All language subtitles for Mythical.Beasts.2018.S01E07.720p.WEB.H264-JFF_track3_[eng]

Narrator: THE SPHINX,
A MONSTROUS LIVING STATUE,

A TERRIFYING HUMAN-LION HYBRID.

THESE GREAT MYTHICAL BEASTS
INSPIRED BOTH AWE AND RESPECT

BUT ALSO FEAR.

Narrator: THEY BORE THE FACES OF
EGYPTIAN PHARAOHS

WHO BELIEVED THESE CREATURES
COULD GRANT THEM HUGE POWER.

THE BUILDINGS AND THE ARTWORKS

THAT THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS
CREATED HAD A MAGICAL FUNCTION.

Narrator: WHAT INSPIRED THIS
FORMIDABLE MUTANT?

WHY WAS IT CREATED,
AND WHAT RULE DID IT PLAY

IN THE PHARAOH'S QUEST
FOR IMMORTALITY?

♪♪

TODAY, TEAMS OF EXPERTS USE
THE LATEST SCIENCE

AND ARCHAEOLOGY

TO UNCOVER THE TRUTH
ABOUT THIS INCREDIBLE BEAST...

...AND REVEAL
HOW THE GREAT SPHINX

BECAME AS MIGHTY
AS THE PHARAOHS THEMSELVES.

-- Captions by VITAC --
www.vitac.com

CAPTIONS PAID FOR BY
DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS

♪♪

THE SPHINX --

FOR OVER 2,000 YEARS,

THIS STRANGE
AND TERRIFYING HYBRID CREATURE

HAS HELD US IN ITS THRALL.

THE SPHINX CAN BE SEEN
IN REPRESENTATIONS

ACROSS CULTURES FROM EGYPT
TO GREECE TO INDIA TO ASIA.

♪♪

Narrator: THE GREEKS FEARED IT
AS A FEROCIOUS MAN-EATER.

THE ARABIC WORLD KNEW IT
AS THE FATHER OF TERROR.

♪♪

THE IMAGERY OF A SPHINX
WAS OBVIOUSLY VERY POWERFUL,

AND IT APPEARS
IN MANY OTHER CULTURES

BUT OFTENTIMES VERY DIFFERENT.

IN GREECE, FOR EXAMPLE, IT CAME
OUT DOWNRIGHT NASTY AND MEAN.

♪♪

Narrator: BUT NOWHERE WAS
THE SPHINX MORE POWERFUL

AND REVERED THAN IN EGYPT.

♪♪

THE MOST FAMOUS SPHINX SITS
ALONGSIDE THE PYRAMIDS OF GIZA,

BUT COUNTLESS MORE ONCE
COVERED THIS DESERT KINGDOM.

EACH ONE BORE THE FACE
OF A PHARAOH,

INCLUDING THE BOY-KING,
TUTANKHAMUN.

THERE AREN'T MANY CREATURES
IN WORLD HISTORY

THAT HAVE SUCH A LASTING LEGACY
AS THE ANCIENT EGYPTIAN SPHINX.

♪♪

Narrator: WHY DID THIS BIZARRE
MUTANT HAVE SUCH A STRONG

AND POWERFUL HOLD
ON SO MANY CULTURES?

WHAT DID IT OFFER ITS DEVOTED
FOLLOWERS?

EGYPTOLOGIST DR. CAMPBELL PRICE
IS ON A MISSION

TO UNCOVER THE TRUTH BEHIND THIS
BEAST AND HOW IT WAS CREATED.

♪♪

THE GREAT SPHINX HERE AT GIZA
IS THE OLDEST

AND LARGEST COLOSSAL STATUE
FROM ANCIENT EGYPT.

WE KNOW REMARKABLY LITTLE
ABOUT WHY IT WAS BUILT

OR EVEN REALLY
WHAT IT REPRESENTS.

♪♪

Narrator:
CAMPBELL HAS DISCOVERED THAT

THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS
HAD A VERY DIFFERENT VIEW

OF STATUES THAN WE HAVE TODAY.

♪♪

THIS IS THE ANCIENT EGYPTIAN
WORD, IN HIEROGLYPHS,

FOR SPHINX,
SHESEP ANKH, OR LIVING IMAGE.

ALTHOUGH WE TEND TO THINK
OF SCULPTURES AS ARTWORKS,

IN ANCIENT EGYPT, STATUES WERE
POWERFUL, MAGICAL OBJECTS.

THEY HAD A LIFE OF THEIR OWN.

Narrator:
IN THE AGE OF THE PHARAOHS,

THERE WAS NOTHING MYTHICAL
ABOUT THIS CREATURE.

THIS STATUE IS NOT
A REPRESENTATION OF THE SPHINX.

THIS IS THE SPHINX.

♪♪

BUT WHY DID THE PHARAOHS WANT
TO TRANSFORM THEMSELVES

INTO A LIVING STATUE
OF A HUMAN-ANIMAL MUTANT?

[ BIRDS CALLING ]

CAMPBELL THINKS THE ANSWER
COULD LIE

IN THE ONE ELEMENT OF THE SPHINX

THAT REMAINS CONSTANT
ACROSS CULTURES --

THE LION'S BODY.

HE EXAMINES A 500-YEAR-OLD
CARVING TO INVESTIGATE

HOW EGYPT'S RULERS FIRST
DEPICTED THEMSELVES AS LIONS.

♪♪

IT'S A SCENE OF TOTAL CARNAGE.

IN THE CENTER AMIDST
PRISONERS BOUND UP

AND PRISONERS BEING MAULED
IS A GIANT DEPICTION OF A LION.

THIS ISN'T JUST ANY LION.

THIS IS A DEPICTION
OF THE PHARAOH HIMSELF,

IN CONTROL,
BATTLING EGYPT'S ENEMIES,

AND MEETING OUT VENGEANCE
TO ANYONE WHO OPPOSES HIM.

♪♪

THE LION IS ALWAYS
IN EVERY CULTURE

CONSIDERED THE KING
OF THE BEASTS.

IT'S A KILLING MACHINE.

THROUGHOUT TIME
AND WITHIN SPECIFIC CULTURES,

YOU CAN TYPICALLY FIND
THAT THE MOST DOMINANT BEAST,

SO THE LARGEST WILD ANIMAL,
THE MOST POWERFUL,

THE STRONGEST,
COMES TO REPRESENT THE ROYALTY,

THE NOBLES,
THE LEADERS IN THAT SOCIETY.

Narrator: BUT IF THESE BEASTS
WERE SO POWERFUL,

WHY DIDN'T THE PHARAOHS CONTINUE

DEPICTING THEMSELVES
SIMPLY AS LIONS?

WHY DID A PHARAOH DECIDE
TO BECOME THE SPHINX?

THE ANSWER COULD LIE IN HOW GODS

WERE REPRESENTED
IN EGYPT'S GREATEST TEMPLE.

♪♪

THE ANCIENT EGYPTIAN GODS
WERE SUPER HUMAN BEINGS,

AND THE BEST WAY TO DEPICT
SUPER HUMAN BEINGS

WAS TO GIVE THEM
THE POWERS OF ANIMALS.

♪♪

Narrator:
THE TEMPLE OF KARNAK AT LUXOR

IS COVERED
IN HUMAN-ANIMAL HYBRIDS.

EVEN TODAY, EGYPTIAN GODS

ARE RECOGNIZABLE
BY THEIR ANIMAL HEADS,

AND IN ANCIENT EGYPT, THIS WOULD
BE THE HALLMARK OF A GOD --

ANIMAL HEAD, HUMAN BODY.

Narrator: SIMILAR TO MODERN DAY
SUPERHEROES LIKE WOLVERINE

OR SPIDER-MAN,
EACH GOD'S ANIMAL

REPRESENTED THEIR NATURE
AND FUNCTION.

HECATE, THE GODDESS
OF CHILDBIRTH AND FERTILITY,

HAS THE HEAD OF A FROG.

WHEN THE NILE FLOODS, TADPOLES
APPEAR IN THEIR THOUSANDS,

WHICH IS WHY THE TADPOLE
IS THE HIEROGLYPH

FOR THE NUMBER 100,000.

ANUBIS IS THE JACKAL-HEADED
GOD OF THE DEAD.

JACKALS OFTEN SCAVENGE
AROUND CEMETERIES,

SO ANCIENT EGYPTIANS
CONNECT THEM WITH DEATH,

AND KHEPRI, THE CREATOR GOD,
HAS A SCARAB-BEETLE HEAD.

SCARABS LAY THEIR EGGS
IN DUNG BALLS,

SO THEIR YOUNG SEEM
TO EMERGE FROM NOTHING,

A FITTING TRAIT
FOR THE GOD OF CREATION.

IT'S OFTEN DIFFICULT FOR US
TO GRASP IN A SOCIETY

WHERE WE'RE USED TO ONE GOD,
BUT IN THOSE SOCIETIES,

THE DIVINE WOULD TAKE
ON THE SHAPE

THAT WAS MOST APPROPRIATE
TO GET THE JOB DONE.

Narrator: IF YOU HAD THE BODY OF
A LION, AS A GOD,

THIS GAVE YOU STRENGTH,
MIGHT, AND FEROCITY.

♪♪

ACCORDING TO MYTH, THE SUN GOD,
RA, SENDS HIS DAUGHTER, SEKHMET,

DOWN TO EARTH

TO PUNISH HUMANS
WHO DESERTED HIM.

THE GODDESS OF WAR, SEKHMET,
DOESN'T TAKE ANY PRISONERS.

SHE GOES ON A KILLING SPREE

THAT THREATENS TO
WIPE OUT HUMANITY.

TO STOP THE BLOODSHED,
RA TRICKS HIS DAUGHTER,

FLOODING THE EARTH WITH BEER
AND POMEGRANATE JUICE.

THINKING IT'S THE BLOOD
OF HER VICTIMS,

SEKHMET DRINKS RA'S COCKTAIL.

SHE PASSES OUT FOR THREE DAYS.

WHEN SHE AWAKES,
HER RAGE HAS GONE.

♪♪

THE MESSAGE IS CLEAR.

ONLY A GOD CAN HARNESS
THE POWER OF A LION.

♪♪

BY MERGING THEMSELVES
WITH THIS ANIMAL,

THE PHARAOHS WANTED TO PROCLAIM
THEIR DIVINE STATUS.

Szpakowska: THE PHARAOHS WOULD
REPRESENT THEMSELVES

AS HAVING HEADS
OR DIFFERENT PARTS OF ANIMALS.

THIS WASN'T SOMETHING THAT
AN ORDINARY PERSON LIKE YOU

OR ME COULD DO.

Narrator: THERE'S A MYSTERY.

MOST EGYPTIAN HYBRID BEASTS HAVE
ANIMAL HEADS AND HUMAN BODIES.

♪♪

WHY IS THE SPHINX
THE OTHER WAY AROUND?

WE KNOW WE HAVE THIS VERY WISE
AND ADVANCED MIND,

BUT WHEN IT COMES
TO OUR PHYSICAL BODY,

WE REALLY DON'T MATCH UP
AGAINST A LOT OF WILD ANIMALS.

SO BEING ABLE TO CREATE A BEAST

THAT IS THE COMBINATION
OF OUR BEST TRAIT, OUR MIND,

AND THE BEST TRAIT
OF THE WILD ANIMAL KINGDOM

MAKES A LOT OF SENSE.

Narrator: THE SPHINX WAS
THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS.

♪♪

BUT WHO FIRST DECIDED
TO TRANSFORM HIMSELF

INTO THIS MYTHICAL MONSTER
AND WHY?

♪♪

♪♪

THE SPHINX --

THE ULTIMATE STATUS SYMBOL

OF A GODLY EGYPTIAN PHARAOH.

♪♪

THE SPHINX OF GIZA

IS THE OLDEST
MONUMENTAL SCULPTURE IN EGYPT.

BY HAVING THIS CARVED
WITH HIS REPRESENTATION,

HE WAS MAKING A STATEMENT
TO THE POPULACE,

WHO WOULD'VE BEEN IN AWE
OF THE POWER OF THE KING.

Narrator:
BUT WHICH RULER WAS BOLD ENOUGH

TO FIRST TURN HIMSELF
INTO A GIANT LIVING STATUE?

♪♪

THERE ARE NO RECORDS AS TO WHY

OR HOW THIS MYTHICAL BEAST
WAS CREATED.

Narrator:
EGYPTOLOGIST DR. CAMPBELL PRICE

THINKS ANSWERS MAY LIE HERE,

IN THE LAYER OF EGYPT'S
VERY FIRST SPHINX.

♪♪

SO HERE, WE CAN SEE ON OUR VIEW
OF THE GIZA NECROPOLIS,

WE'VE GOT THE GREAT SPHINX
DOWN HERE

AND THE PYRAMID OF KHAFRE
UP AT THE TOP,

AND IT SEEMS VERY
PARTICULARLY CLEAR ON THIS IMAGE

THAT THE TWO OF THESE
ARE ASSOCIATED.

THEY'RE CONNECTED TOGETHER.

SO IT SEEMS SAFE TO ASSUME
THAT KHAFRE BUILT

BOTH THE PYRAMID
AND THE GREAT SPHINX.

Narrator: KING KHAFRE RULED
EGYPT AROUND 2500 B.C.

♪♪

HE'S FAMOUS FOR BUILDING
ONE OF THE THREE GREAT PYRAMIDS,

YET HE REMAINS
A MYSTERIOUS FIGURE.

WE KNOW ALMOST NOTHING
ABOUT KHAFRE THE MAN,

BUT WE DO HAVE AN ACCOUNT FROM
THE GREEK HISTORIAN HERODOTUS

WHO WROTE IN
THE 5th CENTURY B.C.,

SO CENTURIES AFTER KHAFRE
HAD DIED,

AND HERODOTUS SAID THAT KHAFRE,
LIKE HIS FATHER KHUFU,

WERE DETESTED.

THEY WERE DESPOTIC RULERS
WHO FORCED THE PEOPLE TO BUILD

THE GREAT PYRAMIDS.

SO THE ONLY ACCOUNT WE HAVE OF
KHAFRE HIMSELF

MAKES HIM OUT
TO BE A MEGALOMANIAC.

♪♪

Narrator: KHAFRE
NEEDED A MONUMENTAL EFFORT

TO CREATE THE MIGHTY SPHINX.

♪♪

FOUR AND A HALF THOUSAND
YEARS AGO,

IN THE SHADOW OF THE PYRAMIDS,

WORKERS RIPPED THOUSANDS OF TONS
OF ROCK FROM THE GROUND

TO CARVE OUT A COLOSSAL CREATURE
THE SIZE OF A JUMBO JET.

♪♪

IT HAD A HUMAN HEAD THAT TOWERED
66 FEET HIGH,

AND LION'S CLAWS
THAT STRETCHED 60 FEET IN FRONT.

♪♪

THE FUSION OF KING AND BEAST

CREATED A TRULY EPIC
MYTHICAL CREATURE.

♪♪

HOW DID KHAFRE HOPE TO USE
THIS GIANT STONE MONSTER

TO GAIN MORE POWER
IN THIS WORLD AND THE NEXT?

♪♪

THE ANSWER COULD LIE
IN THE TEMPLE

AT THE SPHINX'S MONUMENTAL FEET.

♪♪

I'M WALKING DOWN THE MIDDLE LINE
OF THE TEMPLE,

AND THE COMPASS SHOWS ME

THAT THAT LINE
IS EXACTLY ORIENTATED EAST-WEST.

Narrator: SOME ARCHAEOLOGISTS
THINK THIS IS TOO EXACT

TO BE A MERE COINCIDENCE.

THE SPHINX AND ITS TEMPLE ALIGN

WITH THE PATH
OF THE SETTING SUN.

♪♪

WE KNOW THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS
WERE VERY INTERESTED

IN THE MOVEMENTS OF THE SUN,
SO AT TWO TIMES OF YEAR,

SOMETHING AMAZING HAPPENS
WHICH GIVES US A CLUE

OF THE SIGNIFICANCE OF

THE CREATION OF
THIS COLOSSAL BEAST.

Narrator: THE GIGANTIC PYRAMIDS
DOMINATE THE GIZA PLATEAU,

BUT TWICE A YEAR,

THE MONSTER SPHINX TAKES CENTER
STAGE IN A GIANT SPECIAL EFFECT.

♪♪

SEEN FROM THE SPHINX TEMPLE
ON THE MARCH

AND SEPTEMBER EQUINOXES,

THE SETTING SUN SINKS INTO
THE SHOULDER OF THE GREAT BEAST

AND INTO KHAFRE'S PYRAMID
ON THE HORIZON.

FROM ABOVE,
THE SHADOWS OF THE SPHINX

AND THE PYRAMID MERGE
AT THE TEMPLE,

FORGING A CONNECTION BETWEEN
THE SPHINX AND THE SUN GOD.

♪♪

THE GUYS WHO BUILT THE BIG
PYRAMIDS, KHUFU,

KHAFRE, AND MENKAURE,

ALL HAD A VERY CLOSE AND SPECIAL
RELATIONSHIP WITH THE SUN GOD

BECAUSE THEIR FAMILY
DESCRIBED THEMSELVES

AS SONS OF THE SUN GOD.

FOR THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS,

THE CYCLE OF THE SUN
WAS VERY IMPORTANT.

JUST AS THE SUN ROSE
AND SET EVERY DAY,

THE KING, THE PHARAOH,
HOPED TO DO THE SAME THING,

AND SO BY CONNECTING HIMSELF
WITH THE SUN GOD,

HE COULD HAVE THIS ETERNAL LIFE.

Narrator: THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS
HAD MANY DEITIES,

BUT TO THE PHARAOHS,

THE SUN WASN'T JUST ANOTHER GOD.

HE WAS THEIR FATHER
AND OFFERED THEM IMMORTALITY.

♪♪

ONE THEORY SUGGESTS THAT
THE SPHINX AND THE PYRAMID

WERE TWO HALVES OF A PLAN

THAT WOULD ALLOW KHAFRE
TO LIVE ON FOREVER.

♪♪

THE PYRAMIDS, THE SPHINX,
AND THE SURROUNDING TEMPLES

WERE PART OF A MACHINE,
AN ENGINE,

TO LAUNCH THE SPIRIT OF
THE PHARAOH INTO THE AFTERLIFE

TO JOIN THE DIVINE FATHER,
THE SUN GOD.

♪♪

Narrator: BUT THE SPHINX
WOULDN'T JUST HELP KHAFRE

BE A GOD IN THE AFTERLIFE.

LIKE THE PYRAMID,

IT WAS AN ETERNAL REMINDER OF
HIS STATUS AS A GOD ON EARTH.

♪♪

BUT WOULD THE PHARAOH'S
AMBITIONS FOR HIS GIANT SPHINX

GO TO PLAN?

AND WHAT CAUSED LATER RULERS

TO BUILD WHOLE ARMIES
OF SPHINXES?

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator:
THE GREAT SPHINX OF GIZA --

IT WAS CREATED ABOUT
4,500 YEARS AGO

BY AN ALL-POWERFUL PHARAOH,
KHAFRE.

A MYTHICAL BEAST IN THE FORM
OF A LIVING STATUE,

IT WOULD SHOW HIM
AS A GOD ON EARTH

AND HELP HIS SOUL
REACH THE AFTERLIFE.

♪♪

BUT THE POWER OF THIS
TERRIFYING CREATURE

FADED AFTER THE PHARAOH'S DEATH.

BUILDING COLOSSAL MONUMENTS
IS AN EXPENSIVE BUSINESS.

DURING KHAFRE'S DYNASTY,

THESE OVERAMBITIOUS
PYRAMID PROJECTS PEAKED.

KHAFRE'S SON, MENKAURE,
BUILT A MUCH MORE MODEST TOMB,

JUST HALF THE SIZE
OF HIS FATHER'S.

EVENTUALLY,
RESOURCES STARTED TO DRY UP,

AND THE GIZA PLATEAU

BECAME IMPOSSIBLE TO MAINTAIN.

GRAVE ROBBERS
LOOTED THE PYRAMIDS.

THE GREAT SPHINX
LAY HALF-BURIED,

A CURIOSITY FOR LATER
GENERATIONS TO WONDER AT.

♪♪

IT LOOKED LIKE THE SPHINX'S DAYS
WERE OVER,

AND IT WOULD BE COMPLETELY
SWALLOWED BY THE DESERT SAND.

♪♪

HOW DID THIS HYBRID CREATURE
MANAGE TO CLAW ITS WAY BACK

INTO THE CENTER
OF EGYPTIAN POWER?

THE FIGURE OF THE ANCIENT
EGYPTIAN SPHINX

INSPIRED PHARAOHS
FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS.

IT WASN'T JUST SOMETHING
THAT WAS A MOMENT IN TIME.

IT WAS PART OF
THEIR HISTORY FOREVER.

♪♪

Narrator: SEARCHING BETWEEN
THE COLOSSAL PAWS,

DR. CAMPBELL PRICE
INVESTIGATES A CARVING

THAT MAY PROVIDE THE ANSWER.

A STELE IS, LIKE,
AN ANCIENT EGYPTIAN BILLBOARD.

IT'S AN ADVERT TO LIVING PEOPLE

AND ALSO TO THE GODS
OF AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE.

REALLY BIG ONES, LIKE THIS,
MADE OF STONE, BELONG TO KINGS.

♪♪

THIS 4-METER-HIGH TABLET
IS COVERED IN HIEROGLYPHS,

THE PICTURE-BASED WRITING SYSTEM
USED BY THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.

SO HERE WE'RE LOOKING
FOR A KING'S NAME, AND INDEED,

I CAN SEE SEVERAL INDICATIONS
OF A ROYAL NAME ON THERE.

WE SEE THERE ARE THREE DISTINCT
SYMBOLS IN THIS OVAL SHAPE,

CALLED A CARTOUCHE.

WE KNOW THAT CAN ONLY BE
THUTMOSE IV,

A VERY IMPORTANT KING
IN THE 18th DYNASTY

WHO LIVED ABOUT 1400 B.C.

Narrator: THIS WAS OVER
1,000 YEARS AFTER KHAFRE.

♪♪

THE TEXT ON THE STELE RECORDS

WHEN PRINCE THUTMOSE IS INDEED
JUST A PRINCE.

HE'S NOT THE KING.

HE ENCOUNTERS THE SPHINX,

BUT, IN FACT, IT'S ALMOST
COMPLETELY COVERED IN SAND.

Narrator: THE INSCRIPTION
DESCRIBES PRINCE THUTMOSE

RESTING IN THE SHADOW
OF THE SPHINX.

IN THE MID-DAY HEAT,
THUTMOSE FALLS ASLEEP,

AND THE SPHINX COMES TO HIM
IN A DREAM.

♪♪

SPEAKING WITH THE VOICE
OF THE GOD OF THE RISING SUN,

"IF YOU FREE ME FROM THE SAND,"

IT SAYS, "I'LL MAKE YOU KING."

WHEN HE WAKES, THE PRINCE
DOES AS HE'S TOLD

AND UNEARTHS THE SPHINX.

SOON AFTER, THUTMOSE'S OLDER
BROTHER DIES MYSTERIOUSLY,

AND HE INHERITS THE THRONE.

THE SPHINX HAS KEPT ITS WORD.

ONE OF THE WAYS THAT THE ANCIENT
EGYPTIANS COULD INTERACT

WITH THEIR GODS
WAS THROUGH DREAMS.

THE EGYPTIANS BELIEVED THAT GODS

COULD COME TO THEM
IN THEIR DREAMS

AND HELP THEM SOLVE PROBLEMS

OR RECEIVE CURES FROM THE GODS.

SO THIS WAS ONE WAY
FOR THE EGYPTIANS

TO HAVE THAT INTERACTION
WITH THE DIVINE.

♪♪

THE SPHINX NOW SPOKE WITH

THE VOICE OF
EGYPT'S GREATEST GOD.

♪♪

THUTMOSE'S DREAM HAD MADE IT
STRONGER THAN EVER.

IT WAS NOW THE POWER
BEHIND THE THRONE.

IT'S A PLACE OF PILGRIMAGE,

WHERE NEW KINGS COME TO ASSERT
THEIR RIGHT TO THE THRONE.

♪♪

THIS ANCIENT GOD HAS TO BE
SOUGHT OUT

TO GIVE HIS STAMP
OF APPROVAL TO EVERY NEW KING.

♪♪

Narrator:
THIS MONSTROUS HYBRID ONCE AGAIN

STOOD AT THE CENTER
OF EGYPTIAN LIFE.

♪♪

BUT WHY WOULD LATER PHARAOHS
BUILD NOT ONE,

BUT WHOLE ARMIES OF SPHINXES?

♪♪

AND WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO THIS
MIGHTY BEAST

WHEN THE AGE OF THE PHARAOHS
CAME TO AN END?

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: THE GREAT SPHINX OF
GIZA IN EGYPT,

CREATED BY THE PHARAOH KHAFRE,

THIS POWERFUL AND NOBLE CREATURE

HAD BEEN ABANDONED
BEFORE BEING REBORN.

BUT WHY WOULD LATER GENERATIONS

CREATE WHOLE ARMIES
OF THESE MONSTERS?

IT DOESN'T GET MUCH MORE
ANCIENT EGYPTIAN THAN THIS,

A MULTITUDE OF SPHINXES.

Narrator: THE AVENUE OF
THE SPHINXES IN LUXOR,

STRETCHING AS FAR
AS THE EYE CAN SEE,

A HUGE ARMY OF THESE PART-LION,

PART-HUMAN BEASTS.

A CLUE TO WHY THEY'RE HERE
LIES IN THE TWO RELIGIOUS SITES

THAT ARE LINKED BY THE AVENUE.

AT ONE END IS KARNAK,

THE HOME OF AMUN,
KING OF ALL GODS.

OVER A MILE TO THE SOUTH
IS LUXOR,

A VAST TEMPLE WHERE THE PHARAOHS
MAKE OFFERINGS TO THE GODS.

BETWEEN THEM, AN AVENUE LINED
WITH AN INCREDIBLE

1,350 SPHINX STATUES,

FORMING A SPIRITUAL HIGHWAY
JOINING THE TWO SACRED SITES.

♪♪

WHY ARE THE SPHINXES HERE?

THE FIRST STEP IS TO DISCOVER
WHOSE FACE IS ON THEM.

♪♪

ARCHAEOLOGIST
DR. MOSTAFA AL-SAGHIR

IS STILL FINDING STATUES.

♪♪

MOSTAFA AND HIS TEAM
ARE REBUILDING

ONE OF THESE MAGNIFICENT BEASTS,
PIECE BY PIECE.

A MISTAKE NOW COULD SEND
THE ANCIENT SCULPTURE

CRASHING TO THE GROUND.

WITH THE STATUE NOW COMPLETE,

IT'S POSSIBLE TO TAKE A CLOSE
LOOK AT THE FACE.

♪♪

WHO IS IT?

NECTANEBO THE FIRST RULED EGYPT
IN 400 B.C.,

OVER 2,000 YEARS AFTER
THE FIRST SPHINX WAS CREATED.

♪♪

CAMPBELL PRICE THINKS A CLUE

TO WHY NECTANEBO COMMISSIONED
A WHOLE ARMY OF SPHINXES

LIES WITH THE AVENUE ITSELF.

WHEN WE LOOK AT THIS BANK
OF SPHINXES

LINED UP LIKE SENTINELS
ON EITHER SIDE OF THE AVENUE,

THEIR PURPOSE
MUST'VE BEEN TO DO

WITH THE ACTION IN THE MIDDLE.

Narrator: THIS HUGE BOULEVARD
WAS THE CENTERPIECE

FOR ONE OF ANCIENT EGYPT'S
MOST SACRED FESTIVALS.

♪♪

ONCE A YEAR,
ALL EYES IN EGYPT

ARE ON THE AVENUE
OF THE SPHINXES

AS PRIESTS CARRY A STATUE OF
THE GOD AMUN

FROM KARNAK TO LUXOR.

♪♪

JUST LIKE THE SPHINXES,

THE STATUE OF AMUN
IS THOUGHT TO BE ALIVE.

THESE FEROCIOUS
LIVING SCULPTURES

KEPT WATCH TO MAKE SURE

THE GOD COULD TRAVEL SAFELY DOWN
THE AVENUE TO LUXOR.

THERE, HE COULD RECEIVE
HIS ANNUAL OFFERINGS

FROM THE PHARAOH,
A SACRED RITUAL THAT REMINDED

EGYPTIANS OF THEIR KING'S
DIVINE AUTHORITY.

CAMPBELL THINKS
THE ARMY OF SPHINXES

PLAYED AN INTEGRAL ROLE
IN THIS CEREMONY.

THEY ENSURED IT COULD
TAKE PLACE.

ALTHOUGH THE ANCIENT EGYPTIAN
GODS WERE INCREDIBLY POWERFUL,

THEY WERE ALSO RATHER
VULNERABLE,

ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY LEFT
THEIR TEMPLE HOMES.

THEY NEEDED MAGICAL
RITUAL PROTECTION.

SO THAT'S WHAT THIS SQUADRON
OF SPHINXES IS DOING HERE.

THEY'RE ACTING AS GUARDIANS
FOR THE GODS

ON THEIR RITUAL JOURNEYS.

Narrator:
THE DIVINE SPHINX WAS BECOMING

THE PROTECTOR OF OTHER GODS,

A FIGURE OF BENEVOLENCE.

THE KEY THING IN THE SUCCESS
OF THIS FORM

IS ITS ADAPTABILITY,
ITS FLEXIBILITY.

THAT ACCOUNTS FOR THE FACT
THE SPHINX,

THAT BEAST,
THAT IMAGE OF THE BEAST,

IS SO SUCCESSFUL
FOR MORE THAN 2,000 YEARS.

♪♪

Narrator: WHY WERE ITS DAYS
FINALLY NUMBERED IN EGYPT?

AND WHAT CAUSED IT TO EMERGE
AS A TERRIFYING

AND RUTHLESS
MAN-EATER ELSEWHERE?

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: IN EGYPT,

THE SPHINX ENDURED
FOR OVER 2,000 YEARS.

♪♪

THIS HYBRID MUTANT CONSTANTLY
ADAPTED AND TOOK ON NEW POWERS.

♪♪

BUT WHY DID THIS MIGHTY BEAST
FINALLY FALL FROM GLORY?

♪♪

AT THE AVENUE OF THE SPHINXES,

ARCHAEOLOGIST
DR. MOSTAFA AL-SAGHIR UNCOVERS

A POTENTIAL CLUE.

♪♪

THE FAMOUS QUEEN CLEOPATRA

WAS EGYPT'S LAST PHARAOH.

SHE OVERSAW HUGE BUILDING WORKS,

EACH INSCRIBED
WITH HER ROYAL TITLE,

BUT THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG
WITH THIS INSCRIPTION.

THE FACT THAT THE NAME
IS THE WRONG WAY UP PROVES

THIS STONE WAS TAKEN FROM ITS
ORIGINAL BUILDING AND REUSED.

A FEARSOME ARMY OF SPHINXES
STOOD GUARD,

PERHAPS TO PROTECT ONE
OF CLEOPATRA'S SACRED

ROYAL BUILDINGS,

BUT THEY WERE TO WITNESS IT
MERCILESSLY TORN DOWN.

♪♪

WHEN THE ROMANS CONQUERED EGYPT,

CLEOPATRA'S BUILDING MAY HAVE
BEEN BRUTALLY REPURPOSED

FOR THEIR OWN CONSTRUCTION
PROJECTS, RIGHT HERE,

UNDER THE VERY NOSES
OF THE ROYAL STONE PROTECTORS.

♪♪

THE ERA OF THE SPHINX IN EGYPT
WAS COMING TO AN END.

♪♪

BUT IT WASN'T THE ROMANS
WHO DROVE THE FINAL NAIL

INTO THE SPHINX'S COFFIN.

THE CLUES LIE IN THE MIGHTY
KARNAK TEMPLE.

♪♪

I'VE BEEN COMING TO KARNAK
FOR YEARS,

AND THIS IS THE FIRST TIME
I'VE SEEN,

AT THE BACK OF THE TEMPLE,

A VERY SPECIAL
AND INTERESTING MONUMENT.

Narrator:
THE DAMAGE TO THIS STATUE

IS THE RESULT OF MORE
THAN JUST EROSION.

HERE IS A STATUE OF
THUTMOSE III,

THE BUILDER OF THIS
FESTIVAL HALL.

IT'S BEEN CHANGED.

IT'S BEEN VICIOUSLY ATTACKED,

RESCULPTED INTO THE IMAGE
OF A CROSS.

THAT GIVES US A CLUE AS TO
THE FATE

OF THE IMAGE OF THE SPHINX.

Narrator: CAMPBELL FINDS MORE
EVIDENCE JUST AROUND THE CORNER.

♪♪

AMONGST PAINTINGS THAT ARE
OVER 3,000 YEARS OLD,

THERE'S A SURPRISE INTRUDER.

HERE, IN THIS BEAUTIFUL
PAINTED HALL,

AMIDST THE GLORIOUS COLORS,

THERE IS AN IMAGE
OF A CHRISTIAN SAINT.

♪♪

Narrator:
FLEEING ROMAN PERSECUTION,

SOME OF THE VERY
FIRST CHRISTIANS

LIVED AMONG
THESE ABANDONED HALLS.

THEY QUICKLY TURNED FROM
OPPRESSED MINORITY

TO DOMINANT MAJORITY.

ALL OF A SUDDEN,
THE SPHINX WAS CORNERED.

THE CHRISTIANS WERE HIDING OUT
FROM THE ROMANS,

BUT THEY WOULDN'T BE
HIDING OUT FOR LONG

BECAUSE WHEN CHRISTIANITY
TOOK HOLD IN EGYPT,

THAT SPELLED THE END
OF THE ANCIENT GODS.

AS IT SAYS IN THE BIBLE,
THE FIRST COMMANDMENT,

"THOU SHALT HAVE NO
OTHER GODS BEFORE ME."

Narrator: THE CHRISTIANS BANNED
WORSHIP OF PAGAN ICONS,

BRINGING AN END TO MORE
THAN TWO MILLENNIA

OF SPHINX
DOMINATION IN EGYPT.

BUT THE NATURE OF THE SPHINX
WOULD CHANGE AGAIN,

AND ELSEWHERE
IT WOULD RISE ONCE MORE.

HOW DID THIS MAJESTIC CREATURE
END UP AS THE TREACHEROUS,

RAVENOUS MAN-EATER
OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY?

A CLUE COULD LIE WITH ANOTHER
MUTANT MONSTER,

THE PART-LION,
PART-BIRD GRIFFIN.

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator:
FOR MORE THAN TWO MILLENNIA,

THE SPHINX RULED SUPREME
IN EGYPT.

IT WAS POWERFUL AND REVERED.

BUT ELSEWHERE, THE SPHINX WOULD
BECOME SEEN AS A SYMBOL OF EVIL.

WHY DID THIS PROUD GUARDIAN
OF THE EGYPTIAN GODS

TURN INTO A MALEVOLENT MONSTER?

♪♪

A CLUE LIES AT OLYMPIA
IN GREECE.

HERE, ARCHAEOLOGIST
ANTHI DIPLA INVESTIGATES

ANOTHER HYBRID BEAST WITH
THE BODY OF A LION,

THE GRIFFIN.

THE GREEKS BELIEVED
THAT GRIFFINS LIVED FAR AWAY

IN CENTRAL ASIA.

HERE, THEY NESTED.

AMONG ITS EGGS ARE NUGGETS
OF GOLD,

DUG UP WHEN BUILDING ITS NEST.

IN THE DAY, THE GRIFFIN SHIELDS
ITS EGGS FROM THE BLAZING SUN.

AND AT NIGHT, IT MUST PROTECT
THEM FROM TREASURE HUNTERS

TRYING TO STEAL THE GOLD
FROM UNDER THE GRIFFIN'S BEAK.

BUT ITS ACUTE HEARING
DETECTS ANY INTRUDER,

AND IT'S READY TO KILL.

[ SCREECHING ]

IN GREECE, GRIFFINS AND SPHINXES
HAVE MANY SIMILARITIES.

♪♪

BOTH CREATURES HAVE THE BODY
OF A POWERFUL LION.

BOTH HAVE WINGS AND COME FROM
DISTANT LANDS VIA THE NEAR EAST.

♪♪

THE GREEKS WERE FASCINATED

BY HYBRID CREATURES

LIKE THE GRIFFIN
AND THE SPHINX.

THEY DEPICTED THEM
IN COUNTLESS ARTWORKS.

BOTH MUTANT BEASTS
COULD BE FEROCIOUS.

IT'S LIKELY THAT TRAVELERS
BROUGHT BACK TALES

OF BOTH THE SPHINX
AND THE GRIFFIN TO GREECE.

[ SCREECHING ]

♪♪

COMPARATIVE ANATOMIST
DR. JOY REIDENBERG

INVESTIGATES WHAT MIGHT
LIE BEHIND THE GRIFFIN STORIES

THAT MADE IT
SUCH A TERRIFYING PROTECTOR.

THERE'S A NEW THEORY
THAT THE GRIFFIN MAY ACTUALLY

BE BASED ON A FOSSIL FIND,
SOMETHING LIKE THIS.

THIS IS A CAST OF
A PROTOCERATOPS.

Narrator: THERE'S ONE ASPECT OF
THE SKULL THAT STANDS OUT.

THIS ICONIC BEAK IS WHAT
REALLY CAPTURES THE IMAGINATION

BECAUSE THIS BEAK LOOKS
LIKE AN EAGLE'S BEAK.

YOU CAN SEE THE POINT
RIGHT IN THE FRONT HERE

MEETING A BOTTOM JAW HERE,

AND IT WAS MASSIVE,
AND IT WAS POWERFUL.

THEY COULD GIVE YOU A REALLY
HARD BITE

AND PROBABLY SNAP
YOUR BODY IN TWO.

Narrator:
ACCORDING TO THE THEORY,

THE IMMENSE FRAME
OF THE PROTOCERATOPS

COULD ALSO HAVE INSPIRED
THE NOTION OF A LION'S BODY.

SO IF YOU DON'T KNOW
ABOUT DINOSAURS,

Reidenberg: WHAT ARE YOU GOING
TO RELATE THIS TO?

IF YOU'VE GOT SOMETHING
WITH A BIRD-SHAPED BEAK

AND IT'S GOT A BODY
ROUGHLY THE SIZE OF A LION,

AND WE KNEW LIONS
WERE IN THE AREA AT THE TIME,

PUT THOSE TWO TOGETHER, AND NOW,
YOU'VE GOT A BIRD-HEADED LION.

THAT'S YOUR GRIFFIN.

Narrator: THE GREEKS LOVED
THE BIZARRE BIOLOGY

OF THESE DANGEROUS
HYBRID BEASTS.

IN THE MIDDLE EAST,

THE SPHINX
WAS NASTY AND AGGRESSIVE,

SO THEY ASSIMILATED IT
INTO THEIR MYTHOLOGICAL WORLD

OF EVIL MONSTERS.

IT BECAME THE SIBLING
OF THE CHIMERA,

THE MULTIHEADED HYDRA

AND THE HELLHOUND, CERBERUS.

♪♪

BUT IT HADN'T ONLY MUTATED INTO
AN EVIL AND TERRIFYING CREATURE.

♪♪

IT HAD BECOME FEMALE.

THIS WAS A SYMBOL OF HORROR

FOR A MALE-DOMINATED SOCIETY.

ACCORDING TO GREEK MYTHOLOGY,

A SPHINX TERRORIZES THE PEOPLE
OF THEBES WITH A DEADLY RIDDLE.

♪♪

WHAT HAS FOUR FEET
IN THE MORNING,

TWO FEET IN THE AFTERNOON,
AND THREE FEET AT NIGHT?

ANYONE WHO CAN'T ANSWER
THE QUESTION

PAYS WITH THEIR LIFE,

BUT A HERO CALLED OEDIPUS
CRACKS HER RIDDLE -- HUMANS.

FIRST THEY CRAWL ON ALL FOURS,
THEN WALK ON TWO LEGS,

AND FINALLY, THEY NEED A WALKING
STICK WHEN THEY'RE OLD.

HUMILIATED, THE SPHINX
DEVOURS HERSELF.

♪♪

THE GREEKS TENDED TO TAKE
ON OTHER PEOPLE'S STORIES

AND THEN MAKE THEM THEIR OWN.

IN THE CHANGING OF THE STORY
OF THE SPHINX,

IT LOST ITS ORIGINAL MEANING

AND WAS TURNED
INTO A COMPLETE MONSTER.

♪♪

Narrator: STARTING OUT AS
THE LIVING BODY OF A KING,

THE SPHINX DEVELOPED
EXTRAORDINARY POWER

AND BECAME A SACRED GUARDIAN

FOR THE GODS THEMSELVES.

SYMBOLS LIKE THE SPHINX
WERE THE BRIDGE

BETWEEN THE DIVINE WORLD
AND THE ACTUAL WORLD.

WHEN WE THINK ABOUT
THESE MYTHICAL CREATURES,

ONE OF THE REASONS
WHY THEIR STORIES ENDURE

IS BECAUSE ALL OF THESE
CREATURES SHARE POWER,

AND THAT IS WHAT THE ANCIENT
PEOPLES WERE INTERESTED IN,

A WAY TO HARNESS THIS POWER

AND USE IT FOR THEIR BENEFIT.

Narrator: THE SPHINX'S FAME
SPREAD BEYOND EGYPT'S BORDERS,

WHERE IT CHANGED ONCE MORE.

IT BECAME A MAN-EATING MONSTER
THAT WAS VERY DIFFERENT

FROM THE ORIGINAL DIVINE BEAST.

BY PIECING TOGETHER CLUES
AND UNCOVERING ITS SECRETS,

WE'RE COMING CLOSER
TO UNDERSTANDING

ONE OF THE WORLD'S GREATEST
MYTHICAL BEASTS.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪