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00:01The mighty Red Pyramid, towering over the Egyptian desert at Dashur, a megastructure that helps define a civilization.
00:12This is a one-of-a-kind monument.
00:15Who kick-starts a revolution and builds this first true pyramid?
00:21It is really amazing because it is the first time that's used this kind of technique to receive a million
00:30tons of stone.
00:32Now, investigators have unique access to venture inside this mysterious structure to uncover why one pharaoh builds this incredible icon.
00:46This is a huge, huge feat of work, effort, and labor for the ancient Egyptians.
00:54To solve these mysteries, we blow apart its strange interior.
01:01We hunt for the mummy of the pharaoh who builds it, decode how he learns from his mistakes, and digitally
01:11reconstruct this wonder in its prime.
01:14To reveal the secrets of Egypt's trailblazing first true pyramid.
01:32Egypt, land of pharaohs who build monumental pyramids for their journey into the afterlife.
01:40Each one is a pivotal clue to unlocking the mysterious world of the ancient Egyptians.
01:47There are more than 100 pyramids across the Egyptian desert.
01:52Constructed over 1,000 years from the middle of the third millennium BCE, some of the first pyramids are built
01:59in Dashur, a 4,500-year-old necropolis.
02:03Dashur is an incredible area for studying ancient Egyptian mysteries.
02:09There's very few places on earth like this where I can see a history of a millennia of pyramid building.
02:17Seven huge stepped structures loom over the desert here.
02:22Their design is inspired by the flat Mustaba tombs of the earliest Egyptian rulers.
02:30And one pyramid at Dashur makes a pivotal turning point in Egyptian civilization.
02:36The Red Pyramid.
02:40Soaring over 344 feet into the sky over Dashur, this six-million-ton colossus hides an elaborate internal structure.
02:52On its northern side, a 200-foot passageway leads to three soaring chambers.
02:58Each one over 40 feet high.
03:04A labyrinth hidden under 160 layers of stone.
03:09This is an epic tomb, fit for a king.
03:13It is the first true pyramid in the world, with flat external sides.
03:18A revolution in pyramid design, the prototype for all to follow.
03:25Meredith Brand devotes her life to decoding the secrets of Egyptian monuments.
03:32This is the Red Pyramid.
03:35I look up and I can see a mound of red limestone that gives this pyramid its name.
03:41But when I look closer, it's evident that this is not a finished pyramid.
03:46There is something more going on here.
03:48These blocks are rough, they're unfinished, there's something missing.
03:56To understand the Red Pyramid's place in pyramid evolution, Meredith must piece together what it looks like 4500 years ago.
04:06This is red limestone.
04:08And just looking at it now, I can see it's weathered, there's cracks, there's holes.
04:12This has been exposed to the air for a long time.
04:15But the ancient Egyptians, they had a sense of style, aesthetic.
04:19They would have wanted something beautiful that would have gleamed in the desert.
04:24Meredith looks for clues to the pyramid's original appearance.
04:29Over here I can see there's something different.
04:32The color is different.
04:34So this is a redstone, and over here there's something gleaming, white, bright.
04:39But it's only a small fragment.
04:41This shows a clue that there was something else here.
04:50She makes her way to the eastern side of the pyramid to hunt for more evidence of this material.
04:57This is a smooth white color, and it looks different from the rough, coarse red limestone that I saw on
05:04the other side of the pyramid.
05:06This is white Tura limestone.
05:09It originates from a quarry 12 miles away on the other side of the Nile.
05:14It is a highly prized material in ancient Egypt.
05:18This rock holds a clue.
05:20I can see all of these fine marks, these look like chisel marks.
05:25So this side would have been worked.
05:27But over here, it's smooth.
05:30I mean, of course the surface is weathered from being exposed to the desert wind and sand.
05:34But this was left smooth, and this side was a work face.
05:41This discovery reveals that the pyramid is once totally covered in this stone.
05:47This is the only spot with fine Tura limestone, which shows sometime in antiquity.
05:54People came and removed, robbed, and stripped all of the fine Tura limestone from this pyramid.
06:07In its prime, the pyramid's red core is clad in a layer of gleaming white casing stones.
06:17A shining capstone crowns the top of this perfect pyramid.
06:24Surrounded by a perimeter wall.
06:27On its eastern side, a temple, where offerings are made to the dead pharaoh.
06:36Mysterious hieroglyphs are carved on the internal surface of the pyramid.
06:41Can they reveal who is the mastermind behind the world's first true pyramid?
06:53Meredith translates the hieroglyphs to reveal the name of the pharaoh behind this pioneering structure.
07:01This is an image of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.
07:03There's a folded cloth here, and that's an S sound.
07:07And then this sign, next to it, is the lungs and esophagus of an animal.
07:13And that sound is nefer.
07:15And to complement the sound, you have a small horned viper, which is an F and an open mouth, an
07:21R.
07:22And below that is a quail chick that sounds like ooh.
07:27So when you put it together, it reads Sneferu.
07:32This royal name, Sneferu, is clear evidence of both the builder and the date of the Red Pyramid.
07:40It is thought Sneferu's reign begins in 2613 BCE.
07:46He is the first pharaoh in Egypt's fourth dynasty.
07:57Sneferu ascends the throne by marrying the royal heiress Heteferes,
08:02and sets to work putting his own stamp on Egypt.
08:08Before his reign, a pharaoh was believed to be the reincarnation of the falcon god Horus.
08:18But Sneferu is a devout follower of the sun cult, and sees himself as the living embodiment of Ra, the
08:25sun god, the supreme divinity.
08:31Sneferu wants his final tomb to assist his resurrection to join Ra after death.
08:40This is why Sneferu started to build pyramids in a different way.
08:44It was to pursue his belief in the sun god Ra.
08:48Meredith wants to decode how Sneferu proves his devotion to Ra through his pyramids.
08:56She examines the Red Pyramid's relationship to the sun.
09:03I'm going to look and see the direction of the sunrise in the east, and then I'm going to follow
09:09it to the west.
09:11So when I look over here, I can see that the sun would have risen in the east.
09:17And then if I move and go to the west, it's perfectly aligned for when the sun would set.
09:26Sneferu's pyramid is orientated to match the sun's movement across the sky.
09:32The sides face north, south, east, and west.
09:36So this shows that the ancient Egyptians, they used the sun as an important indicator of the cardinal directions.
09:44And they built the pyramid in line with the sunrise and the sunset.
09:53Sneferu revolutionizes pyramid design.
09:55He builds the red pyramid with smooth sides and aligns them perfectly with the sun's movement across the sky.
10:04How does Sneferu build his flawless pyramid?
10:07And is it achieved in its first attempt?
10:20The Red Pyramid.
10:23Built by the revolutionary pharaoh Sneferu.
10:27It is Egypt's first smooth-sided true pyramid.
10:3430 miles south in Medum, Meredith Brand investigates if this unusual structure was Sneferu's prototype.
10:43Most of this pyramid was plundered over the years, but its temple has remained intact.
10:51Oh, wow, there's an inscription.
10:59This inscription is quite faded.
11:01Now, I've got a copy from when it was originally discovered.
11:05And it lines up.
11:07So I can see that someone came here to this temple and visited in the reign of Thutmose III.
11:14So that's the 18th dynasty, almost a thousand years after this structure should have been built.
11:19I can see that this person is a priest who's come to visit this place.
11:23And then he says, he's here because this is the pyramid of Sneferu.
11:34The temple inscription reveals that the Medum pyramid is also built by Sneferu.
11:40But it is a traditional step pyramid, unlike his iconic red pyramid.
11:47Sneferu built this pyramid as well as the red pyramid.
11:52So that means he made two pyramids.
11:54It's quite unusual for a pharaoh.
11:58Sneferu designs his first pyramid to surpass any Egyptian tomb that came before him.
12:04He builds a pioneering style of burial chamber above ground and closer to the sun,
12:10fully encased within the stonework of the pyramid's first layer.
12:15Seven more giant steps rise up above it, taller than any of its predecessors.
12:22The entire monument is finished off with a casing of fine white limestone.
12:30What can Sneferu's Medum pyramid tell us about his quest for the perfect pyramid?
12:42It's so exciting to go inside of a pyramid.
12:46There's always a bit of a mystery.
12:51Meredith climbs to the entrance on the north side of the pyramid,
12:5566 feet above the ground.
13:00So I'm going down 190 feet into the base of this pyramid.
13:08This pyramid, when it's sealed, it was never meant to be reentered again.
13:12Which means you just don't know what you're going to find.
13:16She descends down the steep passage to the heart of the pyramid.
13:21But she isn't the only one inside these tunnels.
13:26Oh, God.
13:32So I'm having a bit of a standoff with a bat at the moment.
13:35It doesn't want to leave.
13:41Move, bat.
13:46Meredith finally emerges into the burial chamber of the pyramid.
13:53So this seems to be it. This seems to be the burial chamber.
13:57And I can see this corbled ceiling. It's the first of its kind.
14:03And it sort of elevates the chamber up.
14:07The ceiling of the chamber is built from stones stacked vertically to form an arc toward its apex.
14:13It's a revolutionary technique known as corbling, not seen in pyramids before Sneferu.
14:22Adal Kalani investigates how Sneferu builds this new style of burial chamber.
14:27And begins the process of creating the perfect pyramid.
14:33In traditional tombs, burial chambers are built with flat roofs and cut into the bedrock.
14:41Adal constructs a replica to compare the two styles of burial chambers.
14:50When the Egyptians start building the burial chamber, they started with a flat roof.
14:55And that was very good with the small buildings.
15:00First, Adal builds a model to replicate a burial chamber with a flat roof.
15:07In basic way, that states the walls of the burial chambers, and this is the roof.
15:13And this is what we are going to test.
15:16He adds blocks to the top.
15:19To recreate the force of the thousands of tons of stone in the pyramid's core.
15:24And waits to see if the flat roof can bear the load.
15:35Next, Adal overlaps the blocks, like steps, to create a corbald ceiling.
15:44So we added more.
15:46Look.
15:47And the building, as you can see, is still stable and even stronger.
15:52The corbald ceiling withstands more than twice the force of the flat-topped roof.
15:58Each block acts as a counterweight.
16:02If Sneferu builds his chamber at the base of the pyramid with a flat roof, it will collapse.
16:09So he pioneers a new corbald ceiling.
16:12Now he can be buried inside his pyramid, closer to the sun.
16:18He is the master of the next generation to invent these techniques to follow after that.
16:25So in simple way, he is a builder master.
16:31Sneferu's Maedoum pyramid is revolutionary.
16:35But it doesn't satisfy the pharaoh's grand ambitions.
16:39Meredith investigates why.
16:42Looking up, it doesn't seem right.
16:44It seems unfinished.
16:48All the walls are rough.
16:50There's pitting here and there.
16:51I can see this wooden beam bracing the top of the ceiling.
16:57And it's like this burial chamber is unfinished.
17:01It's like the construction workers in ancient times are working here and then they just got up and left.
17:08It doesn't seem to be that Sneferu was buried here.
17:15If Sneferu is never buried here at Maedoum, it could explain why he builds the red pyramid as his final
17:22resting place.
17:24He wants a straight-sided pyramid to align with the sun.
17:29Sneferu made a break from the past view of the afterlife and shifts his focus to the cult of the
17:34sun, making him abandon the pyramid in Maedoum.
17:43Before Sneferu, stepped pyramids like the one at Djoser represent the king's stairway to ascend to the stars.
17:55But this isn't enough for Sneferu.
17:59He wants to build taller pyramids that reach closer to the sun.
18:06He transfers his cult temple from the north side of his pyramid to the east, so it faces the rising
18:13of the sun.
18:16He dreams of a smooth-sided pyramid to reflect the sun's rays and to symbolize a shaft of sunlight rendered
18:24in stone.
18:27How does Sneferu perfect his new pyramid design?
18:33Could a third pyramid help explain his pursuit of perfection?
18:46The Red Pyramid. A marvel of ancient engineering.
18:51The first true smooth-sided pyramid ever constructed.
18:56Built by the pharaoh Sneferu.
19:01Egyptologist Meredith Brand investigates how Sneferu advances this completely new design and executes it so perfectly.
19:10She heads one mile south of the Red Pyramid.
19:15A curious structure towers over the desert here.
19:20Normally, a pharaoh builds one pyramid.
19:22But Sneferu, he does something no one did before.
19:26He builds his first pyramid in Meidum.
19:29Then his second pyramid, the Bent Pyramid.
19:32And then makes a third, the Red Pyramid.
19:37Sneferu's second attempt is known as the Bent Pyramid.
19:40It is one of the most unusual structures that stands in the desert at the shore.
19:46The Bent Pyramid is in a remarkable condition.
19:50There is this beautiful, fine, white limestone outer casing still preserved.
19:58Deep in the heart of the Bent Pyramid, Sneferu changes the design of the Meidum pyramid.
20:06Now, a passageway leads to a corbelled burial chamber reaching up higher into the stonework of the pyramid.
20:16On the outside, Sneferu makes another radical change.
20:20He builds smooth sides at a daring 54-degree angle.
20:26Then at a more gentle incline, giving the Bent Pyramid its name.
20:32He clads the exterior in precision-cut white limestone to make a smooth-sided pyramid.
20:39A shaft of sunlight rendered in stone.
20:43But the Bent Pyramid is far from perfect.
20:47Meredith investigates what goes wrong.
20:50So this is different from most pyramids.
20:53I can see here there's a big gap between the blocks used to build this pyramid.
20:59And when I look closely, the ancient Egyptians filled this gap with small pieces of stone.
21:06This would have been incredibly destabilizing on the pyramid.
21:10The blocks don't touch, they're not strong.
21:13This gap between them filled with debris and rubble only serves to destabilize this pyramid further.
21:24Meredith makes her way to the entrance of the pyramid on its northern face.
21:31I've just stepped in and already I can see something quite astounding.
21:35There's a huge crack running from outside all the way in.
21:41It's a massive, massive fissure.
21:45She descends the narrow 260-foot-long tunnel.
21:49Oh, this is quite something.
21:57I'm down in the descending passage of the Bent Pyramid and I see just crack after crack forming in the
22:03ceiling.
22:04Civil engineers have studied this and have shown that the whole of the inside of this pyramid is shifting slightly.
22:14Halfway through construction, the outer layers of the Bent Pyramid crack.
22:19A grave warning of engineering mistakes.
22:26The site that Sneferu chooses isn't rock, but loose and shaly sand.
22:37Workers lay the stone blocks inwards instead of lying them flat, increasing the internal stress on the pyramid.
22:47If Sneferu's men continue with the original design, the entire structure may collapse.
23:00The workers building this pyramid had already built another one at Maedoum.
23:04So this was their second try.
23:06And I can't imagine being down this deep, scary passageway in the heat and the dust.
23:14It must have been terrifying.
23:17Also, I can't imagine having to come back and tell the pharaoh,
23:20your second pyramid isn't going to work.
23:24Halfway up the pyramid, the builders are terrified it could collapse.
23:29So they change the angle to make it less steep.
23:33Meredith uses a clinometer to examine this dramatic intervention.
23:40So when I hold it up and I align with my site,
23:46the angle or the point of inflection where the angle changes,
23:50I can tell that this pyramid changes suddenly to around 43 degrees.
23:58This is a completely different slope than the base of the pyramid.
24:02The radical change in angle saves the bent pyramid from collapse,
24:06but leaves Sneferu's dream of a smooth-sided pyramid,
24:10built like a shaft of sunlight rendered in stone, in ruins.
24:18He abandons the bent pyramid, just like his pyramid at Maedoum,
24:22and tries again with the red pyramid.
24:26What's so interesting is that the red pyramid has a slope of 43 degrees from the base all the way
24:34up.
24:38Sneferu learns from his mistakes here at the bent pyramid,
24:42building too steeply and on unstable ground with angled stones.
24:47He discovers 43 degrees is the perfect angle to create his ultimate pyramid.
24:54The bent pyramid shows me that Sneferu's a true innovator.
24:58He realizes that doing something remarkable requires trial and error.
25:04And the bent pyramid is the way that Sneferu learns the route to building a true pyramid.
25:12His quest for the perfect resting place continues.
25:18Ancient Egyptians believed that it's crucial for the pharaoh to have a perfect burial
25:22in order for the eternal cosmos to function and their society to flourish.
25:27The pharaoh has to have a perfect pyramid.
25:34Can clues in the casing of the red pyramid tell us how quickly Sneferu builds it?
25:40And how does he afford to raise so many structures in the desert?
25:57Forty-five hundred years ago, a mysterious pharaoh, Sneferu,
26:02builds not one but three gigantic pyramids.
26:06The Medum Pyramid, his first step towards a Sun Cult-inspired tomb.
26:14The Bent Pyramid, an overly ambitious project that almost ends in disaster.
26:21And his final perfection, the Red Pyramid.
26:26Egyptologist Meredith Brand explores how he builds so many.
26:31Sneferu managed to move 130 million cubic feet of stone to build three pyramids.
26:38It's a phenomenal feat of engineering, architecture, and just sheer human effort.
26:45It's mind-boggling.
26:52Investigators unearth clues to how long each takes to build.
26:57In the outer casing of the Red Pyramid, inscriptions of a cattle count
27:02that occurs every two years in ancient Egypt.
27:06Like a log book, the markings are mapped out across the pyramid's 160 layers.
27:13Higher up, an inscription of the 16th count.
27:17And near the top, one for the 24th count.
27:23By looking at the distance and time between the markings,
27:27investigators work out how long it takes to build the pyramid.
27:38These inscriptions make it clear that Sneferu built one-fifth of the pyramid in two years.
27:44That means it would have taken at least 10 years to build this entire pyramid,
27:51which is remarkably fast.
27:53For Sneferu to get this much work done, he would have needed around 40,000 men.
28:01Meredith wants to know how Sneferu amasses the resources to pull off this incredible feat of engineering so quickly.
28:14She examines an ancient text for evidence of Sneferu's rule.
28:19This is the Palermo Stone.
28:21It's a small fragment of a larger royal animal that tells us what all the kings of the Old Kingdom
28:27did.
28:28And I can see looking at it, there's a cartouche with the name Sneferu telling us this is the king
28:34we're looking for.
28:36The Palermo Stone has a tantalizing amount of information about Sneferu.
28:41This section here tells us that Sneferu made an expedition to Lebanon to get cedar wood to build a 100
28:51-cubit ship.
28:53That's about 170 feet.
28:55And this ship would have been used to collect numerous luxury goods that he could use to bolster the economy
29:00and build the pyramids.
29:06In his quest for resources, Sneferu ventures far into the deserts beyond the Nile Valley.
29:16He builds a fleet of 40 ships, used to trade with Phoenicia, modern-day Lebanon, for their prized cedar wood.
29:28He conquers neighboring Libya, Nubia, and Sinai, and captures 7,000 prisoners and 20,000 cattle to bring back to
29:37Egypt.
29:39He likely puts the captive to work in the quarries and mines of Lower Egypt to prepare vast quantities of
29:47stone for his building projects.
29:50Building three pyramids is a massive economic challenge, and Sneferu met that challenge by setting up agriculture estates,
30:00dedicating cattle, and even using prisoners of war to expand the Egyptian labor force.
30:13Backed by these resources, the Red Pyramid is a masterpiece of construction.
30:20It satisfies all of Sneferu's wishes.
30:24But it isn't just the outside of the pyramid that is revolutionary.
30:30Sneferu rewrites the rulebook to create vaulted chambers taller than any seen before in Egypt.
30:39What is the purpose of these rarely seen hidden chambers?
30:46And what lies undiscovered inside the labyrinth of this ancient tomb?
31:01The pyramids of Sneferu. The largest is the Red Pyramid.
31:07A wonder of engineering on the exterior.
31:12Meredith Brand begins her ascent to the entrance to explore its groundbreaking design inside.
31:25It is 94 feet up on the north side of the pyramid.
31:30Higher than any other pyramid Sneferu builds.
31:37Even with modern steps, the climb is tough.
31:42But the entrance tunnel reveals that her journey will only get harder.
31:49This is the entrance of the pyramid.
31:52It plunges straight down into the middle of the core of the pyramid.
31:57Without the modern steps, this passage would be treacherous.
32:03In an opening on its northern side, a hidden entrance leads to a 206-foot passageway,
32:11diving down at an angle of 27 degrees into the heart of the pyramid.
32:17A first chamber connects by a short, narrow corridor to a second identical chamber,
32:23both with corbelled ceilings.
32:27They link 30 feet up via a final corridor to a third great chamber,
32:33the inner sanctum of the Red Pyramid.
32:40Is this elaborate labyrinth designed to conceal Sneferu's mummy?
32:54Meredith climbs down hundreds of feet of dark tunnels.
32:59The mere fact that I have to crouch down like this shows me that
33:03this wasn't meant to be accessed by people.
33:08They lead into a secret chamber.
33:16I made it to the first chamber.
33:19It's stunning. It's huge.
33:21The stones are big, beautiful blocks.
33:24It's all finished nicely.
33:26And the ceiling is so high.
33:29This chamber appears different to those in Sneferu's other pyramids.
33:34I can tell that the ancient stonemasons took time and effort to finish them
33:40and sort of polish them off.
33:42This looks like a complete interior of a pyramid.
33:47Sneferu finishes the inside of his Red Pyramid.
33:50This makes it more likely that Sneferu's mummy is buried here
33:55than in the Medum and Bent Pyramids which remain unfinished.
34:04This passage leads from the first chamber through a tunnel to something else.
34:10And it's a bit to the side and it's perfectly wide enough for a big block
34:15to completely hide this passage.
34:24Meredith searches for where Sneferu's mummy might be.
34:30I made it into the second chamber.
34:33And I'm here in the center of the pyramid.
34:36There's 200 tons of stones on either side of me.
34:40And the ceiling goes up and up and up and up and up.
34:44She searches the second chamber for a route through the labyrinth.
34:50All three sides of this chamber have solid walls.
34:53And then I look and I can see a huge modern staircase constructed
34:58going up and up and up and up to the top.
35:00And it shows me that there's something up there.
35:04I'm excited to go take a look.
35:12Meredith climbs the modern staircase to the top of the corbelled ceiling.
35:19Up here, she can see signs that Sneferu tries to hide the entrance to a third chamber.
35:26These holes high up on the wall are a clue that there could have been a suspended ceiling.
35:34A false ceiling here would have hidden the entrance to the third chamber from unwelcome robbers.
35:42Any ancient robber would have to search very hard to find the entrance to a secret chamber.
35:52Sneferu perfects his pyramid design here, inside the Red Pyramid.
35:57He creates a labyrinth worthy of his final resting place.
36:01With a burial chamber high up and close to the sun, hiding his tomb from robbers.
36:09Does Sneferu's perfect pyramid pay off?
36:12Or do tomb robbers discover his final chamber and his mummy?
36:25The Red Pyramid, built with corbelled, vaulted chambers and concealed tunnels to stop tomb robbers from finding Sneferu's tomb.
36:35Meredith Brand explores the tunnels of the pyramid to see if his plan works.
36:42She ascends the modern staircase and makes her way into the upper chamber of the Red Pyramid.
36:58I've crawled through a passage and I've reached this massive ceiling chamber. It's 48 feet above me.
37:06And looking around, I can't see another doorway. This seems to be the end.
37:13There doesn't seem to be another chamber or anything else beyond this.
37:19Marks on the ceiling catch her eye.
37:22It's remarkable. I can see on the roof that there's this dark black soot.
37:28It shows me that people have been in here lighting candles that has emitted smoke staining the walls and the
37:36roof.
37:38Meredith hunts for evidence that this is a sign tomb robbers reach this chamber.
37:43The floor of this chamber is completely dug up and I can't think of any reason why an ancient Egyptian
37:49would want to do this unless it's to find hidden treasure.
37:53So it seems that robbers have come in here digging this entire area up, ripping out the original floor and
38:01leaving a big hole in the ground, almost 14 feet deep.
38:10Like all pharaohs, Sneferu is buried with unimaginable treasure and a collection of funerary goods for the afterlife.
38:23But tomb robbers break in and empty the chamber of its riches.
38:33They widen the passageway so they can take their bulky plunder out of the chamber to the pyramid's entrance.
38:44Finally, they make off with the loot across the Egyptian desert, never to be seen again.
38:54When archaeologists first enter the burial chamber, nothing of Sneferu is left.
39:01Meredith makes one final sweep of the chamber.
39:05She spots an unusual feature.
39:08It suggests Sneferu may have one last trick.
39:13Looking around, all of the stones are the same color and they look really similar.
39:18Except for over here on this wall, there's a stone that's darker than the stones around it.
39:25Could there be another chamber behind it?
39:28The tomb robbers likely strip this chamber of great riches.
39:32But whether they remove Sneferu's mummy or if he lies undisturbed beyond these walls is yet to be discovered.
39:40His body has never been found.
39:43I wonder if Sneferu's mummy is still in the Red Pyramid.
39:51Sneferu's mummy is lost, but his perfect pyramid is his lasting legacy.
39:57Sneferu finally achieves his dream and he builds his smooth-sided pyramid.
40:02He makes a beacon of the sun in the middle of the desert.
40:06He finally achieves his goal and he's able to join the sun god Ra on his eternal journey.
40:13Sneferu designs the first true pyramid and changes the way they are built forever.
40:20Ancient Egyptian kings were inspired by the past and what Sneferu did was inspire future kings of Egypt to build
40:28bigger, greater and grander pyramids.
40:33Sneferu builds more pyramids than any other pharaoh and revolutionizes their design.
40:41The Medum pyramid, the first pyramid with a corbelled burial chamber to reach to the sun.
40:49The Vent pyramid, the first pyramid to attempt smooth sides to represent the sun's rays.
40:57And the Red pyramid, Sneferu's perfect third masterpiece.
41:02The final resting place for his body to journey to the afterlife.
41:08Sneferu's son Khufu follows in his father's footsteps constructing the Great Pyramid of Giza.
41:15It has become the iconic pyramid of ancient Egypt.
41:21But it is the Red pyramid that changes the course of pyramid building forever.
41:54But one human being turned into the Earth was created.
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