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One hundred and fifty years ago

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the king of France had
this obelisk brought

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from Egypt to grace
the heart of Paris

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Three thousand years earlier

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it had been dedicated to the
great pharaoh Ramses II

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with these words

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"so long as heaven exists
your monuments shall exist

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and your name shall endure
like the heaven."

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Through the 30 centuries
that the pharaohs ruled Egypt

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the people of the Nile created
the most glorious monuments

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the world has even seen

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among them

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the largest place of worship
in the ancient world

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These miracles in stone were
tributes to their gods and kings

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They believed that man, like the sun

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could die and be reborn

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They constructed elaborate tombs
to protect the body

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and house the soul
throughout eternity

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They created guides to
the underworld

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Books of the Dead
to insure immortality

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And on their monuments

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they left the testimony
of their faith

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These inscriptions are keys with

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which we unlock the secrets
of ancient Egypt

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Ladies and gentlemen

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now we are at the temple of
the queen Hatshepsut...

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And, as they have since
the days of Herodotus

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Antony and cleopatra

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thousands journey here
to see these wonders

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going down to the Green Valley

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for the holy visit of Amun-Re

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to the goddess Hathor once
a year for 15 days...

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But today, having endured
for 50 centuries

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these seemingly imperishable
structures are threatened

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Their fate may be determined
in our lifetime

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so, people of science, soul
and conscience

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travel here from all over the globe

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to save
the priceless monuments

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to decipher the meaning
of the messages

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before they disappear forever

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This is the story of
the land of Egypt

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and the quest for eternity

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The Nile

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Flowing through the endless miles
of Egypt's desert sands

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its precious waters gave birth
and breath

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to one of the
greatest civilizations

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that has ever taken hold on our planet

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"Hail to you, Oh Nile!"
Went an ancient hymn

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"sprung from earth
come to nourish Egypt

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Food provider, bounty maker

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who creates all that is good."

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The river's annual flooding left
rich deposits of silt

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utilizing it, farmers developed
a settled life

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sustained by its abundant waters

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the land and crops prospered

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Even mud from the Nile's banks
provided the people

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with material for everything
from clay pots to the bricks

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with which they built their homes

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The Nile itself was Egypt's highway...

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boats sailed northward
with the currents

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and south with the prevailing winds

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To predict the time when the
river would overflow

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the ancients developed a calendar
our own evolved from it

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Along the extended oasis of
the Nile Valley

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a way of life emerged
that still endures today

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virtually unchanged from the furthest
reaches of recorded time

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And in the time of the Nile's
annual flooding

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when the farmers could not till
their fields

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they built the pyramids-tombs
for their pharaohs

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All that remains of the seven Wonders
of the Ancient World

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they were stairways to heaven

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For to all Egyptians
their religion promised an afterlife

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The largest monument ever constructed

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the Great Pyramid contains more than

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two million immense limestone blocks

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each weighing over two tons

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One hundred thousand men toiled
for 20 years

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without wheel, horse
or iron tools to create it

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that their pharaoh might
join the sun god

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and live in eternity

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This dedication to gods and
kings was to sustain the Egypt

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of the pharaohs for 3,000 years

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From the beginning, the Nile was
the soul of the land

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The lotus growing on the river
banks symbolized

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the people of Upper Egypt

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the papyrus, shimmering in the
marshes of the Delta

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was the symbol of Lower Egypt

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lmmortalized on this table of slate

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a king known as Narmer wears the
high-domed crown

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of Upper Egypt on one side

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the low-curled crown of Lower Egypt
on the other

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It commemorates his unification
of the two lands

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to create the nation of Egypt
in 3100 B.c.

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From that time, Egyptian kings
would wear both crowns

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as rulers of the two kingdoms of
Upper and Lower Egypt

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The two lands have remained linked

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from Narmer's time to the present

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Isolated from its neighbors

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protected by mountains, desert,
and sea

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the Nile Valley was an ideal crucible

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in which a civilization could begin

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Traces of those beginnings can be
found in the city of Nekhen

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The site, still populated today

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holds evidence of habitation
stretching back 6,000 years

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since 1967

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Dr. Walter Fairservis of Vassar college

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and the American museum of
Natural History

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has been excavating here

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in his continuing search for
the roots of civilization

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It was here, just 90 years ago

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that the Narmer tablet was discovered

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It was here, 50 centuries before

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that king Narmer established
the capital

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of the newly unified nation

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Here we have the walls of a princely complex

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that belonged to a king who lived
here 5,000 years ago

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the very beginning of Egypt's
unification

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He was a great king, a powerful monarch

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And we know from the size of
the rooms

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and the way things are located
that he was a very rich man

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a very wealthy person

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We know he had storerooms full of grain

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We know that he had perhaps
a great hoard of copper

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and many other things of that order

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And yet, oddly enough,
this powerful monarch

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he left the place

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He abandoned it

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And that's part of the reason

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we're exploring this area to
find out why

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Why, at the very beginnings of
Egypt's history

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do we have a place as important
as this abandoned?

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Perhaps the secret still lies buried
in these mud-brick walls

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sifting through the debris
of the centuries

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the Fairservis team continues
to piece together

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the history of the site

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Many threads bind Egyptian
prehistory and history

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But none is stronger than the
belief in immortality

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But this one is interesting because...

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Equipped with objects necessary
for the afterlife

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these bodies were buried before

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the first pharaoh built
his palace here

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Right here, if I can just
pull this up a little bit

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hair pins
found at the roof of the skull

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Made of some quill-like or ivory,
I guess

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Perhaps ivory

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Perhaps ivory, yes.
Put that back there

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In this capital, religion, tradition

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and political power fused

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foundations were laid on which
the longest lasting of

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all ancient civilizations would rise

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Two thousand years later

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Egypt's religious capital
was Thebes

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one of the richest
most powerful cities on earth

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At its heart was the temple of
Amun at karnak

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the largest place of worship
in the ancient world

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As dynasty followed dynasty

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the great complex was enlarged
and embellished

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by a succession of pharaohs

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Tutankhamun

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whose fabulous tomb treasures
dazzled the world

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a female pharaoh, Hatshepsut

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called "the first great woman
in history"

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the heretic Akhenaten,
first believer in one god.

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And Ramses II, the greatest builder
of all time

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called Ramses the Great

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pharaoh while Egypt's power and
prosperity flourished

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this warrior-king was to rule
for 67 years

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bring peace to the empire,
father nearly 200 children

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and leave his mark on fully half
the monuments in Egypt

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Ramses was only about 20

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when his father seti I died
in 1290 B.c.

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Seti had ordered his funerary
temple built at Abydos

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One of Ramses' first acts as pharaoh

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was to travel there to complete it

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To all Egyptians, this was the
most sacred city on earth

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Here, drawn by some mystical
identification

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with Abydos and the long-dead pharaoh

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an extraordinary woman
known as Omm seti

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was to come 3,000
years later

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With a group of fellow Egyptologists

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she celebrates her 77th birthday

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Well, thank you very much

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You certainly made it
a happy birthday

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Make a speech

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Make a speech? Oh, how lovely,
I am touched

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I'm afraid its a mass-produced one,
but...

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Never mind, no matter

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My heart, my mother

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My heart, my mother

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My heart whereby I came into being

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Do not stand up and witness against
me at the judgement

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I think that is the text.
It should be

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Yes, you've got it

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Oh, thank you very much

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To Omm seti at her 77th,
on her way to 110

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Thank you. Let us drink to our dear
old friend Ramses II

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Born Dorothy Eady in England

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she says something called her here

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from the time she was a child

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she came here 50 years ago,
married an Egyptian

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and had a son whom she named seti

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From then on, she was known as
"Omm seti,"

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which means "mother of seti."

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She has devoted the last 30 years
of her life

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to the study of seti I's temple

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and become an expert on him and
Ramses II

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Ramses tells that he came to Abydos
alone, you see

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in the first year of his reign
after his father was dead

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and he found that the decoration of
this temple was incomplete

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In the inscription he says that

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"I ordered the work of my father
to be completed

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and all the works which my father
had started

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and were still incomplete

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I had them finished."

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And then he goes on as

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if he's speaking to the soul
of his father

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you see, and telling him

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that all that seti had wanted to do

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and died before completing

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and all his plans and ambitions

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Ramses would complete it

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And he said, "so long as
I am ruling

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it will be as though you are
still on the throne."

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He was a nice fellow,
and he was a very good son

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00:16:07,533 --> 00:16:11,333
When Omm seti came here for the
Egyptian Department of Antiquities

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00:16:11,437 --> 00:16:13,871
the temple was in ruins.

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Its reconstruction became
her passion.

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They confronted me with a pile of
fragments of inscribed stone

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00:16:24,783 --> 00:16:26,876
There were over 2,000

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some were very small, some were
very big

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00:16:29,588 --> 00:16:32,216
My job was to copy the inscriptions
on them

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00:16:32,324 --> 00:16:36,886
catalogue them, and, where possible,
fit them together

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00:16:44,336 --> 00:16:46,201
The temple is vibrant with carvings

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that look as fresh today

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00:16:48,640 --> 00:16:51,734
as when they were painted 3,000
years ago

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00:16:51,844 --> 00:16:56,440
lts walls tell the first known
story of resurrection

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Osiris, a mythical ruler

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was killed and dismembered
by his brother

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00:17:02,654 --> 00:17:07,455
His wife, the goddess Isis, found
the scattered pieces of his body

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00:17:07,559 --> 00:17:11,859
bound them together, and Osiris
arose from the dead

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00:17:11,964 --> 00:17:15,195
Their son, the falcon-headed god Horus

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00:17:15,300 --> 00:17:18,827
was to grow to manhood and avenge
his father

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00:17:19,638 --> 00:17:22,198
Anubis, jackal-headed god of embalming

244
00:17:22,307 --> 00:17:27,244
was sent by the sun god to help
Osiris live eternally

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The Egyptians believed

246
00:17:34,987 --> 00:17:38,388
that because Osiris died
and rose again

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00:17:38,490 --> 00:17:41,618
they too could achieve immortality

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00:17:41,727 --> 00:17:47,723
Worshipping Osiris, seti assures
his place in the afterlife

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00:17:49,301 --> 00:17:50,962
Offering incense

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00:17:51,070 --> 00:17:56,167
the pharaoh worships before the
bark of the sun god, Amun-Re

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00:18:12,791 --> 00:18:15,658
Just as seti offers bread, ducks,
figs

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00:18:15,761 --> 00:18:17,854
and a pomegranate to Isis

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Omm seti follows the ancient belief

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00:18:20,699 --> 00:18:24,999
Oh yes, every year at the Great Feast

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00:18:25,104 --> 00:18:30,474
and again on the birthday of the
gods Osiris and Isis

256
00:18:30,576 --> 00:18:35,309
I come here with offerings of wine

257
00:18:35,414 --> 00:18:38,281
bread, and incense

258
00:18:38,383 --> 00:18:40,146
Oh, I love coming here

259
00:18:40,252 --> 00:18:44,052
It's the place I really do feel
at home

260
00:18:49,928 --> 00:18:52,362
Three days after this filming
was completed

261
00:18:52,464 --> 00:18:54,295
Omm seti died

262
00:18:54,399 --> 00:18:56,162
she was buried in Abydos

263
00:18:56,268 --> 00:18:59,135
Egyptian city of resurrection

264
00:19:08,480 --> 00:19:10,209
In the time of Ramses

265
00:19:10,315 --> 00:19:12,078
the most powerful deity of the living

266
00:19:12,184 --> 00:19:15,017
was the sun god Amun-Re

267
00:19:15,120 --> 00:19:17,486
He was patron of the city of Thebes

268
00:19:17,589 --> 00:19:21,150
located on the Nile between
the first capital Nekhen,

269
00:19:21,260 --> 00:19:23,125
and Abydos

270
00:19:26,999 --> 00:19:29,593
On the east bank, where the sun rises

271
00:19:29,701 --> 00:19:32,670
were temples dedicated to the sun god

272
00:19:32,771 --> 00:19:36,502
karnak... and Luxor

273
00:19:36,608 --> 00:19:40,066
On the west bank, where the sun
buries itself each day

274
00:19:40,179 --> 00:19:43,842
was a complex of tombs where
royalty was buried

275
00:19:43,949 --> 00:19:45,382
the Valley of the kings

276
00:19:45,484 --> 00:19:48,044
and the Valley of the Queens

277
00:19:51,757 --> 00:19:55,693
The Greek poet Homer was to
immortalize Thebes as

278
00:19:55,794 --> 00:19:58,126
"the city of a hundred gates

279
00:19:58,230 --> 00:20:00,528
where 400 heroes with their horse

280
00:20:00,632 --> 00:20:05,865
and chariots pass through each
of these great gates."

281
00:20:10,943 --> 00:20:12,308
While Ramses reigned

282
00:20:12,411 --> 00:20:14,641
Thebes was splendid

283
00:20:14,746 --> 00:20:16,043
He ordered beautiful additions

284
00:20:16,148 --> 00:20:20,107
made to Luxor temple
gigantic statues, obelisks

285
00:20:20,219 --> 00:20:24,053
and courts dedicated to the
glory of Amun-Re

286
00:20:33,799 --> 00:20:36,233
But having endured 3,000 years

287
00:20:36,335 --> 00:20:39,862
these monuments face destruction
in our time

288
00:20:39,972 --> 00:20:41,837
from the effects of
increased agriculture

289
00:20:41,940 --> 00:20:44,841
industrialization,
changing weather conditions

290
00:20:44,943 --> 00:20:47,343
due in part to the Aswan High Dam

291
00:20:47,446 --> 00:20:51,109
and even the tourists themselves

292
00:21:04,096 --> 00:21:07,463
In 1924, in response to the
impending crisis

293
00:21:07,566 --> 00:21:10,467
the Oriental Institute of
the University of chicago

294
00:21:10,569 --> 00:21:14,266
established a permanent
headquarters in Egypt

295
00:21:15,073 --> 00:21:17,166
called chicago House

296
00:21:17,276 --> 00:21:20,177
it was founded by
Dr. James Henry Breasted

297
00:21:20,279 --> 00:21:22,611
father of American Egyptology

298
00:21:22,714 --> 00:21:24,409
who envisioned making a record of

299
00:21:24,516 --> 00:21:28,008
all the endangered monuments of
ancient Egypt

300
00:21:30,756 --> 00:21:35,159
Today chicago House is under
the direction of Dr. Lanny Bell

301
00:21:37,029 --> 00:21:39,190
The scholars of chicago House
have undertaken

302
00:21:39,298 --> 00:21:44,065
a monumental labor called
the Epigraphic survey

303
00:21:48,040 --> 00:21:50,634
Over the past 50 years
the Oriental Institute

304
00:21:50,742 --> 00:21:53,404
has published an epic series
of volumes

305
00:21:53,512 --> 00:21:57,141
containing the results of the survey

306
00:21:57,249 --> 00:21:59,308
Utilizing an ingenious combination

307
00:21:59,418 --> 00:22:01,682
of photography and draftsmanship

308
00:22:01,787 --> 00:22:04,585
the chicago House Egyptologists
create facsimile

309
00:22:04,690 --> 00:22:08,558
drawings of the monuments' carved
and painted surfaces

310
00:22:08,660 --> 00:22:10,753
the only record that will remain

311
00:22:10,862 --> 00:22:12,557
when the hieroglyphs
and decorations

312
00:22:12,664 --> 00:22:16,600
have disappeared forever
from the temples

313
00:22:25,610 --> 00:22:28,044
As pharaoh succeeded pharaoh

314
00:22:28,146 --> 00:22:31,115
it was common for them
to alter temples

315
00:22:31,216 --> 00:22:34,549
taking credit for the work
of their predecessors

316
00:22:34,653 --> 00:22:36,917
By interpreting successive decorations

317
00:22:37,022 --> 00:22:41,550
the chicago House team is decoding
the history of Luxor temple

318
00:22:51,236 --> 00:22:53,830
As the glory of pharaonic Egypt faded

319
00:22:53,939 --> 00:22:56,874
people built houses inside the temple

320
00:22:56,975 --> 00:23:00,536
Their debris buried much of it
for 2,000 years

321
00:23:00,645 --> 00:23:03,671
When excavation started a hundred
years ago

322
00:23:03,782 --> 00:23:07,218
the stone walls were suddenly
exposed to the air

323
00:23:07,319 --> 00:23:11,016
since then, salts, leaching
out of the stone

324
00:23:11,123 --> 00:23:13,421
combine with moisture in the air

325
00:23:13,525 --> 00:23:15,959
creating crystals that slough off

326
00:23:16,061 --> 00:23:18,825
taking the images with them.

327
00:23:18,930 --> 00:23:22,696
The salt on the walls makes
our work urgent

328
00:23:22,801 --> 00:23:24,530
The reliefs are being dissolved

329
00:23:24,636 --> 00:23:27,298
so that within a period of 200 years

330
00:23:27,406 --> 00:23:29,397
the temple will still stand

331
00:23:29,508 --> 00:23:32,477
but all of the decorated surface
will have flaked off

332
00:23:32,577 --> 00:23:34,101
When they are gone

333
00:23:34,212 --> 00:23:36,237
we want there to be a record

334
00:23:36,348 --> 00:23:37,975
as accurate as humanly possible

335
00:23:38,083 --> 00:23:39,141
of the decoration

336
00:23:39,251 --> 00:23:42,948
so that scholars will be able to
consult our drawings

337
00:23:43,054 --> 00:23:45,852
and be sure that the reliability is such

338
00:23:45,957 --> 00:23:47,754
that any questions they have
about the decoration

339
00:23:47,859 --> 00:23:50,293
will be answered in our volumes

340
00:23:58,036 --> 00:24:00,504
When the gods were worshipped
here no more

341
00:24:00,605 --> 00:24:03,403
great portions of the temples
were dismantled

342
00:24:03,508 --> 00:24:05,976
Large blocks were broken into
smaller pieces

343
00:24:06,077 --> 00:24:08,875
for reuse as building material

344
00:24:11,883 --> 00:24:15,478
Thousands of them have been
collected over a 30-year period

345
00:24:15,587 --> 00:24:19,387
chicago House is conducting a
systematic search of the fragments

346
00:24:19,491 --> 00:24:24,326
to reconstruct a section called
the "Lost colonnade."

347
00:24:35,574 --> 00:24:37,542
Finding a fragment that may fit

348
00:24:37,642 --> 00:24:40,304
artist Ray Johnson makes notations

349
00:24:40,412 --> 00:24:43,404
and the block is carefully photographed

350
00:25:06,438 --> 00:25:11,068
An artist pencils, then inks in the
lines of the photograph

351
00:25:11,176 --> 00:25:12,905
making corrections and replacing

352
00:25:13,011 --> 00:25:15,946
what time may have removed

353
00:25:20,452 --> 00:25:21,976
Then the artist fits the photograph

354
00:25:22,087 --> 00:25:24,612
into his rendering of the wall

355
00:25:24,723 --> 00:25:26,782
Only the areas within the inked lines

356
00:25:26,892 --> 00:25:28,792
have actually been found

357
00:25:28,894 --> 00:25:30,327
But from the salvaged fragments

358
00:25:30,428 --> 00:25:34,592
it is sometimes possible to
reconstruct the entire design

359
00:25:34,699 --> 00:25:38,999
created by the original artists
3,000 years ago

360
00:25:44,743 --> 00:25:46,506
You support me going up

361
00:25:49,214 --> 00:25:52,115
On those exciting and rare occasions

362
00:25:52,217 --> 00:25:55,914
when a fragment that fits onto a
standing wall is found

363
00:25:56,021 --> 00:25:57,648
it is replaced

364
00:26:01,192 --> 00:26:02,659
Toward me?

365
00:26:03,261 --> 00:26:09,928
So, piece by piece, the ancient
temple of Amun-Re rises again

366
00:26:14,272 --> 00:26:17,105
The investigations of chicago House
have revealed

367
00:26:17,208 --> 00:26:18,835
that the colonnade of Luxor temple

368
00:26:18,944 --> 00:26:22,607
is the major standing monument
of Tutankhamun

369
00:26:22,714 --> 00:26:25,774
To completely evaluate its
architectural history

370
00:26:25,884 --> 00:26:27,818
the inscriptions at the top of
the structure

371
00:26:27,919 --> 00:26:29,910
must be photographed

372
00:26:30,021 --> 00:26:34,185
Ladders reaching five stories high
have been assembled

373
00:26:40,365 --> 00:26:42,390
This is the first time in 50 years

374
00:26:42,500 --> 00:26:45,594
that anyone has attempted the ascent

375
00:27:11,663 --> 00:27:13,130
On the 70-foot-high columns

376
00:27:13,231 --> 00:27:15,791
Dr. Bell studies the techniques used

377
00:27:15,900 --> 00:27:18,460
by the artisans of antiquity

378
00:27:18,570 --> 00:27:22,267
Here they inserted wooden blocks to
stabilize the structure

379
00:27:22,374 --> 00:27:24,569
as they fitted it together

380
00:27:28,546 --> 00:27:31,106
A roof once covered the colonnade

381
00:27:31,216 --> 00:27:36,677
but it fell or was removed sometime
before 1600 A.D.

382
00:27:36,788 --> 00:27:39,279
Fragments of it found on
the temple floor

383
00:27:39,391 --> 00:27:41,723
have been identified

384
00:27:50,635 --> 00:27:52,830
In assessing the temple's past

385
00:27:52,937 --> 00:27:56,896
Dr. Bell's thought inevitably
turn to its future

386
00:27:57,008 --> 00:27:59,408
Paradoxically, the vibrations caused

387
00:27:59,511 --> 00:28:03,379
by the endless footsteps of the
tourists who visit each year

388
00:28:03,481 --> 00:28:06,382
even the carbon dioxide they exhale

389
00:28:06,484 --> 00:28:10,887
are eroding the irreplaceable
treasures they come to enjoy

390
00:28:23,668 --> 00:28:25,226
chicago House studies have reveale

391
00:28:25,336 --> 00:28:28,931
that a hundred years after Tutankhamun
built this structure

392
00:28:29,040 --> 00:28:33,238
Ramses II systematically erased
his predecessor's

393
00:28:33,344 --> 00:28:35,539
and replace it with his own

394
00:28:35,647 --> 00:28:39,139
naively assuming he could deceive
the gods

395
00:28:39,250 --> 00:28:43,118
and take credit for the colonnade's
construction

396
00:28:54,232 --> 00:28:58,191
But Ramses also added to the
majesty of Luxor temple

397
00:28:58,303 --> 00:29:02,205
He built a massive entrance-
"The horizon

398
00:29:02,307 --> 00:29:04,935
from which the sun god goes forth."

399
00:29:05,043 --> 00:29:08,979
From reliefs we can reconstruct a
dazzling annual festival

400
00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:11,275
The Feast of Opet

401
00:29:21,459 --> 00:29:22,756
With the Nile in full flood

402
00:29:22,861 --> 00:29:24,886
the golden statue of the god Amun Re

403
00:29:24,996 --> 00:29:29,160
has been brought to Luxor from
karnak in its boat-shrine

404
00:29:32,270 --> 00:29:34,738
Within the temple's innermost
sanctuary

405
00:29:34,839 --> 00:29:37,034
Ramses offers incense, flowers

406
00:29:37,142 --> 00:29:41,135
and food to the linen-shrouded god

407
00:29:43,615 --> 00:29:46,243
The sacrifices and ceremonies concluded

408
00:29:46,351 --> 00:29:49,149
priests lead the procession out
of the temple

409
00:29:49,254 --> 00:29:52,485
purifying the way before them

410
00:29:59,464 --> 00:30:03,366
Thousands of citizens crowd the
waterfront to see musicians

411
00:30:03,468 --> 00:30:05,095
Nubian dancers, soldiers

412
00:30:05,203 --> 00:30:09,970
and priestesses accompany the
procession along the Nile

413
00:30:22,353 --> 00:30:25,322
The shrine of the god is placed
on its sacred

414
00:30:25,423 --> 00:30:27,914
and in great ceremony priests, god

415
00:30:28,026 --> 00:30:32,190
and pharaoh are towed back to
karnak temple

416
00:30:36,701 --> 00:30:39,363
Ramses' favorite queen, Nefertari

417
00:30:39,470 --> 00:30:43,600
and the royal princesses greet the
procession as it arrives

418
00:30:46,344 --> 00:30:49,279
concluding nearly a month of worship
and revelry,

419
00:30:49,380 --> 00:30:53,942
the royal couple enters the great
temple of Amun at karnak

420
00:31:00,124 --> 00:31:02,490
Within the sacred precincts
of the temple

421
00:31:02,594 --> 00:31:05,722
the shrine carrying the golden statue
of the god

422
00:31:05,830 --> 00:31:09,527
is hidden from public view
until the next year

423
00:31:20,745 --> 00:31:23,009
symbolically renewed and reborn

424
00:31:23,114 --> 00:31:25,912
the divine king Ramses advances
toward the innermost

425
00:31:26,017 --> 00:31:27,450
reaches of the temple

426
00:31:27,552 --> 00:31:30,919
where no common mortals are allowed
to venture

427
00:31:32,123 --> 00:31:34,557
Begun by his father, seti I

428
00:31:34,659 --> 00:31:38,356
this awesome hall was completed
by Ramses

429
00:31:38,963 --> 00:31:44,026
A soaring forest of stone,
it is created of 134 pillars

430
00:31:44,135 --> 00:31:46,933
some of them 80 feet high

431
00:31:51,209 --> 00:31:53,006
ceilings and columns are ornamented

432
00:31:53,111 --> 00:31:56,239
with Ramses' cartouches-magical ropes

433
00:31:56,347 --> 00:32:00,784
that surround the king's name to
protect him from evil

434
00:32:01,252 --> 00:32:04,244
In the hieroglyphs of his name
is the message

435
00:32:04,355 --> 00:32:08,621
"it is Re, the sun god, who bore him."

436
00:32:11,429 --> 00:32:12,794
From the sun god

437
00:32:12,897 --> 00:32:15,627
the pharaohs drew their right to
rule-their divinity

438
00:32:15,733 --> 00:32:18,759
their legitimacy, and crowns

439
00:32:18,870 --> 00:32:22,397
so they constructed this mighty city
of God

440
00:32:22,507 --> 00:32:24,372
A hundred pharaohs enlarged

441
00:32:24,475 --> 00:32:27,933
and embellished it over a period of
2,000 years

442
00:32:28,046 --> 00:32:31,209
a creation that did not cease
until the christian era...

443
00:32:31,316 --> 00:32:33,341
that has resumed as modern
archaeologists

444
00:32:33,451 --> 00:32:37,547
restore this timeless testimony
of faith

445
00:32:49,200 --> 00:32:53,136
Across the Nile stretches the Land
of the Dead

446
00:32:53,237 --> 00:32:56,570
Here, in mystical imitation of
the setting sun

447
00:32:56,674 --> 00:32:59,541
the bodies of the deceased were
laid to rest

448
00:32:59,644 --> 00:33:01,737
that they might rise again

449
00:33:01,846 --> 00:33:04,940
as the sun did each day

450
00:33:08,920 --> 00:33:10,581
cut into the heart of the mountain,

451
00:33:10,688 --> 00:33:15,022
the Theban necropolis is a vast
labyrinth of tombs

452
00:33:21,366 --> 00:33:23,266
Here, Ramses' architects built

453
00:33:23,368 --> 00:33:26,735
his splendid mortuary temple,
the Ramesseum

454
00:33:26,838 --> 00:33:28,897
In its forecourt lie huge fragments

455
00:33:29,007 --> 00:33:32,704
of his colossal statue 1,000 tons
of granite

456
00:33:32,810 --> 00:33:35,506
that once rose 57 feet in height...

457
00:33:35,613 --> 00:33:38,548
that inspired shelley's sonnet
"Ozymandias

458
00:33:38,649 --> 00:33:42,915
"in which he called the pharaoh
"king of kings."

459
00:33:48,559 --> 00:33:54,520
When Ramses died in 1224 B.c.,
the Ramesseum was magnificent

460
00:33:54,632 --> 00:33:59,763
Here, the magic of his name and
images would keep him alive forever

461
00:34:00,304 --> 00:34:02,636
This was but a stopping point for
the dead king

462
00:34:02,740 --> 00:34:04,731
and his funeral procession

463
00:34:04,842 --> 00:34:07,743
the sacred place where offerings
would be made to him

464
00:34:07,845 --> 00:34:11,781
from this day throughout all time

465
00:34:21,059 --> 00:34:23,050
Though mourners wept, they knew that

466
00:34:23,161 --> 00:34:27,530
if properly provided for,
one could live forever

467
00:34:27,632 --> 00:34:30,533
so they carried with them everything
the dead might need

468
00:34:30,635 --> 00:34:33,126
for the voyage through eternity

469
00:34:37,108 --> 00:34:38,871
For a king there would be boats in

470
00:34:38,976 --> 00:34:42,434
which he could sail endlessly
on the Nile...

471
00:34:59,097 --> 00:35:02,965
And a throne from which
he could continue to reign

472
00:35:09,874 --> 00:35:14,743
Even magical figures would be provided
to do his bidding in the afterlife

473
00:35:18,516 --> 00:35:22,384
In their tomb paintings the people
of the Nile depicted the hereafter

474
00:35:22,487 --> 00:35:25,479
as a pleasant extension of their
earthly lives...

475
00:35:25,590 --> 00:35:30,653
a place where they could amuse
themselves hunting ducks...

476
00:35:30,761 --> 00:35:34,128
where rich crops would sustain them

477
00:35:38,035 --> 00:35:41,300
The deceased carried with them
"Books of the Dead."

478
00:35:41,405 --> 00:35:44,135
They instructed the departed on how
to avoid the gods

479
00:35:44,242 --> 00:35:48,178
and demons that would attempt to
bar their way

480
00:35:48,279 --> 00:35:50,509
Her body painted with stars

481
00:35:50,615 --> 00:35:54,176
a goddess of the sky stretches over
a reclining god

482
00:35:54,285 --> 00:35:56,116
who represents the earth

483
00:35:56,220 --> 00:35:59,815
Between them, a winged form of
the sun god sails

484
00:35:59,924 --> 00:36:02,119
through the netherworld

485
00:36:10,568 --> 00:36:13,298
The divine, ibis-headed scribe, Thoth

486
00:36:13,404 --> 00:36:19,434
makes notes as the deeds of the deceased
are weighed on the scale of justice

487
00:36:22,313 --> 00:36:23,473
In an address to the gods

488
00:36:23,581 --> 00:36:26,675
the departed will assert his innocence

489
00:36:26,784 --> 00:36:28,979
"I am pure of mouth and hands

490
00:36:29,086 --> 00:36:33,716
without sin, without guilt,
without evil."

491
00:36:33,824 --> 00:36:37,191
Those who were judged to be without
sin could join Osiris

492
00:36:37,295 --> 00:36:42,028
to dwell in the "happy land of
the setting sun."

493
00:36:43,768 --> 00:36:45,235
But most important

494
00:36:45,336 --> 00:36:48,737
there must be a body to which the
soul could return

495
00:36:48,839 --> 00:36:50,670
Anubis, god of embalming

496
00:36:50,775 --> 00:36:53,869
prepares the body for the life to come

497
00:36:55,213 --> 00:36:57,943
so Ramses' mummy would have gone
to his tomb

498
00:36:58,049 --> 00:37:03,612
after a priest pronounced over it:
"You will live again forever."

499
00:37:15,499 --> 00:37:18,161
The tomb of Ramses II

500
00:37:21,539 --> 00:37:23,404
In a state of dangerous disrepair

501
00:37:23,507 --> 00:37:26,772
its access is forbidden
to almost everyone

502
00:37:26,877 --> 00:37:28,777
But a team headed by Dr. Kent Weeks

503
00:37:28,879 --> 00:37:31,347
of the University of california
at Berkeley

504
00:37:31,449 --> 00:37:33,849
has recently mapped it

505
00:37:36,954 --> 00:37:38,683
In the dynasty following Ramses'

506
00:37:38,789 --> 00:37:41,883
the royal tombs were systematically
plundered

507
00:37:41,993 --> 00:37:45,360
As a last resort, priests collected
the surviving royal mummies

508
00:37:45,463 --> 00:37:46,930
and hid them

509
00:37:47,031 --> 00:37:51,092
In 1871, a grave robber
found Ramses II

510
00:37:51,202 --> 00:37:55,536
where he had lain undisturbed
for 3,000 years

511
00:37:56,307 --> 00:37:58,434
Reclaimed by the Egyptian Government

512
00:37:58,542 --> 00:38:02,410
the mummy of Ramses now reposes
in the cairo museum

513
00:38:02,513 --> 00:38:06,347
far from the Valley of the kings

514
00:38:16,494 --> 00:38:17,552
This is the West Valley

515
00:38:17,662 --> 00:38:20,062
It's part of the ancient necropolis
of Thebes

516
00:38:20,164 --> 00:38:22,655
about nine square miles of some of
the most important

517
00:38:22,767 --> 00:38:25,565
archaeological monuments anywhere
in the world

518
00:38:25,670 --> 00:38:28,161
The Valley of the Queens, Valley
of the kings

519
00:38:28,272 --> 00:38:30,672
Tutankhamun's tomb, they're all here

520
00:38:30,775 --> 00:38:33,471
But in spite of several centuries of
interest in this area

521
00:38:33,577 --> 00:38:36,444
there still does not exist a detailed
archaeological map of

522
00:38:36,547 --> 00:38:38,014
what it contains

523
00:38:38,115 --> 00:38:40,447
That's the purpose of the Berkeley
Theban Mapping Project

524
00:38:40,551 --> 00:38:42,746
to make as detailed
an archaeological map

525
00:38:42,853 --> 00:38:45,651
as modern technology will permit

526
00:38:45,756 --> 00:38:47,223
It's an important project

527
00:38:47,325 --> 00:38:48,189
It's going to make it possible

528
00:38:48,292 --> 00:38:50,726
for us to study the history of
the necropolis

529
00:38:50,828 --> 00:38:51,692
But even more important

530
00:38:51,796 --> 00:38:55,254
it's going to help us to preserve
it and protect it

531
00:38:56,167 --> 00:38:59,398
surveying techniques are used to
measure topographical features

532
00:38:59,503 --> 00:39:01,937
...1.303

533
00:39:02,039 --> 00:39:03,370
Thank you.

534
00:39:15,086 --> 00:39:17,987
At headquarters in a village below
the necropolis

535
00:39:18,089 --> 00:39:20,751
the team reviews its findings

536
00:39:24,995 --> 00:39:26,326
It's okay

537
00:39:26,897 --> 00:39:30,025
can you see "Q2" there above the
temple at Deir el Medina?

538
00:39:30,134 --> 00:39:32,830
Aerial photographs are utilized
to plan tomb mapping

539
00:39:32,937 --> 00:39:36,304
for the next day in the Valley
of the Queens

540
00:39:36,407 --> 00:39:37,465
Right above the temple...

541
00:39:37,575 --> 00:39:39,600
Yeah, right there...

542
00:39:40,811 --> 00:39:44,247
Okay, that's the point we'll occupy
tomorrow morning

543
00:39:47,351 --> 00:39:50,787
When surface measurements are combined
with plans of the tombs

544
00:39:50,888 --> 00:39:54,949
they will create new and revolutionary
three-dimensional maps

545
00:39:55,059 --> 00:39:57,391
These will make it easier to find
correlations

546
00:39:57,495 --> 00:40:01,295
between the geography and the location
of the known tombs

547
00:40:01,399 --> 00:40:06,359
and perhaps enable scientists to
find tombs still undiscovered

548
00:40:06,470 --> 00:40:07,402
Let's drop everything here, Dave

549
00:40:07,505 --> 00:40:09,530
and then we can send it on down

550
00:40:11,509 --> 00:40:12,908
Why don't you and Jenny go on down

551
00:40:13,010 --> 00:40:14,443
We'll start passing stuff to you

552
00:40:14,545 --> 00:40:16,376
Dave, why don't you choose what we
have to take down

553
00:40:16,480 --> 00:40:17,412
and we'll leave the rest up here

554
00:40:17,515 --> 00:40:20,848
I get the lantern, not you

555
00:40:26,824 --> 00:40:29,156
Let's finish that rear chamber today
if we can, Dave

556
00:40:29,260 --> 00:40:34,994
I think we can. It looks like a
steep set of stairs

557
00:40:35,099 --> 00:40:38,262
Yeah. Watch your step
It isn't really.

558
00:40:38,369 --> 00:40:40,269
I got it
Okay.

559
00:40:51,682 --> 00:40:53,445
Standard surveying techniques are used to

560
00:40:53,551 --> 00:40:56,452
obtain the dimensions of each chamber

561
00:40:57,455 --> 00:41:02,051
Every archaeological detail will
be drawn and recorded

562
00:41:12,069 --> 00:41:13,127
I think that's about it, cathy

563
00:41:13,237 --> 00:41:14,465
Did you get those problems in
the back chamber?

564
00:41:14,572 --> 00:41:17,803
It was customary to place the tombs
of royal children

565
00:41:17,908 --> 00:41:19,933
in the Valley of the Queens

566
00:41:20,044 --> 00:41:21,909
This is the tomb of a young prince

567
00:41:22,012 --> 00:41:24,071
son of Ramses III.

568
00:41:24,181 --> 00:41:27,309
Here, the pharaoh himself offers
incense to the gods

569
00:41:27,418 --> 00:41:29,579
on the boy's behalf

570
00:41:40,097 --> 00:41:41,928
In these touching scenes

571
00:41:42,032 --> 00:41:44,262
the pharaoh leads his nine-year-old son

572
00:41:44,368 --> 00:41:47,633
into the presence of the divinities
of the underworld

573
00:41:47,738 --> 00:41:49,763
carrying the feather of truth,

574
00:41:49,874 --> 00:41:53,332
the boy obediently follows his father.

575
00:42:05,623 --> 00:42:07,284
It is believed the ancient sculptors

576
00:42:07,391 --> 00:42:10,827
and painters lit the interiors of
tombs and temples

577
00:42:10,928 --> 00:42:14,694
with polished metal reflectors
used as mirrors.

578
00:42:14,798 --> 00:42:18,791
And these scenes were filmed under
the same conditions.

579
00:42:29,547 --> 00:42:32,038
This is the tomb of Nefertari

580
00:42:32,149 --> 00:42:35,118
Though Ramses had at least
four royal wives

581
00:42:35,219 --> 00:42:37,744
she remained his favorite

582
00:42:37,855 --> 00:42:42,019
Due to humidity caused by increased
irrigation in nearby farmland

583
00:42:42,126 --> 00:42:45,960
the exquisite murals of her tomb
are flaking off

584
00:42:51,268 --> 00:42:54,032
Unless scientists can halt
the deterioration

585
00:42:54,138 --> 00:42:56,504
these may be the last moments of
what was imagined

586
00:42:56,607 --> 00:42:59,508
as the endless ages in which Nefertari

587
00:42:59,610 --> 00:43:02,306
would live on these walls

588
00:43:03,180 --> 00:43:04,078
This was the woman with

589
00:43:04,181 --> 00:43:08,117
who Ramses believed he would go
through eternity...

590
00:43:08,218 --> 00:43:11,449
to whom these words were written

591
00:43:12,690 --> 00:43:14,783
"The princess, rich in grace

592
00:43:14,892 --> 00:43:18,555
Lady of affection, sweet with love

593
00:43:18,662 --> 00:43:20,892
mistress of the Two Lands

594
00:43:20,998 --> 00:43:23,466
songstress of the beautiful countenance

595
00:43:23,567 --> 00:43:27,094
Greatest in the harem of the lord
of the palace

596
00:43:27,204 --> 00:43:30,435
All that you say, will be done
for you

597
00:43:30,541 --> 00:43:34,409
Everything beautiful according
to your wish

598
00:43:34,511 --> 00:43:37,947
All your words bring contentment
to the face

599
00:43:38,048 --> 00:43:42,348
Wherefore men love to hear your voice."

600
00:43:42,453 --> 00:43:45,854
These tributes speak to us of love
and hope

601
00:43:45,956 --> 00:43:49,687
a people and a civilization
that soared brilliantly

602
00:43:49,793 --> 00:43:52,853
and then was eclipsed

603
00:44:11,181 --> 00:44:14,742
Here at the temple of Isis,
built on an island in the Nile

604
00:44:14,852 --> 00:44:18,879
the religion of ancient Egypt had
its last stronghold

605
00:45:08,338 --> 00:45:12,104
After 332 B.c., the Greek Ptolemies
would reign

606
00:45:12,209 --> 00:45:15,303
as the last dynasty of pharaohs

607
00:45:19,616 --> 00:45:21,140
Embracing the Egyptian religion

608
00:45:21,251 --> 00:45:24,618
they built this temple dedicated
to the worship of Isis

609
00:45:24,722 --> 00:45:26,952
divine symbol of motherhood

610
00:45:27,057 --> 00:45:31,016
her husband Osiris,
and their son Horus

611
00:45:35,566 --> 00:45:39,969
There stories are told and retold
on the temple walls

612
00:45:40,571 --> 00:45:42,266
But the story of another holy family

613
00:45:42,372 --> 00:45:44,602
was to sweep over Egypt

614
00:45:46,710 --> 00:45:49,372
The carvings, now considered pagan

615
00:45:49,480 --> 00:45:51,573
were chiseled away

616
00:45:54,451 --> 00:45:56,919
christianity became
the state religion

617
00:45:57,020 --> 00:45:58,612
and in the sixth century

618
00:45:58,722 --> 00:46:02,590
this temple became a christian church

619
00:46:09,967 --> 00:46:13,266
The meaning of the hieroglyphs
would be forgotten

620
00:46:13,370 --> 00:46:16,271
the ancient rites forbidden

621
00:46:17,007 --> 00:46:18,668
For 12 centuries

622
00:46:18,776 --> 00:46:21,711
the story of Egypt's
ancient civilization

623
00:46:21,812 --> 00:46:23,837
would be lost

624
00:46:30,387 --> 00:46:33,618
In 640, Islam and the teachings
of Mohammed

625
00:46:33,724 --> 00:46:35,783
swept over the country

626
00:46:37,327 --> 00:46:41,229
A succession of foreigners was
to rule until 1952

627
00:46:41,331 --> 00:46:42,491
when revolution restored

628
00:46:42,599 --> 00:46:47,093
full independence to Egypt
after 2,000 years

629
00:46:54,011 --> 00:46:57,913
cairo is the African continent's
largest city

630
00:46:58,015 --> 00:47:01,382
Vexed by 20th-century problems
of explosive growth

631
00:47:01,485 --> 00:47:04,852
pollution, economic and political
difficulties

632
00:47:04,955 --> 00:47:07,287
cairo, like Egypt itself

633
00:47:07,391 --> 00:47:09,359
survives through the resilience

634
00:47:09,459 --> 00:47:13,054
humor and vigor of its people

635
00:47:26,710 --> 00:47:28,871
Facing an expanding population

636
00:47:28,979 --> 00:47:31,641
and an emerging nation's need
for energy

637
00:47:31,748 --> 00:47:35,514
the Aswan High Dam was built
in the 1960s

638
00:47:35,619 --> 00:47:39,350
With 17 times the material contained
in the Great Pyramid

639
00:47:39,456 --> 00:47:42,289
the dam is a monument to
the new nationalism

640
00:47:42,392 --> 00:47:47,887
and what some would call the
20th-century religion-technology

641
00:47:51,735 --> 00:47:54,795
Behind the dam, Nubia was flooded

642
00:47:54,905 --> 00:47:56,873
much of this ancient land disappeared

643
00:47:56,974 --> 00:48:00,000
beneath the rising waters
of the Nile

644
00:48:02,045 --> 00:48:03,342
And at Abu simbel

645
00:48:03,447 --> 00:48:06,712
a magnificent temple hewn
from a sandstone monolith

646
00:48:06,817 --> 00:48:08,148
the newly-forming lake licked

647
00:48:08,252 --> 00:48:12,655
at the feet of these colossal
images of Ramses II

648
00:48:12,756 --> 00:48:14,519
A concerned world realized

649
00:48:14,625 --> 00:48:17,560
that the temple would soon
be engulfed

650
00:48:20,664 --> 00:48:21,824
How could it

651
00:48:21,932 --> 00:48:26,460
and the temple of Nefertari
which flanked it, be saved?

652
00:48:29,973 --> 00:48:32,498
At the 11th hour with funding
from Egypt

653
00:48:32,609 --> 00:48:34,975
the United states, and UNEscO

654
00:48:35,078 --> 00:48:38,104
an international team swung
into action

655
00:48:38,215 --> 00:48:40,445
racing the rising Nile

656
00:48:40,550 --> 00:48:41,983
slab by slab

657
00:48:42,085 --> 00:48:44,849
in cuts no more than a quarter
of an inch thick

658
00:48:44,955 --> 00:48:47,423
the temple was dismantled

659
00:48:49,192 --> 00:48:50,921
The work continued night and day

660
00:48:51,028 --> 00:48:55,226
as workmen cut 190 feet down
through the cliffs

661
00:49:12,616 --> 00:49:14,174
coded for storage

662
00:49:14,284 --> 00:49:17,583
the sections made a giant
jigsaw puzzle

663
00:49:57,561 --> 00:50:00,655
Moved up 200 feet beyond the
reach of the Nile

664
00:50:00,764 --> 00:50:02,994
the temple was reassembled

665
00:50:03,100 --> 00:50:06,831
The precision of watchmakers was
applied to the colossi

666
00:50:06,937 --> 00:50:11,533
reconstructed to an accuracy of
a tenth of an inch

667
00:50:42,005 --> 00:50:45,736
Ramses' temple was designed by
ancient priest-astronomers

668
00:50:45,842 --> 00:50:47,571
so that
the sun would penetrate deep

669
00:50:47,677 --> 00:50:50,612
within to bless a figure of the
pharaoh on the jubilee

670
00:50:50,714 --> 00:50:53,808
that celebrated 30 years of
his reign

671
00:50:53,917 --> 00:50:57,512
In our time, engineers have
resituated the temple

672
00:50:57,621 --> 00:51:00,181
so that the sun still streams
in on the pharaoh

673
00:51:00,290 --> 00:51:05,193
on each anniversary of that day
3,200 years ago

674
00:51:12,069 --> 00:51:15,561
Gilding the statue of the king
seated among the gods

675
00:51:15,672 --> 00:51:20,735
the sun god Re bathes the figures
in sacred light

676
00:51:41,565 --> 00:51:46,502
Why have people come here since the
days of ancient Greece and Rome

677
00:51:47,204 --> 00:51:49,331
These works are expressions
of the quest

678
00:51:49,439 --> 00:51:51,703
for the meaning of life itself

679
00:51:51,808 --> 00:51:54,641
a longing for connection with
the gods

680
00:51:54,744 --> 00:51:59,340
a need for beauty,
a hope for immortality

681
00:51:59,449 --> 00:52:01,178
They are worth knowing
and worth saving

682
00:52:01,284 --> 00:52:03,252
because the record of the
past tells up

683
00:52:03,353 --> 00:52:05,253
something of ourselves

684
00:52:05,355 --> 00:52:07,755
and hints of our future

685
00:52:07,858 --> 00:52:09,723
Here, Egyptians and travelers

686
00:52:09,826 --> 00:52:12,727
alike raise their eyes to Ramses

687
00:52:12,829 --> 00:52:15,457
speak of him, remember him
as a leader

688
00:52:15,565 --> 00:52:18,728
who signed the world's first
major peace treaty

689
00:52:18,835 --> 00:52:20,735
It reads

690
00:52:20,837 --> 00:52:22,771
"Beginning with this day

691
00:52:22,873 --> 00:52:24,841
in order to bring about good peace

692
00:52:24,941 --> 00:52:27,569
and good brotherhood between us
forever...

693
00:52:27,677 --> 00:52:29,577
he is in peace with me

694
00:52:29,679 --> 00:52:32,079
and I am in brotherhood with him

695
00:52:32,182 --> 00:52:36,380
and I am in peace with him, forever."

696
00:52:38,688 --> 00:52:41,179
In the religion of the
ancient Egyptians

697
00:52:41,291 --> 00:52:45,284
to speak of the dead is to make
them live again

698
00:52:45,395 --> 00:52:51,493
For Ramses, the quest for eternity
has been fulfilled