0:00:04 > 0:00:10With its mighty pharaohs, multiple gods and magnificent art,
0:00:10 > 0:00:15it's easy to think that Ancient Egypt was always powerful and successful.
0:00:17 > 0:00:22But there were also darker times. Conflict, civil war, famine
0:00:22 > 0:00:25and an overall feeling of catastrophe.
0:00:27 > 0:00:29And the only way it could survive was
0:00:29 > 0:00:33through its own resilience and the strongest of leadership.
0:00:34 > 0:00:37Now, this is Sesostris III,
0:00:37 > 0:00:40who ruled Egypt almost 4,000 years ago.
0:00:42 > 0:00:45He's strong and he's muscular,
0:00:45 > 0:00:48everything a pharaoh should be, and yet look at his face.
0:00:51 > 0:00:56His scowling features have been interpreted to suggest his harsh rule
0:00:56 > 0:01:00and his large ears, his ability to hear any plots against him.
0:01:03 > 0:01:05Sesostris embodies the way Egypt's monarchs
0:01:05 > 0:01:08ruled during its turbulent times.
0:01:09 > 0:01:12This king controlled his enemies through
0:01:12 > 0:01:16a series of military fortresses and through magical curses.
0:01:18 > 0:01:22For this is a new era in Egypt's history,
0:01:22 > 0:01:26not only ruled by military power but by fear and suspicion.
0:01:28 > 0:01:33And Egypt's darkest times threatened to destroy its entire civilisation.
0:01:41 > 0:01:44I've already explored how Egypt's ancient culture
0:01:44 > 0:01:46began thousands of years earlier.
0:01:48 > 0:01:52Blessed by the river Nile and a rich natural environment
0:01:52 > 0:01:56and a society united by a complex ideology.
0:02:03 > 0:02:05But in this episode, we'll see how the massive
0:02:05 > 0:02:11self-confidence of the pyramid age was not to last, as a dark age
0:02:11 > 0:02:15brought this civilisation to the brink of annihilation.
0:02:17 > 0:02:21Make no mistake, this is the home of the dead and we're in amongst them.
0:02:22 > 0:02:26These were times of famine, civil war and anarchy.
0:02:27 > 0:02:31Kings have been reduced to something on a minuscule level.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36But this collapse triggered one of the greatest
0:02:36 > 0:02:38revivals of ancient times...
0:02:40 > 0:02:42..with Egypt re-emerging
0:02:42 > 0:02:44more powerful and wealthy than ever before.
0:02:47 > 0:02:50Welcome to my story of Ancient Egypt.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08Saqqara - where Egypt's great pyramid age began.
0:03:10 > 0:03:14But among its glories there's also evidence of a far less
0:03:14 > 0:03:16well-known side to Egypt's story.
0:03:24 > 0:03:26Its descent into a dark age.
0:03:29 > 0:03:34The zenith of Egypt's Old Kingdom was the Great Pyramid at Giza,
0:03:34 > 0:03:38and only 200 years later King Unas' Causeway was created.
0:03:42 > 0:03:44It might not look much today
0:03:44 > 0:03:47but it's the highlight of Unas' pyramid complex.
0:03:47 > 0:03:51A 750m long causeway which symbolically connected
0:03:51 > 0:03:53life and death.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03It goes right from the Nile Valley all the way up
0:04:03 > 0:04:05on to the high desert plateau,
0:04:05 > 0:04:07right to the foot of the Pyramid of Unas.
0:04:07 > 0:04:09So it would have been used for
0:04:09 > 0:04:13his funeral procession, but it would also have drawn up that life-giving
0:04:13 > 0:04:17force from the valley below, up to the city of the dead here at Saqqara.
0:04:18 > 0:04:22A narrow slit in the roof once allowed enough light in, but
0:04:22 > 0:04:25the extraordinary thing is that this causeway was
0:04:25 > 0:04:29designed for a sole purpose, the king's funeral procession.
0:04:35 > 0:04:40Carved upon its walls are scenes revealing both sides of life,
0:04:40 > 0:04:43the forces of order and of chaos.
0:04:44 > 0:04:49It first portrays an idealised version of Egypt, a time of plenty.
0:04:50 > 0:04:54Here we can see typical scenes within an Egyptian temple
0:04:54 > 0:04:56or funerary context.
0:04:56 > 0:04:58Scenes of the rich bounty of Egypt.
0:04:58 > 0:05:01All the fruit, the vegetables, the crops, the meat,
0:05:01 > 0:05:06the fish. All the wealth of the natural environment of Egypt
0:05:06 > 0:05:10which was all, obviously, brought to the land through the good offices of
0:05:10 > 0:05:15the king, the bringer of all bounty, the intermediary with the gods.
0:05:15 > 0:05:19But also this causeway contained something rather more
0:05:19 > 0:05:22disturbing, evidence that dark forces were at work.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28Further on down the causeway emerged a counterpart image...
0:05:28 > 0:05:31VOICES WHISPER
0:05:31 > 0:05:33..the flipside of bounty.
0:05:35 > 0:05:40An image so unusual it's now displayed in Saqqara's museum.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43And it really is one of ancient Egypt's most haunting
0:05:43 > 0:05:45and revealing works of art.
0:05:45 > 0:05:47VOICES WHISPER
0:05:48 > 0:05:52Here we see these dark forces at work.
0:05:52 > 0:05:57What we have are two rows of emaciated victims of famine.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05These poor people, they're weak with hunger, they're falling down,
0:06:05 > 0:06:10they're suffering and this is basically Ancient Egypt coming
0:06:10 > 0:06:14face-to-face with reality because these are believed to be
0:06:14 > 0:06:18the Bedouins who inhabited the desert fringes of Egypt, so it's as if
0:06:18 > 0:06:23this kind of idea of suffering, the forces of chaos are on the periphery
0:06:23 > 0:06:26of Egypt but they're getting ever closer to the Nile Valley.
0:06:26 > 0:06:30Egypt is starting to waken up to the fact that chaos isn't
0:06:30 > 0:06:35all that far away. This is Ancient Egypt beginning to suffer.
0:06:37 > 0:06:41Such gritty realism had rarely been portrayed before.
0:06:42 > 0:06:45Chaos depicted as the suffering of real people.
0:06:46 > 0:06:50This isn't happening in some esoteric realm of the gods where chaos
0:06:50 > 0:06:55is, sort of, portrayed as some sort of disparate magical force,
0:06:55 > 0:06:59very detached from reality, this is reality.
0:07:02 > 0:07:04Through such realistic images,
0:07:04 > 0:07:08the Egyptians were expressing their fears to the gods.
0:07:08 > 0:07:11Appealing to them to keep these forces of chaos at bay.
0:07:16 > 0:07:20But instead, the starving famine victims would turn out to be
0:07:20 > 0:07:21a chilling omen.
0:07:34 > 0:07:38Up until now, Egypt's prosperity had flowed from its one
0:07:38 > 0:07:44source of water, the river Nile, whose annual floods enriched
0:07:44 > 0:07:47the soil, allowing life and agriculture to flourish.
0:07:50 > 0:07:54This natural abundance was the very bedrock on which Egypt,
0:07:54 > 0:07:57and its perpetual world order, was able to thrive.
0:07:59 > 0:08:02But this lifeblood was about to run dry.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08Evidence shows that at the end of the third millennium BC,
0:08:08 > 0:08:11the Nile flood levels fell dramatically.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16As the very thing that brought them life began to diminish,
0:08:16 > 0:08:21the Egyptians believed that their gods had begun to abandon them.
0:08:21 > 0:08:25And for the next century, the ancient texts talk of suffering,
0:08:25 > 0:08:28starvation and even cannibalism.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39Traditionally, Egyptian society had been
0:08:39 > 0:08:43built on the belief in the divine power of its kings.
0:08:43 > 0:08:47Without this belief, the pyramid age would never have been possible.
0:08:48 > 0:08:52But now, in its time of need, Egypt's king seemed increasingly
0:08:52 > 0:08:55powerless in the face of such natural disaster.
0:08:58 > 0:09:02And this would come to a head with a ruler who was well past his prime.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09Claimed to have lived for 100 years,
0:09:09 > 0:09:13he was Egypt's longest-lived monarch, King Pepi II.
0:09:18 > 0:09:22And this space was once a ceremonial running track,
0:09:22 > 0:09:25the type of place where Pepi would have to display his physical
0:09:25 > 0:09:29prowess to prove himself to his people.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32Now, when any pharaoh had celebrated 30 years' reign,
0:09:32 > 0:09:36they had to perform the jubilee ceremonies and this involved
0:09:36 > 0:09:39running the ceremonial jubilee race, four times round this circuit
0:09:39 > 0:09:41as King of the North,
0:09:41 > 0:09:44four times round this circuit as King of the South.
0:09:44 > 0:09:48It was the ultimate public display of their fitness to rule
0:09:48 > 0:09:50and their strength.
0:09:50 > 0:09:53It really showed who was in charge of Egypt.
0:09:53 > 0:09:58But that's where Pepi's advancing age would eventually let him down.
0:09:58 > 0:10:00Of course, when Pharaoh was relatively young and fit,
0:10:00 > 0:10:03this would have been a great celebration.
0:10:03 > 0:10:07But in the case of poor Pepi, then in his 90s, it became all too
0:10:07 > 0:10:11clear that Pharaoh was no living god and this really undermined
0:10:11 > 0:10:15the whole concept of what it was to be a pharaoh.
0:10:18 > 0:10:22Clearly as mortal as his subjects, any natural disaster must have
0:10:22 > 0:10:25seemed the fault of this less than superhuman king.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32And this combination of a weakening pharaoh
0:10:32 > 0:10:34and failing harvests led to rapid decline.
0:10:36 > 0:10:41Ancient Egypt now faced its first major political crisis.
0:10:41 > 0:10:45For the power and apparent divinity of the pharaoh that had been
0:10:45 > 0:10:50so very important in the pyramid age had now vanished.
0:10:54 > 0:10:57Everything that bound Egyptian society together
0:10:57 > 0:10:59had begun to fall away...
0:11:00 > 0:11:03..and Egypt was plunged into a dark age.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12In this time of growing uncertainty,
0:11:12 > 0:11:16when the Egyptians had lost faith in both the monarchy and
0:11:16 > 0:11:20state-run religion, they increasingly turned to the power of magic.
0:11:33 > 0:11:36This is a rather unsettling thing.
0:11:36 > 0:11:39It's an ancient Egyptian mask.
0:11:39 > 0:11:44It's almost 4,000 years old and it's made of linen,
0:11:44 > 0:11:48covered in a thin layer of plaster then painted predominately
0:11:48 > 0:11:51black with colours picked out on various features.
0:11:54 > 0:11:57Of course, the Egyptians are well known for making elaborate
0:11:57 > 0:12:00arrangements for their afterlife.
0:12:00 > 0:12:02The death mask, placed over the mummified body,
0:12:02 > 0:12:07recreated the features of the dead to make them recognisable to the gods.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13But this mask is different. It was made to be worn by the living.
0:12:15 > 0:12:16And we know this
0:12:16 > 0:12:20because of the very distinctive eye holes which you can see there
0:12:20 > 0:12:24and this would allow the wearer to see around them.
0:12:24 > 0:12:25You can imagine
0:12:25 > 0:12:28when this was applied to the face, fastened on, tied on behind the head
0:12:28 > 0:12:32it would transform that individual into a completely different entity.
0:12:34 > 0:12:38Traces of paint on the linen reveal how it might have helped
0:12:38 > 0:12:41the wearer embody some form of magical being.
0:12:41 > 0:12:42VOICES WHISPER
0:12:43 > 0:12:45Whoever wore this
0:12:45 > 0:12:50was going to some effort to transform their appearance to
0:12:50 > 0:12:52try and tap into the hidden forces of the gods
0:12:52 > 0:12:56and to control the world in which they lived. It's as if the Egyptian
0:12:56 > 0:13:00individual that wore this was trying to take charge of their own destiny.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08But the mask isn't the only evidence of magic.
0:13:12 > 0:13:16For in their dark ages the Egyptians increasingly began to write
0:13:16 > 0:13:19out curses and spells on pots and figurines.
0:13:22 > 0:13:27Scrawled across one was the curse, "Die, Henui, son of Intef!"
0:13:27 > 0:13:30A form of magic sufficiently small-scale
0:13:30 > 0:13:32to be performed within their own homes.
0:13:34 > 0:13:37One of the most graphic ways they did this was to take
0:13:37 > 0:13:40a piece of clay or a simple pot like this one
0:13:40 > 0:13:44and write upon it the thing or the person that they wanted to control.
0:13:45 > 0:13:47They often used red ochre,
0:13:47 > 0:13:51because red was associated with the powers of destruction.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54So if I was doing this, I would put on the thing
0:13:54 > 0:13:58I would want to stop, which are early morning calls and alarm clocks.
0:14:00 > 0:14:04So you've got to imagine Egyptians from all walks of life doing
0:14:04 > 0:14:08this, the priest wanting to protect the pharaoh, the soldier
0:14:08 > 0:14:13in battle against an enemy, or simply a hated love rival. So all
0:14:13 > 0:14:18sorts of Egyptians could be on the receiving end of something like this.
0:14:20 > 0:14:23And then to activate the curse, they smashed the pot.
0:14:29 > 0:14:33It was a symbolic act to annihilate the name of the enemy
0:14:33 > 0:14:36and therefore to control that enemy.
0:14:36 > 0:14:38Ooh, that does feel better!
0:14:39 > 0:14:43Not unlike voodoo, such practices are found in many ancient cultures
0:14:43 > 0:14:45and Egypt was no exception.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51But it's far from the way we imagine the formal, time-honoured rituals
0:14:51 > 0:14:55of the temple led by the king at the head of the religious hierarchy.
0:14:57 > 0:15:01This is an Egypt that's becoming more suspicious, more fearful
0:15:01 > 0:15:06and more aware of the threats to their world, natural disasters,
0:15:06 > 0:15:08political breakdown and foreign powers.
0:15:10 > 0:15:14And this little wax figurine is a means to control anyone that
0:15:14 > 0:15:17threatens the balanced order of Egyptian life.
0:15:20 > 0:15:22Welcome to the age of fear...
0:15:25 > 0:15:29..a time when every element of Egypt's world view was in doubt.
0:15:32 > 0:15:34Their faith in their king,
0:15:34 > 0:15:38in their land and even in their gods had all faltered.
0:15:40 > 0:15:44This is one of the lowest points in Egypt's long story
0:15:44 > 0:15:47and its effect reverberated throughout the Nile Valley.
0:15:50 > 0:15:53The king, traditionally based in the north,
0:15:53 > 0:15:57was no longer the source of wealth, so royal officials abandoned
0:15:57 > 0:16:01court and relocated back to their hometowns throughout the country.
0:16:02 > 0:16:07Disunited, Egypt reverted back to how it had been 1,000 years earlier.
0:16:08 > 0:16:12Breaking up into series of local regions called nomes.
0:16:13 > 0:16:17And now a new kind of leader emerges to dominate the dark ages.
0:16:18 > 0:16:22No longer a single king, but multiple warlords.
0:16:31 > 0:16:33And we know much about one of them,
0:16:33 > 0:16:37because he left his detailed autobiography in his rock-cut tomb
0:16:37 > 0:16:40at Mo'alla, well away from the usual tourist sites.
0:16:47 > 0:16:49His name was Ankhtifi.
0:16:52 > 0:16:55Now, Ankhtifi is a small-time official
0:16:55 > 0:16:58who's worked his way up through the ranks
0:16:58 > 0:17:02to become the regional governor, or nomarch, as it's known.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05And in the declining central government the power vacuum
0:17:05 > 0:17:09that opens up is now filled by the Ankhtifis of this world.
0:17:12 > 0:17:16Ankhtifi's tomb is quite modest by ancient Egyptian standards,
0:17:16 > 0:17:19but its interior walls tell of his rise to power.
0:17:22 > 0:17:26And Egyptologist Garry Shaw is going to help me unravel Ankhtifi's story.
0:17:27 > 0:17:30- You can see the man himself. - Ah, the great man.
0:17:30 > 0:17:34- The great man, carved, standing there.- He's got a great hairstyle.
0:17:34 > 0:17:38- He does.- That is lovely. I'm liking him already.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40And he has a great tomb, as well.
0:17:42 > 0:17:46The hieroglyphs and images that fill the walls reveal how Ankhtifi
0:17:46 > 0:17:49exploited the power vacuum at the end of the pyramid age,
0:17:49 > 0:17:52reducing the king to nothing more than a footnote.
0:17:54 > 0:17:58The only time you see the name of a king in the entire tomb is
0:17:58 > 0:18:02right here. This tiny little cartouche.
0:18:02 > 0:18:04Oh, it couldn't be any smaller. Look at the size of that.
0:18:04 > 0:18:08- It says Neferkare and that's it. - Is that it in the whole tomb?
0:18:08 > 0:18:12The whole tomb, one mention of a king, and I think that really
0:18:12 > 0:18:15emphasises just how important he thought he was alone.
0:18:15 > 0:18:17He didn't need to mention the pharaoh,
0:18:17 > 0:18:20he didn't need to say that the king told me to do this,
0:18:20 > 0:18:24so I did this because of the king's favours, he just did it himself.
0:18:24 > 0:18:25That is extraordinary.
0:18:25 > 0:18:28I think that cartouche, alone of everything in the tomb,
0:18:28 > 0:18:31encapsulates this whole period.
0:18:31 > 0:18:36Kings have been reduced to something on a minuscule level and the local
0:18:36 > 0:18:40rulers are shown on a huge scale and it's all about them, isn't it?
0:18:40 > 0:18:44Ankhtifi had enhanced his own political career
0:18:44 > 0:18:48and wanted to ensure the gods were in no doubt as to his importance.
0:18:48 > 0:18:53So the elaborate language, once exclusive to the king, was now part
0:18:53 > 0:18:56of Ankhtifi's own boastful propaganda.
0:18:56 > 0:18:59This warlord was an egomaniac.
0:18:59 > 0:19:03He also says that he's a hero without equal,
0:19:03 > 0:19:06without peer and you get that here.
0:19:07 > 0:19:12"I am a hero without peer," and pretty much almost every inscription
0:19:12 > 0:19:16in this tomb ends or includes this statement at some point inside.
0:19:16 > 0:19:18And what did he do to, kind of, justify these claims?
0:19:18 > 0:19:21He emphasises all the good things he did for the people.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24This was meant to be a time of drought and famine,
0:19:24 > 0:19:28so we're told in the texts, and he tried to guide them through this,
0:19:28 > 0:19:30he was managing it by feeding everybody
0:19:30 > 0:19:32and doing all sorts of good things,
0:19:32 > 0:19:37giving bread to the hungry, ointment to those without ointment.
0:19:37 > 0:19:41Sandals for those who were barefoot and wives to those without wives.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44So it's basically telling us about a time of turmoil.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47Yeah, but he was probably just over-exaggerating
0:19:47 > 0:19:49because the more he exaggerates just how awful it is,
0:19:49 > 0:19:52the more great he looks when he says, "Well, these are the nice
0:19:52 > 0:19:55- "things I did for everybody." - Yeah.- And you get this here.
0:19:55 > 0:19:59He talks about the entire south dying from hunger.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02Oh, look at that, that's a really graphic hieroglyph, I love that.
0:20:02 > 0:20:06- The guy fallen over. - Dead body!- He's definitely dead.
0:20:07 > 0:20:08But then it gets even worse,
0:20:08 > 0:20:12because he says that every single man is eating his children.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15He didn't allow this to happen in his nome, of course.
0:20:15 > 0:20:17Where he lived, everything was fine.
0:20:17 > 0:20:19And at the same time he was also a fantastic warrior,
0:20:19 > 0:20:22- we're told over here.- Inevitably! How did I know that was coming?
0:20:22 > 0:20:25Yeah, absolutely, yeah. These texts on this particular column
0:20:25 > 0:20:28talk about his abilities as a warrior.
0:20:28 > 0:20:30In his biggest boast of all,
0:20:30 > 0:20:35Ankhtifi, the local hero, almost claims the status of a god.
0:20:46 > 0:20:48In Egypt's dark age,
0:20:48 > 0:20:52warlords like Ankhtifi had replaced the real kings of Egypt.
0:20:53 > 0:20:58And Ankhtifi's delusions of grandeur, so vividly expressed inside his tomb,
0:20:58 > 0:21:01are even more emphasised on the outside
0:21:01 > 0:21:06because he chose burial inside a rock shaped like a natural pyramid.
0:21:06 > 0:21:08He wanted to be the local pharaoh.
0:21:11 > 0:21:13And in a way he was,
0:21:13 > 0:21:18because whoever fed and protected the people also led the people.
0:21:21 > 0:21:24But as the power of warlords like Ankhtifi grew,
0:21:24 > 0:21:26so did the conflicts between them.
0:21:28 > 0:21:32And over time, as they either defeated their neighbours or formed
0:21:32 > 0:21:37alliances with them, two separate dynasties of warlord kings emerged.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42One in the north at Herakleopolis where they wore the
0:21:42 > 0:21:43red crown of Lower Egypt...
0:21:45 > 0:21:47..and one in the south at Thebes,
0:21:47 > 0:21:51symbolised by the white crown of Upper Egypt.
0:21:51 > 0:21:55Egypt was a divided kingdom of two lands.
0:21:55 > 0:21:57And between them lay a warzone.
0:22:05 > 0:22:09Situated at its centre lay Egypt's most sacred site...
0:22:10 > 0:22:14..its earliest royal burial ground.
0:22:14 > 0:22:18And still today an evocative and atmospheric place.
0:22:20 > 0:22:24This was the resting place of Egypt's first kings,
0:22:24 > 0:22:28whose mummified bodies were buried in elaborate burial chambers
0:22:28 > 0:22:30beneath the desert floor.
0:22:30 > 0:22:34A safe place for their souls, or so they thought.
0:22:44 > 0:22:47But hostilities between the two warring factions
0:22:47 > 0:22:50were about to plumb new depths of horror,
0:22:50 > 0:22:52with an assault so blasphemous,
0:22:52 > 0:22:55it would change the face of Egypt for ever.
0:22:55 > 0:22:59One of the most violent acts was recorded in later texts
0:22:59 > 0:23:03as the Vile Deed, for the northern warlord kings
0:23:03 > 0:23:05fighting their southern opponents here
0:23:05 > 0:23:08actually desecrated these royal tombs.
0:23:10 > 0:23:13For their troops set fire to the tombs
0:23:13 > 0:23:15and destroyed the royal mummies.
0:23:15 > 0:23:21At a stroke, Egypt's physical link to its ancient past was severed.
0:23:21 > 0:23:25Such an act of desecration was completely unimaginable
0:23:25 > 0:23:28and the Egyptian people were rightly appalled.
0:23:28 > 0:23:32Although the northern kings deeply regretted what their troops
0:23:32 > 0:23:36had done, the destruction was irreversible
0:23:36 > 0:23:39and the origins of Egypt's royal past lost forever.
0:23:41 > 0:23:45Of course, the problem with such times of destruction is that there's
0:23:45 > 0:23:48very little left of them for us Egyptologists to find.
0:23:50 > 0:23:53But clues do remain if you know what you're looking for.
0:23:55 > 0:23:58Today, what's left of the violation of this
0:23:58 > 0:24:00royal burial ground is surprising...
0:24:01 > 0:24:04..thousands upon thousands of broken pots.
0:24:05 > 0:24:09Although most are not part of the destruction itself,
0:24:09 > 0:24:12they represent centuries of atonement for the loss of Egypt's
0:24:12 > 0:24:15physical connection with its past.
0:24:20 > 0:24:24Now, not long after the desecration, this became a place of pilgrimage,
0:24:24 > 0:24:27where people came with little pots like this one,
0:24:27 > 0:24:30filled with food, drink, incense,
0:24:30 > 0:24:34which they offered up to the souls of the dead kings once buried here.
0:24:38 > 0:24:41It was believed that at death, these souls of the kings had joined
0:24:41 > 0:24:45with the soul of Osiris, god of the dead,
0:24:45 > 0:24:49and as this place became a site of pilgrimage, it's as if the people
0:24:49 > 0:24:53of Egypt were trying to make amends for the desecration of the past.
0:24:56 > 0:25:00Egypt's spiritual connection to its royal ancestors was all it had
0:25:00 > 0:25:04left after the northern warlords had destroyed their physical remains.
0:25:06 > 0:25:10And the desecration soon provoked violent retaliation.
0:25:12 > 0:25:15Directly across the desert from Abydos...
0:25:17 > 0:25:18..lay Thebes...
0:25:20 > 0:25:23..the stronghold of the southern warlords.
0:25:23 > 0:25:25BIRD SQUAWKS
0:25:25 > 0:25:28And they would soon rise up against their northern rivals
0:25:28 > 0:25:32and attempt to resurrect Egypt as a united land.
0:25:37 > 0:25:41Back in 2000 BC, Thebes was a one-donkey town.
0:25:41 > 0:25:45And yet its warlords had two distinct advantages over other leaders.
0:25:45 > 0:25:49They lived on a bend in the Nile called the Qena Bend,
0:25:49 > 0:25:52a strategic control point of rich farmland.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57And their local god was Montu, the god of war!
0:26:01 > 0:26:04The warlords of Thebes would reunite Egypt.
0:26:04 > 0:26:07And one in particular came to the fore.
0:26:08 > 0:26:13His images were carved into the walls of his Theban tomb complex.
0:26:13 > 0:26:14And his name tells us much.
0:26:18 > 0:26:22This is the Theban warlord Montuhotep,
0:26:22 > 0:26:24and there's a real clue as to what was happening
0:26:24 > 0:26:28at this part of Egyptian history, because his name, Montuhotep,
0:26:28 > 0:26:32means "the local war god, Montu, is content",
0:26:32 > 0:26:35because "hotep" simply means content and happy.
0:26:35 > 0:26:39So if the war god was happy with Montuhotep,
0:26:39 > 0:26:42this means that he was a very powerful military figure
0:26:42 > 0:26:44and this is a wonderful scene.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47There are a lot of little clues here to tell us
0:26:47 > 0:26:51what's going on and if you look really closely you can see hands
0:26:51 > 0:26:56embracing him, flanking him at his back, at his front, round his middle.
0:26:56 > 0:27:01He's been embraced by the gods, chief amongst whom is Montu himself,
0:27:01 > 0:27:04and there he is. He's nose to nose with the king,
0:27:04 > 0:27:07he's giving him the breath of life
0:27:07 > 0:27:10and infusing him with his own divine power.
0:27:12 > 0:27:14It was the power of victory.
0:27:14 > 0:27:18One that finally brought an end to Egypt's first dark age.
0:27:19 > 0:27:22Montuhotep really did live up to his name
0:27:22 > 0:27:27as a true son of the war god because he took his armies north,
0:27:27 > 0:27:30he conquered the north and he reunited Egypt.
0:27:32 > 0:27:34But best of all he's got the red crown on,
0:27:34 > 0:27:36and this is the red crown of the north
0:27:36 > 0:27:39because Montuhotep is declaring to the world,
0:27:39 > 0:27:41"I might be a southerner, I might be from Thebes,
0:27:41 > 0:27:43"I should be wearing the white crown,
0:27:43 > 0:27:45"but look at me now, I have the red crown.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48"I am the king of the north and the king of the south
0:27:48 > 0:27:51"and I have reunited Egypt."
0:27:53 > 0:27:57As Egypt's new king, he became Montuhotep II.
0:27:58 > 0:28:00But his victory came at a high price.
0:28:02 > 0:28:04The grim details of what his soldiers went through
0:28:04 > 0:28:08can be found on Thebes' West Bank at Deir el-Bahari.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13It was inside one of the tombs here that the
0:28:13 > 0:28:17remains of Montuhotep's warriors were uncovered in 1923.
0:28:21 > 0:28:26Their bodies silent witnesses to Egypt's civil war of 4,000 years ago.
0:28:27 > 0:28:31Which careful analysis revealed in fascinating detail.
0:28:33 > 0:28:36Now, the archaeologists found around 60 bodies in the tomb
0:28:36 > 0:28:39and these are the original excavation photographs.
0:28:41 > 0:28:45All of them had been naturally preserved, naturally mummified
0:28:45 > 0:28:50in the hot, dry climate, so you've still got the skin and the hair.
0:28:50 > 0:28:54And crucially, evidence of how these men had fought and died.
0:28:54 > 0:28:57Some of these bodies had been pierced by arrows,
0:28:57 > 0:29:01this one goes right into the left side of the chest.
0:29:01 > 0:29:04Others had actually been buried with these leather wrist guards
0:29:04 > 0:29:05that archers use.
0:29:08 > 0:29:11Ten of the warriors had been killed with ebony-tipped arrows.
0:29:13 > 0:29:15But in others, the wounds are even more brutal.
0:29:17 > 0:29:20You can see here somebody's hit this man on the head with a real
0:29:20 > 0:29:24whack and you can see this very, very graphic area of damage there.
0:29:26 > 0:29:29And after these series of furious blows had been
0:29:29 > 0:29:33rained down on these poor guys, they lay helpless on the field of battle,
0:29:33 > 0:29:38their bodies picked at by vultures. You can see here the dreadful damage.
0:29:38 > 0:29:40It's such a profound image.
0:29:43 > 0:29:47The bodies reveal evidence of the weapons used against them
0:29:47 > 0:29:49as they fought for control of Egypt.
0:29:52 > 0:29:53Arrows, sling shot
0:29:53 > 0:29:56and even rocks had been hurled at the warriors from above.
0:29:59 > 0:30:02Eventually their bodies were collected from the battlefield
0:30:02 > 0:30:05and carefully wrapped in linen.
0:30:05 > 0:30:08This linen bore the insignia of the Theban tomb complex,
0:30:08 > 0:30:10belonging to their leader Montuhotep.
0:30:12 > 0:30:14But just as significant as the bodies themselves,
0:30:14 > 0:30:18was where Montuhotep chose to bury his fallen heroes.
0:30:21 > 0:30:25Today, the warriors' resting place is a little-known, sealed tomb.
0:30:28 > 0:30:32But 4,000 years ago Montuhotep honoured his dead soldiers
0:30:32 > 0:30:36with a burial amongst the graves of his highest officials,
0:30:36 > 0:30:39making them part of his monument to victory.
0:30:40 > 0:30:42The new king had created what could well be
0:30:42 > 0:30:45the world's first known war cemetery.
0:30:48 > 0:30:51Now, I'm lucky enough to have been given special permission to see
0:30:51 > 0:30:54Montuhotep's soldiers for the first time.
0:30:54 > 0:30:57These guys are going to be taking down the tomb wall for me,
0:30:57 > 0:31:01allowing me to actually meet the very people who fought in Egypt's
0:31:01 > 0:31:05civil war around 2,000 BC so I am very, very excited.
0:31:14 > 0:31:18And it was the same curiosity which drove a team of American
0:31:18 > 0:31:21archaeologists to excavate their original mass grave
0:31:21 > 0:31:22in the first place.
0:31:40 > 0:31:42Now reburied in a neighbouring tomb,
0:31:42 > 0:31:46the bodies of Montuhotep's soldiers have rarely seen the light of day
0:31:46 > 0:31:49since their discovery over 90 years ago.
0:31:52 > 0:31:53THEY SPEAK ARABIC
0:31:59 > 0:32:03Now this is really, really super frustrating,
0:32:03 > 0:32:05but in the interests of health and safety
0:32:05 > 0:32:08I can't go in there immediately, much as I really want to,
0:32:08 > 0:32:12cos all the stale air has built up as the wall's been sealed
0:32:12 > 0:32:16and we've really got to let this out with all the fungal spores
0:32:16 > 0:32:19and bacteria and everything else that's so detrimental to health.
0:32:21 > 0:32:25Early Egyptologists tended to rush straight in and risked the
0:32:25 > 0:32:29so-called pharaoh's curse, so a little waiting is essential.
0:32:38 > 0:32:41I can't believe we're going to actually enter this tomb now.
0:32:41 > 0:32:47It's one of those rare moments you get in an Egyptological career,
0:32:47 > 0:32:49into a tomb that's hardly ever visited.
0:32:49 > 0:32:51The wall had to come down and who knows what we're
0:32:51 > 0:32:54going to find inside cos I certainly have never seen
0:32:54 > 0:32:57this before so it's a very, very special moment.
0:33:09 > 0:33:13This literally wasn't at all what I expected, nobody knew what to expect.
0:33:13 > 0:33:17It's staggering. I've never ever been into a tomb quite like this before.
0:33:22 > 0:33:26The mask is a very good idea because there's all sorts of things
0:33:26 > 0:33:29floating around in the atmosphere in here,
0:33:29 > 0:33:32not just the dust of ages, but the dust of human beings,
0:33:32 > 0:33:35and as such we have to be very, very respectful.
0:33:37 > 0:33:39It's a large rock-cut tomb
0:33:39 > 0:33:42and although its walls are unfinished, it is typical
0:33:42 > 0:33:46of those created for courtiers and officials throughout these cliffs.
0:33:47 > 0:33:49Wow, it's a mummified body.
0:33:51 > 0:33:55It's absolutely incredible. Oh, that's quite something.
0:33:58 > 0:34:04And if you look along the length of this very long tomb, look at the
0:34:04 > 0:34:11floor, this isn't stone, these are human remains and mummy wrappings.
0:34:12 > 0:34:14And there are chambers
0:34:14 > 0:34:19and corridors leading off, again full of wrappings, the linen of ages.
0:34:25 > 0:34:28Some of it is claimed to be the very linen that bound
0:34:28 > 0:34:32the bodies of Montuhotep's warriors to help preserve them for eternity.
0:34:34 > 0:34:39But at first glance it's hard to get a clear picture, for this particular
0:34:39 > 0:34:43tomb seems to have been reused many times during Egypt's long history.
0:34:45 > 0:34:51Part of a shoulder, you see the way the skin is folded and dried out.
0:34:53 > 0:34:57Partial human body, still with much of its soft tissue intact.
0:34:57 > 0:34:59It hits you immediately in the face
0:34:59 > 0:35:03and you're confronted with what a tomb is all about.
0:35:03 > 0:35:07Make no mistake, this is the home of the dead and we're in amongst them.
0:35:09 > 0:35:12And it's a very emotive and powerful place to be.
0:35:15 > 0:35:20But what's striking is how little is left of their bodies.
0:35:20 > 0:35:23Like many other tombs up and down the Nile, they've been subjected to
0:35:23 > 0:35:26centuries of looting and damage.
0:35:28 > 0:35:32And amongst all these linen wrappings and debris and human remains
0:35:32 > 0:35:37themselves are the tangible remains of these men who died so
0:35:37 > 0:35:42bravely in their efforts to reunify Egypt for Montuhotep their leader.
0:35:58 > 0:36:02Having just come out of that tomb I have very, very mixed emotions.
0:36:03 > 0:36:07I don't really know what I was expecting to see, certainly some
0:36:07 > 0:36:10of Montuhotep's soldiers.
0:36:10 > 0:36:13Perhaps some of them were, it's highly likely.
0:36:13 > 0:36:18Essentially, what we're looking at are the ancient Egyptians themselves.
0:36:18 > 0:36:20These are the ancient Egyptians.
0:36:20 > 0:36:25Temples, tombs, pyramids, this wonderful culture.
0:36:25 > 0:36:30It's all well and good studying these esoteric aspects
0:36:30 > 0:36:34that are distinct and marvellous and grand but when it comes down
0:36:34 > 0:36:39to it, the things we should really be interested in are these people.
0:36:49 > 0:36:54Montuhotep's reunification of Egypt marked a new beginning,
0:36:54 > 0:36:56the dawn of what would become
0:36:56 > 0:36:57known as the Middle Kingdom...
0:37:01 > 0:37:02..and the rise of Thebes.
0:37:08 > 0:37:11Montuhotep made it the new spiritual heart of Egypt.
0:37:14 > 0:37:17And it would stay that way for the next 2,000 years.
0:37:23 > 0:37:26But whereas the war god Montu had dominated the previous
0:37:26 > 0:37:28century of Egypt's story,
0:37:28 > 0:37:33the deity that now took centre stage was Hathor, the goddess of love,
0:37:33 > 0:37:38joy, beauty and motherhood. The goddess whose origins can be
0:37:38 > 0:37:41traced right back to the earliest of times.
0:37:42 > 0:37:45And believing that Hathor dwelt in the cliffs of
0:37:45 > 0:37:50Deir el-Bahari, Montuhotep chose this site not only for his war cemetery,
0:37:50 > 0:37:52but for his own tomb complex.
0:37:54 > 0:37:58It was Montuhotep that first built here in this dramatic place
0:37:58 > 0:38:01where the cliffs meet the desert,
0:38:01 > 0:38:04believed to be the home of the goddess Hathor herself.
0:38:04 > 0:38:07It was a fast-track to the afterlife and for Montuhotep
0:38:07 > 0:38:11and his men, who'd lived and died by the war god Montu,
0:38:11 > 0:38:15they all now rest in the eternal embrace of Hathor.
0:38:31 > 0:38:34The first to build at Deir el-Bahari was Montuhotep,
0:38:34 > 0:38:36the founder of a reunified Egypt.
0:38:39 > 0:38:43He was so influential that almost 600 years later, female pharaoh
0:38:43 > 0:38:49Hatshepsut built her own funerary temple right next door to
0:38:49 > 0:38:54tap into the religious and political power of her illustrious predecessor.
0:39:02 > 0:39:06In the Middle Kingdom, life for ordinary people was on the up.
0:39:08 > 0:39:09Food was plentiful...
0:39:13 > 0:39:15..wealth and trade flourished...
0:39:18 > 0:39:21..and farming was revitalised with new irrigation systems.
0:39:27 > 0:39:32Yet the dark age had nonetheless left its mark on the Egyptian mind-set,
0:39:32 > 0:39:36as revealed in the way they prepared for the afterlife.
0:39:37 > 0:39:41In the Old Kingdom, tomb walls were often covered in elaborate scenes
0:39:41 > 0:39:46and texts replicating an idealised version of the Egyptian world.
0:39:48 > 0:39:52But in the dark ages people had seen their sacred sites ripped apart.
0:39:53 > 0:39:55So instead of such tomb art,
0:39:55 > 0:39:59many in the Middle Kingdom opted for its cheaper equivalent.
0:40:02 > 0:40:05With something much smaller and much more intimate.
0:40:15 > 0:40:19While these may look like children's toys, they were in fact made
0:40:19 > 0:40:23nearly 4,000 years ago to be placed inside Egyptian burials.
0:40:26 > 0:40:29Now, these wooden models were designed to provide the deceased with
0:40:29 > 0:40:34an eternal supply of food and drink in the next world and so we have
0:40:34 > 0:40:40all the basics here, the Egyptian staples of bread, beer and beef.
0:40:44 > 0:40:48So we have the bakers at this end and they're grinding the grain to
0:40:48 > 0:40:51make flour which will then be made into the bread loaves
0:40:51 > 0:40:56that are cooked in this fire and the baker is in front there.
0:40:56 > 0:41:00The arms are quite damaged but presumably shielding his face
0:41:00 > 0:41:05from the heat as we know from other examples. Move to the middle, we have
0:41:05 > 0:41:11the butcher here and he's cutting the throat of this ox. The legs
0:41:11 > 0:41:15are bound here to keep the animal in situ while the deed is done.
0:41:15 > 0:41:19And we move on to the end and we have the brewer.
0:41:19 > 0:41:20This is a fabulous,
0:41:20 > 0:41:25fabulous example because he's pushing the mash through a sieve
0:41:25 > 0:41:30and the sieve's even been drawn on there on the top.
0:41:30 > 0:41:33Actually, in proportion with the rest of it this individual's
0:41:33 > 0:41:36ordered rather more beer than either bread or beef
0:41:36 > 0:41:41because this section of the model is almost half its length
0:41:41 > 0:41:44but you can see the vats of beer carefully laid on their side.
0:41:44 > 0:41:47It's a wonderfully evocative piece.
0:41:47 > 0:41:49These people have been working for 4,000 years
0:41:49 > 0:41:51and they're still at it, look at them.
0:41:53 > 0:41:56The key elements of Egyptian culture were back.
0:41:56 > 0:41:58And they look little different from times of plenty
0:41:58 > 0:42:00in the previous millennium.
0:42:03 > 0:42:06Look at this busy crew grappling with the sail,
0:42:06 > 0:42:09poles ready to launch the boat off the Nile's banks.
0:42:12 > 0:42:17And this granary silo. Inside, workers haul sacks of barley...
0:42:19 > 0:42:21..while a scribe counts the crop.
0:42:26 > 0:42:29And, of course, there are also female figures.
0:42:30 > 0:42:34In Egypt women enjoyed much the same status as men,
0:42:34 > 0:42:38unlike their sisters in many other parts of the ancient world.
0:42:39 > 0:42:43They're also producing one of the Egyptian staples, linen,
0:42:43 > 0:42:47the cloth which was used to make pretty much every Egyptian garment.
0:42:47 > 0:42:52When you see this standing woman here, she's spinning
0:42:52 > 0:42:57the thread with this spindle and the thread that she is busy making she'll
0:42:57 > 0:43:02then hand on to her two companions, the weavers, and they are using this
0:43:02 > 0:43:06horizontal loom that's pegged to the ground to produce the bolts of cloth
0:43:06 > 0:43:09which will be fashioned into the wrap-around dresses,
0:43:09 > 0:43:12the kilts, the loincloths, as worn by
0:43:12 > 0:43:15pretty much every ancient Egyptian man, woman and child.
0:43:17 > 0:43:21The lives depicted in these busy little scenes are the comfortable
0:43:21 > 0:43:25and the familiar, representing the Egyptian idea of security.
0:43:28 > 0:43:31This isn't Tutankhamen's death mask, this isn't the finest
0:43:31 > 0:43:35piece of art you'll ever see but that isn't the point. These are real
0:43:35 > 0:43:40people doing real jobs. This is Ancient Egypt up close and personal.
0:43:43 > 0:43:46Order had been restored within Egypt.
0:43:46 > 0:43:50But the fears that once tore Egypt apart hadn't disappeared entirely.
0:43:53 > 0:43:57For now they were projected outwards, to the world beyond its borders.
0:44:00 > 0:44:05So Middle Kingdom monarchs like stern old Sesostris III
0:44:05 > 0:44:08focused on national security and wealth creation.
0:44:10 > 0:44:14Sesostris is infamous for his devastating military campaigns
0:44:14 > 0:44:16south into gold-rich Nubia.
0:44:18 > 0:44:21But he also opted for a more permanent kind of control,
0:44:21 > 0:44:22by building castles.
0:44:24 > 0:44:29Now, this is a map of southern Egypt and Nubia which is modern day
0:44:29 > 0:44:34Sudan, and where Aswan is, that was the border between the two.
0:44:34 > 0:44:39And Egypt maintained its control over Nubia through a series of forts.
0:44:39 > 0:44:43With around eight of these built by Sesostris himself,
0:44:43 > 0:44:45these Middle Kingdom forts were within signalling
0:44:45 > 0:44:50distance of one another along the southern Nile down into Nubia.
0:44:51 > 0:44:56They were all part of a massive state building programme designed to
0:44:56 > 0:45:02subjugate the local population and maintain the flow of goods
0:45:02 > 0:45:06and people up into Egypt, particularly Nubian gold.
0:45:08 > 0:45:11Very few of these forts still survive.
0:45:16 > 0:45:19These are some of the last images ever recorded of the largest,
0:45:19 > 0:45:21at Buhen.
0:45:24 > 0:45:27It was filmed in 1962 during its excavation.
0:45:29 > 0:45:33And after the creation of the Aswan Dam, these massive mud brick
0:45:33 > 0:45:37walls disappeared forever beneath the waters of the new Lake Nasser.
0:45:44 > 0:45:47But Buhen isn't completely lost to us
0:45:47 > 0:45:49because the excavation records are kept here at the
0:45:49 > 0:45:51Egypt Exploration Society
0:45:51 > 0:45:56and they reveal an unexpected aspect of Middle Kingdom Egypt.
0:45:56 > 0:45:58As well as photographs,
0:45:58 > 0:46:03they hold architectural plans of the fort drawn up during the excavations.
0:46:03 > 0:46:07Giving a real insight into the immense scale of the Egyptian
0:46:07 > 0:46:08crackdown in Nubia.
0:46:08 > 0:46:11- Hiya, Chris. - Hi, Jo. How are you?
0:46:11 > 0:46:14I'm well, thank you. This looks like an amazing photograph.
0:46:14 > 0:46:16What does it actually show?
0:46:16 > 0:46:18This is an aerial photograph, Jo, so what we can see here
0:46:18 > 0:46:22along the bottom this strip is actually the river Nile and then
0:46:22 > 0:46:25right on the banks of the Nile emerging from the sand here we see
0:46:25 > 0:46:32this square outline of the massive fortification of the site of Buhen.
0:46:32 > 0:46:37But once the excavators began to uncover the full extent of what
0:46:37 > 0:46:40we can see, this is what they came across.
0:46:40 > 0:46:43That just looks like a medieval castle, doesn't it?
0:46:43 > 0:46:46Very rarely do you think Ancient Egypt,
0:46:46 > 0:46:49"Oh, yeah castles," and yet here's the evidence in front of us.
0:46:49 > 0:46:51Absolutely.
0:46:53 > 0:46:56Designed to keep the enemy out, Buhen shares features
0:46:56 > 0:47:02with the castles of Europe, but all constructed 3,000 years earlier.
0:47:06 > 0:47:09Most astonishing of all is its sheer size.
0:47:11 > 0:47:13There's a little scale on this map that gives you an idea.
0:47:13 > 0:47:18This is roughly 100m, so just the Nile-facing wall here
0:47:18 > 0:47:21is well over 400m long.
0:47:21 > 0:47:25If you think about the Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza
0:47:25 > 0:47:28that's 200m along the base, so we're talking about the length of two
0:47:28 > 0:47:33Great Pyramids along here. The total circumference of this wall is
0:47:33 > 0:47:37well over a mile and these outer walls are 11m high.
0:47:39 > 0:47:43Inside which you could fit around 20 football pitches.
0:47:44 > 0:47:48Because as well as controlling the Nubian gold supply,
0:47:48 > 0:47:51Egypt intended to rule by intimidation.
0:47:53 > 0:47:55This is the Middle Kingdom's
0:47:55 > 0:47:58great monumental, architectural statement.
0:47:58 > 0:48:00Pyramids, monumental tombs,
0:48:00 > 0:48:02were not really the kinds of buildings they needed.
0:48:02 > 0:48:05What they very much needed were these heavily fortified,
0:48:05 > 0:48:08fortress towns to guard the frontier of their territory.
0:48:10 > 0:48:13When this fortress arrives in the barren,
0:48:13 > 0:48:16empty desert landscape in the Middle Kingdom,
0:48:16 > 0:48:20this would have been a massive statement. Something very,
0:48:20 > 0:48:25very big, powerful, strong, scary has suddenly arrived in the desert.
0:48:25 > 0:48:29So anybody travelling from Nubia north into Egypt has to sail past
0:48:29 > 0:48:32this and this would have taken quite a while to sail past, wouldn't it?
0:48:32 > 0:48:33Absolutely, yeah.
0:48:33 > 0:48:36Imagine, you're in a little boat on the Nile and you are looking up
0:48:36 > 0:48:39and up and up and you can see all these arrow slits,
0:48:39 > 0:48:42people training their arrows perhaps on you.
0:48:42 > 0:48:44You know you're being watched.
0:48:44 > 0:48:46- It's that big brother mentality, isn't it?- Exactly.
0:48:52 > 0:48:56Rising up by the Nile, Buhen was a gleaming citadel of power.
0:48:58 > 0:49:02But most of all it was an early warning system, the eyes
0:49:02 > 0:49:06and ears of a nation defined by suspicion and fear.
0:49:09 > 0:49:13But Egypt's southern border wasn't the only one to be fortified.
0:49:13 > 0:49:16The north-eastern border with Palestine was also secured
0:49:16 > 0:49:20with such defences to monitor the large number of foreign
0:49:20 > 0:49:25traders regularly travelling to sell their goods in super-wealthy Egypt.
0:49:25 > 0:49:30And the visit of one such group is portrayed here on a tomb wall,
0:49:30 > 0:49:33a caravan of wealthy merchants and their families.
0:49:35 > 0:49:38Clearly not Egyptian with their distinctive hairstyles.
0:49:38 > 0:49:40and brightly coloured clothes.
0:49:42 > 0:49:46Known as the Aamu people, they traded in such goods as the
0:49:46 > 0:49:49black lead ore vital for Egypt's production of eye make-up.
0:49:52 > 0:49:56And their distinctive pottery has been found across the Nile Delta,
0:49:56 > 0:50:01where many of them settled to live and work among the Egyptians.
0:50:01 > 0:50:06But within a century, some of these Aamu had infiltrated high office
0:50:06 > 0:50:09and eventually took over Egypt itself.
0:50:09 > 0:50:12Now, these nomadic Aamu people who came in
0:50:12 > 0:50:15and out of Egypt on a regular basis to trade
0:50:15 > 0:50:17are portrayed here in this wonderful tomb scene.
0:50:17 > 0:50:19And yet the most important
0:50:19 > 0:50:23part of the entire scenario are three small hieroglyphs
0:50:23 > 0:50:25right in the middle.
0:50:26 > 0:50:30They reveal one of the other terms the Egyptians used to name the Aamu.
0:50:32 > 0:50:38It's basically a crook, a sceptre and that's written with two symbols
0:50:38 > 0:50:42and that's pronounced heka - it means ruler. And then the third of the
0:50:42 > 0:50:48three symbols is, kind of, undulating uplands which means desert or hill
0:50:48 > 0:50:52country. Basically, the Egyptians use this symbol to denote a foreign land.
0:50:52 > 0:50:56So you put these signs together, ruler of foreign lands
0:50:56 > 0:51:01and this really is the clue to what happened next, because these
0:51:01 > 0:51:05Aamu of Palestinian origin eventually became the Hyksos.
0:51:05 > 0:51:07The heka khasut are the Hyksos,
0:51:07 > 0:51:13and they ruled Egypt from the north between 1650 BC and 1550 BC.
0:51:15 > 0:51:18But as tension between the foreign rulers and their Egyptian
0:51:18 > 0:51:23subjects gradually escalated, Egypt entered a second dark age.
0:51:24 > 0:51:28The Hyksos made an alliance with the Nubians to the south...
0:51:29 > 0:51:33..and the Egyptians found themselves trapped between two enemies.
0:51:36 > 0:51:39Although we know little about this difficult time,
0:51:39 > 0:51:42some fascinating texts do survive.
0:51:42 > 0:51:46Perhaps the most compelling are the words of a royal letter sent by
0:51:46 > 0:51:48the Hyksos king south to Thebes.
0:51:49 > 0:51:52Its message would prove so explosive that
0:51:52 > 0:51:58it galvanised the Thebans to once more regain control of their land.
0:51:58 > 0:52:02Now, this letter was either a colossal diplomatic faux-pas
0:52:02 > 0:52:06or simply downright rudeness and it involved the Egyptian goddess
0:52:06 > 0:52:10Taweret, the pugnacious blade-wielding hippo.
0:52:12 > 0:52:15Taweret may have been a protective deity,
0:52:15 > 0:52:17but she was also a ferocious creature...
0:52:19 > 0:52:23..with features borrowed from the hippo and the crocodile,
0:52:23 > 0:52:24animals the Egyptians feared.
0:52:26 > 0:52:28It seems the Hyksos king, Apophis,
0:52:28 > 0:52:31set out deliberately to insult the Thebans.
0:52:37 > 0:52:41Now, the letter takes the form of a complaint in which Apophis is
0:52:41 > 0:52:44basically complaining that the bellowing of the sacred hippos
0:52:44 > 0:52:47in Thebes is keeping him awake at night.
0:52:57 > 0:53:01Now, many have taken this to be a rather eccentric comment,
0:53:01 > 0:53:05but I think it actually alludes to the powerful women of Thebes.
0:53:05 > 0:53:08It seems that Apophis is actually comparing
0:53:08 > 0:53:14the wife of the Theban leader with the feisty hippo goddess herself.
0:53:14 > 0:53:18And soon it will be the Thebans who would decide that the Hyksos
0:53:18 > 0:53:20had had their day. They had to go!
0:53:25 > 0:53:28And soon this war of words had escalated into armed conflict
0:53:28 > 0:53:30between the two powers.
0:53:36 > 0:53:39But the Egyptians of Thebes had also gained the means to
0:53:39 > 0:53:44launch their attack with something developed by the Hyksos themselves,
0:53:44 > 0:53:46state of the art weaponry.
0:53:49 > 0:53:52In particular, a new kind of bow.
0:53:52 > 0:53:54Known today as the composite bow.
0:53:58 > 0:54:00It would revolutionise Egyptian warfare.
0:54:02 > 0:54:03Wasn't it a lovely shape?
0:54:03 > 0:54:07- It's a beautiful thing.- This may look like a bow made of solid wood
0:54:07 > 0:54:10similar to those the Egyptians had always used.
0:54:11 > 0:54:16But the secret of the composite bow is all down to the elements within.
0:54:18 > 0:54:21It's composite because it's made out of different materials all
0:54:21 > 0:54:26joined together, so there's a wooden core at the centre of the bow
0:54:26 > 0:54:30but inside the curve on the belly of the bow is horn,
0:54:30 > 0:54:34glued onto the wood which forms a really powerful spring.
0:54:34 > 0:54:36So the cow horn would go there?
0:54:36 > 0:54:38Yeah, that's right, on the inside of the curve
0:54:38 > 0:54:41and then on the outside of the curve an even more unpromising
0:54:41 > 0:54:46material, sinew which looks like something the cat would enjoy.
0:54:46 > 0:54:49Then it's all covered over with birch bark to protect
0:54:49 > 0:54:54- the glue from the elements. - Before the Hyksos occupation,
0:54:54 > 0:54:57the Egyptians had shot arrows from bows carved from solid wood.
0:54:58 > 0:55:03They were quite large, unwieldy and only effective at fairly close range.
0:55:05 > 0:55:09But in the composite bow, animal horn added flexibility,
0:55:09 > 0:55:12and the sinew strength...
0:55:12 > 0:55:14- It's a clever combination of ingredients.- It's brilliant.
0:55:14 > 0:55:17..making it the ultimate in ancient archery.
0:55:19 > 0:55:24It just asks you to do that, doesn't it? It's fabulous.
0:55:24 > 0:55:27There's a real sense of power behind this, isn't there?
0:55:27 > 0:55:29It's a beautiful thing.
0:55:29 > 0:55:31So let me show you why it's such a game changer.
0:55:31 > 0:55:34Really, because it's a bow that you can use.
0:55:34 > 0:55:37It's quite short, you can use it in a chariot and yet...
0:55:39 > 0:55:44Whoa! That was brilliant! Well done!
0:55:44 > 0:55:46The composite bow was easier to handle
0:55:46 > 0:55:49and shot faster arrows with much greater accuracy.
0:55:51 > 0:55:53The Egyptians had little choice
0:55:53 > 0:55:56but to adapt or remain an occupied nation.
0:55:58 > 0:56:00So by copying the new military technology,
0:56:00 > 0:56:05they were eventually able to push the Hyksos out of Egypt
0:56:05 > 0:56:08all the way back to Palestine,
0:56:08 > 0:56:11securing Egypt's northern frontier once again.
0:56:19 > 0:56:22And when the new bow was used in conjunction with the other
0:56:22 > 0:56:24Hyksos introductions, the horse and chariot...
0:56:26 > 0:56:28..the three combined to express
0:56:28 > 0:56:32the power and supremacy of Egypt's new Egyptian rulers.
0:56:40 > 0:56:43This marked the start of the New Kingdom, which began
0:56:43 > 0:56:47when the powerful Theban leaders took the throne.
0:56:47 > 0:56:51This dramatic rebirth in royal power was mirrored by the rise
0:56:51 > 0:56:57of Thebes' local god Amun based at his cult centre,
0:56:57 > 0:56:59the Temple of Karnak.
0:56:59 > 0:57:02And it would be Amun who now protected Egypt and its kings.
0:57:06 > 0:57:10Yet thanks to the Hyksos legacy, these were a new kind of king.
0:57:10 > 0:57:13And it's on this temple's walls we can clearly see
0:57:13 > 0:57:16the effect of their Hyksos occupation for as the pharaoh
0:57:16 > 0:57:21smites his enemies this is Egypt reborn, a fully armed, fully charged
0:57:21 > 0:57:28superpower, whose kings, shown on a monumental scale, are superheroes.
0:57:38 > 0:57:43Over some 800 years since the pyramid age, Egypt's story had been
0:57:43 > 0:57:48one of upheaval, collapse and finally rebirth.
0:57:50 > 0:57:52The Egyptians had reclaimed their culture
0:57:52 > 0:57:54and entered a truly golden age.
0:58:00 > 0:58:04The next part of Ancient Egypt's story is a time
0:58:04 > 0:58:05of monumental architecture.
0:58:07 > 0:58:10Oh, oh, flippin' heck!
0:58:11 > 0:58:13..and vast wealth...
0:58:15 > 0:58:17..bringing not only glory...
0:58:18 > 0:58:20..but greed and corruption.
0:58:21 > 0:58:23The priest-kings of Karnak had got what
0:58:23 > 0:58:26they had always wanted, absolute power.