>> male narrator: ANCIENT EGYPT. FOR OVER 3,000 YEARS, ONE OF THE WORLD'S MOST VIBRANT AND PUZZLING CIVILIZATIONS FLOURISHED THROUGH WAR AND PEACE. THE EGYPTIANS BUILT GREAT CITIES, ENDURING MONUMENTS, AND THEY ADVANCED MATHEMATICS AND TECHNOLOGY. THEIR ASTONISHING LEGACY SURVIVES TO THIS DAY. WHAT TRANSFORMED A COMMUNITY OF RIVERSIDE FARMERS INTO A GAME-CHANGING EMPIRE OUTLASTING ALL OTHERS? ARCHEOLOGISTS HAVE UNCOVERED NEW CLUES FROM DYNASTY 0, EGYPT'S VERY BEGINNING. A 5,000-YEAR-OLD TABLET TELLS A FASCINATING TALE. IT SPEAKS OF WARFARE JUST BEFORE THE FOUNDING OF EGYPT. BUT IS IT REALLY EGYPT'S BIRTH CERTIFICATE OR CIVILIZATION'S OLDEST LIE? EXPERTS HAVE BEGUN TO UNRAVEL, FINALLY, THE MYSTERY: WHAT REALLY HAPPENED? AND THEY ARE UNCOVERING THE TRUTH ABOUT THE ENIGMATIC KING NARMER, THE MAN WHO MAY HAVE BEEN THE FIRST PHARAOH, THE MAN WHO POSSIBLY CREATED EGYPT. EGYPT AROUND 3000 B.C., THE TIME OF DYNASTY 0. AROUND 1 MILLION PEOPLE LIVE ON THE NILE: FISHERMEN, FARMERS, HUNTERS. NO SINGLE PHARAOH RULES THIS DIVIDED COUNTRY. NOT YET. BUT HISTORY MAY HINGE ON A ROYAL MESSENGER. HE'S BEEN TRAVELING UPSTREAM ON THE NILE FOR WEEKS. HE CARRIES AN URGENT REPLY TO A MESSAGE SENT BY KING NARMER, THE RULER OF THE COUNTRY'S SOUTH. THE RESPONSE COULD SHAPE THE DESTINY OF THE ENTIRE COUNTRY, UNITING IT IN PEACE OR PLUNGING IT INTO WAR. KING NARMER WANTS TO EXPAND HIS INCREASINGLY POWERFUL SOUTHERN KINGDOM TO INCLUDE THE DISPARATE TRIBES OF THE NORTH, BUT THE PRINCIPALITIES OF THE DELTA IN THE NORTH HAVE ALWAYS REMAINED BEYOND HIS REACH. UNTIL RECENTLY, LITTLE WAS KNOWN ABOUT THIS CRUCIAL PERIOD IN EGYPT'S HISTORY. >> WE ARE LEARNING ABOUT DYNASTY 0 ONLY FOR THE PAST 10 OR 15 YEARS. WE HAD NO IDEA PRIOR TO THAT TIME THAT THERE WERE KINGS, POWERFUL RULERS, IN EGYPT. >> narrator: KING NARMER HAS DEMANDED THAT THE NORTHERN TRIBES BOW TO HIS RULE, PREFERABLY WITHOUT A FIGHT. THE MESSENGER FINALLY ARRIVES WITH THE RESPONSE THE KING HAS ANXIOUSLY AWAITED. CONTROL OF THE NORTHERN PEOPLE WOULD MAGNIFY NARMER'S POWER AND WEALTH, BUT THE NEWS IS DISAPPOINTING. THE TRIBAL CHIEFS OF THE NILE DELTA DEFY HIS DEMANDS. THEY WANT TO REMAIN INDEPENDENT, BUT THEIR DECISION APPARENTLY WON'T QUELL NARMER'S GRAND AMBITION TO RULE THE WHOLE OF EGYPT, ALL THE WAY TO THE MEDITERRANEAN. EXPERTS ARE JUST BEGINNING TO SPECULATE ABOUT NARMER'S ACTIONS AND HIS ACTUAL ROLE IN HISTORY. AFTER FIVE MILLENNIA, IT'S DIFFICULT TO SEPARATE FACT FROM PROPAGANDA. SUPPOSEDLY, THIS RELATIVELY OBSCURE KING TOOK UP THE SIMPLE SPEARS AND STONE CLUBS OF HIS DAY AND WENT TO WAR, VANQUISHING HIS ENEMIES AND UNITING THE TRIBES AND TOWNS OF EGYPT INTO A SINGLE KINGDOM. AT LEAST, ACCORDING TO WHAT IS NOW KNOW AS THE SO-CALLED "NARMER PALETTE," THE MOST IMPORTANT SOURCE FROM THAT TIME. THE 5,000-YEAR-OLD STONE INSCRIPTION SHOWS NARMER WEARING TWO CROWNS, REPRESENTING ALL OF EGYPT. BUT DOES THE TABLET TELL THE STONE-COLD TRUTH? IN CAIRO, BELGIAN EGYPTOLOGIST STAN HENDRICKX EXAMINES THE NARMER PALETTE FOR THE FIRST TIM IN OVER 100 YEARS. EVEN THE TINIEST SCRATCH COULD PROVIDE CLUES ABOUT THE EVENTS FROM 5,000 YEARS AGO. SOME EGYPTOLOGISTS SPECULATE THAT THE TRIBAL LEADERS HAD FOUGHT EACH OTHER FOR GENERATIONS, BUT KING NARMER SEES THE BIGGER PICTURE. HE HAS CONSOLIDATED HIS POWER IN THE SOUTH AND ASSEMBLED SEVERAL HUNDRED MEN TO EXPAND HIS DOMAIN. THE KING TELLS HIS MEN THAT THE NORTHERN TRIBES REFUSE TO FALL UNDER HIS RULE. THEY MUST FIGHT TO CONTROL THE TRADE ROUTES, WHICH BRING WINE, WOOD, AND INCENSE, AND THAT THE TIME TO STRIKE IS NOW. WAS THIS THE GREAT BATTLE THAT GAVE BIRTH TO EGYPT? DID THE BATTLE EVEN HAPPEN? ARCHEOLOGISTS HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR CLUES. THE SWAMPY LAND OF THE NILE DELTA SWALLOWED THE SECRETS OF THIS PRE-DYNASTIC PERIOD, BUT THE SOUTHERN DESERT HIDES MANY SURPRISES, INCLUDING A POLITICAL POWER CENTER DATING TO DYNASTY 0, A PLACE CALLED ABYDOS. IT WAS A MAGICAL SETTLEMENT NESTLED IN THE DESERT LOWLANDS NEXT TO THE NILE RIVER VALLEY. IN THIS SACRED CENTER, THE GRAVES OF THE FIRST PHARAOHS WERE DISCOVERED, AND ABYDOS MAY HELP SCIENTISTS UNRAVEL HOW EGYPT WAS FOUNDED. THE EXCAVATION HERE HAS BEEN THE LIFE'S WORK OF GERMAN EGYPTOLOGIST GUNTER DREYER. THE ANCIENT RUINS SPEAK VOLUMES ABOUT EARLY EGYPTIAN ARCHITECTURE, BUT THEY'RE PRACTICALLY SILENT ABOUT HOW EGYPT WAS FOUNDED. THESE TOMBS, LOOTED REPEATEDLY OVER THE LAST 5,000 YEARS, HOLD LITTLE EXCEPT BROKEN POTTERY. DREYER'S TEAM SPENT 30 YEARS METICULOUSLY SIFTING THROUGH MOUNTAINS OF SAND. SOME OF THE MOST SPECTACULAR FINDS ARE NO LARGER THAN A FINGERNAIL, LIKE THIS EVIDENCE OF THE WORLD'S EARLIEST WRITING. IN HIS FIELD HEADQUARTERS, DREYER STORES HUNDREDS OF FRAGMENTS OF IVORY AND CLAY TABLETS. SOME OF THE WORLD'S OLDEST WRITTEN DOCUMENTS REQUIRE CAREFUL READING BETWEEN THE LINES. >> [speaking German] >> THE DEVELOPMENT OF WRITING IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT STEPS IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND. IT WAS DEVELOPED HERE FOR ADMINISTRATIVE PURPOSES. YOU HAVE TO REALIZE THAT IF YOU WANT TO CONTROL A LARGER TERRITORY UNDER A SINGLE LEADERSHIP, YOU'LL HAVE TO LEVY TAXES AND TAKE ACCOUNT OF THEM. >> narrator: IT WASN'T LOVE AND POETRY BUT GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS THAT MOTIVATED EGYPT'S FIRST HIEROGLYPHS. EVENTUALLY, THE PICTOGRAPHY BECAME PHONETIC WRITING FOR OFFICIAL REPORTS, TAXATION AND OFFERING LISTS, HISTORICAL TEXTS, AND LYRICS. SCRIBES FORMED THE BACKBONE OF EGYPTIAN BUREAUCRACY. ALMOST EVERYTHING WE KNOW ABOUT EGYPT WE OWE TO THEIR HIEROGLYPHS ON PAPYRUS OR ON THE WALLS OF THE COUNTRY'S MOST SPLENDID TEMPLES. OF COURSE, THE TEMPLES AND GRAVESITES THEMSELVES FILL IN THE REST OF THE STORY. NEXT TO THE TOMBS OF THE VERY FIRST PHARAOHS LIE SOME OF THE OLDEST GRAVES SO FAR, DATING BACK TO THE FOURTH MILLENNIUM B.C. IT'S HERE, AT THE EDGE OF THIS ANCIENT CEMETERY, THAT ARCHEOLOGISTS FOUND THE TOMB OF THE MYSTERIOUS KING NARMER. IT'S SURPRISINGLY MODEST FOR THE MAN WHO PORTRAYED HIMSELF AS A GREAT WAR LEADER AND FOUNDER OF THE EGYPTIAN EMPIRE. AND IT WASN'T BUILT TO LAST. >> THE TOMBS HERE ARE JUST DITCHES WITH BRICK WALLS. THEY'RE VERY FRAGILE. SOME OF THEM EVEN COLLAPSED IN ANCIENT TIMES. AFTER WE EXCAVATED AND PHOTOGRAPHED THEM, WE FILLED THEM UP AGAIN FOR PRESERVATION PURPOSES. >> narrator: THESE PHOTOGRAPHS FROM DREYER'S 1981 EXCAVATION SHOW WHAT NARMER'S TOMB ONCE LOOKED LIKE. IT CONSISTED OF TWO SIMPLE BRICK-LINED CHAMBERS: ONE FOR A BODY, ONE FOR A FEW FUNERARY ORNAMENTS. NARMER'S GENERIC TOMB SEEMS TO CONTRADICT HIS GRAND CLAIM AS EGYPT'S UNIFIER. JUST A FEW HUNDRED YEARS LATER, EGYPTIAN TOMBS WOULD GROW TO EPIC PROPORTIONS, TAKING THOUSANDS OF WORKERS DECADES TO COMPLETE. AND ENTOMBED WITHIN WERE RULERS SO POWERFUL, THEY WERE VENERATED LIKE GODS. SUCH ACHIEVEMENTS WERE ONLY POSSIBLE IN A UNIFIED KINGDOM WITH A SINGLE RULER. IF KING NARMER TRULY UNIFIED EGYPT, YOU'D THINK HE'D RATE THAT SORT OF MONUMENTAL FUNERARY TREATMENT, BUT NO. COULD NARMER'S GLORY BE NOTHING BUT AN ELABORATE FICTION? PERHAPS. THE MOST IMPORTANT MONUMENT TO NARMER IS THE NARMER PALETTE, A DOCUMENT TO RECOUNT A BATTLE THAT MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE HAPPENED. FOR THE NEXT 3,000 YEARS, EVERY EGYPTIAN KING PORTRAYED HIMSELF AS A VICTOR, EVEN IF HE NEVER FOUGHT A WAR. NARMER MAY HAVE BEEN NO DIFFERENT. TO INVESTIGATE, ARCHEOLOGISTS WILL NEED TO SCOUR THE SAND FOR AN ELUSIVE GRAIN OF TRUTH. >> narrator: THE MYSTERIOUS NARMER PALETTE DECLARES THAT A WAR UNITED EGYPT. BUT SOME EXPERTS AREN'T SO SURE. THE ANSWER MAY LIE 150 MILES SOUTH OF ABYDOS. ANOTHER GREAT DYNASTY 0 CITY, HIERAKONPOLIS ONCE STOOD ON THE BANKS OF THE NILE BEFORE THE RIVERBED SHIFTED AWAY. HIERAKONPOLIS PLAYED A PIVOTAL ROLE IN THE FOUNDING OF THE EMPIRE. FOR 500 YEARS, THIS WAS ONE OF THE GREAT POWER CENTERS OF THE SOUTH, A VITAL PART OF KING NARMER'S RULE. AND IT WAS HERE, DURING THE 19TH CENTURY, THAT ARCHEOLOGISTS FOUND THE NARMER PALETTE. ARCHEOLOGIST RENEE FRIEDMAN HAS BEEN WORKING AT HIERAKONPOLIS FOR OVER 12 YEARS, PIECING TOGETHER THE FEW REMAINING TRACES OF THE ANCIENT CITY. SHE AND HER TEAM HAVE PAINSTAKINGLY ASSEMBLED A PICTURE OF WHAT THIS PLACE MUST HAVE LOOKED LIKE. THEY'VE LEARNED TO TEASE VITAL INFORMATION FROM MUNDANE RUINS, LIKE THIS FOUNDATION OF A SIMPLE HOUSE. RENEE CAN EVEN DETERMINE WHO IT BELONGED TO. >> THIS IS THE HOUSE OF A POTTER WHO, FORTUNATELY FOR US, BURNT HIS HOUSE DOWN WITH HIS OWN KILN, ENSURING ITS INCREDIBLE PRESERVATION, BECAUSE IT'S BEEN CUT INTO THE NATIVE DIRT, AND OTHERWISE IT WOULD HAVE ERODED AWAY. BUT BECAUSE HE BURNT IT AND MADE IT LIKE LIKE POTTERY-- IT'S RED LIKE POTTERY NOW BECAUSE OF THE FIRE-- IT'S PRESERVED IT AGAINST THE WIND AND THE ELEMENTS. SO WE CAN SEE AND GET A FEEL FOR HOW THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS, AT THIS TIME, ACTUALLY LIVED. >> narrator: UNTIL TRAGEDY BURNISHED HIS PLACE IN HISTORY, THE POTTER LIVED WITH HIS FAMILY IN A SIMPLE CLAY HOUSE LIKE MANY OF HIS NEIGHBORS. IN THE ATTACHED SHOP, HE PRODUCED POTTERY FOR INHABITANTS OF HIERAKONPOLIS-- AT THAT TIME, ONE OF THE GREATEST SETTLEMENTS IN THE WORLD. NEARLY 10,000 PEOPLE LIVED HERE, WHERE A HUGE TEMPLE DOMINATED THE CITY CENTER. BUT FIRE ISN'T THE ONLY WAY THE STRUCTURES OF HIERAKONPOLIS SURVIVED. ARCHEOLOGISTS HAVE EXCAVATED REMAINS OF CENTRAL BREWERIES AND BAKERIES THAT PROVIDED BEER AND BREAD FOR THE CITY. THE MOST REMARKABLE DISCOVERY, HOWEVER, CAME FROM OUTSIDE OF THE CITY. IT'S A CEMETERY FOR THE EGYPTIAN ELITE, CONSISTING OF ABOUT 200 TOMBS. AND NOT JUST PEOPLE WERE BURIED HERE: ANTELOPE, TWO ELEPHANTS, AND SEVERAL DOGS HAVE BEEN FOUND IN THE SAND. >> IN--WITH OUR ELITE, THEY WERE ALL BURIED WITH MANY ANIMALS SURROUNDING THEM, AND IT'S UNIQUE IN EGYPT. WE DON'T KNOW EXACTLY WHY THEY CHOSE TO DO THIS, BUT WE THINK IT'S A SYMBOL OF POWER. IT'S A SYMBOL OF THEIR WEALTH AND THEIR CONTROL OF NATURE. >> narrator: THEIR BURIAL PRACTICES MAY SEEM PECULIAR TO US, BUT LIFE IN HIERAKONPOLIS APPEARS ORDERLY AND STRIKINGLY CIVILIZED. THE CITY STRETCHED FOR THREE MILES ALONG THE NILE. AT A TIME WHEN MOST EUROPEANS STILL LIVED IN FRAGMENTED SETTLEMENTS, THE RESIDENTS OF HIERAKONPOLIS ENJOYED A SOCIETY BASED ON TRADE AND COOPERATION. AND THAT SUGGESTS THAT NARMER'S BATTLE NEVER HAPPENED AND THAT THE EGYPTIANS OF THE COUNTRY'S NORTH AND SOUTH UNITED PEACEFULLY. BUT IT DOESN'T REALLY PROVE IT. TO GET TO THE TRUTH, WE NEED TO DIG FURTHER BACK INTO HISTORY TO DISCOVER WHERE THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS ACTUALLY CAME FROM. THE SEARCH FOR ROOTS OF THE VERY FIRST EGYPTIANS TAKES US 300 MILES ACROSS ONE OF THE DRIEST DESERTS IN THE WORLD, THE SAHARA. PREHISTORIAN AND CLIMATOLOGIST RUDOLF KUPER HAS BEEN EXPLORING AFRICA'S DESERTS FOR OVER 30 YEARS. NOW HE HEADS TO THE GILF KEBIR PLATEAU TO EXAMINE A CAVE THAT TOURISTS DISCOVERED A FEW YEARS AGO. THE DRIFTING SANDS OF THE SAHARA HAD PARTIALLY HIDDEN THE CAVE'S INTERIOR. AS THE ARCHEOLOGISTS GO TO WORK, THEY BRING TO LIGHT IMAGES UNSEEN FOR UP TO 9,000 YEARS. BUT KUPER AND HIS TEAM HAVE YEARS OF WORK AHEAD OF THEM, UNCOVERING AND INTERPRETING THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS SITE. IT MAY WELL BE ONE OF THE WORLD'S LARGEST PREHISTORIC PAINTINGS. THE PICTURES ON THE CAVE WALLS SHOW ANCIENT PEOPLE DANCING, LIKE SNAPSHOTS FROM A VIVACIOUS PREHISTORIC WORLD: STRANGE CREATURES, BEASTS WITHOUT HEADS, HUNTERS CHASING DEER, CHILDREN AT PLAY, AND ANIMALS NOT ASSOCIATED WITH THE DESERT: ANTELOPE, OSTRICHES, EVEN GIRAFFES. >> [speaking German] >> WE SAW SOME PAINTINGS WHERE YOU REALLY HAVE THE FEELING THAT MUSIC IS COMING OUT OF THE WALLS. SOMETHING WAS REALLY HAPPENING HERE. >> narrator: BUT WHO LIVED HERE AND WHY REMAINS A MYSTERY. PREHISTORIANS HEIKO RIEMER AND FRANCESCA BARTS ARE PART OF THE EXPEDITION. EVERYWHERE, THEY'VE DISCOVERED EVIDENCE OF EARLY HUMAN HABITATION. AS THEY CAREFULLY EXAMINE THE AREA AROUND THE CAVE, THEY'VE MADE SOME SURPRISING DISCOVERIES. LAYERS OF SEDIMENT, DEPOSITS OF A FORMER LAKE, REVEAL WHY PEOPLE COULD LIVE IN THIS DESERTED AREA LONG AGO. THE LANDSCAPE LOOKED VERY DIFFERENT BACK THEN. 9,000 YEARS AGO, THE CLIMATE CREATED A SAVANNAH. GIANT HERDS ROAMED THE FERTILE PLAINS OF NORTH AFRICA. FOR 4,000 YEARS, HUMAN HUNTER-GATHERERS HAD MORE THAN ENOUGH TO EAT. THEN THE RAIN STOPPED. THE SAVANNAH TURNED TO DESERT. >> AS THE DESERT RETURNED, HUMANS WERE GRADUALLY FORCED TO MOVE TO AREAS WITH FAVORABLE LIVING CONDITIONS, LIKE THE MOUNTAINS, WHERE YOU COULD STILL FIND RAIN, OR TO AN OASIS. BUT EVENTUALLY, THE PEOPLE OF THE SAHARA HAD TO MOVE TO THE NILE VALLEY. >> narrator: THERE, THEY MIXED WITH THE INDIGENOUS POPULATION. THEIR DESCENDANTS BECAME THE FIRST EGYPTIANS. MANY GENERATIONS LATER, THE PEOPLE OF THE NILE CONSTRUCT SOME OF ANTIQUITY'S GREATEST BUILDINGS AND BECOME ONE OF HISTORY'S LONGEST-LIVED CIVILIZATIONS, A CIVILIZATION FORGED FROM DIVERSE, EMBATTLED TRIBES BY THE POWER OF KING NARMER... AT LEAST ACCORDING TO THE NARMER PALETTE. NOW THE KING'S SOLDIERS PREPARE FOR WAR. THEIR WEAPONS INCLUDE NOT JUST LANCES AND MACES BUT ALSO BOWS AND ARROWS, LIKE THEIR ANCESTORS HUNDREDS OF YEARS AGO IN THE SAVANNAH. THEY'VE TRAINED WELL, ALWAYS READY FOR BATTLE. NARMER, THE COUNTRY'S MOST SENIOR WARRIOR, SENSES THAT IT WILL COME TO WAR, AND HE'S PREPARED TO LEAD. MORE THAN A MILITARY LEADER, NARMER CONTROLS JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING ELSE TOO. TAXES, RELIGION, AND THE ANNUAL HARVEST FALL UNDER HIS COMMAND. AS THE CHIEF ADMINISTRATOR, HE TRAVELS WITH HIS FAMILY THROUGH THE KINGDOM OF THE SOUTH. THE WELL-BEING OF HIS SUBJECTS FALLS SQUARELY ON HIS SHOULDERS. BUT THERE'S ONE THING HE CAN'T CONTROL, ONE THING EVEN MORE POWERFUL THAN HIMSELF: THE MIGHTY NILE. THE RISING AND FALLING TIDES OF THIS GIGANTIC RIVER DETERMINE THE WELFARE OF THE COUNTRY. >> narrator: JUTTING OUT OF THE NILE RIVER, THE ISLAND OF ELEPHANTINE MARKED EGYPT'S SOUTHERN BORDER. THE EARLY EGYPTIANS CONSIDERED IT THE SOURCE OF THE NILE AND, THEREFORE, OF ALL LIFE. AS EARLY AS DYNASTY 0, PILGRIMS FLOCKED TO ELEPHANTINE, ONE OF THE OLDEST SACRED SITES IN EGYPT. THEY COME TO WORSHIP THE GODDESS OF THE NILE FLOODS, SOPDET. CALLED THE DONOR OF THE COOL WATER WHICH SPRINGS FROM ELEPHANTINE, SOPDET PLAYS A PIVOTAL ROLE IN EGYPTIAN LIFE. THE PEOPLE PRAY AS IF THEIR LIVES DEPEND ON IT, BECAUSE IT DOES. EVERYTHING THE EGYPTIANS ARE AND WILL BECOME DEPENDS ON THE NILE. THE RISE AND FALL OF THE RIVER DETERMINES THE FATE OF THEIR CROPS. >> [speaking German] >> WE HAVE A SCALE HERE, WITH MARKINGS TO MEASURE THE LEVEL OF THE NILE. IT WAS IMPORTANT TO BE ABLE TO CHECK IT BECAUSE THAT WAS THE ONLY WAY TO TELL HOW THE HARVEST WOULD DEVELOP IN THE COMING YEAR. IF THE NILE FLOOD WERE TOO LOW, THERE COULD BE NO HARVEST AT ALL. IF IT WERE TOO HIGH, IT COULD DESTROY ALL CROPS. IT WAS IMPORTANT FOR BUREAUCRATS TO ESTIMATE THIS IN ADVANCE SO THAT THEY COULD WORK OUT THE TAXES FOR THE FARMERS. >> narrator: FOR THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS, THE HEIGHT OF THE WATER IS NO RANDOM EVENT. IT FLOWS AS A BLESSING OR A CURSE DIRECTLY FROM THEIR GODS. THE PEOPLE MUST BE WORTHY. AS THE WATER SURGES, IT CARRIES HOPE ALONG WITH IT. THE KING IS CRUCIAL TO THE PROCESS. IF HE DISPLEASES THE GODS, HIS PEOPLE WILL PERISH. SO KING NARMER PERFORMS SPIRITUAL CEREMONIES TO ENSURE THAT THE FLOODWATERS FLOW IN THE PROPER AMOUNT TO BRING A HEALTHY HARVEST EACH YEAR. THE RISING WATERS RENEW THE ANNUAL BOND BETWEEN THE GODS AND THE KING. BUT HIS DUTIES DON'T STOP THERE. TO AVOID SQUANDERING THIS GREAT GIFT, HE HAS TO BE SURE THE WATER IS PROPERLY MANAGED. >> IT WAS HIS TASK TO ENSURE THAT THE GODS TREATED US PROPERLY BY RISING-- RAISING THE NILE, NOT TOO MUCH, NOT TOO LITTLE, BUT JUST ENOUGH FOR A GOOD FLOOD, BY PRODUCING ADEQUATE CROPS TO PROVIDE SURPLUS FOODS FOR TRADE AND IN CASE OF EMERGENCIES AND SO FORTH. >> narrator: THE REAL SOURCES OF THE NILE WEREN'T DISCOVERED UNTIL THE 19TH CENTURY. SOME OF ITS WATER SPRINGS FROM THE MOUNTAINS OF ETHIOPIA. IT FEEDS INTO THE BLUE NILE, PROVIDING ALMOST 60% OF THE NILE'S VOLUME. AND THERE'S A SECOND TRIBUTARY, THE WHITE NILE IN SUDAN. IT'S HERE THAT YOU CAN SEE WHAT THE NILE LOOKED LIKE AT THE TIME OF THE FIRST EGYPTIANS. A MENAGERIE OF AFRICAN ANIMALS THRIVED IN THE RIVER'S FERTILE FLOODPLAINS. PAPYRUS AND LOTUS PLANTS FLOURISHED IN THE MARSHES. AT KHARTOUM, IN SUDAN, THE WHITE AND THE BLUE NILE MERGE TO FORM THE LONGEST RIVER IN THE WORLD. AND ONCE A YEAR, THE RIVER LETS LOOSE ITS FURY LIKE NO OTHER, DELIVERING BOUNTY OR DESTRUCTION TO ANYONE IN ITS PATH. EACH SUMMER, WEEKS OF SEVERE RAINFALL IN THE ETHIOPIAN HIGHLANDS SWELL THE WATERS OF THE NILE ENORMOUSLY. FOR SOME OF THE VERY FIRST SETTLERS, THE NILE'S INUNDATION BROUGHT CATASTROPHE. BUT THEY SOON LEARNED TO HARNESS IT TO THEIR ADVANTAGE. MILE BY MILE, THE FLOOD ADVANCES NORTHWARD, LEAVING ONLY SMALL ISLANDS POKING ABOVE THE WATER. DEPENDING ON THE AMOUNT OF RAINFALL, THE WATER COULD RISE BETWEEN 7 AND 26 FEET. THE FLOODWATERS FINALLY SWALLOW THE NILE DELTA, TURNING MUCH OF IT INTO A SHALLOW LAKE. THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS DISCOVER THAT THE FLOOD BRINGS FERTILE MUD INTO THE VALLEY. THE INUNDATION IS ACTUALLY VITAL TO THEIR CROPS. >> THIS IS THE REASON EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION COULD EXIST: THE RIVER NILE. IT NOT ONLY PROVIDED WATER, ESSENTIAL FOR ALL LIFE, BUT EVERY YEAR, ABOUT A MILLIMETER OF FRESH NILE SILTS WERE DEPOSITED OVER THE LANDSCAPE OF EGYPT. THE NUTRIENTS IN THESE SILTS MADE POSSIBLE THE RICHEST AGRICULTURAL LANDSCAPE ON THE FACE OF THE PLANET. >> narrator: THE NILE'S ANNUAL FLOOD MAKES EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION POSSIBLE. ITS MUDDY SEDIMENT PROVIDES THE BUILDING MATERIALS FOR HUTS AND PALACES. WHOLE CITIES RISE FROM MUD BRICKS. IN ITS MARSHES, PAPYRUS FLOURISHED, PROVIDING THE RAW MATERIAL FOR THE VERY FIRST PAPER FOR THE CHRONICLES OF THE SCRIBES, THE LETTERS OF THE LIVING, AND THE BOOK OF THE DEAD. BUT MUD ALONE CAN'T GUARANTEE A GOOD HARVEST. PEOPLE HAVE TO LEARN HOW TO MANAGE THE NILE'S GREAT GIFT. A CEREMONIAL MACE FROM THE TIME OF DYNASTY 0 SHOWS A KING INAUGURATING AN IRRIGATION CANAL. THE RITUAL OPENING OF THIS LOOSE GATE IS AN ACTION RESERVED FOR THE KING. IT DEMONSTRATES THE REVERENCE THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS FEEL TOWARD THE MIGHTY AND TEMPERAMENTAL RIVER. AFTER THE FLOOD SUBSIDES, THE STORED WATER CAN BE CHANNELED TO WATER THE FIELDS. THROUGH DAMS, RESERVOIRS, AND IRRIGATION CANALS, THE EGYPTIANS LEARN TO MANAGE THEIR AGRICULTURE SIMPLY AND EFFECTIVELY. EVEN TODAY, MANY FARMERS ALONG THE NILE USE THE SAME TIME-PROVEN METHODS AS THEIR ANCESTORS. THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS RECOGNIZE ONLY THREE SEASONS: FLOOD, PLANTING, AND HARVEST. THAT'S ALL THAT MATTERS. EACH SOWING SEASON, THEY PLANT AN AREA ALMOST FIVE TIMES THE SIZE OF ATLANTA. IN THE RICH SOIL OF THE NILE VALLEY, THE WHEAT GROWS FASTER THAN ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD, PRODUCING ENOUGH GRAIN TO FEED AN ESTIMATED 1 MILLION PEOPLE AT THE TIME OF DYNASTY 0. ANCIENT TOMB PAINTINGS DEPICT CATTLE BREEDING AND THE BOUNTY THAT EGYPT'S AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY RELIED ON. GRAIN BECOMES THE COUNTRY'S CURRENCY AND ALSO EGYPT'S MOST IMPORTANT EXPORT. >> EARLY ON, THE EGYPTIANS REALIZED THAT COOPERATION AMONGST THEMSELVES WAS GOING TO BE KEY TO THEIR SUCCESS. AND BY SUCCESS, I MEAN HAVING AGRICULTURAL SURPLUSES THAT COULD SEE THEM THROUGH THE BAD TIMES OR HAVING THE ABILITY TO REPAIR DAMAGE THAT MIGHT BE CAUSED BY A FLOOD THAT WAS A BIT TOO HIGH. >> narrator: BUT THE NILE PROVIDES MORE THAN BUMPER HARVESTS. IT IS ALSO THE COUNTRY'S MAIN THOROUGHFARE. WITH NO REGULAR ROADS TO CONNECT THE EGYPTIAN TOWNS, PEOPLE RELY ON THE NILE TO GET AROUND. BOATS ARE INDISPENSABLE. FOR FOOD AND TRANSPORTATION, THE NILE PROVIDES A DUAL LIFELINE FOR THE PEOPLE OF DYNASTY 0. BY BOAT, NARMER AND HIS FAMILY VISIT THE ENTIRE KINGDOM. EVERY VILLAGE IS IN EASY REACH. HUNDREDS OF MODEL BOATS HAVE BEEN FOUND IN EGYPTIAN TOMBS, A TESTIMONY TO THEIR VALUE EVEN IN THE AFTERLIFE. BOATS CARRY CROPS, BUILDING MATERIALS, PEOPLE, AND THEIR IDEAS. EVERYONE POSSESSES A BOAT. THE FARMERS AND FISHERMEN USE SMALL PAPYRUS BOATS. THEY WERE PERFECTLY ADEQUATE FOR CROSSING FROM ONE BANK OF THE NILE TO THE OTHER. FOR LONGER JOURNEYS, PEOPLE TRUSTED MORE SUBSTANTIAL VESSELS BUILT FROM TOUGHER MATERIALS AND MORE SOPHISTICATED CONSTRUCTION METHODS. >> THESE ARE BOATS BUILT OUT OF WOODEN PLANKS, AND WE KNOW THAT NOT ONLY BY THEIR SHAPE BUT BECAUSE WE FOUND ONE FROM ABOUT THE SAME AGE. THESE WOODEN PLANKS ARE HELD TOGETHER IN A WAY THAT NOBODY ELSE IN THE WORLD HAS BUILT BOATS, AND IT'S A WAY THAT ACTUALLY REFLECTS THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE PAPYRUS RAFT. >> narrator: THE EGYPTIANS BUILT THEIR EARLIEST BOATS BY LASHING PAPYRUS REEDS TOGETHER, LIFTING THE ENDS OUT OF THE WATER AND FORMING A CRESCENT TO CUT THROUGH THE WAVES. A STRAW ROOF GAVE SHELTER AND OARS STEERED. THE FIRST WOODEN BOATS MIMICKED THE SHAPE OF THE PAPYRUS BOATS AND WERE CONSTRUCTED THE SAME WAY: WOODEN PLANKS WERE SEWN TOGETHER WITH STRAPS MADE OF GRASS OR PAPYRUS. THIS CONSTRUCTION METHOD MEANT THE BOATS COULD BE DISASSEMBLED AND CARRIED OVER LAND. THEY WERE STRONG ENOUGH TO HAUL HEAVY CARGO OVER LONG DISTANCES. THEY FORMED THE BACKBONE OF THE EGYPTIAN TRADE AND TRANSPORT SYSTEM, WHICH BEGAN DURING DYNASTY 0. >> BOATS WERE THE MAJOR MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION, AND HAVING SAID THAT, THEY WERE ALSO A MAJOR MEANS OF BRINGING TOGETHER THE COUNTRY, OF UNIFYING THE COUNTRY. >> narrator: MOST ARCHEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE SUGGESTS THAT 5,000 YEARS AGO, A PROSPEROUS SOCIETY BASED ON AGRICULTURE AND TRADE FLOURISHED PEACEFULLY ALONG THE BANKS OF THE NILE. BUT SOMEONE SEEING THE NARMER PALETTE WOULD NEVER GUESS THAT. THE STONE IS A MONUMENT TO WAR, WITH ITS GRAPHIC DEPICTIONS OF VIOLENCE, THE SLAUGHTER OF ENEMIES, AND PRISONERS BOUND THROUGH THEIR NOSES. HOW CAN BOTH ACCOUNTS BE RIGHT? WHAT EVIDENCE DO ARCHEOLOGISTS FOLLOW TO RESOLVE THE CONTRADICTION? >> narrator: THE NARMER PALETTE WAS DISCOVERED IN THE TEMPLE OF HIERAKONPOLIS, SO ARCHEOLOGISTS ASSUME THAT KING NARMER HAD OFFERED IT TO THE GOD OF KINGS, HORUS, TO WHOM THE TEMPLE WAS DEDICATED. THE PALETTE PROCLAIMS THAT NARMER, THE UNIFIER OF BOTH LANDS, LAID THE FOUNDATION FOR A GREAT FUTURE. BUT THIS COULD WELL HAVE BEEN PART OF THE OFFICIAL CULT OF THE KING RATHER THAN HISTORICAL REALITY. NARMER'S GREAT BATTLE COULD BE A METAPHOR, A MYTH, OR AN EXAGGERATION. AFTER STUDYING THE ACTUAL NARMER PALETTE IN THE CAIRO MUSEUM, ARCHEOLOGIST STAN HENDRICKX AND HIS TEAM ASSESS THE DATA AT HIS RESEARCH FACILITY IN BELGIUM. PERHAPS SOME OVERLOOKED DETAIL COULD SOLVE THE GREAT MYSTERY THAT HAS CONFOUNDED EGYPTOLOGISTS FOR DECADES. >> IS THE NARMER PALETTE-- DOES IT REFER TO HISTORICAL FACTS? OR IS IT ONLY A SYMBOLIC REPRESENTATION OF THE POWER OF EGYPTIAN KINGS AND OF THE VIOLENCE THAT IS RELATED TO THIS--TO THIS POWER? >> narrator: BUT EVEN WITH PRECISE COPIES OF THE RELIEFS, THE IMAGES REMAIN CRYPTIC. THERE'S A FIGURE WITH PAPYRUS GROWING OUT OF ITS BACK, SYMBOLIZING AN ENEMY WE KNOW NOTHING ABOUT. YET, TO HENDRICKX, THE WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE SUGGESTS THAT A WAR REALLY HAPPENED. >> THERE ARE TOO MANY DETAILS REFERRING TO APPARENTLY SPECIFIC PLACES, A SPECIFIC PERSON WHO-- THE NAME OF HIS PRINCIPAL VICTIM IS MENTIONED. THERE ARE TOO MANY OF THESE KINDS OF DETAILS TO ACCEPT THAT THIS IS JUST A PURELY SYMBOLIC REPRESENTATION. >> narrator: IN HIS EXCAVATION HEADQUARTERS IN ABYDOS, PROFESSOR GUNTER DREYER SEARCHES FOR EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT HENDRICKX'S CONCLUSIONS. MOST OF THE SMALL IVORY AND CLAY TABLETS FOUND IN THE SAND REFER TO SHIPMENTS OF OIL AND WHEAT. THEN A REVELATION: THE OLDEST OF THE DOCUMENTS DATES AN OIL DELIVERY TO A SPECIFIC YEAR, THE YEAR THAT NARMER DEFEATED THE PAPYRUS PEOPLE. >> WE KNOW THAT LATER, IN THE FIRST DYNASTY, THEY DIDN'T COUNT THE YEARS AS YEAR ONE, TWO, OR THREE OF A PARTICULAR KING, BUT THEY NAMED THE YEARS AFTER SIGNIFICANT EVENTS THAT HAPPENED. THIS TABLET IS THE VERY FIRST OF ITS KIND, AND IT CITES NARMER'S VICTORY OVER THE PAPYRUS PEOPLE. >> narrator: THANKS TO DREYER'S DISCOVERY, THE MYSTERY OF THE NARMER PALETTE HAS, AT LAST, BEEN SOLVED. THE CLAY TABLET CORROBORATES THE BATTLE STORY OF THE NARMER PALETTE. WHEN THE NORTH REFUSES TO SUCCUMB TO THE RULE OF THE SOUTH, KING NARMER PLANS FOR WAR. THE CONTROL OF THE NORTH IS THE ULTIMATE PRIZE FOR THE RULERS OF THE SOUTH. SOUTHERN POPULATION AND PROSPERITY HAVE GROWN, AND THE ELITE WANTS TO IMPORT LUXURY GOODS FROM THE MIDDLE EAST. >> THE TRADE ROUTES THAT LED PAST THE DELTA INTO THE MIDDLE EAST WERE UNDER THREAT. I THINK THE MAIN REASON FOR THE EXPANSION OF THE RULE OF THE SOUTH INTO THE NORTH WAS TO SECURE THE TRADE ROUTES. >> narrator: NARMER AND HIS INVADING ARMY SET OFF ON A LONG MARCH NORTH THROUGH UNFORGIVING TERRAIN. THE LOCALS ANXIOUSLY WATCH AS NARMER'S UNSTOPPABLE WARRIORS DRAW CLOSER. THE PAPYRUS PEOPLE ARE DETERMINED TO KEEP THEIR INDEPENDENCE. BUT NARMER HAS OTHER PLANS AND HUNDREDS OF WARRIORS TO BACK HIM UP. WE NOW KNOW THAT THE NARMER PALETTE DEPICTS ACTUAL HISTORICAL EVENTS. THE OUTCOME OF NARMER'S BATTLE AGAINST THE PAPYRUS PEOPLE UNIFIES AND TRANSFORMS EGYPT. IT IS ONE OF THE FIRST LARGE BATTLES EVER RECORDED. SOMEWHERE IN THE NILE DELTA, 5,000 YEARS AGO, KING NARMER'S ROYAL FORCES OF THE SOUTH CLASH WITH THE PRINCIPALITIES OF THE DELTA TO THE NORTH IN A BATTLE WITHOUT MERCY. AT STAKE IS THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE NORTHERN PEOPLE. BUT EVENTUALLY, NARMER AND HIS ARMY TRIUMPH. ONE OF NARMER'S CEREMONIAL MACES SHOWS A VICTORY PARADE. NARMER SITS UNDER A CANOPY WITH THE CROWN OF EGYPT, HIS STANDARD-BEARERS BEHIND HIM. HIEROGLYPHICS RECORD THE BOOTY: 120,000 CAPTIVES, MORE THAN A MILLION GOATS, 400,000 CATTLE. ON THE PALETTE, THE KING INSPECTS THE LINES OF ENEMY DEAD. THEY'VE BEEN BEHEADED AND CASTRATED. >> WARFARE IS NOT ONLY VIOLENCE BUT ALSO PSYCHOLOGY, YOU KNOW? SO HUMILIATION OF YOUR OPPONENT MAY BREAK THE RESISTANCE OF YOUR--OF YOUR OPPONENT. >> narrator: FOR NARMER, VICTORY IS COMPLETE. ON THE FRONT OF THE PALETTE, HE WEARS THE CROWN OF UPPER EGYPT; ON THE BACK, THE CROWN OF LOWER EGYPT. >> narrator: KING NARMER HAS FINISHED WHAT HIS PREDECESSORS BEGAN: THE UNIFICATION OF THE EMPIRE. AND TO SYMBOLIZE THAT UNITY, THE TWO CROWNS OF LOWER AND UPPER EGYPT ARE COMBINED INTO ONE. FROM NOW ON, AND FOR AT LEAST 3,000 YEARS TO COME, EVERY PHARAOH WILL WEAR IT. SOMETHING TRULY NEW HAS BEGUN. >> THE PERIOD OF NARMER'S RULE WAS A TURNING POINT IN EGYPTIAN HISTORY. IT MARKS THE TRANSITION FROM THE PRE-DYNASTIC TO THE DYNASTIC PERIOD. >> narrator: NARMER'S VICTORY USHERS IN ALMOST 3,000 YEARS, 31 DYNASTIES, OF GOD-LIKE PHARAOHS. GREAT NAMES WILL FOLLOW, NAMES WE STILL REMEMBER: THUTMOSE... AMENHOTEP... AKHENATON... RAMSES... HATSHEPSUT... AND MANY OTHERS. AT LAST, THE LOTUS OF THE SOUTH AND THE PAPYRUS OF THE NORTH ARE LINKED. FROM NOW ON, THE PHARAOH'S MOST IMPORTANT TASK IS TO PROTECT THE UNITY OF THE KINGDOM AND TO DEFEND ITS BORDERS. EGYPT HAS BECOME THE FIRST TERRITORIAL STATE IN HISTORY, THE FIRST EMPIRE. BEFORE LONG, THE COUNTRY SUBDIVIDES INTO ADMINISTRATIVE DISTRICTS, THE NOMES: 22 IN THE NORTH, 20 IN THE SOUTH. WHEN KING NARMER DIES AFTER A SUCCESSFUL REIGN, THE ENTIRE COUNTRY MOURNS. IN ABYDOS, NARMER'S BODY BEGINS ITS FINAL JOURNEY. EVEN THEN, AT THE TIME OF DYNASTY 0, THE PEOPLE OF EGYPT BELIEVE THAT AFTER DEATH COMES ETERNAL LIFE. MUMMIFICATION IS IMPORTANT BUT NOT YET PERFECTED. BENEATH THE DESERT SAND, A SIMPLE ETERNAL HOME RECEIVES THE CRUDELY PRESERVED BODY OF THE FOUNDER OF THE KINGDOM. BURIAL IS A RELATIVELY SIMPLE AFFAIR COMPARED TO WHAT WOULD COME LATER. ALTHOUGH KING NARMER ACCOMPLISHED GREAT THINGS, NO GREAT MONUMENT CELEBRATES HIM. HIS SMALL GRAVE IS SOON DWARFED BY THE GRAND AND PALATIAL TOMBS OF HIS SUCCESSORS. RESOURCES THAT THE EARLY KINGS PREVIOUSLY INVESTED IN WARFARE ARE LATER SPENT ON ARCHITECTURE. EACH PHARAOH THAT FOLLOWS WILL BUILD A LARGER SUBTERRANEAN TOMB, AND THE MONUMENTS ABOVE THEM WILL REACH NEW EXTRAVAGANT HEIGHTS. THEY CULMINATE IN THE PYRAMIDS: AN EXPRESSION OF THE GLORY AND POWER OF THE UNITED EGYPTIAN NATION. THE PYRAMIDS DAZZLED VISITORS THEN AND STILL DO TODAY. BORN OUT OF WARFARE, EGYPT'S PEACEFUL AND COLLABORATIVE TRADITIONS ULTIMATELY PREVAILED. FROM THE BLESSINGS OF THE NILE GREW A CIVILIZATION OF PLENTY, WHERE AMPLE FOOD CREATED A WEALTHY CULTURE AND CIVILIZATION SPROUTED AND FLOURISHED, UNITED UNDER GOD-LIKE KINGS. THE AGE OF THE PHARAOHS HAD BEGUN. Captioning by<font color="#00FF00"> CaptionMax</font> www.captionmax.com
