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01:00Its vast funerary complex would include both the pyramids of the pharaoh's Khufu and his son Khafre.
01:07They were colossal monuments to the power of their builders, but they were also signposts to the end of an
01:13era.
01:18After nearly 200 years of building larger and larger pyramids, the last pharaoh to build a Giza would only manage
01:26to complete one that was scarcely one-third the size of its neighbors.
01:30One question continues to confound scholars, and that is, why?
01:49It was the year 2532 BC that ushered in the rule of the pharaoh Mencare.
01:56He would become the fifth in a family line of rulers to inherit the throne during what was called the
02:02Fourth Dynasty.
02:06The son of the pharaoh Khafre, Mencare probably inherited a kingdom where the colossal building projects of his grandfathers had
02:15tested the limits of royal authority.
02:19The cost of conscripting and supporting hundreds of thousands of laborers to build the Great Pyramids at Giza may well
02:27have been too high.
02:33The fifth century BC historian Herodotus chronicled in Greek that for 106 years Egypt had been in great misery because
02:42its temples had been shut by Khufu and Khafre to make more time for work.
02:50Disapproving his father's deeds, Mencare is said to have reopened the temples and let the people worship freely once more.
02:59The stone portraits that the pharaoh Mencare had carved of himself are thought to symbolize his good nature.
03:08Here he stands alongside his favorite of three wives.
03:12She is Kamera Nebte.
03:15In an unusual display of humanity and compassion, she reaches out to hold him while her left hand rests comfortably
03:23on his arm.
03:27According to legend, Mencare's benevolent rule was an affront to the gods.
03:32They had decreed that Egypt should be oppressed for 150 years.
03:36And the two kings before him knew this, but not he.
03:43He was a good king and he upset the gods because he was going against their prophecy.
03:48So they therefore said, in their revenge if you like, right, we will just allow you to live for six
03:56years and then we shall revert to the mayhem of the previous reigns.
04:02Well, Mencare wasn't happy with this and he decided that he would endeavor to cheat the gods.
04:18In this way, Mencare reasoned he could rule twice as long each day and double his time from six years
04:27to twelve as the benign pharaoh of Egypt.
04:32The pharaoh Mencare would in fact rule by candlelight for twenty-eight years, until 2505 BC.
04:40He would build a relatively small pyramid, even though he had plenty of time on the throne to build a
04:46larger one.
04:49Scholars are left to ponder his reasons for this.
04:53Was it economic strain or was the power of the pharaoh in doubt?
04:59Mencare's pyramid is the smallest of the three at Giza.
05:03And it is really hard to know why that's the case.
05:06His reign was not very long, but we know pharaohs who had relatively short reigns who still built very large
05:12monuments.
05:13And I think the reason why there's this variation is not something spectacular like a weak pharaoh.
05:20I think that basically the scale was not so important as the monument itself.
05:27Others speculated it was the pharaoh's choice of building materials that led to his decision.
05:33We don't know why the pyramid of Mencare is the smallest of the three at Giza.
05:39It may have had to do with a desire to incorporate more hard-to-work stone.
05:47In other words, the lower part of his pyramid was certainly intended to be cased with granite,
05:52which is certainly harder to work and more difficult than limestone,
05:57which is the primary building material of all the rest of the pyramids.
06:03But there really is no answer to that question.
06:07There is no answer to the question of why Khufu's is the largest,
06:10or why Khafra's is precisely the size it is.
06:16What is recorded is that the pharaoh Mencare's rule brought the end of the fourth dynasty.
06:23It ushered in a period of change and a new line of pharaohs that started a new dynasty.
06:30In 2498 BC, the fifth dynasty in ancient Egypt began with the reign of the pharaoh Usherkof.
06:41Usherkof, whose name meant his soul is powerful, was the great-grandson of the pharaoh Khufu
06:47and ensured his kingship by marrying the daughter of the earlier pharaoh, Mencare.
06:55Usherkof's time on the throne was brief, long enough for him to reject the tradition of his predecessors,
07:02who were buried in pyramids at the Giza Plateau, and built his pyramid back in Saqqara.
07:09Now badly deteriorated, it stands almost in the shadow of the steppe pyramid of Jozure.
07:20The pharaoh Usherkof would also begin a religious cult that worshipped only the sun.
07:26The temple he built for this worship has long since been destroyed,
07:31but scholars have pieced together its description from the legacy of solar temples that would follow.
07:40The sun temple of Usherkof, like the others, consisted of a benben or obelisk,
07:46the symbol of the sun, which sat on a podium,
07:48and in front of it was a large courtyard with an altar or offering place.
07:52And they seem to have undertaken offerings to the sun at that site.
07:56And these sun temples may have also been very closely connected with
08:00expressing the direct association of the king and the sun god,
08:05because in the afterlife, the king became directly associated with the sun god.
08:13The fifth dynasty of Egyptian rulers would survive 150 years.
08:20Its final pharaoh was called Unas.
08:24He followed his immediate predecessors by also building at Saqqara.
08:28He named his pyramid the pyramid which is beautiful of places.
08:33And while the outside of his pyramid has badly deteriorated,
08:37the interior still holds the first words written on the walls of pyramids.
08:43These were the pyramid texts.
08:47These hieroglyphs are a collection of spells designed to help the pharaoh Unas cross over into the afterlife.
08:59From words formed in stone,
09:02these instructions were collected by ancient scribes and written on papyrus.
09:09Meticulously illustrated,
09:11these writings became known as the Egyptian Book of the Dead.
09:18One of the most prized works of ancient Egyptian culture,
09:22this guidebook to the afterlife would be read and recited by the Egyptians for 2,000 years.
09:52The fifth dynasty ended here and with the demise of the pharaoh Unas in 2345 B.C.
09:59There followed the sixth dynasty in a pharaoh whose name was Pepe.
10:06A small alabaster statue of Pepe reveals that, like earlier pharaohs,
10:11he would have the hawk god Horus associated with him.
10:16Here, however, the bird stands aloof and detached on the back of Pepe's throne.
10:23Interestingly, this most central of gods seems to be looking away from the pharaoh.
10:32Inscriptions from Pepe's reign record that Pepe's upper class was gaining wealth and becoming influential.
10:38His absolute rule from Memphis was becoming unstable.
10:42His kingdom was heading for disaster.
10:48This bronze statue of Pepe I depicts him in the twilight of his 50-year reign.
10:54When he died in 2283 B.C.,
10:57he would be succeeded to the throne by his son Pepe II,
11:01a boy only six years old.
11:16The new pharaoh was a boy named Pepe, after his father.
11:20At the age of six, Pepe II was acknowledged as ruler of all of Egypt.
11:26But what practical leadership would a six-year-old have to offer a growing country?
11:34There were a few examples of pharaohs who came to the throne very young,
11:37such as Pepe II, who was probably only about six years old when he came to the throne.
11:42And what a six-year-old pharaoh did was he did what he was told.
11:46You can bet that even though he was considered to be divine in nature
11:49and theoretically holding the supreme political power,
11:53there would be a council of advisers who would actually run the kingdom
11:57until he came of sufficient age to be really regarded as a pharaoh.
12:04Still, the young pharaoh did wield influence.
12:07Two years into his reign, during a trading expedition south to Aswan,
12:12word came back to the excitable eight-year-old King Pepe
12:15that a dancing pygmy had been captured to bring back to Egypt.
12:24Come northward at once to the court.
12:26You must bring the dwarf alive, sound, and well
12:29to rejoice and gladden the heart of the king of upper and lower Egypt.
12:34When he comes down with you into the ship,
12:36appoint reliable people who shall take care lest he should fall into the water.
12:41If you arrive at the court and the dwarf is with you alive and well,
12:46my majesty will make you many excellent honors.
12:53Even a child pharaoh would be treated with enormous respect
12:57and certainly any requests he had,
13:01people would try to put them into effect and would record them
13:04because from their point of view,
13:06he is already manifesting the divine aspect of a pharaoh.
13:10And even though in the real world of politics,
13:12they're keeping a tight hold on things,
13:14in terms of his personal life,
13:16they're certainly going to interpret it
13:17as a manifestation of the divine aspect of rulership
13:21and to indulge him in what he wants.
13:26During the childhood reign of Pepe II,
13:29at the end of the Sixth Dynasty,
13:32pharaonic authority disintegrated.
13:34There is evidence that various administrators
13:37declared themselves independent.
13:40From what written evidence we have,
13:42it appears a sort of feudalistic regime was established.
13:47The nobles are full of misery
13:49and the low classes are full of joy.
13:53Gold, lapis, silver, and turquoise
13:57hang on the necks of slave women
13:59while ladies walk the streets wrapped in rags.
14:04He who once did not even possess sandals
14:06today is the master of treasure.
14:13Control moved away from Memphis.
14:15The king depleted his treasury
14:17bestowing gifts on his nobles
14:19and with the death of Pepe II in 2180 BC,
14:23the kingdom of Egypt collapsed.
14:30For more than a thousand years,
14:33the desert-backed cliffs of the Nile Valley
14:35had given shelter and protection
14:37to the Egyptian civilization
14:38that had flourished here.
14:41By the year 2180 BC,
14:44the ancient Egyptians had brought about
14:46magnificent achievements in arts,
14:48science, and technology.
14:54In architecture,
14:56towering pyramids had sprung
14:57from the original flat mud mustavas.
15:01The art of writing had been elevated
15:03from simple wall relief
15:05to the elaborate literature
15:06of the pyramid texts.
15:09This period,
15:11called the Old Kingdom in ancient Egypt,
15:13became the yardstick by which
15:15all later Egyptian achievement
15:17would be measured.
15:20Surrounded by natural splendor
15:22and man-made wonders,
15:24historians suggest
15:25that the Egyptians had become complacent.
15:31Now a process that had begun
15:33with the reign of Pepe II,
15:35the pharaoh who inherited Egypt's throne
15:37as a child,
15:39led to a breakdown of the country
15:40in 2184 BC.
15:43A period of transition followed
15:45that lasted 40 years
15:47and four dynasties.
15:54The precise reasons for this decline
15:56are unknown.
16:00The ancient writings are quiet
16:02about this shadowy period,
16:04save for a poem
16:05that has partially survived on papyrus.
16:12See now,
16:14things are done
16:15that never were done before.
16:18The king has been robbed by beggars.
16:21See, one buried as a hawk is.
16:28What the pyramid hid is empty.
16:32See now,
16:34the land is deprived of kingship
16:36by a few people
16:38who ignore custom.
16:43Records from the region
16:45of Heracleopolis
16:46show that a series of temporary kings
16:48ruled Lower Egypt from here,
16:50splitting the country
16:51into two lands again.
16:55Upper Egypt was controlled
16:57from the newly founded city of Thebes.
17:01The ancients described
17:03this period of instability
17:04as a time of 70 kings
17:06in 70 days.
17:08In fact,
17:09this period of chaos
17:11would last nearly 200 years.
17:21Out of the collapse
17:23of the old kingdom,
17:24there emerged the figure
17:25of a king again.
17:27This was Mentuhotep,
17:29the first to reunify
17:30all of Egypt.
17:34Mentuhotep referred to himself
17:35as uniter of the two lands,
17:38and the first part of his reign
17:39saw fighting in military campaigns
17:42aimed at crushing any cities
17:44that dared revolt
17:45against his rule.
17:49Mentuhotep I
17:50is really one of these
17:52very dynamic rulers of Egypt,
17:54really one of the greatest pharaohs,
17:56because he comes at a time
17:57when Egypt was divided internally,
18:00politically fragmented.
18:02During his reign,
18:03he succeeded in reunifying Egypt,
18:06laying the groundwork
18:07for this period
18:08during which Egypt again
18:09becomes highly organized
18:11and centralized,
18:13and the kingship
18:13becomes very powerful.
18:18The pharaoh Mentuhotep
18:20ruled from Thebes,
18:21which was now
18:22the capital city,
18:23and a site that would
18:24one day be known
18:25for its temples
18:26of Karnak and Luxor.
18:32Even in Mentuhotep's time,
18:34this was a large
18:35and powerful city.
18:37The ancients referred to it
18:38as the city of a thousand gates.
18:41As a building project,
18:43it reflected the stability
18:44and prosperity
18:45that Egypt once again enjoyed
18:48under the pharaoh Mentuhotep.
18:52But Mentuhotep
18:53was not seen as a god-king
18:55like his predecessors
18:56had been during
18:57the time of the pyramids.
18:59To reflect this,
19:00he would erect
19:01a new style of mortuary temple
19:03for himself
19:04before an impressive
19:05backdrop of cliffs.
19:07Here in ancient Thebes,
19:08at a site named
19:10Dar el-Bahari.
19:13The complex was dug
19:15into the rock,
19:16a blend of traditional
19:17mastaba
19:18and pyramid of a god.
19:20This style of tomb building
19:23oddly confirms
19:24the power of Mentuhotep's rule.
19:26He was a half-divine
19:28and half-mortal leader.
19:33Underneath the temple,
19:35a larger-than-life-sized
19:37stone statue
19:38of the pharaoh
19:39Mentuhotep was found.
19:41He is seated
19:42and depicted
19:43in his heb-said robe,
19:45the robe he would have worn
19:46at the festival
19:47of his renewal.
19:49Nearby was uncovered
19:51an inscription
19:52of his queen
19:53named Kawit.
19:54Here she is depicted
19:56eternally having
19:57her hair arranged
19:58by a servant.
20:02Another artifact
20:03from the tomb
20:04depicts the princess
20:05Asheth,
20:05relaxing as she enjoys
20:07the fragrance
20:08of a lotus blossom.
20:12Such scenes
20:13underline this period
20:15of peace and stability,
20:16a period that would
20:18continue under a pharaoh
20:19who would change
20:20the way Egypt viewed
20:21its rulers forever.
20:35By the year 1878 BC,
20:38this brooding,
20:39careworn figure
20:40would ascend
20:41to the throne
20:42of ancient Egypt.
20:43He was Sesostris III.
20:48Sesostris III is
20:49really well known
20:50because of the large
20:51number of portrait statues
20:53which we have from him.
20:55They're very vivid
20:56and tend to present
20:57an image of the king
20:58as possibly taking
20:59the role of kingship
21:00very seriously,
21:02interested in presenting
21:03his image
21:04as a wise
21:05and careful ruler
21:06who is really concerned
21:09with maintaining
21:10the strength
21:11of the kingship.
21:15His name meant
21:17man of power,
21:18but he was unlike
21:20earlier pharaohs
21:21whose portraits
21:21portrayed them
21:22as gods.
21:24The statues we have
21:26of the pharaoh
21:27Sesostris III
21:28depict a natural
21:30and realistic face.
21:31Heavy eyelids,
21:33creases in his face
21:34and a straight,
21:34thin-lipped mouth
21:35seem to convey
21:37both the sorrow
21:37and concerns
21:38that would be expected
21:40of a strong
21:40military leader.
21:45Sesostris III
21:46is very much remembered
21:48as a pharaoh
21:50who had a strong interest
21:51in the military
21:52and particularly
21:53his activities
21:54in Nubia
21:55testify to his interest
21:56in extending
21:58the power of Egypt
21:59and maintaining
21:59its borders.
22:02During his reign,
22:04Sesostris III
22:05extended and expanded
22:07a system of mud-brick
22:09fortresses
22:09which the Egyptians
22:11had established
22:12in Lower Nubia,
22:13now northern Sudan.
22:14From here,
22:15he could acquire
22:16building materials
22:17and extend
22:18the influence
22:18of Egypt
22:19into this frontier.
22:22The area
22:23of Upper Nubia
22:24during that time
22:25was the center
22:26of a very powerful
22:27culture which we know
22:28as the Kerma culture.
22:30Sesostris III
22:30really was interested
22:31in maintaining
22:33Egypt's border
22:34against the Kerma culture.
22:38A stone stellar
22:39preserves the pharaoh's
22:40description of his campaign.
22:44I made my boundary.
22:46I went further south
22:48than my forefathers.
22:49I increased
22:51what was bequeathed
22:51to me.
22:52I captured their women
22:54and brought off
22:54their workers
22:55who went to their wells
22:56and drove their cattle.
22:58I cut their grain
22:59and placed fire
23:00therein.
23:08much of the wealth
23:09he secured
23:10during his Dubian campaigns
23:11was marked for use
23:13in building temples
23:14in Egypt.
23:15Here in the capital
23:16city of Thebes,
23:18he erected
23:18an elaborate temple
23:20which has since
23:21been destroyed
23:22that was dedicated
23:23to the god Mantu,
23:25the ancient Egyptian
23:26lord of warfare.
23:32But such confidence
23:34in the gods
23:34and in the power
23:35of war
23:36were impermanent.
23:37Within 200 years,
23:39the proud people
23:40of Egypt
23:41would be quietly invaded.
23:43Egypt would again
23:44become a land
23:45of turmoil.
23:50There are no monuments
23:52to celebrate their rule.
23:53No image of their faces
23:55has ever been found.
23:57Yet ancient writings
23:58attest to the fact
24:00that in 1663 BC,
24:02Egypt came under the control
24:04of foreign kings
24:05of Semitic origin.
24:09These pharaohs
24:10were called the Hyksos.
24:13We don't know
24:14the exact process
24:15by which the Hyksos
24:16took over the country.
24:18It appears
24:19at the moment
24:20that possibly
24:21it was partly
24:22by infiltrating
24:23into the delta
24:23and increasing
24:24their numbers.
24:24There may also
24:25have been
24:26an actual invasion component,
24:28although this is still
24:29somewhat debated.
24:32If it was invasion,
24:34the Hyksos swept
24:35across the land
24:36bringing with them
24:37superior weaponry
24:38like the compound bow.
24:40They would also
24:41introduce the horse
24:42and the chariot
24:43to Egypt.
24:45The ancients
24:46called these
24:47horse-drawn vehicles
24:48the ships
24:49that sailed
24:50upon the desert.
24:56There is evidence
24:57that the Hyksos
24:58used these
24:59to plunder
25:00the cultural
25:00and political center
25:01of Egypt, Memphis.
25:07The result
25:08was the 16th
25:09dynasty,
25:10a dynasty
25:11of foreign rule
25:12for Egypt
25:13that lasted
25:13108 years.
25:18They didn't like this.
25:20It caused
25:21a profound
25:22impact
25:23on the Egyptian psyche
25:25and when the Egyptians
25:27roared back
25:28with control
25:28of their country,
25:29they seemed
25:30to have driven
25:30the Hyksos
25:31out with
25:32what I can best
25:33characterize
25:34as a never-again
25:35attitude.
25:35They did not like
25:36being controlled
25:37by foreigners
25:37and they did not
25:38want it to happen again.
25:43With the foreign kings
25:45expelled,
25:45the Egyptians
25:46looked within
25:47their borders
25:47and witnessed
25:48the start
25:49of a new kingdom.
25:49It would begin here
25:51in the ancient
25:52city of Thebes.
26:05The pharaohs
26:06of the new kingdom
26:07were indeed
26:08godlike beings.
26:10Their immense
26:12monuments
26:12and temples
26:13have left
26:14an imprint
26:14on the face
26:15of Egypt
26:15that has survived
26:16for three millennia.
26:21This new kingdom
26:23marked the beginning
26:24of the 18th dynasty
26:25or family line
26:27of pharaohs.
26:28It started
26:29in 1570 BC
26:31with the pharaoh
26:32Amos.
26:33A mosaic
26:34from his time
26:35depicts him
26:35in a ritual bath
26:36or purification
26:38ceremony.
26:43It is Amos
26:45who is credited
26:46with sealing Egypt's
26:47borders with Syria
26:48and Nubia
26:49to keep the country
26:50safe from invaders.
26:51Evidence
26:52of his military
26:53leadership
26:54is recorded
26:54on his ceremonial
26:56gold battle axe
26:57which depicts him
26:58smiting his enemy.
27:01Although Amos' tomb
27:03was plundered
27:04for the treasures
27:05that would have been
27:06stored inside,
27:07his mummy
27:08has remained intact.
27:10This gives us
27:11the unique opportunity
27:12to look upon
27:13the face
27:13of the pharaoh
27:14who stood
27:15at the beginning
27:16of Egypt's
27:16new kingdom,
27:17the pharaoh Amos.
27:23The face
27:24of a successor,
27:25Thutmose I,
27:27has also survived
27:28in its mummified form.
27:30Thutmose I
27:31would come
27:32to rule Egypt
27:33in the year
27:331535 BC.
27:38Although his reign
27:39was short
27:40and lasted
27:40only six years,
27:42the pharaoh
27:42Thutmose I
27:43is credited
27:44with a set
27:45of brilliant
27:46military campaigns
27:47that pushed
27:48the southern frontier
27:49of Egypt
27:50farther into
27:51the mineral-rich
27:52lands of Nubia
27:53than any pharaoh
27:55before him.
27:56An inscription
27:57he left
27:58at the religious
27:58site of Abydos
28:00records these deeds
28:01in his own words.
28:04I made the boundaries
28:07of Egypt
28:08as far as that
28:09which the sun
28:10encircles.
28:11I made Egypt
28:13the superior
28:14of every land.
28:18The name
28:19Thutmose
28:20meant born
28:20of the god
28:21of Thoth,
28:22a tribute
28:23to the Egyptian
28:23lord of the moon
28:24and wisdom.
28:29Before his death
28:30in 1518 BC,
28:33after a reign
28:33of only six years,
28:35Thutmose passed
28:36his royal name
28:37on to his son.
28:38He would be called
28:39Thutmose II.
28:46The Egyptian royal
28:48families were
28:49the only Egyptians
28:50to encourage marriage
28:51between brother
28:52and sister.
28:53In this way,
28:54they kept
28:54their royal bloodline
28:56and their right
28:57to the throne
28:57safely within
28:58the family.
29:02For this reason,
29:04Thutmose II
29:05married his half-sister.
29:07She was called
29:08Hatshepsut,
29:09a name that meant
29:10foremost of noble ladies.
29:14Thutmose II
29:16and Hatshepsut
29:17would rule
29:17as king and queen
29:18for 14 years.
29:22As a pharaoh,
29:23he was only a shadow
29:24of the powerful man
29:26his father had been.
29:27The reign of Thutmose II
29:29was mostly uneventful.
29:32When he died
29:33at the age of 30,
29:34his death left
29:35a great problem
29:36for the royal family.
29:39The only eligible
29:40male heir
29:41he had fathered
29:42was a young boy
29:43not yet 12 years old.
29:45The boy's mother
29:47was a harem girl
29:48named Isis.
29:49The boy would be named
29:51Thutmose III.
29:54It was this individual
29:57who was, of course,
29:59the nephew
29:59of Hatshepsut
30:00who had the closest
30:02claim to the throne
30:04as the most immediate
30:06male heir
30:07of the deceased king.
30:09However,
30:10apparently because
30:11he was fairly young,
30:13Hatshepsut
30:14was able
30:14to have herself
30:15installed
30:16as a regential figure
30:18and to rule
30:20in a co-regency
30:21with him
30:22for over two decades.
30:26But after two years
30:28as co-regent
30:29with the boy
30:30Thutmose III,
30:31Queen Hatshepsut
30:33had herself
30:33crowned pharaoh.
30:35in 1498 BC
30:37she became ruler
30:39of Egypt,
30:40the richest
30:40and most powerful
30:41country on earth.
30:53Nestled in the foothills
30:55below the cliffs
30:55of Dar el-Bahari,
30:57near ancient Thebes,
30:59stands a masterpiece.
31:00This is the mortuary
31:02temple
31:02of Queen Hatshepsut.
31:07She called it
31:08the garden
31:08of my father Amun,
31:10who was the most
31:11powerful god
31:12in Thebes.
31:13It was indeed
31:14an elegant garden.
31:15Trees and green shrubs
31:17once lined
31:18its graceful
31:18entrance ramps,
31:19and there is evidence
31:21that its colonnade
31:22and sanctuary
31:23shared the same adornment.
31:29More than a temple,
31:30however,
31:31it was a propaganda
31:32machine that
31:33Hatshepsut used
31:34to underscore
31:35her right to the throne.
31:38On its walls,
31:39she had inscribed
31:40scenes that depict
31:41her father,
31:42Thutmose I,
31:43who was long dead,
31:44installing her as king.
31:48Many of the scenes
31:50we have from
31:50Hatshepsut's
31:51mortuary temple
31:52at Dar el-Bahari
31:53present in kind of
31:54very idealized ways
31:55the nature of her kingship
31:57and really attempt
31:57to strengthen her claim.
31:59So this text
32:00that we have
32:01is not an historical document,
32:03but a document
32:04which was essentially
32:06fabricated by Hatshepsut
32:07in order to strengthen
32:09her claim to the kingship.
32:14At the temple of Karnak,
32:16she consolidated her power
32:17through worship
32:18with the priests
32:19of the temple of Amun.
32:21These were powerful priests
32:23because it was believed
32:25that the strength
32:25of the pharaoh
32:26emanated from this god.
32:29Although such ritual ceremonies
32:31were closed to women,
32:33as pharaoh,
32:34Hatshepsut could enter
32:36the inner domain
32:36of the god.
32:43outside the temple,
32:44she commissioned
32:45the building
32:45of a spectacular obelisk
32:47to commemorate
32:48her relationship
32:48with the god of the sun.
32:52Although she was not noted
32:54as a military leader,
32:55Queen Hatshepsut
32:57is noted for her
32:57trading expeditions
32:59to a land called Punt,
33:01now modern Somalia.
33:04Temple inscriptions
33:05show her fleet
33:06setting off on the Red Sea
33:07and exchanging jewels
33:09and acquiring incense trees
33:10for the queen pharaoh.
33:16Such affairs
33:17were administered
33:17for the pharaoh Hatshepsut
33:19by a common man
33:20named Senemut.
33:25Senemut seemed
33:25to have been
33:26at Hatshepsut's side
33:27for much of her life,
33:29and statues of him
33:30depict him carefully
33:31holding or teaching
33:32Hatshepsut's daughter,
33:34the princess Neferiul.
33:37In Senemut's time,
33:40close connections
33:41like these
33:42led to rumors
33:43suggesting
33:43that he owed
33:44his good fortune
33:45to intimate relations
33:47with the queen.
33:49Off to the side
33:50and deep below
33:51Hatshepsut's temple complex,
33:54Senemut built his tomb.
33:55The fact that it was
33:57constructed so close
33:58to the queen's temple
33:59is another factor
34:01that fuels the speculation
34:02about their possible
34:03love affair.
34:09The pharaoh Hatshepsut
34:11died in 1483 B.C.,
34:14but any records
34:15of her demise
34:15seem to have been
34:16mysteriously destroyed.
34:19Some speculate
34:20that Thutmose III,
34:22the boy she had kept
34:23from the throne,
34:24had a hand in her death.
34:27What we do know
34:28is that he hated her.
34:30Now he would try
34:31to destroy her spirit.
34:37He waited nearly 20 years
34:39to take his rightful place
34:41as the pharaoh
34:41of all of Egypt.
34:44For nearly 20 years,
34:46he was kept
34:46in the background
34:47appearing to worship
34:48the queen
34:49who had usurped him.
34:51This was Thutmose III,
34:54the boy who had
34:55inherited the throne
34:56only to see it
34:57taken from him
34:58by his caretaker,
35:00Queen Hatshepsut.
35:04With the death
35:06of Queen Hatshepsut,
35:07Thutmose III came
35:09into his rightful inheritance.
35:11In 1504 B.C.,
35:13he would become
35:14the celebrated pharaoh
35:15of Egypt's 18th dynasty.
35:30During the time
35:31that the young Thutmose
35:32had been kept
35:33in the background
35:33under the rule
35:34of Hatshepsut,
35:35he probably went
35:36through military training
35:38and, like other noblemen
35:39in his time,
35:41learned how to shoot
35:41a bow and arrow
35:42and how to handle
35:43a chariot
35:44in the desert terrain.
35:48By the second year
35:49of his reign,
35:50his military prowess
35:52became evident.
35:54Records from this time
35:55chronicled a period
35:56of 18 years
35:57during which Thutmose III
35:59led a series of battles
36:01and campaigns
36:02along the coast of Syria.
36:04These won him
36:05great riches
36:05and has led historians
36:07to compare him
36:08to Napoleon.
36:11Thutmose is called
36:12the Napoleon of Egypt
36:13because he was one
36:14of the most successful
36:15military figures
36:16in the history
36:17of Egyptian kingship.
36:18He directed
36:19a whole series
36:20of major campaigns,
36:21many, many more
36:22than most pharaohs,
36:24in the Levant
36:25and in the eastern
36:26Mediterranean
36:27and he was directly
36:28involved in a great deal
36:29of those himself.
36:33Of the many temples
36:35that were embellished
36:36and expanded
36:37with the spoils
36:37of Thutmose III's
36:39military campaigns,
36:40none was more dazzling
36:42than the work he did
36:44at the temple of Karnak
36:45in the ancient city
36:46of Thebes.
36:50At the east end
36:51of the complex,
36:52Thutmose III
36:54would construct
36:54his festival temple.
36:56Unique in the design
36:58of Egyptian temples,
36:59its unusually shaped columns
37:01are thought to represent
37:02the poles of his
37:03military tent.
37:06The other walls
37:07and columns here
37:08were shaped and carved
37:09to represent the variety
37:10of animals and plants
37:12that the pharaoh brought
37:13back from his campaign
37:14in Syria.
37:18The whole building project
37:20was supervised
37:21by the pharaoh's vizier
37:23or high officer,
37:24whose name we know
37:25as Rekhmire.
37:27Here, a wall painting
37:28preserves a scene
37:29of Rekhmire
37:30as he inspects
37:32the brick-making efforts
37:33of the king's laborers.
37:38A prolific builder,
37:40Thutmose III
37:41was also a determined destroyer.
37:43Within 20 years
37:45of Queen Hatshepsut's death,
37:47he and an army
37:48of followers
37:49descended upon
37:50everything that bore
37:51her name or likeness
37:52and destroyed it.
37:54Thutmose III,
37:55it seems,
37:56was furious
37:57that this woman
37:58had usurped his place
37:59on the throne
37:59and now he would retaliate.
38:06The statues
38:07in her temple
38:08were destroyed.
38:11Some were beheaded
38:14while others
38:15were simply smashed.
38:18Her face
38:19was chiseled
38:20out of wall reliefs
38:21anywhere they could be found.
38:25Records of her time
38:26on the throne
38:27were obliterated.
38:30Even statues
38:31of her chief officer
38:33and companion
38:34Senemont
38:35were not above defacement.
38:38This was the ancient equivalent
38:41of a book burning.
38:42By eliminating
38:43her image and name,
38:45the pharaoh Thutmose III
38:46believed he could
38:48eliminate her memory
38:49and even eliminate
38:50her soul.
38:54During this period,
38:56the 18th dynasty
38:57pharaohs
38:58had never fully beheld
39:00one of the greatest monuments
39:01ever built
39:02built by their culture.
39:03Now more than
39:041,000 years old,
39:07the great sphinx
39:08built at Giza
39:08had literally been covered
39:10by the sands of time.
39:13It was a new pharaoh,
39:15Thutmose IV,
39:17who would free
39:17the sand-obstructed sphinx
39:19during his first year
39:20of reign
39:20in 1419 B.C.
39:24His story is recorded
39:26on a giant tablet
39:27that still rests
39:28between the paws
39:29of this great desert beast.
39:33What we see here
39:35is a reproduction
39:36of the great sphinx tablet.
39:38The inscription
39:39on the tablet
39:40begins here
39:41in the upper right
39:42and gives the date
39:43when it was set up
39:44in the king's reign.
39:45And then it recounts
39:46an extraordinary event
39:48that took place
39:48in his life,
39:49further down here,
39:50where the king
39:52went out one day
39:53in order to hunt
39:53ostriches and lions
39:54in the desert
39:55beyond the pyramids.
39:58And taking a break
40:00from his hunting
40:01out in the western desert,
40:02he decided to take a nap
40:03underneath the shadow
40:04of the head of the sphinx.
40:08Napping in the shadow
40:09of the sphinx,
40:10the king reported
40:11a vision in which
40:12the great beast
40:13spoke to him.
40:16Look at me,
40:17Thutmosis, my son.
40:19I am your father
40:21in the horizon.
40:22I promise you a gift,
40:25earthly rule
40:26at the head
40:26of all the living,
40:27all the territory
40:29on which the eye
40:30of the sun rests
40:31will be yours.
40:32To you I turn my face
40:34and heart
40:35for protection
40:36since I am sick
40:38in all my limbs.
40:39The sands of the holy place
40:41upon which I rest
40:42have covered me.
40:46And if you
40:47take care of my image,
40:49clear it away,
40:50tidy it up,
40:51and build a small shrine
40:52to it,
40:53then I shall cause you
40:53to become not only
40:54a king of Egypt,
40:56but one of the greatest kings
40:57that Egypt has known.
41:00Thutmosis IV reigned
41:02over a stable
41:03and prosperous Egypt
41:04for 33 years.
41:06But it was the sand-clearing
41:08operation he carried out here
41:10that seems to have been
41:11his greatest achievement.
41:15What followed
41:16was a time of opulence.
41:18For 100 years
41:19Egypt would bask
41:21in an abundance
41:22of gold and riches.
41:23The ancient Egyptians
41:24would witness
41:25an outpouring
41:26of artistic talent
41:27and devotion
41:28to a pantheon of gods.
41:33But in the midst
41:34of this period
41:35of peace
41:36and ostentation,
41:37Egypt would be plunged
41:38into a crisis.
41:40It began
41:41under a strangely
41:42distorted figure
41:43of a man
41:44who would soon
41:45rise to power
41:46as Pharaoh.
41:48of the world.
41:49So,
41:49you can find
41:49of the world.
41:49And the
41:50of the world.
41:50And the
41:51of the world.
41:51And the
41:52of the world.
42:09And the
42:16And the
42:45Transcription by CastingWords
42:51CastingWords
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