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00:12where you see the passing of time
00:18where moments refuse to die
00:21this is a momentous hour in world history
00:24this is the invasion of Hitler's Europe
00:27and where victory lives on
00:30plenty of girls are being kissed by plenty of boys
00:32they don't know and they do not care
00:35you can love it, hate it, embrace it or turn away
00:40Lennon was shot to death late last night
00:42outside his apartment building
00:44but it is a past we all share
00:47come on out here and give me a salute
00:48take Dave's salute
00:50this is where yesterday has a home
00:52where we wonder what it was like back then
00:56go forward knights in safety
00:58and not too long ago
01:00his spirit must live on
01:03it's where history has its place
01:05and where the past comes alive
01:24sand, desert, wind, water, the pharaohs
01:34out of the cradle of civilization
01:37came men and women whom thousands worshipped as gods on earth
01:43they led their people through an era that brought human creativity
01:47mysticism and intellect together
01:50to form one of the greatest cultures the world has ever seen
01:56for three thousand years they ruled ancient Egypt
01:59and built grand monuments to themselves and to their gods
02:05the pyramids of Giza
02:06the great sphinx
02:09the temples of Abydos
02:11the valley of the kings
02:15their royal names
02:17their royal names
02:17Ramses, Cleopatra, Khufu and Tutankhamun
02:21still resound with stories of legendary power
02:24riches, conquest and scandal
02:29still there were pharaohs whose lives are now buried in mystery
02:35their noble tombs contain treasures that have yet to be equaled
02:40their palaces have stood for millennia
02:42testimony that they commanded some of the finest builders, artists and scholars ever known
02:50find out why this pharaoh was thought to be a heretic
02:53who brought his country to the brink of chaos
02:57learn why another was called the Napoleon of ancient Egypt
03:02and how a boy became the most powerful figure here
03:05at the age of six
03:08the pharaohs
03:11through eyes carved in stone
03:13they gaze out into the future
03:17their faces locked in expressions that convey a powerful legacy
03:21to all who look upon them
03:25their bodies wrapped in linen
03:27have traveled forward through time
03:31and their spirits are reflected in countless sculptures, paintings and hieroglyphs
03:40more than royalty
03:42the pharaohs were an ancient link between the mortal and the divine
03:46their mighty achievements still inspire awe and wonder
03:52their monuments seem like fingerprints of the gods themselves
03:56now the secrets of an ancient race of god kings
04:01whose names thunder through the centuries
04:04the greatest pharaohs
04:06the world of god kings
04:24but they can't do it
04:25it's the greater the Gospel of God
04:26the kingdom of God
04:35which has been found
04:39The Nile, secretive movement, a darkness in daylight, bringer of life to the people of Egypt.
04:52Long before the first pharaohs signaled the start of their civilization by building wondrous monuments along these black shores, the
05:01Nile flowed freely here.
05:03It was the source of life for small bands of wanderers who lived along these fertile banks.
05:10Fish and fowl were abundant, and there were crocodiles and hippopotamuses to hunt.
05:17Each spring, the river would flood, depositing a layer of rich, dark mud from which wild barley grew.
05:25These prehistoric people of the Nile harvested their bounty with stone blades and arrowheads.
05:35Life here was so dependent on the river that the Greek historian Herodotus would later call Egypt the gift of
05:42the Nile and the temple of the world.
05:46Scratch upon a rock on these cliffs or deserts of the Nile Valley, and the mark is left forever.
05:52Forever.
05:57Into this land, 3,000 years before Christ, would be the central figures of ancient Egyptian civilization, the pharaohs.
06:10From the beginning, the land along the Nile was divided naturally into two regions.
06:16The narrow river valley that extended northward from the African continent was called Upper Egypt.
06:23The lush delta region where the branches of the Nile empty into the Mediterranean Sea was called Lower Egypt.
06:30Joined together, this would become the Egypt of history.
06:37In this narrow valley, the monuments were built, the inscriptions written, and a mysterious religion and philosophy developed.
06:47This valley of the Nile, protected by the deserts which close it in, is the land of the pharaohs.
06:56The word pharaoh means simply great house, and it was the mission of the pharaohs to establish their spiritual and
07:04political supremacy over all that lived in the land.
07:09The foremost symbol of this kingship was the crown.
07:13One of the two most important was the white crown, a tall, slender headdress with a rounded top.
07:19It signified its wearer as the ruler of Upper Egypt.
07:24The red crown signified the ruler of Lower Egypt.
07:29When the two were combined and worn at once, the crown signified the pharaoh of all Egypt.
07:38The pharaoh also carried ceremonial tools called the crook and the flail.
07:44It is believed that the crook was shaped after a shepherd's staff, and characterized the pharaoh as a shepherd of
07:51his people.
07:52The flail was symbolic of both a weapon and a tool for threshing wheat.
07:58When crossed across the pharaoh's chest, they signified his power to lead, protect, and provide for his people.
08:08Nearly every aspect of ancient Egyptian life was believed to be controlled by gods.
08:15Often the god was represented by an animal, a reflection of the awe with which these Nile dwellers regarded the
08:22creatures that shared their fertile homeland.
08:26The ruling pharaoh was believed to be the embodiment of the hawk-headed god, Horus, ruler of the sky and
08:34lord of heaven.
08:36Above all, the ancient Egyptians believed their life on earth and the order of the universe was controlled by a
08:45force they called Ma'at.
08:49The pharaoh's job description might be described as maintaining Ma'at.
08:56Everything must function according to Ma'at, or the universe, the ordered universe, might collapse into chaos.
09:07Earthly chaos, cosmic chaos.
09:11Pharaoh's job is to coordinate the divine and human effort to maintain Ma'at.
09:17It's a pretty important job description.
09:19He's helping to preserve the universe.
09:31Egyptian civilization began when Upper and Lower Egypt were brought together under one warrior king in the year 3150 B
09:39.C.
09:41He is believed to have conquered his enemy in a fertile field of papyrus to become the first pharaoh of
09:48Egypt.
09:51The physical evidence for this comes from Upper Egypt in the city of Herakonopolis, along the west bank of the
09:58Nile.
09:59Excavations have revealed a monumental piece of dark green slate, the Narmir palette.
10:06It is the earliest historical record of Egypt and was carved 3,000 years before Christ.
10:15This is a replica of the Narmir palette, about third scale, so the original would have been much larger than
10:21this.
10:22And the biggest figure on the Narmir palette is the king himself, who we see kilted with a characteristic bull's
10:29tail, which the pharaohs wear,
10:30and wearing the headjet, or white crown, which is typically associated with Upper Egypt.
10:35In his hand, he holds a mace, and he's using that to smite this foreign enemy.
10:40The classical interpretation of the Narmir palette has been that this pharaoh, Narmir, was the king who unified the country.
10:48And this document has really played a major role in that interpretation.
10:55Hieroglyphs of the pharaoh's name depict a catfish above a chisel and form the word Narmir,
11:01a name that translates literally as angry catfish.
11:07This may sound to us rather amusing, however, the Nile has several species of electrically charged catfish
11:15that are capable of inflicting a very painful electrical jolt.
11:20So that I think the name really has some resonance.
11:26According to legend, Narmir burned the enemy village and killed each of its soldiers.
11:33The reverse side of the Narmir palette depicts such a scene after the pharaoh's battle.
11:39In front of the king and the followers of Horus is the remains of a battlefield
11:44with rows of beheaded individuals with their heads between their legs.
11:51Narmir began a bloodline that marked the rise of the first dynasty of pharaohs over 5,000 years ago.
11:59Twenty-nine such dynasties, or distinct family lines of rulers, would follow.
12:05The change is due to either lack of an heir or by the wars and political infighting
12:10that lay in the future of the pharaohs, a period that would span some three millennia.
12:16In order to secure his conquest, the pharaoh Narmir probably married a princess of northern origin.
12:25He then moved north along the Nile and founded his resident city at a site known as White Walls.
12:32Here, in 3050 BC, he was succeeded to the throne by his son,
12:38whose name found on a simple shard of pottery meant fighting hawk.
12:42He was the pharaoh, or Acha.
12:49Acha probably inherited a system where many of the basic ideas about Egyptian kingship already existed.
12:55What he did was give it much more dramatic, monumental form.
13:01For Acha's greatest achievement was the founding of the city of Memphis
13:05on the site of what had been his father's residence, White Walls.
13:09This city would grow into the political and religious capital of ancient Egypt.
13:14Made of mud and wood, it is all but vanished.
13:18But the Greek historian Manetho leaves an impression of this city of White Walls.
13:26Memphis was by far the largest city I had ever seen.
13:31A colossal wall of pearly limestone encloses the city proper.
13:35Within the wall, many temples rise from the enormous spread of brown brick houses,
13:42and around them tower an army of gigantic statues.
13:49The pharaoh and his family lived in a palace inside the great white wall.
13:54The interior was brightly painted with scenes of Egyptian life.
14:00The wood-beamed ceilings were supported by massive columns of stone.
14:10The pharaoh's mourning began with a ritual bath
14:13that was witnessed by members of his court and his attendants.
14:18Because he was required to appear before his people dressed as a god,
14:22hygiene and appearance consumed a great deal of King Uraha's time.
14:30During this period in Memphis, the hippopotamus was a prevailing symbol in Egyptian culture.
14:37Hunting them, in fact, was considered a great sport of the nobles and pharaohs like Uraha,
14:42who pursued them in the marshes along the swamps at the edge of the Nile.
14:48It was on such a hunt that Egypt would see its pharaoh, Uraha, killed at the age of 62.
14:56According to the legend told by an ancient priest,
14:59Uraha was carried away from his people in the jaws of a hippopotamus.
15:11The hippopotamus also has a religious implication because the male hippopotamus was the embodiment
15:18of the god of evil called Seth or Set, S-E-T-H.
15:24And one wonders with this story preserved by a priest
15:28whether it's a reflection somehow of the king being carried away by the embodiment of evil.
15:36Perhaps the 62-year-old pharaoh really was carried away by old age
15:41and the ancients attributed his death to their god Seth,
15:44the bringer of fierce storms of the desert whom the Egyptians sought to appease.
15:51We may never know how the pharaoh Uraha really died,
15:54but we can visit his tomb in search of clues at an ancient burial ground on the edge of the
15:59desert.
16:06The Nile, Egypt's great river highway.
16:10By the time the early pharaoh Uraha had died,
16:14in about 3010 B.C., swift boats made of reeds with upswept bows
16:19and square linen sails were afloat on the water here.
16:24Propelled by the winds that swept down from the Mediterranean Sea,
16:28vessels like these were probably used to take the dead pharaoh's body
16:32on the 300-mile journey south from his palace at Memphis
16:37to a holy place called Abydos.
16:53The city of Abydos was begun as a burial site
16:56by the earliest pharaohs to honor the god Osiris, lord of the dead.
17:00It was the legendary rebirth of his body
17:03that gave rise to the ancient Egyptian belief in life after death.
17:10Forty feet below the desert surface is what remains of the Osirion,
17:15the temple at Abydos,
17:17where the ancient Egyptians worshipped the god Osiris as a symbol of resurrection.
17:24Its walls are inscribed with chapters from the Egyptian Book of the Dead,
17:29a set of instructions designed to enable the deceased
17:32to safely pass through to the next world.
17:36Until now, most bodies had been simply buried in a shallow pit.
17:41The natural drying effects of the desert sand against the corpse
17:45resulted in a withered human form in a very short time.
17:51To shield their earthly remains for all eternity,
17:54the pharaohs of the first dynasty built sturdy tombs here.
17:58Once buried at Abydos, the pharaohs believed
18:01they would join their god in the afterlife
18:04and indeed continue to rule and keep order in the universe forever.
18:11The tomb that awaited the pharaoh at Abydos was called a mastaba,
18:15the Egyptian word for bench.
18:18Made to endure forever,
18:21the mastaba was built of sun-baked mud bricks
18:24with a flat roof and sloping sides.
18:27Inside were compartments stocked with an array of food,
18:30tools, and furniture,
18:31intended to fortify the king for eternity.
18:37Under this structure was a shaft
18:39that led to an underground chamber lined with brick.
18:43There, the pharaoh's body would rest
18:46and the shaft would be filled with stone
18:48to make the tomb inaccessible.
18:52Most scholars agree that the ruins of this tomb,
18:56which archaeologists called Tomb B-19,
18:59once held the remains of the pharaoh, Poraha.
19:04Around him were the burial pits of his faithful servants,
19:08concubines, and even pet dogs,
19:10who were all sacrificed
19:12and expected to accompany him into the afterlife.
19:16In time, such sacrifices ceased,
19:19and burial near the pharaoh was reserved
19:21for royal family and valued subjects.
19:27Another tomb close by was labeled with the name Benerib,
19:32which translates literally to Sweet Heart.
19:35It is possible that this was the tomb of Poraha's queen
19:39or possibly his favorite concubine.
19:43The death of the pharaoh Poraha
19:45marked the start of a period of growth
19:47and prosperity for Egyptian civilization
19:49that would last for more than 800 years.
19:58Memphis was the hub of culture and trade.
20:01Workers unloaded cargos of livestock and vegetables
20:05that came from Upper Egypt.
20:07Gold, ivory, and precious stones
20:10were brought up from Nubia in the south.
20:14The Egyptians preserved some scenes
20:16of this ancient life in wooden models.
20:19From these, we know that barley was ground
20:21and kneaded into dough for large quantities of bread.
20:25Cows were slaughtered for meat,
20:27the preferred food of the noble class.
20:32A powerful country needed administration.
20:35These tasks fell to a special class
20:38of ancient Egyptian, the scribes.
20:43The scribes are very important
20:45because they really represent the official class,
20:48the bureaucrats who make up the government,
20:50who really made Egyptian culture possible.
20:55The pharaoh was the leader,
20:56but without the bureaucratic structure
20:58to fulfill what he thinks is needed,
21:02the Egyptians couldn't have achieved
21:03what they had to achieve.
21:05But it's important to remember
21:06that only maybe 5% of the Egyptian population
21:10at any time were actually literate.
21:14As a practical matter,
21:16the pharaoh had to delegate most of his duties
21:18to officials called viziers,
21:21second only to a pharaoh in status.
21:23These Egyptian high officials
21:25were schooled as scribes
21:27and were often depicted sitting cross-legged
21:29with their papyrus laid across their lap.
21:32This was the customary posture for writing.
21:35Not only did the scribe ensure
21:37the pharaoh's wishes were carried out,
21:39he ensured a record would be left for history.
21:47By the end of the Second Dynasty,
21:49in 2700 BC,
21:52the Wall of Lists of Abydos
21:54tells us that 22 pharaohs
21:57had reigned over Egypt
21:58since Horaha founded Memphis,
22:00but little more is known about them
22:02beside their names and what they meant.
22:05One pharaoh's name would read
22:07Hothep Sakemwe,
22:09or God of Pleasing Powers.
22:11Another was Seth Peribson,
22:14which meant simply
22:15powerful in heart.
22:17What else we know
22:19is that their burial mastabas
22:21would be built closer
22:22to the capital city, Memphis.
22:23These grew more imposing
22:25and elaborate.
22:26Some reached 17 feet high
22:28with as many as 70 chambers.
22:33The construction of ever more
22:36elaborate monuments
22:37to these pleasing and powerful pharaohs
22:39indicates increasing confidence,
22:41wealth, and knowledge.
22:44The Egyptians soon developed
22:46new skills in building
22:47and architecture.
22:49A trend towards greater
22:50and greater beauty
22:51and excellence
22:52led here to Saqqara.
23:04Located south of the modern city of Cairo,
23:07this remarkable stone edifice
23:08is the funerary complex
23:10of King Josur,
23:11the first pharaoh
23:12of the Third Dynasty.
23:15With the reign of Josur,
23:16which began in about 2630 B.C.,
23:20the power of the pharaoh
23:22was absolute.
23:23Everyone,
23:24from the proudest administrator
23:25to the lowliest slave,
23:27was subject to his dictates.
23:30It was Josur,
23:32whose name meant
23:33the most sacred one,
23:34that first began
23:35to explore the vast mineral wealth
23:37of the Sinai Peninsula
23:39that lay across the Gulf of Suez
23:41to the east.
23:43Here he would discover
23:44rich deposits of copper
23:46and turquoise
23:47that added to his wealth.
23:48He sent boats up the Nile
23:50to extend his rule
23:51and the borders of Egypt,
23:53as far south as Aswan.
23:55To proclaim his exalted status,
23:59Josur commissioned
24:00the first pyramid
24:01ever built in Egypt,
24:02the Steppe Pyramid.
24:03200 feet high,
24:06the towering six-tiered
24:08Steppe Pyramid
24:08dominates the horizon
24:10and the elaborate burial complex
24:12which surrounds it.
24:16King Josur's burial complex
24:19is very important
24:20because it is the first
24:22monumental building
24:24built entirely out of stone,
24:26the first time in history.
24:29Even more important,
24:30it gives us the idea
24:31of how a funerary complex
24:33is going to look like
24:35in Egypt
24:36from that time on.
24:37As a burial monument,
24:39it was truly
24:40a staircase to heaven.
24:42As an architectural achievement,
24:44it pays homage
24:45to the pharaoh
24:45Josur's mysterious
24:46chief architect
24:47and scribe,
24:48Imhotep.
24:52An inscription from his period
24:54contained this tribute.
24:57Seal bearer
24:58of the king of Egypt,
24:59one who was near
25:00the head of the king,
25:01director of the great mansion,
25:04royal representative,
25:06high priest of Heliopolis,
25:08Imhotep,
25:09the carpenter
25:10and the sculptor.
25:15Imhotep, I suppose,
25:16in a modern idiom,
25:17we'd call him
25:18the Leonardo da Vinci
25:19of ancient Egypt.
25:20He was brilliant.
25:21He was everything.
25:23He was second only
25:24to the king.
25:25He was the vizier,
25:26the chief statesman.
25:27He had many high titles.
25:30But who was he?
25:31We don't really know.
25:33All we know
25:34is his status
25:35at the time
25:36that he was the genius
25:38who built the stone pyramid.
25:40The tomb Imhotep
25:42designed for the pharaoh,
25:43Josur,
25:44took the old mastaba
25:46form to new heights.
25:48Imhotep actually built
25:49six mastabas
25:50of diminishing size,
25:52one on top of another,
25:53by assembling
25:54hundreds of thousands
25:56of white limestone blocks.
25:59The result
25:59was a monument
26:00to his king
26:01that could be seen
26:02for miles
26:03on the desert horizon.
26:08The building of this
26:09first pyramid
26:10also coincided
26:11with Josur's choice
26:12of the sun god,
26:14Ray,
26:14as the country's
26:15dominant deity.
26:17To honor Ray,
26:19the temples adjoining
26:20the pyramids
26:21would be built
26:22with their entrances
26:23toward the east
26:23to face the rising sun.
26:30The complex
26:32was enclosed
26:32by a wall
26:3330 feet high
26:34with many false entrances.
26:36This served
26:37as a symbolic setting
26:38for Josur's
26:39Hepzid festival,
26:40a ceremony
26:41that celebrated
26:42the pharaoh
26:43as a magical symbol
26:44of fertility.
26:47It involved
26:48the pharaoh
26:49stepping through
26:50a ritual course
26:51that represented
26:52the four corners
26:52of Egypt.
26:55Inside one
26:56of the steppe
26:57pyramid's galleries,
26:58a relief
26:59depicts Josur
27:00eternally stepping
27:01through the Hepzid festival
27:03as his court
27:04recited a pious
27:05incantation.
27:08Lord of destiny,
27:10creating the
27:12plenteous harvest,
27:14pillar of the skies,
27:16support of the earth,
27:18leader who directs
27:20the two banks
27:21of the Nile.
27:22There is plenteous
27:24harvest
27:24wherever
27:25his sandals
27:27may be.
27:31The Hepzid festival
27:33took place
27:34about every
27:3530 years
27:36of reign
27:37of a particular
27:38pharaoh.
27:39And it was meant
27:40to be a rather
27:40civilized
27:41way of
27:43rejuvenating
27:44life in Egypt
27:45and prosperity
27:46and to ensure
27:47that they would
27:48have this.
27:49In other cultures,
27:50very often,
27:51they would
27:52kill the king
27:53and then there
27:54would be
27:55a new young
27:56king coming
27:57onto the throne,
27:58but the Egyptians
27:58did not do that.
28:00They had a ritual
28:00for rejuvenation
28:02and the king
28:02would stay
28:03in power.
28:06Joshua would reign
28:07for only 19 years
28:08and we may
28:10never know
28:10whether his
28:11Hepzid court
28:12was ever used
28:13for the festival
28:13of his rejuvenation.
28:15We do know
28:17that when he died
28:17in 2649 B.C.,
28:20he had begun
28:21a legacy
28:22of pyramid building
28:23in ancient Egypt
28:24that would be
28:25copied and refined
28:26for 2,000 years.
28:32The ancient authors
28:34through whom
28:35Egyptian history
28:36survives tell us
28:37that the third dynasty,
28:39which is noted
28:40for the building
28:40of the first pyramids
28:41by the pharaoh
28:42Djoser,
28:43came to an end
28:44in 2613 B.C.
28:48The final pharaoh,
28:50whose name was
28:50Huni,
28:51or the smiter,
28:52left no male heir
28:53to the throne.
28:55He would be succeeded
28:56by a pharaoh
28:57who would signal
28:58the beginning
28:58of a new ruling dynasty
28:59for ancient Egypt.
29:01This was the pharaoh Snefru.
29:07The wall of lists
29:08at Avidos
29:09tells us that Snefru
29:11was from Memphis,
29:13but was from
29:14a different royal line.
29:15His marriage
29:17to Huni's daughter,
29:18Hete-Pherese,
29:19brought the two lines together.
29:21The marriage would begin
29:22a new dynasty
29:23of ancient Egyptian pharaohs,
29:25the fourth.
29:26This dynasty
29:27would last
29:28for more than 400 years
29:29and consist
29:30of 17 different pharaohs.
29:41The name Snefru
29:43meant bringer of beauty,
29:45and his reign
29:46over Egypt
29:47would last 24 years.
29:51Snefru's predecessor,
29:52Djoser,
29:53had pushed the Egyptian border
29:54as far south as Aswan.
29:57Now Snefru sought
29:59to stretch
29:59his influence further,
30:01sending a campaign
30:02deep into Nubia
30:03to settle
30:04in the city of Buhin.
30:07This was used
30:08as a base
30:08for mining expeditions,
30:10trade,
30:11and conquest.
30:13He is said
30:14to have returned
30:14with 7,000 captive Nubians,
30:17presumably to use
30:18as laborers,
30:19and 200,000 head of cattle.
30:25There are paintings
30:26which depict exotic animals
30:28such as giraffes
30:29and baboons
30:30being brought back
30:31from the African continent
30:32and given as offerings
30:34for the delight
30:34and pleasure
30:35of the early kings.
30:39There is evidence
30:40that,
30:41like his predecessor,
30:42Snefru also pursued
30:44the rich mineral wealth
30:45that lay across
30:46the Gulf of Suez.
30:49This carving
30:50celebrates a raid
30:52on turquoise mines
30:53in the Sinai Peninsula
30:54and depicts
30:55Snefru killing an enemy.
30:58Its inscription
30:59calls the pharaoh
31:00a great god
31:01who conquers
31:02the foreign lands.
31:06Another of the chief
31:07commodities
31:08sought by the pharaoh
31:09was timber.
31:10Much wood
31:11was needed
31:12to make furniture
31:12and provide beams
31:14for the homes
31:14of the wealthy.
31:16But such trees
31:18were scarce in Egypt
31:19and the nearest source
31:20would require
31:21the Egyptians
31:22to travel by sea.
31:26Having developed
31:27their skills
31:28navigating the Nile,
31:29the Egyptians
31:30were to become
31:31the ancient world's
31:32earliest and best sailors.
31:34And it was under Snefru
31:35that they first took
31:36to the seas
31:37in search of cedar wood.
31:40The pharaoh
31:41ordered construction
31:42of 60 merchant ships.
31:44Soon there were fleets
31:46of graceful sailing vessels
31:47en route to Biblos
31:48in Lebanon.
31:50One of Snefru's scribes
31:52would record
31:53the bringing
31:53of 40 ships
31:54filled with cedar logs.
31:59Wall inscriptions
32:00from this time
32:01also tell us
32:02that Snefru
32:03awarded estates
32:04built of cedar logs
32:05and mud bricks
32:06to his high officials.
32:07But he was careful
32:09that they were
32:09widely separated
32:11to discourage them
32:12from banding together
32:13to form their own
32:14sub-kingdom.
32:16Still,
32:17the king found time
32:18to celebrate.
32:33By all accounts,
32:34life was sweet
32:36under Snefru's rule.
32:37Egypt in the third millennium B.C.
32:40was a land of peace
32:41and plenty.
32:42Formal gatherings
32:43of nobles
32:44were hosted
32:45by the new pharaoh
32:46and his queen.
32:48members of the court
32:49feasted on figs
32:51and fattened ducks.
32:52These people
32:53of ancient Memphis
32:54were lovers
32:55of beauty and fashion.
32:56They wore wigs,
32:57eye paint,
32:58and fine linen robes
33:00when they wore
33:01much at all.
33:04The ancient Egyptians
33:05also paid great attention
33:07to fragrance
33:08because body odor
33:09was a sign
33:10of sinfulness.
33:12For this reason,
33:13cones of perfumed fat
33:15were worn on the heads
33:16of eligible women.
33:20Over the course
33:21of a long,
33:21hot evening,
33:22the cones would melt
33:23and run down
33:24over their bodies.
33:31Another sign
33:32of the pharaoh's
33:32style of rule
33:33comes from a papyrus
33:35which recounts
33:36how a bored
33:36King Snefru
33:37had himself
33:38rowed around a lake
33:39by a young,
33:40beautiful woman
33:41wearing only fishnets.
33:46ultimately,
33:47the ancient people
33:49of Egypt
33:49were bound
33:50to the past
33:50as embodied
33:51by the spirit
33:52of the departed.
33:53For this reason,
33:55it was only natural
33:56that the enduring
33:57symbols of the culture
33:58were mansions
33:59for the dead,
34:00the pyramids.
34:04The pharaoh Snefru
34:06would move
34:07the royal burial ground
34:08yet again,
34:09not back to Abydos,
34:11but to a new site
34:12along the Nile
34:13called Dashur.
34:16It is here
34:17that he would build
34:18the first true pyramid.
34:22For much of this century,
34:24this site
34:25has been closed
34:25to visitors
34:26and seen only
34:27by a handful
34:28of archaeologists.
34:31Newly opened,
34:32the site offers
34:33a rare glimpse
34:34of Snefru's
34:35spectacular constructions
34:36as they dominate
34:37the desolate
34:38almost lunar horizon here.
34:46Rising 341 feet
34:47from the desert floor,
34:49this is the bent pyramid,
34:51the first that Snefru
34:52would have built
34:53for himself.
34:55Snefru named it
34:56the gleaming pyramid
34:57of the south,
34:58and its shape
34:59led some scholars
35:00to suggest
35:01that the pharaoh
35:02died suddenly
35:03and his pyramid
35:04had to be finished
35:05hastily.
35:06In truth,
35:08the curious shape
35:09reveals much
35:09about Snefru's pyramid
35:11builders.
35:14The bent pyramid
35:15is probably
35:16one of the first
35:17major lemons
35:17that we can find
35:19in history.
35:20When they originally
35:21started building
35:22the pyramid,
35:23the Egyptian architects
35:25didn't realize
35:26that the ground
35:27on which the pyramid
35:28was built
35:28could not carry
35:29all that weight.
35:30so as a result,
35:32when they got
35:33halfway up,
35:34the interior
35:35of the pyramid
35:36started cracking.
35:37There were all kinds
35:38of structural problems,
35:40so one of the ways
35:41they tried to fix it
35:42was to change
35:43the angle
35:44of the pyramid
35:45to a less steep slope
35:47so that there would be
35:48less mass of rock
35:49on it.
35:53Inside,
35:54Snefru had this
35:55limestone relief
35:56of himself
35:57placed on the wall
35:58of a chamber.
36:00It depicts him
36:01dressed for his renewal
36:02or heb-said festival
36:04and wearing
36:04the double crown
36:05that signifies him
36:07as the ruler
36:07of Upper and Lower Egypt.
36:13Outside his
36:14misshaped pyramid,
36:15he supervised
36:16the building
36:17of an elaborate
36:18funeral temple,
36:19part of which
36:19can still be seen.
36:26I think the pharaohs
36:27kept very close tabs
36:29on their monuments,
36:31especially their
36:31funerary monuments,
36:32their pyramids
36:33and motri temples.
36:34And they would
36:35probably have been
36:36there quite often
36:37to see at first-hand
36:38how things were going
36:39because no matter
36:40how powerful
36:41the pharaoh was
36:42when he was alive,
36:43his eternal prosperity
36:46depended on
36:47having the right tomb
36:49and so in a way
36:50for them personally
36:51this was one of the
36:51most important events
36:52of their reign
36:53and it was very
36:54unfortunate if you
36:55were a chief architect
36:55and something really
36:57went wrong,
36:58which occasionally did.
37:01Such was the final case
37:03of Snefru's bent pyramid.
37:04Its chambers would
37:05remain forever empty
37:06but his architects
37:08were not punished.
37:09Instead,
37:10one mile to the north
37:11they went on
37:12to build a masterpiece,
37:13the most striking edifice
37:15at Dashur,
37:16the Red Pyramid.
37:24Standing 344 feet high,
37:26this is the first
37:28true smooth-sided pyramid
37:30to be built in the world.
37:31Its name derives
37:33from the rock
37:34it was built with.
37:35Rich in iron oxide,
37:37the stone takes on
37:38a reddish cast
37:39in the desert sunlight.
37:45The design of the
37:47Snefru's red pyramid
37:48closely followed
37:49the emergence
37:49of the sun god Ray
37:51as the country's
37:51dominant deity.
37:54The pyramid was conceived
37:56to resemble
37:57a sunburst in stone,
37:59its sides reproducing
38:01the slant
38:01of the sun's rays
38:02as they angled
38:03toward the earth
38:04through a cloud break.
38:08The pyramid
38:09also represented
38:10the pharaoh's
38:11divine place
38:12in Egyptian society.
38:15The king
38:16is at the apex,
38:18the pharaoh,
38:18and it spreads down,
38:20widening out.
38:21The immediate family
38:23are the closest
38:24and high portions
38:26until you get right down
38:27to the broad base.
38:28It tells us
38:30how unified
38:30the kingdom was,
38:31how the king,
38:33the pharaoh,
38:34could call upon
38:35forces to build.
38:36And people were pleased
38:38to work on this
38:39because it was
38:41a monument to the king
38:42when he became a god
38:43after he died.
38:44And in so doing,
38:46it ensured
38:46their own well-being
38:47on earth.
38:50Ironically,
38:51the very top
38:52or capstone
38:53of the Red Pyramid
38:54that symbolized
38:55Snefru
38:56has fallen to the ground
38:57where it has been preserved.
39:06In a mastaba
39:07south of the pyramid
39:08were buried
39:09Snefru's high priest
39:10Rahhotep
39:11and his wife,
39:12Norfred.
39:14They were represented
39:16by painted limestone statues.
39:18The Egyptians believed
39:19that such realistic sculpture
39:21would help a spirit
39:22to recognize a tomb
39:24as its home
39:25in the afterlife.
39:29Their features
39:30offer an exceptional look
39:31at how an ancient
39:32Egyptian would have appeared.
39:35Early explorers
39:36were so startled
39:37by the lifelike
39:38glass eyes
39:39of the statues
39:40that they dropped
39:40their tools
39:41and fled.
39:44These faces
39:45have been locked
39:46in a gaze
39:46toward the future
39:47for 3,000 years.
39:49Their solemn expressions
39:51have been thought
39:52to show their confidence
39:53in immortality
39:54because they were connected
39:55to the pharaoh.
39:57The woman Norfred
39:59is identified
40:00as a princess.
40:01In addition to the title
40:02of high priest,
40:04Rahhotep's statue
40:05is inscribed
40:06King's son
40:07of his body.
40:09This has led scholars
40:10to speculate
40:11that this figure
40:12may well depict
40:13the son
40:13of the pharaoh
40:14Snefru.
40:21Snefru himself
40:22was destined
40:23to be buried
40:24in his masterpiece,
40:25the Red Pyramid.
40:30Inside,
40:32a magnificent
40:32hallway passage
40:33opens to a burial chamber
40:35with ceilings
40:36that stretch
40:3745 feet high
40:38and appear
40:39to be held in place
40:40by beams
40:41made of stone.
40:44Though long ago
40:45emptied by tomb robbers,
40:47the chamber
40:48would have held
40:48unimaginable riches
40:50and ultimately
40:50its royal occupant,
40:52the pharaoh's corpse.
40:55Here,
40:56the dead pharaoh
40:57was thought
40:57to gaze
40:58through the shaft
40:59to watch day
40:59turn into night.
41:02Sealed in a stone tomb,
41:05a body would quickly
41:06decompose from moisture.
41:08The ancient Egyptians
41:09realized
41:10they were actually
41:11destroying
41:12what they were hoping
41:13to protect
41:14and so,
41:15upon Snefru's death,
41:17he would become
41:17something else.
41:25Rising out of the sand
41:26like huge beasts
41:28on this desert landscape,
41:30the pyramids of Giza
41:31are among the most
41:32massive monuments
41:33in all of human history.
41:37They are stunning
41:39reminders
41:39of a time
41:40in ancient Egypt
41:41when the sacred
41:42practice of pyramid
41:43building reached
41:44its highest point.
41:47Ultimately,
41:48they reflect
41:49the wishes
41:49and dreams
41:50of the three pharaohs
41:51who built them.
42:01It was during
42:02the fourth dynasty
42:04in ancient Egypt
42:05that the pharaohs
42:06undertook
42:07the most ambitious
42:07building projects
42:08ever attempted
42:09before now.
42:11The first to build here
42:13was the pharaoh Khufu.
42:15He succeeded
42:16his father Snefru
42:17in the year 2551 B.C.
42:20Snefru had built
42:21the bent
42:22and red pyramids
42:23at Dashua.
42:25Now,
42:27Khufu would build
42:28on his father's
42:28achievements,
42:29erecting the largest
42:30pyramid
42:31on the Giza plateau.
42:34Khufu,
42:35the builder
42:35of the Great Pyramid,
42:36inherited
42:37an already very stable,
42:38centralized,
42:39and powerful kingdom.
42:41And although
42:42we're very impressed
42:43by the Great Pyramid,
42:44it's important
42:45to remember
42:45that his father
42:46had already had
42:47two pyramids built,
42:48also massive monuments
42:49in stone,
42:50which if you took
42:51them together
42:51would easily outweigh
42:53the scale
42:54of the Great Pyramid.
42:55So we're very impressed
42:56by what Khufu achieved,
42:58but in many ways
42:59he was just continuing
43:00a tradition
43:00that was already
43:01established before him.
43:04Rising some 480 feet high,
43:07the Pyramid of Khufu
43:09is taller
43:10than the Statue of Liberty,
43:12St. Peter's Cathedral,
43:13or an Apollo spacecraft
43:15on its launching pad.
43:17In fact,
43:18it was the tallest structure
43:20on earth
43:21until the Eiffel Tower
43:22was built in 1889.
43:24It was meant to be seen
43:26from everywhere.
43:29The site that he chose
43:30was very important
43:31because it's on a rise.
43:33It's a plateau
43:33and it's on a rise.
43:35And so his monument
43:36could be seen
43:38throughout the whole
43:39northern part of the country.
43:40So wherever you were
43:42around the capital,
43:44you could see
43:45the monument
43:45that was being built.
43:49The Great Pyramid
43:50is constructed
43:51of individual stones
43:52that weigh an average
43:53of two and a half tons each.
43:55The immense structure
43:57contains more than
43:582,300,000 of these stones,
44:00all placed in such
44:01seemingly perfect order
44:03that it is almost impossible
44:05not to think
44:05that this was somehow
44:06the building project
44:07of gods.
44:15Inside,
44:16a chamber known
44:16as the Grand Gallery
44:18was built near the top.
44:19It is a red granite room,
44:21the final resting place
44:23for the pharaoh.
44:24At the far end
44:25of the chamber
44:26is the red granite sarcophagus
44:28of the pharaoh Khufu,
44:29for whom the Great Pyramid
44:31was built.
44:34The term sarcophagus
44:36comes to us
44:36from the Greek word sarx,
44:38which means flesh,
44:39and phagion to eat.
44:41Combined together
44:42as sarcophagus,
44:44this gruesome word
44:45describes these
44:46ancient stone coffins
44:48as flesh-eating boxes.
44:55How the Egyptians
44:57quarried, shaped,
44:58and moved so much stone
45:00to the Giza Plateau
45:01has baffled scholars
45:02for centuries.
45:04They had no beasts
45:06of burden
45:06or wheels
45:07strong enough
45:08to carry the weight.
45:12By this achievement,
45:14his pyramid
45:14transformed Khufu
45:16into the very symbol
45:17of absolute rule,
45:19and the 5th century
45:20Greek historian
45:21Herodotus
45:22chronicled the pharaoh's
45:23extreme cruelty.
45:28Khufu drove them
45:30into the extremity
45:31of misery.
45:32For first,
45:33he shut up
45:34all the temples
45:35to debar them
45:36from sacrificing in them,
45:37and thereafter,
45:38he ordered all Egyptians
45:40to work for himself.
45:42To some,
45:43was assigned
45:44the dragging
45:44of great stones
45:45from the stone quarries
45:47in the Arabian mountains
45:48as far as the Nile.
45:50The people worked
45:51in gangs
45:52of 100,000
45:54for each
45:54a period
45:55of three months.
45:56The pyramid itself
45:58took 20 years
45:59in the building.
46:00But to such
46:02a pitch
46:02of wickedness
46:03did Khufu come
46:04that when in need
46:05of money,
46:06he sent his own daughter
46:07to take her place
46:08in a brothel.
46:12Modern day scholars
46:14are skeptical
46:14that Khufu
46:15was truly
46:16an evil king.
46:18The notion
46:19that Khufu
46:20was a harsh ruler
46:22seems to have
46:23originated
46:23in a text
46:27that dates
46:28to a much,
46:28much later period
46:30in which he is seen
46:31as sort of a bored
46:32or even an indifferent ruler,
46:34not to say
46:35necessarily harsh.
46:36That idea
46:37was picked up
46:38by the later
46:39Greek historians,
46:40and we are told
46:41that he was truly
46:42a tyrant.
46:43But really,
46:43there is no
46:44contemporary evidence.
46:48In fact,
46:49there is little
46:49written history
46:50at all
46:51describing the builder
46:52of the Great Pyramid,
46:53and aside from
46:54a granite head
46:55thought to depict him,
46:56only a tiny statuette
46:58of him carved
46:59in ivory
46:59has survived
47:00to the present.
47:08Outside his pyramid
47:09at Giza,
47:10a large burial field
47:11was recently excavated
47:13that suggests
47:14that the bodies
47:15buried here
47:16were the workers,
47:17whose back-breaking labor
47:19built Khufu's
47:20Great Pyramid.
47:21Had the workers
47:22been slaves,
47:23Khufu would not
47:24have honored them
47:25with burial
47:25so close to himself.
47:31What is known
47:32is that not only
47:33had pyramid-building
47:34practices evolved
47:35to a high standard
47:36here at the beginning
47:37of the Fourth Dynasty,
47:39the practice of embalming
47:40had grown into
47:41an arcane
47:42and mystical art
47:43that transformed
47:44a corpse
47:44into a mummy.
47:50Beginning about
47:51the time of Khufu's
47:52father, Sneferu,
47:54mummification
47:54became essential
47:56in Egyptian religion
47:57for the dead pharaoh
47:58to complete
47:59a transformation
48:00from earthly ruler
48:01to heavenly king.
48:03They believed
48:04that by preserving
48:06the physical body
48:07intact,
48:07they could preserve
48:08the pharaoh's spirit
48:10forever.
48:12An elaborate ritual
48:14of embalming
48:14was designed
48:15to save the corpse
48:16from decomposition
48:17and restore its faculties
48:19so that it could live
48:20in a well-equipped tomb.
48:23The preservation of bodies
48:24through mummification
48:26allows us to gaze
48:27upon the faces
48:28of pharaohs
48:29and others
48:29whose bodies
48:30were preserved
48:31over 4,000 years ago.
48:34It also allows us
48:35to see firsthand
48:36just how mortal
48:38the god-kings
48:39really were.
48:42Through medical analysis,
48:44modern doctors know
48:45that the pharaohs
48:47suffered from
48:47gallstones,
48:48tuberculosis,
48:49polio,
48:50appendicitis,
48:52hernias,
48:53club feet,
48:53and cholera.
48:58Outside Khufu's pyramid
49:00were found
49:01these pits
49:02in which mysterious
49:03pieces of cedar wood
49:04native only to Lebanon
49:05were found.
49:08archaeologists
49:08were able to remove
49:10and then reassemble
49:11all the fragments.
49:13The result
49:14was a 143-foot boat
49:16that could actually
49:17float upon water.
49:20The boat
49:21was probably provided
49:22by Khufu's successor
49:24in 2528 B.C.
49:26This was his son,
49:28Jedefrae.
49:30It was he
49:31who presided
49:31over his father's
49:32burial at Giza.
49:34His name,
49:35Jedefrae,
49:36meant
49:36enduring like ray,
49:38a reference
49:38to their god
49:39of the sun.
49:42Jedefrae's
49:42main significance
49:43was that he was
49:44the first pharaoh
49:45to adopt
49:46such a son name.
49:50The pharaoh,
49:51Jedefrae,
49:52ruled only 10 years
49:53before he was succeeded
49:54by his brother
49:55Khafre in 2520 B.C.
50:00Khafre,
50:01whose name meant
50:02appearing like ray,
50:04the sun god,
50:05immediately began
50:06construction
50:06of the second pyramid
50:08here on the Giza plateau.
50:10This pyramid
50:11was for himself
50:12and built in the shadow
50:13of his father's
50:14great pyramid.
50:16The best evidence
50:17points to the fact
50:18that this work
50:19continued throughout
50:20his reign of 30 years.
50:24During the reign
50:25of Khafre,
50:25the Egyptians
50:26certainly seemed
50:27to have been
50:27very prosperous
50:28as they were
50:29under his predecessors,
50:31although some people
50:32have suggested
50:33that the drain
50:34on the economy
50:35and the national population
50:38of building
50:38these great pyramids
50:39was so huge
50:41that impoverishment
50:42started to set in
50:43at about that time.
50:46Indeed,
50:47there were signs
50:48that Khafre's
50:49rise to power
50:50marked a turning point
50:51for the fourth dynasty,
50:53a succession of kings
50:54that had begun
50:55nearly 600 years before.
50:57Still,
50:58Khafre built on,
51:00adding an elaborate
51:01mortuary temple
51:02complete with
51:02a magnificent,
51:04life-size statue
51:05of himself
51:06protected by
51:07the hawk god Horus.
51:11But perhaps
51:13the foremost symbol
51:14of Khafre's reign
51:15towers on the
51:16eastern base
51:17of the Giza Plateau
51:18in the shadow
51:19of his pyramid,
51:20the Great Sphinx.
51:24The Egyptians
51:25revered these
51:26mythical beasts
51:27as the guardians
51:28of sacred places.
51:30Khafre's workers
51:31shaped the stone
51:32here into a lion
51:33and gave it
51:34their king's face
51:35over 4,500 years ago.
51:37This is the oldest
51:39known royal portrait
51:40in such large scale.
51:43Its ears are more
51:44than 12 feet tall
51:45and its eyes
51:46are 6 feet high.
51:49Its body measures
51:50240 feet,
51:52more than three-quarters
51:54the length
51:54of a football field.
51:57Its head rises
51:58to 66 feet in height,
52:00the equivalent
52:01of a six-story building.
52:04The name Sphinx,
52:05which means strangler,
52:08was given by the Greeks
52:09when they first
52:10encountered
52:10this fabulous
52:11stone creature.
52:13The Sphinx itself
52:15may have been formed
52:17out of the bedrock
52:19that was left
52:20in that area
52:21when that was actually
52:23an area of quarrying.
52:25And some of the basic
52:26stones for the core
52:27of the pyramid
52:28probably came from
52:29that area.
52:31In fact,
52:32scholars tell us
52:33that the great Sphinx
52:34was probably carved
52:35out of the stone
52:36left over
52:37from the pyramid
52:38of Khafre.
52:39But its ultimate purpose
52:41remains unknown.
52:42Still crouching
52:43in front of his pyramid
52:44complex,
52:45alone in the silence
52:47of the desert,
52:48the stony stare
52:49of the Sphinx
52:50provides challenges
52:51but offers
52:51no clear answers.
52:55As if to yield
52:57a clue,
52:58its time-scarred,
52:59weather-beaten face
53:00looks out upon
53:01the plain
53:02and fronts
53:02the setting sun.
53:06History would
53:07one day reveal
53:08that the sun
53:09indeed was setting
53:10upon the dynasty
53:11of pharaohs
53:11that built the pyramids
53:13in Great Sphinx
53:13of Giza.
53:40of Giza.
54:12Transcription by CastingWords
54:19CastingWords
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