE OBJECTS FOUND IN TUTON CARMEN'S TOMB ORIGINALLY BELONGED TO EITHER AKINATAN OR NEFETITI.
37:08AND WITH ALL OF IT DUMPED TOGETHER LIKE THIS, IT WAS A KIND OF SPIRITUAL DECLUTTERING.
37:14AS FAR AS THE PRIESTS WERE CONCERNED, ALL THIS WAS TAINTED GOLD.
37:20AND SO THE BURIAL OF TUTON CARMEN WAS THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY TO BURIE THE UNWANTED PAST FOREVER.
37:27WHILE THE CITY OF AMANA HAD BEEN ABANDONED, THEN DEMOLISHED, THE MEMORY OF EVERYTHING IT REPRESENTED WAS LIKWISE BEING ERASED.
37:41EGYPT'S STATE RELIGION WAS RESTORED.
37:46KARNAK'S PRIESTS WERE BACK IN BUSINESS.
37:51AND THEBES WAS ONCE AGAIN THE SEAT OF SACRED POWER.
38:03AND NOW THE NEXT DYNASTY OF THE NEW KINGDOM WAS IN CONTROL.
38:08HAVING DIED WITHOUT AN HEIR, TUTON CARMEN WAS SUCCEEDED BY A LINE OF MILITARISTIC RULERS, THE 19TH DYNASTY.
38:18WITH NO DIRECT ROYAL ANCESTRY, THE NEW DYNASTY NEEDED TO RECONNECT WITH EGYPT'S ILLUSTRIOUS PAST.
38:29SO IT REINSTATED TRADITIONAL BELIEFS IN A RENAISSANCE LED BY ONE OF ITS MOST INFLUENTIAL RULERS.
38:36SETI I.
38:41HIS TOMB IN THE VALLEY OF THE KINGS IS THE LARGEST PHARAOH'S TOMB EVER CREATED HERE.
38:51CURRENTLY CLOSE TO THE PUBLIC, I'VE BEEN GIVEN SPECIAL PERMISSION TO EXPLORE THIS LABYRINTHINE TREASURE.
39:00THE TOMB'S INVITING US DOWN, FURTHER DOWN INTO THE UNDERWORLD, AND IT'S JUST DRAWING US INTO THE DARKNESS.
39:05IT'S A REALLY, REALLY DEEP TOMB, THIS.
39:11IT'S A HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FOUR METRES OF CORRIDORS AND CHAMBERS, ALL CHISELLED OUT BY HAND.
39:19AND COVERED FROM FLOOR TO CEILING IN SOME TRULY SPECTACULAR SCENES.
39:25WHOA, WHAT AN AMAZING CHAMBER.
39:29ABSOLUTELY FILLED WITH LITTLE GOLDEN TWINKLY STARS.
39:34BUT THE WALLS OF SETI'S TOMB CARRY A CLEAR MESSAGE.
39:39DEMONSTRATING THE RETURN OF EGYPT'S TRADITIONAL DEITIES IN FULL FORCE.
39:49AND HERE WE SEE SETI, WITH THE GODS.
40:00THIS IS A BRILLIANT CHAMBER. IT'S REPEATED IMAGES OF THE PHARAO, SETI, WITH THE GODS.
40:06THE GODS ARE BACK. AND HE'S KEEN TO SHOW THAT.
40:09AND SO WE SEE HIM HERE, WITH ANUBIS, THE ELEGANT BLACK JACKAL GOD OF EMBALMING AND THE DEAD.
40:18HERE, SETI IS MAKING OFFERINGS TO HATHOR, THE MATERNAL GODDESS OF LOVE,
40:23WHO TAKES ALL DEAD SOULS INTO HER CARE.
40:27AND HORAS, THE GOD OF KINGSHIP, WEARING THE JOINT CROWNS OF UPPER AND LOWER EGYPT.
40:36THEN SETI MAKES THE STRONGEST CONNECTION WITH EGYPT'S PAST, IN THE PORTRAYAL OF THE ULTIMATE DEITY IN THE TOMB.
40:43OSIRIS, GOD OF THE UNDERWORLD.
40:48HE REPRESENTS EVERY SINGLE PHARAOH THAT'S GONE BEFORE SETI.
40:53HE REPRESENTS THE ACCUMULATED POWERS OF THE ROYAL ANCESTORS.
40:57AND SETI IS KEEN TO SHOW HIMSELF IN THE COMPANY OF OSIRIS.
41:01HE'S TAPPING IN TO THAT GREATNESS THAT MADE EGYPT SUCH A STRONG NATION.
41:10EVERY IMAGE, EVERY HIROGLYPH IN SETI'S TOMB, HARKS BACK TO THE GOLDEN AGE OF AMENOTEP III.
41:19AND CONTINUING WITH THIS GOLDEN LEGACY, SETI'S REIGN WAS A TRUE RENAISSANCE OF ART AND CULTURE.
41:27WITH THE ULTIMATE DUAL IN HIS TOMB, HIS BURIAL CHAMBER.
41:36THAT IS ABSOLUTELY SUPERB.
41:43THIS IS REALLY INCREDIBLE.
41:45IT'S TAKING THAT NIGHTTIME SKY MOTIF AND REALLY, REALLY RUNNING WITH IT.
41:49THIS IS THE NIGHT SKY AS SEEN THROUGH THE EYES OF THE ASTRONOMA PRIESTS.
41:59AND THIS IS WHERE THE ROYAL MUMMY WOULD HAVE LAY IN ITS ALABASTER SACOPHAGUS,
42:04ALLOWING SETI'S MUMMY, SETI'S SOUL, TO LOOK UP AT THIS SPECTACULAR CEILING.
42:10EGYPT'S TRADITIONAL BELIEF SYSTEM IS HERE, WRIT LARGE, COVERING EVERY SURFACE.
42:27EGYPT WAS BACK.
42:30SETI HAD BROUGHT BACK THE DAYS OF GLORY.
42:34IT'S AS IF THE AMANA PERIOD HAD NEVER BEEN.
42:37AND FOR THE AVERAGE MAN AND WOMAN IN THE STREET, THAT WAS A WONDERFUL THING.
42:42BECAUSE ORDER HAD BEEN RESTORED.
42:45CHAOS HAD BEEN BRUSHED AWAY.
42:48AND EVERYTHING WAS ALL RIGHT WITH THEIR WORLD.
42:59THE GOLDEN AGE HAD BEEN RESTORED.
43:03BUT NOT JUST FOR THE LARGER-THAN-LIFE PHARAOHS,
43:05WITH THEIR GLORIOUS TOMBS AND VAST MONUMENTS.
43:09BUT FOR THE MAJORITY OF EGYPT'S POPULATION, TOO.
43:13THIS INCLUDED THE INHABITANTS OF DEAR EL MEDINA, THE TOMBILDER'S VILLAGE NEAR THE VALLEY OF THE KINGS.
43:20AT THE EDGE OF THE VILLAGE WAS A GREAT PIT, THE COMMUNITY DUMB.
43:28INSIDE WHICH WERE DISCOVERED TENS OF THOUSANDS OF PIECES OF POTTERY AND STONE, COVERED IN PICTURES AND WORDS.
43:35WRITTEN IN HIERATIC SCRIPT, A KIND OF HIEROGLYPHIC SHORTHAND, THESE ARE THE ANCIENT EGYPTAN EQUIVALENT OF POST-IT NOTES, SHOPPING LISTS AND TEXT MESSAGES.
43:47THIS IS THE KIND OF STUFF THAT SPEAKS TO EVERYDAY LIFE, WHAT'S GOING ON UNDERNEATH THE SURFACE.
43:54WITH THE HELP OF HIERATIC EXPERT DR GLENN GODDENHOE, WE CAN CATCH A GLIMPSE OF THIS INTIMATE WORLD, FAR AWAY FROM KINGS AND GODS.
44:06WHICH IS YOUR FAIRITE AMONGST THESE ONES?
44:08I ALWAYS GO TO THIS ONE. THIS IS REALLY NICE BECAUSE THIS ONE IS BASICALLY A LIST OF STUFF YOU TAKE TO A PARTY.
44:13WHAT YOU'VE GOT IS TABULATED INFORMATION, SO YOU'VE GOT VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL LINES, AND IN EACH OF THOSE SPACES YOU'VE GOT A NAME AND THE STUFF THEY BROUGHT TO THAT PARTICULAR EVENT.
44:25I MEAN, THIS PERSON HERE, THE NAME IS MISSING FROM THIS, BUT THIS PERSON BROUGHT THE MOST STUFF, ABOUT 11 ITEMS.
44:30WE'VE GOT BREAD, FOR EXAMPLE, BEING BROUGHT ALONG. NEXT DOWN WE'VE GOT SOME BEER, SO ONE JUG OF BEER.
44:37AS WELL AS BEER AND BREAD, IT LISTS A VERITABLE FEAST.
44:41FRUIT, TWENTY PIECES.
44:45BEANS, ONE JAR FULL.
44:48FISH, MEAT.
44:52AND EVEN A CAKE.
44:54THE THING I LIKE ABOUT THIS IS THE IDEA OF A COMMUNITY COMING TOGETHER. IT REALLY DOES MAKE THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS THAT MORE REAL, BECAUSE WE CAN RELATE TO THEM. WE ALL LIKE A GOOD PARTY.
45:06BUT, OF COURSE, LIFE ISN'T ALWAYS A PARTY, AND PEOPLE FALL ON HARD TIMES.
45:12THIS FRAGMENT BEGINS WITH A STORY OF A BREAK-UP.
45:18HESI SUE NEBEF DIVORCED THE LADY HELL.
45:23AND THEN IT GOES ON TO RECORD A HEART-WARMING STORY OF SUPPORT FROM ITS ANONYMOUS AUTHOR.
45:28HE SEEMS TO HAVE WANTED TO LOOK AFTER THIS LADY HELL.
45:32AND SO THE TEXT GOES ON, AND IT SAYS THAT THE AUTHOR OF THIS SPENT THREE YEARS GIVING ONE MEASURE OF EMMA WHEAT TO HELL EVERY MONTH.
45:43BUT IT DOESN'T END THERE.
45:45SO SHE GIVES TO THE AUTHOR HERE A SASH, SO A PIECE OF CLOTHING.
45:50AND SHE SAYS IN THIS LINE HERE TO OFFER IT AT THE RIVERBANK.
45:53THE RIVERBANK IS WHERE THE MARKET WAS, RIGHT?
45:57AND SHE SAYS THAT SHE'D LIKE ONE MEASURE OF EMMA WHEAT FOR IT.
46:01BUT NO ONE WANTED IT.
46:03SO HERE THE TEXT GOES ON TO SAY THAT THE AUTHOR TRIED TO OFFER IT DOWN AT THE RIVERBANK, BUT HE GIVES A CUSTOMER REVIEW.
46:12IT'S RIGHT HERE.
46:14ONE WORD BEAN, WHICH MEANS BAD.
46:17THAT'S REALLY SAD.
46:18SO IT WASN'T EVEN WORTH ONE MEASURE OF EMMA.
46:20SO THAT IS SAD, BUT THE AUTHOR'S SUCH A GOOD EGG THAT HE SAYS THAT HE BUYS IT OFF OF HER FOR WELL OVER THE MARKET VALUE OF THIS THING THAT WASN'T EVEN WORTH ONE MEASURE IN THE FIRST PLACE ANYWAY.
46:32NICE GUY. PITTER WE DON'T KNOW HIS NAME.
46:35YEAH, IT'S A REAL SHAME. IT'S A REAL SHAME.
46:36BUT AT LEAST WE HAVE HIS WORDS.
46:40ONE OF THE MANY VOICES FROM DEAR EL MEDINA, WHICH STILL SPEAK TO US ACROSS 3,000 YEARS OF HISTORY.
46:46TELLING US OF THE HIGHS AND LOWS OF LIVES, FAMILIAR TO US EVEN TODAY.
46:57FOR MOST PEOPLE, THE NEW KINGDOM HAD BEEN AN AGE OF PLENTY.
47:01BUT IT WASN'T TO LAST.
47:05THE GOLDEN ERA OF WEALTHY PHAROES WAS BECOMING EVER MORE SUPERFICIAL.
47:10SETI'S SON RAMSES II WAS EGYPT'S MOST PROLIFIC BUILDER.
47:22OVERSPENDING ON EVER MORE OSTENTATIOUS MONUMENTS, THE BEST KNOWN OF WHICH WAS HIS TEMPLE AT ABU SYMBOL.
47:30BUT SUCH OVER-THE-TOP BUILDING PROJECTS EMPTIED THE ROYAL COFFERS, AS DID A SERIES OF COSTLY FOREIGN WARS.
47:37SO BY THE TIME OF RAMSES III, THE CRACKS HAD CERTAINLY BEGUN TO APPEAR.
47:46AS INFLATION INCREASED, SUPPLIES IN THE STATE GRANARIES RAN LOW.
47:52SO THE GRAIN WHICH FORMS THE MONTHLY WAGE RATIONS OF STATE EMPLOYEES LIKE TOMBILDERS AND ARTISANS, WAS NO LONGER PAID WHEN DUE.
48:02AND IT SPARKED THE FIRST RECORDED LABOR STRIKE IN HISTORY.
48:07IT HAPPENED IN 1155 BC, WHEN THE TOMBILDERS BEGAN TO COMPLAIN THAT THEIR FOOD SUPPLIES HADN'T BEEN DELIVERED.
48:14AND WHEN IT HAPPENED AGAIN THE FOLLOWING MONTH, THEY SIMPLY DOWNED TOOLS, MARCHED TO THE NEAREST TEMPLE, AND SHOUTED, WE ARE HUNGRY.
48:22TO MAKE SURE THEIR GRIEVANCES WERE HEARD, THEY STAGED A SIT IN AT THE TEMPLE.
48:31BUT THE STATE'S RESPONSE ONLY ADDED INSULT TO INJURY.
48:35LOCAL OFFICIALS COULD ONLY HAND ROUND A DELIVERY OF PASTRIES, NOT MUCH USE TO ANYONE.
48:46THE INDIFFERENCE OF THE AUTHORITIES PROVOKED MANY MORE WEEKS OF PROTEST.
48:50THEIR GRIEVANCES ONLY INCREASED, AND SOON THE STRIKING WORKERS HAD TAKEN TO SHOUTING OUT AT PASSING AUTHORITY FIGURES, INCLUDING THE MAYOR.
49:03THE WORKERS WERE FINALLY FOBED OFF WITH ENOUGH SUPPLIES TO SHUT THEM UP, IN TIME FOR THE PHARAOH'S JUBILEE CELEBRATION TO PASS BY, UNHINDERED BY TROUBLE.
49:14BUT THE STRIKING WORKERS HAD HIGHLIGHTED THE WANING POWER OF THE MONARCHY.
49:21WITH THE PHARAOH NOW SERVED BY AN INCREASINGLY INEFFICIENT AND CORRUPT BUREAUCRACY, THE GLORIOUS BUBBLE OF ROYAL EXTRAVAGANCE FINALLY BURST.
49:35AND THE PHARAOH'S RIVALS WERE WAITING IN THE WINGS.
49:39THE PRIESTS OF KARNAK.
49:44HAVING GROWN POWERFUL THROUGH THE REVENUES GIVEN TO THE GODS THEY SERVED, THE WRITING FOR THE ROYALS WAS QUITE LITERALLY ON THE WALL.
49:53AND YOU CAN SEE WHAT I MEAN IN THIS LITTLE KNOWN PART OF KARNAK TEMPLE.
49:57WHERE THE HIGH PRIEST IS MAKING A VERY BOLD STATEMENT, BUT ONLY IF YOU KNOW HOW TO READ THE FOOTNOTES.
50:08NOW THIS IS A FASCINATING SCENE.
50:13WE HAVE THE PHARAOH, RAMSEES IX, AND HE'S FACING HIS HIGH PRIEST SHOWN HERE.
50:19BUT THERE'S SOMETHING EXTRAORDINARY ABOUT THIS SCENE, BECAUSE FOR THE FIRST TIME, THE PHARAOH AND THE PRIEST ARE SHOWN ON EXACTLY THE SAME SCALE.
50:27THEY ARE THE SAME HEIGHT. THAT'S WHY THE PRIEST IS LOOKING SO PLEASED.
50:32HE HAS HIS ARMS RAISED AS IF IN TRIUMPH, BECAUSE THESE GUYS ARE SO CLEVER.
50:36THEY'VE ACTUALLY GOT THE PHARAOH STANDING ON A BOX.
50:40SO HE'S A FRACTION HIGHER, AND YET IN REALITY THEY'RE THE SAME HEIGHT.
50:45THIS REALLY SHOWS THAT THE PRIESTS ARE IN POWER.
50:49THEY'RE BASICALLY SAYING TO THE KING, WE ARE THE SAME SIZE AS YOU, THEREFORE WE ARE AS IMPORTANT AS YOU ARE.
50:57PRIESTS HAVE BECOME FULL-TIME POLITICIANS.
51:04VIEING WITH THE THRONE FOR POWER, THEY DESTABILIZED THE BALANCE BETWEEN CHURCH AND STATE.
51:10THE RELATIONSHIP ON WHICH EGYPT'S ENTIRE CULTURE DEPENDED.
51:15SO GREAT WERE THEIR AMBITIONS THAT BY THE END OF THE NEW KINGDOM, THE PRIESTS TOOK CONTROL OF THE ENTIRE SOUTH.
51:23AND WITH THE PHARAOH RULING ONLY THE NORTH, THE COUNTRY WAS SPLIT INTO ITS TWO ANCIENT HARVES.
51:34BUT EVEN WORSE WAS TO COME.
51:36IT'S AT MEDINET HABU, RAMSES III'S FUNERARY TEMPLE, THAT WE CAN FIND OUT JUST HOW LITTLE INTEREST THESE POLITICIAN PRIESTS NOW HAD IN THE ROYAL AFTERLIFE.
51:52THEY WERE ONLY CONCERNED WITH THEIR OWN STATUS AND THEIR OWN WEALTH.
51:59NOW THIS NEXT DISTURBING PART OF EGYPT'S STORY NOT ONLY SPELT DISASTER FOR ITS CORE BELIEF IN THE ROYAL AFTERLIFE, IT LEFT A TORTUOUS PUZZLE FOR EGYPTOLOGISTS, WHICH WE ARE STILL TRYING TO PIECE TOGETHER.
52:12IT'S AN EXTRAORDINARY STORY THAT BEGINS NOT IN THE TEMPLE BUT IN A SMALL HOUSE BUILT LATER WITHIN THE GROUNDS, BECAUSE THE PRIEST'S CORRUPT AMBITIONS WOULD BE PUT INTO PRACTICE BY THE MAN WHO LIVED HERE.
52:33HIS NAME WAS BUTTER ARMEN AND AS AN ACROPOLIS SCRIBE HE WORKED IN THE NEARBY VALLEY OF THE KINGS.
52:46THIS IS THE MAN HIMSELF, BUTTER ARMEN, WITH HIS SHAVEN HEAD, HIS STARCH KILT, HIS ARMS RAISED IN PRAYER.
52:54HE'S PRAYING TO THE GREAT GOD OF THEEBES, AMUN HIMSELF.
52:57ALTHOUGH BUTTER ARMEN'S STORY DOESN'T QUITE LIVE UP TO THIS IMAGE OF PIETY.
53:03BECAUSE IT WAS HERE THAT HE RECEIVED A LETTER OF INSTRUCTION FROM HIS BOSS, THE HIGH PRIEST OF KARNAK.
53:10THIS IS A COPY OF THAT LETTER, AND ITS CONTENTS ARE MIND-BLOWING, BECAUSE THE HIGH PRIEST IS TELLING BUTTER ARMEN,
53:20GO AND PERFORM FOR ME A TASK ON WHICH YOU'VE NEVER BEFORE EMBARKED.
53:25UNCOVER A TOMB AMONG THE ANCIENT TOMBS, AND PRESERVE ITS SEALED DOOR UNTIL I RETURN.
53:32AND ALTHOUGH THIS LANGUAGE IS QUITE EUPHEMISTIC AND CRYPTIC, BOTH THE SENDER AND RECIPIENT KNEW EXACTLY WHAT IT MEANT,
53:40AND IT WOULD HAVE A PROFOUND IMPACT ON EGYPT.
53:47BUTTER ARMEN HAD BEEN PROMOTED.
53:50HIS NEW TITLE WAS OPENER OF THE GATES OF THE NECROPOLIS.
53:58SO HE AND HIS MEN SET OUT FOR THE VALLEY OF THE KINGS, TAKING WITH THEM TOOLS AND BUNDLES OF LINEN.
54:04THEIR MISSION, NOTHING LESS THAN THE SYSTEMATIC DISMANTLING OF THE ROYAL CEMETRY IN SEARCH OF GOLD.
54:15IT WAS AN ORDER TO ACCUMULATE WEALTH.
54:25TOMB ROBBING ITSELF WAS NOTHING NEW IN ANCIENT EGYPT.
54:29BUT WHAT'S DIFFERENT ABOUT THIS LOOTING IS THAT IT'S AN ORDER FROM THE RULER OF UPPER EGYPT, THE HIGH PRIEST HIMSELF.
54:36THIS IS LOOTING SANCTIONED BY THE STATE.
54:47KNOWING THE SECRET LOCATION OF THE ROYAL TOMBS, BUTTER ARMEN BEGAN WHAT WAS EUPHEMISTICALLY REFERRED TO AS RESTORATION WORK.
54:55THE FINAL TABOO WAS ABOUT TO BE BROKEN.
55:02SO, BUTTER ARMEN AND HIS MEN SET TO WORK.
55:06THEY BREAK OPEN THE SEAL OF EVERY ROYAL TOMB.
55:09THEY MOVE THE LID OF THE SACOPHAGUS, TAKE OUT THE ROYAL MUMMY IN ITS NEST OF GOLD COFFINS, AND PROCEED TO UNWRAP EACH ONE.
55:16NEXT, THEY STRIP THEM OF ANYTHING OF VALUE, GOLD MASKS, JEWELRY, AND AMULETS, ALL TAKEN FOR THE TEMPLE TREASURY.
55:26AS FOR THE MUMMYS, THEY'RE RE-WRAPPED IN FRESH LINEN AND ALL BURIED TOGETHER.
55:35FOR THE CASH-STRAPPED PRIESTS, THESE ROYAL TOMBS WERE NO LONGER INVIBLE.
55:40BUT LITTLE MORE THAN A SERIES OF DEAD BODIES RESTING AMIDST THE GOLD THEY NEEDED TO ACHIEVE THEIR POLITICAL AIMS.
55:55SO FOR TWENTY YEARS, THIS VERY TOMB BECAME ONE OF BUTTER ARMEN'S RE-WRAPPING WORKSHOPS.
56:01WHERE ARCHEOLOGISTS FOUND FRAGMENTS OF THE GOLD PRIZED FROM ROYAL COFFINS,
56:07TRACES OF THE LOST TREASURES OF NUMEROUS PHAROES.
56:22AND BUTTER ARMEN'S HANDWRITING WAS DISCOVERED ON THE RE-WRAPPED MUMMY OF RAMSES III.
56:27WITH NO REGARD FOR THE SACRED, EVEN THE GREAT PHAROE AMENOTEP III
56:34ENDED UP REPACKAGED IN THE COFFIN OF RAMSES III, COVERED WITH THE ILL-FITTING LID OF SETI II.
56:44ONLY ONE TOMB, HIDDEN BY RUBBLE, ESCAPED THE WHOLESALE PLUNDER.
56:54YET THE ULTIMATE VIOLATION OF ANCIENT EGYPT'S SOUL WAS NOW COMPLETE.
57:12CLEARLY, THE PRIEST KINGS OF KARNAC HAD GOT WHAT THEY'D ALWAYS WANTED, ABSOLUTE POWER.
57:21NO LONGER INTERESTED IN THE ROYAL ANCESTORS, WHO WERE SIMPLY A SOURCE OF REVENUE TO BE ROBBED AND DISCARDED.
57:28THE DEVOUT HAD BECOME CYNICAL.
57:31AND THE ROYAL AFTERLIFE, NOTHING MORE THAN AN ILLUSION.
57:34AND THE ROYAL AFTERLIFE, NOTHING MORE THAN AN ILLUSION.
57:44INJUSTRY AND IT'S NOTHING MORE THAN AN ILLUSION, YOU WANT TO SAVE.
57:53AND I TRIED THEpowers OF boleh BE AT A nar š월�iek, YOU START TUMULarım AND singarchy instead kafippleses,
58:01ANDminuteサ裏 INFLU Campus.
58:06ANDHANKS za ver資源 YOU ARE to there SO MUCH THAT IT'S NOTHING WHAT WぜVER.
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