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01:52The pharaoh Djoser had left a legacy in stone, the first pyramid.
01:58This was an art that would be refined over 400 years and then stop.
02:05The Egypt of the early pharaohs had worshipped a pantheon of animal gods and nurtured a complex
02:11belief in life after death.
02:17Hatshepsut, the first great female power in history, built one of the most graceful and enduring religious sites of all
02:25time.
02:31This ancient land had been conquered by foreign kings called the Hyksos, and they had been driven out by the
02:38proud race that once again had established itself.
02:41This was the new kingdom of ancient Egypt.
02:50By the year 1386 BC, the Egyptian civilization was 2,000 years old and had been ruled by 86 pharaohs.
03:00It was in this year that a young and vigorous king by the name of Amenhotep III emerged to become
03:07ruler.
03:08By the reign of Amenhotep III, the Egyptian empire was very well established.
03:13There was a tremendous inflow of income, especially for the royal house, and Egypt itself was very stable and prosperous.
03:20And so, with Amenhotep III, you get the appearance of a really grandiose kind of material culture in Egypt, with
03:27huge temples, huge royal figures.
03:34His vast building projects were centered in the ancient city of Thebes.
03:39It was here that the pharaoh Amenhotep III embellished a magnificent temple dedicated to the god Amun, the Egyptian lord
03:48of creation.
03:48It signaled a peak of craftsmanship and artistic achievement for the Egyptian civilization.
03:58Its graceful columns and expansive court remain the pharaoh's masterpiece of elegance and design.
04:09On the west bank of the Nile River stand two imposing statues of Amenhotep III, known as the Colossae of
04:17Memnon.
04:18The 60 foot high monuments are all that is left of the pharaoh's mortuary temple that once stood here.
04:28Standing beside him, dwarfed by his stature, is the image of Queen Ti, who was his wife and the mother
04:35of his son.
04:38From trading expeditions abroad, and an abundant supply of gold from the mines of Nubia, Egypt under Amenhotep III enjoyed
04:46a time of wealth and great prosperity.
04:51The Egyptians have the leisure to start getting involved in a lot of theological speculation, which leads to what the
04:59Egyptians considered a disaster.
05:03The disaster came in 1353 BC and took the form of a strangely shaped man, who some believe was a
05:11heretic.
05:22The pharaoh Amenhotep III had been grooming his oldest son for the throne when the young prince died.
05:32This left his younger brother, Amenhotep IV, to succeed their father.
05:38He had been studying religious matters, however, not affairs of state.
05:42As a result, his reign was a revolutionary departure from the long entrenched traditions of Egyptian kingship.
05:50Scholars still struggle to understand this pharaoh, was he a fanatic or a great reformer, a visionary or a madman?
05:59Whatever the answers, he was without question the strangest of all the pharaohs.
06:06For over 1,700 years, the Egypt of the pharaohs had worshipped many gods.
06:13Amenhotep IV wanted Egypt to follow only one god, the sun god called Atem.
06:24As if to complete the transformation of Egyptian religion, the pharaoh changed his name from Amenhotep to Akhenaten,
06:33which meant servant of the sun god Atem.
06:40It was the first time in history that mankind worshipped a single god.
06:45In fact, this radical change rocked Egypt to the very clay of its ancient foundations.
06:51Akhenaten's reign was one of the great crisis points of Egyptian history.
06:58It was a period during which the old beliefs were overturned, the capital was moved, and the temples and cults
07:09were essentially shut down.
07:11This can't have been easy for the population.
07:21The massive temple complex of Karnak at the ancient capital of Thebes remains the largest religious site in the world.
07:29It was here, in 1350 BC, that Akhenaten was crowned pharaoh in a traditional ceremony.
07:42But then tradition ended, great changes were on the horizon.
07:46They began with the pharaoh Akhenaten's expansion and beautification of the temple of the sun at Karnak.
07:57Most notably, he added a new symbol to the temple.
08:00This curious disk was called the Atem.
08:03It was designed to symbolize his new god of the sun.
08:08In year five of his rule, Akhenaten proclaimed the Atem Egypt's one and only god.
08:17Akhenaten has occasionally been called history's first monotheist.
08:21In that, he did away, or at least no longer funded, the worship of all the other gods in favor
08:28of only one, the Atem, or the physical disk of the sun.
08:34His choice for queen was also unconventional.
08:37Her name was Nefertiti.
08:39She came from a non-royal bloodline, but appeared to hold a very prominent position in her husband's reign.
08:47One of the most magnificent pieces of sculpture ever unearthed in Egypt is a limestone bust of Akhenaten's legendary queen.
08:57I think that the thrust of the representations of Nefertiti, you could reasonably read as meaning that she was a
09:03very beautiful and attractive woman.
09:05That doesn't mean that we've actually got an accurate image of her.
09:08Because in the art, they're going to present her that way anyway.
09:11Because it's just crucial that the queen, any queen, should be considered the kind of acme of beauty,
09:17because she's got to be a good partner for the king.
09:21Nefertiti appears to have been an exquisite queen.
09:24But when we examine images of Akhenaten, we discover that his appearance was as bizarre as his ideas.
09:35Early on, many representations of Akhenaten caused a great deal of confusion among archaeologists.
09:46Because he was often portrayed with wide hips, a protruding belly, and breasts,
09:51he was sometimes mistaken for a woman who may have been masquerading as a man.
09:56It seems possible.
09:58Years earlier, Queen Hatshepsut was often portrayed as a male.
10:04She even went as far as to wear the false beard reserved for kings,
10:08perhaps to appear more like a pharaoh.
10:15Akhenaten's physique has sometimes been attributed to an illness called Froelich's syndrome,
10:20which causes the body to distribute fat in ways that are considered typically female.
10:27One of the side effects of the disease is that you are sterile,
10:30and we do know that Akhenaten and Nefertiti had several daughters,
10:35and there is some speculation, obviously, that Tutankhamen was a son of his as well.
10:40So if that's the case, then the idea of this one type of disease probably is not likely.
10:51But Akhenaten's mummy has never been found.
10:54All attempts to diagnose his abnormal appearance have been based solely on art and statues.
11:02Other scholarly opinions about Akhenaten's startling appearance look not to medicine for explanation,
11:08but to the symbolism tied to his new religion, but to the symbolism tied to his new religion that was
11:11based on the Aten sun god.
11:16My own view is that he takes on the characteristics of that deity.
11:20And that deity is not just a sun god, he is also a creator, and in Egyptian mythology, the creator
11:26is both male and female.
11:31Akhenaten's new religion was a radical departure for Egypt, but so strong was his conviction,
11:37that he was willing to defy and eliminate the powerful religious institutions which represented the beliefs of virtually the entire
11:45population.
11:47He shut down the temples of the god Amun and declared Thebes would no longer be the foremost city of
11:54Egypt.
11:54A new capital city dedicated solely to his religion would be built.
12:091344 BC, the dawn of a new era in Egypt.
12:13It was centered here, 190 miles upriver from modern Cairo, at a site called Amarna.
12:21This was a vast natural bay of cliffs that stretched for 15 miles along the Nile.
12:28It was here that the pharaoh Akhenaten built the empire's new capital city.
12:36Long ago destroyed, scholars tell us that this district was the site of lavish buildings that contained great pools and
12:44gardens.
12:45It has even been suggested that it once contained a zoo.
13:00The pharaoh called his new city, Akhenaten, which meant the horizon of the sun god.
13:07At the center of the new capital was the great temple.
13:10It was there that the pharaoh Akhenaten cultivated his new religion, devoted to the adoration of the sun god he
13:16called Aten.
13:21Before Akhenaten's religious reformation, ordinary people worshipped outside the temples,
13:26while the king, priests, and the elite of society performed their rites inside mysterious secret chambers.
13:36Akhenaten changed all that.
13:38He wanted the people to worship along with their pharaoh, out in the open, under the sun's life-giving rays.
13:47It is believed that three ceremonies a day were held at the great Aten temple.
13:52The first was at dawn, as the sun rose over the cliffs east of the city.
13:59A second ceremony was held at noon, when the sun was directly overhead.
14:06Then, at sunset, the devoted would recite a hymn to the sun, which Akhenaten himself had composed.
14:14Thou rises beautifully in the horizon of heaven, O living Aten, who creates life when thou risest in the eastern
14:24horizon.
14:25Thou fillest every land with thy beauty.
14:33It is not known how successful Akhenaten was in converting his subjects to belief in the Aten.
14:40It is possible his new religion was simply a ploy to strengthen his image as a pharaoh.
14:47By eliminating other gods, Akhenaten knew he would appear more like a god himself.
14:56The king was removing the intermediaries, the clutter of all the intermediate priests,
15:02the very bulky and cumbersome pantheon with hundreds of different deities and so forth,
15:07with a simpler form of the religion.
15:09But it was mainly involved with the idea of the king creating a more direct support
15:15for the idea of him as a living divinity here on the earth.
15:20Akhenaten did not conduct this worship alone.
15:24There is evidence that his queen, Nefertiti, led the sunset ceremony each day.
15:30Nefertiti was a very important woman.
15:33We are not quite sure whether it was Akhenaten who granted her some of the importance that she had
15:40or whether she just decided to take it.
15:43There are some scholars who felt all along that Nefertiti was behind the religious revolution
15:51even more than her husband.
15:56Another powerful woman of this era was Akhenaten's mother.
16:00Her name was Queen Ti.
16:03She had migrated with her son to his new city to act as his regent.
16:09Because Akhenaten was absorbed with matters of religion,
16:13it appears Queen Ti may have been responsible for affairs of state.
16:20If so, there remains a puzzling archive of clay tablets that were sent to the pharaoh Akhenaten.
16:26They came from outposts of the Egyptian empire in Syria.
16:31The tablets reported that the outposts were under attack and failing.
16:38These writings, known as the Armana letters,
16:42pleaded for supplies to be sent and promised continued loyalty and exchange.
16:49It is likely earlier pharaohs would have responded with soldiers and strategy.
16:54In this case, however, it seems Queen Ti may have been the one who ignored these pleas for help.
17:05Art from this period also underwent a radical change.
17:08Everywhere the pharaoh's image appeared,
17:11he was shown to be under the protection of the sun's rays.
17:18While previous pharaohs were depicted as being physically perfect,
17:22Akhenaten instructed the royal artisans to picture him more realistically.
17:30Instead of looking like a warrior, his statues portrayed him as feminine.
17:37And he was seen being tender with his children or in poses with Nefertiti
17:42that would have seemed far too intimate just a few years before.
17:49Akhenaten and Nefertiti ruled together for 12 years and then, curiously,
17:54there is no record of the queen after that.
17:57The disappearance of Nefertiti is one of the great mysteries of Akhenaten's reign.
18:03After being such an integral part of her husband's kingship,
18:07almost a co-regent,
18:08suddenly there are no more mentions or depictions of her to be found.
18:13The reasons for this are still in debate.
18:16Some believe she may have died during childbirth.
18:20At one time,
18:21it was believed she was indiscreet in some way
18:23and Akhenaten disposed of her.
18:26Still,
18:27others suggest that she lived on
18:29past Akhenaten's interest in the sun.
18:39Nefertiti could have, in fact,
18:41been the more devout of the two
18:42and cloistered herself away
18:44to remain loyal to the cult of the Aten.
18:50But the general,
18:51the basic situation seems to be
18:53that she actually died.
18:55And there is evidence
18:57that she was buried in the royal tomb at Amarna
19:00in what is called the royal wadi,
19:02beyond the confines of the royal city.
19:08In any case,
19:09Akhenaten did not have to suffer
19:11from a lack of companionship.
19:14He appointed a new male co-ruler.
19:16His name was Smenkara,
19:18and some believe he may have been
19:20the pharaoh's younger brother.
19:25It is possible that he married
19:28one or more of his daughters.
19:30If he did that,
19:31that would not actually be unusual
19:32for a pharaoh.
19:33But in the case of Akhenaten,
19:35we also have a suggestion
19:36that he had a homosexual relationship
19:39with his co-ruler, Smenkara,
19:41towards the end of his reign,
19:44which would make Akhenaten
19:46one of the first bisexual people,
19:47presumably,
19:48since he also has children
19:49from Nefertiti.
19:53His unorthodox appearance
19:55and descent from the old religion
19:57caused history to label him a heretic.
20:02still there is little evidence
20:03that the pharaoh Akhenaten's
20:05new sun cult
20:06ever really took hold
20:07among ordinary people.
20:14Excavations of the ancient city
20:15of Akhenaten
20:16have revealed that
20:17even before his death,
20:19many of the inhabitants
20:20kept idols of the old gods
20:22in their homes.
20:23were they ignoring the new religion
20:26or did they sense the inevitable?
20:28Akhenaten's religion
20:29was failing.
20:35Akhenaten died in 1334 BC
20:38during the 17th year of his reign,
20:40and with him died his religion
20:43based on the worship
20:44of the sun disk.
20:46Soon after,
20:47there was a tremendous backlash
20:48against his religion and heresy,
20:50which led to the destruction
20:52of anything that bore his name.
20:55It is believed, however,
20:57that in order to protect his remains,
20:59Akhenaten's followers
21:00removed his body
21:01from its tomb
21:02at Amarna.
21:05It was an Egyptian custom
21:07to gather together
21:09and to try to hide
21:10and conceal and protect
21:11for the future
21:13the remains of important pharaohs
21:15and burials.
21:16And I think there's
21:17a strong possibility
21:18that that's what did happen,
21:20and it remains to be discovered
21:21for archaeologists in the future.
21:26With the heretic Akhenaten dead,
21:28Egypt prayed for a strong pharaoh
21:30to restore its faith
21:31and reassure its people.
21:34Instead,
21:35this burden fell upon a boy
21:37just 10 years old.
21:42Behind the great cliffs
21:44of Dar el-Bahari
21:45in the mountains west of Thebes
21:47lies a golden landscape
21:49formed in primordial times
21:51when floodwaters from the Nile
21:54cut through the earth,
21:56leaving a series of gullies
21:57and dry streambeds
21:59called wadis.
22:02It is within these canyons
22:04in a place known
22:05as the Valley of the Kings
22:07that the Egyptians
22:08of the New Kingdom
22:09buried their departed pharaohs.
22:15It was here
22:16on a bombing afternoon
22:17in 1922 A.D.
22:20that a modern-day discovery
22:22saved the legacy
22:23of a minor pharaoh
22:24from being lost
22:25in the sands of time.
22:31from evidence recovered,
22:32it was learned
22:33that this king
22:34named Tutankhamun
22:36was the son
22:37of the heretic pharaoh
22:38Akhenaten.
22:39This may explain
22:41why so little was known
22:42of Tutankhamun
22:43before this finding.
22:48When the Egyptians
22:50tried to erase
22:51the memory of Akhenaten,
22:52they may have also tried
22:54to erase the memory
22:55of his son.
22:56The list of kings
22:57inscribed on the walls
22:59at Abydos
22:59curiously omits
23:01Tutankhamun's name
23:02along with Akhenaten's.
23:05This has led scholars
23:07to ponder the question,
23:08who was the pharaoh
23:09Tutankhamun?
23:23He was born and raised
23:25in Akhenaten's capital city
23:26at Amarna.
23:28His birth name
23:29was Tutankhaten,
23:31which meant
23:32living image
23:32of the sun god.
23:34But with the death
23:35of his father,
23:36the old religious beliefs
23:37and the cult
23:38of Amun
23:39were reinstated.
23:42Accordingly,
23:43he removed the Aten
23:44from the end
23:45of his name
23:45and replaced it
23:46with Amun
23:47to become
23:48the legendary
23:48boy king
23:49Tutankhamun.
23:51His new name
23:53meant
23:53image of the god
23:55of life.
23:57Artifacts exist
23:58which depict him
23:59as a robust king
24:00attacking Nubian
24:01and Syrian enemies.
24:03But experts believe
24:04it's unlikely
24:05that young Tutankhamun
24:06was ever actually
24:07involved in any
24:08military campaigns.
24:12such responsibilities
24:13were probably
24:14handled by
24:15an experienced
24:15general named
24:16Horemheb.
24:17He was an ambitious
24:18warrior.
24:21Inscriptions
24:22identify him
24:23as commander-in-chief
24:24of the army
24:24and deputy
24:25of the king.
24:30Horemheb
24:31had served
24:31as military commander
24:32for the two pharaohs
24:34that preceded
24:34Tutankhamun.
24:35It was his mission
24:37to reassert
24:38Egypt's military might
24:39and restore respect
24:40from its neighbors.
24:43Were there others
24:44in this boy king's court
24:46that also wielded
24:47great power?
24:48It seems
24:49that a boy
24:49suddenly thrust
24:50upon the throne
24:51of a great empire
24:52would need senior officials
24:54for advice
24:55and guidance.
24:56The question is
24:58was Tutankhamun
24:59just a puppet
25:00for the real power
25:01behind the throne?
25:05Perhaps
25:05the answer lies
25:07with a member
25:07of King Tutankhamun's
25:09court
25:09who overshadows
25:11everyone else.
25:12He was the king's
25:13vizier
25:14and high priest
25:15called
25:15Ai.
25:17A skilled
25:19and determined
25:19civil servant
25:20his name meant
25:21divine father.
25:24Scholars believe
25:26it is Ai
25:26along with
25:27Horemheb
25:28who were responsible
25:28for the stability
25:29of Egypt
25:30during this time.
25:34Horemheb
25:35and Ai
25:35between them
25:36are adherents
25:38to the ancient
25:39god Amun.
25:40It is they
25:41principally
25:42who discard
25:43this new religion
25:44of the Atem
25:45and the court
25:46and the religious
25:47focus is moved
25:48back to ancient
25:49thieves
25:50modern Luxon
25:51although of course
25:52naturally
25:53all the inscriptions
25:54extol the virtues
25:56of Tutankhamun
25:57but of course
25:59it's the bureaucrats
26:00the civil servants
26:01the general
26:02Horemheb
26:03the high priest
26:04Ai
26:04who are
26:05essentially
26:06running the
26:07country
26:08rubber stamping
26:09everything.
26:12To what extent
26:14any pharaoh
26:14was involved
26:15in the day-to-day
26:16business of foreign
26:17and domestic affairs
26:18still puzzles
26:19experts.
26:20Egypt had a fully
26:22developed bureaucracy
26:23of administrators
26:24and scribes.
26:29The pharaoh
26:30was a figurehead
26:31both royal
26:32and religious.
26:33Tutankhamun
26:34like the other
26:35kings before him
26:36had much of his life
26:37orchestrated
26:38around certain
26:39routines and ceremonies
26:40designed to
26:41reinforce his stature.
26:44The king as a person
26:46is hedged around
26:47with royal symbolism.
26:50He has people
26:51watching him
26:52from the moment
26:53he gets up
26:53to the time
26:54he goes to bed.
26:55So to a great extent
26:57his life
26:57is simply
26:59circumscribed
26:59by that.
27:01He might have found
27:02state affairs
27:02in fact quite onerous
27:03putting on those
27:04heavy crowns
27:05and all that regalia
27:07and look forward
27:08to the time
27:08that he could
27:09simply take them
27:10off and
27:11go off
27:12and play
27:12with his friends.
27:15Tutankhamun
27:16had a queen.
27:17She was two years
27:18older than he was.
27:19It appears
27:20Akhenaten
27:21was the father
27:22of both.
27:23This made the pharaoh's
27:24bride also
27:25his half-sister.
27:28Her name was
27:29Akhenaten
27:31We do know
27:32that she was
27:33very important to him.
27:34They were married
27:34when they were
27:35fairly young.
27:36From the representations
27:37we see that
27:38she sits nearby him.
27:41She seems to take
27:42an active interest
27:43in some of the things
27:43that he was doing
27:44in hunting
27:45and fouling
27:46and fishing.
27:49With the old religion
27:50of many gods
27:51now reinstated
27:52the reign of
27:53King Tutankhamun
27:54seemed destined
27:55to be a period
27:56of rebirth
27:56and renewal
27:57for Egypt.
27:59But then
28:00at about the age
28:01of 20
28:02the young pharaoh
28:03suddenly died.
28:04Some believe
28:05he was murdered.
28:11Forensic analysis
28:12of his mummy
28:13shows that he died
28:14of damage
28:14to his cranial cavity.
28:16This suggests
28:17a blow to the head.
28:19Further examination
28:21reveals a small hole
28:22in his skull.
28:24Scholars have
28:24constructed theories
28:25as to how
28:26it got there.
28:29One is that he was
28:30thrown from his chariot
28:31but that seems
28:33highly unlikely
28:34because of the nature
28:35of the damage
28:36to the skull.
28:37Others that
28:38someone crept upon
28:39him in the night
28:40and thrust a small
28:41pointed object
28:42into the brain
28:43and therefore
28:44did away with him
28:45in a silent
28:45and stealthy manner
28:46and still others
28:47that he might have died
28:48of a cerebral hemorrhage.
28:52was there a conspiracy
28:54to murder the pharaoh?
28:55Some believe
28:56the damage
28:57to Tutankhamen's skull
28:58didn't occur
28:59until after he was dead.
29:03It is known for a fact
29:04that embalmers
29:05were not very careful
29:06and there have been
29:08evidences of
29:11spare legs
29:12that are in coffins
29:14and in some cases
29:16in order to make sure
29:17that an individual
29:19fit into the coffin
29:20and the toes
29:21were cut off.
29:24In Tutankhamen's case
29:25it's also clear
29:27that the embalmers
29:28were not very careful
29:29so my guess is
29:30that the damage
29:33that was done
29:34to the skull
29:34was probably
29:35the embalmers' fault
29:36and not
29:37a cause of death.
29:40The short reign
29:42and sudden death
29:43of the young king
29:43did not allow
29:44enough time
29:45to finish
29:45a proper royal tomb.
29:47This is probably
29:48the reason
29:49that his burial site
29:50ended up hidden
29:51from plunderers
29:52through the ages.
29:54The entrance
29:55had been obscured
29:56by rock chips
29:57dumped during the cutting
29:58of a later king's tomb.
30:05The treasures found
30:06in Tutankhamen's tomb
30:08have awed
30:08the modern world.
30:10Up until their discovery
30:11men could only imagine
30:13how Egypt's once
30:14brilliantly colored
30:15temples and artifacts
30:16would have appeared
30:17in ancient times.
30:22The contents
30:23of the young pharaoh's tomb
30:25reveal the true opulence
30:26and splendor
30:27of the era.
30:34But were the riches
30:36chosen to accompany
30:37this relatively minor ruler
30:39into eternity
30:40only a hint
30:41of what had been buried
30:42in the tombs
30:42of the truly great pharaohs?
30:48Some historians
30:49have suggested
30:50that we should not
30:51assume the larger tombs
30:53were filled
30:53with even more treasure.
30:55The pharaoh Tutankhamen's
30:56burial may have been
30:57richer than most.
30:59The people may have
31:00been grateful to him
31:01for the restoration
31:02of the old religion
31:03or there might have been
31:04an emotional outpouring
31:06for someone
31:06that died so young.
31:14The untimely passing
31:16of the king
31:17not only caught
31:18the royal tomb builders
31:19unprepared
31:20but it left Egypt
31:21once again
31:22without an heir
31:23to the throne.
31:27Sadly,
31:28there is evidence
31:29the young royal couple
31:30tried to perpetuate
31:31their bloodline.
31:34Two mummified fetuses
31:36were found
31:37in Tutankhamen's tomb
31:38that are almost certainly
31:39the remains
31:40of stillborn daughters.
31:44Although it is only
31:45a theory,
31:46some experts speculate
31:47that inbreeding
31:48may have been
31:49one of the many factors
31:50including disease,
31:51politics,
31:52and warfare
31:53which contributed
31:54to the decline
31:55of other kingdoms.
31:56In Tutankhamen's case,
31:58inbreeding may have
31:59rendered his children
32:00too frail to survive.
32:07With no heir in line
32:09to inherit the kingship,
32:11the throne was passed
32:11to I,
32:12Tutankhamen's closest
32:13advisor or vizier.
32:19Records show
32:20that right after he died,
32:22I prepared to marry
32:23Tutankhamen's young widow
32:24to help justify
32:26his assumption
32:26of the throne.
32:28There is evidence
32:29that she suspected
32:30I was responsible
32:31for her husband's death
32:32and tried to avoid
32:33this marriage.
32:37Desperate,
32:38the widow Ankesenamun
32:40sought help
32:41from outside of Egypt.
32:42She turned to a land
32:44in the east
32:44controlled by the Hittites
32:46and wrote to their king.
32:50Send me one of your sons.
32:52You have many
32:53that I may marry one
32:54and he shall become king
32:56for I have none here
32:58whom I may marry.
33:02He did send
33:03one of his sons
33:04to be married
33:05to Ankesenamun
33:06and become pharaoh
33:07of Egypt.
33:08But consider
33:10the bureaucrats.
33:12Horumheb
33:13was the general
33:14in charge of the army.
33:15I was the chief
33:16high priest.
33:18Curiously enough,
33:19the Hittite prince
33:20got as far
33:21as the borders
33:22of Egypt
33:22and he was murdered.
33:27I married
33:28Tutankhamen's widow
33:29in 1325 BC
33:31and became pharaoh
33:32before the deceased
33:33king's burial
33:34had been even completed.
33:36We know this
33:38from a painting
33:38in Tutankhamen's tomb.
33:40It depicts I
33:41already wearing
33:42a king's blue crown
33:44while he performs
33:45a ceremony
33:45during Tutankhamen's burial.
33:50Of course,
33:51it is possible
33:52that I was just
33:53the logical choice
33:54to assume the throne
33:55after young Tutankhamen
33:56died airless.
33:59But there is
34:00one more suspicious
34:01aspect in the
34:02archaeological record
34:03from this time.
34:04Right after I
34:05ascends to the throne,
34:07there is no more
34:08mention of the
34:08young queen
34:09Akasendamun.
34:10She disappears.
34:13Was she the next
34:14victim in this
34:153,000-year-old
34:16conspiracy?
34:20I reigned
34:21for only four years
34:22and, like Tutankhamen,
34:24had no heirs
34:24to carry on
34:25the 18th dynasty.
34:29Soon,
34:29the throne of Egypt
34:30would belong
34:31to a new dynamic
34:32bloodline of kings.
34:33Among them
34:34would be the greatest
34:35of the pharaohs.
34:36He would usher in
34:37a period of building
34:38and expansion
34:39never to be equaled
34:40and he would take
34:41the image of the pharaoh
34:43as a god
34:43to the extreme.
34:53The city of ancient
34:54Thebes.
34:55The pharaohs of Egypt
34:57were drawn to this
34:58landscape that lay
34:59along the banks
35:00of the Nile River.
35:03Queen Hatshepsut
35:04had embellished it
35:05with an obelisk
35:06that bore her name.
35:10Amenhotep III
35:11had built a grand
35:12temple to its patron
35:13god Amun.
35:18Thebes' southern location
35:19was a natural choice
35:21for the capital city
35:22of a country
35:22that was expanding
35:23downward toward
35:24the rich territory
35:25of Nubia.
35:27The pharaoh Tutankhamen
35:29had moved the royal court
35:30back here
35:31before he died
35:32and his vizier,
35:33Ai,
35:34had remained at Thebes
35:35during his brief reign.
35:40In 1321 B.C.,
35:42the general called
35:44Horemheb
35:44proclaimed himself
35:46to be the pharaoh
35:47of Upper and Lower Egypt.
35:49His name meant
35:50Horus in jubilation.
35:52Horus is Egypt's
35:53hawk-headed deity,
35:55a bird of prey,
35:56the god of the kings.
36:09Horemheb came to the throne
36:11after a long
36:11and distinguished
36:12military career,
36:13which began
36:14four administrations
36:15earlier
36:16when Amenhotep III
36:18was king.
36:20He was later appointed
36:22the great commander
36:23of the army
36:24by Akhenaten,
36:24and under king
36:26Tutankhamun
36:26he was given
36:27the title
36:28of the king's deputy.
36:38Little is known
36:39about Horemheb's heritage.
36:41He was not
36:41from a royal bloodline
36:43and therefore
36:43had no claim
36:44to the throne.
36:47He remedied that
36:48by marrying
36:49Nefertiti's sister,
36:50thus creating
36:51a feeble link
36:52to the bloodline
36:52of the kings.
36:59Already middle-aged,
37:01Horemheb immediately
37:02set out to restore
37:03Egypt to its status
37:04prior to Akhenaten's
37:05heresy.
37:08At Thebes,
37:09he reopened
37:10the temples of Amun,
37:11but to avoid
37:12a power struggle
37:13with the priesthood,
37:14he appointed priests
37:15from the army.
37:16Since he was
37:17a military man,
37:18he felt they
37:19could be trusted.
37:22After this,
37:24Horemheb initiated
37:25the destruction
37:25of the great temples
37:26to the sun disk
37:27built in Amarna
37:28by Akhenaten.
37:31He used
37:32the thousands
37:33of stone blocks
37:34he removed
37:35as filler
37:35inside the pylons
37:37and walls
37:38of his new
37:38building projects.
37:39But his efforts
37:41to erase
37:41all traces
37:42of Akhenaten's reign
37:43ended up having
37:45an ironic twist
37:46almost 3,000 years later.
37:49The result is now,
37:51of course,
37:51many thousands
37:52of years later,
37:52as archaeologists
37:54work to restore
37:56and study
37:56these monuments,
37:57what do they find?
37:58They find these
37:59thousands of temple
38:00blocks that Horemheb
38:01thought he'd
38:02buried forever,
38:03and since they've
38:04been buried
38:05all these years,
38:06these scenes
38:07depicting Akhenaten
38:07and his cult
38:08are actually much
38:09better preserved
38:09than any of the
38:10scenes which depict
38:11Horemheb.
38:16Horemheb also
38:17usurped many
38:18of the statues
38:19and monuments
38:19of his immediate
38:20predecessors.
38:21This was done
38:22by simply replacing
38:23their names
38:24with his.
38:25Two statues
38:26at Karnak
38:27are labeled
38:28with the name
38:28of Horemheb,
38:29but most
38:30Egyptologists
38:31believe the
38:32facial features
38:33are similar
38:34to Tutankhamen's.
38:36While to us
38:37this may seem
38:38to be the epitome
38:39of egotism,
38:40this practice
38:41was not uncommon
38:42for many
38:42of the pharaohs.
38:45The Egyptians
38:46might have not
38:48put such a
38:49negative spin
38:50on it,
38:50and they might
38:51have considered
38:52it more of
38:53recycling,
38:53but it was also
38:55a royal prerogative
38:56in a way,
38:56because when
38:58a king took over,
39:02he became divine,
39:04and therefore,
39:06since the office
39:07had always existed,
39:08then he and
39:09that office
39:09would always
39:10have been around
39:11and would always
39:12exist.
39:13It was a right
39:14and a privilege
39:15that the reigning
39:16monarch had.
39:21Horemheb ruled
39:22for almost 30 years,
39:23but when he died
39:24in 1306 B.C.,
39:26he, like Tutankhamen
39:28and I,
39:29was cursed
39:29by not having
39:30an heir.
39:32To avoid the chaos
39:34caused by a fight
39:35for succession,
39:36Horemheb nominated
39:37his trusted vizier
39:38for the job,
39:39this pharaoh
39:40took the name
39:41of Ramses.
39:43He would begin
39:44the 19th dynasty,
39:46one of the greatest
39:47periods of Egyptian
39:48history.
39:51Ramses had been
39:52a career army officer
39:53and was probably
39:54in his 50s
39:55when he became pharaoh.
39:58Ramses planned
39:59to continue
40:00rebuilding Egypt,
40:01but his reign
40:02lasted only two years.
40:05He did manage
40:06to accomplish
40:06something his three
40:07predecessors had not.
40:09Ramses produced
40:10a male heir
40:11to inherit the throne.
40:24Ramses' son
40:25was Seti I.
40:27He had been
40:27the vizier
40:28and troop commander
40:29during his father's
40:30brief reign.
40:32After inheriting
40:33the throne,
40:34Seti gave himself
40:35the additional title
40:36of repeater of births
40:37to signify
40:38the beginning
40:39of a new era.
40:42During his time
40:44as pharaoh,
40:45Egyptian art
40:45and culture flourished.
40:51Tremendous building
40:52projects were also
40:53undertaken.
40:54At Karnak,
40:56Seti enhanced
40:56the building
40:57of the great
40:57hypostyle hall
40:58here in the temple
40:59of Amun.
41:03He also began
41:04to repair
41:05and augment
41:05the religious sites
41:06at Abydos.
41:09These efforts
41:10helped him
41:10to legitimize
41:11his non-royal bloodlines
41:13claim to the throne.
41:20Abydos was
41:21the ancient center
41:22dedicated to
41:23the cult of Osiris,
41:24the god of the dead.
41:26He was originally
41:28built in the old
41:28kingdom
41:29and had since
41:30fallen into disrepair.
41:34The temple
41:35Seti,
41:35the first built
41:36for himself
41:37at Abydos,
41:38is considered
41:39one of the
41:39masterworks
41:40of the era.
41:43Inside,
41:44his likeness
41:45is depicted
41:46alongside many
41:47of the gods
41:48of Egypt.
41:48It is believed
41:50that the gods
41:51actually dwelled
41:52within the temples
41:53which were dedicated
41:53to them.
41:58The wall reliefs
42:00here are considered
42:00some of Egypt's finest.
42:02They were carved
42:03with great precision
42:04and in the more
42:04difficult raised
42:05technique instead
42:06of the more common
42:07and quicker
42:08inscribed carvings.
42:14Seti was also
42:15the pharaoh
42:15who had the list
42:16of kings inscribed
42:17in his temple
42:18at Abydos.
42:19It not only honored
42:20those who came
42:21before him
42:22but also elevated
42:23Seti into their ranks.
42:27The name Seti
42:28means he
42:29of the god
42:29Seth.
42:30Seth was the deity
42:32of storms
42:33and war.
42:34Seti lived up
42:35to his name
42:36on the battlefield.
42:40While Horem Heb
42:42had set about
42:42to reestablish
42:43the old ways
42:44within Egypt,
42:45Seti was determined
42:46to reestablish
42:48Egypt's prestige
42:49abroad
42:49and reclaims
42:51some of the
42:51outlying region
42:52of Egypt's
42:52vast empire.
42:57He has grown up
42:58with the army.
43:00There's a totally
43:01different attitude
43:02to life
43:03and certainly
43:04to royalty
43:05and the higher
43:05echelons.
43:07He fights
43:08incredible campaigns
43:10year after year
43:11against the Syrians.
43:13Amongst his
43:14great foundations
43:15was in fact
43:16the temple
43:17at Karnak
43:18and on the
43:19north wall
43:19you find
43:20these incredibly
43:22long and huge
43:23reliefs of Seti
43:25attacking fortresses
43:27destroying the
43:28enemies of Egypt.
43:29He's a mighty
43:30warrior.
43:33In 1278 BC
43:36Seti I died
43:38after reigning
43:39for an extremely
43:40productive 13 years.
43:43He was originally
43:44buried in a tomb
43:45prepared for him
43:46in the Valley
43:47of the Kings.
43:48But to protect
43:50Seti's remains
43:51from grave robbers
43:52his mummy
43:53was later removed
43:54and taken
43:54to a hiding place
43:55dug high
43:56into the cliffs
43:57above Queen
43:58Hatshepsut's temple
43:59at Dar el-Bahari.
44:03Slightly over
44:04100 years ago
44:06in 1881
44:08archaeologists
44:08unearthed
44:09this tomb.
44:11It revealed
44:12a remarkable
44:13collection
44:14of over
44:14160 mummies
44:16known as
44:17the royal cache.
44:19Seti I
44:19was among
44:20the pharaohs
44:21discovered.
44:22His is the
44:22finest example
44:23of all the
44:24existing royal mummies.
44:30During his lifetime
44:31Seti's primary
44:33queen was a
44:34woman named
44:34Tuya.
44:35Like her husband
44:36she was from
44:37a non-royal family
44:38with a military
44:39background.
44:42Their first son
44:43died.
44:44Their second child
44:45was a daughter
44:45but their third
44:46child was a boy
44:47destined to become
44:48Egypt's most
44:49celebrated ruler.
44:56The dog star
44:58Sirius
44:59is the brightest
44:59in the Egyptian
45:00heavens.
45:01Each year
45:02it disappears
45:03around the beginning
45:04of May
45:04to reappear
45:05about the 18th
45:06of July.
45:08To the ancient
45:09Egyptians
45:09its return
45:10signaled the new
45:11year
45:12and the time
45:13for the annual
45:14Nile floods
45:15that would leave
45:15behind a new
45:16layer of fertile
45:17soil.
45:20One year
45:21during Seti's
45:22reign
45:23the floods
45:23were particularly
45:24high.
45:25Egyptian legend
45:27told that this
45:28was the good
45:29omen that
45:29announced the
45:30coming of the
45:31next ruler
45:32of Egypt.
45:33This was
45:34Ramses II.
45:36Ramses II
45:37has become
45:38the name
45:39that is almost
45:40synonymous
45:40with Pharaoh
45:41but it may
45:42have been
45:43Seti's careful
45:44preparation
45:45of his son
45:46the crown prince
45:47which really
45:48predestined
45:48Ramses' success.
45:51Ramses II
45:52was probably
45:53one of the
45:54best prepared
45:55pharaohs
45:55in Egypt
45:56because by the
45:58time that he
45:59came to the
46:00throne
46:00they really
46:01had a fairly
46:02regular process
46:04of making sure
46:04that all the
46:05senior royal
46:06princes
46:06had a lot
46:08of experience
46:08in military
46:09affairs
46:10in governance
46:11so when they
46:12came to the
46:12throne
46:12they were
46:13already
46:13experienced
46:15and effective
46:16in what
46:16a pharaoh
46:17needed to
46:17be.
46:20By the
46:20age of 15
46:21Ramses
46:22was already
46:23accompanying
46:23his father
46:24on military
46:25campaigns.
46:27By 22
46:28he led
46:28his first
46:29command
46:29to put
46:30down
46:30a small
46:31revolt
46:31in Nubia.
46:34He also
46:35ambushed
46:36Mediterranean
46:37pirates
46:37who were
46:38searching
46:38for plunder
46:39along the
46:39mouth
46:39of the
46:40Nile.
46:43By the
46:44time
46:44Seti I's
46:45reign
46:45was coming
46:46to an
46:46end
46:46his son
46:47had already
46:48proven himself
46:48as a
46:49military
46:49leader
46:50and worthy
46:51of kingship.
46:52Possessed
46:53with unmatched
46:53vision and
46:54self-confidence
46:55the future
46:56king was
46:57poised to
46:57leave his
46:58indelible
46:58mark on
46:59the history
47:00of Egypt.
47:24To be
47:27next
47:39to
48:09Transcription by CastingWords
48:15CastingWords
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