1 00:00:14,291 --> 00:00:16,683 - This is about as far north in Egypt 2 00:00:16,683 --> 00:00:18,814 as it's possible to get. Because out there 3 00:00:18,814 --> 00:00:20,564 is the mediterranean. 4 00:00:24,189 --> 00:00:27,801 To my west is Libya, to my east Palestine and Arabia. 5 00:00:27,801 --> 00:00:31,370 While Egypt itself lies down there to the south 6 00:00:31,370 --> 00:00:34,054 a thousand kilometers of desert cut right through the 7 00:00:34,054 --> 00:00:37,313 center by the mighty river Nile. 8 00:00:37,313 --> 00:00:41,480 And at its top lies this, the great port city of Alexandria. 9 00:00:47,038 --> 00:00:51,357 It was ancient Egypt's last most influential capital. 10 00:00:51,357 --> 00:00:55,544 It was a city of great power, wealth, and luxury. 11 00:00:55,544 --> 00:00:57,711 The greatest in the world. 12 00:00:59,712 --> 00:01:02,264 Alexandria was also home of one of Egypt's most famous 13 00:01:02,264 --> 00:01:03,931 pharaohs, Cleopatra. 14 00:01:06,872 --> 00:01:09,184 The final ruler of a Greek dynasty 15 00:01:09,184 --> 00:01:12,529 and the last in a long line of foreign invaders 16 00:01:12,529 --> 00:01:13,985 who each claimed Egypt for themselves. 17 00:01:13,985 --> 00:01:16,902 Seduced by its legendary splendors. 18 00:01:23,300 --> 00:01:25,374 By now the pyramids were already 19 00:01:25,374 --> 00:01:26,867 thousands of years old. 20 00:01:26,867 --> 00:01:29,475 They were the beginning of a seemingly 21 00:01:29,475 --> 00:01:31,863 indestructible core belief. 22 00:01:31,863 --> 00:01:35,113 That it survived chaos, famine and war. 23 00:01:36,134 --> 00:01:39,796 It's as if they've been picked clean. 24 00:01:39,796 --> 00:01:42,498 A belief that would shine even more brightly 25 00:01:42,498 --> 00:01:45,063 in its fabled golden age. 26 00:01:45,063 --> 00:01:48,289 Who's temples, tombs, and glittering treasures 27 00:01:48,289 --> 00:01:51,789 had made Egypt an irresistible temptation. 28 00:01:57,386 --> 00:02:00,731 As jealous foreign rulers eyed a weakened Egypt 29 00:02:00,731 --> 00:02:04,898 how could it survive successive waves of foreign attack? 30 00:02:08,988 --> 00:02:11,461 But Egypt had a secret weapon, 31 00:02:11,461 --> 00:02:13,974 a culture so strong and deep rooted 32 00:02:13,974 --> 00:02:17,144 that it seduced and then absorbed 33 00:02:17,144 --> 00:02:20,497 all who would claim it as their own. 34 00:02:20,497 --> 00:02:23,580 Welcome to my story of ancient Egypt. 35 00:02:40,754 --> 00:02:42,470 Throughout the first millennium BC, 36 00:02:42,470 --> 00:02:46,470 Egypt faced wave after wave of foreign invaders. 37 00:02:50,135 --> 00:02:53,509 But in the face of such a strong and long lived culture 38 00:02:53,509 --> 00:02:55,873 all who would try to take over Egypt, 39 00:02:55,873 --> 00:02:58,456 would themselves be taken over. 40 00:03:06,214 --> 00:03:08,966 Almost a thousand years before Cleopatra, 41 00:03:08,966 --> 00:03:13,063 Egypt had entered its third intermediate period. 42 00:03:13,063 --> 00:03:16,896 A time of political decline and vulnerability. 43 00:03:19,317 --> 00:03:21,837 Or it's the beginning of the 22nd dynasty, 44 00:03:21,837 --> 00:03:25,870 around 945 BC. The priests are in charge of the south 45 00:03:25,870 --> 00:03:30,348 but in the north the vultures have started to circle. 46 00:03:30,348 --> 00:03:33,237 Waiting for their chance to swoop 47 00:03:33,237 --> 00:03:35,592 as a group of Libyan generals seize power 48 00:03:35,592 --> 00:03:38,925 to rule as pharaohs of the divided land. 49 00:03:46,725 --> 00:03:49,261 In many ways, Egypt's waning power 50 00:03:49,261 --> 00:03:51,884 had been triggered by a loss of faith 51 00:03:51,884 --> 00:03:54,069 and the authority of the new kingdom pharaohs 52 00:03:54,069 --> 00:03:57,305 had begun to crumble. Egypt's once pious priests 53 00:03:57,305 --> 00:04:01,329 had helped loot the royal tombs in the valley of the kings. 54 00:04:01,329 --> 00:04:04,726 Systematically dismantling Egypt's previous late 55 00:04:04,726 --> 00:04:07,643 unshakable belief in the afterlife. 56 00:04:09,890 --> 00:04:13,350 With the decline in power of the new kingdom pharaohs 57 00:04:13,350 --> 00:04:16,230 the Libyans who'd fought for the Egyptians 58 00:04:16,230 --> 00:04:19,346 as mercenary generals, gradually infiltrated 59 00:04:19,346 --> 00:04:22,522 Egypt's power structure and eventually took power 60 00:04:22,522 --> 00:04:24,189 as the 22nd dynasty. 61 00:04:37,135 --> 00:04:39,936 The first king of then 22nd dynasty Shoshenq 62 00:04:39,936 --> 00:04:43,143 had a number of sons who helped him keep control of Egypt. 63 00:04:43,143 --> 00:04:47,215 One of whom was called Nimlot and these are the bracelets 64 00:04:47,215 --> 00:04:48,632 of prince Nimlot. 65 00:04:49,765 --> 00:04:53,654 Egypt's Libyan rulers understood that looking and acting 66 00:04:53,654 --> 00:04:58,263 Egyptian would help to keep the country under their control. 67 00:04:58,263 --> 00:05:01,477 These beautiful bracelets are just a tiny fraction 68 00:05:01,477 --> 00:05:06,421 of the golden treasures created for Egypt's Libyan royals. 69 00:05:06,421 --> 00:05:09,795 Who on the surface at least, upheld many of Egypt's 70 00:05:09,795 --> 00:05:12,237 most sacred traditions. 71 00:05:12,237 --> 00:05:16,404 They are portraying a very small figure of the god Horus 72 00:05:17,521 --> 00:05:19,429 who symbolized Egyptian kingship. 73 00:05:19,429 --> 00:05:23,354 Shown as a young child emerging from a lotus blossom 74 00:05:23,354 --> 00:05:26,423 and on either side it's protected by the rearing cobras. 75 00:05:26,423 --> 00:05:28,340 The royal Horus symbol. 76 00:05:32,139 --> 00:05:35,671 Yet in some ways, these images are simply window dressing. 77 00:05:35,671 --> 00:05:38,025 Lip service to ancient Egyptian tradiitions 78 00:05:38,025 --> 00:05:40,858 in order to claim a greater prize. 79 00:05:41,816 --> 00:05:44,075 For the Libyans who'd organized nothing less 80 00:05:44,075 --> 00:05:47,180 than the stakes sponsored plundering of Egypt's 81 00:05:47,180 --> 00:05:48,380 royal tombs. 82 00:05:48,380 --> 00:05:51,463 They were so transfixed by the wealth 83 00:05:52,937 --> 00:05:55,433 by the gold, by the bling of ancient Egypt. 84 00:05:55,433 --> 00:05:58,694 They wanted it for themselves and over their several 85 00:05:58,694 --> 00:06:02,245 centuries rule, while they appeared to look like pharaohs 86 00:06:02,245 --> 00:06:03,765 and to rule as pharaohs. 87 00:06:03,765 --> 00:06:07,932 Egypt never feels to have been a cohesive united kingdom. 88 00:06:09,079 --> 00:06:11,173 They weren't Egyptians at heart 89 00:06:11,173 --> 00:06:13,840 and that's really what mattered. 90 00:06:16,475 --> 00:06:18,725 In many ways, Libyan rule was destined to fail 91 00:06:18,725 --> 00:06:22,255 because even if they were militarily superior. 92 00:06:22,255 --> 00:06:24,327 Their adoption of Egyptian culture 93 00:06:24,327 --> 00:06:26,888 was at best superficial. 94 00:06:26,888 --> 00:06:28,819 It was insufficient to unite the country. 95 00:06:28,819 --> 00:06:31,899 In the north the squabbling Libyan elite fought 96 00:06:31,899 --> 00:06:34,692 amongst themselves while in the south. 97 00:06:34,692 --> 00:06:38,085 The Egyptian priesthood including yet more Libyan princes 98 00:06:38,085 --> 00:06:41,478 still clung to power. The fragmented Egypt 99 00:06:41,478 --> 00:06:45,875 was easy pickings for any would be invader. 100 00:06:45,875 --> 00:06:47,973 Egypt needed a regime that could reconnect with 101 00:06:47,973 --> 00:06:50,703 its most powerful asset. Its history 102 00:06:50,703 --> 00:06:53,620 and by 747 BC that's what happened. 103 00:06:55,266 --> 00:06:57,029 When the Kushite rules of Nubia 104 00:06:57,029 --> 00:06:59,369 made a direct spiritual connection 105 00:06:59,369 --> 00:07:02,309 with Egypt's glorious past. 106 00:07:02,309 --> 00:07:05,974 But the Kushites were Egypt's southern neighbors in Nubia 107 00:07:05,974 --> 00:07:10,251 and from time in memorial. They and the Egyptians 108 00:07:10,251 --> 00:07:13,354 had kind of battled around the southern border of Egypt. 109 00:07:13,354 --> 00:07:15,973 By the 8th century BC however 110 00:07:15,973 --> 00:07:18,640 the Kushites had the upper hand. 111 00:07:21,113 --> 00:07:24,078 They were fervent believers in Egypt's traditional gods. 112 00:07:24,078 --> 00:07:28,245 In some ways making them more Egyptian than the Egyptians. 113 00:07:43,320 --> 00:07:44,912 The kingdom of Kush in Nubia 114 00:07:44,912 --> 00:07:48,679 was at the very edge of Egyptian world. 115 00:07:48,679 --> 00:07:50,727 Having been repeatedly conquered by Egypt 116 00:07:50,727 --> 00:07:54,894 the Kushites had been hugely influenced by Egyptian beliefs. 117 00:08:01,957 --> 00:08:05,336 Beliefs that centered on this great sand stone mountain 118 00:08:05,336 --> 00:08:06,419 Gebel Barkal. 119 00:08:09,253 --> 00:08:11,253 For centuries it had been regarded 120 00:08:11,253 --> 00:08:14,086 as the mythical mound of creation. 121 00:08:19,287 --> 00:08:23,454 The man from which Egypt's great creator god Amun was born. 122 00:08:31,819 --> 00:08:33,029 - Here it is the holy mountain, 123 00:08:33,029 --> 00:08:37,112 this is where the god lived in his primeval form. 124 00:08:37,979 --> 00:08:41,560 - Doctor Tim Kendal has spent almost 30 years 125 00:08:41,560 --> 00:08:43,081 working at the site. 126 00:08:43,081 --> 00:08:46,530 - Being at the southern limit of the empire it was where 127 00:08:46,530 --> 00:08:50,222 the Nile began, where fertility began and so it had to be 128 00:08:50,222 --> 00:08:53,990 the place where creation began. So this was the, 129 00:08:53,990 --> 00:08:58,157 they imagined this is the birth place of the god Amun. 130 00:08:59,794 --> 00:09:02,277 And so this was the primeval Karnak. 131 00:09:02,277 --> 00:09:05,994 - When the new kingdom pharaohs had arrived here in 1500 BC. 132 00:09:05,994 --> 00:09:10,161 They built this temple and dedicated to Amun and his wife, 133 00:09:12,741 --> 00:09:16,746 the goddess Mut and when the Egyptians withdrew from Nubia. 134 00:09:16,746 --> 00:09:20,671 Some 400 years later, the native Kushites 135 00:09:20,671 --> 00:09:24,985 continued to honor the sacred mountain and Egypt's 136 00:09:24,985 --> 00:09:27,115 spiritual traditions. 137 00:09:27,115 --> 00:09:29,421 As the Kushit kings gained increasing military power 138 00:09:29,421 --> 00:09:32,671 they also claimed Egypt for themselves. 139 00:09:35,054 --> 00:09:37,543 So when king Piye lead the Kushite invasion of Egypt 140 00:09:37,543 --> 00:09:41,096 in 747 BC he didn't plunder or destroy 141 00:09:41,096 --> 00:09:45,263 but restored and rebuilt and founded Egypt's 25th dynasty. 142 00:09:51,612 --> 00:09:54,864 - The irony is that he's conquering Egypt 143 00:09:54,864 --> 00:09:57,327 to put everything right I suppose. 144 00:09:57,327 --> 00:10:01,263 - So it's all such a cycle of rebirth, regrowth, 145 00:10:01,263 --> 00:10:04,388 redevelopment and the Kushite kings 146 00:10:04,388 --> 00:10:07,136 are either kind of tapping in to that ancient power source. 147 00:10:07,136 --> 00:10:10,019 And just sort of giving it back to the Egyptians. 148 00:10:10,019 --> 00:10:12,356 - Like starting time all over again, they're doing it right. 149 00:10:12,356 --> 00:10:15,952 - So they have that same sense of history and continuity 150 00:10:15,952 --> 00:10:18,417 as the Egyptians. They are the natural successors of the 151 00:10:18,417 --> 00:10:20,000 18th dynasty kings. 152 00:10:21,348 --> 00:10:24,926 Fueled by a genuine desire to make their own mark in Egypt's 153 00:10:24,926 --> 00:10:28,910 long story the Kushites began to rebuild Egypt, 154 00:10:28,910 --> 00:10:31,917 here in their Nubian heartland. 155 00:10:31,917 --> 00:10:35,001 King Piye expanded the existing temple of Amun 156 00:10:35,001 --> 00:10:38,033 at Gebel Barkal to balance the original great temple 157 00:10:38,033 --> 00:10:40,901 of Karnak in Egyptian thebes. 158 00:10:40,901 --> 00:10:44,017 But while the Kushites had absorbed the culture of Egypt 159 00:10:44,017 --> 00:10:47,855 they still had their roots here in Africa. 160 00:10:47,855 --> 00:10:51,045 This cultural fusion is quite clearly expressed 161 00:10:51,045 --> 00:10:54,199 in these extraordinary representation of the Egyptian 162 00:10:54,199 --> 00:10:55,860 goddess Mut. 163 00:10:55,860 --> 00:10:58,072 - The face of the goddess Mut 164 00:10:58,072 --> 00:11:00,239 had tribal scars and look. 165 00:11:01,522 --> 00:11:05,140 We'll see if it shows with this light, 166 00:11:05,140 --> 00:11:07,269 you see the three lines on her face? 167 00:11:07,269 --> 00:11:09,570 - So this is an Egyptian goddess with the Nubian makeup. 168 00:11:09,570 --> 00:11:12,140 - Yeah she was a goddess of Nubia and it was appropriate 169 00:11:12,140 --> 00:11:15,502 for Nubians to have tribal scars. 170 00:11:15,502 --> 00:11:17,584 - So this is a very very graphic version 171 00:11:17,584 --> 00:11:20,440 of the way in which local Nubians 172 00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:24,434 s were making the traditional deities of Egypt their own. 173 00:11:24,434 --> 00:11:27,161 Physically marking them, it's as if she's been 174 00:11:27,161 --> 00:11:28,193 stamped as a Nubian. 175 00:11:28,193 --> 00:11:29,378 - Yup. 176 00:11:29,378 --> 00:11:32,832 - Incredible, this is such a land of surprises. 177 00:11:32,832 --> 00:11:34,332 That is beautiful. 178 00:11:45,798 --> 00:11:49,698 Yet this land of surprises has something else in store too. 179 00:11:49,698 --> 00:11:53,865 Gale force winds whip up the worst sandstorm in years. 180 00:11:55,579 --> 00:11:58,417 It's a powerful reminder that the ancients would also 181 00:11:58,417 --> 00:12:02,500 had to deal with such dramatic natural phenomena. 182 00:12:06,673 --> 00:12:10,924 You can certainly taste the grit on your teeth. 183 00:12:10,924 --> 00:12:15,091 The ancients would have tackled this using spells, rituals. 184 00:12:16,615 --> 00:12:19,519 They would also have made extra offerings 185 00:12:19,519 --> 00:12:23,745 to specific deities. Most notably Osiris's brother. 186 00:12:23,745 --> 00:12:26,458 God Set, the god of turbulence, the god of storms. 187 00:12:26,458 --> 00:12:29,794 The god of red headed individuals 188 00:12:29,794 --> 00:12:31,840 who were seen as somewhat turbulent too. 189 00:12:31,840 --> 00:12:33,507 I can't imagine why. 190 00:12:39,998 --> 00:12:43,552 I'm seeking shelter in this shrine 191 00:12:43,552 --> 00:12:46,879 cut into the mountain by Piye's son Taharqa. 192 00:12:46,879 --> 00:12:49,164 Which is currently undergoing major restoration 193 00:12:49,164 --> 00:12:52,974 by an Italian mission. Its a parable that reveals 194 00:12:52,974 --> 00:12:57,141 graphic evidence of Egypt's continuing powerful influence. 195 00:12:58,914 --> 00:13:01,826 Never been here before, I have no idea what's going 196 00:13:01,826 --> 00:13:06,426 on in here so. This will be as new to me as it is to you. 197 00:13:06,426 --> 00:13:07,676 Oh flipping eh. 198 00:13:08,962 --> 00:13:12,213 It's a real privileged to see the time blackened walls 199 00:13:12,213 --> 00:13:14,722 finally giving up their secrets. 200 00:13:14,722 --> 00:13:17,193 Wow, look at that, look at that. 201 00:13:17,193 --> 00:13:19,193 Oh that is so beautiful. 202 00:13:21,281 --> 00:13:24,281 They're bringing out, not just the golds but the blues. 203 00:13:24,281 --> 00:13:28,573 These two colors, the bright blue of the sky and the Nile 204 00:13:28,573 --> 00:13:32,228 and the gold. This sort of really powerful color 205 00:13:32,228 --> 00:13:33,605 of the sun god. 206 00:13:33,605 --> 00:13:36,760 This is Taharqa, the Kushite's most powerful 207 00:13:36,760 --> 00:13:38,050 and important pharaoh. 208 00:13:38,050 --> 00:13:40,235 In classic Egyptian style 209 00:13:40,235 --> 00:13:42,988 he shown offering to the god Amun and his wife 210 00:13:42,988 --> 00:13:44,321 the goddess Mut. 211 00:13:45,374 --> 00:13:47,936 It's raised really, this is old school. 212 00:13:47,936 --> 00:13:51,164 This is old school technique, this is skill 213 00:13:51,164 --> 00:13:53,377 and they're all overlaying this yellow gold. 214 00:13:53,377 --> 00:13:57,544 And you can even see the little scales on this corselet 215 00:13:58,432 --> 00:14:01,856 that Amun's wearing. Every detail's here. 216 00:14:01,856 --> 00:14:04,918 It's fabulous it's like Christmas morning. 217 00:14:04,918 --> 00:14:06,982 This is just extraordinary. 218 00:14:06,982 --> 00:14:09,207 Just look for yourselves, just look. 219 00:14:09,207 --> 00:14:12,915 Look at that face, and look at that eyes. 220 00:14:12,915 --> 00:14:16,865 This wall truly exemplifies Egypt's ancient magic 221 00:14:16,865 --> 00:14:21,035 as those who tried to conquer it end up being seduced by it. 222 00:14:21,035 --> 00:14:23,856 And then become a part of it. 223 00:14:23,856 --> 00:14:25,831 It's a sincere attempt by Taharqa 224 00:14:25,831 --> 00:14:29,345 to connect his kingship to the achievements of the pharaohs 225 00:14:29,345 --> 00:14:31,056 of Egypt's past. 226 00:14:31,056 --> 00:14:35,056 In particular, to the rulers of the new kingdom. 227 00:14:46,683 --> 00:14:49,205 So although history records that Taharqa conquered Egypt. 228 00:14:49,205 --> 00:14:52,426 This scene reveals it's actually Egypt 229 00:14:52,426 --> 00:14:54,899 that conquered Taharqa. 230 00:14:54,899 --> 00:14:57,888 It's as if Egyptian identity will always win out 231 00:14:57,888 --> 00:15:01,138 no matter what. So much so that Taharqa 232 00:15:02,176 --> 00:15:05,483 is even shown with the ram's horns of Amun. 233 00:15:05,483 --> 00:15:09,056 By identifying him as the son of Egypt's god of gods. 234 00:15:09,056 --> 00:15:13,515 These were worn by Amun the third at Luxor Temple 235 00:15:13,515 --> 00:15:17,026 in the 18th dynasty. They were later worn by the great 236 00:15:17,026 --> 00:15:20,041 Alexander to show he too was the son of Amun 237 00:15:20,041 --> 00:15:23,314 and here we have Taharqa in all his finery 238 00:15:23,314 --> 00:15:25,064 and all his splendor. 239 00:15:30,279 --> 00:15:33,222 Who knew that they were here hidden away 240 00:15:33,222 --> 00:15:35,461 in this special special rock. 241 00:15:35,461 --> 00:15:38,641 We've come to the heart of Gebel Barkal now. 242 00:15:38,641 --> 00:15:40,686 We've come to the heart of Egyptian religion 243 00:15:40,686 --> 00:15:44,148 because this is the very birth place of Amun himself 244 00:15:44,148 --> 00:15:46,835 and here he is just for us, right now emerging 245 00:15:46,835 --> 00:15:51,002 from the world. Very few people have ever seen this. 246 00:15:57,454 --> 00:15:58,654 Here inside the temple, 247 00:15:58,654 --> 00:16:01,027 where only the most pious were allowed. 248 00:16:01,027 --> 00:16:05,194 Taharqa is shown indifference to Egypt's most powerful god. 249 00:16:11,970 --> 00:16:13,312 And outside on the mountain 250 00:16:13,312 --> 00:16:17,783 he exhibits his devotion on a truly monumental scale. 251 00:16:17,783 --> 00:16:21,548 By embellishing the very top of its pinnacle. 252 00:16:21,548 --> 00:16:25,416 A 180m tall and 11m from the cliff face 253 00:16:25,416 --> 00:16:28,622 it seems completely inaccessible. 254 00:16:28,622 --> 00:16:32,548 But Taharqa pulled off an incredible technical achievement. 255 00:16:32,548 --> 00:16:35,719 He built a crane arm and elaborate scaffolding 256 00:16:35,719 --> 00:16:39,809 in order to make his own permanent mark on the mountain. 257 00:16:39,809 --> 00:16:44,144 - What he did was he made an inscription for himself. 258 00:16:44,144 --> 00:16:45,843 Commemorating his victories east and west 259 00:16:45,843 --> 00:16:49,651 and then underneath is statuette a small statue of the king 260 00:16:49,651 --> 00:16:52,781 and they covered the inscription with gold. 261 00:16:52,781 --> 00:16:54,929 Today you can hardly see it 262 00:16:54,929 --> 00:16:56,979 but in those days it would have been the most 263 00:16:56,979 --> 00:16:58,565 conspicuous feature of the mountain. 264 00:16:58,565 --> 00:17:00,482 - And then that's meant to be seen by the gods. 265 00:17:00,482 --> 00:17:01,893 - Seen by the god. 266 00:17:01,893 --> 00:17:04,681 - Of course no mortal eye could read this from the ground 267 00:17:04,681 --> 00:17:06,279 but that wasn't the point. 268 00:17:06,279 --> 00:17:08,904 This was a message to the gods, 269 00:17:08,904 --> 00:17:12,020 carved on the monument built to impress. 270 00:17:12,020 --> 00:17:15,937 Completely covered in gold, it reflected the sun's rays 271 00:17:15,937 --> 00:17:20,288 and it's acted like a giant billboard as it telegraphed 272 00:17:20,288 --> 00:17:23,375 Taharqa's message for miles around. 273 00:17:23,375 --> 00:17:26,979 And this again harked back to Egypt's past 274 00:17:26,979 --> 00:17:30,537 where previous pharaohs had placed guided cap stones 275 00:17:30,537 --> 00:17:33,082 on their pyramids and obelisks to harness 276 00:17:33,082 --> 00:17:35,499 the potent powers of the sun. 277 00:17:41,402 --> 00:17:45,069 Just to the east of Gebel Barkal lies an acropolis of Nuri. 278 00:17:45,069 --> 00:17:47,308 Where the Kushite king's transformation 279 00:17:47,308 --> 00:17:51,487 into Egyptian pharaohs was finally completed. 280 00:17:51,487 --> 00:17:53,312 For the dynasty who'd invaded Egypt 281 00:17:53,312 --> 00:17:56,139 were now copying Egypt's ultimate symbol 282 00:17:56,139 --> 00:17:58,763 and for the first time in over a thousand years. 283 00:17:58,763 --> 00:18:02,930 The kings who rules Egypt were buried in pyramids. 284 00:18:04,002 --> 00:18:06,162 - When the kings made their capital at Memphis 285 00:18:06,162 --> 00:18:08,378 they were living right across the river 286 00:18:08,378 --> 00:18:09,647 from the great pyramids. 287 00:18:09,647 --> 00:18:11,395 Taharqa spent most of his life there 288 00:18:11,395 --> 00:18:13,472 and was familiar with the great pyramids and so 289 00:18:13,472 --> 00:18:18,018 when he died he needed a pyramid of commensurate scale. 290 00:18:18,018 --> 00:18:21,040 And this he sort of established this new type 291 00:18:21,040 --> 00:18:24,790 and it was followed by all of his successors. 292 00:18:25,738 --> 00:18:28,017 The Kushites eventually built more pyramids here 293 00:18:28,017 --> 00:18:31,306 in their Nubian homeland than the Egyptians 294 00:18:31,306 --> 00:18:32,497 had built in Egypt. 295 00:18:32,497 --> 00:18:36,163 And just as at Giza, Taharqa's pyramid 296 00:18:36,163 --> 00:18:39,496 is precisely aligned to its environment. 297 00:18:45,304 --> 00:18:48,558 From on the exact day when the Nile flood begins to recede 298 00:18:48,558 --> 00:18:52,124 the sun sets just like this. Directly behind the 299 00:18:52,124 --> 00:18:54,531 Gebel Barkal pinnacle. 300 00:18:54,531 --> 00:18:59,195 Yet only on this specific day, and only when viewed 301 00:18:59,195 --> 00:19:02,757 from the top of Taharqa's pyramid. 302 00:19:02,757 --> 00:19:06,830 That is totally not just a skill a feat of engineering 303 00:19:06,830 --> 00:19:09,948 but such devotion to the gods. 304 00:19:09,948 --> 00:19:13,226 - Observing nature. I mean it would take huge 305 00:19:13,226 --> 00:19:16,754 amount of observation to get the position just right. 306 00:19:16,754 --> 00:19:18,921 To get the day just right. 307 00:19:21,654 --> 00:19:24,726 - Surrounded by these pyramids, the images of the Amun 308 00:19:24,726 --> 00:19:26,660 and Mut and their monumental temples. 309 00:19:26,660 --> 00:19:30,555 It's easy to forget that the Kushites were actually 310 00:19:30,555 --> 00:19:33,765 a foreign power who'd taken Egypt by force. 311 00:19:33,765 --> 00:19:37,123 Yet it's almost as if Egypt was taunting its invaders. 312 00:19:37,123 --> 00:19:39,583 While you may try and dominate our land, 313 00:19:39,583 --> 00:19:43,406 our culture will ultimately dominate you. 314 00:19:43,406 --> 00:19:47,759 And as such, the Kushites left a legacy of renewal 315 00:19:47,759 --> 00:19:49,176 and resurrection. 316 00:19:51,971 --> 00:19:54,471 But like all Egypt's conquerors the Kushite's moment 317 00:19:54,471 --> 00:19:58,132 in the sun was fleeting. For their 25th dynasty 318 00:19:58,132 --> 00:20:01,638 lasted but a century as a far more ruthless 319 00:20:01,638 --> 00:20:04,305 and ambitious power now invaded. 320 00:20:10,785 --> 00:20:14,952 In 674 BC the fearsome Assyrian army marched into Egypt. 321 00:20:16,268 --> 00:20:19,659 As ruthless expansionists, they had little interest 322 00:20:19,659 --> 00:20:23,758 in Egyptian culture. They graphically demonstrated their 323 00:20:23,758 --> 00:20:27,591 contempt by sucking the sacred city of Thebes. 324 00:20:40,284 --> 00:20:42,151 - The Assyrians unlike the Egyptians 325 00:20:42,151 --> 00:20:44,566 are interested in expanding their empire 326 00:20:44,566 --> 00:20:47,068 and really taking over other parts of the world. 327 00:20:47,068 --> 00:20:49,485 And they do that by violence. 328 00:20:51,457 --> 00:20:53,131 - This very un-Egyptian 329 00:20:53,131 --> 00:20:54,954 bronze helmet was discovered in Thebes. 330 00:20:54,954 --> 00:20:56,730 It is one of the very few objects 331 00:20:56,730 --> 00:21:00,563 that reveal the Assyrian's take over of Egypt. 332 00:21:02,907 --> 00:21:05,768 Despite possessing equally powerful iconography 333 00:21:05,768 --> 00:21:07,342 of their own. 334 00:21:07,342 --> 00:21:09,752 The Assyrians had little time to leave their mark. 335 00:21:09,752 --> 00:21:13,024 They simply stamped their authority upon Egypt 336 00:21:13,024 --> 00:21:16,441 by trying to rip out its religious heart. 337 00:21:18,456 --> 00:21:22,216 - This holy complex, this really huge sacred space 338 00:21:22,216 --> 00:21:25,059 had never been attacked in Egyptian history 339 00:21:25,059 --> 00:21:28,992 and so far absorbed and damaged at the temple. 340 00:21:28,992 --> 00:21:30,928 To damage statues perhaps 341 00:21:30,928 --> 00:21:33,922 to damage precious things would really have been 342 00:21:33,922 --> 00:21:36,436 absolute annulment to the Egyptians. 343 00:21:36,436 --> 00:21:39,256 - What's really striking is it's obvious an un-Egyptian item 344 00:21:39,256 --> 00:21:42,265 but the Egyptians didn't even wear helmets did they? 345 00:21:42,265 --> 00:21:44,529 They relied on their thick hair didn't they? 346 00:21:44,529 --> 00:21:48,368 So for me, it really evokes a completely alien image. 347 00:21:48,368 --> 00:21:50,754 I mean the Assyrians, 348 00:21:50,754 --> 00:21:54,087 I mean war was their business wasn't it? 349 00:22:02,146 --> 00:22:04,804 With their sophisticated weapons and armor 350 00:22:04,804 --> 00:22:06,943 the Assyrians were a war machine. 351 00:22:06,943 --> 00:22:08,647 Who's unstoppable progress 352 00:22:08,647 --> 00:22:10,929 seemed to spell disaster for Egypt. 353 00:22:10,929 --> 00:22:14,172 It's after a little more than 20 years, 354 00:22:14,172 --> 00:22:18,339 the Assyrians return east to tackle problems at home. 355 00:22:19,233 --> 00:22:21,353 Leaving vassals in charge of Egypt. 356 00:22:21,353 --> 00:22:24,410 Based at the delta city of Sais, 357 00:22:24,410 --> 00:22:27,096 these were the Saite kings. 358 00:22:27,096 --> 00:22:29,117 True Egyptian politicians 359 00:22:29,117 --> 00:22:32,608 who first appeared to serve their Assyrian masters 360 00:22:32,608 --> 00:22:36,775 but soon became strong enough to declare their independence. 361 00:22:38,078 --> 00:22:41,084 Egypt was now back in Egyptian hands. 362 00:22:41,084 --> 00:22:43,992 The Saite's instigated a spectacular renaissance 363 00:22:43,992 --> 00:22:46,444 in native culture at the heart of which. 364 00:22:46,444 --> 00:22:50,490 Lay Egypt's most powerful symbol of national identity. 365 00:22:50,490 --> 00:22:51,657 Mummification, 366 00:22:53,638 --> 00:22:55,143 but no longer limited to humans. 367 00:22:55,143 --> 00:22:58,371 There was an explosion of animal mummification. 368 00:22:58,371 --> 00:23:02,130 Everything from dogs, cats, crocodiles, Abis, 369 00:23:02,130 --> 00:23:03,880 and even tiny shrews. 370 00:23:07,187 --> 00:23:10,290 The ancient Egyptians had always mummified their dead. 371 00:23:10,290 --> 00:23:11,966 Both human and animal 372 00:23:11,966 --> 00:23:15,494 and with the Saites we can almost see it as a way of 373 00:23:15,494 --> 00:23:19,411 the Saite kings trying to declare we are Egypt. 374 00:23:20,277 --> 00:23:22,657 We are important, this is what makes us special. 375 00:23:22,657 --> 00:23:26,662 No one else in the ancient world can mummify like the 376 00:23:26,662 --> 00:23:30,829 Egyptians and so they rolled it out a million fold. 377 00:23:32,941 --> 00:23:35,331 With animals specifically bred for mummification 378 00:23:35,331 --> 00:23:38,063 and then sold as offerings at temples. 379 00:23:38,063 --> 00:23:42,652 The Saites had reinvigorated Egypt's oldest industry. 380 00:23:42,652 --> 00:23:45,485 Death was once again big business. 381 00:24:05,708 --> 00:24:07,225 Now this might look pretty silly 382 00:24:07,225 --> 00:24:09,738 but around 2000 years ago here at Saqqara. 383 00:24:09,738 --> 00:24:13,155 This would have been a very common sight. 384 00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:18,328 This place would have been packed with pilgrims 385 00:24:18,328 --> 00:24:20,063 with priests making animal mummies 386 00:24:20,063 --> 00:24:22,477 and they'd be trundling the mummies across the landscape 387 00:24:22,477 --> 00:24:23,824 in carts like this one. 388 00:24:23,824 --> 00:24:26,117 So we must get out of our minds this idea of Egyptian 389 00:24:26,117 --> 00:24:28,924 priests as these pious quiet figures, 390 00:24:28,924 --> 00:24:30,320 wafting through the hole landscape. 391 00:24:30,320 --> 00:24:31,882 When at about this time, 392 00:24:31,882 --> 00:24:35,215 it was all carried out in great numbers. 393 00:24:40,697 --> 00:24:43,139 And it was Egypt's endless ability 394 00:24:43,139 --> 00:24:46,040 to reinterpret its core beliefs that was the key 395 00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:47,908 to its longevity. 396 00:24:47,908 --> 00:24:49,797 For millennia the Egyptians had believed 397 00:24:49,797 --> 00:24:52,249 that the pharaoh was a living god 398 00:24:52,249 --> 00:24:54,826 who embodied the soul of Egypt. 399 00:24:54,826 --> 00:24:57,476 When the king died their soul lived on 400 00:24:57,476 --> 00:24:59,656 in their mummified body. 401 00:24:59,656 --> 00:25:02,109 Which must be kept safe to guarantee 402 00:25:02,109 --> 00:25:04,105 the continuity of Egypt. 403 00:25:04,105 --> 00:25:06,090 So they'd always buried their rulers 404 00:25:06,090 --> 00:25:10,257 in the safety of pyramids or elaborate rock cut tombs. 405 00:25:16,900 --> 00:25:19,650 But in times of increasing unrest and foreign rule 406 00:25:19,650 --> 00:25:22,434 the Egyptians could no longer rely on even having 407 00:25:22,434 --> 00:25:24,091 a pharaoh to bury. 408 00:25:24,091 --> 00:25:28,258 And so they turned to another centuries old practice. 409 00:25:29,222 --> 00:25:33,568 The Serapeum at Saqqara is a huge subterranean tomb complex 410 00:25:33,568 --> 00:25:36,173 in which the concepts of kingship 411 00:25:36,173 --> 00:25:40,358 and animal mummification were fused together. 412 00:25:40,358 --> 00:25:42,888 For each of these giant granite sarcophagi 413 00:25:42,888 --> 00:25:45,240 once contained an animal believed to embody 414 00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:47,740 all the qualities of kingship. 415 00:25:48,671 --> 00:25:52,671 This is the burial site of the sacred Apis bull. 416 00:25:55,888 --> 00:25:57,944 These were the bodies or mummified bulls 417 00:25:57,944 --> 00:26:01,995 of such importance to the Egyptian mindset. 418 00:26:01,995 --> 00:26:04,737 They extended all this effort and cost 419 00:26:04,737 --> 00:26:08,170 to create a suitably impressive burial site 420 00:26:08,170 --> 00:26:10,001 and they've done in this space. 421 00:26:10,001 --> 00:26:12,114 As one bull dies and is mummified and buried 422 00:26:12,114 --> 00:26:14,943 the other one is then worshiped in life 423 00:26:14,943 --> 00:26:17,298 and at death mummified and buried again. 424 00:26:17,298 --> 00:26:18,649 And so there's a real progression. 425 00:26:18,649 --> 00:26:22,258 The call of the Apis bull, dates right back 426 00:26:22,258 --> 00:26:24,475 to the beginning of Egyptian history 427 00:26:24,475 --> 00:26:26,189 and it's closely linked to the pharaoh. 428 00:26:26,189 --> 00:26:29,160 It was believed that when the sacred bull died 429 00:26:29,160 --> 00:26:33,844 it became one with the Osiris. The god of the afterlife 430 00:26:33,844 --> 00:26:37,927 and so became an Osiris Apis, Osiripis for short. 431 00:26:40,492 --> 00:26:42,883 And these sacred bulls became hugely important 432 00:26:42,883 --> 00:26:47,027 under the Saites. During the times of foreign occupation 433 00:26:47,027 --> 00:26:49,891 when Egypt was increasingly being ruled 434 00:26:49,891 --> 00:26:53,514 by pharaohs in Absentia be it in Persia 435 00:26:53,514 --> 00:26:54,738 or wherever else. 436 00:26:54,738 --> 00:26:57,929 For the Egyptians they needed a physical presence 437 00:26:57,929 --> 00:27:00,489 and the Apis bull provided this presence. 438 00:27:00,489 --> 00:27:02,776 Because they could see it with their own eyes, 439 00:27:02,776 --> 00:27:05,171 they could celebrate rituals in its company 440 00:27:05,171 --> 00:27:07,602 and at death it would be mummified and then buried 441 00:27:07,602 --> 00:27:10,983 in the manner of pharaohs going back for millennia. 442 00:27:10,983 --> 00:27:14,324 So it was crucial to have this creature here, 443 00:27:14,324 --> 00:27:18,822 each one successively buried in a sarcophagus 444 00:27:18,822 --> 00:27:22,898 just like this one. We're looking at some serious devotion 445 00:27:22,898 --> 00:27:24,961 to this sacred creature and everything 446 00:27:24,961 --> 00:27:27,044 it represented for Egypt. 447 00:27:33,182 --> 00:27:37,010 In many ways, the serapeum is Egypt written large 448 00:27:37,010 --> 00:27:41,010 in which its core beliefs are taken to extremes. 449 00:27:43,314 --> 00:27:47,154 Being down here really makes you feel minuscule. 450 00:27:47,154 --> 00:27:49,550 You realize you're now walking amongst the gods. 451 00:27:49,550 --> 00:27:53,158 Words fail me frankly because of the enormity of it all 452 00:27:53,158 --> 00:27:56,756 but that was the thing. That was the skill of the Egyptians 453 00:27:56,756 --> 00:27:59,704 they batter you over the head with this idea of the colossal 454 00:27:59,704 --> 00:28:02,371 the monumental, the spectacular. 455 00:28:04,453 --> 00:28:06,674 Yet the Egyptian's devotion to the Apis bull 456 00:28:06,674 --> 00:28:08,899 had left them vulnerable. 457 00:28:08,899 --> 00:28:10,982 By embodying to power of Egypt 458 00:28:10,982 --> 00:28:12,962 within a single living animal. 459 00:28:12,962 --> 00:28:15,629 They had created an easy target. 460 00:28:20,322 --> 00:28:22,587 Given the Apis bull's divine status 461 00:28:22,587 --> 00:28:25,433 harming it would have been completely unthinkable. 462 00:28:25,433 --> 00:28:28,609 But when the Persian king Cambyses invaded Egypt. 463 00:28:28,609 --> 00:28:30,192 He had other plans. 464 00:28:39,608 --> 00:28:43,610 The Persian empire is swept west taking all before it 465 00:28:43,610 --> 00:28:47,168 and then into Egypt itself. The Persian king Cambyses 466 00:28:47,168 --> 00:28:51,335 entered Egypt in 525 BC and destroyed the Saite dynasty. 467 00:28:53,807 --> 00:28:54,909 Much like the Assyrians 468 00:28:54,909 --> 00:28:58,106 the Persians were ruthless expansionists. 469 00:28:58,106 --> 00:29:00,998 Chiefly interested in enlarging their empire 470 00:29:00,998 --> 00:29:05,524 and Cambyses seemed to have trampled all over Egypt's 471 00:29:05,524 --> 00:29:07,107 ancient traditions. 472 00:29:10,364 --> 00:29:14,329 Having taken Egypt by force, Cambyses burned the mummy 473 00:29:14,329 --> 00:29:16,498 of the previous Saite pharaoh 474 00:29:16,498 --> 00:29:18,733 before stabbing the Apis bull. 475 00:29:18,733 --> 00:29:20,900 Which slowly bled to death 476 00:29:24,816 --> 00:29:28,210 and by doing this Cambyses was sending a very clear message 477 00:29:28,210 --> 00:29:31,293 to the Egyptians. I am now in charge. 478 00:29:46,264 --> 00:29:49,554 For the next 200 years, the Egyptians were little more 479 00:29:49,554 --> 00:29:52,847 than the heavily taxed servants for the Persian empire. 480 00:29:52,847 --> 00:29:54,555 And with all attempts at rebellion 481 00:29:54,555 --> 00:29:56,579 met with extreme retaliation. 482 00:29:56,579 --> 00:30:00,867 Egypt needed a savior, an outsider who could be transformed 483 00:30:00,867 --> 00:30:03,608 by Egypt's powerful ideology 484 00:30:03,608 --> 00:30:06,608 and in return could transform Egypt. 485 00:30:08,045 --> 00:30:10,358 Enter the Macedonian superman, 486 00:30:10,358 --> 00:30:12,525 enter Alexander the Great. 487 00:30:23,724 --> 00:30:27,221 Alexander was one of the world's greatest military leaders 488 00:30:27,221 --> 00:30:30,450 and during his short life, amassed an empire that stretched 489 00:30:30,450 --> 00:30:34,212 across three continents. Founding over 70 cities 490 00:30:34,212 --> 00:30:35,795 that bore his name. 491 00:30:38,653 --> 00:30:40,540 After his initial defeat of the Persian king, 492 00:30:40,540 --> 00:30:45,412 Alexander marched unopposed into Egypt in 332 BC. 493 00:30:45,412 --> 00:30:49,596 The world's most successful empire builder had arrived. 494 00:30:49,596 --> 00:30:51,747 Not only transforming Egypt's future 495 00:30:51,747 --> 00:30:54,414 but preserving its ancient past. 496 00:30:57,091 --> 00:30:58,549 It really is no exaggeration to say 497 00:30:58,549 --> 00:31:01,940 that Alexander the Great is one of the most remarkable 498 00:31:01,940 --> 00:31:05,460 people who ever lived. He really was the superhero 499 00:31:05,460 --> 00:31:08,734 of the ancient world. So you'd think that Egypt 500 00:31:08,734 --> 00:31:11,518 would be filled with his images. After all, 501 00:31:11,518 --> 00:31:13,874 he had saved them from the hated Persians. 502 00:31:13,874 --> 00:31:16,274 And yet other than the great city of Alexandria 503 00:31:16,274 --> 00:31:19,532 that bears his name. He is remarkably hard to find 504 00:31:19,532 --> 00:31:21,479 within Egypt's traditional temples. 505 00:31:21,479 --> 00:31:24,903 Except here, in his modest little shrine 506 00:31:24,903 --> 00:31:27,320 at the heart of Luxor Temple. 507 00:31:32,122 --> 00:31:34,572 Alexander was not only a brilliant soldier 508 00:31:34,572 --> 00:31:36,853 but a master politician. 509 00:31:36,853 --> 00:31:41,146 Marching into Egypt's ancient capital Memphis 510 00:31:41,146 --> 00:31:44,813 amid rumors he was the song of Egypt's last native pharaoh. 511 00:31:44,813 --> 00:31:49,529 This instantly plucked him into Egypt's long native history 512 00:31:49,529 --> 00:31:53,715 and he was crowned as a traditional pharaoh. 513 00:31:53,715 --> 00:31:58,594 Here is the great man, repeatedly across the walls 514 00:31:58,594 --> 00:32:00,548 of this lime stone shrine. 515 00:32:00,548 --> 00:32:02,642 And yet you'd never know it was Alexander 516 00:32:02,642 --> 00:32:05,466 simply by looking. Because it looks like 517 00:32:05,466 --> 00:32:08,665 every other Egyptian pharaoh but he knew their secret 518 00:32:08,665 --> 00:32:12,832 that to rule Egypt you had to appear to be an Egyptian. 519 00:32:13,769 --> 00:32:16,685 And he did this brilliantly, to the extent that 520 00:32:16,685 --> 00:32:21,004 he had his name, his Greek name Alexandros written 521 00:32:21,004 --> 00:32:25,074 in the Egyptian tradition even in a royal cartouche 522 00:32:25,074 --> 00:32:28,921 and it's the only giveaway that this is Alexander the Great. 523 00:32:28,921 --> 00:32:32,307 Because there's his name, Alexandros written 524 00:32:32,307 --> 00:32:36,839 in typical Egyptian style and there he's even wearing 525 00:32:36,839 --> 00:32:40,187 the red and the white jewel crown of the united land 526 00:32:40,187 --> 00:32:43,572 and something encapsulating everything that it was. 527 00:32:43,572 --> 00:32:45,138 To be an Egyptian pharaoh. 528 00:32:45,138 --> 00:32:49,604 Just like the Kushite king Taharqa at Gebel Barkal, 529 00:32:49,604 --> 00:32:52,178 Alexander is shown offering incense 530 00:32:52,178 --> 00:32:54,970 to the king of the gods Amun. 531 00:32:54,970 --> 00:32:57,508 But simply connecting with the god wasn't enough, 532 00:32:57,508 --> 00:33:00,722 Alexander understood that real power 533 00:33:00,722 --> 00:33:02,805 came from becoming a god. 534 00:33:03,694 --> 00:33:05,778 And so he undertook perilous journey 535 00:33:05,778 --> 00:33:07,358 across the Libyan desert 536 00:33:07,358 --> 00:33:10,361 to the remote oasis shrine of Siwa. 537 00:33:10,361 --> 00:33:14,528 Where he could commune with the oracle of the moon himself. 538 00:33:18,542 --> 00:33:21,142 And it's said in this legendary story 539 00:33:21,142 --> 00:33:24,466 that the god actually said to him you are my son. 540 00:33:24,466 --> 00:33:27,780 And from then on, something clicked in Alexander's mind 541 00:33:27,780 --> 00:33:30,590 and he went off to conquer the rest of the ancient world. 542 00:33:30,590 --> 00:33:34,008 Truly believing he was divine and he had the full blessing 543 00:33:34,008 --> 00:33:38,175 and support of Amun himself. The king of the gods of Egypt. 544 00:33:42,135 --> 00:33:44,338 Alexander would only stay in Egypt 545 00:33:44,338 --> 00:33:46,088 for six short months. 546 00:33:49,070 --> 00:33:50,627 But during his time here 547 00:33:50,627 --> 00:33:54,776 he founded a city that would be his lasting legacy. 548 00:33:54,776 --> 00:33:57,193 The great city of Alexandria. 549 00:33:58,665 --> 00:34:00,395 Built on the Mediterranean coast 550 00:34:00,395 --> 00:34:03,122 to create trading and through the rest of the ancient world. 551 00:34:03,122 --> 00:34:07,076 The later historian Arian recorded that Alexander 552 00:34:07,076 --> 00:34:11,378 had laid out the city's general plan himself. 553 00:34:11,378 --> 00:34:13,289 But lacking chalk or other means 554 00:34:13,289 --> 00:34:16,148 he resulted to marking it out with grain. 555 00:34:16,148 --> 00:34:18,799 When a flock of birds began eating the grain, 556 00:34:18,799 --> 00:34:22,303 Alexander regarded this as a bad omen. 557 00:34:22,303 --> 00:34:25,849 Yet his religious advisor quickly spun bad news into godd 558 00:34:25,849 --> 00:34:29,667 and interpreted this as a sign that the new city 559 00:34:29,667 --> 00:34:31,971 would soon prosper and would one day 560 00:34:31,971 --> 00:34:33,721 feed the whole world. 561 00:34:34,595 --> 00:34:37,178 A remarkably accurate prophecy. 562 00:34:42,423 --> 00:34:44,011 For within a very few years, Alexandria 563 00:34:44,011 --> 00:34:46,773 would not only be Egypt's new capital 564 00:34:46,773 --> 00:34:49,356 but the greatest city on Earth. 565 00:34:53,525 --> 00:34:55,651 And though Alexander himself would never see it. 566 00:34:55,651 --> 00:34:57,984 Yet despite his pious nature 567 00:34:59,165 --> 00:35:02,106 Alexander was essentially a soldier 568 00:35:02,106 --> 00:35:04,707 and his quest to conquer the Persian empire. 569 00:35:04,707 --> 00:35:08,540 He left Egypt in 331 BC never to return alive. 570 00:35:10,883 --> 00:35:14,208 Moving as far east as India he conquered an empire 571 00:35:14,208 --> 00:35:17,509 of 2 million square miles before dying in Babylon 572 00:35:17,509 --> 00:35:20,342 aged only 32. But still undefeated 573 00:35:22,294 --> 00:35:24,877 and still the pharaoh of Egypt. 574 00:35:26,212 --> 00:35:29,450 At death, Alexander was mummified and his body 575 00:35:29,450 --> 00:35:31,971 became the focus of a power struggle. 576 00:35:31,971 --> 00:35:34,375 Some of his officers wanted him buried 577 00:35:34,375 --> 00:35:37,092 in his Greek homeland but for others 578 00:35:37,092 --> 00:35:40,703 he had to return to Egypt and be buried as a pharaoh. 579 00:35:40,703 --> 00:35:44,650 Thereby preserving Egypt's long traditions. 580 00:35:44,650 --> 00:35:46,749 But it obviously meant that anyone who possessed 581 00:35:46,749 --> 00:35:51,597 his mummified body could also claim the throne of Egypt 582 00:35:51,597 --> 00:35:54,915 and clues to this drama can be found here in the wind 583 00:35:54,915 --> 00:35:57,462 swept desert of Saqqara. 584 00:35:57,462 --> 00:35:59,637 Ten years after he'd left Egypt alive, 585 00:35:59,637 --> 00:36:02,262 Alexander returned here for his body 586 00:36:02,262 --> 00:36:04,623 had been mummified Egyptian style 587 00:36:04,623 --> 00:36:07,462 and it became a hugely powerful talisman 588 00:36:07,462 --> 00:36:11,629 for whoever held the body of Alexander the Great held Egypt. 589 00:36:14,782 --> 00:36:16,110 While on route to Greece, 590 00:36:16,110 --> 00:36:18,897 his cartage was diverted and his mummified body 591 00:36:18,897 --> 00:36:22,596 brought here to Egypt's ancient acropolis of Saqqara. 592 00:36:22,596 --> 00:36:26,756 Exactly where his tomb itself was remains a mystery. 593 00:36:26,756 --> 00:36:30,232 Although situated just meters from the serapeum 594 00:36:30,232 --> 00:36:34,529 is this collection of very un-Egyptian looking statues. 595 00:36:34,529 --> 00:36:37,728 And it's these somewhat sandblasted statues 596 00:36:37,728 --> 00:36:40,615 that give us a real clue that Alexander 597 00:36:40,615 --> 00:36:44,452 may initially have been buried somewhere close by. 598 00:36:44,452 --> 00:36:46,619 Because these are the sculpted images 599 00:36:46,619 --> 00:36:48,633 of some of the greatest scholars 600 00:36:48,633 --> 00:36:50,632 and artists of ancient Greece. 601 00:36:50,632 --> 00:36:52,887 Although exactly who is who has kept academics 602 00:36:52,887 --> 00:36:55,587 scratching their heads for years. 603 00:36:55,587 --> 00:36:58,205 Their likely identities reveal a direct link 604 00:36:58,205 --> 00:37:02,372 to the world in which Alexander grew up and was educated. 605 00:37:05,775 --> 00:37:09,355 Take Homer for example, his great warrior hero Achilles 606 00:37:09,355 --> 00:37:12,355 was Alexander's lifelong role model. 607 00:37:13,194 --> 00:37:15,578 Plato, who had tutored Aristotle 608 00:37:15,578 --> 00:37:18,947 who in turn had tutored Alexander. 609 00:37:18,947 --> 00:37:22,046 And Pindar who's poetry had appraised Alexander's 610 00:37:22,046 --> 00:37:23,796 Macedonian ancestors. 611 00:37:24,803 --> 00:37:27,237 As for who placed these statues here, 612 00:37:27,237 --> 00:37:29,664 the most likely candidate is Alexander's general 613 00:37:29,664 --> 00:37:32,072 and probably half brother Ptolemy. 614 00:37:32,072 --> 00:37:33,691 For by burying Alexander here 615 00:37:33,691 --> 00:37:36,253 close to Egypt's ancient capital Memphis. 616 00:37:36,253 --> 00:37:40,420 Ptolemy could legitimize his own take over of Egypt. 617 00:37:41,936 --> 00:37:44,058 And by laying claim to Alexander's body 618 00:37:44,058 --> 00:37:47,696 and to Egypt he founded the dynasty named after himself. 619 00:37:47,696 --> 00:37:50,696 The fabulous and outrageous Ptolemy. 620 00:37:53,296 --> 00:37:55,810 Ruling Egypt for the last three centuries BC 621 00:37:55,810 --> 00:37:59,153 the Ptolemy dynasty would be Egypt's final flowering. 622 00:37:59,153 --> 00:38:02,023 15 male kings all named Ptolemy 623 00:38:02,023 --> 00:38:04,016 with their female co-rulers. 624 00:38:04,016 --> 00:38:06,519 Half of whom were called Cleopatra. 625 00:38:06,519 --> 00:38:10,399 Macedonian Greek by decent, their dynasty would bring 626 00:38:10,399 --> 00:38:14,345 Greek style, culture, knowledge, and fabulous wealth 627 00:38:14,345 --> 00:38:16,523 into Egypt while at the same time. 628 00:38:16,523 --> 00:38:20,193 Immersing themselves in Egypt's irresistible religion 629 00:38:20,193 --> 00:38:24,406 and customs. They were very very sensitive 630 00:38:24,406 --> 00:38:28,248 to the cultural practices and the religious sensibilities 631 00:38:28,248 --> 00:38:32,341 of the Egyptians. They knew that to control this ancient 632 00:38:32,341 --> 00:38:36,507 land of Egypt they had to tap into what made Egypt powerful. 633 00:38:36,507 --> 00:38:37,882 What made Egypt special. 634 00:38:37,882 --> 00:38:40,365 They wore the right clothes, the right crowns, 635 00:38:40,365 --> 00:38:44,339 they built the right temples, they worshiped the right gods. 636 00:38:44,339 --> 00:38:48,688 And Ptolemy relocated Egypt's capital from Memphis 637 00:38:48,688 --> 00:38:51,605 to their new super city Alexandria. 638 00:39:04,188 --> 00:39:06,201 Built to Alexander's original plan 639 00:39:06,201 --> 00:39:07,825 it was one of the most lavish 640 00:39:07,825 --> 00:39:10,408 construction projects on Earth. 641 00:39:14,295 --> 00:39:16,204 The historian Streba would like to comment 642 00:39:16,204 --> 00:39:19,143 that the city had magnificent public precincts 643 00:39:19,143 --> 00:39:21,642 and royal palaces that covered a fourth 644 00:39:21,642 --> 00:39:24,559 or even a third of the entire area. 645 00:39:28,118 --> 00:39:29,751 The column aided marble streets 646 00:39:29,751 --> 00:39:32,467 were over ten meters wide. 647 00:39:32,467 --> 00:39:35,240 There were public baths, a huge gymnasium 648 00:39:35,240 --> 00:39:39,197 and one of the greatest wonders of the ancient world. 649 00:39:39,197 --> 00:39:42,030 The 135m tall pharaoh's lighthouse 650 00:39:42,864 --> 00:39:45,781 that guided ships safely into port. 651 00:39:50,368 --> 00:39:51,650 And at the center of the city 652 00:39:51,650 --> 00:39:53,426 Alexander himself. 653 00:39:53,426 --> 00:39:56,677 Who's mummified body had been exhumed from Saqqara 654 00:39:56,677 --> 00:39:58,094 and brought here. 655 00:40:03,606 --> 00:40:06,766 Ptolemy had built a capital unlike anything Egypt 656 00:40:06,766 --> 00:40:11,103 had ever seen before. For in Alexandria a new Egypt 657 00:40:11,103 --> 00:40:12,353 was being born. 658 00:40:14,668 --> 00:40:17,406 The creation of Alexandria and the great influx 659 00:40:17,406 --> 00:40:20,974 of immigrants gave it a freshness, a vivacity, 660 00:40:20,974 --> 00:40:23,933 and really kind of transformed the ancient culture. 661 00:40:23,933 --> 00:40:27,669 Whereas previously Egyptian civilization had developed 662 00:40:27,669 --> 00:40:31,566 along the Nile and in many ways was quite inward looking. 663 00:40:31,566 --> 00:40:34,235 Quite insular I think the fact that Alexandria 664 00:40:34,235 --> 00:40:38,824 was open to so many diverse influences, religiously, 665 00:40:38,824 --> 00:40:42,991 culturally and this gave it a real air of tolerance. 666 00:40:48,192 --> 00:40:50,091 I think I'd have felt very at home here. 667 00:40:50,091 --> 00:40:53,255 There's a real sense of culture and learning 668 00:40:53,255 --> 00:40:55,338 and appreciation of life. 669 00:40:58,375 --> 00:41:02,094 Today Alexandria is the largest city on the mediterranean. 670 00:41:02,094 --> 00:41:05,844 Stretching for over 20 miles along the coast. 671 00:41:08,901 --> 00:41:12,334 As Egypt's largest sea port it caters for over 80% 672 00:41:12,334 --> 00:41:15,106 of the country's imports and exports. 673 00:41:15,106 --> 00:41:19,023 A legacy that reaches directly back to Ptolemy. 674 00:41:20,367 --> 00:41:22,048 Having improved Egyptian agriculture 675 00:41:22,048 --> 00:41:25,745 by reclaiming new farmland through increase irrigation. 676 00:41:25,745 --> 00:41:28,012 They supplemented the Egyptian staples 677 00:41:28,012 --> 00:41:31,892 with new crops such as cotton and better grapes 678 00:41:31,892 --> 00:41:34,286 for wine production. 679 00:41:34,286 --> 00:41:36,542 And today the markets of Alexandria still buzz 680 00:41:36,542 --> 00:41:40,709 with some of the early city's lively cosmopolitan style. 681 00:41:43,585 --> 00:41:46,890 I'm gonna try and find the nearest equivalent 682 00:41:46,890 --> 00:41:50,870 to ancient Egyptian delicacies and these are dates 683 00:41:50,870 --> 00:41:53,653 and the ancient Egyptians used to make pastries 684 00:41:53,653 --> 00:41:55,962 and bread from them. Because they had a very sweet tooth. 685 00:41:55,962 --> 00:41:58,094 I think I might have to taste one just for quality 686 00:41:58,094 --> 00:42:00,174 controlling you understand. 687 00:42:00,174 --> 00:42:02,424 See how authentic they are. 688 00:42:03,537 --> 00:42:05,120 They are very nice, 689 00:42:06,256 --> 00:42:08,848 this is incense in its raw state 690 00:42:08,848 --> 00:42:10,928 and of course this was burned in temples 691 00:42:10,928 --> 00:42:12,675 and in funerary rights. 692 00:42:12,675 --> 00:42:15,203 The port city of Alexandria became a huge hub 693 00:42:15,203 --> 00:42:17,230 of international trade. 694 00:42:17,230 --> 00:42:20,321 Establishing routes with Greece, the Middle East, 695 00:42:20,321 --> 00:42:22,126 India and even Britain. 696 00:42:22,126 --> 00:42:25,934 And as native Egyptian goods like papyrus and perfume 697 00:42:25,934 --> 00:42:27,534 flowed out of the country. 698 00:42:27,534 --> 00:42:32,471 New exotic luxuries like spices, silks, and wines poured in. 699 00:42:32,471 --> 00:42:36,736 The Greeks loved olives and so these were imported 700 00:42:36,736 --> 00:42:40,495 and the Egyptians started to grow them. 701 00:42:40,495 --> 00:42:43,866 I'll definitely have some of these delicious. 702 00:42:43,866 --> 00:42:46,592 Oh we've got to get some black pepper. 703 00:42:46,592 --> 00:42:48,944 This is one of the really really popular things 704 00:42:48,944 --> 00:42:52,086 certainly in Ptolemaic times because markets 705 00:42:52,086 --> 00:42:54,720 had opened and certainly as far east as India. 706 00:42:54,720 --> 00:42:58,137 And the Greeks went crazy for this stuff. 707 00:43:08,447 --> 00:43:11,810 It's certainly lively shopping in Egypt, 708 00:43:11,810 --> 00:43:13,477 never a dull moment. 709 00:43:19,669 --> 00:43:22,237 With Alexandria now at the heart of the ancient world 710 00:43:22,237 --> 00:43:24,876 the rest of Egypt benefited too. 711 00:43:24,876 --> 00:43:27,796 For determined to honor their adopted country's 712 00:43:27,796 --> 00:43:31,900 long history Ptolemy undertook a massive temple rebuilding 713 00:43:31,900 --> 00:43:33,900 and restoration program. 714 00:43:35,683 --> 00:43:38,572 Indeed, modern visitors can often fail to realize 715 00:43:38,572 --> 00:43:41,623 that many of the places they visit were either built 716 00:43:41,623 --> 00:43:43,790 or restored by Ptolemy. 717 00:43:43,790 --> 00:43:47,373 Esna, Edfu, Dendera, Kom Ombo, all of these 718 00:43:50,014 --> 00:43:53,262 are Ptolemy buildings that tourists and scholars 719 00:43:53,262 --> 00:43:56,558 admire so much and yet. They really don't give 720 00:43:56,558 --> 00:44:00,725 sufficient credit to the people who's vision created them. 721 00:44:01,672 --> 00:44:04,665 The most impressive of all such temples 722 00:44:04,665 --> 00:44:07,182 lies the farthest from Alexandria. 723 00:44:07,182 --> 00:44:10,301 Deep into upper Egypt close to Aswan 724 00:44:10,301 --> 00:44:13,034 is the stunning temple of Philae. 725 00:44:13,034 --> 00:44:15,122 Which in Egyptian meant the end 726 00:44:15,122 --> 00:44:19,291 since it was located at the very southern edge of Egypt. 727 00:44:19,291 --> 00:44:21,560 Much of the temple was built by Ptolemy the second 728 00:44:21,560 --> 00:44:24,810 and his co-ruler and sister Hatshepsut. 729 00:44:29,939 --> 00:44:33,292 There was a law passed by her husband Ptolemy 730 00:44:33,292 --> 00:44:35,251 to say a statue or Hatshepsut 731 00:44:35,251 --> 00:44:37,950 had to be erected in every single temple in Egypt. 732 00:44:37,950 --> 00:44:40,716 She had to become its resident goddess. 733 00:44:40,716 --> 00:44:43,641 Asenerae was a powerful female pharaoh 734 00:44:43,641 --> 00:44:46,297 associated with the goddess Isis. 735 00:44:46,297 --> 00:44:48,616 A role the famous Cleopatra would adopt 736 00:44:48,616 --> 00:44:50,318 two centuries later. 737 00:44:50,318 --> 00:44:53,039 And under Ptolemy, Philae became a major center 738 00:44:53,039 --> 00:44:54,372 of the Isis cult 739 00:44:56,387 --> 00:44:59,314 and here in the heart of Philae temple. 740 00:44:59,314 --> 00:45:02,158 Arenerae's golden statue would have stood 741 00:45:02,158 --> 00:45:04,014 side by sis with that of Isis. 742 00:45:04,014 --> 00:45:06,263 So the walls are full of images of Isis and her fellow gods. 743 00:45:06,263 --> 00:45:10,222 According to myth, Isis was responsible 744 00:45:10,222 --> 00:45:12,302 for the vital Nile flood. 745 00:45:12,302 --> 00:45:14,741 Swelling the river as she wept tears of sorrow 746 00:45:14,741 --> 00:45:17,042 for her murdered husband Osiris. 747 00:45:17,042 --> 00:45:18,401 Who she then resurrected 748 00:45:18,401 --> 00:45:20,398 and with its spectacular location. 749 00:45:20,398 --> 00:45:24,565 Philae still retains its hugely spiritual atmosphere. 750 00:45:26,478 --> 00:45:27,982 It gives that sense of continuity, 751 00:45:27,982 --> 00:45:29,591 you really feel when you're up here. 752 00:45:29,591 --> 00:45:31,776 You feel like you're at the center of the world. 753 00:45:31,776 --> 00:45:33,880 I suppose for the ancient Egyptians you were. 754 00:45:33,880 --> 00:45:35,361 The center of their religious world 755 00:45:35,361 --> 00:45:39,580 and at this point which was the heart of ancient Egyptian 756 00:45:39,580 --> 00:45:42,753 religion way to the Christian era, way to the 6th century AD 757 00:45:42,753 --> 00:45:45,199 kind of messes with your heard. 758 00:45:45,199 --> 00:45:47,979 It's a very very holy place this. 759 00:45:47,979 --> 00:45:51,763 But while Philae was becoming an increasingly important 760 00:45:51,763 --> 00:45:53,546 center of Egyptian religion. 761 00:45:53,546 --> 00:45:55,253 Its new capital Alexandria 762 00:45:55,253 --> 00:45:57,820 had become the leading center of knowledge. 763 00:45:57,820 --> 00:46:01,428 For Ptolemy created some of the first scholarships 764 00:46:01,428 --> 00:46:04,315 attracting academics from across the world 765 00:46:04,315 --> 00:46:07,148 to study a wide range of subjects. 766 00:46:08,667 --> 00:46:11,928 Biology, theology, astronomy, geometry, 767 00:46:11,928 --> 00:46:16,654 anatomy, philosophy, and of course my own personal favorite. 768 00:46:16,654 --> 00:46:17,487 History. 769 00:46:22,456 --> 00:46:25,059 And at the center of this intellectual hot house 770 00:46:25,059 --> 00:46:27,476 was the famous royal library. 771 00:46:28,766 --> 00:46:31,129 Up to half a million works 772 00:46:31,129 --> 00:46:32,310 were once housed within 773 00:46:32,310 --> 00:46:35,709 to compete with the famous school of Plato and Aristotle 774 00:46:35,709 --> 00:46:39,215 in Athens and today that legacy lives on. 775 00:46:39,215 --> 00:46:42,298 With Alexandria striking new library. 776 00:46:43,901 --> 00:46:46,350 Ptolemy really did appreciate that knowledge was power 777 00:46:46,350 --> 00:46:49,877 and they wanted that power so they brought together 778 00:46:49,877 --> 00:46:54,362 in this once single place some of the greatest works 779 00:46:54,362 --> 00:46:58,451 in human history. The plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles, 780 00:46:58,451 --> 00:47:01,710 and Euripides. The works of Aristotle the philosopher. 781 00:47:01,710 --> 00:47:03,533 The old testament scriptures 782 00:47:03,533 --> 00:47:06,465 and all the accumulated knowledge from the temples 783 00:47:06,465 --> 00:47:10,632 of ancient Egypt. All brought into this one single building. 784 00:47:13,774 --> 00:47:17,636 The great library also contained the works of Herodotus. 785 00:47:17,636 --> 00:47:21,326 A Greek historian who traveled the length of Egypt 786 00:47:21,326 --> 00:47:24,750 over a century before Ptolemy had come to power. 787 00:47:24,750 --> 00:47:27,631 His accounts sum up the Greek fascination 788 00:47:27,631 --> 00:47:29,464 with Egyptian society. 789 00:47:31,616 --> 00:47:33,008 Not only is the climate different 790 00:47:33,008 --> 00:47:34,656 from that of the rest of the world 791 00:47:34,656 --> 00:47:36,855 and the river unlike any other river. 792 00:47:36,855 --> 00:47:40,974 But the people also in most of their manners and customs 793 00:47:40,974 --> 00:47:44,270 exactly reverse the common practice of mankind. 794 00:47:44,270 --> 00:47:48,026 For the women attend the markets and trade 795 00:47:48,026 --> 00:47:51,776 while the men sit at home and do the weaving. 796 00:47:52,659 --> 00:47:55,244 Indeed, the level of equality of Egypt's women 797 00:47:55,244 --> 00:47:58,362 shocked Herodotus. Something he vividly records 798 00:47:58,362 --> 00:48:00,995 when he witnessed a group of men and women 799 00:48:00,995 --> 00:48:05,162 traveling together by boat to the delta city of Bubastis. 800 00:48:06,870 --> 00:48:08,750 Some of the women make a noise with clappers. 801 00:48:08,750 --> 00:48:11,534 Others play the oboe while the rest of the women and men 802 00:48:11,534 --> 00:48:13,701 sing and clap their hands. 803 00:48:20,122 --> 00:48:21,788 Some of the women shout mockery 804 00:48:21,788 --> 00:48:23,899 to the women of that town they are passing. 805 00:48:23,899 --> 00:48:27,623 Whilst other dance and others stand up 806 00:48:27,623 --> 00:48:30,206 and expose their private parts. 807 00:48:40,435 --> 00:48:41,839 In temples the length of Egypt, 808 00:48:41,839 --> 00:48:45,747 Ptolemy ensured they were portrayed as Egyptian pharaohs 809 00:48:45,747 --> 00:48:48,695 making them almost indistinguishable 810 00:48:48,695 --> 00:48:51,379 from their native Egyptian predecessors. 811 00:48:51,379 --> 00:48:54,894 Yet in Alexandria the blend of Greek and Egyptian 812 00:48:54,894 --> 00:48:57,463 could sometimes create a hybrid 813 00:48:57,463 --> 00:49:00,206 of rather strange results. 814 00:49:00,206 --> 00:49:01,218 Hi Loreen. 815 00:49:01,218 --> 00:49:02,635 - Hi how are you? 816 00:49:03,477 --> 00:49:05,181 - Nami Sammi is a local historian 817 00:49:05,181 --> 00:49:08,369 who spent years studying this remarkable tomb complex. 818 00:49:08,369 --> 00:49:10,589 Built just after the Ptolemaic period. 819 00:49:10,589 --> 00:49:13,230 - And here we come to the unique burial, 820 00:49:13,230 --> 00:49:14,572 main burial channel. 821 00:49:14,572 --> 00:49:16,108 (laughing) 822 00:49:16,108 --> 00:49:17,691 - That is fabulous. 823 00:49:20,068 --> 00:49:22,002 Guarded by Greek Doric columns the entrance is covered 824 00:49:22,002 --> 00:49:26,023 in images of Egyptian gods. Who would ensure safe passage 825 00:49:26,023 --> 00:49:28,168 into the afterlife. 826 00:49:28,168 --> 00:49:31,280 It's like a tomb but it's also like a temple. 827 00:49:31,280 --> 00:49:33,012 - A temple it's also a temple 828 00:49:33,012 --> 00:49:35,429 but a typical Egyptian style. 829 00:49:37,505 --> 00:49:38,338 - It's really. 830 00:49:38,338 --> 00:49:39,932 - With Horus protecting the... 831 00:49:39,932 --> 00:49:41,518 You know why cobras 832 00:49:41,518 --> 00:49:44,734 choosing to be presented in the tombs. 833 00:49:44,734 --> 00:49:47,617 Because and the cobra has no eyelashes. 834 00:49:47,617 --> 00:49:51,284 It keeps your eyes open 24 hours which means 835 00:49:52,639 --> 00:49:56,806 awake to protect the tomb for 24 hours a day and night. 836 00:49:59,674 --> 00:50:02,230 - I love these snakes. 837 00:50:02,230 --> 00:50:04,062 That's a very Greek looking snake 838 00:50:04,062 --> 00:50:07,246 but it's wearing a very little ancient Egyptian crown. 839 00:50:07,246 --> 00:50:08,079 - Exactly. 840 00:50:09,175 --> 00:50:12,438 - They literally are throwing everything 841 00:50:12,438 --> 00:50:16,577 they've got at this tomb. I mean Medusa, Horus, Sun Disk. 842 00:50:16,577 --> 00:50:19,118 - To guarantee safety. 843 00:50:19,118 --> 00:50:21,591 - This is the best guarded door I've seen in Egypt. 844 00:50:21,591 --> 00:50:25,174 It's got everything here and these statues. 845 00:50:26,720 --> 00:50:28,656 They represent the inhabitants of the tomb. 846 00:50:28,656 --> 00:50:33,477 A single wealthy family. These two exhibit an odd mix 847 00:50:33,477 --> 00:50:36,015 of the Greek and Egyptian. 848 00:50:36,015 --> 00:50:38,350 I think the bodies are ancient Egyptian. 849 00:50:38,350 --> 00:50:42,517 The stance is ancient Egyptian, the man's kilt is Egyptian. 850 00:50:44,366 --> 00:50:45,888 From the neck down they're Egyptian 851 00:50:45,888 --> 00:50:49,321 but from the neck up they're European. 852 00:50:49,321 --> 00:50:51,470 It's clear the two amomas had done everything 853 00:50:51,470 --> 00:50:53,623 they could to ensure safe passage 854 00:50:53,623 --> 00:50:56,706 into the Egyptian afterlife. Oh look. 855 00:50:58,113 --> 00:51:02,280 Even if they didn't quite understand how it all worked. 856 00:51:06,508 --> 00:51:07,516 All the features are there, 857 00:51:07,516 --> 00:51:10,287 you've got with presenting the oils 858 00:51:10,287 --> 00:51:13,777 and Anubis doing the same. Mummifying the dead. 859 00:51:13,777 --> 00:51:15,526 You've even got jars underneath. 860 00:51:15,526 --> 00:51:17,800 - Kind of big jars and feather or might. 861 00:51:17,800 --> 00:51:21,855 The goddess of justice without her approval 862 00:51:21,855 --> 00:51:25,105 you will never cross to the other side. 863 00:51:26,097 --> 00:51:30,945 He didn't forget to add a Greek touch in the lower part. 864 00:51:30,945 --> 00:51:32,772 Two depictions of the Dionysus. 865 00:51:32,772 --> 00:51:36,422 - Dionysus was the Greek god of wine and fertility. 866 00:51:36,422 --> 00:51:38,989 Clearly these two occupants intended to continue 867 00:51:38,989 --> 00:51:43,081 the lives they lived in Alexandria into the beyond. 868 00:51:43,081 --> 00:51:45,109 - I want to, all what I enjoy in life 869 00:51:45,109 --> 00:51:48,046 to be with me in other side. 870 00:51:48,046 --> 00:51:50,279 - Especially the wine. 871 00:51:50,279 --> 00:51:52,946 A great place to spend eternity. 872 00:51:54,536 --> 00:51:57,056 Despite its rather cartoon like quality, 873 00:51:57,056 --> 00:51:59,021 the apparent opulence of this tomb 874 00:51:59,021 --> 00:52:02,287 demonstrates the desire of the Alexandrian elite 875 00:52:02,287 --> 00:52:05,852 to integrate into Egyptian culture. 876 00:52:05,852 --> 00:52:06,931 Yet in may ways, 877 00:52:06,931 --> 00:52:08,846 it was little more than a veneer 878 00:52:08,846 --> 00:52:13,013 hiding the real force that would ultimately destroy Egypt. 879 00:52:14,302 --> 00:52:15,634 For where the external invaders 880 00:52:15,634 --> 00:52:17,244 had largely tried and failed. 881 00:52:17,244 --> 00:52:20,697 Egypt's real nemesis would be the Ptolemy's famous love 882 00:52:20,697 --> 00:52:22,447 of luxury and excess. 883 00:52:23,685 --> 00:52:26,914 Much of this luxury was just a facade 884 00:52:26,914 --> 00:52:30,016 for the royals of Alexandria notorious 885 00:52:30,016 --> 00:52:34,183 for their love of display. Were like actors on a stage. 886 00:52:35,049 --> 00:52:36,933 As one ancient commentator observed, 887 00:52:36,933 --> 00:52:39,518 everything in Egypt is simply play acting 888 00:52:39,518 --> 00:52:41,177 and painted scenery. 889 00:52:41,177 --> 00:52:44,054 A comment which cuts to the heart of this melodramatic 890 00:52:44,054 --> 00:52:47,304 monarchy for whom image was everything. 891 00:52:49,904 --> 00:52:52,382 Because while the ruling elite were living it up 892 00:52:52,382 --> 00:52:57,054 in Alexandria, other parts of Egypt were far from content. 893 00:52:57,054 --> 00:52:59,170 By the end of the third century BC. 894 00:52:59,170 --> 00:53:03,016 Egypt was once more ridden with civil war. 895 00:53:03,016 --> 00:53:06,109 Upper Egypt began to rebel and it fell to Ptolemy 896 00:53:06,109 --> 00:53:09,343 the fifth to try and fight the fires of anarchy. 897 00:53:09,343 --> 00:53:12,352 So not only did he portray himself as an Egyptian, 898 00:53:12,352 --> 00:53:15,111 he went even further in his support 899 00:53:15,111 --> 00:53:17,979 for Egypt's ancient beliefs. 900 00:53:17,979 --> 00:53:19,243 In doing so he left the world 901 00:53:19,243 --> 00:53:22,660 one of its most famous ancient artifacts. 902 00:53:25,317 --> 00:53:26,817 The Rosetta Stone. 903 00:53:30,149 --> 00:53:31,335 It's best known as the means 904 00:53:31,335 --> 00:53:33,799 by which the French scholar Champollion 905 00:53:33,799 --> 00:53:37,154 was first able to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs 906 00:53:37,154 --> 00:53:41,215 in 1822 and we can tell that the inscription on the stone 907 00:53:41,215 --> 00:53:44,345 was of huge importance. Because it was written out in 908 00:53:44,345 --> 00:53:48,512 three types of script. Greek, Demotic, and Hieroglyphic. 909 00:53:49,823 --> 00:53:51,442 In a way, you could almost describe it 910 00:53:51,442 --> 00:53:53,296 as a kind of news bulletin. 911 00:53:53,296 --> 00:53:56,231 It's the priests of Memphis issuing this decree 912 00:53:56,231 --> 00:53:58,651 to let as many people know exactly 913 00:53:58,651 --> 00:54:02,558 what the religious and the political policy 914 00:54:02,558 --> 00:54:04,558 was of crown and clergy. 915 00:54:06,304 --> 00:54:09,710 And it particularly focuses on Ptolemy the fifth's 916 00:54:09,710 --> 00:54:10,863 generous patronage. 917 00:54:10,863 --> 00:54:12,638 The priests are appraising him 918 00:54:12,638 --> 00:54:14,531 because he's the one that gives wealth 919 00:54:14,531 --> 00:54:17,126 to the temple and gives due honor 920 00:54:17,126 --> 00:54:19,524 and respect to the sacred animals 921 00:54:19,524 --> 00:54:22,713 which were such an integral part of Egyptian religion. 922 00:54:22,713 --> 00:54:25,622 The priests really are grateful to their Ptolemaic 923 00:54:25,622 --> 00:54:28,613 pharaoh who they see as wanting 924 00:54:28,613 --> 00:54:31,782 to sort of tap to the ancient Egyptian culture 925 00:54:31,782 --> 00:54:35,935 and ancient Egyptian religion much like Alexander had. 926 00:54:35,935 --> 00:54:39,127 Much like the Saites had and the Kushites had. 927 00:54:39,127 --> 00:54:41,796 They knew that to attain true power, 928 00:54:41,796 --> 00:54:45,963 true control in Egypt you had to do things the Egyptian way. 929 00:54:48,764 --> 00:54:52,225 Yet Ptolemy the fifth's philanthropy came at a price. 930 00:54:52,225 --> 00:54:56,604 Keeping the peace in Egypt proved cripplingly expensive. 931 00:54:56,604 --> 00:54:59,419 So the second half of the Ptolemaic dynasty 932 00:54:59,419 --> 00:55:04,385 was ridden with debt, corruption, and vicious civil war. 933 00:55:04,385 --> 00:55:06,139 Soon the expanding Roman empire 934 00:55:06,139 --> 00:55:08,809 bore down on a divided Egypt. 935 00:55:08,809 --> 00:55:11,943 Only the famous Cleopatra stood in their way. 936 00:55:11,943 --> 00:55:16,707 In the mold of great uncle Alexander she believed herself 937 00:55:16,707 --> 00:55:19,739 divine and managed to hold the Romans at bay 938 00:55:19,739 --> 00:55:21,239 for over 20 years. 939 00:55:22,299 --> 00:55:24,803 But not even the great Cleopatra could prevent 940 00:55:24,803 --> 00:55:26,053 the inevitable. 941 00:55:34,086 --> 00:55:35,092 And so it was, 942 00:55:35,092 --> 00:55:38,688 that in August 30 BC Cleopatra's famous suicide 943 00:55:38,688 --> 00:55:42,523 brought an end to ancient Egypt as we know it. 944 00:55:42,523 --> 00:55:46,983 This epic culture which had lasted for 3000 years 945 00:55:46,983 --> 00:55:49,695 came to an end in a matter of days 946 00:55:49,695 --> 00:55:51,829 when on the 31st of August Egypt 947 00:55:51,829 --> 00:55:54,246 was formally annexed by Rome. 948 00:56:01,863 --> 00:56:04,903 This was Egypt's point of no return. 949 00:56:04,903 --> 00:56:07,948 A slow painful decline of Egyptian beliefs 950 00:56:07,948 --> 00:56:12,459 and culture until the arrival of Christianity 951 00:56:12,459 --> 00:56:14,358 with its numerous temples abandoned. 952 00:56:14,358 --> 00:56:17,503 Built over, or simply destroyed. 953 00:56:17,503 --> 00:56:21,003 Egypt's glories began to fade from memory. 954 00:56:26,928 --> 00:56:31,506 But Egypt's great story can now be traced back 20,000 years 955 00:56:31,506 --> 00:56:34,151 to the very origins of its magical culture 956 00:56:34,151 --> 00:56:36,805 which it evolved from its unique environment. 957 00:56:36,805 --> 00:56:39,783 Creating a series of sophisticated beliefs 958 00:56:39,783 --> 00:56:43,866 able to unite a country to build great monuments. 959 00:56:46,192 --> 00:56:48,110 It had survived chaos and famine 960 00:56:48,110 --> 00:56:51,729 only to rise again in a glorious center of rebirth 961 00:56:51,729 --> 00:56:53,146 and resurrection. 962 00:56:55,463 --> 00:56:59,775 Even waves of foreign invasions were ultimately assimilated 963 00:56:59,775 --> 00:57:02,275 by Egypt's powerful traditions 964 00:57:03,242 --> 00:57:06,279 and despite being eventually absorbed into the Roman empire. 965 00:57:06,279 --> 00:57:09,863 The ancient culture had continued until the arrival 966 00:57:09,863 --> 00:57:14,135 of Christianity. It has the Egyptians had always believed, 967 00:57:14,135 --> 00:57:16,968 there would be a life after death. 968 00:57:27,693 --> 00:57:30,324 Cleopatra's needle on London's embankment 969 00:57:30,324 --> 00:57:33,847 had lain forgotten in Egypt until the 19th century. 970 00:57:33,847 --> 00:57:36,917 But as pioneering Egyptologyists began 971 00:57:36,917 --> 00:57:39,750 a 200 year process of rediscovery. 972 00:57:40,591 --> 00:57:44,758 Ancient Egypt was reborn and this time it went global. 973 00:57:50,945 --> 00:57:53,329 And what a privilege for us today 974 00:57:53,329 --> 00:57:56,413 to be able to see such wonderful things 975 00:57:56,413 --> 00:57:59,693 and capture just a glimpse of this fascinating 976 00:57:59,693 --> 00:58:01,026 ancient culture. 977 00:58:09,355 --> 00:58:13,087 The culture of a people that won with their environment 978 00:58:13,087 --> 00:58:15,592 and who captured through their timeless monuments 979 00:58:15,592 --> 00:58:18,509 their own unique view of the world. 980 00:58:20,563 --> 00:58:24,079 In fact the story of Egypt is far from over 981 00:58:24,079 --> 00:58:27,415 for its rediscovery means that it is only just beginning 982 00:58:27,415 --> 00:58:31,582 and it's the things that made the Egyptians so very special. 983 00:58:32,535 --> 00:58:35,524 Eventuate that they're now known right across the world 984 00:58:35,524 --> 00:58:39,691 and they've achieved their ultimate goal. To live forever.