00:29This is a production of the U.S. Department of Health.
01:12I met a traveller from an antique land who said,
01:16Two vast and trunkless legs of stone stand in the desert.
01:21Near them, on the sand, half sunk,
01:24A shattered visage lies, whose frown and wrinkled lip
01:29And sneer of cold command
01:31Tell that the sculptor weld those passions red,
01:35Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things.
01:41With these memorable lines,
01:44The poet Shelley captures perfectly the fascination of ancient Egypt.
01:49Evidence of this great civilization still exists today,
01:54Kept alive through images such as the great pyramids and the sphinx.
01:59These magnificent structures burn in the imagination,
02:03Just as the sun burns the desert that has preserved them so miraculously
02:07For more than four and a half thousand years.
02:16The origins of the ancient Egyptian civilization
02:19Can be traced to the mysterious river Nile.
02:23Cutting a sway through the desert from its source in the Niawongro River,
02:27A tributary of Lake Victoria,
02:29It flows down the valley that it has carved for itself
02:32To the delta on the Mediterranean coast.
02:34A journey of nearly 6,500 kilometers.
02:41The ancient Greek historian Herodotus declared
02:45That Egypt is the gift of the Nile.
02:49This is because every year,
02:51Following the monsoon rains in Central Africa,
02:54The river swells and bursts its banks.
02:58For three months annually from July until October,
03:01A period that the ancient Egyptians named the Inundation,
03:06The Nile floods the valley floor,
03:09Leaving behind it a rich alluvial deposit.
03:13The black mud is fertile enough to grow crops
03:16That support man and beast abundantly.
03:20Together with the sun,
03:22It was perceived by the ancient Egyptians
03:24As the source of life.
03:28During the 19th dynasty,
03:301300 years BC,
03:33A poet wrote this hymn in praise of the mighty river.
03:38Hail, O Nile!
03:40Glittering river which brings life to Egypt,
03:43Mysterious and hidden.
03:45You nourish orchards and give life to the beasts.
03:48You bring forth the barley,
03:51And you spread joy in the temples.
03:52You fill the granaries of the two provinces,
03:56And you prepare subsistence for the poor,
03:59When your fingers are still,
04:01Both high and the lowly morn.
04:04But when your banks overflow,
04:07The earth rejoices,
04:09And the misreign trembles with joy.
04:13Prospero, Nile!
04:15Let man live by his herds,
04:17And let his herds live by the pastures.
04:20Fulfill the wishes of all,
04:23And may your waters roll tirelessly on,
04:26Forever and ever.
04:39The great river originally flowed through the two kingdoms,
04:43Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt.
04:46But in about 3100 BC,
04:49It was united by Nama,
04:51The ruler of Upper Egypt,
04:53Shown here on a carved slate palette,
04:56Disposing of an enemy.
04:58Nama established his capital at Memphis,
05:01And was the first ruler to wear the double crown,
05:04Of the two kingdoms.
05:11The economy of ancient Egypt,
05:13Was based upon agriculture,
05:15And because the climate fluctuated wildly,
05:18Between flood to drought,
05:20Soil irrigation was vital.
05:23Fields were laid out in squares,
05:25Close to the irrigation channels,
05:27And water was moved from one field to another,
05:30By breaching the small dikes,
05:32That separated them.
05:34The earth was worked by women as well as men,
05:37Using mattocks,
05:39And the crops that were grown,
05:40Were usually oats,
05:41Barley,
05:42Millet,
05:43And beans.
05:44The people's diet,
05:45Was supplemented,
05:46By what they were able to hunt,
05:48Which sometimes included lions from the desert,
05:51And other wild animals,
05:52That inhabited the papyrus marshes,
05:55And swamps.
05:57By 2500 BC,
06:00The era of the old kingdom,
06:02The Egyptians had devised a draw net,
06:04To catch wild birds,
06:06Such as the widgeon,
06:07The pintail,
06:08The wild goose,
06:09And ducks.
06:11And of course,
06:12The Nile itself also provided,
06:14A valuable source of food.
06:17Although largely self-supporting,
06:20Egypt did trade,
06:21With her neighbours,
06:23And there is evidence,
06:24That goods and artefacts,
06:25Were exchanged in a system of barter.
06:53The majority of the ancient Egyptian population,
06:57Consisted of peasants,
06:59Who worked the land,
07:00And grew enough to feed,
07:02Their extended families.
07:04They lived on onions,
07:06Coarse wheat bread,
07:08Beans and figs,
07:09And as with any early society,
07:12Their life expectancy,
07:13Was low.
07:16A middle class did exist,
07:18Although still very much rooted,
07:20In the agricultural system.
07:22These farmers sometimes,
07:24Owned their own home,
07:25Which was modestly,
07:27But comfortably furnished.
07:29They might also have owned,
07:31A few acres of farmland,
07:33From which they may have,
07:34Earned enough money,
07:35To send their sons,
07:36To the school for scribes,
07:38Of Thebes.
07:40Only a privileged few Egyptians,
07:42Live the lifestyle,
07:43Of the upper classes,
07:45Whose estates were typically,
07:47Surrounded by walled parks,
07:48Containing pools,
07:49Filled with lotus flowers,
07:52And water lilies,
07:53Orchards,
07:53And gardens full of jasmine,
07:56Cornflowers,
07:56And oleanders.
07:58Theirs was a sophisticated existence,
08:01As this document,
08:02Offering advice on,
08:04Civilized behavior,
08:06Clearly illustrates.
08:09If you are one of the guests,
08:11At the table of one greater than you,
08:14Take what he gives you,
08:15As it is set before you,
08:18Look at what is before you,
08:20Don't shoot too many glances at him,
08:23Molesting him offends the spirit,
08:26Don't speak until he summons,
08:29One does not know what may displease,
08:32Speak when he addresses you,
08:34Then your words will please the heart.
08:43Working as a scribe,
08:45Provided the best way to rise through the ranks of society.
08:49Scribes were an extremely important part,
08:52Of the social and educational systems of ancient Egypt.
08:55They were expected to be knowledgeable,
08:58In language, literature,
08:59History,
09:00Law,
09:01Maths,
09:02Accountancy,
09:03Administrative procedures,
09:05Surveying and Architectural design.
09:09A form of hieroglyphic writing,
09:12Was first introduced,
09:13During the first dynasty,
09:14Around 3100 BC.
09:17The word,
09:19Hieroglyphic,
09:20Comes from the Greek meaning,
09:22Sacred signs,
09:23And was developed to fulfill the needs,
09:26Of all government,
09:27Business and religious circles.
09:30Much of the information comes from the temple inscriptions,
09:34And papyri.
09:36The precise meanings of these intricate symbols,
09:40Remained in doubt,
09:41Until the year 1822,
09:44When a tablet of black basalt,
09:46Was discovered at the town of Rosetta,
09:48By a lieutenant,
09:50Bouchard,
09:50Who was serving with the French army,
09:52And was deciphered,
09:54By Jean-Francois Champillon,
09:57Known as the Rosetta stone,
10:00The tablet contains inscriptions,
10:02In two languages,
10:03And three scripts,
10:06Hieroglyphs,
10:07Which were restricted to the priests,
10:10Demotic,
10:11Another form of Egyptian,
10:12Used for popular writing,
10:14And Greek.
10:16It was with their knowledge of Greek,
10:19That language scholars,
10:20Were at last able,
10:22To discover,
10:23What the inscription actually said.
10:27Hieroglyphics,
10:28It comes from the Greek actually,
10:29It means sacred writing,
10:30Because the pictures,
10:32The picture writing of ancient Egypt,
10:34Was essentially used by the priests,
10:35For great inscriptions and such like,
10:37There was a more common form,
10:39Of writing called demotic and hieratic,
10:42But hieroglyphs are the pictures,
10:43Of the birds,
10:44The animals and such like,
10:46And they're terribly important,
10:48Because it is from those inscriptions,
10:50We know most about ancient Egypt,
10:51On the tombs,
10:52On the temple walls,
10:54And not least in the papyri.
11:01The royal court consisted of the heads,
11:04Of various administrative branches,
11:06Such as the treasury,
11:08The judiciary,
11:10And the diplomatic service.
11:13Overseeing them,
11:14Was the vizier,
11:16Or prime minister,
11:17But the great figurehead,
11:19Who presided over everyone,
11:22Was the pharaoh.
11:24The word pharaoh,
11:27Originally meant royal palace,
11:29And it was not until 1580 BC,
11:33That it came to describe,
11:35The ruler who lived inside.
11:37These potentates,
11:39Were venerated,
11:40As descendants of the gods,
11:42And were considered to be,
11:44Supreme mortals,
11:45A man above all men.
11:53The history of ancient Egypt,
11:56Can be divided into five periods,
11:59Archaic,
12:00Old kingdom,
12:02Middle kingdom,
12:04New kingdom,
12:05And the late period.
12:08As a subdivision of these periods,
12:11There were 30 dynasties,
12:13Some unremarkable,
12:14But many,
12:16Featuring pharaohs,
12:17Of extraordinary talents,
12:19And achievements.
12:20These mighty rulers,
12:22Are largely accessible,
12:23To the modern age,
12:25Through the magnificent architecture,
12:27And artifacts,
12:29Which still exist.
12:31The earliest pharaoh,
12:33Of any note,
12:34Was Zosa,
12:35Who ruled from 2667,
12:39Until 2648 BC.
12:44Zosa employed,
12:45The revolutionary architect,
12:47Imhotep,
12:49To build a tomb for him.
12:51This gave,
12:52Imhotep,
12:53A position of such importance,
12:55That he was known as,
12:57Sculptor builder,
12:58And chief minister,
13:00Of the land.
13:01He decided,
13:03To change the materials,
13:04He would use.
13:05Instead of mud bricks,
13:07As had been the fashion previously,
13:09He designed,
13:11A fantastic tomb,
13:13Made of stone.
13:15The result of his genius,
13:18Was the very first,
13:19Pyramid.
13:26Zosa set in motion,
13:27A trend,
13:28That was to flower,
13:2970 years later,
13:30During the reign of Cheops,
13:32Who ruled from 2589,
13:35To 2566 BC.
13:39Cheops chose,
13:40A site at Giza,
13:42To build for his mortal remains,
13:43A pyramid,
13:44That took 30 years,
13:46To build,
13:47And became one of the seven wonders,
13:49Of the ancient world.
13:52Approximately,
13:53100,000 workmen,
13:55Were employed,
13:56To build Cheops pyramid.
13:58They were given,
13:59Free food and lodgings,
14:01Although research suggests,
14:03That they were fed,
14:04A diet that consisted,
14:05Almost entirely,
14:07Of bread and onions.
14:09Each year,
14:10When the great river was in flood,
14:12Blocks of limestone,
14:14From the Mokotam hills,
14:15East of the Nile,
14:16By modern Cairo,
14:18Were floated in huge barges,
14:20Across the river,
14:22To the site.
14:24Grey and red granite,
14:26Alabaster,
14:27And diorite,
14:27Were brought in similar fashion,
14:29From quarries as far away,
14:30As Aswan,
14:31Some 500 miles up river.
14:34A vivid account,
14:35Of the whole process,
14:37Exists in the work,
14:38Of the Greek historian,
14:40Herodotus.
14:42Cheops left behind him,
14:44A colossal piece of work,
14:46His pyramid.
14:47Up to the reign,
14:48Of Ramsenitis,
14:50Egypt was excellently governed,
14:52And very prosperous.
14:54Cheops,
14:55His successor,
14:57Compelled his subjects,
14:58To labour as slaves for him.
15:01Some were forced,
15:02To drag blocks of stone,
15:03From the quarries,
15:04In the Arabian hills,
15:05To the Nile,
15:06Where they were ferried across,
15:08And taken over by others,
15:10Who hauled them,
15:11To the Libyan hills.
15:13The work went on,
15:14In three monthly shifts,
15:16A hundred thousand men,
15:17In shift.
15:19It took ten years,
15:20To build,
15:21Including the underground,
15:23Burial chambers,
15:24On the hill,
15:25Where the pyramids stand.
15:27If one looks at the achievements,
15:28Of the ancient Egyptians,
15:29They,
15:30Well,
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