Egypt: Engineering an Empire Page #5

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Seneferu was a genius

public relations.

He was the first king to use

his personal name ...

and not a special name for the throne.

He debased to win,

so to speak.

It has become more accessible ...

to become larger,

most famous and most divine.

In order to avoid structural problems

that had plagued earlier ...

engineers

of Seneferu chose ...

an inclination angle more gradual

the Red Pyramid ...

and also strengthened its foundation ...

using large blocks

Best limestone.

These new blocks were

much larger in size.

And builders

were confident ...

to move and position correctly

huge blocks of stone ...

weighing several tons,

instead of small blocks ...

which were used

the Step Pyramid.

To drag each stone

to their final destination ...

20 men pulled on a sled

wood on a ramp ...

made of clay, stone and gravel.

Water was poured in front of the sled

to reduce friction.

4600 years later,

there is no consensus ...

regarding the configuration of the ramps.

Three theories prevail:

The 1st is a huge ramp and straight

was erected on a side of the pyramid.

The theory says that there were two systems

of spiral ramps around her.

And the 3rd theory advocates a

combining the first two.

Never find evidence

these ramps around the pyramids.

Everyone has a theory,

but we can not be completely sure ...

how they were real

After all stones

were stacked ...

stone ridge and put on top ...

a coating of fine

white limestone overlaid abroad.

The builders worked

from top to bottom ...

polishing the coating

with copper chisels.

The finish of the cover

exterior of the pyramids ...

must have been a labor

highly specialized.

Can you have a good idea

what must have happened ...

at Dahshur, the pyramid Romboidal.

You can stand under

and look straight up ...

you can see it is still smooth.

The covering is kept smooth so far.

It's like looking at a glass surface.

It took three attempts

and many decades, but in the end ...

the search for perfection Seneferu

had huge success.

Behind me is

Red Pyramid, the first ...

true pyramid ever built.

Engineers Seneferu

found not only ...

the secret to building

a monument smooth and symmetrical ...

but also dominated

the process of building ...

open saloon inside.

The chambers within the

Red Pyramid ...

can be accessed through an opening

to 28m high at its northern side.

At the end of a long corridor

it falls back to the ground floor ...

space opens in

first three quarters ...

built to house the remains of

Seneferu and its immortal treasures.

Build a camera

huge, like this ...

within the superstructure

a pyramid ...

was a unique challenge

to an engineer old ...

because of the pressure that was

top of tons ...

stones forcing down.

And to distribute this pressure,

builders Seneferu ...

created an ingenious innovation:

The vaulted ceiling.

They made steps on the sides,

about 10cm ...

in each step, and then

built a kind of ...

form of an inverted pyramid

the ceiling of the burial chamber.

Then we come to a

narrow point at the top ...

that sustains easily.

The innermost chamber in

Red Pyramid is the burial chamber.

whose roof rises to 15m.

It was here in 50, which were discovered

the bones of a middle-aged ...

but there were no entries

to identify it ...

then we have no idea who it was.

Some Egyptologists think

were the bones of Seneferu own.

Others say no,

that the pharaoh was buried ...

the Pyramid Romboidal,

because she has ...

a complex funerary

more complete.

In any case, we do not know

what happened to Seneferu.

It is a mystery that perhaps

never be unraveled.

The reign of three decades of Seneferu

ended around 2589 a. C. ..

But its monuments

assured him immortality.

Excavations at Dahshur

revealed ...

2000 years after

the death of Seneferu ...

offerings of incense were still

made in his memory.

The son and successor

of Seneferu, Cheops ...

would build on the foundation

left by his father ...

and create a greater and more perfect

pyramid ever built.

The great pyramid of Giza.

Each of the four sides of the Great Pyramid

is almost perfectly symmetrical ...

rising at an angle

need 51.

When Khufu raised his

torreante monument ...

the period of the Old Empire was

at the height of his wealth and power.

But in the space of four centuries,

the great empire of the pyramids ...

submerged in darkness.

In XXII and XXI centuries. A.c. ..

drought, famine and chaos

consumed the country.

Until a new strain

pharaohs emerged from the South ..

willing to restore

the lost glory of Egypt.

his relentless

military campaigns would expand ...

the borders of the empire more

than ever, leaving behind ...

a trail of blood, fear and

impenetrable fortifications ...

renew the stranglehold of

Egypt and its absolute power.

1864 a.c. ..

A warrior pharaoh

spread terror by Nubia ...

in a devastating

campaign of conquest.

It was the Egyptian period

Empire of the Middle ...

remembered by later generations ...

as "The Golden Age" of Egypt.

Pharaoh was Sesostris III ...

and its purpose was threefold

guard the southern border ...

control the routes

Nubia and commercial ...

plunder the most gold Nubian

that his troops could carry.

Nubia, to begin with, was very

important to the Egyptians ...

because it was a source of gold.

And gold was

paramount importance to them.

The path to the gold spent

by a group of warriors Nubians ...

known as quermanos.

Sesostris had a great

and well organized army ...

but had quermanos

a deadly weapon.

The Nubians were known,

even in the early Middle Ages ...

for being excellent archers.

The Arab invaders called them

of "shooters pupils" ...

they could set eyes

Riders who attacked.

The quermanos were a

formidable obstacle ...

but Sesostris, pensive figure,

towering ...

and commanding presence,

was not an opponent whatsoever.

In many cases,

we can not say anything ...

On the personality of a king,

or about its nature.

On the personality of a king,

or about its nature.

However, Sesostris is an exception,

because we have it ...

a series of portraits

who survived ...

and do not resemble anything that

was produced for the previous kings.

In the portraits,

Sesostris appears sometimes ...

arrogant, sad. He's thrilled,

this is very, very human.

The experience did something to him.

It is a pharaoh

that has personality ...

has depth in his face ...

he shows sadness,

concern and age.

His face reflects his

concern for the people of Egypt.

As quermanos discover,

the love of his people by Pharaoh ...

did not extend to his enemies.

His army swept Nubia

taking treasures and territories ...

leaving a trail

death and destruction.

In a monument to the kingdom

horror at its southern border ...

Sesostris boasted of having burnt

plantations of the enemy ...

killed their men, enslaved

their wives and children ...

and poisoned their wells.

It comes as a Roman general.

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