0:00:06 > 0:00:09Hundreds of tonnes of stone to portray a mighty pharaoh.
0:00:12 > 0:00:15Colossal testament to Egypt's golden age.
0:00:23 > 0:00:27I think it's probably here at the feet of the Colossi of Memnon
0:00:27 > 0:00:31we get a real sense of who Amenhotep III was.
0:00:32 > 0:00:38In my opinion, Amenhotep III was ancient Egypt's greatest pharaoh.
0:00:40 > 0:00:44He presided over the zenith of Egyptian culture and civilisation.
0:00:44 > 0:00:46He is the golden age.
0:00:46 > 0:00:50He is the epitome of everything that made ancient Egypt brilliant.
0:00:55 > 0:00:57The rise of this great civilisation
0:00:57 > 0:01:00was powered by its extraordinary belief system...
0:01:03 > 0:01:07..where the pursuit of the perfect afterlife was everything.
0:01:09 > 0:01:13Capable of withstanding disasters and dark ages...
0:01:17 > 0:01:22..to then re-emerge as the most powerful empire in the ancient world.
0:01:29 > 0:01:31In this episode, I'm going to enter
0:01:31 > 0:01:36what I regard as Egypt's greatest era - the New Kingdom.
0:01:38 > 0:01:39Whoa...!
0:01:39 > 0:01:41What an amazing chamber.
0:01:42 > 0:01:45A time of luxury, grand designs
0:01:45 > 0:01:47and unparalleled splendour.
0:01:49 > 0:01:51Isn't this absolutely beautiful?
0:01:53 > 0:01:56But like all good things, it couldn't last forever.
0:01:57 > 0:02:02Egypt's powerful religion would prove to be its greatest weakness.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05And I'll discover how the priests became so rich,
0:02:05 > 0:02:08their power struggle with the crown destroyed the very unity of Egypt.
0:02:12 > 0:02:16It was this very conflict that would transform this golden age
0:02:16 > 0:02:19into one of decadence and corruption...
0:02:20 > 0:02:23..and would eventually tear Egypt apart.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28And by looking again at Egypt's greatest superstars,
0:02:28 > 0:02:30I'm going to investigate what really happened
0:02:30 > 0:02:33during the glittering New Kingdom.
0:02:35 > 0:02:39Welcome to my story of ancient Egypt.
0:02:48 > 0:02:52The New Kingdom, nearly 3,500 years ago
0:02:52 > 0:02:55and the time of Amenhotep III.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59When Egypt's expression of power and belief
0:02:59 > 0:03:01reached new heights of enormity.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08I've joined an international team of archaeologists,
0:03:08 > 0:03:13who are excavating just one of the vast monuments Amenhotep created...
0:03:13 > 0:03:15his funerary temple.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22Now, being here, you really get a sense of what it must have been like
0:03:22 > 0:03:243,500 years ago,
0:03:24 > 0:03:28when this place was a building site - much as it is today.
0:03:28 > 0:03:30All these statues all around,
0:03:30 > 0:03:33Amenhotep III's image coming up in their hundreds.
0:03:35 > 0:03:39And yet, as the archaeologists today assemble all these pieces,
0:03:39 > 0:03:44this is, literally, history coming out of the ground piece by piece.
0:03:46 > 0:03:47In the pyramid age,
0:03:47 > 0:03:51royal tombs and funerary temples were a single complex,
0:03:51 > 0:03:55but 1,300 years later, the two were built separately,
0:03:55 > 0:03:58reflecting a new era of opulence,
0:03:58 > 0:04:02epitomising the greatest dynasty of all, the 18th.
0:04:02 > 0:04:05The time of Amenhotep III.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11For centuries, pretty much the only visible remains
0:04:11 > 0:04:16of Amenhotep's funerary temple were his two colossal statues.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20Now archaeologist Dr Hourig Sourouzian and her team
0:04:20 > 0:04:23are finally uncovering the full splendour
0:04:23 > 0:04:26of this once-mighty monument.
0:04:26 > 0:04:28You touch. And it's, it's...
0:04:28 > 0:04:30- It's like glass.- Yes.
0:04:30 > 0:04:33Covering over 86 acres,
0:04:33 > 0:04:35this was not a tomb like the pyramids,
0:04:35 > 0:04:37but a huge complex.
0:04:37 > 0:04:41The largest funerary temple ever created.
0:04:41 > 0:04:43- It's a massive, massive... - It's unbelievable.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45You have to imagine
0:04:45 > 0:04:47this is only the major temple, the main temple.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50You have to imagine other temples, processional ways,
0:04:50 > 0:04:53sphinx avenues, magazines,
0:04:53 > 0:04:57workshops, treasures, pools, gardens,
0:04:57 > 0:04:59priests' houses, administrative houses...
0:04:59 > 0:05:03All this was a big city in the...in the capital.
0:05:03 > 0:05:05- Overwhelming in size.- Yeah. It is.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10This grand design was built as the place
0:05:10 > 0:05:13where his soul could be worshipped for eternity,
0:05:13 > 0:05:17while his mummified body was buried in the Valley of the Kings nearby.
0:05:17 > 0:05:21But during his lifetime, inside the temple,
0:05:21 > 0:05:23a permanent priesthood was employed,
0:05:23 > 0:05:25all ruled over by the pharaoh.
0:05:27 > 0:05:32Amenhotep's massive statues flanked the temple's main entrance.
0:05:34 > 0:05:36Beyond them lay a second pair,
0:05:36 > 0:05:38and then a third.
0:05:40 > 0:05:44Amenhotep's image repeated throughout the temple complex.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53I wish one day they, they find a time machine.
0:05:53 > 0:05:55I go back...
0:05:55 > 0:05:57Can I come? I'll come with you.
0:05:58 > 0:06:02We may not have a time machine, but 15 years of work
0:06:02 > 0:06:06have begun to reveal some of the temple's former glories.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09Normally, these would have been metres up in the air.
0:06:09 > 0:06:11But to actually engage...
0:06:12 > 0:06:14It's so very tactile.
0:06:14 > 0:06:16So very intimate.
0:06:16 > 0:06:18Holding hands with the pharaoh.
0:06:20 > 0:06:23This colossus from the temple's second gateway
0:06:23 > 0:06:26is flanked by one of the best-preserved statues
0:06:26 > 0:06:29of Amenhotep's principal consort, Queen Tiye,
0:06:29 > 0:06:31his Great Royal Wife.
0:06:33 > 0:06:34Here she's standing.
0:06:34 > 0:06:37And by a miracle, having been saved by all the catastrophes
0:06:37 > 0:06:40which struck this temple.
0:06:40 > 0:06:44So he's protected her for centuries, really, hasn't he?
0:06:44 > 0:06:48Carved to be no bigger than Amenhotep's lower leg,
0:06:48 > 0:06:51Queen Tiye's size served to exaggerate
0:06:51 > 0:06:53the pharaoh's superhuman status.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59These massive statues were more than a memorial.
0:06:59 > 0:07:04Each worship is to guarantee the immortality of the king's soul...
0:07:04 > 0:07:06the pharaoh as god.
0:07:06 > 0:07:09This is my great surprise to you.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13And Hourig has saved the very best until last.
0:07:16 > 0:07:18Pull it now.
0:07:21 > 0:07:23Oh...!
0:07:23 > 0:07:25Oh, flipping heck!
0:07:29 > 0:07:31It's Amenhotep's head,
0:07:31 > 0:07:33at three metres tall,
0:07:33 > 0:07:35carved from the finest white alabaster.
0:07:35 > 0:07:37Oh...
0:07:37 > 0:07:39I don't know what to say.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44Over the years, I've seen many of his portraits,
0:07:44 > 0:07:47but rarely one as stunning as this.
0:07:47 > 0:07:49Look at his nose.
0:07:49 > 0:07:50Yeah.
0:07:50 > 0:07:55This is an absolutely amazing portrait...sculpted face
0:07:55 > 0:07:56of Amenhotep himself.
0:07:56 > 0:07:58Never seen anything like it.
0:08:00 > 0:08:02With hundreds of statues like this,
0:08:02 > 0:08:06Amenhotep was multiplying the image of himself
0:08:06 > 0:08:10as Egypt's most powerful god, bringing light and life to the world.
0:08:18 > 0:08:23Because whoever controlled Egypt's religion controlled Egypt.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27And with it, a vast amount of wealth.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31Now, Amenhotep wore gold from top to toe
0:08:31 > 0:08:34and he handed it out to his courtiers as gifts.
0:08:34 > 0:08:38But he also used it as a diplomatic weapon.
0:08:42 > 0:08:46Amenhotep's clever use of Egyptian gold is recorded on stone scarabs,
0:08:46 > 0:08:48like this one.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52They served as the pharaoh's news bulletins,
0:08:52 > 0:08:57which he circulated around his empire with updates inscribed on their base.
0:09:00 > 0:09:03In this case, it was a new marriage of the king.
0:09:03 > 0:09:08It effectively records his marriage to a Syrian princess,
0:09:08 > 0:09:10a princess from the land of Mitanni,
0:09:10 > 0:09:16and it recounts how, having sent gold to the princess' father,
0:09:16 > 0:09:20he then sent out one of his daughters for the pharaoh to marry.
0:09:20 > 0:09:22So a kind of mail-order bride, if you like.
0:09:24 > 0:09:27It reports that her name was Kiluhepa...
0:09:29 > 0:09:33..and that she arrived from Mitanni in Syria,
0:09:33 > 0:09:37with no fewer than 317 ladies in waiting.
0:09:39 > 0:09:40Clearly impressed,
0:09:40 > 0:09:43Amenhotep added the comment,
0:09:43 > 0:09:45"It's a marvel!"
0:09:48 > 0:09:52With this diplomatic marriage, only one of many,
0:09:52 > 0:09:55they were an effective way of securing peace and prosperity.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03Amenhotep was able to utilise his key resource,
0:10:03 > 0:10:08his gold, to kind of get everything he wanted to maintain his status
0:10:08 > 0:10:11as the supreme monarch in the ancient world at that time.
0:10:15 > 0:10:18Gold bought Egypt peace with its neighbours...
0:10:19 > 0:10:23..with Amenhotep III's empire stretching from what is now Syria
0:10:23 > 0:10:25as far as modern Sudan.
0:10:27 > 0:10:32But within Egypt itself, gold had a different use
0:10:32 > 0:10:35and could even guarantee a fast track to the afterlife.
0:10:36 > 0:10:41Emphatically expressed by a great treasure in the museum in Wigan.
0:10:42 > 0:10:44A stunning golden face.
0:10:55 > 0:10:57Originally part of a woman's coffin,
0:10:57 > 0:11:00her life-like features were preserved
0:11:00 > 0:11:03to allow her soul to recognise her in the afterlife.
0:11:04 > 0:11:06Isn't this absolutely beautiful?
0:11:06 > 0:11:09Clearly the gold suggests to us
0:11:09 > 0:11:11that this was someone of very special,
0:11:11 > 0:11:13very high status, very wealthy.
0:11:16 > 0:11:18Although we can never know her name,
0:11:18 > 0:11:23she had clearly spent a fortune in preparing for her perfect afterlife.
0:11:25 > 0:11:27Covered in gold leaf, she stares out at us
0:11:27 > 0:11:30with eyes of alabaster and black obsidian.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35We can really see into the world,
0:11:35 > 0:11:37into the thought patterns of the Egyptians themselves
0:11:37 > 0:11:41because, as stunning as this face is,
0:11:41 > 0:11:42it was simply buried in a tomb -
0:11:42 > 0:11:45literally, buried in a hole in the ground -
0:11:45 > 0:11:46not for human eyes,
0:11:46 > 0:11:49but to be seen by the gods and the spirits of the dead,
0:11:49 > 0:11:52with whom this woman wanted to join.
0:11:52 > 0:11:54And that's why her skin is gold,
0:11:54 > 0:11:57because the gods had golden skin
0:11:57 > 0:12:01and she wanted to be recognised by them as one of their own,
0:12:01 > 0:12:03taken into their eternal care.
0:12:03 > 0:12:10For the Egyptians, it was a special pact between themselves and the gods
0:12:10 > 0:12:12that made their country, made their empire,
0:12:12 > 0:12:14so very powerful, so very special.
0:12:15 > 0:12:17In the golden age,
0:12:17 > 0:12:20this special pact shone more brightly than ever before...
0:12:21 > 0:12:25..with Egypt's wealth poured into their faith in the afterlife.
0:12:26 > 0:12:30And with increasing amounts of gold accompanying the royal mummies,
0:12:30 > 0:12:34their tombs needed to be kept secure at all costs.
0:12:37 > 0:12:41So a secret burial place was established for Egypt's pharaohs,
0:12:41 > 0:12:43on Thebes' west bank.
0:12:50 > 0:12:52The Valley of the Kings.
0:12:57 > 0:12:59It was essential that each royal mummy
0:12:59 > 0:13:01was buried safely in their tomb,
0:13:01 > 0:13:04in a custom dating back to the beginning of time,
0:13:04 > 0:13:07because each one became a royal ancestor,
0:13:07 > 0:13:11whose cumulative souls formed the very essence of Egypt.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21The royal tombs had been desecrated once before,
0:13:21 > 0:13:25breaking Egypt's spiritual link to its ancestors.
0:13:29 > 0:13:31So to prevent this happening again,
0:13:31 > 0:13:35the pharaohs of the New Kingdom chose burial deep in this remote valley...
0:13:37 > 0:13:40..where they could lie undisturbed in rock-cut tombs.
0:13:42 > 0:13:45And this became Egypt's most sacred place.
0:13:52 > 0:13:55Such elaborate preparations for the afterlife
0:13:55 > 0:13:58also fuelled a growing economy.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01And just as in the pyramid age,
0:14:01 > 0:14:05the industry of death shaped the lives of many ordinary Egyptians.
0:14:08 > 0:14:11For not only were there tombs to cut and temples to build,
0:14:11 > 0:14:15but statues, shrines, coffins, sarcophagi
0:14:15 > 0:14:17and all the paraphernalia of the afterlife.
0:14:21 > 0:14:24And with this came all the ingenuity
0:14:24 > 0:14:28of sourcing everything from alabaster to granite to gold.
0:14:31 > 0:14:36This is a copy of the world's earliest surviving geological map,
0:14:36 > 0:14:40dating from around 1150BC and the reign of Ramses IV.
0:14:42 > 0:14:46This map is a guide to the stone quarries and gold mines
0:14:46 > 0:14:50of a 15km stretch of Egypt's Eastern Desert.
0:14:52 > 0:14:57It's almost as detailed as a modern geological map,
0:14:57 > 0:15:00with different colours for the different rock types.
0:15:00 > 0:15:06So over here, these large areas of black are the sedimentary rocks.
0:15:07 > 0:15:11Back here, where it turns pink, these are the igneous rocks, like granite.
0:15:13 > 0:15:16Other little features include areas of gold mining.
0:15:16 > 0:15:21And then throughout, you have this very subtle speckling
0:15:21 > 0:15:24and these are the areas of gravel.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28Known to be very accurate,
0:15:28 > 0:15:31the map was made for one specific quarrying expedition...
0:15:33 > 0:15:39..when 8,000 men were sent into a desert valley 130km from Thebes,
0:15:39 > 0:15:41to mine stone for royal monuments.
0:15:47 > 0:15:50But what's special about this map
0:15:50 > 0:15:52is that it leads us to the ordinary people,
0:15:52 > 0:15:54who were employed by the pharaoh
0:15:54 > 0:15:58to build the tombs in the Valley of the Kings.
0:15:59 > 0:16:01It was discovered by archaeologists
0:16:01 > 0:16:03at the workers' village of Deir el-Medina,
0:16:03 > 0:16:07a purpose-built settlement to house the tomb builders,
0:16:07 > 0:16:12architects, artists and scribes, together with their families.
0:16:12 > 0:16:14This would have been a bustling place,
0:16:14 > 0:16:17its streets full of children playing,
0:16:17 > 0:16:19deliveries being made
0:16:19 > 0:16:22and all the colours, sounds and smells of everyday life.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27It's one of the workers who lived here who made the map.
0:16:29 > 0:16:34Now, we even know the identity of the mapmaker, the scribe Amennakhte.
0:16:34 > 0:16:36His distinctive handwriting
0:16:36 > 0:16:39is well known from a range of other literary works,
0:16:39 > 0:16:43from poems to prayers, maps to tomb plans.
0:16:43 > 0:16:46And it's thanks to one particular little inscription,
0:16:46 > 0:16:49with his name on, that we even know where he lived.
0:16:49 > 0:16:51Amennakhte lived here.
0:16:52 > 0:16:55This is the scribe's house.
0:17:00 > 0:17:03Amennakhte was one of the many skilled workers
0:17:03 > 0:17:05that rose through the ranks of society
0:17:05 > 0:17:09in the generations following the reign of Amenhotep III.
0:17:11 > 0:17:14He became the head scribe of this entire village,
0:17:14 > 0:17:16so a very, very important man.
0:17:18 > 0:17:20And yet, it's a very sad tale, as well,
0:17:20 > 0:17:21because as he gets older,
0:17:21 > 0:17:23we know that his eyesight started to fail
0:17:23 > 0:17:26because a prayer of his has survived,
0:17:26 > 0:17:30in which he makes this very personal address
0:17:30 > 0:17:32to the local goddess, Meretseger,
0:17:32 > 0:17:35who lived at the top of the mountain up there.
0:17:35 > 0:17:36And he's imploring the goddess.
0:17:36 > 0:17:38He's saying, "My eyesight is failing.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40"I see darkness by day."
0:17:40 > 0:17:44And for a scribe, for a consummate draughtsman like Amennakhte,
0:17:44 > 0:17:46how sad that would have been.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52Here, Amennakhte prays to Meretseger,
0:17:52 > 0:17:56both of them symbolically portrayed without their eyes.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01It's hard not to resist this image that,
0:18:01 > 0:18:03as he got older and more infirm,
0:18:03 > 0:18:05he would have gone up the steps to the flat roof
0:18:05 > 0:18:07and, with failing eyesight,
0:18:07 > 0:18:11try to focus on the job in hand...
0:18:11 > 0:18:13Trying to mix his paints,
0:18:13 > 0:18:16apply the lines and the words and so forth.
0:18:16 > 0:18:20And needing the full sun on a day like this,
0:18:20 > 0:18:23just to get through the working day.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30But just like his predecessors, who built the pyramids,
0:18:30 > 0:18:34Amennakte would have felt a sense of greater purpose.
0:18:36 > 0:18:39We can imagine him and his neighbours in Deir el-Medina
0:18:39 > 0:18:42working towards a single aim...
0:18:42 > 0:18:44creating the royal tomb.
0:18:47 > 0:18:52The New Kingdom pharaohs had created a new image for themselves.
0:18:52 > 0:18:57Elaborate building schemes, requiring new towns full of workers.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00A strong economy, supporting an ever-grander vision,
0:19:00 > 0:19:03both for this world and the next.
0:19:13 > 0:19:17But the spiritual convictions that had brought Egypt to its zenith
0:19:17 > 0:19:20had also created a serious threat.
0:19:24 > 0:19:28In the New Kingdom, much of the Egyptian state centred on Thebes.
0:19:29 > 0:19:34While its west bank was mainly dedicated to its city of the dead,
0:19:34 > 0:19:37the east bank was where most people lived
0:19:37 > 0:19:40and the site of Egypt's main state temple - Karnak.
0:19:47 > 0:19:49As Karnak was rapidly becoming
0:19:49 > 0:19:52the largest religious complex of the ancient world,
0:19:52 > 0:19:55its influence grew exponentially.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03And likewise, the power of its priests.
0:20:05 > 0:20:08To get a real sense of what's going on, we need to go behind the scenes.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15SHE SPEAKS IN ARABIC
0:20:16 > 0:20:19I'm being allowed through an ancient passageway,
0:20:19 > 0:20:22once only accessible to Karnak's clergy.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25More, more, more wonderful sign.
0:20:29 > 0:20:32It leads to the top of the temple's main gateway
0:20:32 > 0:20:36and gives a view of Karnak not many get to see.
0:20:43 > 0:20:45Just look at that...
0:20:45 > 0:20:50You could fit Notre Dame and St Paul's Cathedrals in here
0:20:50 > 0:20:53and still have acres to spare.
0:20:53 > 0:20:54It is immense.
0:20:58 > 0:21:03Within Karnak, a series of chapels, shrines and sacred precincts
0:21:03 > 0:21:07covered a total area of more than 250 acres.
0:21:16 > 0:21:21This was Egypt's religious heart for almost 2,000 years.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29The reason why Karnak is so vast
0:21:29 > 0:21:32is that every pharaoh poured so much of their wealth
0:21:32 > 0:21:35into this temple.
0:21:35 > 0:21:39Their gold and their spoils of war all filled the temple's coffers.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42And each pharaoh also wanted to build
0:21:42 > 0:21:45their own halls, shrines and obelisks
0:21:45 > 0:21:48in an attempt to outdo their predecessors.
0:21:48 > 0:21:53And yet all to the greater glory of Karnak's chief god, Amun.
0:21:55 > 0:21:57Over the course of centuries,
0:21:57 > 0:22:02Amun had risen from a local Theban god to Egypt's state deity.
0:22:03 > 0:22:07And his worship was the engine that fuelled the nation.
0:22:10 > 0:22:14So every pharaoh had to keep Amun content,
0:22:14 > 0:22:17offering him their wealth and tending to his every need.
0:22:19 > 0:22:23And this privilege fell to Karnak's high priest
0:22:23 > 0:22:27and was performed in the temple's inner sanctum.
0:22:27 > 0:22:31Secret ceremonies at which the only others permitted were the royals.
0:22:32 > 0:22:36Here we are in the very heart of Karnak temple.
0:22:36 > 0:22:38This is where the god lived.
0:22:38 > 0:22:44The god himself lived inside his sacred statue.
0:22:44 > 0:22:47The original wouldn't have been much bigger than this.
0:22:47 > 0:22:49It would have been solid gold.
0:22:49 > 0:22:52It would have lived inside a little golden shrine,
0:22:52 > 0:22:55sealed by a pair of small doors.
0:22:58 > 0:23:01And each morning, the high priest would come in.
0:23:01 > 0:23:03He would awaken the god's spirit.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07He would greet him. He would wash him.
0:23:07 > 0:23:09Anoint him with perfume.
0:23:09 > 0:23:11Apply his eye make-up.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14And then dress him in various linen outfits.
0:23:14 > 0:23:19Apply the small pieces of jewellery to the god's statue.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22And then the god would proceed to enjoy his day.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26Amun received daily meals of the finest foods...
0:23:26 > 0:23:30roast meats, bread, fruit and vegetables,
0:23:30 > 0:23:33accompanied by wine and beer.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38Clouds of incense would drive away evil forces
0:23:38 > 0:23:42and musicians and dancers entertained him.
0:23:44 > 0:23:48And by keeping their most important deity content,
0:23:48 > 0:23:51it was believed that Amun would, in turn,
0:23:51 > 0:23:54make the Nile flood each year,
0:23:54 > 0:23:57make the sun rise each morning
0:23:57 > 0:24:00and maintain Egypt's supreme status.
0:24:06 > 0:24:10The high priests' direct access to Amun
0:24:10 > 0:24:14made them the greatest beneficiaries of Karnak's growing prosperity.
0:24:17 > 0:24:21This tranquil lake is where the male and female clergy bathed,
0:24:21 > 0:24:27twice each day and night, to maintain their ritual purity before the gods.
0:24:32 > 0:24:34Known as "the pure ones",
0:24:34 > 0:24:37they set themselves apart from the rest of society
0:24:37 > 0:24:40with their distinctive appearance,
0:24:40 > 0:24:43achieved through their own set of daily rituals.
0:24:45 > 0:24:48Part of this process of ritual purity
0:24:48 > 0:24:51involved using an array of implements on a daily basis
0:24:51 > 0:24:54to transform their appearance.
0:24:56 > 0:24:58And one of the most important things they did,
0:24:58 > 0:25:01they had to remove all body hair - male and female clergy -
0:25:01 > 0:25:03using razors like this.
0:25:03 > 0:25:08So every day, having to shave their heads and their entire bodies.
0:25:08 > 0:25:10Keep them free from lice and all these kinds of things,
0:25:10 > 0:25:13which would have inhibited their sense of cleanliness.
0:25:14 > 0:25:18It was essential that they also had a very clean mouth,
0:25:18 > 0:25:22because they'd be speaking the words before the god.
0:25:22 > 0:25:26And so they used something which is quite a modern thing.
0:25:27 > 0:25:29Basically, natron salt.
0:25:29 > 0:25:33A kind of bicarbonate, rather like a modern bicarbonate toothpaste,
0:25:33 > 0:25:36which would get their teeth nice and clean.
0:25:38 > 0:25:40Scrupulous not only with dental hygiene,
0:25:40 > 0:25:45they wore reed-woven sandals and robes of pure white linen.
0:25:48 > 0:25:52And having transformed themselves in this wonderful way,
0:25:52 > 0:25:55they also had access to these polished metal mirrors.
0:25:56 > 0:26:00They could then admire their transformed appearance,
0:26:00 > 0:26:05because it was important to distance themselves from the great unwashed.
0:26:05 > 0:26:09For the ancient priests, cleanliness really was next to godliness
0:26:09 > 0:26:12and they were the gods' chosen people.
0:26:22 > 0:26:25As the wealth and power of Karnak's priests grew,
0:26:25 > 0:26:29their authority over Egypt began to rival that of the king.
0:26:33 > 0:26:37Karnak's priests had far-reaching influence,
0:26:37 > 0:26:41active not only by day, but also by night.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46One of these priests was called Nakht.
0:26:46 > 0:26:48He was a priest of the Hours of Amun,
0:26:48 > 0:26:51which basically means he was an astronomer
0:26:51 > 0:26:54and he would sit by night on the flat temple roof,
0:26:54 > 0:26:57which was effectively an ancient observatory,
0:26:57 > 0:26:59and he'd be able to chart
0:26:59 > 0:27:02the progress of the stars and planets in the sky,
0:27:02 > 0:27:04watch the movement of the heavens.
0:27:04 > 0:27:08And by doing so, the priests of Egypt were able to work out
0:27:08 > 0:27:11when to celebrate specific events.
0:27:12 > 0:27:16But of course, what this meant is that Karnak never closed.
0:27:16 > 0:27:19It was a 24-hour-a-day concern.
0:27:19 > 0:27:21It meant the priests were always there.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24It meant the priests were always watching.
0:27:30 > 0:27:34Fully aware of the potential threat posed by the Karnak clergy,
0:27:34 > 0:27:38Amenhotep III employed his own relatives in the temple
0:27:38 > 0:27:40to guarantee their loyalty.
0:27:42 > 0:27:45But such subtle means of control were about to evaporate.
0:27:47 > 0:27:48Enter a new pharaoh...
0:27:49 > 0:27:51..Akhenaten.
0:27:54 > 0:27:57Son and heir of Amenhotep.
0:27:59 > 0:28:03But unlike his father, Akhenaten was no diplomat.
0:28:04 > 0:28:07His zealous ambitions would soon plunge Egypt
0:28:07 > 0:28:11into an age of political and religious extremism.
0:28:15 > 0:28:17Early in his reign,
0:28:17 > 0:28:21Akhenaten found a swift way to stamp his authority on the priests,
0:28:21 > 0:28:24by building a controversial new temple complex at Karnak.
0:28:28 > 0:28:33Now, what we're looking at here is something very, very unusual.
0:28:33 > 0:28:36It's part of a wall from Karnak temple,
0:28:36 > 0:28:39but not the traditional part of Karnak temple.
0:28:39 > 0:28:42It's a section that was built a little way beyond
0:28:42 > 0:28:45and it was a new, revolutionary building.
0:28:45 > 0:28:47It wasn't built like the old-style Karnak
0:28:47 > 0:28:50in huge, big, monolithic blocks of stone,
0:28:50 > 0:28:52but these small easier-to-handle blocks,
0:28:52 > 0:28:55which meant, of course, it could almost spring up overnight.
0:28:57 > 0:28:58But most shocking of all
0:28:58 > 0:29:02were the images that this new temple portrayed.
0:29:02 > 0:29:06Akhenaten had begun to dismantle Egypt's traditional religion
0:29:06 > 0:29:09and replace its many deities with a single god.
0:29:10 > 0:29:12If you look very carefully,
0:29:12 > 0:29:16the images are very different to what went before.
0:29:17 > 0:29:19Amun is nowhere present.
0:29:19 > 0:29:23The god of Karnak himself isn't represented in his own temple.
0:29:23 > 0:29:27Because the god shown here is a form of the sun god called the Aten.
0:29:29 > 0:29:33And you can see the multiple rays coming down,
0:29:33 > 0:29:35ending in human hands,
0:29:35 > 0:29:38giving their blessings to the main figure here.
0:29:38 > 0:29:40And it isn't the high priest of Amun.
0:29:42 > 0:29:45For Amun's priests were no longer in control at Karnak.
0:29:49 > 0:29:54And Amun himself was now replaced by the Aten sun god.
0:29:56 > 0:30:00In fact, life in Egypt was turned on its head.
0:30:01 > 0:30:03And whereas previously,
0:30:03 > 0:30:06courtiers would bow very low before their monarch,
0:30:06 > 0:30:09now times had changed.
0:30:09 > 0:30:12These people have their faces in the dirt before pharaoh.
0:30:12 > 0:30:15They're lying prostrate before him.
0:30:15 > 0:30:17This marked the beginning of a new age.
0:30:21 > 0:30:24It was an age when the only way to reach God
0:30:24 > 0:30:26was through his intermediaries,
0:30:26 > 0:30:31twin monarchs Akhenaten and his wife and co-ruler Nefertiti.
0:30:33 > 0:30:37And when the priests objected, the royal couple closed Karnak,
0:30:37 > 0:30:41sacked its priests and seized its treasury.
0:30:43 > 0:30:48They then moved their whole court 400km downriver from Thebes
0:30:48 > 0:30:52and in less than ten years built a brand-new city.
0:30:59 > 0:31:01Known today as Amarna,
0:31:01 > 0:31:04its palaces, temples and tombs
0:31:04 > 0:31:09were filled with images of the Aten, the sun disk god.
0:31:13 > 0:31:16Gone were the multiplicity of gods to worship.
0:31:17 > 0:31:20Now it was the sun that was celebrated each day
0:31:20 > 0:31:26with hymns, prayers and offerings presented on a truly lavish scale.
0:31:36 > 0:31:39But the couple's vision of Utopia came at a price.
0:31:40 > 0:31:44And when Akhenaten died after a 17-year reign,
0:31:44 > 0:31:46Egypt was bankrupt.
0:31:48 > 0:31:51His son became king of Egypt.
0:31:51 > 0:31:54And although he reigned for less than ten years,
0:31:54 > 0:31:57he still became the most famous pharaoh
0:31:57 > 0:31:59from the whole of Egyptian history.
0:32:02 > 0:32:04Tutankhamen.
0:32:07 > 0:32:11His treasure, discovered by Howard Carter in 1922,
0:32:11 > 0:32:15was the most famous archaeological find of all time.
0:32:17 > 0:32:21Tutankhamen's mask is the epitome of ancient Egypt.
0:32:22 > 0:32:23So very familiar.
0:32:23 > 0:32:28Yet, like so many of his treasures, holding a long-standing secret.
0:32:34 > 0:32:38I've come to Oxford University's Griffith Institute
0:32:38 > 0:32:41to examine the most detailed records of his burial.
0:32:45 > 0:32:46So in this first stack...
0:32:48 > 0:32:52These are all Carter's notes and diaries, journals.
0:32:52 > 0:32:54And then, right at the bottom down here,
0:32:54 > 0:32:58we've got all Harry Burton's original glass negatives.
0:32:58 > 0:33:03Captured on delicate glass slides, these are the original negatives
0:33:03 > 0:33:05taken by Howard Carter's photographer
0:33:05 > 0:33:08at every stage of the ten-year excavation.
0:33:09 > 0:33:13So this shows the very first view they had of the mummy.
0:33:14 > 0:33:19They reveal Tutankhamen's burial in a way not usually seen,
0:33:19 > 0:33:24for this is the linen shroud over his third innermost coffin.
0:33:26 > 0:33:30This is as if the embalmers have just finished.
0:33:30 > 0:33:34The family have laid their wreaths and floral tributes,
0:33:34 > 0:33:36before the lid finally went on.
0:33:37 > 0:33:40What a privilege to actually see this in black and white.
0:33:42 > 0:33:44Wow...
0:33:44 > 0:33:45That's pretty profound, that.
0:33:50 > 0:33:52For all his fabled wealth,
0:33:52 > 0:33:57Tutankhamen was, in life, a fairly insignificant pharaoh.
0:33:57 > 0:34:01But his premature death, after only a decade as king,
0:34:01 > 0:34:05offered Karnak's priests the perfect opportunity
0:34:05 > 0:34:11to obliterate all trace of Akhenaten, Nefertiti and the Amarna period.
0:34:15 > 0:34:19And these wonderful photos of his burial treasure
0:34:19 > 0:34:20reveal how they did it.
0:34:25 > 0:34:28On his famous golden throne,
0:34:28 > 0:34:32Tutankhamen and his wife Ankhesenamun are depicted together.
0:34:34 > 0:34:39But all is not what it seems, as recent research has discovered...
0:34:40 > 0:34:42If we look at the back of the queen's head,
0:34:42 > 0:34:44where her wig originally was,
0:34:44 > 0:34:47it's been slightly cut down there.
0:34:47 > 0:34:49The same with Tutankhamen's crown.
0:34:49 > 0:34:52A new crown has been added here.
0:34:52 > 0:34:55So it's little things like this, because headgear regalia
0:34:55 > 0:34:58was crucial in identifying these royal individuals.
0:35:00 > 0:35:04By altering the images, the throne had been customised for Tutankhamen.
0:35:07 > 0:35:10But the biggest giveaway as to whom this once belonged
0:35:10 > 0:35:13is in the deity that looms large above the king and queen.
0:35:14 > 0:35:18So although Amun is also named on this throne,
0:35:18 > 0:35:22it's the Aten sun disk that does take centre stage
0:35:22 > 0:35:27and really does cement this piece as a royal throne from the Armana age.
0:35:27 > 0:35:29So it seems that the two figures
0:35:29 > 0:35:32once believed to be Tutankhamen and his wife
0:35:32 > 0:35:35were originally Akhenaten and Nefertiti.
0:35:40 > 0:35:46Another clue comes from the most famous artefact from ancient history,
0:35:46 > 0:35:49the golden mask of Tutankhamen.
0:35:49 > 0:35:51Or is it?
0:35:51 > 0:35:55Recent research has zoned in on one long-overlooked feature
0:35:55 > 0:35:58and that is the decidedly pierced ears.
0:35:58 > 0:36:02Because it's been suggested that this mask
0:36:02 > 0:36:04was originally made for someone else.
0:36:04 > 0:36:07The research suggests that Tutankhamen
0:36:07 > 0:36:10wouldn't have worn earrings beyond childhood.
0:36:10 > 0:36:13So by the age of 20, when he died,
0:36:13 > 0:36:17he would not have been portrayed with pierced ears.
0:36:17 > 0:36:21This mask was not made for an adult male pharaoh.
0:36:21 > 0:36:24Indeed, when the gold has been compared,
0:36:24 > 0:36:28the face is made of completely different gold to the rest.
0:36:29 > 0:36:32Evidence of soldering is clearly visible on the mask.
0:36:33 > 0:36:37It now seems as if Tutankhamen's own face
0:36:37 > 0:36:41was effectively grafted onto the mask of a previous ruler.
0:36:41 > 0:36:45A previous ruler who had pierced ears for earrings.
0:36:45 > 0:36:49A previous ruler who may well have been a woman,
0:36:49 > 0:36:51who may well have been Nefertiti.
0:36:56 > 0:37:00In fact, it's estimated that around 80% of the objects
0:37:00 > 0:37:02found in Tutankhamen's tomb
0:37:02 > 0:37:06originally belonged to either Akhenaten or Nefertiti.
0:37:07 > 0:37:10And with all of it dumped together like this,
0:37:10 > 0:37:12it was a kind of spiritual decluttering.
0:37:14 > 0:37:17As far as the priests were concerned,
0:37:17 > 0:37:19all this was tainted gold.
0:37:19 > 0:37:23And so the burial of Tutankhamen was the perfect opportunity
0:37:23 > 0:37:26to bury the unwanted past forever.
0:37:31 > 0:37:35While the city of Amarna had been abandoned, then demolished,
0:37:35 > 0:37:37the memory of everything it represented
0:37:37 > 0:37:39was likewise being erased.
0:37:41 > 0:37:44Egypt's state religion was restored.
0:37:47 > 0:37:49Karnak's priests were back in business.
0:37:52 > 0:37:56And Thebes was once again the seat of sacred power.
0:38:01 > 0:38:05And now, the next dynasty of the New Kingdom was in control.
0:38:07 > 0:38:09Having died without an heir,
0:38:09 > 0:38:13Tutankhamen was succeeded by a line of militaristic rulers,
0:38:13 > 0:38:15the 19th dynasty.
0:38:20 > 0:38:22With no direct royal ancestry,
0:38:22 > 0:38:27the new dynasty needed to reconnect with Egypt's illustrious past.
0:38:27 > 0:38:30So it reinstated traditional beliefs,
0:38:30 > 0:38:34in a renaissance led by one of its most influential rulers.
0:38:37 > 0:38:38Seti I.
0:38:40 > 0:38:42His tomb in the Valley of the Kings
0:38:42 > 0:38:45is the largest pharaoh's tomb ever created here.
0:38:48 > 0:38:50Currently closed to the public,
0:38:50 > 0:38:54I've been given special permission to explore this labyrinthine treasure.
0:38:57 > 0:39:01The tomb's inviting us down, further down into the underworld
0:39:01 > 0:39:03and it's just drawing us into the darkness.
0:39:03 > 0:39:05It's a really, really deep tomb, this.
0:39:08 > 0:39:12Its 174 metres of corridors and chambers
0:39:12 > 0:39:14all chiselled out by hand.
0:39:16 > 0:39:21And covered from floor to ceiling in some truly spectacular scenes.
0:39:22 > 0:39:24Whoa...!
0:39:24 > 0:39:26What an amazing chamber!
0:39:26 > 0:39:30Absolutely filled with little gold and twinkly stars.
0:39:31 > 0:39:35But the walls of Seti's tomb carry a clear message...
0:39:36 > 0:39:41..demonstrating the return of Egypt's traditional deities in full force.
0:39:46 > 0:39:50And here we see him, Seti with the gods.
0:39:57 > 0:39:59This is a brilliant chamber.
0:39:59 > 0:40:03Its repeated images of the pharaoh Seti with the gods.
0:40:03 > 0:40:06The gods are back and he's keen to show that.
0:40:06 > 0:40:08And so we see him here...
0:40:09 > 0:40:11..with Anubis,
0:40:11 > 0:40:15the elegant black jackal god of embalming and the dead.
0:40:16 > 0:40:19Here Seti is making offerings to Hathor,
0:40:19 > 0:40:24the maternal goddess of love, who takes all dead souls into her care.
0:40:26 > 0:40:28And Horus, the god of kingship,
0:40:28 > 0:40:31wearing the joint crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt.
0:40:34 > 0:40:38Then Seti makes the strongest connection with Egypt's past
0:40:38 > 0:40:42in the portrayal of the ultimate deity in the tomb...
0:40:42 > 0:40:45Osiris, god of the underworld.
0:40:46 > 0:40:51He represents every single pharaoh that's gone before Seti.
0:40:51 > 0:40:55He represents the accumulated powers of the royal ancestors.
0:40:55 > 0:40:59And Seti is keen to show himself in the company of Osiris.
0:40:59 > 0:41:04He's tapping into that greatness that made Egypt such a strong nation.
0:41:08 > 0:41:12Every image, every hieroglyph in Seti's tomb
0:41:12 > 0:41:15harks back to the golden age of Amenhotep III.
0:41:17 > 0:41:20And continuing with this golden legacy,
0:41:20 > 0:41:25Seti's reign was a true renaissance of art and culture,
0:41:25 > 0:41:28with the ultimate jewel in his tomb...
0:41:28 > 0:41:29his burial chamber.
0:41:33 > 0:41:36That is absolutely superb.
0:41:41 > 0:41:43This is really incredible.
0:41:43 > 0:41:47It's taking that night-time sky motif and really, really running with it.
0:41:51 > 0:41:53This is the night sky,
0:41:53 > 0:41:56as seen through the eyes of the astronomer priests.
0:41:57 > 0:42:01And this is where the royal mummy would have lain,
0:42:01 > 0:42:03in its alabaster sarcophagus,
0:42:03 > 0:42:05allowing Seti's mummy, Seti's soul,
0:42:05 > 0:42:08to look up at this spectacular ceiling.
0:42:13 > 0:42:17Egypt's traditional belief system is here writ large,
0:42:17 > 0:42:20covering every surface.
0:42:26 > 0:42:27Egypt was back.
0:42:28 > 0:42:31Seti had brought back the days of glory.
0:42:33 > 0:42:36It's as if the Amarna period had never been.
0:42:36 > 0:42:38And for the average man and woman in the street,
0:42:38 > 0:42:40that was a wonderful thing,
0:42:40 > 0:42:43because order had been restored,
0:42:43 > 0:42:46chaos had been brushed away
0:42:46 > 0:42:50and everything was all right with their world.
0:42:56 > 0:42:58The golden age had been restored.
0:43:00 > 0:43:02But not just for the larger-than-life pharaohs,
0:43:02 > 0:43:06with their glorious tombs and vast monuments,
0:43:06 > 0:43:09but for the majority of Egypt's population, too.
0:43:12 > 0:43:15This included the inhabitants of Deir el-Medina,
0:43:15 > 0:43:18the tomb builders' village near the Valley of the Kings.
0:43:19 > 0:43:22At the edge of the village was a great pit,
0:43:22 > 0:43:24the community dump,
0:43:24 > 0:43:26inside which were discovered
0:43:26 > 0:43:30tens of thousands of pieces of pottery and stone
0:43:30 > 0:43:32covered in pictures and words.
0:43:35 > 0:43:39Written in hieratic script, a kind of hieroglyphic shorthand,
0:43:39 > 0:43:42these are the ancient Egyptian equivalent of Post-it Notes,
0:43:42 > 0:43:44shopping lists and text messages.
0:43:47 > 0:43:50This is the kind of stuff
0:43:50 > 0:43:52- that speaks to everyday life. - Yeah, yeah.
0:43:52 > 0:43:54What's going on underneath the surface.
0:43:54 > 0:43:58With the help of hieratic expert Dr Glenn Godenho,
0:43:58 > 0:44:01we can catch a glimpse of this intimate world,
0:44:01 > 0:44:03far away from kings and gods.
0:44:04 > 0:44:06Which is your favourite amongst these ones?
0:44:06 > 0:44:08I always go to this one.
0:44:08 > 0:44:10This is really nice because this one's
0:44:10 > 0:44:12basically a list of stuff you take to a party.
0:44:12 > 0:44:15What you've got is tabulated information.
0:44:15 > 0:44:17So you've vertical and horizontal lines
0:44:17 > 0:44:20and in each of those spaces you've got a name and the stuff
0:44:20 > 0:44:22they've brought to that particular event.
0:44:22 > 0:44:24I mean, this person here, the name's missing from this,
0:44:24 > 0:44:27but this person brought the most stuff - about 11 items.
0:44:27 > 0:44:29We've got bread, for example, being brought along.
0:44:29 > 0:44:31Next down, we've got some beer.
0:44:31 > 0:44:33So one jug of beer.
0:44:34 > 0:44:38As well as beer and bread, it lists a veritable feast.
0:44:39 > 0:44:41Fruit, 20 pieces.
0:44:42 > 0:44:44Beans, one jarful.
0:44:46 > 0:44:48Fish, meat.
0:44:50 > 0:44:52And even a cake.
0:44:53 > 0:44:58The thing I like about this is that idea of a community coming together.
0:44:58 > 0:45:01It really does make the ancient Egyptians that more real.
0:45:01 > 0:45:03Because we can relate to them. We all like a good party.
0:45:04 > 0:45:09But of course, life isn't always a party and people fall on hard times.
0:45:11 > 0:45:14This fragment begins with a story of a breakup.
0:45:15 > 0:45:17Hesysunebef divorced the lady Hel.
0:45:19 > 0:45:22And then it goes on to record a heart-warming story
0:45:22 > 0:45:24of support from its anonymous author.
0:45:25 > 0:45:28He seems to have wanted to look after this lady Hel.
0:45:28 > 0:45:32And so the text goes on and it says that the author of this
0:45:32 > 0:45:39spent three years giving one measure of emmer wheat to Hel every month.
0:45:39 > 0:45:41But it doesn't end there.
0:45:41 > 0:45:44So she gives to the author here a sash.
0:45:44 > 0:45:46So a piece of clothing.
0:45:46 > 0:45:49And she says in this line here,
0:45:49 > 0:45:50"To offer it at the river bank".
0:45:50 > 0:45:53The river bank is where the market was, right?
0:45:53 > 0:45:58And she says that she'd like one measure of emmer wheat for it.
0:45:58 > 0:45:59But no-one wanted it.
0:45:59 > 0:46:00Ah...!
0:46:00 > 0:46:04So the text goes on to say that the author
0:46:04 > 0:46:07tried to offer it down at the river bank,
0:46:07 > 0:46:08but he gives a customer review.
0:46:08 > 0:46:13It's right here, one word, "been", which means bad.
0:46:13 > 0:46:15Ah, that's really sad.
0:46:15 > 0:46:17Yeah, so it wasn't even worth one measure of emmer.
0:46:17 > 0:46:20So that is sad. But the author is such a good egg
0:46:20 > 0:46:24that he says that he buys it off of her
0:46:24 > 0:46:26for well over the market value of this thing
0:46:26 > 0:46:29that wasn't even worth one measure in the first place, anyway.
0:46:29 > 0:46:31Nice guy! Pity we don't know his name.
0:46:31 > 0:46:33Yeah, it's a real shame. It's a real shame.
0:46:34 > 0:46:36But at least we have his words.
0:46:36 > 0:46:39One of the many voices from Deir el-Medina
0:46:39 > 0:46:43which still speak to us across 3,000 years of history...
0:46:44 > 0:46:49..telling us of the highs and lows of lives, familiar to us, even today.
0:46:53 > 0:46:56For most people, the New Kingdom had been an age of plenty.
0:46:58 > 0:47:00But it wasn't to last.
0:47:01 > 0:47:06The golden era of wealthy pharaohs was becoming ever more superficial.
0:47:13 > 0:47:17Seti's son Ramses II was Egypt's most prolific builder...
0:47:19 > 0:47:22..overspending on ever more ostentatious monuments,
0:47:22 > 0:47:26the best known of which was his temple at Abu Simbel.
0:47:27 > 0:47:31But such over-the-top building projects emptied the royal coffers,
0:47:31 > 0:47:34as did a series of costly foreign wars.
0:47:35 > 0:47:40So by the time of Ramses III, the cracks had certainly begun to appear.
0:47:44 > 0:47:48As inflation increased, supplies in the state granaries ran low.
0:47:50 > 0:47:53So the grain, which formed the monthly wage rations
0:47:53 > 0:47:56of state employees, like tomb builders and artisans,
0:47:56 > 0:47:59was no longer paid when due.
0:47:59 > 0:48:03And it sparked the first recorded labour strike in history.
0:48:04 > 0:48:05It happened in 1155BC,
0:48:05 > 0:48:08when the tomb builders began to complain
0:48:08 > 0:48:11that their food supplies hadn't been delivered.
0:48:11 > 0:48:13And when it happened again the following month,
0:48:13 > 0:48:17they simply downed tools, marched to the nearest temple
0:48:17 > 0:48:19and shouted, "We are hungry!"
0:48:20 > 0:48:23To make sure their grievances were heard,
0:48:23 > 0:48:25they staged a sit-in at the temple.
0:48:29 > 0:48:33But the state's response only added insult to injury.
0:48:36 > 0:48:40Local officials could only hand round a delivery of pastries.
0:48:40 > 0:48:43Not much use to anyone.
0:48:43 > 0:48:47The indifference of the authorities provoked many more weeks of protest.
0:48:50 > 0:48:52Their grievances only increased.
0:48:52 > 0:48:56And soon, the striking workers had taken to shouting out
0:48:56 > 0:48:59at passing authority figures, including the mayor.
0:49:01 > 0:49:06The workers were finally fobbed off with enough supplies to shut them up
0:49:06 > 0:49:08in time for the pharaoh's jubilee celebration
0:49:08 > 0:49:11to pass by unhindered by trouble.
0:49:14 > 0:49:15But the striking workers
0:49:15 > 0:49:19had highlighted the waning power of the monarchy.
0:49:19 > 0:49:21With the pharaoh now served
0:49:21 > 0:49:24by an increasingly inefficient and corrupt bureaucracy...
0:49:25 > 0:49:29..the glorious bubble of royal extravagance finally burst.
0:49:33 > 0:49:37And the pharaoh's rivals were waiting in the wings...
0:49:37 > 0:49:39the priests of Karnak.
0:49:41 > 0:49:43Having grown powerful through the revenues
0:49:43 > 0:49:45given to the gods they served,
0:49:45 > 0:49:49the writing for the royals was quite literally...on the wall.
0:49:50 > 0:49:54And you can see what I mean in this little-known part of Karnak temple.
0:49:59 > 0:50:02Where the high priest is making a very bold statement,
0:50:02 > 0:50:05but only if you know how to read the footnotes.
0:50:07 > 0:50:10Now this is a fascinating scene.
0:50:10 > 0:50:12We have the pharaoh Ramses IX
0:50:12 > 0:50:15and he's facing his high priest shown here.
0:50:15 > 0:50:18But there's something extraordinary about this scene
0:50:18 > 0:50:20because, for the first time,
0:50:20 > 0:50:24the pharaoh and the priest are shown on exactly the same scale.
0:50:24 > 0:50:27They are the same height. That's why the priest is looking so pleased.
0:50:27 > 0:50:30He has his arms raised as if in triumph.
0:50:30 > 0:50:32Because these guys are so clever,
0:50:32 > 0:50:36they've actually got the pharaoh standing on a box.
0:50:36 > 0:50:39So he's a fraction higher
0:50:39 > 0:50:42and yet, in reality, they're the same height.
0:50:42 > 0:50:45This really shows that the priests are in power.
0:50:45 > 0:50:47They're basically saying to the king,
0:50:47 > 0:50:49"We are the same size as you,
0:50:49 > 0:50:52"therefore we are as important as you are."
0:50:58 > 0:51:01Priests had become full-time politicians.
0:51:01 > 0:51:03Vying with the throne for power,
0:51:03 > 0:51:06they destabilised the balance between church and state,
0:51:06 > 0:51:11the relationship on which Egypt's entire culture depended.
0:51:13 > 0:51:17So great were their ambitions that, by the end of the New Kingdom,
0:51:17 > 0:51:20the priests took control of the entire south.
0:51:21 > 0:51:23And with the pharaoh ruling only the north,
0:51:23 > 0:51:27the country was split into its two ancient halves.
0:51:31 > 0:51:33But even worse was to come.
0:51:38 > 0:51:42It's at Medinet Habu, Ramses III's funerary temple,
0:51:42 > 0:51:45that we can find out just how little interest
0:51:45 > 0:51:49these politician-priests now had in the royal afterlife.
0:51:50 > 0:51:53They were only concerned with their own status and their own wealth.
0:51:56 > 0:52:00Now, this next disturbing part of Egypt's story
0:52:00 > 0:52:04not only spelt disaster for its core belief in the royal afterlife,
0:52:04 > 0:52:07it left a tortuous puzzle for Egyptologists,
0:52:07 > 0:52:10which we are still trying to piece together.
0:52:13 > 0:52:18It's an extraordinary story that begins not in the temple,
0:52:18 > 0:52:21but in a small house built later within the grounds.
0:52:24 > 0:52:27Because the priests' corrupt ambitions
0:52:27 > 0:52:30would be put into practice by the man who lived here.
0:52:36 > 0:52:38His name was Butehamun,
0:52:38 > 0:52:39and as a necropolis scribe,
0:52:39 > 0:52:42he worked in the nearby Valley of the Kings.
0:52:43 > 0:52:46This is the man himself, Butehamun, with his shaven head,
0:52:46 > 0:52:48his starched kilt
0:52:48 > 0:52:50and his arms raised in prayer.
0:52:50 > 0:52:54He's praying to the great god of Thebes, Amun himself.
0:52:55 > 0:53:00Although Butehamun's story doesn't quite live up to this image of piety.
0:53:01 > 0:53:02Because it was here
0:53:02 > 0:53:05that he received a letter of instruction from his boss,
0:53:05 > 0:53:07the high priest of Karnak.
0:53:10 > 0:53:12This is a copy of that letter,
0:53:12 > 0:53:14and its contents are mind-blowing,
0:53:14 > 0:53:17because the high priest is telling Butehamun,
0:53:17 > 0:53:19"Go and perform for me a task
0:53:19 > 0:53:22"on which you have never before embarked.
0:53:22 > 0:53:25"Uncover a tomb among the ancient tombs
0:53:25 > 0:53:28"and preserve its sealed door until I return."
0:53:30 > 0:53:34And although this language is quite euphemistic and cryptic,
0:53:34 > 0:53:38both the sender and recipient knew exactly what it meant
0:53:38 > 0:53:41and it would have a profound impact on Egypt.
0:53:44 > 0:53:46Butehamun had been promoted.
0:53:48 > 0:53:49His new title was...
0:53:49 > 0:53:52Opener of the Gates of the Necropolis.
0:53:55 > 0:53:59So he and his men set out for the Valley of the Kings,
0:53:59 > 0:54:01taking with them tools and bundles of linen.
0:54:03 > 0:54:05Their mission...
0:54:05 > 0:54:10nothing less than the systematic dismantling of the royal cemetery
0:54:10 > 0:54:11in search of gold.
0:54:13 > 0:54:15It was an order to accumulate wealth.
0:54:22 > 0:54:26Tomb robbing itself was nothing new in ancient Egypt.
0:54:26 > 0:54:29But what's different about this looting
0:54:29 > 0:54:31is that it's an order from the ruler of Upper Egypt,
0:54:31 > 0:54:33the high priest himself.
0:54:33 > 0:54:36This is looting sanctioned by the state.
0:54:44 > 0:54:47Knowing the secret location of the royal tombs,
0:54:47 > 0:54:50Butehamun began what was euphemistically referred to as...
0:54:50 > 0:54:52"restoration work".
0:54:54 > 0:54:56The final taboo was about to be broken.
0:55:00 > 0:55:02So Butehamun and his men set to work.
0:55:03 > 0:55:06They break open the seal of every royal tomb.
0:55:06 > 0:55:08They move the lid of the sarcophagus,
0:55:08 > 0:55:11take out the royal mummy in its nest of gold coffins
0:55:11 > 0:55:14and proceed to unwrap each one.
0:55:15 > 0:55:18Next, they strip them of anything of value...
0:55:18 > 0:55:24Gold masks, jewellery and amulets, all taken for the temple treasury.
0:55:27 > 0:55:29As for the mummies,
0:55:29 > 0:55:32they're re-wrapped in fresh linen and all buried together.
0:55:36 > 0:55:38For the cash-strapped priests,
0:55:38 > 0:55:41these royal tombs were no longer inviolable...
0:55:42 > 0:55:44..but little more than a series of dead bodies
0:55:44 > 0:55:48resting amidst the gold they needed to achieve their political aims.
0:55:52 > 0:55:54So for 20 years,
0:55:54 > 0:55:58this very tomb became one of Butehamun's re-wrapping workshops...
0:56:00 > 0:56:02..where archaeologists found fragments of the gold
0:56:02 > 0:56:05prized from royal coffins,
0:56:05 > 0:56:08traces of the lost treasures of numerous pharaohs.
0:56:19 > 0:56:21And Butehamun's handwriting was discovered
0:56:21 > 0:56:24on the re-wrapped mummy of Ramses III.
0:56:30 > 0:56:32With no regard for the sacred,
0:56:32 > 0:56:35even the great pharaoh Amenhotep III
0:56:35 > 0:56:40ended up repackaged in the coffin of Ramses III,
0:56:40 > 0:56:43covered with the ill-fitting lid of Seti II.
0:56:50 > 0:56:52Only one tomb, hidden by rubble,
0:56:52 > 0:56:54escaped the wholesale plunder.
0:57:05 > 0:57:10Yet the ultimate violation of ancient Egypt's soul was now complete.
0:57:12 > 0:57:16Clearly the priest-kings of Karnak had got what they'd always wanted -
0:57:16 > 0:57:18absolute power.
0:57:18 > 0:57:20No longer interested in the royal ancestors,
0:57:20 > 0:57:25who were simply a source of revenue to be robbed and discarded,
0:57:25 > 0:57:27the devout had become cynical
0:57:27 > 0:57:31and the royal afterlife nothing more than an illusion.
0:57:38 > 0:57:42From now on, Egypt's story would be written by invaders
0:57:42 > 0:57:45from far beyond the Valley of the Nile.
0:57:45 > 0:57:48Cambyses was sending a very clear message to the Egyptians...
0:57:48 > 0:57:50I am now in charge.
0:57:52 > 0:57:56But Egypt's secret weapon was its captivating culture...
0:57:57 > 0:57:59Wow, look at that! Look at that!
0:57:59 > 0:58:02Oh, that is... Oh, that is so beautiful.
0:58:04 > 0:58:10..seducing its new rulers from far-flung parts of the ancient world.
0:58:11 > 0:58:12And ancient Egypt's final flowering
0:58:12 > 0:58:16lay in the hands of another great empire.
0:58:17 > 0:58:19Enter the Macedonian superman.
0:58:19 > 0:58:22Enter...Alexander the Great.