Invasion Immortal Egypt with Joann Fletcher


Invasion

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This is about as far north in Egypt as it's possible to get,

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because out there is the Mediterranean.

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To my west is Libya, to my east Palestine and Arabia.

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While Egypt itself lies down there to the south -

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1,000 kilometres of desert cut right through the centre

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by the mighty river Nile.

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And at its top lies this,

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the great port city of Alexandria.

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It was ancient Egypt's last and most influential capital.

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It was a city of great power, wealth and luxury,

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the greatest in the world.

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Alexandria was also home of one of Egypt's most famous pharaohs -

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Cleopatra -

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the final ruler of a Greek dynasty,

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and the last in a long line of foreign invaders

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who'd each claimed Egypt for themselves,

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seduced by its legendary splendours.

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'By now the pyramids were already thousands of years old.

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'They were the beginning of a seemingly indestructible core belief

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'that had survived chaos, famine and war.'

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It's as if they have been picked clean

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A belief that would shine even more brightly

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in its fabled golden age,

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whose temples, tombs and glittering treasures

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had made Egypt an irresistible temptation.

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As jealous foreign rulers eyed a weakened Egypt,

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how could it survive successive waves of foreign attack?

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But Egypt had a secret weapon -

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a culture so strong and deep rooted that it seduced

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and then absorbed all who would claim it as their own.

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Welcome to my story of ancient Egypt.

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Throughout the first millennium BC,

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Egypt faced wave after wave of foreign invaders.

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But in the face of such a strong and long-lived culture,

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all who would try to take over Egypt would themselves be taken over.

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Almost 1,000 years before Cleopatra,

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Egypt had entered its third intermediate period -

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a time of political decline and vulnerability.

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But it's the beginning of the 22nd Dynasty around 945 BC -

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the priests are in charge of the south,

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but in the north the vultures have started to circle,

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waiting for their chance to swoop,

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as a group of Libyan generals seize power

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to rule as pharaohs of a divided land.

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In many ways Egypt's waning power had been triggered by

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a loss of faith when the authority of the new kingdom pharaohs

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had begun to crumble.

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Egypt's once pious priests had helped loot the royal tombs

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in the Valley Of The Kings, systemically dismantling

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Egypt's previously unshakable belief in the afterlife.

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With the decline in power of the new kingdom pharaohs,

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the Libyans who'd fought for the Egyptians as mercenary generals

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gradually infiltrated Egypt's power structure

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and eventually took power as the 22nd Dynasty.

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The first king of the 22nd Dynasty, Shesonq,

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had a number of sons who helped him keep control of Egypt,

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one of whom was called Nimlot,

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and these are the bracelets of Prince Nimlot.

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Egypt's Libyan rulers understood that looking and

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acting Egyptian would help to keep the country under their control.

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These beautiful bracelets are just a tiny fraction

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of the golden treasures created for Egypt's Libyan royals,

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who, on the surface at least,

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upheld many of Egypt's most sacred traditions.

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They are portraying the very small figure of the god Horus,

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who symbolised Egyptian kingship,

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shown as a young child emerging from a lotus blossom.

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And on either side he's protected by the rearing cobras,

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the royal uraeus symbol.

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Yet in some ways these images are simply window dressing,

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lip service to ancient Egyptian traditions

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in order to claim a greater prize.

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For the Libyans had organized nothing less than

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the state sponsored plundering of Egypt's royal tombs.

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They were so transfixed by the wealth, by the gold,

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by the bling of ancient Egypt they wanted it for themselves.

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And over their several centuries rule,

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while they appeared to look like pharaohs and to rule as pharaohs,

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Egypt never feels to have been a cohesive united kingdom.

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They weren't Egyptians at heart and that's really what mattered.

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In many ways Libyan rule was destined to fail,

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because even if they were militarily superior

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their adoption of Egyptian culture was at best superficial

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and was insufficient to unite the country.

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In the north a squabbling Libyan elite fought amongst themselves,

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while in the south, the Egyptian priesthood,

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including yet more Libyan princes, still clung to power.

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A fragmented Egypt was easy pickings for any would-be invader.

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Egypt needed a regime that could reconnect

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with its most powerful asset - its history.

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And by 747 BC, that's what happened,

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when the Kushite rulers of Nubia made a direct spiritual connection

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with Egypt's glorious past.

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Now the Kushites were Egypt's southern neighbours in Nubia,

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and from time immemorial they and the Egyptians

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had kind of battled around sort of southern border of Egypt

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and by the 8th century BC, however, the Kushites had the upper hand.

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They were fervent believers in Egypt's traditional gods,

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in some ways making them more Egyptian than the Egyptians.

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The kingdom of Kush, in Nubia,

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was at the very edge of the Egyptian world.

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Having been repeatedly conquered by Egypt,

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the Kushites had been hugely influenced by Egyptian beliefs.

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Beliefs that centred on this great sandstone mountain, Gebel Barkal.

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For centuries it had been regarded as the mythical mound of creation.

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The mound from which Egypt's great creator god, Amun, was born.

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Here is the holy mountain.

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This is where the god lived in his primeval form.

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'Dr Tim Kendal has spent almost 30 years working at the site.'

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Being at the southern limit of the empire it was where,

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where the Nile began, where fertility began

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and so it had to be the place where creation began.

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So this was...they imagined this as the birthplace of the god Amun.

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And so this was the primeval Karnak.

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When the new kingdom pharaohs had arrived here in 1500 BC

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they built this temple,

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and dedicated it to Amun and his wife, the goddess Mut.

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And when the Egyptians withdrew from Nubia some 400 years later,

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the native Kushites continued to honour the sacred mountain,

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and Egypt's spiritual traditions.

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As the Kushite kings gained increasing military power

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they also claimed Egypt for themselves.

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So when King Piye led a Kushite invasion of Egypt in 747 BC,

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he didn't plunder or destroy, but restored and rebuilt,

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and founded Egypt's 25th Dynasty.

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The irony is that he's conquering Egypt,

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to put everything right I suppose.

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So it's all such a cycle of rebirth, re-growth, redevelopment

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and the Kushite kings are really kind of tapping into

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-that ancient power source...

-Yeah, yeah.

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..and just sort of giving it back to the Egyptians.

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It's like starting time all over again and doing it right.

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So they had that same sense of history and continuity as the Egyptians.

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They are natural successors of the 18th Dynasty kings.

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Fuelled by a genuine desire to make their own mark in Egypt's long story,

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the Kushites began to rebuild Egypt here in their Nubian heartland.

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King Piye expanded the existing temple of Amun at Gebel Barkal,

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to balance the original great temple of Karnak in Egyptian Thebes.

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But while the Kushites had absorbed the culture of Egypt

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they still had their roots here in Africa.

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This cultural fusion is quite clearly expressed in this

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extraordinary representation of the Egyptian goddess Mut.

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The face of the goddess Mut has tribal scars. And look...

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..we'll see if it shows with this light.

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Can you see the three lines in her face?

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So this is an Egyptian goddess with a Nubian makeover?

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Yeah. She was a goddess of Nubia

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and it was appropriate for Nubians to have tribal scars.

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So this is a very, very graphic version of the way in which

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local Nubians were making the traditional deities of Egypt

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their own, physically marking them.

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It's as if she's has been stamped as a Nubian.

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Yeah, yeah.

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How incredible. This is such a land of surprises.

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That is beautiful.

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Yet this land of surprises has something else in store too.

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Gale force winds whip up the worst sandstorm in years.

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It's a powerful reminder that the ancients would also have had

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to deal with such dramatic natural phenomena.

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You can certainly taste the grit in your teeth.

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The ancients would have tackled this using spells, rituals.

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They would also have made extra offerings to specific deities,

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most notably Osiris's brother, god Seth,

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the god of turbulence and the god of storms,

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the god of red headed individuals

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who were seen somewhat turbulent too. Can't imagine why.

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I'm seeking shelter in this shrine,

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cut into the mountain by Pyie's son, Taharqa,

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which is currently undergoing major restoration by an Italian mission.

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It apparently reveals graphic evidence of Egypt's continuing powerful influence.

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I've never been here before.

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I have no idea what's going on in here,

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so this'll be as new to me as it is to you.

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Oh, flippin' heck!

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'It's a real privilege to see the time blackened walls

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'finally giving up their secrets.'

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Wow, look at that, look at that!

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Oh, that is... Oh, that is so beautiful.

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They're bringing out not just the golds but the blues.

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These two colours -

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the bright blue of the sky and the Nile and the gold.

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This sort of really powerful colour of the sun god.

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'This is Taharqa, the Kushite's most powerful and important pharaoh.

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'In classic Egyptian style he's shown offering to the god Amun

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'and his wife the goddess Mut.'

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It's raised relief. This is old school,

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this is old school technique. This is skill.

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And they're all overlaid in this yellow gold.

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And you can even see the little scales on this corselet

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that Amun's wearing. Every detail is here.

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It's fabulous. It's like Christmas morning, this.

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This is just extraordinary, just look for yourselves, just look.

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Look at their faces. Look at their eyes.

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'This wall truly exemplifies Egypt's ancient magic,

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'as those who try to conquer it end up being seduced by it

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'and then become a part of it.

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'It's a sincere attempt by Taharqa to connect his kingship

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'to the achievements of the pharaohs of Egypt's past,

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'in particular to the rulers of the new kingdom.'

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So, although history records that Taharqa conquered Egypt,

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this scene reveals it's actually Egypt that conquered Taharqa.

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It's as if the Egyptian identity will always win out, no matter what,

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so much so that Taharqa is even shown with the ram's horns of Amun,

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identifying him as the son of Egypt's god of gods.

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These were worn my Amenhotep III in Luxor temple in the 18th Dynasty.

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They were later worn by the great Alexander

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to show he, too, was the son of Amun.

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And here we have Taharqa in all his finery and all his splendour.

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Who knew that they were here, hidden away in this special, special rock?

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We've come to heart of Gebel Barkal now.

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We've come to heart of Egyptian religion.

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Because this the very birthplace of Amun himself

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and here he is, just for us, right now emerging from the walls.

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Very few people have ever seen this.

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Here inside the temple, where only the most pious were allowed,

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Taharqa is shown in deference to Egypt's most powerful god.

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And outside, on the mountain, he exhibits his devotion

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on a truly monumental scale

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by embellishing the very top of its pinnacle.

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180 metres tall and 11 metres from the cliff face,

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it seems completely inaccessible.

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But Taharqa pulled off an incredible technical achievement.

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He built a crane arm and elaborate scaffolding

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in order to make his own permanent mark on the mountain.

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What he did was, he made an inscription for himself

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commemorating his victories east and west.

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And then underneath his men set a small statue of the king

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and they covered the inscription in gold.

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Today you can hardly see it, but in those days

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it would've been the most conspicuous feature of the mountain.

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-I mean that's meant to be seen by the gods.

-Seen by the gods.

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'Of course no mortal eye could read this from the ground.

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'But that wasn't the point.

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'This was a message to the gods,

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'carved on a monument built to impress.

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'Completely covered in gold, it reflected the sun's rays

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'and it acted like a giant billboard as it telegraphed Taharqa's message

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'for miles around.

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'And this, again, harked back to Egypt's past when previous pharaohs

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'had placed gilded capstones on their pyramids and obelisks

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'to harness the potent powers of the sun.

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'Just to the east of Gebel Barkal lies the necropolis of Nuri

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'where the Kushite kings' transformation into Egyptian pharaohs was finally completed,

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'for the dynasty who'd invaded Egypt

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'were now copying Egypt's ultimate symbol,

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'and for the first time in over 1000 years,

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'the kings who ruled Egypt were buried in pyramids.'

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When the kings made their capital at Memphis,

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they were living right across the river from the great pyramids.

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Taharqa had spent most of his life there

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and was familiar with the great pyramids and so when he died

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he needed a pyramid of commensurate scale,

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and he sort of established this new type

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and it was followed by all his successors.

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The Kushites eventually built more pyramids here,

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in their Nubian homeland, than the Egyptians had built in Egypt.

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And just as at Giza,

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Taharqa's pyramid is precisely aligned to its environment.

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For on the exact day when the Nile flood begins to recede

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the sun sets just like this,

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directly behind the Gebel Barkal pinnacle.

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Yet only on this specific day

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and only when viewed from the top of Taharqa's pyramid.

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That is totally impressive.

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Not just a skill, a feat of engineering,

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but such devotion to the gods.

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The gods, observing nature.

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-Yeah.

-I mean it would take a huge amount of observation

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to get the position just right, to get the day just right.

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Surrounded by these pyramids, the images of Amun and Mut,

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and their monumental temples,

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it's easy to forget that the Kushites were actually

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a foreign power who'd taken Egypt by force.

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Yet it's almost as if Egypt was taunting its invaders.

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"While you may try and dominate our land,

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"our culture will ultimately dominate you."

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And as such, the Kushites left a legacy of renewal and resurrection.

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But, like all Egypt's conquerors,

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the Kushites' moment in the sun was fleeting,

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for their 25th Dynasty lasted but a century,

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as a far more ruthless and ambitious power now invaded.

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In 674 BC, the fearsome Assyrian army marched into Egypt.

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As ruthless expansionists, they had little interest in Egyptian culture.

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They graphically demonstrated their contempt

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by sacking the sacred city of Thebes.

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The Assyrians unlike the Egyptians,

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are interested in expanding their empire and really taking over

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other parts of the world, and they do that by violence.

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This very un-Egyptian bronze helmet was discovered in Thebes.

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It is one of the very few objects that reveal the Assyrian takeover of Egypt.

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Despite possessing equally powerful iconography of their own,

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the Assyrians had little time to leave their mark.

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They simply stamped their authority upon Egypt

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by trying to rip out its religious heart.

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This holy complex, this really huge sacred space,

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had never been attacked in Egyptian history.

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And so for a mob to damage the temple,

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to damage statues perhaps,

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to damage precious things would really have been

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absolute anathema to the Egyptians.

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What's really striking is it's obviously not an Egyptian item

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but the Egyptians didn't even wear helmets, did they?

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-They relied on their thick hair, didn't they?

-Yeah, yeah.

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So for me it really evokes a completely alien image.

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I mean the Assyrians... I mean war was their business, wasn't it?

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With their sophisticated weapons and armour,

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the Assyrians were a war machine,

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whose unstoppable progress seemed to spell disaster for Egypt.

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Yet after little more than 20 years, the Assyrians returned east

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to tackle problems at home, leaving vassals in charge of Egypt.

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Based at the delta city of Sais, these were the Saite kings,

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shrewd Egyptian politicians who first appeared to serve their Assyrian masters,

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but soon became strong enough to declare their independence.

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Egypt was now back in Egyptian hands.

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The Saites instigated a spectacular renaissance in native culture,

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at the heart of which lay Egypt's most powerful symbol

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of national identity - mummification.

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But no longer limited to humans,

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there was an explosion of animal mummification.

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Everything from dogs, cats, crocodiles,

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ibis and even tiny shrews.

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The ancient Egyptians had always mummified their dead,

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both human and animal.

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And with the Saites, we can almost see it as a way of the Saite kings

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trying to declare, "We are Egypt, we are important,

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"this is what makes us special."

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No-one else in the ancient world could mummify like the Egyptians

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and so they rolled it out a millionfold.

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With animals specifically bred for mummification

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and then sold as offerings at temples,

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the Saites had reinvigorated Egypt's oldest industry.

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Death was once again big business.

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Now, this might look pretty silly, but around 2,000 years ago

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here at Saqqara, this would have been a very common sight.

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This place would've been packed with pilgrims,

0:24:090:24:12

with priests making animal mummies,

0:24:120:24:14

and they'd be trundling the mummies across the landscape in carts like this one.

0:24:140:24:18

So we must get out of our minds this idea of Egyptian priests

0:24:180:24:21

as these pious, quiet figures wafting through the landscape,

0:24:210:24:24

when, at by this time, it was all carried out in great numbers.

0:24:240:24:28

And it was Egypt's endless ability to reinterpret its core beliefs

0:24:340:24:38

that was the key to its longevity.

0:24:380:24:41

For millennia, the Egyptians had believed that the pharaoh

0:24:410:24:45

was a living god, who embodied the soul of Egypt.

0:24:450:24:48

When the king died, their soul lived on in their mummified body,

0:24:480:24:53

which must be kept safe to guarantee the continuity of Egypt.

0:24:530:24:58

So they'd always buried their rulers in the safety of pyramids

0:24:580:25:01

or elaborate rock-cut tombs.

0:25:010:25:04

But in times of increasing unrest and foreign rule,

0:25:100:25:13

the Egyptians could no longer rely on even having a pharaoh to bury,

0:25:130:25:17

and so they turned to another centuries-old practice.

0:25:170:25:21

The Serapeum at Saqqara is a huge subterranean tomb complex in which

0:25:220:25:28

the concepts of kingship and animal mummification were fused together.

0:25:280:25:33

For each of these giant granite sarcophagi once contained

0:25:330:25:37

an animal believed to embody all the qualities of kingship.

0:25:370:25:42

This is the burial site of the sacred Apis bull.

0:25:420:25:46

These were bodies of mummified bulls

0:25:490:25:52

of such importance to the Egyptian mind-set

0:25:520:25:55

they extended all this effort and cost to create

0:25:550:25:59

a suitably impressive burial site, and they've done this in spades.

0:25:590:26:03

As one bull dies and is mummified and buried,

0:26:030:26:06

the other one is then worshipped in life,

0:26:060:26:08

and at death mummified and buried again,

0:26:080:26:11

and so there's a real progression.

0:26:110:26:13

The cult of the Apis bull dates right back to the beginning

0:26:130:26:16

of Egyptian history, and it's closely linked to the pharaoh.

0:26:160:26:20

It was believed that when the sacred bull died,

0:26:200:26:23

it became one with Osiris, the god of the afterlife.

0:26:230:26:27

And so became an Osiris Apis or Serapis for short.

0:26:270:26:32

And these sacred bulls became hugely important under the Saites.

0:26:340:26:37

During times of foreign occupation,

0:26:380:26:41

when Egypt was increasingly being ruled by pharaohs in absentia,

0:26:410:26:46

be it in Persia or wherever else,

0:26:460:26:48

for the Egyptians, they needed a physical presence

0:26:480:26:52

and the Apis bull provided this presence,

0:26:520:26:54

because they could see it with their own eyes, they could

0:26:540:26:57

celebrate rituals in its company, and at death it would be mummified

0:26:570:27:01

and then buried in the manner of pharaohs going back for millennia.

0:27:010:27:05

So it was crucial to have this creature here -

0:27:050:27:09

each one successively buried in a sarcophagus just like this one.

0:27:090:27:13

We're looking at some serious devotion

0:27:130:27:16

to this sacred creature and everything it represented for Egypt.

0:27:160:27:20

In many ways, the Serapeum is Egypt writ large,

0:27:240:27:28

in which its core beliefs are taken to extremes.

0:27:280:27:32

Being down here really makes you feel minuscule.

0:27:340:27:39

You realise you're now walking amongst the gods.

0:27:390:27:41

Words fail me frankly because of the enormity of it all.

0:27:410:27:45

But that was the thing, that was the skill of the Egyptians.

0:27:450:27:48

They batter you over the head with the idea of the colossal,

0:27:480:27:52

the monumental, the spectacular.

0:27:520:27:54

Yet the Egyptians' devotion to the Apis bull had left them vulnerable.

0:27:560:28:00

By embodying the power of Egypt within a single living animal,

0:28:010:28:05

they had created an easy target.

0:28:050:28:07

Given the Apis bull's divine status,

0:28:120:28:14

harming it would have been completely unthinkable.

0:28:140:28:17

But when the Persian king Cambyses invaded Egypt, he had other plans.

0:28:170:28:22

The Persian empire is swept west, taking all before it,

0:28:300:28:35

and then into Egypt itself.

0:28:350:28:37

The Persian king Cambyses entered Egypt in 525 BC

0:28:370:28:41

and destroyed the Saite dynasty.

0:28:410:28:44

Much like the Assyrians, the Persians were ruthless expansionists,

0:28:450:28:50

chiefly interested in enlarging their empire.

0:28:500:28:53

And Cambyses seemed to have trampled all over Egypt's ancient traditions.

0:28:530:28:59

Having taken Egypt by force,

0:29:020:29:04

Cambyses burnt the mummy of the previous Saite pharaoh,

0:29:040:29:08

before stabbing the Apis bull, which slowly bleed to death.

0:29:080:29:12

And by doing this,

0:29:160:29:17

Cambyses was sending a very clear message to the Egyptians -

0:29:170:29:21

"I am now in charge."

0:29:210:29:23

For the next 200 years, the Egyptians were little more

0:29:370:29:40

than the heavily taxed servants of the Persian empire,

0:29:400:29:44

and with all attempts at rebellion met with extreme retaliation,

0:29:440:29:48

Egypt needed a saviour,

0:29:480:29:51

an outsider who could be transformed by Egypt's powerful ideology

0:29:510:29:55

and, in return, could transform Egypt.

0:29:550:29:59

Enter the Macedonian superman. Enter Alexander the Great.

0:29:590:30:04

Alexander was one of the world's greatest military leaders,

0:30:150:30:19

and during his short life amassed an empire that stretched across

0:30:190:30:23

three continents, founding over 70 cities that bore his name.

0:30:230:30:27

After his initial defeat of the Persian king,

0:30:300:30:32

Alexander marched unopposed into Egypt in 332 BC.

0:30:320:30:37

The world's most successful empire builder had arrived,

0:30:370:30:41

not only transforming Egypt's future,

0:30:410:30:44

but preserving its ancient past

0:30:440:30:46

It really is no exaggeration to say that Alexander the Great

0:30:480:30:52

is one of the most remarkable people who ever lived.

0:30:520:30:55

He really was the superhero of the ancient world.

0:30:550:30:59

So you'd think that Egypt would be filled with his images,

0:30:590:31:02

after all he had saved them from the hated Persians.

0:31:020:31:05

And yet other than the great city of Alexandria that bears his name,

0:31:050:31:09

he is remarkably hard to find within Egypt's traditional temples.

0:31:090:31:13

Except here in this modest little shrine at the heart of Luxor temple.

0:31:130:31:19

Alexander was not only a brilliant soldier, but a master politician...

0:31:230:31:28

..marching into Egypt's ancient capital, Memphis,

0:31:300:31:33

amid rumours he was the son of Egypt's last native pharaoh.

0:31:330:31:36

This instantly plugged him into Egypt's long native history

0:31:380:31:42

and he was crowned as a traditional pharaoh.

0:31:420:31:44

Here he is, the great man,

0:31:460:31:48

repeatedly across the walls of this limestone shrine.

0:31:480:31:52

And yet you'd never know it was Alexander simply by looking,

0:31:520:31:56

cos he looks like every other Egyptian pharaoh.

0:31:560:31:59

But he knew their secret, that to rule Egypt you had to appear

0:31:590:32:03

to be an Egyptian, and he did this brilliantly.

0:32:030:32:07

To the extent that he had his name, his Greek name Alexandros,

0:32:070:32:12

written in the Egyptian tradition, even in a royal cartouche.

0:32:120:32:16

And it's the only giveaway that this is Alexander the Great,

0:32:160:32:20

because there is his name,

0:32:200:32:22

Alexandros, written in typical Egyptian style,

0:32:220:32:27

and there he's even wearing the red and the white dual crown of a united land,

0:32:270:32:32

and so he's encapsulating everything that it was to be an Egyptian pharaoh.

0:32:320:32:37

Just like the Kushite king Taharqa at Gebel Barkal,

0:32:380:32:42

Alexander is shown offering incense to the king of the gods, Amun.

0:32:420:32:46

But simply connecting with the gods wasn't enough.

0:32:460:32:49

Alexander understood that real power came from BECOMING a god.

0:32:490:32:55

And so he undertook a perilous journey across the Libyan desert

0:32:550:32:59

to the remote oasis shrine of Siwa,

0:32:590:33:02

where he could commune with the oracle of Amun himself.

0:33:020:33:06

And it's said, in this legendary story,

0:33:090:33:13

that the god actually said to him, "You are my son,"

0:33:130:33:16

and from then on something clicked in Alexander's mind

0:33:160:33:20

and he went off to conquer the rest of the ancient world,

0:33:200:33:23

truly believing he was divine and he had the full blessing

0:33:230:33:26

and support of Amun himself, the king of the gods of Egypt.

0:33:260:33:30

Alexander would only stay in Egypt for six short months.

0:33:330:33:38

But during his time here, he founded a city

0:33:400:33:44

that would be his lasting legacy - the great city of Alexandria.

0:33:440:33:49

Built on the Mediterranean coast,

0:33:500:33:52

to create trading links with the rest of the ancient world,

0:33:520:33:55

the later historian Arrian recorded that Alexander

0:33:550:33:59

had laid out the city's general plan himself.

0:33:590:34:02

But lacking chalk or other means,

0:34:020:34:05

he resorted to marking it out with grain.

0:34:050:34:08

When a flock of birds began eating the grain,

0:34:080:34:11

Alexander regarded this as a bad omen.

0:34:110:34:14

Yet his religious advisor quickly spun bad news into good,

0:34:140:34:17

and interpreted this as a sign that the new city would soon prosper

0:34:170:34:23

and would one day feed the whole world -

0:34:230:34:25

a remarkably accurate prophecy.

0:34:250:34:28

For within a very few years, Alexandria would not only be

0:34:330:34:37

Egypt's new capital, but the greatest city on Earth...

0:34:370:34:41

..although Alexander himself would never see it.

0:34:440:34:48

Yet, despite his pious nature,

0:34:490:34:51

Alexander was essentially a soldier

0:34:510:34:54

and in his quest to conquer the Persian empire

0:34:540:34:57

he left Egypt in 331 BC, never to return alive.

0:34:570:35:02

Moving as far east as India, he conquered an empire of two million square miles

0:35:020:35:07

before dying in Babylon, aged only 32,

0:35:070:35:11

but still undefeated

0:35:110:35:14

and still the pharaoh of Egypt.

0:35:140:35:16

At death Alexander was mummified

0:35:170:35:20

and his body became the focus of a power struggle.

0:35:200:35:23

Some of his officers wanted him buried in his Greek homeland,

0:35:230:35:27

but for others he had to return to Egypt

0:35:270:35:30

and be buried as a pharaoh, thereby preserving Egypt's long traditions.

0:35:300:35:35

But it obviously meant that anyone who possessed his mummified body

0:35:350:35:40

could also claim the throne of Egypt.

0:35:400:35:42

And clues to this drama can be found here,

0:35:420:35:46

in the windswept desert of Saqqara.

0:35:460:35:48

Ten years after he'd left Egypt alive, Alexander returned here,

0:35:490:35:53

for his body had been mummified Egyptian-style

0:35:530:35:56

and it became a hugely powerful talisman,

0:35:560:35:59

for whoever held the body of Alexander the Great, held Egypt.

0:35:590:36:04

While en route to Greece, his cortege was diverted

0:36:060:36:09

and his mummified body brought here

0:36:090:36:11

to Egypt's ancient necropolis of Saqqara.

0:36:110:36:14

Exactly where his tomb itself was remains a mystery -

0:36:150:36:19

although situated just metres from the Serapeum

0:36:190:36:22

is this collection of very un-Egyptian looking statues.

0:36:220:36:26

And it's these somewhat sand-blasted statues that give us a real clue

0:36:260:36:31

that Alexander may have initially been buried somewhere close by,

0:36:310:36:35

because these are the sculpted images of some of the greatest

0:36:350:36:39

scholars and artists of ancient Greece.

0:36:390:36:42

Although exactly who is who has kept academics scratching their heads for years,

0:36:420:36:47

their likely identities reveal a direct link

0:36:470:36:50

to the world in which Alexander grew up and was educated.

0:36:500:36:53

Take Homer for example -

0:36:560:36:59

his great warrior hero Achilles was Alexander's lifelong role model...

0:36:590:37:03

..Plato, who had tutored Aristotle, who in turn had tutored Alexander...

0:37:040:37:09

..and Pindar, whose poetry had praised Alexander's Macedonian ancestors.

0:37:100:37:16

As for who placed these statues here,

0:37:160:37:18

the most likely candidate is Alexander's general

0:37:180:37:21

and probable half-brother, Ptolemy, for by burying Alexander here,

0:37:210:37:25

close to Egypt's ancient capital Memphis,

0:37:250:37:28

Ptolemy could legitimise his own takeover of Egypt.

0:37:280:37:31

And by laying claim to Alexander's body and to Egypt,

0:37:330:37:37

he founded the dynasty named after himself,

0:37:370:37:39

the fabulous and outrageous Ptolemies.

0:37:390:37:42

Ruling Egypt for the last three centuries BC,

0:37:440:37:47

the Ptolemaic dynasty would be Egypt's final flowering.

0:37:470:37:51

15 male kings all named Ptolemy, with their female co-rulers,

0:37:510:37:56

half of whom were called Cleopatra.

0:37:560:37:58

Macedonian Greek by descent, their dynasty would bring Greek style,

0:37:580:38:03

culture, knowledge and fabulous wealth into Egypt,

0:38:030:38:07

while, at the same time, immersing themselves

0:38:070:38:10

in Egypt's irresistible religion and customs.

0:38:100:38:13

They were very, very sensitive to the cultural practices

0:38:140:38:18

and the religious sensibilities of the Egyptians.

0:38:180:38:21

They knew that to control this ancient land of Egypt,

0:38:210:38:25

they had to tap in to what made Egypt powerful,

0:38:250:38:28

what made Egypt special.

0:38:280:38:30

They wore the right clothes, the right crowns,

0:38:300:38:32

they built the right temples, they worshipped the right gods.

0:38:320:38:36

And the Ptolemies relocated Egypt's capital from Memphis

0:38:370:38:41

to their new super city, Alexandria.

0:38:410:38:44

Built to Alexander's original plan,

0:38:550:38:58

it was one of the most lavish construction projects on Earth.

0:38:580:39:02

The historian Strabo would later comment that the city had

0:39:030:39:06

magnificent public precincts and royal palaces that covered

0:39:060:39:10

a fourth or even a third of the entire area.

0:39:100:39:13

The colonnaded marble streets were over ten metre's wide.

0:39:170:39:21

There were public baths, a huge gymnasium,

0:39:210:39:25

and one of the greatest wonders of the ancient world -

0:39:250:39:28

the 135 metre tall Pharos Lighthouse,

0:39:280:39:32

that guided ships safely into port.

0:39:320:39:35

And at the centre of the city, Alexander himself,

0:39:390:39:43

whose mummified body had been exhumed from Saqqara and brought here.

0:39:430:39:47

The Ptolemies had built a capital unlike anything Egypt had ever seen before,

0:39:530:39:58

for in Alexandria a new Egypt was being born.

0:39:580:40:02

The creation of Alexandria and the great influx

0:40:040:40:07

of immigrants gave it a freshness, a vivacity

0:40:070:40:10

and really kind of transformed the ancient culture.

0:40:100:40:14

Whereas, previously, Egyptian civilisation had developed

0:40:140:40:17

along the Nile, and in many ways was quite inward-looking, quite insular.

0:40:170:40:22

I think the fact that Alexandria was open to so many diverse influences,

0:40:220:40:28

religiously, culturally, and this gave it a real air of tolerance.

0:40:280:40:33

I think I'd have felt very at home here.

0:40:370:40:40

There's a real sense of culture and learning

0:40:400:40:43

and an appreciation of life.

0:40:430:40:45

Today Alexandria is the largest city on the Mediterranean,

0:40:470:40:51

stretching for over 20 miles along the coast.

0:40:510:40:55

As Egypt's largest seaport,

0:40:580:41:00

it caters for over 80% of the country's imports and exports,

0:41:000:41:04

a legacy that reaches directly back to the Ptolemies.

0:41:040:41:08

Having improved Egyptian agriculture by reclaiming new farmland

0:41:100:41:13

through increased irrigation, they supplemented the Egyptian staples

0:41:130:41:18

with new crops such as cotton, and better grapes for wine-production.

0:41:180:41:23

And today the markets of Alexandria still buzz

0:41:230:41:26

with some of the early city's lively, cosmopolitan style.

0:41:260:41:30

THEY SPEAK EGYPTIAN

0:41:320:41:34

I'm going to try and find the nearest equivalent to

0:41:340:41:37

ancient Egyptian delicacies, and these are dates

0:41:370:41:40

and the ancient Egyptians used to make pastries and bread from them,

0:41:400:41:44

because they had a very sweet tooth.

0:41:440:41:46

I think I might have to taste one, just for quality control you understand.

0:41:460:41:50

See how authentic they are.

0:41:500:41:52

They are very nice.

0:41:540:41:56

This is incense in its raw state

0:41:560:41:58

and, of course, this was burnt in temples and in funerary rites.

0:41:580:42:02

'The port city of Alexandria became a huge hub of international trade,

0:42:020:42:07

'establishing routes with Greece, the Middle East,

0:42:070:42:10

'India and even Britain.

0:42:100:42:12

'And as native Egyptian goods like papyrus and perfume

0:42:120:42:16

'flowed out of the country,

0:42:160:42:17

'new exotic luxuries like spices, silks and wines poured in.'

0:42:170:42:22

The Greeks loved olives and so these were imported

0:42:230:42:27

and the Egyptians started to grow them.

0:42:270:42:30

I'll definitely have some of these. Delicious.

0:42:300:42:33

Black pepper? Oh! We've got to get some black pepper.

0:42:330:42:35

So this is one of the really, really popular things,

0:42:350:42:39

certainly in Ptolemaic times, because markets had opened up

0:42:390:42:42

and certainly as far east as India

0:42:420:42:45

and the Greeks went crazy for this stuff.

0:42:450:42:47

HORNS BLAST

0:42:490:42:51

SHE CHUCKLES

0:42:560:42:58

It's certainly lively shopping in Egypt. Never a dull moment.

0:42:580:43:02

With Alexandria now at the heart of the ancient world,

0:43:080:43:12

the rest of Egypt benefitted too,

0:43:120:43:14

for, determined to honour their adopted country's long history,

0:43:140:43:18

the Ptolemies undertook a massive temple rebuilding and restoration programme.

0:43:180:43:23

Indeed, modern visitors can often fail to realise that many of

0:43:250:43:29

the places they visit were either built or restored by the Ptolemies.

0:43:290:43:33

Esna, Edfu, Dendara, Kom Ombo -

0:43:350:43:38

all of these are Ptolemaic buildings

0:43:380:43:42

that tourists and scholars admire so much,

0:43:420:43:44

and yet they really don't give sufficient credit to the people

0:43:440:43:48

whose vision created them.

0:43:480:43:51

The most impressive all such temples lies the farthest from Alexandria.

0:43:510:43:57

Deep into upper Egypt, close to Aswan,

0:43:570:44:00

is the stunning temple of Philae, which in Egyptian meant "the end",

0:44:000:44:04

since it was located at the very southern edge of Egypt.

0:44:040:44:08

Much of the temple was built by Ptolemy II

0:44:080:44:11

and his co-ruler and sister Arsinoe.

0:44:110:44:15

There was a law passed by her husband, Ptolemy,

0:44:190:44:23

to say that a statue of Arsinoe had to be erected

0:44:230:44:26

in every single temple in Egypt.

0:44:260:44:28

She had to become its resident goddess.

0:44:280:44:30

Arsinoe was a powerful female pharaoh,

0:44:300:44:34

associated with the goddess Isis -

0:44:340:44:36

a role the famous Cleopatra would adopt two centuries later -

0:44:360:44:40

and under the Ptolemies, Philae became a major centre of the Isis cult.

0:44:400:44:45

And here, in the heart of Philae Temple, Arsinoe's golden statue

0:44:450:44:51

would have stood side-by-side with that of Isis,

0:44:510:44:54

so the walls are full of images of Isis and her fellow gods.

0:44:540:44:57

According to myth, Isis was responsible for the vital Nile flood,

0:44:570:45:02

swelling the river as she wept tears of sorrow

0:45:020:45:05

for her murdered husband Osiris, who she then resurrected.

0:45:050:45:08

And with its spectacular location,

0:45:080:45:11

Philae still retains its hugely spiritual atmosphere.

0:45:110:45:15

I think it's that sense of continuity you really feel when you're up here.

0:45:150:45:18

You feel like you're at the centre of the world.

0:45:180:45:21

I suppose for the ancient Egyptians you were -

0:45:210:45:24

the centre of their religious world.

0:45:240:45:26

And at this point, which was the heart

0:45:260:45:28

of ancient Egyptian religion way into the Christian era,

0:45:280:45:31

way into the 6th century AD, it kind of messes with your head.

0:45:310:45:34

It's a very, very holy place this.

0:45:360:45:38

But while Philae was becoming an increasingly important centre of Egyptian religion,

0:45:380:45:43

its new capital Alexandria had become the leading centre of knowledge,

0:45:430:45:48

for the Ptolemies created some of the first scholarships,

0:45:480:45:52

attracting academics from across the world to study a wide range of subjects.

0:45:520:45:56

Biology, theology, astronomy,

0:45:580:46:01

geometry, anatomy, philosophy.

0:46:010:46:04

'And, of course, my own personal favourite...'

0:46:040:46:06

History!

0:46:060:46:08

And at the centre of this intellectual hot house

0:46:110:46:15

was the famous royal library.

0:46:150:46:17

Up to half a million works were once housed within,

0:46:180:46:22

to compete with the famous schools of Plato and Aristotle in Athens,

0:46:220:46:26

and today that legacy lives on with Alexandria's striking new library.

0:46:260:46:32

The Ptolemies really did appreciate that knowledge was power,

0:46:330:46:36

and they wanted that power,

0:46:360:46:38

so they brought together, in this one single place,

0:46:380:46:42

some of the greatest works in human history -

0:46:420:46:45

the plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides,

0:46:450:46:48

the works of Aristotle the philosopher,

0:46:480:46:51

the old testament scriptures,

0:46:510:46:53

and all the accumulated knowledge from the temples of ancient Egypt -

0:46:530:46:57

all brought into this one, single building.

0:46:570:47:00

The great library also contained the works of Herodotus,

0:47:030:47:08

a Greek historian who'd travelled the length of Egypt

0:47:080:47:11

over a century before the Ptolemies had come to power.

0:47:110:47:14

His accounts sum up the Greek fascination with Egyptian society.

0:47:140:47:19

"Not only is the climate different from that of the rest of the world,

0:47:210:47:25

"and the river unlike any other river,

0:47:250:47:27

"but the people also, in most of their manners and customs,

0:47:270:47:31

"exactly reverse the common practice of mankind,

0:47:310:47:35

"for the women attend the markets and trade,

0:47:350:47:38

"while the men sit at home and do the weaving."

0:47:380:47:41

Indeed, the level of equality of Egypt's women shocked Herodotus.

0:47:420:47:46

Something he vividly records when he witnessed a group of men and women

0:47:460:47:50

travelling together by boat to the delta city of Bubastis.

0:47:500:47:54

"Some of the women make a noise with clappers, others play the oboe

0:47:560:48:00

"while the rest of the women and men sing and clap their hands."

0:48:000:48:04

"Some of the women shout mockery to the women of that town they are passing,

0:48:090:48:13

"whilst others dance

0:48:130:48:15

"and others stand up and expose their private parts!"

0:48:150:48:19

In temples the length of Egypt,

0:48:270:48:29

the Ptolemies ensured they were portrayed as Egyptian pharaohs,

0:48:290:48:33

making them almost indistinguishable from their native Egyptian predecessors.

0:48:330:48:38

Yet in Alexandria, the blend of Greek and Egyptian

0:48:400:48:43

could sometimes create a hybrid of rather strange results.

0:48:430:48:46

-Hi, Nermine.

-Hi, how are you?

0:48:480:48:49

'Nermine Sami is a local historian who's spent years studying

0:48:490:48:54

'this remarkable tomb complex, built just after the Ptolemaic period.'

0:48:540:48:58

And here we come to the unique burial, main burial chamber.

0:48:580:49:02

That's mad!

0:49:020:49:04

That is fabulous.

0:49:040:49:06

'Guarded by Greek Doric columns, the entrance is covered in images

0:49:070:49:11

'of Egyptian gods who would ensure safe passage into the afterlife.'

0:49:110:49:16

It's like a tomb but it's also like a temple.

0:49:160:49:19

A temple, a facade of a temple but a typical Egyptian style.

0:49:190:49:23

-Yeah, yeah. It's really...

-With cobras protecting the entrance.

0:49:230:49:27

-Yeah, yeah.

-You know why cobras chosen to be presented in the tombs?

0:49:270:49:32

Because the cobra has no eyelashes,

0:49:320:49:35

it keeps her eyes open 24 hours,

0:49:350:49:39

which means it's awake to protect the tomb

0:49:390:49:42

for 24 hours a day and night.

0:49:420:49:45

I love these snakes.

0:49:470:49:49

That's a very Greek-looking snake,

0:49:490:49:52

but it's wearing a very little ancient Egyptian crown.

0:49:520:49:55

-It's crazy.

-Exactly.

0:49:550:49:58

They literally are throwing everything they've got at this tomb.

0:49:580:50:01

-I mean Medusa, Horus, sun disk... Everything.

-To guarantee safety.

0:50:010:50:06

-This is the best guarded doorway I've seen in Egypt.

-Exactly.

0:50:060:50:10

It's got everything here. And there's statues.

0:50:100:50:13

'They represent the inhabitants of the tomb, a single wealthy family.

0:50:130:50:18

'These, too, exhibit an odd mix of the Greek and Egyptian.'

0:50:180:50:23

I think the bodies are ancient Egyptian,

0:50:240:50:26

the stance is ancient Egyptian, the man's kilt is Egyptian.

0:50:260:50:30

-A leg forward.

-From the neck down they're Egyptian,

0:50:300:50:33

but from the neck up they're European.

0:50:330:50:36

'It's clear the tomb owners had done everything they could

0:50:360:50:39

'to ensure safe passage into the Egyptian afterlife...'

0:50:390:50:44

Oh, look! It's the Apis bull.

0:50:440:50:46

'..even if they didn't quite understand how it all worked.'

0:50:460:50:50

All the features are there, you've got Thoth with, you know, presenting the oils,

0:50:540:50:58

and Anubis doing the same, mummifying the dead.

0:50:580:51:01

You've even got canopic jars underneath.

0:51:010:51:03

Canopic jars and feather of Maat, the goddess of justice.

0:51:030:51:07

Without her approval you will never cross to the other side.

0:51:070:51:11

He didn't forget to add a Greek touch in a lower part,

0:51:130:51:18

two depictions of Dionysus.

0:51:180:51:20

'Dionysus was the Greek god of wine and fertility.

0:51:200:51:23

'Clearly these tomb occupants intended to continue

0:51:230:51:27

'the lives they lived in Alexandria into the beyond.

0:51:270:51:30

"I want, all what I enjoy in life to be with me...

0:51:300:51:34

-Of course.

-..in the other side.

-Especially the wine.

0:51:340:51:37

What a great place to spend eternity.

0:51:370:51:40

'Despite its rather cartoon-like quality,

0:51:420:51:44

'the apparent opulence of this tomb demonstrates

0:51:440:51:47

'the desire of the Alexandrian elite to integrate into Egyptian culture.

0:51:470:51:52

'Yet in many ways, it was little more than a veneer,

0:51:520:51:56

'hiding the real force that would ultimately destroy Egypt,

0:51:560:52:01

'for where the external invaders had largely tried and failed,

0:52:010:52:05

'Egypt's real nemesis would be the Ptolemies' famous love of luxury and excess.'

0:52:050:52:11

Much of this luxury was just a facade,

0:52:110:52:14

for the royals of Alexandria, notorious for their love of display,

0:52:140:52:19

were like actors on a stage.

0:52:190:52:21

As one ancient commentator observed,

0:52:220:52:24

"Everything in Egypt is simply play acting and painted scenery."

0:52:240:52:29

A comment which cuts to the heart of this melodramatic monarchy,

0:52:290:52:32

for whom image was everything.

0:52:320:52:35

Because while the ruling elite were living it up in Alexandria,

0:52:370:52:41

other parts of Egypt were far from content.

0:52:410:52:44

By the end of the 3rd century BC,

0:52:440:52:47

Egypt was once more riven with civil war.

0:52:470:52:49

Upper Egypt began to rebel,

0:52:510:52:53

and it fell to Ptolemy V to try and fight the fires of anarchy.

0:52:530:52:57

So, not only did he portray himself as an Egyptian,

0:52:570:53:00

he went even further in his support for Egypt's ancient beliefs.

0:53:000:53:04

In doing so he left the world one of its most famous ancient artefacts...

0:53:040:53:10

The Rosetta Stone.

0:53:130:53:15

It's best known as the means by which the French scholar Champollion

0:53:170:53:21

was first able to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs in 1822.

0:53:210:53:26

And we can tell that the inscription on the stone was of huge importance

0:53:260:53:30

because it was written out in three types of script -

0:53:300:53:33

Greek, Demotic and Hieroglyphic.

0:53:330:53:37

In a way you could almost describe it as a kind of news bulletin.

0:53:370:53:41

It's the priests of Memphis issuing this decree,

0:53:410:53:44

to let as many people know exactly what the religious

0:53:440:53:49

and the political policy was of crown and clergy.

0:53:490:53:53

And it particularly focuses on Ptolemy V's generous patronage.

0:53:530:53:58

The priests are praising him because he's one that gives wealth

0:53:580:54:02

to the temple, and gives due honour and respect to the sacred animals

0:54:020:54:07

which were such an integral part of Egyptian religion.

0:54:070:54:10

The priests really are grateful to their Ptolemaic pharaoh,

0:54:100:54:14

who they see as wanting to sort of tap in to

0:54:140:54:18

the ancient Egyptian culture and ancient Egyptian religion,

0:54:180:54:21

much like Alexander had,

0:54:210:54:24

much like the Saites had and the Kushites had.

0:54:240:54:27

They knew that to attain true power,

0:54:270:54:29

true control in Egypt you had to do things the Egyptian way.

0:54:290:54:33

Yet Ptolemy V's philanthropy came at a price.

0:54:370:54:40

Keeping the peace in Egypt proved cripplingly expensive,

0:54:400:54:44

so the second half of the Ptolemaic dynasty was riven by debt, corruption and vicious civil war.

0:54:440:54:51

Soon the expanding Roman empire bore down on a divided Egypt.

0:54:510:54:56

Only the famous Cleopatra stood in their way.

0:54:560:55:00

In the mould of Great Uncle Alexander,

0:55:000:55:03

she believed herself divine

0:55:030:55:05

and managed to hold the Romans at bay for over 20 years.

0:55:050:55:09

But not even the great Cleopatra could prevent the inevitable.

0:55:090:55:14

And so it was that in August 30 BC

0:55:210:55:24

Cleopatra's famous suicide brought an end to ancient Egypt as we know it.

0:55:240:55:30

This epic culture, which had lasted for 3,000 years,

0:55:300:55:35

came to an end in a matter of days

0:55:350:55:37

when on 31st August, Egypt was formally annexed by Rome.

0:55:370:55:43

This was Egypt's point of no return -

0:55:490:55:53

a slow, painful decline of Egyptian beliefs and culture

0:55:530:55:57

until the arrival of Christianity.

0:55:570:55:59

With its numerous temples abandoned, built over or simply destroyed,

0:55:590:56:05

Egypt's glories began to fade from memory.

0:56:050:56:08

But Egypt's great story can now be traced back

0:56:140:56:17

20,000 years to the very origins of its magical culture,

0:56:170:56:22

which had evolved from its unique environment,

0:56:220:56:25

Creating a series of sophisticated beliefs,

0:56:250:56:28

able to unite a country to build great monuments.

0:56:280:56:32

It had survived chaos and famine,

0:56:330:56:36

only to rise again in a glorious zenith of rebirth and resurrection.

0:56:360:56:41

Even waves of foreign invasions were ultimately assimilated

0:56:430:56:47

by Egypt's powerful traditions.

0:56:470:56:50

And despite being eventually absorbed into the Roman Empire,

0:56:500:56:54

the ancient culture had continued until the arrival of Christianity.

0:56:540:56:59

Yet as the Egyptians had always believed,

0:56:590:57:02

there would be a life after death.

0:57:020:57:04

Cleopatra's Needle, on London's Embankment

0:57:150:57:18

had lain forgotten in Egypt until the 19th century.

0:57:180:57:21

But as pioneering Egyptologists began a 200-year process of rediscovery...

0:57:210:57:27

..ancient Egypt was reborn,

0:57:280:57:30

and this time it went global.

0:57:300:57:33

And what a privilege it is for us today to be able to see

0:57:380:57:42

such wonderful things and capture just a glimpse

0:57:420:57:46

of this fascinating ancient culture.

0:57:460:57:48

The culture of a people at one with their environment,

0:57:570:58:01

and who captured, through their timeless monuments,

0:58:010:58:03

their own unique view of the world.

0:58:030:58:06

In fact the story of Egypt is far from over,

0:58:080:58:12

for its rediscovery means that it is only just beginning.

0:58:120:58:16

And it's the things that made the Egyptians so very special,

0:58:160:58:20

have ensured that they're now known right across the world

0:58:200:58:23

and they've achieved their ultimate goal - to live forever.

0:58:230:58:27

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