Mysteries of Egypt Page #2

The Gods | certainly didn't do it

They used their minds.

knowledge built | these great, | reat structures.

Highly sophisticated | knowledge.

Look...

All of the Giza pyramids | are built

in perfect alignment | with certain stars.

That takes a knowledge | of astronomy.

The pyramids' foundations

are laid out in perfect angles | and dimensions

precisely correct for the height | they wanted to reach.

Now, that takes knowledge | of geometry and mathematics.

And finally

you must get these big stones | from down here to up there

and you must make them all | fit perfectly.

Now, that takes knowledge-

an incredible knowledge | of engineering and organization.

Organization?

Absolutely.

You just said so yourself.

It wasn't the Gods who built | these great monuments.

It was people.

Thousand and thousands | of people.

lmagine begin one | of these people

living in a tiny village | more than 4,000 years ago.

Life would be pretty much | the same day in and day out:

Farming, herding cattle, | fishing in the Nile.

Then one day, you're selected

to journey be boat | down the Nile.

You are now part | of the great national project

to build the Pharaoh's tomb

but you have no idea | what kind of a tomb.

And then you see...

a monument to the sun- | to life eternal.

How did they move | such heavy stones

to such great heights?

There are many theories

but they probably pulled | the blocks

up mud-slickened ramps.

Raising the ramps | as the pyramid grew

measons then set the stones | with such precision

a postcard couldn't fit | beyween them.

To creat the great pyramid | of Khufu, it took over 20 years

and more than ywo million stone | blocks and some 20,000 people

and they might have been slaves

but now we think they were | mostly peasant farmers

recruited to work here | part of the year.

With their help

the early pharaohs built | more than a hundred pyramids

80 of which survive today.

But what about the kings | who came later?

You told me King Tutakhamen | wasn't buried in a pyramid.

No, he wasn't

They stopped buliding them | and for good reason.

There were robbers who cared | far more about heaps of gold

than an eternal journey.

The pyramids, to these thieves, | were like enormous billboards

saying, | "We've buried the king in here

and all this treasure with him."

At any rate, a new plan | had to be devised.

That's why 500 years after | the last pyramids were built

a new era of kings decided | that instead of building tombs

which everyone could see

why not build tombs | which no one could see?

300 miles south | of The Great Pyramids

across the Nile from the modern | city of Luxor

is this barren maze | of valleys

in the shadow | of a natural pyramid.

Here, no thief could find | the royal tombs.

Here, the kings and queens | of Egypt would remain immortal

or so they thought

But greed breeds ingenuity.

Cleverly hiding | their devious enterprises

robbers scoured the Valley | of the Kings.

Over time, each of the Valley | tombs was found, broken into

and completely plundered

except for one.

Except for the tomb | of Tutankhamen.

That, at least, is what | Howard Carter believed

and if he was right

it would be the greatest | archaeological discovery

of modern times.

After five years, he still | hadn't found it

and the situation was | becoming desperate.

Then, on the morning of November | the fourth, 1922

a water boy trying to secure | his jug hit an unusual rock.

Carter sent a telegram | to Lord Carnarvon in England

to come quickly

and went to Cairo | to meet his benefactor

but while he was away

something very strange happened.

The golden bird that had | brought him luck

was killed by a cobra.

Well, now, the cobra was

a protector | of the pharaoh

and the canary | represents those who | had entered the tomb.

So the cobra ate | the canary

because of | The Mummy's Curse?

More likely, he ate it | because he was hungry.

I like The Curse | idea better.

Well, certainly the workmen | believed it was the curse.

The death of the golden bird | was a bad omen to them.

It meant that someone close | to the project would die

within the year.

Rumors of a curse | mattered little to Carter.

He hoped his dig | would uncover a tomb

like this one

the tomb of a pharaoh | named Ramses Vl

who ruled long | after King Tut

Carter wanted to find treasure

but if not, something | just as precious

pictures

hieroglyphs that would reveal | priceless knowledge of how

the ancients lived | and what they believed.

These images are from | the Egyptian Books of the Dead

passbooks to eternity

which were buried | with the mummy.

To help a dead king | reach the afterlife

they supplied answers

to questions he | would be asked

spells to deflect | dangers along the way.

But preparation | for the afterlife began

long before death.

In grand temples once supported | by these pillars

among the largest places | of worship ever built

the living pharaohs gave | offerings

as a way of communicating with | the gods and the world beyond

and courting their favor.

Both immense and colorful

temples like the great structure | called Madinat Habu

were the setting | for magnificent rituals

that proclaimed to all | not only the Pharaoh's power

and wealth, but his devotion | to the gods

he would one day join | on a journey through eternity.

They sure seem preoccupied | with life after death.

Yes- and probably because | not ancient people enjoyed life

as much as they did.

There are picture stories | of invention and adventure

of board games and ball games, | of dance and music

of acrobats | and mechanical toys

of the affection beyween | husbands and wives

and of family unity and love.

It was the most advanced | civilization of its time

and it went on | for 3,000 years

but the empire they amassed | attracted invaders.

Among the stories | on temple walls

are accounts of battles | against outsiders

who tried to conquer | the kingdom of the pharaohs.

But the invading empires | became more powerful

Even more determined...

and so, gradually, inevitably

the kingdom of Egypt | began to crumble.

Well, how could a place | as powerful as Egypt

just clooapse?

Actually, many things happened

but mostly it was the weakening | of the pharaoh's power

through civil turmoil

making Egypt vulnerable | to invaders.

Little by little, much of the | Pharaoh's great empire

along with its secrets, | was reclaimed by the desert

But even as the monuments | of Egypt crumble

the stories are reduscovered | by modern archeologists

deciphering the distant past

Scholars and artists

are preserving the great Sphinx | for all humanity

Research within | the Giza Pyramids

has revealed the brilliance | of ancient architects

whose sophisticated designs | prevented the clooapse

of these inner chambers | and passageways.

DNA analysis is helping

to identify family ties | of the royal mummies

and to give us clues | about how they lived...

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