PBS - Pyramid - David Macaulay

[Music] major funding for this program has been provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities additional funding has been provided by the Arthur Vining Davis foundations The Corporation for Public Broadcasting public television stations the American architectural foundation of the American Institute of Architects and the national concrete masonry Association [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] these are the pyramids of Giza of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World these are the only structures that still remain and remain they will as long as any man-made object exists on this planet the pyramids were already about 1500 years old when the Greek historian Herodotus first wrote about them 5 centuries before the birth of Christ they presented a tantalizing mystery to Herodotus and in many ways that mystery has survived along with the Great Pyramids themselves over thousands of [Music] years like every tourist who's ever journeyed to Egypt Herodotus was fascinated by all he saw the first thing he wanted to know was why these incredible structures were built and then he wanted to know how how could a society which existed 2,000 years before the flowering of his own magnificent culture have been powerful enough ingenious enough dedicated enough and organized enough to have erected such imposing monuments on the edge of this unforgiving [Music] desert his first answer was the Nile Herodotus called Egypt the gift of the Nile and one glance at the disparity between these arid Sands and the green Nile Valley tells us why for it was here between the edges of the desert and the banks of the Nile That civilization first appeared in the form of early settlements [Music] these early settlers caught fish domesticated animals fashioned metal shaped bricks out of the river's mud and learned to make paper from a river plant called Papyrus they also grew grain thousands of Acres of it in a land where there was no appreciable rainfall they were able to do all of this because of the Nile until the construction of the Aswan High Dam in the mid 19 1960s the Nile would unfailingly overflow its banks once a year this annual flood called the inundation irrigated Fields filled canals and reservoirs and deposited a rich layer of black silt over vast tracks of Farmland which would otherwise have been nothing but desert as the flood waters receded Farmers quickly moved into action surveying boundaries clearing fields and planting seeds in the freshly nourished soil such communal efforts also nourished these early settlements and by around 3,000 BC there were established communities along the 600 mile length of the Nile the valley and its surrounding territory had also become organized into two independent and often antagonistic Nations called simply Upper and Lower Egypt this is a slate pallet portraying a king named narur who we believe to be the ruler who unified upper and lower Egypt and thereby started the civilization on its path to Greatness it's kept here in the famous Egyptian museum in Cairo though we know very little about Nora or how he brought the two regions together we can identify each of them by looking at the crowns worn by the King on one side Nur is wearing the crown of Upper Egypt shaped something like a bowling pin on the other side he's wearing the crown of Lower Egypt shaped something like a chair from then on the crowns were combined to symbolize the unification after Nur there were approximately 30 dynasties spanning about 3,000 years of ancient Egyptian civilization historians group these dynasties into three major periods the old the middle and the new kingdoms our story takes place in the old Kingdom's fourth Dynasty about 2500 BC it is the story of kufu one of Egypt's most illustrious Kings and the builder of the Great Pyramid it was during the Old Kingdom that Egypt was becoming the major civilization of the world Central to the understanding of why the Egyptian civilization worked the way it did was the role and function of kingship and the organizational Network that flowed from the Royal Palace although the King was all powerful he was supposed to be led by a guiding concept known as mat mat was the ideal of a universe in Perfect Harmony as it was said to have been in the time of the Gods this perfect order also had to do with right and wrong and how the society as a whole functioned Matt was often represented as a goddess who wore a single feather in her headdress symbolizing the delicate balance between stability and Chaos both in the universe and within the human [Music] condition the king stood at the Apex of a pyramid Society a few people at the top supported by a huge base of peasants and laborers this was an aristocratic culture ruled by a privileged class which Drew power from its relationship to the king and this King was not merely a privileged mortal he was also considered to be a god a God who drew his power from the very essence of creation the world began as a watery chaos which was called none and it was from this chaos that the sun god Reay emerged onto a mound and the great mound from which Rey created the universe and all its living things became a shape of great creative power sacred to all the world but unlike other mountains upon this Earth the only being who can Ascend to its Pinnacle is the God himself the living son of Ray king of Upper and Lower Egypt everything and everyone in the universe has a place it was my grandfather sneferu's place to be king now he has become Osiris ruler of the underworld and so though it is my father kuf Fu's place to be [Music] king as it will someday be my older brother cabs that is all part of the balance of Matt and it is most important that Matt be maintained in these troubled and difficult times after the death of a great king all of this has been taught to me from a very young age by the Royal vizer anaf who knew that it was my place to be a scribe a man of learning hedf you will be our eyes and ears throughout the kingdom thank you s and you will help keep my name alive when I leave this earth to become Osiris not for many many years I hope father whenever it happens we must be prepared for it yes we certainly must which leads me to the subject of your own Eternal home a great lord of the two lands my pyramid must be every bit as Grand as my father's indeed but without the compromises forced upon the Builder as you recall Ana when my father's first pyramid was half completed cracks and faults began to form and there was clearly instability within the structure yes I recall it well so at that point the architect decreased the angle of ascent to 43° degrees leaving a structure which appears to hesitate on its rise toward the sun my father is not a man for hesitation but as your majesty sees in your father's second pyramid the one to the north the same slope is maintained throughout the height rendering a perfect structure not quite you will build me a pyramid as daring as his first began yet as massive as his second in short the greatest pyramid of all all so that no one who sees it can doubt the power and the glory of the king of Egypt from now until the end of time and you will build it not in the shadow of my father's pyramid at gure but across the Great virgin expanse at gizer [Music] [Music] it wasn't long before anaf returned to the Royal Court at Memphis with his plans as it is customary we will construct your necropolis on the West Bank of the Nile where the sunboat of your father is seen to set where the p passage to the next world begins the site your majesty so wisely chose allows us to build on a suitably splendid scale ad joining your Great Pyramid we will place three smaller pyramids for your three gracious Queens as well as many tombs for the Beloved members of your court while my father found favor with the plan my mother had certain objections since I am the main Queen it would seem only fit that my pyramid be larger than the other two well you see my queen it was my father's third Queen a nutson Who provided the logical explanation my dear think of what you are saying if your pyramid were to be built larger than those of the other queens it would detract from the main pyramid of our Lord and divine King quite so Noble Queen H as you see my Lord the plan will afford a suitable location at the proper time for the Pyramid of your successor my Brave son cab your remaining children will continue surrounding you and serving you for all eternity in suitably impressive tombs my learned son hedf The Scribe will record your progress for me one further advantage of the Giza site it is located just across the Nile from Tura the finest limestone quaries in all your [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] realm but when the river is in flood stage it will be a relatively simple process to Ferry the blocks across from Tura and we will have our main Cory close by to provide the thousands of blocks we will need for the inner core the site itself is now being cleared and leveled and so that the pyramid may serve our King as his Pathway to the imperishable Stars it must be laid out in precise relation to the four corners of the earth once completed we will be ready to begin now we are ready to begin this way it's all here just as we suspected quickly now gather everything together it won't hold the door for us all night inck yes thank the god it's you as always your help is appreciated the plan you drew was completely accurate it should be I help supervise the construction of this tomb myself and as always your contribution is well rewarded good now go if anyone finds out about this the king himself will have me torn limb from limb [Music] as you see hedi the two rooms are already being chiseled out of the solid rock below ground level these will serve as the tomb chamber and storage room and will be entered through a gradually descending shaft two Granite Port callers will be lowered to seal the entrance to your tomb chamber after burial once the tomb itself is complete we can begin the first course of stones at which point my father's pyramid begins its transformation from dream to reality building elaborate tombs for the monarchs span the history of ancient Egypt a history dominated by the belief that the god king if properly cared for would live forever to maintain and protect his people where in the impressive tomb of SII I who ruled this land 1200 years after the events in our story by Si's time the search for safe and practical ways to care for the Monarch's body and afterlife had led away from the highly visible and Monumental pyramids to secret tombs cut from the solid rock of Southern Egypt's Valley of the [Music] Kings though the tombs in the valley were built many centuries after after kuf Fu's time the ideas about life and death are more clearly represented in these later paintings and [Music] drawings a tomb like this would have been filled with religious objects gold jewels and Furniture everyday items such as food drink and clothing would have been brought each day by priests to an offering Temple after all said he would need to get dressed eat and be entertained here just as he had been during his life on Earth built into the ancient Egyptian word for life was the assumption that we would each continue functioning forever all classes believed in an afterlife but remember this afterlife was to be a perfect extension of life on Earth so commoners would remain commoners and Kings would still be Kings so much for Upward Mobility Egyptian attitudes towards death took centuries to develop but a key concept that remains fairly consistent throughout this culture is that of the c a tomb such as this would have been home to the C it was the car for whom the tomb was decorated for whom food and clothing were brought and For Whom the priests served it is hard for us to understand exactly what the car was one possible transl ation is double although the Egyptians didn't think of the cob as we think of the soul the ideas are somewhat similar long before the tombs of the Valley of the Kings burial Chambers for the nobility were often provided with special rooms for car statues and all tombs had doors through which the car could receive the food and offerings left for [Music] it K statues helped reinforce the deceased's identity in this tomb of maruka a sixth Dynasty Royal official the cast statue is seen coming through the false door to receive its offering now for all of these elaborate and costly rituals to do their job that is to sustain the dead person's existence several things were necessary his name had to be visible this says honored before the king maruka then he had to have regular sustenance through offerings lastly and perhaps most importantly his body had to remain not only intact but identifiable to the car this is ramsy II many people believe that this is the Pharaoh Moses confronted in the biblical Book of Exodus few objects in history have evoked as much fear Superstition and wonderment as mummies they were thought to contain all sorts of magical Properties by the 16th century mummy was a popular drug in Apothecary shops throughout Europe Egyptian tombs were constantly being ransacked and their long dead inhabitants ground up to supply this strange appetite throughout the evolution of the mummification process Natron was used Natron which literally means divine salt was a powdery silt deposited on Lake beds the application of Natron to the body and its subsequent draining drying out and wrapping took weeks one crucial step in the successful preservation of bodies was discovered back in the fourth Dynasty long before Ramsay's here with the removal of the internal organs these are the canopic jars that held the removed organs which were also mummified and intuned along with the body a separate deity protected each organ stomach intestines lungs and liver the heart was left in the body since it was thought to contain the essence of the individual oh and the Brain they didn't know what it was for so they just threw it away over the centuries mummification and burial practices became more elaborate coffins eventually came to resemble the individuals inside these mummiform coffins further identified the dead particularly the deceased King with the god Osiris ruler of the underworld who was always shown wrapped as if a mummy the Osiris Legend is one of the most potent and embracing themes in Egyptian thought and culture about a god hero who died and then lived forever in the next World it was a story at first only connected to kingship but later developed to offer similar hope to all Egyptians [Music] you see kafa it is the god Osiris who causes the Waters of the Nile to rise every year in their season as a son of the king I have many brothers and sisters but of all of them the one closest to my heart is my young brother Katherine who shares my sense of wonder of the world please tell me the story of Osiris again Osiris was King on Earth long ago he married Isis and their good works were widely known his brother Seth whose rages were like a wounded hippopotamus became jealous and plotted against him he killed osaris and rent his body into many pieces then he threw them into the river where the current carried them swiftly away oh the Wailing of Isis who would not forsake her dead husband but the love of Isis could not be broken with the help of the jackal-headed Anubis she found the pieces of osaris and through her own powerful magic put him back together and he reigned over the kingdom of the Dead where he continues to this day Isis then sent her son Horus the Falcon to avenge the treachery against his father while he is alive on Earth theing king of Egypt is Horus the Vindicated and unvanquished and when he leaves this Earth he becomes osaris ruler of the Kingdom Beyond and each new king becomes Horus and maintains the delicate balance of M mother will I become Horus one day too I do not think so kafra your brother kaab is first in line to be king but I am sure your future will also be great yes I think it will be as the years went by it was easy to imagine the great things his mother predicted for him as before my very eyes kaffra you have grown tall and strong thank you Father as you recall son of Ray two rooms have been cut out of the rock 15 ft below ground level and have been covered over by granite slabs this is only one more consideration which assures that your car will be protected by the greatest structure ever built by man at this point we are beginning construction on the Queen's pyramids all in a neat even row would that my Queens themselves were so orderly our best take yet three nights running we have not EX exhausted the treasure I told you we were moving up in the world [Music] n it was everything you [Music] said relate another story to him jadea he was so impressed by the last one it took me weeks to learn it mother and even if I tell another story or dadf will only tell a better one anyway cab is my father's favorite he is the one who will someday be the king not I nothing is impossible my son I never know what to do try to act the part even cfra behaves more regally than you and he has no chance compared to [Music] yours Great kufu Master the two lands my father others too the plundering of my grandfather's tomb was a matter of grave concern for the well-being of his car and the stability of mart but like a true scholar anuf learned from all he encountered as a result of the unfortunate Occurrence at dashu Your Majesty we are taking several decisive steps first we are moving your father's resting place to a site where he will have the best protection whatever treasures and possessions were lost can be replaced as long as his body remains intact for his car to recognize quite so and then what of my tomb Anga it will be even more attractive to robbers than my father's I have studied the problem at Great length my Lord and have come up with the following solution it was here that ancap's brilliance sha forth with a plan so Innovative and daring virtually every other pyramid follows the basic plan of a passage way from the north leading directly down to the burial chamber cut out of the rock below ground as we have already constructed here but in this case it will foil any tomb robbers because we will move the location of your father's Eternal resting place to the very heart of the pyramid huge stones will block and conceal to the real entrance and halfway up the actual passage another Corridor will divert Intruders to this empty room here leading them to believe that the tomb has already been plundered little would they suspect that just above the ceiling here a grand Gallery leads to the true tomb high above securing the knowledge that everything was under control and that every imaginable detail had been attended to my father and I left them to discuss the construction the King could now rest easy yes but can we rest easy what do you mean though the robbers of sneferu's tomb were captured and most of his treasure recovered they had already destroyed his body oh dear but the king is unaware of this oh dear if he knew that his father's sacred car was now homeless say no more this must remain our secret for [Music] eternity to build such difficult expensive and obviously Monumental structures solely for the dead may seem a misplaced priority on a modern scale of values but tomb building for the Monarch was so inextricably tied to Egyptian life and thought that these structures must be understood in a much broader context for one thing the pyramid was the means by which the dead King climbed to the sky a sort of Latter to the heavens if you will and then there was another important theological teaching it held that the universe itself came from a pyramidal hill which may offer some clue to the meaning and significance of the pyramid shape to the ancient Egyptians before the Egyptians built Great Pyramids of Stone High officials and even kings were buried in Chambers under rectangular stone structures called mastabas the maaba remained the burial form of the welltoo almost until the end of the Old Kingdom but around 2650 BC an architect and vizer named imotep designed for his King Zer a truly elaborate tomb and created the world's first great monument in stone the step pyramid of Sakara previously the use of stone in buildings had been limited most structures were made of mud brick but here at Sakara we see the first architectural expression of the need to preserve the dead King in a tomb that would last forever Z's pyramid is made up of six rectangular estabas of decreasing size one on top of the other underneath is the tomb Chamber from an engineering standpoint the step pyramid was somewhat tentative blocks were cut small for ease of handling steep inclines were avoided but the overall effect is stunning around the pyramid there's a vast array of buildings constructed for important ceremonial purposes and the entire complex was surrounded by a massive wall nearly half a mile long and 33 ft High Z's immediate successors opted for step pyramids of their own but none were ever completed this is maom and the pyramid behind me was thought for many years to have belonged to honi the grandfather of kufu recent scholarship now points to the possibility that it is yet another pyramid belonging to sneferu Hon's son and the father of kufu he was a busy guy mum was begun as a seven stepped pyramid and later enlarged to eight after the King's death the steps were filled in and the whole thing covered from top to bottom with smooth casing Stones the result was the first true [Music] pyramid beside its slope mayom also contained all the elements found in later pyramid complexes a valley Temple now buried where the dead King was emomed was connected by this Causeway to another Temple adjacent to the pyramid where important pre-burial ceremonies took place after burial this is where daily offerings were brought and elaborate rituals performed there was also a space about 10 yard deep between the temple and the pyramid in which two Stella dedicated to the king were [Applause] displayed the entrance to the underground tomb chamber was positioned above ground level on the pyramid's Northern face a narrow descending passage this one is 190 ft long leads to the tomb itself the entrance was originally plugged with giant Boulders and covered with casing stones to hide its location and there is an additional feature this pyramid shares with the others which is that despite all the effort that went into its construction it failed to keep the tomb robbers [Music] out when they were finally completed pyramids and pyramid temples like this one at Giza were great hubs of activity these temples used to be beautiful buildings filled with statues and covered with wall decorations the entire pyramid complex was designed to be perpetually maintained and this required a sizable staff of priests and retainers as well as workers to sustain them pyramid complexes became almost like small cities cities for the maintenance the worship and the preservation of the god king [Music] today marks the 20th year of construction on this plane of Giza it is gratifying to see that many of the workers who began this project still labor here today in the service of the king with my father's pyramid so well underway it was time to begin work on the temple in which he would be prepared by his priests for the afterlife and nebar now that we have completed the pyramid Temple we're almost out of granite but that will be taken care of when Prince cab returns from his latest expedition to Nubia won't it yes let us hope [Music] so Noble Prince we have seen Nubian Warriors in the Hills pay them no mind but great Prince cab they appear to be heavily armed and prepared to to attack do you forget that I am the son of the Living God kufu those Nomads cannot harm us forward I [Music] say they will pay for this outrage those who offend the Majesty of Reay thousand times over they will pay this is the word of kuu the loss of my cherished brother kaab weighs heavily upon my father he worries for Mar and the stability of this world when it will be his time to leave it at least you may take heart in having other fine sons who can take up the golden wings of Horus after you but it was anaf who had to tell my father that I the next in line had decided I could not be his successor trained my entire life as a scholar and Scribe I knew I could not fulfill The Godly role of King and so my younger brother bowra will now someday take his place wishes to remain a scholar and Scribe and has told your father he will not be king this leaves marti's third son balra to come before you in line then what chance can there possibly be for me mother what chance was there for B while cab lived your thoughts are not Grand enough my son that is your only problem it was not long after Cab's tragic passing that my three Brave and Royal Brothers set out on a leopard hunt balra I am told was envious of the noble animal kafra had slain but jadea generously confided to him where he might find an even greater [Music] leopard when they discovered Crown Prince Baler he was dead the huge leopard he sought was never found and when my poor brother jedra had to relate the sad events to my father kufu his grief was unbounded father at last the prize is in sight you my son will be the next king rebellion in the South the plundering of my grandfather's tomb the loss of kaab and now bathra Mart is surely out of balance and needs to be restored at once if not then what it is even possible my father's pyramid would not be completed within his life on Earth I have given these matters much thought my Lord I have heard of a wise old magician daddy by name a man of 110 years who lives not one day's boat ride from here it is said of him that he even know knows how to reattach a head that is being cut off and has predicted many things in his life surely he will know what is to become of your Reign and your Royal issue H de my son go yourself and bring this daddy here to me [Music] [Music] we stayed the rest of the day in dy's village and accepted the hospitality of his household for me it was an experience to be remembered and cherished as I had never before been afforded the opportunity to observe how common people lived and the next morning Daddy appeared before the king my father to tell him what his magic had discerned would any of kufu issue survive to be king and would his great Dynasty continue Sovereign kuu my Lord may you live prosper and be in health your Dynasty will not end yet I see two of your issue who will assume the mantle of Horus as king of all the land thanks Peter Ray my father one will rule a brief time only he will be reviled in his own time and defamed when he is gone the other will be strong and brave he will rule for many years and Egypt will grow even greater under him he will do you honor and guard your sacred House of Eternity and his proud face will be known until the end of time but I have many children yet which are the two of whom you speak there are some things not even a magician may know and it was not long afterward that the wise old daddy took leave of this Earth himself leaving behind a mystery that only time could now unravel [Music] experts at hyperbole love to recite the facts it covers 13 acres or the equivalent of seven square blocks of Midtown Manhattan it contains well over 2 million blocks of stone some weighing as much as 15 Tons it stretches 755 ft along each of its four sides and is so close to geometric Perfection that the difference between the longest and the shortest sides is only 7 in and each side is aligned with one of the true directions of the compass it rises at an angle of 52° to a height of 481 ft about the size of a 40-story office building the Great Pyramid of Giza an eternal Monument to one of the Towering figures of history and yet this is the only complete representation we have of its Builder and onetime occupant an ivory figurine barely 3 in tall on the east side of the Great Pyramid are three smaller ones which Scholars have concluded were probably the tombs of kuf Fu's three main wives and just beyond a virtual planned community of mastabas for other family members and Court favorites the sides of the Great Pyramid now look like Giant Steps but they used to be smooth covered with with a casing of polished Limestone like the casing stones on top of the other huge pyramid here at Giza that one is only slightly smaller than kufo but it's built on Higher Ground which makes it appear just as large we can see quite clearly here at its base how surface Rock was neatly chiseled out of the surrounding Limestone bed during the leveling process the stone was then used for core blocks in fact all of the inner stones for the pyramids were quarried as close to the work site as possible The Only Exception was was the fine Limestone used in the casing it had to be transported from Tura across the river they're currently restoring the outer casing of the step pyramid at Sakara with white Tura Limestone which will give us a sense of what a finished pyramid must have looked like tra limestone is relatively soft and was easily quarried with the simple tools and techniques the ancient Egyptians had to work with they chiseled slots into the stone stuck wooden wedges into them soaked the wedges with water then waited for the wedges to swell and break the stone free Barry men also used Stone hammers metal chisels wooden mallets copper saws drills and finely ground quartz sand they drag the stone to the work site with rope and wooden sledges it's questionable whether the Egyptian Builders ever knew of construction machines more elaborate than the large sledges hauled by gangs of laborers or the smaller wooden rockers used to move the stones around once they were up here there is evidence that they tried using animals and other construction AIDS but they apparently decided that simple Manpower was the best way of all no pulley were used to raise the heavy blocks they were simply dragged up ramps of mud brick and Earth and once they reached the appropr level they were levered into place but not before the Masons had cut them with Incredible Precision even the large Granite casing Stones like these on the third pyramid at Giza fit so tightly together that you can't slip a piece of paper between them the hauling was done by gangs of conscripted peasants most of whom probably worked seasonally a few months stretch after the Harvest and during the inundation but they were not slaves they were paid with food and clothing and once their annual work for the state was completed they returned home to their fields of Wheat and barley either a little worse for wear or in great shape take your P of all the debates over pyramid construction probably the most spirited is the one over the type of ramp system used some people believe a single ramp was built from the local Quarry to the top of the pyramid others maintain that four smaller ramps spiraled around the sides of the pyramid each beginning at one of the Four [Music] Corners there's yet another theory that seems to combine the previous two though the debate continues it's encouraging that the issue has settled on ideas about building techniques rather than on Preposterous and demeaning Notions of Astral visitation and black magic and so on as it turns out ancient civilizations did possess the technical skills the determination and the imagination to build such structures and without the help of alien astronauts and Supernatural [Music] [Music] forces it was the event we had eagerly awaited for so many years the Capstone has arrived your majesty a magnificent smoothly carved block of limestone sheathed in gold at the top of the final course we have chiseled a slot into which the Capstone will be secured as the mudri ramps are removed a scaffolding is erected so the workers can chisel away the steps of the casing leaving the entire surface smooth as they complete their task others polish it to [Music] Brilliance with that my father's Great Pyramid was complete [Music] and just in time the Falcon has flown to the sky to become one with the sun god Ray like his fathers before him he has become Osiris my father was taken to his Valley Temple for the 70 days of eming which would prepare him for his life in the hereafter his internal organs were placed in jars of limestone his body was prepared with Natron then Anointed with myrrh cedar oil honey and olive oil incense was burned when the embar was completed he was wrapped in strips of fine linen upon which his own features were painted to assure that his body could be recognized by his car [Music] the burial chamber was furnished with everything my father's car would need to live there for eternity from the valley Temple my father's body was taken up the sacred Causeway to his pyramid Temple and here his mouth was opened by the high priest allowing him to partake in the offerings that would keep him alive forever and here he was awakened to his everlasting life as Osiris as my brother jedra became the Falcon orus king of this life at this moment my mind traveled back to the words my father had said for his father sneferu as the dead King was placed in his pyramid Hail To You ladder of the God Arise remove your Earth raise yourself that you may travel in company with SP Spirits for your wings are those of a falcon cross the sky and make your Abode among the followers of ayus the imperishable stars and deep within the pyramid inside a case of granite my father's body was placed to rest to watch over us over all Egypt his people safe and protected for all time to come [Music] [Music] no they didn't find anything in here the archaeologists who accompanied Napoleon in 1798 or the Italian chaplain Andre th who entered the Great Pyramid in 1549 or the French explorer Pierre balone who did so two years before that or the Muslim Calef who sent his diggers all through the pyramid looking for the Legendary Treasures of the Pharaohs all came out empty-handed of all the tantalizing Mysteries associated with the Great Pyramid the failure to uncover any substantial evidence of its Builder is perhaps the greatest mystery of all we know this was kuf Fu's pyramid primarily because workmen painted the king's name in the ceiling structure of the burial chamber the pyramid Temple which would have clearly established the name of the Monarch was totally destroyed one of the many Mysteries of the Great Pyramid is this incredible Grand Gallery deep in the heart of the pyramid which leads up to the burial chamber our story offers a possible explanation no other pyramid contains a burial chamber so high up in the structure itself and no other has such an impressive way of getting there we have the pyramid itself and nothing else a situation tomb explorers found over and over again which is what makes this particular tomb in the Valley of the Kings so extraordinary this is the tomb of King tutan common a monarch of the new Kingdom's 18th Dynasty who probably died before the age of 21 though he might have had a relatively small impact while alive his significance in death was enormous of all the tombs of the Egyptian kings Tuten Commons was the only one to survive intact and that was only because it was completely covered by rubble and debris from a later larger tomb it was discovered in 1921 by the English archaeologist Howard Carter working under the backing of his Patron Lord canara the treasures they found in just these few small underground rooms take up an entire wing of the Egyptian [Music] Museum The Mummy itself remains here in the burial chamber its Eternal home in one of its three golden [Music] coffins the Valley of the Kings became the final resting place of Egyptian monarchs following the decline of the pyramids we don't know for sure why they stopped building pyramids probably their tremendous cost and their inability to keep out tomb robbers had a lot to do with it but even here it's clear that the old shape remained sacred high above the Valley of the Kings a natural pyramid formation etches the sky it wasn't an Abrupt transition from the Pyramids of Giza to The Valleys near Luxor while it all may be ancient Egypt to most of us 15th centuries separate kufu and Tuten common and for a good deal longer than that very little was known about this fascinating culture one reason being that much of its remains were covered over by the Desert Sands the second reason little was known or understood about ancient Egyptian civilization is that it had no way of communicating its secrets with us hieroglyphic writing was nothing more than a series of interesting but obscure pictures well that all changed in 17 1999 with that same Napoleonic Expedition that entered the Great Pyramid this is a replica of a chunk of black bassal Unearthed by one of Napoleon's soldiers in the Delta Town of Rosetta it is inscribed in three alphabets ancient Greek demotic a script used in Egypt at the time of the Greeks and the even older hieroglyphics for more than a decade many people tried to match up the words among the three texts but with little success then in 1822 a Frenchman named Jean franois cholon cracked the puzzle and the language of the Ancients came alive the most important clue came in the matching up of royal names which are spelled out phonetically in the hieroglyphics the royal names are encircled by oblong Rings known as coues here for instance is the name tmy in hieroglyphic demotic and Greek all the gold of Tuten common almost pales in comparison to the value of this intellectual Discovery one of the reasons we have such a rich Legacy of artifacts and information much of it about everyday life is that so much of it was included in the tombs for use in the next world [Music] this was one society that clearly believed you could take it with you here a wealthy cattle dealer wanted to take his business with him and so he did in the form of this model he even has several accountants there to make sure he isn't being short [Music] changed another person took his grain business with him and another was evidently fond of sailing while someone else had more use for heavy Manpower and keep in mind these weren't merely representations or reminders to the ancient Egyptian models wall paintings even writings had the same practical and effective value in the afterlife as the real objects also taken along so we have some answers to what this civilization of so long ago was actually like and the search for more of them continues as it has in Earnest now for almost 200 years like Howard Carter and Jean franois cholon modern archaeologists and Scholars from Egypt and around the world are still searching for Clues to those elusive Mysteries which may lie just below the surface of the desert sand or may remain as inscrutable as the great sphin the protector of so many tantalizing Secrets over the ages the Spinx is part of the second pyramid complex here at Giza which despite the way things were going in our story does not belong to jadea he is thought to have been inomed about 5 miles to the north at Abu raash almost nothing of his pyramid remains and it is doubtful it could have been completed in the scant four years of his unremarkable Reign it took a far stronger more powerful and long lived Monarch to build the second of these three Mammoth structures to inspire Challenge and Fascinate forever [Music] mother will I become Horus one day too I do not think so kafra your brother kaab is first in line to be king but I am sure your future will also be great yes I think it will be one will rule a brief time only he will be reviled in his own time and defamed when he is gone the other will be strong and brave he will rule for many years and Egypt will grow even greater under him he will do you honor and guard your sacred House of Eternity and his proud face will be known until the end of time [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] major funding for this program has been provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities additional funding has been provided by the Arthur Vining Davis foundations The Corporation for Public Broadcasting public television stations the American architectural foundation of the American Institute of architex and the national concrete Mesa

Channel: anthony223

Views: 478,840

Keywords: Ancient, Egypt, Tut, Pharoah, Cairo, Empire, History, Documentary, Animation, Giza

Id: CnHcG9oE9Ec

Length: 56min 54sec (3414 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 01 2012