1 00:00:08,226 --> 00:00:13,776 For 5,000 years this land, Egypt, and the epic civilisation it gave 2 00:00:13,776 --> 00:00:18,836 birth to has been shaped by one thing more than any other, 3 00:00:18,836 --> 00:00:20,195 this awesome river. 4 00:00:22,275 --> 00:00:23,346 The River Nile. 5 00:00:25,506 --> 00:00:27,786 The Nile helped temples to rise... 6 00:00:29,986 --> 00:00:34,226 ...Pharaohs to rule and pyramids to be built. 7 00:00:35,586 --> 00:00:39,275 Without the Nile there'd have been no Ancient Egypt. 8 00:00:40,962 --> 00:00:46,556 So, I'm setting off on the historicaljourney of a lifetime, 9 00:00:46,556 --> 00:00:51,736 a 900 mile adventure, along the Nile, across the whole of Egypt. 10 00:00:51,736 --> 00:00:55,386 I'll explore Egypt's greatest achievements... 11 00:00:55,386 --> 00:00:57,746 It is truly wonderful, isn't it? 12 00:00:57,746 --> 00:01:01,356 ...And find treasures hidden for thousands of years. 13 00:01:01,356 --> 00:01:03,746 Oh, my God. That's a sheer drop down. 14 00:01:03,746 --> 00:01:07,015 This is my chance to travel this fabulous land. 15 00:01:08,906 --> 00:01:14,195 And experience it as the ancient Egyptians did, from the River Nile. 16 00:01:14,195 --> 00:01:18,426 From pharaohs to slaves, from facts to fantasies, 17 00:01:18,426 --> 00:01:23,346 I want to explore, first hand, and understand how this river 18 00:01:23,346 --> 00:01:27,506 shaped one of the world's first, and greatest, civilisations. 19 00:01:29,195 --> 00:01:35,726 Join me as I uncover 5,000 years of history along the River Nile. 20 00:01:45,376 --> 00:01:49,916 For thousands of years this river has been the lifeblood of Egypt. 21 00:01:52,866 --> 00:01:56,866 My first taste of the mighty Nile is its mouth. 22 00:01:57,935 --> 00:02:00,945 I've hitched a lift on this fishing boat to check out 23 00:02:00,945 --> 00:02:03,075 where the river meets the sea. 24 00:02:05,436 --> 00:02:08,226 These boats are coming in from the Mediterranean. 25 00:02:08,226 --> 00:02:11,175 I'm right at the very mouth of the Nile delta. 26 00:02:12,486 --> 00:02:17,055 Since ancient times this has been Egypt's gateway to the world, 27 00:02:17,055 --> 00:02:20,646 and it was along these waters the world connected 28 00:02:20,646 --> 00:02:24,496 to a civilisation that's had enormous influence on all our lives. 29 00:02:27,185 --> 00:02:30,336 For thousands of years the Nile has nourished culture, 30 00:02:30,336 --> 00:02:34,616 and civilisation, and technology. But it's also been people's home. 31 00:02:34,616 --> 00:02:37,776 So over the next few weeks I'm going to be leaving the land, 32 00:02:37,776 --> 00:02:39,976 and living on the water. 33 00:02:39,976 --> 00:02:43,255 I hope to be meeting old friends and perhaps making new ones 34 00:02:43,255 --> 00:02:47,486 so I can try to understand the power, and the secrets, 35 00:02:47,486 --> 00:02:50,616 and the stories of this historical dynamo. 36 00:02:52,805 --> 00:02:56,255 My journey proper begins on the other side of the Nile Delta 37 00:02:56,255 --> 00:03:01,356 at Cairo, where the mass of streams and canals at the Nile's end come 38 00:03:01,356 --> 00:03:05,716 together to form one glorious river. 39 00:03:05,716 --> 00:03:09,536 From there, I'm sailing upstream using the river like a historical 40 00:03:09,536 --> 00:03:13,336 treasure map to investigate great sites and new discoveries 41 00:03:13,336 --> 00:03:15,005 from ancient Egypt. 42 00:03:15,005 --> 00:03:18,976 It's an adventure along Egypt's river artery, 43 00:03:18,976 --> 00:03:21,686 all the way to its border with Sudan. 44 00:03:26,626 --> 00:03:29,666 But to do any of this, I'm going to need more than 45 00:03:29,666 --> 00:03:31,666 just a fishing boat. 46 00:03:32,876 --> 00:03:35,075 Because I'm making a historical journey, 47 00:03:35,075 --> 00:03:38,025 my home for the next couple of weeks is going to be a traditional boat 48 00:03:38,025 --> 00:03:41,646 that for centuries has sailed up and down the river Nile. 49 00:03:41,646 --> 00:03:45,075 It's this beautiful thing, a Dahabiya. 50 00:03:49,916 --> 00:03:55,142 Part barge part sailboat, Dahabiyas are unique to the shallow waters 51 00:03:55,142 --> 00:03:56,472 of the Nile. 52 00:03:59,096 --> 00:04:00,986 My goodness, this is absolutely huge. 53 00:04:00,986 --> 00:04:02,536 I wasn't expecting it to be so big. 54 00:04:02,536 --> 00:04:05,616 Hello. Hi. Are you Osama? Please. Nice to meet you. 55 00:04:05,616 --> 00:04:08,656 Thank you. Welcome. Thank you so much. Please. I will. 56 00:04:08,656 --> 00:04:12,086 Gosh, this is so beautiful. What an amazing boat. 57 00:04:12,086 --> 00:04:15,416 I've seen them in pictures, these, but I've never actually 58 00:04:15,416 --> 00:04:17,616 had a chance to sail on one before. 59 00:04:17,616 --> 00:04:20,216 Flat bottom boats like this have sailed up the Nile 60 00:04:20,216 --> 00:04:22,156 for thousands of years. 61 00:04:22,156 --> 00:04:27,286 In ancient Egypt the symbol for any kind of a journey 62 00:04:27,286 --> 00:04:28,416 was a boat. 63 00:04:28,416 --> 00:04:29,776 This is our captain. 64 00:04:29,776 --> 00:04:31,586 Hi, nice to meet you. 65 00:04:31,586 --> 00:04:34,786 Hi, I'm Bettany. Welcome. Thank you. 66 00:04:34,786 --> 00:04:38,296 And this is this is your cruise. Yeah. Hi, Gentlemen. 67 00:04:38,296 --> 00:04:39,935 Hi, I'm Bettany. 68 00:04:39,935 --> 00:04:42,496 The ancient Egyptians were a bit wary of ocean travel, 69 00:04:42,496 --> 00:04:46,726 but when it came to the Nile they were in their element. 70 00:04:46,726 --> 00:04:48,805 Let me show you cabin. 71 00:04:48,805 --> 00:04:53,086 Cruises on Dahabiyas like this became popular 200 years ago, 72 00:04:53,086 --> 00:04:56,626 as modern day travellers fell under Egypt's spell. 73 00:04:57,856 --> 00:04:59,576 Pitch-black in here, everybody. 74 00:05:01,055 --> 00:05:02,035 I'll open the curtains. 75 00:05:08,676 --> 00:05:09,766 Oh, my goodness. 76 00:05:12,795 --> 00:05:14,146 Hello, Nile. 77 00:05:14,146 --> 00:05:15,506 This is ridiculous. 78 00:05:16,826 --> 00:05:19,606 What am I going to tell my husband and my kids when I get home? 79 00:05:19,606 --> 00:05:21,785 They think I'm working very hard. 80 00:05:21,785 --> 00:05:25,626 This is your private terrace. I've got my own little deck. 81 00:05:30,676 --> 00:05:35,636 Oh, that's not bad, Osama. I do really love this river. 82 00:05:36,716 --> 00:05:40,766 The river Nile is actually the father of all other rivers, 83 00:05:40,766 --> 00:05:41,875 all over the world. 84 00:05:41,875 --> 00:05:44,556 Yes. This is what I think about the River Nile. 85 00:05:44,556 --> 00:05:49,196 Yes. Yeah, well, it just created a whole world, didn't it, the Nile? 86 00:05:49,196 --> 00:05:51,656 There's no doubt. No. Amazing. 87 00:05:51,656 --> 00:05:53,986 I'm not going to explore its secrets. 88 00:05:58,096 --> 00:06:02,145 One thing you learned quickly in Egypt is that it's smart to avoid 89 00:06:02,145 --> 00:06:03,986 the midday heat. 90 00:06:03,986 --> 00:06:07,376 So, as dawn arrives the crew get ready to depart. 91 00:06:23,866 --> 00:06:26,786 And as the sun appears we're on our way. 92 00:06:39,856 --> 00:06:44,706 The Nile united ancient Egyptians from north to south, bank to bank. 93 00:06:47,065 --> 00:06:49,706 I want to try to understand these people, 94 00:06:49,706 --> 00:06:52,945 and the role this river played in all their lives. 95 00:06:54,666 --> 00:06:59,416 And I'll be exploring the land that first got me hooked on history. 96 00:07:04,935 --> 00:07:08,346 Whenever I go travelling I always take one of these, 97 00:07:08,346 --> 00:07:11,256 so I write notes on the places I've visited. 98 00:07:11,256 --> 00:07:15,506 I bring quotes from ancient authors and sometimes photos. 99 00:07:15,506 --> 00:07:19,736 But for this trip I've been asked to include some photos of myself 100 00:07:19,736 --> 00:07:22,566 and there's a reason for this. 101 00:07:22,566 --> 00:07:26,556 I was five years old when I first saw the British Museum, 102 00:07:26,556 --> 00:07:29,516 and it's amazing Tutankhamun exhibition. 103 00:07:31,476 --> 00:07:35,726 That experience inspired me to write my first book. 104 00:07:35,726 --> 00:07:39,015 This is My Busy Book, by Bettany. 105 00:07:39,015 --> 00:07:43,015 This is my theory on why, and how, Tutankhamun died. 106 00:07:44,246 --> 00:07:46,966 "Tutankhamun was a long time ago. 107 00:07:46,966 --> 00:07:49,786 He must have lots of men because he was rich, 108 00:07:49,786 --> 00:07:51,576 and he was very, very nice. 109 00:07:51,576 --> 00:07:57,856 But one day some, spelt 'sum', mosquitoes, that were very germy, 110 00:07:57,856 --> 00:08:01,706 bit him, and he died. Somebody buried the jewellery, 111 00:08:01,706 --> 00:08:06,526 and made doors for the jewellery, but after some men dug it up." 112 00:08:06,526 --> 00:08:08,456 Obviously, archaeologists. 113 00:08:08,456 --> 00:08:12,815 And lots and lots, and lots, and lots of people went to the museum, 114 00:08:12,815 --> 00:08:15,736 and on the television you can see it. 115 00:08:18,376 --> 00:08:22,815 The story of Tutankhamun has captivated millions. 116 00:08:22,815 --> 00:08:25,976 He's one of the reasons I became a historian. 117 00:08:27,055 --> 00:08:30,466 I've been tipped off that this afternoon something rather 118 00:08:30,466 --> 00:08:32,376 extraordinary is happening. 119 00:08:33,656 --> 00:08:35,166 I've got an appointment 120 00:08:35,166 --> 00:08:38,236 with one of the world's leading Egyptologists 121 00:08:38,236 --> 00:08:39,786 at the Egyptian Museum. 122 00:08:42,216 --> 00:08:45,416 I can't tell you how much this is my happy place, 123 00:08:45,416 --> 00:08:48,025 because this museum is 5,000 square meters. 124 00:08:48,025 --> 00:08:50,786 It's absolutely jam packed with artefacts, 125 00:08:50,786 --> 00:08:52,145 and treasures and objects. 126 00:08:52,145 --> 00:08:54,456 They even say there's not enough room for them all. 127 00:08:54,456 --> 00:08:56,945 So they have to be stored out here in the courtyard. 128 00:08:59,866 --> 00:09:06,286 This magnificent museum holds 120,000 Egyptian antiquities. 129 00:09:06,286 --> 00:09:10,795 Amongst them is the world's greatest collection of royal coffins. 130 00:09:10,795 --> 00:09:15,076 And this afternoon one of them is going to be opened 131 00:09:15,076 --> 00:09:18,316 for a very rare glimpse of the mummy inside. 132 00:09:20,675 --> 00:09:23,145 I think it's somewhere around here. I think. 133 00:09:25,746 --> 00:09:26,746 Hi, Salima. 134 00:09:29,256 --> 00:09:33,145 Professor Salima lkram and I share a passion for the story of Egypt. 135 00:09:33,145 --> 00:09:35,176 I'm so pleased that you could come. 136 00:09:35,176 --> 00:09:38,145 Salima is a world expert in mummification. 137 00:09:38,145 --> 00:09:40,656 And today I'm joining her team. 138 00:09:40,656 --> 00:09:43,976 Their subject is 3,400 years old. 139 00:09:46,176 --> 00:09:48,096 She's called Thuya. 140 00:09:48,096 --> 00:09:52,456 And she's no less than the great grandmother of Tutankhamun. 141 00:09:54,056 --> 00:09:56,096 I've never actually seen her face. 142 00:09:56,096 --> 00:10:00,376 No, no, because this has not been opened for ages. 143 00:10:00,376 --> 00:10:04,226 Salima needs to check on Thuya's body, so her glass cabinet 144 00:10:04,226 --> 00:10:05,786 is being opened. 145 00:10:05,786 --> 00:10:08,256 Her coffin lid will be removed. 146 00:10:08,256 --> 00:10:14,456 And for the first time in years, we'll be able to see her mummified. 147 00:10:27,766 --> 00:10:31,146 In the centre of modern Cairo just yards from the River Nile 148 00:10:31,146 --> 00:10:35,686 I've come to the Egyptian Museum for a rather special rendezvous. 149 00:10:35,686 --> 00:10:41,317 This afternoon I'm coming face-to-face with the great grandmother 150 00:10:41,317 --> 00:10:42,886 of Tutankhamun. 151 00:10:42,886 --> 00:10:47,367 Oh, my goodness. My heart is actually beating faster. 152 00:10:48,587 --> 00:10:52,957 Why she's special, is it's maybe one of the best preserved mummies. 153 00:10:52,957 --> 00:10:57,756 Absolutely. She is one of the best preserved mummies that we have. 154 00:10:57,756 --> 00:10:59,467 This is Thuya. 155 00:10:59,467 --> 00:11:02,597 She was discovered two decades before her great grandson. 156 00:11:04,017 --> 00:11:06,906 When we look at her face, do you think that could give us 157 00:11:06,906 --> 00:11:09,457 any genetic clues as to what Tutankhamun looked like? 158 00:11:09,457 --> 00:11:12,417 I think that would be quite possible especially because they've got 159 00:11:12,417 --> 00:11:14,736 the same set of teeth sticking out a bit. 160 00:11:14,736 --> 00:11:18,736 What's really extraordinary is that she's not born royal. 161 00:11:18,736 --> 00:11:20,526 There's a lot of social mobility. 162 00:11:20,526 --> 00:11:24,297 I mean, she starts off quite common. just has a priestess, 163 00:11:24,297 --> 00:11:27,617 and then she's in this splendid tomb with all of this gold, 164 00:11:27,617 --> 00:11:28,646 and stuff. Amazing. 165 00:11:29,746 --> 00:11:31,947 Can you smell that? 166 00:11:31,947 --> 00:11:35,297 It smells like resins and incense. It does. 167 00:11:35,297 --> 00:11:36,986 So, look down here. 168 00:11:38,387 --> 00:11:42,117 That's actually the resins that are part of the mummification 169 00:11:42,117 --> 00:11:45,367 and burial ritual, and they were poured over, 170 00:11:45,367 --> 00:11:47,187 and some of them are still... 171 00:11:47,187 --> 00:11:50,197 you can see it must have been in a funny position 172 00:11:50,197 --> 00:11:53,447 because of the way it's dribbled. Wow. 173 00:11:53,447 --> 00:11:58,837 Can I just have a moment to get this millennia old smell? 174 00:11:58,837 --> 00:12:00,006 That is amazing. 175 00:12:01,077 --> 00:12:04,087 This is closer than anyone normally gets to Thuya. 176 00:12:04,087 --> 00:12:07,477 Yeah, I think all of our conservators are ready. 177 00:12:10,637 --> 00:12:13,447 It's time to see how the lady herself is faring. 178 00:12:14,796 --> 00:12:15,796 OK. 179 00:12:31,927 --> 00:12:33,407 Oh, my God! Look at her! 180 00:12:35,756 --> 00:12:37,047 She's magnificent. 181 00:12:40,657 --> 00:12:44,407 She's so tiny, and so perfect. 182 00:12:48,016 --> 00:12:51,397 Look at her hair, she's got this beautiful, thick head of curly, 183 00:12:51,397 --> 00:12:55,447 kind of, strawberry blonde... is that the original colour? 184 00:12:55,447 --> 00:12:57,407 Well, we did... We're not 100% sure, 185 00:12:57,407 --> 00:13:01,087 but when you're using natron which we use for mummification, 186 00:13:01,087 --> 00:13:02,756 it's a bleach. 187 00:13:02,756 --> 00:13:06,806 So it's like putting salt on your hair, when you go to the beach. 188 00:13:06,806 --> 00:13:09,037 And look at her. She's got double pierced earrings. 189 00:13:09,037 --> 00:13:10,047 She has. 190 00:13:11,067 --> 00:13:13,897 She does have that Tutankhamun overbite. 191 00:13:16,097 --> 00:13:19,357 She's even more beautiful than in her pictures. 192 00:13:19,357 --> 00:13:22,627 By Thuya's time mummification had been practised 193 00:13:22,627 --> 00:13:25,097 for at least 1,200 years. 194 00:13:25,097 --> 00:13:29,856 That sophisticated process of preparing and preserving the body 195 00:13:29,856 --> 00:13:32,546 would have taken over two months to complete. 196 00:13:35,352 --> 00:13:37,615 She's a really fine example of mummification 197 00:13:37,615 --> 00:13:40,785 but how can you tell that? What here tells you this is a really, really, 198 00:13:40,785 --> 00:13:43,146 really good job. Well, I mean, it's a totally, beautifully 199 00:13:43,146 --> 00:13:46,306 well-preserved, recognisable face. 200 00:13:46,306 --> 00:13:49,675 Completely. You can see her eyebrows and cheekbones. 201 00:13:49,675 --> 00:13:52,396 Sometimes the nose goes a bit funny. Yeah, she's got a little bit of 202 00:13:52,396 --> 00:13:54,596 stuffing, she looks absolutely gorgeous. 203 00:13:54,596 --> 00:13:56,526 The ears are so well preserved, it's not broken, 204 00:13:56,526 --> 00:13:58,456 she's got her hair, the kind of wrapping, 205 00:13:58,456 --> 00:14:02,015 the individual wrapping of her tootsies is so perfect. 206 00:14:02,015 --> 00:14:04,446 The fact that she's wearing sandals, 207 00:14:04,446 --> 00:14:07,606 and really every care was taken with her, 208 00:14:07,606 --> 00:14:10,116 and from the smell you can also tell 209 00:14:10,116 --> 00:14:12,966 that it was really good quality resins. 210 00:14:12,966 --> 00:14:14,635 OK, look this is really cool. 211 00:14:14,635 --> 00:14:17,685 OK. See. Look at her eyes. Yeah. 212 00:14:17,685 --> 00:14:20,865 So what they did was, they lifted the lids up and then they put 213 00:14:20,865 --> 00:14:25,146 in pieces of cloth which they put a bit of resin onto and made them 214 00:14:25,146 --> 00:14:29,665 look like eyes, so that she can see things in her afterlife. 215 00:14:29,665 --> 00:14:31,545 Just look at that face. 216 00:14:31,545 --> 00:14:34,386 What she's seen, what she's lived through. 217 00:14:34,386 --> 00:14:36,795 The world that she experienced. 218 00:14:36,795 --> 00:14:40,026 My God, if she could talk, what she could tell us. 219 00:14:41,266 --> 00:14:44,535 Salima will now check that the humidity of the museum 220 00:14:44,535 --> 00:14:47,106 hasn't been affecting to Thuya. 221 00:14:47,106 --> 00:14:51,306 But the signs are, that well into her fourth millennium, 222 00:14:51,306 --> 00:14:53,436 she's doing very well indeed. 223 00:14:54,586 --> 00:14:57,896 Just to be that close to her face it really makes you realise 224 00:14:57,896 --> 00:15:01,735 this was a woman, like me. A woman who's had children, 225 00:15:01,735 --> 00:15:07,116 who lived through a life and was now going really happily through death 226 00:15:07,116 --> 00:15:08,356 to another world. 227 00:15:08,356 --> 00:15:11,406 And I think you've got to remember that. We think that mummies 228 00:15:11,406 --> 00:15:13,846 are something kind of grisly, and gruesome, and scary. 229 00:15:13,846 --> 00:15:16,916 But, for these people, this is the beginning 230 00:15:16,916 --> 00:15:18,916 of the best after-party. 231 00:15:18,916 --> 00:15:22,096 And whatever happened to her, I hope that Thuya 232 00:15:22,096 --> 00:15:23,966 has been enjoying herself. 233 00:15:29,436 --> 00:15:33,186 The eternal afterlife, and the detailed preparations 234 00:15:33,186 --> 00:15:38,256 for it, make the ancient Egyptians endlessly fascinating. 235 00:15:38,256 --> 00:15:44,565 But they weren't death obsessed. They were great lovers of life too. 236 00:15:46,126 --> 00:15:49,206 From the Nile's water levels, to the sun's movement 237 00:15:49,206 --> 00:15:50,846 and nature around them. 238 00:15:52,815 --> 00:15:57,326 They made detailed observations of the world that they lived in. 239 00:15:59,716 --> 00:16:03,326 I brought something slightly bizarre with me. 240 00:16:03,326 --> 00:16:07,046 This is a replica of an ancient Egyptian hedgehog. 241 00:16:08,486 --> 00:16:10,815 The Ancient Egyptians loved hedgehogs. 242 00:16:10,815 --> 00:16:13,765 They thought they were slightly magical because they hibernated, 243 00:16:13,765 --> 00:16:16,126 and then seemed to come back to life. 244 00:16:16,126 --> 00:16:18,446 They were very resilient against snake bites, 245 00:16:18,446 --> 00:16:21,755 and so the hedgehog was a symbol of good luck. 246 00:16:21,755 --> 00:16:25,685 And for good luck travelling the Nile ancient boats would often 247 00:16:25,685 --> 00:16:28,206 carry an image of a hedgehog. 248 00:16:28,206 --> 00:16:33,276 So while my friend keeps an eye on the boat, I'm disembarking 249 00:16:33,276 --> 00:16:35,476 to investigate some monuments that combine 250 00:16:35,476 --> 00:16:40,356 the Egyptian fascination with death, with the pioneering work of living. 251 00:16:44,815 --> 00:16:49,006 It's difficult to imagine an ancient site more iconic 252 00:16:49,006 --> 00:16:51,645 than the pyramids of Giza. 253 00:16:51,645 --> 00:16:54,846 Just look at these incredible things. 254 00:16:54,846 --> 00:17:00,056 However many times I see them, I'm never not blown away by them. 255 00:17:00,056 --> 00:17:02,536 They just pound with human ambition. 256 00:17:08,256 --> 00:17:12,486 The West Bank of the Nile boasts over 100 pyramids, 257 00:17:12,486 --> 00:17:15,446 but none are as famous as these. 258 00:17:15,446 --> 00:17:20,536 They've been astounding onlookers for 4,500 years. 259 00:17:20,536 --> 00:17:24,056 And recent discoveries mean we're finally able 260 00:17:24,056 --> 00:17:25,926 to appreciate them properly. 261 00:17:27,336 --> 00:17:30,765 We're so used to thinking these are desert monuments, in a desert 262 00:17:30,765 --> 00:17:33,266 landscape but when they were originally built it would've 263 00:17:33,266 --> 00:17:36,126 been completely different around here. 264 00:17:36,126 --> 00:17:39,086 For the Nile, now, is about five miles away. 265 00:17:39,086 --> 00:17:42,815 But at the time it came right up close to the pyramids. 266 00:17:42,815 --> 00:17:47,336 And when it flooded they would be reflected in its glittering surface. 267 00:17:49,685 --> 00:17:53,916 It's one of these structures in particular I've come to see. 268 00:17:53,916 --> 00:17:58,496 The Great Pyramid the eternal resting place of the Pharaoh Khufu. 269 00:17:59,905 --> 00:18:05,256 Scaling almost 500 feet, its completion set new levels 270 00:18:05,256 --> 00:18:07,695 for human achievement. 271 00:18:07,695 --> 00:18:12,466 It was the world's tallest structure for nearly 4,000 years. 272 00:18:15,326 --> 00:18:18,256 This is one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world, 273 00:18:18,256 --> 00:18:21,966 and it is the only one that is still standing intact. 274 00:18:23,286 --> 00:18:25,536 I'm obviously a huge fan of the ancient world, 275 00:18:25,536 --> 00:18:27,726 and ancient civilisations, 276 00:18:27,726 --> 00:18:31,396 and there are many amazing things across the globe, 277 00:18:31,396 --> 00:18:34,545 but this is truly wonderful, isn't it? 278 00:18:36,156 --> 00:18:40,466 There are 2.3 million blocks of stone here, 279 00:18:40,466 --> 00:18:45,545 and each one has been perfectly sculpted so it fits right next 280 00:18:45,545 --> 00:18:48,445 to its neighbour. It's incredible. 281 00:18:53,206 --> 00:18:56,316 The Great Pyramid took two decades to complete. 282 00:18:56,316 --> 00:19:00,545 With its original polished, white limestone casing 283 00:19:00,545 --> 00:19:02,675 it would have gleamed out in the Egyptian sun. 284 00:19:04,116 --> 00:19:08,625 Exactly who built it, and how, has been the subject of wild 285 00:19:08,625 --> 00:19:10,516 speculation for centuries. 286 00:19:12,266 --> 00:19:16,885 It's been said that this was built by aliens from outer space, 287 00:19:16,885 --> 00:19:21,186 but, thank goodness, some new historical evidence has appeared 288 00:19:21,186 --> 00:19:26,416 that tells us without a doubt that this pyramid was made by human hand. 289 00:19:26,416 --> 00:19:28,755 And it's this remarkable thing. 290 00:19:31,956 --> 00:19:35,156 This is a copy of an ancient papyrus. 291 00:19:35,156 --> 00:19:39,116 Found just six years ago in a cave near the Red Sea, 292 00:19:39,116 --> 00:19:43,266 it's the 4,500 year old journal of a man called Merer. 293 00:19:45,326 --> 00:19:48,685 Now, Merer was no less than a project manager 294 00:19:48,685 --> 00:19:50,425 for the Great Pyramid. 295 00:19:51,836 --> 00:19:55,066 There is remarkable detail in here. 296 00:19:55,066 --> 00:20:00,256 He's written down how they made this beautiful thing. 297 00:20:00,256 --> 00:20:03,366 There's that a line that tells us that the limestone blocks that cover 298 00:20:03,366 --> 00:20:06,366 the pyramid, that made it that amazing gleaming white, 299 00:20:06,366 --> 00:20:09,256 were brought from 15 miles along the Nile. 300 00:20:09,256 --> 00:20:13,337 Merer says it takes one day's sail for this special stone 301 00:20:13,337 --> 00:20:14,816 to reach the site, 302 00:20:14,816 --> 00:20:20,062 confirming the Nile's crucial role in the pyramids construction. 303 00:20:21,612 --> 00:20:24,922 It's really a thrilling time to be studying the pyramids. 304 00:20:24,922 --> 00:20:28,412 Professor Mark Lerner has spent his career investigating 305 00:20:28,412 --> 00:20:29,771 the Giza Plateau. 306 00:20:31,412 --> 00:20:33,852 So, if we'd been standing here 4,500 years ago 307 00:20:33,852 --> 00:20:37,012 what would be the landscape that we'd be looking at? 308 00:20:37,012 --> 00:20:39,691 You would have seen harbours, and waterways, 309 00:20:39,691 --> 00:20:43,162 and Nile barges coming in from Aswan bringing granite. 310 00:20:43,162 --> 00:20:44,852 You would have seen seagoing ships coming 311 00:20:44,852 --> 00:20:47,082 in from Lebanon bringing timber. 312 00:20:47,082 --> 00:20:50,212 You would have had an multiethnic community here, 313 00:20:50,212 --> 00:20:53,062 and not just men. Men, women, families. 314 00:20:53,062 --> 00:20:55,412 It was a busy bustling scene, 315 00:20:55,412 --> 00:20:58,521 with fires, and bakeries, and butchers. 316 00:20:58,521 --> 00:21:01,142 It's almost like a whole civilisation culture, that's growing 317 00:21:01,142 --> 00:21:02,972 around the creation of the pyramid. 318 00:21:02,972 --> 00:21:07,891 They conscripted people from towns and villages all throughout Egypt. 319 00:21:07,891 --> 00:21:11,362 Then they come here and they are embedded and integrated 320 00:21:11,362 --> 00:21:16,362 into a project that involves tens of thousands of people. 321 00:21:16,362 --> 00:21:19,882 So, I'm still interested in how the Egyptians built the pyramids. 322 00:21:19,882 --> 00:21:23,492 But I'm almost more interested, Bettany, in how the pyramids helped 323 00:21:23,492 --> 00:21:24,571 to build Egypt- 324 00:21:26,972 --> 00:21:31,202 Building the world's first skyscraper was a transformational 325 00:21:31,202 --> 00:21:32,982 moment in human history. 326 00:21:34,162 --> 00:21:38,561 The city of workers that settled here collaborated in a game changing 327 00:21:38,561 --> 00:21:42,531 way, and with Mark's help I'm getting a privileged look 328 00:21:42,531 --> 00:21:46,691 behind the scenes, to get a glimpse of their remarkable world. 329 00:21:50,372 --> 00:21:54,092 So, welcome to our field lab. Thank you so much. 330 00:21:56,212 --> 00:22:01,421 For the past 30 years thousands of artefacts found at Giza 331 00:22:01,421 --> 00:22:03,882 have been brought here to be assessed, 332 00:22:03,882 --> 00:22:06,722 and studied in the archaeologists' storeroom. 333 00:22:07,982 --> 00:22:12,192 You can see it's much bigger than you would think from outside. 334 00:22:12,192 --> 00:22:14,551 One of the things we find all over the site 335 00:22:14,551 --> 00:22:19,132 are what we call dolerite hammer stones. Here. 336 00:22:19,132 --> 00:22:20,852 Oh, yeah. I knew it was going to be heavy. 337 00:22:20,852 --> 00:22:22,742 I didn't know it was going to be that heavy. 338 00:22:22,742 --> 00:22:25,372 That's actually straining my arms. Yeah. 339 00:22:25,372 --> 00:22:26,602 That's like a cannonball. 340 00:22:26,602 --> 00:22:29,382 Well, when they started using it, it is like a cannonball. 341 00:22:29,382 --> 00:22:31,781 But when they started it was probably pear shaped, 342 00:22:31,781 --> 00:22:34,701 and they just use it to smash stone surfaces away, 343 00:22:34,701 --> 00:22:37,062 and then they'll turn it and keep turning it, 344 00:22:37,062 --> 00:22:40,332 so, in the end, they get kind of a ball shape. 345 00:22:40,332 --> 00:22:43,882 In Mark's latest excavation he's found remarkable evidence 346 00:22:43,882 --> 00:22:47,222 of how the people constructing the pyramid lived. 347 00:22:47,222 --> 00:22:48,781 And what they ate. 348 00:22:48,781 --> 00:22:50,661 We found this enormous dump, 349 00:22:50,661 --> 00:22:54,212 and it was so much animal bones sheep, and goat, and cattle. 350 00:22:54,212 --> 00:22:58,502 Yeah. And there was something very curious about it. 351 00:22:58,502 --> 00:23:02,142 Whenever we separate out the good meat bearing bones, 352 00:23:02,142 --> 00:23:04,492 we find that the ends are broken off. 353 00:23:04,492 --> 00:23:08,392 Two of our Egyptian field school students said, "Oh, that's easy. 354 00:23:08,392 --> 00:23:12,422 It's shorba kawareh which is Arabic for like gelatine soup, 355 00:23:12,422 --> 00:23:14,092 knuckle bone soup, 356 00:23:14,092 --> 00:23:18,972 and the evidence is that somebody, elites, people of higher status, 357 00:23:18,972 --> 00:23:23,691 were eating the meat off the long, good meat bearing parts of the bone. 358 00:23:23,691 --> 00:23:27,062 But people of lower status are eating very high fat, 359 00:23:27,062 --> 00:23:29,651 high protein knuckle bone soup. 360 00:23:29,651 --> 00:23:33,431 Mark's found the casseroles this soup was served in... 361 00:23:33,431 --> 00:23:35,142 It's so beautiful, that. 362 00:23:35,142 --> 00:23:37,681 ...And even their bespoke stands. 363 00:23:37,681 --> 00:23:40,152 It's almost like a Tupperware set. 364 00:23:40,152 --> 00:23:42,872 So, actually, it seems like they're getting a pretty good diet. 365 00:23:42,872 --> 00:23:45,362 Indeed. That casserole is interesting cause that's 366 00:23:45,362 --> 00:23:47,082 just like a family size casserole. Yeah. 367 00:23:47,082 --> 00:23:49,681 Are they mass-producing food as well? 368 00:23:49,681 --> 00:23:54,482 They were making your standard, average kitchen bread mould, 369 00:23:54,482 --> 00:23:58,372 and bread loaf. And then, if I may, over here... Mm hmm. 370 00:23:58,372 --> 00:24:00,062 They were increasing it. 371 00:24:00,062 --> 00:24:03,062 They were reaching for economy of scale, by making 372 00:24:03,062 --> 00:24:06,062 these gigantic bread moulds. Yeah, yeah. 373 00:24:07,502 --> 00:24:11,012 Have a feel. Oh, my gosh. That is quite a responsibility, 374 00:24:11,012 --> 00:24:12,701 you can have it back. Thank you. 375 00:24:12,701 --> 00:24:17,531 But the big picture here is that they didn't have bread factories. 376 00:24:17,531 --> 00:24:20,812 They were creating the world's first bread factory. 377 00:24:20,812 --> 00:24:24,422 It's all a long way from the stereotype of sweating slaves, 378 00:24:24,422 --> 00:24:27,781 toiling away under the Pharaoh's whip. 379 00:24:27,781 --> 00:24:30,701 Even the tiniest finds are captivating. 380 00:24:30,701 --> 00:24:33,451 These are tubular beads. 381 00:24:33,451 --> 00:24:35,172 We find these beads everywhere. 382 00:24:35,172 --> 00:24:38,242 Look at the colour. It's such a tiny little thing. 383 00:24:38,242 --> 00:24:39,732 But, I mean, who's wearing these? 384 00:24:39,732 --> 00:24:42,331 And we're finding them in the workers' barracks. 385 00:24:42,331 --> 00:24:44,812 Right where we find all the big heavy dolerite pounders. 386 00:24:44,812 --> 00:24:46,382 So what, are you pounding stone 387 00:24:46,382 --> 00:24:49,252 as you're wearing your beaded nugget? We don't know. 388 00:24:51,661 --> 00:24:53,972 Finds like these speak volumes, 389 00:24:53,972 --> 00:24:57,742 helping to jigsaw puzzle together a picture of life 390 00:24:57,742 --> 00:25:00,302 for those at the bottom of the pile. 391 00:25:02,182 --> 00:25:06,422 Upstream though, I'm about to witness the terrifying power 392 00:25:06,422 --> 00:25:11,422 of the Pharaoh, as I adventure right inside a very special pyramid. 393 00:25:32,331 --> 00:25:34,182 So I've said goodbye to Cairo, 394 00:25:34,182 --> 00:25:36,832 and we're off, and it's 500 miles of the Nile to come. 395 00:25:39,382 --> 00:25:43,232 From here to the southern city of Aswan my riverboat 396 00:25:43,232 --> 00:25:48,812 will be following in the footsteps of Pharaoh's warriors and traders. 397 00:25:48,812 --> 00:25:52,541 But this journey was also made by tourists of the past, 398 00:25:52,541 --> 00:25:55,502 and their vessel of choice was the Dahabiya. 399 00:25:58,461 --> 00:26:01,312 I'm still a bit embarrassed by the luxury of this boat, 400 00:26:01,312 --> 00:26:04,486 but, actually, it is quite appropriate for how people 401 00:26:04,510 --> 00:26:06,837 used to sail down the Nile. 402 00:26:06,837 --> 00:26:09,967 Dahabiya gets its name from the Arabic word 'dhabab', 403 00:26:09,967 --> 00:26:12,927 which means golden because these boats were supposed to be 404 00:26:12,927 --> 00:26:16,887 so luxurious, and we have amazing accounts of 18th and 19th century 405 00:26:16,887 --> 00:26:18,877 travellers who used them. 406 00:26:18,877 --> 00:26:21,087 Let me just tell you of some things they brought on. 407 00:26:21,087 --> 00:26:27,207 So one packed 100 bottles of wine, champagne, a piano for entertainment 408 00:26:27,207 --> 00:26:30,306 and there was even a British family who brought their own cow, 409 00:26:30,306 --> 00:26:33,747 so that they could have fresh milk every morning. 410 00:26:35,157 --> 00:26:40,047 These cruises could last for months on a river famed, from ancient times 411 00:26:40,047 --> 00:26:43,237 onwards, for its hidden and unexpected dangers. 412 00:26:45,396 --> 00:26:46,597 Hi, boys. ls everything OK? 413 00:26:51,721 --> 00:26:55,564 Oh, my gosh. There's somebody down in the Nile down here. 414 00:26:58,665 --> 00:27:01,005 Two of them. 415 00:27:01,005 --> 00:27:04,355 What's happening? We have a very shallow water. Yeah. 416 00:27:06,564 --> 00:27:09,574 And one of the ropes has gone around the paddle. OK. 417 00:27:10,644 --> 00:27:14,434 It seems that the tug boat that helps pull the Dahabiya along 418 00:27:14,434 --> 00:27:17,955 has got stuck on one of the Nile's many sand banks. 419 00:27:17,955 --> 00:27:21,555 It's tight rope is now wrapped around its propeller. 420 00:27:24,194 --> 00:27:27,875 Tim, our cameraman, decided to go in and see if he can help. 421 00:27:42,475 --> 00:27:45,564 There's loads of people just doing that classic thing when something 422 00:27:45,564 --> 00:27:47,885 bad happens, they're just sort of standing around. 423 00:27:49,394 --> 00:27:51,745 The Nile is such a paradise river. 424 00:27:51,745 --> 00:27:55,165 So there are sand banks and cataracts. 425 00:27:55,165 --> 00:27:58,394 But, isn't it interesting, that this can still happen? 426 00:27:58,394 --> 00:28:01,745 You get the feeling this isn't the first time the crew have dealt 427 00:28:01,745 --> 00:28:03,555 with something like this. 428 00:28:06,155 --> 00:28:10,394 It's all very new to us though, especially Tim. 429 00:28:10,394 --> 00:28:13,875 You know the funniest thing, Bettany? What? 430 00:28:13,875 --> 00:28:16,005 Like a plonker, I left my wallet... 431 00:28:20,725 --> 00:28:22,755 But with the propeller freed, 432 00:28:22,755 --> 00:28:25,465 and some British cash drying in the sun, 433 00:28:25,465 --> 00:28:26,675 we're on our way. 434 00:28:29,444 --> 00:28:31,125 Ten miles south of Cairo 435 00:28:31,125 --> 00:28:34,805 I'm heading to the fast royal burial ground of Saqqara. 436 00:28:36,644 --> 00:28:40,285 But first, there's just time to share with you one of the biggest 437 00:28:40,285 --> 00:28:43,955 breakthroughs ever in our understanding of Ancient Egypt. 438 00:28:47,285 --> 00:28:51,075 The people who lived around the Nile Valley were some of the very first 439 00:28:51,075 --> 00:28:53,475 to do an incredible thing. 440 00:28:53,475 --> 00:28:56,245 They put their spoken language into something 441 00:28:56,245 --> 00:28:58,155 that could be recorded, a writing, 442 00:28:58,155 --> 00:29:01,444 and of course that's amazing for us historians because we get 443 00:29:01,444 --> 00:29:03,605 to understand their lives, and how they lived 444 00:29:03,605 --> 00:29:05,035 and what mattered to them. 445 00:29:05,035 --> 00:29:07,314 Now, of course the language that they used was Egyptian 446 00:29:07,314 --> 00:29:10,404 hieroglyphics which is very beautiful, but the problem 447 00:29:10,404 --> 00:29:14,095 is that we lost the ability to translate it for centuries, 448 00:29:14,095 --> 00:29:18,295 which is one of the reasons that the ancient Egyptians were such 449 00:29:18,295 --> 00:29:20,675 a mysterious civilisation. 450 00:29:20,675 --> 00:29:27,555 Then, in 1799, there was the most amazing discovery on the Nile Delta. 451 00:29:27,555 --> 00:29:29,115 It was the this thing. 452 00:29:30,115 --> 00:29:32,675 This is the Rosetta Stone. 453 00:29:32,675 --> 00:29:36,915 In 1882 the real Rosetta Stone was snaffled by the Brits, and ended 454 00:29:36,915 --> 00:29:39,295 up in the British Museum in London. 455 00:29:39,295 --> 00:29:44,885 Covered in writing it's been a vital key to understanding ancient Egypt. 456 00:29:44,885 --> 00:29:48,035 Because it's got two languages on it, 457 00:29:48,035 --> 00:29:50,475 so Egyptian and ancient Greek, 458 00:29:50,475 --> 00:29:53,835 it means it can act as a kind of code breaker. 459 00:29:55,085 --> 00:29:56,524 The problem was, of course, 460 00:29:56,524 --> 00:30:00,534 that people could read ancient Greek but not the Egyptian hieroglyphics. 461 00:30:00,534 --> 00:30:04,324 And there was this race on between France and England to see 462 00:30:04,324 --> 00:30:06,654 who could crack the code first. 463 00:30:06,654 --> 00:30:08,394 And I'm sorry to say the French won, 464 00:30:08,394 --> 00:30:12,755 and what they did was that they found this word, here, 465 00:30:12,755 --> 00:30:18,475 which in Greek says day of birth or birthday, genethlia. 466 00:30:19,915 --> 00:30:24,955 And they matched that up with this hieroglyphic here, 467 00:30:24,955 --> 00:30:27,394 which says birthday too. 468 00:30:27,394 --> 00:30:33,125 So at once we could start to piece together the story of the ancient 469 00:30:33,125 --> 00:30:35,255 Egyptians in their own words. 470 00:30:36,735 --> 00:30:40,475 This is the thing that stopped the Egyptians being a mystery. 471 00:30:40,475 --> 00:30:43,204 It meant that they were people that we could really get 472 00:30:43,204 --> 00:30:45,565 to know intimately. 473 00:30:45,565 --> 00:30:47,885 And there's a prime example of that 474 00:30:47,885 --> 00:30:49,765 at my next stop along the Nile. 475 00:30:51,524 --> 00:30:54,184 They were building pyramids here at Saqqara a whole 476 00:30:54,184 --> 00:30:55,815 century before Giza. 477 00:30:56,885 --> 00:31:00,805 I've come to find one of Saqqara's hidden gems. 478 00:31:00,805 --> 00:31:03,485 And I'm going to need some desert transport. 479 00:31:03,485 --> 00:31:05,404 Hello, sir. Hello, lady. 480 00:31:05,404 --> 00:31:06,645 Hi. 481 00:31:06,645 --> 00:31:08,245 Nice to see you. Hello! 482 00:31:08,245 --> 00:31:10,444 You and your beautiful camel. 483 00:31:10,444 --> 00:31:11,605 What's his name? 484 00:31:11,605 --> 00:31:15,965 Ramesses ll. Ramesses ll? So a very powerful pharaoh. 485 00:31:15,965 --> 00:31:17,314 How old? Ten years. 486 00:31:17,314 --> 00:31:18,725 Ten years! 487 00:31:18,725 --> 00:31:21,454 Oh, you're so gorgeous, aren't you? 488 00:31:21,454 --> 00:31:24,095 Oh! Hello, darling! Hello! 489 00:31:24,095 --> 00:31:26,274 Oh, lovely! 490 00:31:26,274 --> 00:31:30,475 Kissing me, and a little bit of camel slobber in my ear. 491 00:31:30,475 --> 00:31:32,475 I've missed that feeling. Hello! 492 00:31:32,475 --> 00:31:35,245 Yes. Oh! Oh! 493 00:31:35,245 --> 00:31:37,085 Camel slobber on my cheek! That's beautiful. 494 00:31:37,085 --> 00:31:38,805 He's very, very lovely. Thank you. 495 00:31:38,805 --> 00:31:41,845 But sadly I'm not going to be going on this camel today. 496 00:31:41,845 --> 00:31:44,125 Thank you. Thank you so, so much. 497 00:31:44,125 --> 00:31:47,365 I'd love to say that I'm doing this Lawrence of Arabia moment, 498 00:31:47,365 --> 00:31:49,685 I'm going to travel across the desert on a camel. 499 00:31:49,685 --> 00:31:52,815 But the problem is, when the pyramids were first built, 500 00:31:52,815 --> 00:31:54,035 there were no camels here, 501 00:31:54,035 --> 00:31:56,925 we think. There's no evidence of them, there are no bones, there's no 502 00:31:56,925 --> 00:31:58,454 camels in hieroglyphs. 503 00:31:58,454 --> 00:32:01,685 It took another 2,000 years or so for them to come here, 504 00:32:01,685 --> 00:32:03,845 but at the time of the first pyramids... 505 00:32:03,845 --> 00:32:05,524 Hello, good afternoon, sir. 506 00:32:05,524 --> 00:32:07,095 ...what you did have was a donkey. 507 00:32:07,095 --> 00:32:09,245 Hello! Lovely to meet you. 508 00:32:09,245 --> 00:32:10,524 Lovely to see you. 509 00:32:10,524 --> 00:32:11,685 This morning, 510 00:32:11,685 --> 00:32:17,165 my authentic Bronze Age desert transport is called Whisky And Soda. 511 00:32:18,255 --> 00:32:20,965 I'm not sure they had stirrups then but, you know, in the name 512 00:32:20,965 --> 00:32:24,885 of security... I can do this. OK. Two, three. Oh! 513 00:32:26,845 --> 00:32:29,284 Lovely. Oh, perfect. 514 00:32:29,284 --> 00:32:31,925 I'm excited! Shall we go? Yalla, yalla! Yalla, yalla! 515 00:32:33,645 --> 00:32:38,685 Bye, Ramesses. See you in 2,000 years! Bye! 516 00:32:38,685 --> 00:32:41,324 Come on, darling. Up you go. 517 00:32:41,324 --> 00:32:43,485 Oh, she's great, isn't she? 518 00:32:43,485 --> 00:32:44,975 She's just a natural historian. 519 00:32:44,975 --> 00:32:47,075 She wants to get there. 520 00:32:47,075 --> 00:32:50,475 This empty desert landscape would once have played host 521 00:32:50,475 --> 00:32:55,685 to massive funeral processions as dead pharaohs were carried to their 522 00:32:55,685 --> 00:32:59,245 show-off newly designed tombs - 523 00:32:59,245 --> 00:33:01,045 PYFamids. 524 00:33:01,045 --> 00:33:04,074 This is the very first pyramid ever built. 525 00:33:06,675 --> 00:33:07,895 It's the Step Pyramid. 526 00:33:09,125 --> 00:33:12,324 So you've got a tomb laid out at the bottom, and then the pharaoh 527 00:33:12,324 --> 00:33:15,475 decided to build another one on top and another one and another one 528 00:33:15,475 --> 00:33:19,005 that becomes like some kind of massive wedding cake. 529 00:33:19,005 --> 00:33:21,835 It's a kind of experiment, really. 530 00:33:21,835 --> 00:33:25,045 It's when they're going, I'm the most powerful man on Earth. 531 00:33:25,045 --> 00:33:26,135 Look at me! 532 00:33:26,135 --> 00:33:28,965 I can reach up to the sky, I can reach up to the gods. 533 00:33:30,635 --> 00:33:34,605 What I've come to see, though, is another first for Egypt 534 00:33:34,605 --> 00:33:37,565 on the other side of the Step Pyramid. 535 00:33:37,565 --> 00:33:39,045 Thank you. 536 00:33:39,045 --> 00:33:40,485 Thank you, darling. 537 00:33:40,485 --> 00:33:41,685 You've been beautiful. 538 00:33:44,715 --> 00:33:47,414 These are the sorry ruins of the pyramid built 539 00:33:47,414 --> 00:33:48,975 for the pharaoh Unas. 540 00:33:50,055 --> 00:33:52,775 People are being allowed back in here for the first time in two 541 00:33:52,775 --> 00:33:56,125 decades because it wasn't safe and there was restoration work done. 542 00:33:57,255 --> 00:34:03,805 When it was built 4,350 years ago, this was the smallest pyramid 543 00:34:03,805 --> 00:34:04,805 of its era. 544 00:34:05,995 --> 00:34:07,905 But it was a game changer. 545 00:34:09,045 --> 00:34:12,074 This is an extra special treat for me because this is the first time 546 00:34:12,074 --> 00:34:14,334 since I've come to Egypt that I've been allowed in. 547 00:34:18,495 --> 00:34:21,194 Hi, how are you? I'm very good. You're from where? London. 548 00:34:21,194 --> 00:34:23,355 London, welcome. Nice to see you. Thank you. 549 00:34:23,355 --> 00:34:25,005 So you've got the key to go in? Yes. 550 00:34:25,005 --> 00:34:26,015 Amazing. Thank you. 551 00:34:28,445 --> 00:34:33,435 The unique treasure of Unas' pyramid is found underneath it. 552 00:34:43,895 --> 00:34:45,445 Amazing. Thank you. Shukran. 553 00:34:47,485 --> 00:34:48,485 It's pitch-black. 554 00:34:52,284 --> 00:34:55,895 This 30-metre tunnel is leading me right under the centre 555 00:34:55,895 --> 00:34:56,895 of the pyramid. 556 00:34:58,485 --> 00:35:02,925 Three granite slabs once blocked this passage, separating 557 00:35:02,925 --> 00:35:07,324 the outside world from the burial chambers of Unas. 558 00:35:09,324 --> 00:35:10,414 Oh, my goodness! 559 00:35:11,725 --> 00:35:14,204 This is so beautiful! 560 00:35:15,845 --> 00:35:18,565 I've seen pictures of this, but I've never been in here. 561 00:35:22,895 --> 00:35:25,775 Floor to ceiling, you've got... 562 00:35:25,775 --> 00:35:29,255 ...the walls covered in hieroglyphs. 563 00:35:32,255 --> 00:35:35,255 Look at the state of them! They're so beautifully preserved. 564 00:35:36,334 --> 00:35:39,845 This was the first pyramid ever to be decorated 565 00:35:39,845 --> 00:35:42,534 in carved hieroglyphic writing. 566 00:35:44,164 --> 00:35:46,775 Ritual spells for the dead. 567 00:35:48,255 --> 00:35:49,534 Unas was a... 568 00:35:49,534 --> 00:35:55,414 ...I'd say a man with quite an ego, and we can tell this here because... 569 00:35:55,414 --> 00:35:56,615 ...this is his name. 570 00:35:56,615 --> 00:36:01,845 So here this is the name of Unas. It's in what's called a cartouche, 571 00:36:01,845 --> 00:36:03,084 which is French for a bullet. 572 00:36:03,084 --> 00:36:04,845 It's a kind of bullet-shaped thing. 573 00:36:04,845 --> 00:36:05,925 And once you start... 574 00:36:07,265 --> 00:36:11,055 You can see the name of Unas absolutely everywhere! 575 00:36:11,055 --> 00:36:16,185 So it's Unas, Unas, Unas, Unas, Unas. It just goes on. 576 00:36:16,185 --> 00:36:19,135 And I don't know if you can see here, there's another symbol that 577 00:36:19,135 --> 00:36:22,294 keeps on appearing. It's these waves of water. 578 00:36:22,294 --> 00:36:25,575 So there are two here. There's one here. 579 00:36:25,575 --> 00:36:28,895 There's one here, there's one here, there's one here. 580 00:36:28,895 --> 00:36:32,615 The importance of water and rivers couldn't be clearer. 581 00:36:32,615 --> 00:36:37,975 One spell even claims Unas is he who has caused the land 582 00:36:37,975 --> 00:36:39,164 to be underwater. 583 00:36:40,255 --> 00:36:43,705 Not only did Unas tell us that he was the most powerful king, 584 00:36:43,705 --> 00:36:47,935 but that he had divine powers, and what he's saying here 585 00:36:47,935 --> 00:36:54,055 is that it's him who caused the Nile itself to flood. These hieroglyphs 586 00:36:54,055 --> 00:36:56,735 don't always make for pleasant reading. 587 00:36:56,735 --> 00:36:59,255 They show that the ancient Egyptians often blended 588 00:36:59,255 --> 00:37:02,084 brilliance with brutality. 589 00:37:02,084 --> 00:37:05,775 He says that he holds the hearts of his enemies in his fingers, 590 00:37:05,775 --> 00:37:10,005 that he burns their houses to the ground, but there's something else, 591 00:37:10,005 --> 00:37:12,815 and, actually, if you read it, it's really shocking. 592 00:37:12,815 --> 00:37:17,005 It's really upsetting because it's Unas using his sex 593 00:37:17,005 --> 00:37:18,255 BS a weapon. 594 00:37:18,255 --> 00:37:21,414 It says that Unas copulates with his penis. 595 00:37:21,414 --> 00:37:26,455 Unas is lord of his seed. Unas takes the wives of husbands 596 00:37:26,455 --> 00:37:30,645 whenever he wants, whenever his heart desires. 597 00:37:31,775 --> 00:37:36,725 This is not a man that I would have liked to have met in the flesh, 598 00:37:36,725 --> 00:37:38,485 and it seems as though he's no longer here, 599 00:37:38,485 --> 00:37:42,805 we don't have his body, but there's something that's recently 600 00:37:42,805 --> 00:37:45,255 been discovered - that... 601 00:37:45,255 --> 00:37:52,084 ...if you look on the wall, I don't know if you can see that, there indented in... 602 00:37:52,084 --> 00:37:54,535 ...is the ghost of Unas. 603 00:37:54,535 --> 00:37:56,094 So he's still here with us. 604 00:37:59,695 --> 00:38:05,214 Unas has left a mighty legacy and, along the Nile, there are other 605 00:38:05,214 --> 00:38:09,414 treasures that are still as vibrant today as they have been for 606 00:38:09,414 --> 00:38:10,765 thousands of years. 607 00:38:23,945 --> 00:38:28,424 The River Nile has always been the lifeblood of Egypt, 608 00:38:28,424 --> 00:38:31,304 and I'm exploring the sites and the people who made 609 00:38:31,304 --> 00:38:34,145 up a great civilisation along its banks. 610 00:38:36,945 --> 00:38:40,984 The many sites and treasures around Cairo are behind me. 611 00:38:40,984 --> 00:38:44,425 And this is my first taste of a much quieter river. 612 00:38:50,695 --> 00:38:52,495 Is that OK? Are you sure? 613 00:38:54,025 --> 00:38:58,184 Bakkar has been working on dahabeahs since he was 12 years old. 614 00:38:59,585 --> 00:39:04,545 I've done a bit of sailing too, but never anything like this. 615 00:39:04,545 --> 00:39:08,964 So I'm sort of hopelessly trying to help with the tiller. 616 00:39:08,964 --> 00:39:10,234 It's quite hard, 617 00:39:10,234 --> 00:39:12,695 this river. It's a difficult river to sail on. 618 00:39:12,695 --> 00:39:14,545 Yes. 619 00:39:14,545 --> 00:39:15,825 So how old are you? 620 00:39:17,335 --> 00:39:19,974 And the rest of your family have all worked on boats, have they? 621 00:39:22,695 --> 00:39:23,865 OK. 622 00:39:23,865 --> 00:39:26,385 Is it your plan to become a captain? Yes. 623 00:39:26,385 --> 00:39:28,214 Very good! Yes. 624 00:39:28,214 --> 00:39:30,054 We are actually heading into the bank now. 625 00:39:30,054 --> 00:39:31,625 Sorry, I'm really sorry! 626 00:39:31,625 --> 00:39:33,825 I was pulling the wrong rope! 627 00:39:33,825 --> 00:39:36,665 This is getting us in the right direction, isn't it? 628 00:39:36,665 --> 00:39:38,304 Good. Argh! 629 00:39:40,415 --> 00:39:44,745 2,500 years ago, Egypt was described as the gift 630 00:39:44,745 --> 00:39:45,735 of the Nile. 631 00:39:47,104 --> 00:39:49,265 And that's not changed. 632 00:39:50,905 --> 00:39:53,314 Life just bursts out of the banks. 633 00:39:55,255 --> 00:39:59,865 You can see why the ancients called Egypt the Red Land for the desert 634 00:39:59,865 --> 00:40:03,375 and the Black Land for the fertile strips along the river. 635 00:40:05,945 --> 00:40:10,615 This is a really lovely typical Nile scene with farm animals and palm 636 00:40:10,615 --> 00:40:13,395 trees and reeds and, actually, if you start to look, you'll see 637 00:40:13,395 --> 00:40:17,465 that there are people everywhere because, in Egypt, 96% 638 00:40:17,465 --> 00:40:21,064 of the population live near or next to the Nile. 639 00:40:21,064 --> 00:40:24,665 And that's because there's just so little waterfall here. 640 00:40:24,665 --> 00:40:29,405 This river really is the source of life for Egypt. 641 00:40:30,535 --> 00:40:34,775 And, actually, the water in this river, almost all of it comes from 642 00:40:34,775 --> 00:40:38,145 1,500 miles south in the Ethiopian Highlands. 643 00:40:39,974 --> 00:40:43,955 For thousands of years, the rainy season in the Highlands led 644 00:40:43,955 --> 00:40:45,615 to Egypt's annual flood. 645 00:40:47,304 --> 00:40:50,425 By late summer, the water level here could have risen eight 646 00:40:50,425 --> 00:40:51,665 or nine metres... 647 00:40:53,054 --> 00:40:54,385 ...feeding the valley. 648 00:41:00,945 --> 00:41:06,335 It was food nourished by the Nile that powered a great civilisation. 649 00:41:07,735 --> 00:41:10,705 And the crew have tipped me off that right now is the time 650 00:41:10,705 --> 00:41:13,495 for harvesting an ancient Egyptian crop 651 00:41:13,495 --> 00:41:16,104 still being fed by the Nile's waters... 652 00:41:17,135 --> 00:41:18,695 ...dates. 653 00:41:18,695 --> 00:41:23,505 They've been cultivating dates here for over 6,000 years, 654 00:41:23,505 --> 00:41:26,745 always fed by the waters of the Nile. 655 00:41:26,745 --> 00:41:30,974 The ancient Egyptians used dates for everything - for building, 656 00:41:30,974 --> 00:41:35,615 for furniture, for food, for magic, for medicine, 657 00:41:35,615 --> 00:41:39,775 and it was said that the date was the bread of the desert. 658 00:41:44,025 --> 00:41:47,626 From Stone Age coffins made of date palm leaves... 659 00:41:48,745 --> 00:41:53,675 ...to dates themselves left as offerings in the Step Pyramid, 660 00:41:53,675 --> 00:41:56,645 and even for Tutankhamun himself. 661 00:41:59,635 --> 00:42:03,164 This fruit has been the superfood of ancient Egypt 662 00:42:03,164 --> 00:42:05,845 since the very beginning. 663 00:42:05,845 --> 00:42:08,024 The reason is simple - 664 00:42:08,024 --> 00:42:12,005 dates can be dried, stored and carried across the desert. 665 00:42:13,315 --> 00:42:18,204 In bad times as well as good, dates have kept this civilisation going. 666 00:42:19,585 --> 00:42:23,525 They're a super-food in the modern sense,too - 667 00:42:23,525 --> 00:42:26,105 they're full of fibre and potassium 668 00:42:26,105 --> 00:42:29,395 and - it's said - can even lower blood pressure. 669 00:42:29,395 --> 00:42:30,805 Morning, girls. 670 00:42:30,805 --> 00:42:33,204 But if you want to taste a truly fresh date, 671 00:42:33,204 --> 00:42:36,565 you've got to be here at harvest time. 672 00:42:36,565 --> 00:42:38,865 Is it nice? 673 00:42:38,865 --> 00:42:41,834 OK, here we go. First fresh date. 674 00:42:41,834 --> 00:42:43,195 Slightly grubby. 675 00:42:45,084 --> 00:42:47,365 SHE EXCLAIMS 676 00:42:47,365 --> 00:42:49,164 No, not sweet. 677 00:42:50,565 --> 00:42:52,745 Quite bitter, but very good. 678 00:42:52,745 --> 00:42:55,005 Very nice and completely white on the inside. 679 00:42:55,005 --> 00:42:57,515 Thank you. Shukraan, ladies. Shukraan. 680 00:43:03,995 --> 00:43:08,225 The date harvest was always an excuse for a good time - 681 00:43:08,225 --> 00:43:10,954 for weddings and family get-togethers - 682 00:43:10,954 --> 00:43:13,084 and it's still the case today. 683 00:43:15,315 --> 00:43:18,445 Well done. And he's learning. You're teaching him. Yeah. 684 00:43:18,445 --> 00:43:20,235 Yeah. INDISTINCT 685 00:43:20,235 --> 00:43:22,315 You will. 686 00:43:22,315 --> 00:43:26,954 Tonight, some of the crew have invited me to join them... 687 00:43:26,954 --> 00:43:29,084 This looks delicious. Have you got some? 688 00:43:30,235 --> 00:43:33,015 ...for a feast of traditional dishes 689 00:43:33,015 --> 00:43:36,044 Is this hummus? I love this. Hummus. 690 00:43:36,044 --> 00:43:38,935 We think that we invented the idea of superfoods. 691 00:43:38,935 --> 00:43:43,725 I love the notion that the ancient Egyptians actually got there first. 692 00:43:43,725 --> 00:43:49,565 And in a way, the date was the fuel of ancient Egyptian civilisation 693 00:43:49,565 --> 00:43:54,005 and whether you were an all-powerful pharaoh or one of those workers 694 00:43:54,005 --> 00:43:57,084 who laboured away to build the Giza pyramids, 695 00:43:57,084 --> 00:44:02,164 you knew that you lived in a land of plenty, and we know 696 00:44:02,164 --> 00:44:06,405 that on beautiful nights like this under a full moon, 697 00:44:06,405 --> 00:44:11,805 men and women would get together to share and celebrate the gifts 698 00:44:11,805 --> 00:44:13,525 of the Nile - 699 00:44:13,525 --> 00:44:15,465 as we are tonight. 700 00:44:15,465 --> 00:44:18,954 I can't eat another date, I've had so many! SHE LAUGHS 701 00:44:18,954 --> 00:44:22,645 It's nice. I know - it is better for you than the biscuit. 702 00:44:24,465 --> 00:44:25,465 Next time... 703 00:44:27,195 --> 00:44:29,365 I'm on the trail of Cleopatra. 704 00:44:30,445 --> 00:44:33,174 I'll brave the longest tomb in Egypt... 705 00:44:33,174 --> 00:44:36,245 The only thing I don't like are small dark spaces. 706 00:44:36,245 --> 00:44:39,125 Excuse me. Thank you. 707 00:44:39,125 --> 00:44:41,925 ...and I'll discover how mummification 708 00:44:41,925 --> 00:44:43,725 wasn't just for humans. 709 00:44:43,725 --> 00:44:48,034 Its eye-sockets are staring at me across 2,000 years.