NARRATOR: The ruins of two colossal temples in Egypt,
Karnak,
and Luxor.
Connecting them is an ancient road flanked by mythical beasts.
This is the Avenue of Sphinxes.
It's remarkable these ancient structures
have stood for thousands of years.
NARRATOR: The route is used by
the most powerful pharaohs of ancient Egypt.
The avenue lies buried beneath the sands
for thousands of years.
Now, a vast restoration project is returning
this lost wonder to its ancient glory.
Today, we are bringing the Sphinx back to life.
Nobody has seen it like this over thousands of years.
NARRATOR: Our cameras have unique access to follow experts
as they decipher ancient messages from the temple ruins.
Despite centuries of investigations,
there are still many secrets.
NARRATOR: What is the purpose of
this extraordinary construction,
and who are the ancient rulers who build it?
To solve these mysteries,
we blow away the sands of time
and unearth this mighty structure.
We explore sacred chambers of ancient ruins...
and digitally reconstruct the avenue in all its splendor,
to decode the secrets of the Lost Sphinxes.
Luxor.
This modern metropolis is home to
the sprawling remains of an ancient city,
the Egyptian capital Thebes.
Thebes is where the pharaohs show off
their power by building their grandest structures.
NARRATOR: In the center of the city are
the two largest temples in all of Egypt...
Karnak and Luxor.
Together, they cover an area the size of 60 football fields.
In the 1950s,
archaeologists make an incredible
discovery outside the entrance of Karnak.
Buried beneath the sand,
they unearth a road made of sandstone,
and on either side, colossal statues of sphinxes.
Over 1200 of these mythological creatures once line
the entire length of this 1.5-mile avenue.
The route connects Karnak with another sacred temple
complex, Luxor.
What can these temples and this
extraordinary avenue reveal about ancient Egypt?
In 2021,
after a 70-year reconstruction project
that cost more than $30 million,
the biggest restoration endeavor in Egyptian history,
the Avenue of Sphinxes is finally open to investigators.
A grand ceremony is held in Luxor
to celebrate the resurrection of this ancient marvel.
Meredith Brand is on a mission to uncover
the secret purpose of the Avenue of Sphinxes.
MEREDITH: This avenue is massive.
It's on a scale unlike anything in ancient Egypt.
NARRATOR: Meredith starts her investigation at the southern
end of the Avenue at Luxor Temple.
Luxor Temple is the seat of the Pharaoh's divine power,
and it's a great place to start to look for clues.
NARRATOR: Meredith ventures through the temple gateway
and into a vast columned room called the Colonnade Hall.
It is decorated with the statues of
powerful Pharaohs.
This statue shows the young King Tutankhamun.
Based on the facial features,
it looks like the boy king himself.
NARRATOR: Luxor Temple is where the rulers of the most
powerful dynasties of ancient Egypt are crowned as Pharaohs.
MEREDITH: Tutankhamun reigns for only nine years,
in an era called the New Kingdom.
This was a golden age for ancient Egypt, and it
was a particular moment of prosperity and glory
for Thebes.
NARRATOR: Luxor Temple and the Avenue of Sphinxes are
vitally important to the Pharaohs
of New Kingdom Egypt.
More clues about the avenue could lie on
the lavishly decorated walls of the Colonnade Hall
in the temple.
They are covered in reliefs of exquisite detail.
Meredith inspects the images and ancient inscriptions.
MEREDITH: These are fantastic carvings.
They paint a scene of lively joy.
There's singers and drummers, all kinds of musicians,
dancers and acrobats and piles and piles of food.
This shows some kind of massive celebration,
and it must have been so important that
the Pharaoh wants to immortalize it in stone,
in a temple.
NARRATOR: These beautiful reliefs suggest the temple
and the Avenue of Sphinxes host a spectacular event.
Meredith searches for clues that
could reveal who creates this relief.
MEREDITH: This is a cartouche.
It's an ancient Egyptian symbol that provides protection
for whatever is written inside.
This cartouche above me seems to be from a king
named Horemheb,
but the closer I look, something unusual is happening,
and it seems like this cartouche has been altered.
NARRATOR: The Pharaohs of ancient Egypt
are obsessed with power and legacy,
sometimes to the detriment of the rulers who came before.
Meredith identifies other cartouches,
which also appear to have been changed.
She examines high-definition images of them.
MEREDITH: It has the name Tutankhamun,
but something's happening.
Another Pharaoh comes and inserts his hieroglyphs
into the name of Tutankhamun.
What's happening in this image is
the same thing that's happening in Luxor Temple.
What this shows is that the images in this temple
: of the grand celebration are actually made by Tutankhamun.
NARRATOR: Tutankhamun's short reign means that only
a few of his works survive.
Evidence that he creates these reliefs and celebrates
a huge event on the Avenue of Sphinxes is remarkable.
There must be a reason why Tutankhamun
wants to immortalize the celebration in stone.
NARRATOR: Tutankhamun constructs a majestic relief in
honor of this grand celebration.
Horemheb, a Pharaoh who follows him,
claims the work as his own.
Meredith wants to know who or what
is at the heart of the celebration
and this magnificent sacred complex.
She makes her way through Luxor Temple
to the Avenue of Sphinxes itself.
The Sphinx is the ancient Egyptians'
ultimate symbol of strength and protection.
The most famous, the Great Sphinx, guards
the pyramid tombs and temples of Giza.
I'm on a path, and it's lined on both sides by Sphinx.
And when I look at them, they're a bit different.
They're not your average Sphinx.
This one has the body of a lion and the head of a ram.
This Sphinx makes me think that this area is
set apart as a route of a sacred space.
NARRATOR: The Sphinxes on the avenue protect the ceremonial
route between the temples of Karnak and Luxor
and make it a sacred place.
This is remarkable.
These hieroglyphs tell me exactly
what's going on with the Sphinx.
It reads Amun Ra, king of the gods.
Amun Ra is the god of Luxor.
He's the god of Karnak Temple.
The name Amun is on every single one of these Sphinx,
and it tells me that this area is for Amun.
Amun is central to what's happening on this path.
NARRATOR: Meredith makes her way more than a mile
along the avenue to its northern end,
the colossal temple complex of Karnak.
MEREDITH: Karnak Temple is where the pharaohs demonstrate
their power by building the grandest structures.
NARRATOR: Thousands of years ago,
Karnak Temple is a marvel of the ancient world.
It spans over 250 acres, and is filled
with chapels dedicated to the gods of ancient Egypt.
In the heart of the complex is the temple's most sacred shrine,
the Holy of Holies.
A solid gold statue of the god Amun
is housed within this inner sanctum.
His crown is topped with two feathers and a sun disc.
Who is this mighty deity?
And why is he worshiped at Karnak
and on the Avenue of Sphinxes?
Meredith makes her way through
the vast temple to the inner sanctuary.
MEREDITH: This is where there was a golden statue
of the god, Amun.
And the ancient Egyptians believed that Amun himself in
the form of a spirit lived inside of the statue.
The only people allowed in this space
were the king and the high priest.
This is the most sacred location in Karnak Temple.
NARRATOR: Meredith investigates the sanctuary exterior for
more evidence of the mysterious god.
This is Amun.
I know it's Amun because of his unique headdress.
He has a crown with two feathered plumes
sticking out of it.
And I see this image of Amun all
over the walls of the temple of Karnak.
It seems that almost every New Kingdom Pharaoh came here
and built a temple or a building dedicated to the god.
NARRATOR: Amun is the mightiest of all the gods.
He rises to power in Egypt's New Kingdom,
from the 16th to the 11th century BCE,
the time of Tutankhamun.
Looking at the statue, I notice something else.
It actually has the facial features
of the young boy king, Tutankhamun,
So this statue is King Tutankhamun
as the god, Amun.
He would want to do this, because if the king shows
himself as the god,
it links Amun and the king -- the king gets the benefit of
the power, protection, and divinity of Amun.
NARRATOR: Amun's rise to power as the undisputed king of
the gods coincides with the rise of Thebes itself.
The royal capital moves nearly 500 miles
south from Memphis to Thebes
in the 21st century BCE.
Pharaohs make Amun the supreme god of the Egyptian pantheon
and merge him with the sun god, Ra.
Amun is the creator of the universe
and is associated with fertility
and the force of the wind.
Karnak Temple becomes the center of a cult
dedicated to Amun,
and Pharaohs construct temples to show their
affiliation with the new king of the gods.
A grand avenue guarded by elaborate Sphinxes is the focal
point of a celebration of Thebes' most powerful god,
Amun.
MEREDITH: This is the site of more than just a celebration.
It's a festival vital for the king
of the gods, Amun, and the Pharaoh himself.
NARRATOR: What could be so vital to the god, Amun,
and the Pharaohs of the New Kingdom?
Could clues lie in a restored chapel in the ruins of Thebes?
NARRATOR: The Avenue of Sphinxes in Luxor,
a monumental road at the heart of
the ancient Egyptian capital, Thebes.
Meredith Brand is on a mission to uncover the secrets
of the avenue and a mysterious celebration
that takes place here.
Statues of Amun at Karnak
suggest he is at the center of the celebrations,
and throughout the complex are ruins that hold further clues.
Archaeologists excavate Karnak
and discover fragments of
a mysterious structure scattered across the site.
They piece them together and reveal it is once
a sacred chapel dedicated to the god of Thebes, Amun.
A plinth stands in the center of the chapel.
A gold-painted wooden boat is
placed on top during ritual celebrations.
It holds a solid golden statue of Amun.
Who builds this elaborate shrine?
And what can it reveal about the celebration
on the Avenue of Sphinxes?
Modern engineers use the original
fragments to painstakingly rebuild the chapel.
Meredith ventures inside to examine the surviving evidence.
This cartouche holds the clue as to who built this chapel.
It says [speaking ancient Egyptian]
Amun, Hatshepsut.
This cartouche belongs to Hatshepsut,
a female king.
She was around the 1400s BC,
a powerful Pharaoh of Egypt, and this is her chapel to
the god, Amun.
NARRATOR: Hatshepsut
constructs six chapels like this one
along the route of the Avenue of Sphinxes.
Meredith examines the chapel exterior for clues about
what happens during the celebration on the avenue.
Oh, look at that image!
It's fantastic!
There's these dancers doing back flips
and acrobats and a musician with a harp.
The whole procession seems lively, fun entertainment.
It kind of reminds me of the image at Luxor Temple.
NARRATOR: A procession depicted at Luxor
is celebrated on the avenue, too.
Meredith searches for more reliefs
that could reveal further clues about this grand event.
MEREDITH: This scene is important.
It shows the king, who is behind a procession of priests,
walking on a road or avenue,
carrying a barque of Amun.
NARRATOR: The barque is a sacred vessel
and a key feature of ancient Egyptian rituals.
The relief reveals the statue and barque
are a vital part of a ritual procession.
They're moving forward towards a building that's like
a waystation or a stopping point in the procession.
And inside is the barque, and outside,
there is the king, offering incense
and doing rituals at this waystation.
So this shows an entire ritual scene on an avenue
with key points of rest for the barque and ritual practice.
NARRATOR: The procession rests
at the six shrines built by Hatshepsut.
Priests perform rituals in honor of
the god Amun in each shrine.
Here it is -- the key.
It says [speaking Ancient Egyptian],
"his beautiful festival of Opet."
That's the name of the festival.
This is the Opet Festival.
NARRATOR: Meredith wants to know if the Opet
Festival is just about honoring Amun.
She examines the structure of the chapel for clues.
Oh, this is fascinating!
The entire bottom of this chapel is built
with this black diorite stone -- to the ancient Egyptians,
black represented the fertile Nile soil after the flood.
It was the source of life to the ancient Egyptians, and
ancient Egyptian kings were concerned with rebirth,
renewal, and regeneration.
Fertility was their main earthly and spiritual goal.
NARRATOR: The black stone reveals the importance of
the annual Nile flood to the festival
on the Avenue of Sphinxes.
The Nile Valley is inundated every year by monsoon rains.
Millions of gallons of water pour into the river.
Priests monitor the river's depth in special structures
called Nilometers
and forecast the annual flood and the size of the harvest.
The monsoon rainwater overflows the Nile's banks
and leaves behind a rich layer of silt.
Farmers plant their crops in this nutrient-rich soil
and grow the food that powers Egyptian civilization.
MEREDITH: The symbolism of the black stone is clear.
The Opet Festival is about the Nile inundation.
Everybody in ancient Egypt was concerned about the flood
of the Nile, from the king to the commoner.
NARRATOR: The Opet Festival is a grand celebration
to honor the mighty Amun.
Ancient Egyptians believe
the ceremony ensures the annual flood.
It is the Nile flood that allows all life
in Egypt to thrive.
The avenue and the temples are
used for this ritual for 1,000 years.
But who builds the Avenue of Sphinxes?
Could clues be found on the mythical beasts themselves?
NARRATOR: Luxor, Egypt.
The huge Avenue of Sphinxes is the site
of a grand religious festival dedicated to god, Amun.
MEREDITH: The Avenue of the Sphinx is central to
the power of the pharaoh,
and it's a marvel of ancient engineering
and infrastructure.
NARRATOR: The resources of ancient Egypt are
poured into this vast construction project.
But the name of the Pharaoh who
first builds it is shrouded in mystery.
Clues could lie in the design of the Sphinxes themselves.
The Karnak end of the avenue
features more than 100 exquisitely carved Criosphinxes.
They have the body of a resting lion,
the head of a ram,
and a statue of a Pharaoh between the paws.
The Luxor end of the avenue
has hundreds of Androsphinxes.
They also have the body of a lion,
but each has the same human head,
and they sit on a platform covered in hieroglyphs.
Could these human-headed Sphinxes shed
light on who builds the avenue?
The Great Sphinx of Giza, 300 miles north of Luxor,
also features the face of the Pharaoh who builds it.
He is believed to be the Khafre.
It could be that the faces on the Sphinx
here might be evidence of the builder of the avenue.
Meredith searches for clues at the avenue's southern end.
MEREDITH: This is the Sphinx of Luxor Temple.
And when I look at it closer, it's got the royal headdress,
a cobra from its brow, and a big false beard.
Those are all hallmarks of kingship.
So this clearly is the face of a pharaoh.
NARRATOR: Meredith examines the base of one
of the Sphinxes for more clues.
Here it is -- this is the clue I'm looking for.
This is the name of the pharaoh who builds
the entirety of all the Sphinx
I see here, and it says, [speaking ancient Egyptian].
That's Nectanebo the First.
He's the first king of the last great Egyptian dynasty,
and his plans,
his grand design for Karnak and Luxor, shape what we call
the Avenue of Sphinx today.
NARRATOR: Nectanebo is a powerful
and ambitious military commander.
In 380 BCE, he overthrows the reigning Pharaoh
in a military coup and proclaims himself as ruler.
He is the last Pharaoh to build at the Avenue of Sphinx.
MEREDITH: His plans and initiatives between Luxor
and Karnak, his design, last to this day.
NARRATOR: Meredith ventures deep into Luxor Temple to find
out who is the first Pharaoh to build here.
This is Amenhotep the Third.
His name is right up there -- Nebmaatre.
And he has a cobra on his brow,
a sign of kingship.
NARRATOR: Amenhotep is the grandfather of Tutankhamun.
His reign begins in around 1390 BCE,
over 1000 years before Nectanebo the First.
Amenhotep the Third shapes the Theban infrastructure
with his monuments,
and he's instrumental to constructing
the Avenue of the Sphinx.
But Hatshepsut's cartouche in the Red Chapel of Karnak
proves that the construction
of the avenue goes even further back than Amenhotep.
It is Hatshepsut who first builds
the processional road in the 15th century BCE.
She constructs human-headed Sphinxes in her own likeness.
Decades later, Amenhotep the Third expands the avenue
and connects it to another temple complex.
Amenhotep's grandson, Tutankhamun, picks
up the project once again and expands it.
One thousand years after the boy king,
Nectanebo the First adds the human-headed
Sphinxes that flank the entrance to Luxor Temple.
MEREDITH: The Avenue of the Sphinx is
a vast construction project spanning generations
of Pharaohs over 1,000 years.
NARRATOR: Ancient engineers craft
the Sphinx with extraordinary detail and precision.
Can modern engineers resurrect these ancient masterpieces?
NARRATOR: Luxor, Egypt.
The restored ruins of the Avenue of Sphinxes
runs through the center of the ancient city.
The avenue lies buried for thousands
of years beneath the desert sands.
Restorers begin the task of uncovering
the avenue over 70 years ago.
MOSTAFA: This project is considered to be one of
the biggest restoration projects all over
the Egyptian history.
Now, it's accessible for the first time for
the investigators to come to study everything
about the Sphinxes.
NARRATOR: Now, restoration work helps investigators piece
together what these magnificent
Sphinxes look like in their prime.
Each Androsphinx is carved
from a monolithic block of sandstone.
Stonemasons get to work on the finer details.
They sculpt the lion's body
and the human head
with breathtaking precision.
Artists decorated with a vibrant palette
of mineral-based paints.
Finally, they carve mysterious hieroglyphs
into the base of each Sphinx.
How are modern experts
reconstructing these ancient masterpieces?
Mostafa Al-Saghir
heads a team of excavators and restorers who
work to return the Sphinxes to their ancient glory.
This restoration project had been started more than
70 years ago, when the first statue of the Sphinx is
discovered in front of Luxor Temple.
NARRATOR: Today, Mostafa and his team work to
restore one of the human-headed Androsphinxes.
MOSTAFA: Today is a very special day.
We are now making the restoration for one of
the Sphinxes that had been found here in this area.
Only a few statues had been found, because during
the medieval period, many of them had been destroyed.
NARRATOR: Mostafa's mission is to position the head
back onto the body of the Sphinx statue.
MOSTAFA: This work is really important, because
it's a real piece of the history.
It really gives us good information about the work done
by Nectanebo the First here,
especially in the immediate area of the Avenue of Sphinx
between Karnak and Luxor Temples.
NARRATOR: Nectanebo the First is obsessed
with the power of the Sphinx.
He builds more Sphinx statues than any other Pharaoh.
The team start by clearing
the Sphinx of years of dirt and debris.
MOSTAFA: My team really are experienced with this,
but they are dealing with a piece of the history.
So they have to take care for every step they are
doing today.
NARRATOR: Next, the crew use a crane to lift
the ancient head of the Sphinx into place over the body.
MOSTAFA: We are bringing the Sphinx back to life.
Nobody has seen it like this over thousands of years.
NARRATOR: The slightest error will be a failure
for Mustafa and his team.
They know what to do,
but they have to be really careful, because there is no
chance for any mistake.
NARRATOR: With the head in position,
the key moment has arrived.
So this is the most important moment.
They have to be really accurate to put
the head and to fit perfectly over the statue.
NARRATOR: Inches at a time,
they place the head delicately onto the body.
The team maneuvers the head into perfect position,
removes the crane, and brushes away the final debris.
They use a special cement mix made with plaster and red
brick to secure the head of the Androsphinx into place.
MOSTAFA: This is the moment that we are waiting for.
Now, the restoration work is complete.
We really feel so satisfied to bring the Sphinx back to life.
NARRATOR: All that's left is for the restoration team to
make final checks on the quality of the work...
[scattered applause]
and celebrate the successful restoration
of the ancient Sphinx.
The original construction requires
an enormous workforce of skilled craftspeople.
Stonemasons cut sandstone in the quarries of Gebel el-Silsila.
Sailors transport it 75 miles downriver
to Thebes by barge.
Skilled workers use copper tools to cut the sandstone
into smaller slabs
and assemble them to form the paving of the avenue.
Stonemasons intricately carve blocks of sandstone
and transform them into the Sphinxes that line
the processional road.
Finally, they inscribe hieroglyphs on the base
to honor the Pharaoh
and paint the Sphinxes with bright pigments.
MOSTAFA: There should be hundreds or even thousands of
engineers, stonemasons,
artists, who construct this magnificent Avenue of Sphinx
from Luxor to Karnak Temples.
NARRATOR: The engineers who construct this mighty Avenue
of Sphinxes do so for a single purpose --
the Opet Festival.
What is the grand finale of the Opet Festival?
Can clues be found at a mysterious shrine
in Luxor Temple?
NARRATOR: The monumental temples of Karnak and Luxor
are linked by the iconic Avenue of Sphinxes.
In ancient times,
a grand celebration of the annual Nile flood takes
place here -- the Opet Festival.
But the magnificent finale to
the festival is shrouded in mystery.
Luxor temple is the final destination
of the Opet Festival,
and there must be more to discover inside.
NARRATOR: Beyond the imposing walls
and colonnades of Luxor Temple
lies a mysterious structure that marks
the end point of the procession.
It is flanked by four towering columns
that are shaped like lotus flowers,
a symbol of life and creation.
The shrine has three mysterious rooms,
each seemingly built to house something of great importance.
Could this shrine hold clues about
the grand finale of the Opet Festival?
And what can it reveal about
the Pharaoh's obsession with this annual ritual?
Meredith ventures into the shrine.
She examines the walls and spots an important clue.
This room is clearly dedicated to the god, Amun.
His image is on both sides of the door.
It's on the door frame.
And when I look through, I can clearly see the god, Amun,
and even there's a picture of his sacred barque.
So this is the place where Amun
rests towards the end of the Opet Festival.
NARRATOR: Two smaller rooms flank the chamber
where Amun's barque shrine is kept.
Meredith wants to find out who they could be dedicated to
and what this could reveal about
the final stages of the Opet Festival.
NARRATOR: She investigates the first chamber.
This image is important.
It has the symbol of the moon.
There's the crescent-shaped moon underneath
the sun, and that's sitting on a sacred boat.
This shows the symbol of the moon god, Khonsu,
and it's his sacred barque that resided in this shrine.
Amun is not the only god worshiped
during the Opet Festival.
The god, Khonsu, is central to ancient Egyptian religion
and also to this celebration.
Meredith enters the final chamber to
find out which other gods reside here.
This image is at the back of the shrine, and it shows
the king offering to
a goddess, and she has a vulture headdress
and the crown of upper and lower Egypt.
That's the symbol of the goddess Mut.
So this tells me, this shrine is
dedicated to the barque of the goddess Mut.
NARRATOR: These three gods -- Amun, Mut, and Khonsu --
are each vital to the Opet Festival.
Ancient Egyptians must perform
elaborate rituals to appease them.
If they don't, the annual Nile flood might fail,
and with it, the miracle of Egypt's life-giving harvest.
The Opet Festival is a celebration of
the renewal of the divine power of the Theban Triad,
Amun, Mut, and Khonsu.
NARRATOR: The festival begins at Karnak Temple.
High priests take the statues of
the three gods and carry them on ceremonial barques.
The Pharaoh accompanies the priests as they
begin the procession along the Avenue of Sphinx.
The procession stops at six waystations along the route
and finally reaches Luxor Temple.
The ceremonial barques are taken into the shrine
of the Theban Triad,
and two weeks of feasting and celebration begin.
The gods of the Theban Triad rest in place at Luxor Temple.
They are appeased,
and the vital Nile flood is ensured for another year.
MEREDITH: The annual Nile flood gives life to Egypt.
It brings in new soil and water to grow crops
that everyone needed to survive,
and festivals like Opet ensured
the flood would come.
NARRATOR: Why else is the Opet Festival
important to the pharaohs?
Could it be used to maintain their grip on power?
NARRATOR: Two grand temples,
Luxor...
and Karnak.
Mighty pharaohs pour resources into them for over a millennia.
They connect them with a ceremonial road,
the Avenue of Sphinxes,
built for the grand annual Opet Festival.
MEREDITH: The Opet Festival celebrates
the renewal of the divine power of the Theban Triad,
Amun, Mut, and Khonsu.
It guarantees the life-giving waters of the Nile flood
and ensures the inundation for the prosperity of Egypt.
NARRATOR: Meredith wants to know why the Pharaohs
are so obsessed with the Opet Festival.
She heads into the heart of Luxor Temple to find out.
This is a remarkable image.
Amenhotep the Third inscribes on these walls
the source of Pharaoh's divine power.
Here, he depicts his mother sitting on a bed with the god,
Amun, and Amun is extending the key of life,
the Ankh sign, to the mother.
He is giving her divine essence.
And from this moment, Amenhotep the Third is born.
He is not just a mortal, he's also a god.
NARRATOR: Amenhotep portrays himself
as a direct descendant of Amun,
king of the gods and the focus of the Opet Festival.
He engraves his claim in stone so that all
who see it will know of his divine conception.
This is a delightful image.
It shows the god, Amun, and this small child
is actually Amenhotep the Third, and he's sitting on Amun's lap.
The intimacy in this image connects the Pharaoh to
the gods.
NARRATOR: The Pharaoh Amenhotep's relationship with
our moon is close and personal.
So the Pharaoh's celebration of Amun at the Opet Festival
is also a celebration of the Pharaoh himself.
Meredith heads to the most sacred part of the temple.
This is the inner sanctuary of Luxor Temple.
It is the holy of holies, and there's a special image here,
and it shows the god, Amun, and the Pharaoh in an embrace.
It demonstrates that the god Amun
is the source of the Pharaoh's power.
NARRATOR: The people of Thebes gather to
witness the Opet Festival procession each year.
They are surrounded by powerful images
of their god and their Pharaoh.
The Opet Festival was an amazing chance for the people
of Egypt to get a glimpse of the god, Amun.
It solidified their personal connection with the god.
It also allowed the Pharaoh to legitimize
his reign through his intimate relationship with Amun.
NARRATOR: The Pharaoh is at the center
of a ritual ceremony,
staged and managed to affirm his divine right to rule.
He leads the two-week celebration
of the inundation of the Nile
and a new year of his reign over Egypt.
The entire population of Thebes
takes part in the Opet Festival.
Dancers, singers, and wrestlers
perform around the temple complex.
When the celebration is over,
the priests float the statues and barque shrines
on barges back to Karnak,
where they remain until the following year.
After two weeks of celebrating, the spirits of Amun, Mut,
Khonsu, and even the Pharaoh are revived.
They emerge from Luxor temple rejuvenated.
And after, the Nile will flood,
the fertility will come back to the land,
and Egypt will prosper.
NARRATOR: The vast megastructure of the Avenue
of Sphinxes is built for a single purpose,
a processional route for the Opet Festival.
The rituals practiced here are vital to all
of Egypt, from the Pharaoh to the common people.
MEREDITH: The Avenue of the Sphinx is
a vital link between the king of
the gods, Amun,
the Pharaoh, and the ancient Egyptian people.
NARRATOR: Built by generations of Pharaohs over a millennium,
the Avenue of Sphinxes is at the center of Egyptian culture.
Buried beneath the sands of time,
archaeologists uncover it thousands of years later,
to reveal a vital connection
between the temples of ancient Thebes,
uncovering the secrets of the Lost Sphinxes.