All language subtitles for The Nile Egypts Great River with Bettany Hughes Series 1 4of4 1080p

For 5,000 years this land, Egypt,

and the epic civilisation it gave
birth to

has been shaped by one
thing more than any other.

This awesome river.

The River Nile.

The Nile helped temples to rise...

...Pharaohs to rule...

...and pyramids to be built.

Without the Nile, there'd have been
no ancient Egypt.

So I'm making the historical
journey of a lifetime.

A 900 mile adventure along
the Nile across the whole of Egypt.

I'll explore Egypt's greatest
achievements...

It is truly wonderful,
isn't it?

...and find treasures hidden
for thousands of years.

Oh, my God. That's a sheer drop down
there.

This is my chance to travel this
fabulous land...

Oh, lovely.

...and experience it as the ancient
Egyptian's did...

"from the River Nile.

From Pharaohs to slaves,
from facts to fantasies,

I want to explore first hand

and to understand how this river
shaped

one of the world's first
and greatest civilisations.

Join me as I uncover 5,000 years
of history along the River Nile.

I'm almost 600 miles into my journey
up the Nile...

...and all along the way,

I've been given
the warmest of Egyptian welcomes.

Hello. Hello. Good luck.
Hope you have a good day.

Betanny! Betanny! Salaam.
Salaam.

Showing kindness to strangers is
a huge part of Egyptian culture.

Thank you. You're welcome.

It looks like a lovely breakfast.
Isn't this amazing?

Wherever you go, the people on
the banks invite you

to come and share their food. It is
such a beautiful thing.

And of course Egypt's hospitality
has been matched

by the wealth of its epic history.

I'm now on the final leg
of my journey,

where arguably the river is at its
most beautiful,

and you can explore ancient Egypt
at the very height of its powers.

I'm now well past the famous
sites of Luxor,

and heading to the intriguing
treasures of southern Egypt.

In beautiful Aswan, with its
island temples.

I'll have to say goodbye to my
lovely dahabiya boat...

...before crossing the Aswan Dam
to end my journey

on the shores of Lake Nasser, at the
world famous temple of Abu Simbel.

30 miles north of Aswan,
though,

I'm enjoying the familiar rhythm of
life on the river.

But there was a time when the locals

wouldn't have looked quite so
relaxed near the water's edge,

thanks to the presence of a
ferocious predator.

If I'd been sailing down here at the
time of the ancient Egyptians,

all these banks would have been
thick with crocodiles.

I mean thousands and thousands
of them.

And this was a huge problem for the
people who lived on the river.

Crocodiles have now been hunted out
of existence here,

but for ancient Egyptians who
travelled on the Nile,

fished in it, swam in it...

...and drank from it,

there was a constant threat lurking
just beneath the surface.

The Egyptians were very clever

and they knew that they had to keep
their enemies close,

so they ended up actually
worshipping crocodiles.

And sometimes they were kept
in temples,

they were dressed in jewellery

and we're told that they were given
wine and cakes to eat.

In fact, the Nile's ultimate
predator inspired my next stop.

Kom Ombo.

This temple was built towards the
end of the ancient Egyptian era,

2,300 years ago, by the family
of Cleopatra...

...and it was here that the
crocodile-headed god Sobek was
worshipped.

So there he is with his human body.

Very realistically done. He's got
lovely knobbly knees.

But that mad crocodile head
and his sceptre, his staff of power.

But I'm here because, for the past
year,

a team of archaeologists has been
working

to save Kom Ombo from rising water,

which threatens to damage the temple
and its foundations.

It's given the team an amazing
chance to dig through layers

and layers of Egyptian history.

So I've made my way
round to the back of the temple.

This is the outside wall.

And the reason I'm here is that I've
had a call

from one of the archaeologists
working here

to say that they've just discovered
something rather exciting.

The mission is being led by
archaeologist Dr Abdul Moneim Saeed.

Hi. Bettany. Nice to meet you. How
are you doing?

Welcome here in Kom Ombo.
So what have you found?

During their digging on the other
side over there,

they found a group of steles.

So, like big stone... Big stone.
..slabs.

And we have just uncovered eight
of them.

Can I come and have a look? Of
course, why not. Thank you.

Steles were like giant
stone message boards

used to make public announcements,

so I'm hoping these finds might
reveal something new

about life here in ancient Egypt.

How amazing.

Don't know if you can see, it's an
enormous slab of stone.

And the slab is not alone.

For some reason, several steles,
some in pieces,

had been buried beneath the wall of
the temple.

You had no idea these were
down here?

No. No idea. How
brilliant.

Looks like a seriously dangerous job
down there because...

Can you tell how much this weighs?
What do you think?

Almost three tonnes. Three tonnes?
Yes.

Oh, that's exciting. Very exciting.

We're going to be the first people
to hear what it says

for 2,000 years. of course, yes.

Amazing and so
tantalizing.

What are you going to tell us,
stone?

It's like it's kind of teasing us.

And nine feet below ground level,

the dig is turning up more than
just the stele.

There's a confusing mix of treasures
here,

including more recent Roman pottery.

Why's the pottery here?

Why has it ended up underneath the
stele?

The steles that are here were
dumped here.

Dumped here, yeah. That's really
interesting.

So because this is late-Roman
pottery,

but it's underneath the stele level,

that shows us that the stele must
have been just put down,

dumped for some reason.

So it starts out life as a work of
art, this,

and it looks like it's ended
"P

as just a bit of a construction
material.

Poor old stele. I'm glad you're
happy with this, though. Yeah.

THEY LAUGH

Beautiful.

It seems that all these intriguing
artefacts have been dumped here

to help support the foundations of
the temple.

THEY SPEAK OWN LANGUAGE

Because the idea of that coming
down on people's arms,

it's actually... My heart's
in my throat watching them,

because it's so perilous,

and these men, they've been doing
this all their lives.

So they're experts.

They are strong men who have good
experience.

Not just the strength,
both of them together.

Strong and wise. Exactly.
That's how we like men.

THEY LAUGH

So I've just seen the top
of the steles.

I recognise those inscriptions.
Oh, my God.

Not just hieroglyphics,
but it has a scene. Yes.

Yes. Yes.

So you've got hieroglyphs and a
scene. Oh, my God. Exactly, yes.

Amazing.

Now out of the ground,

it's clear that two broken pieces
actually fit together...

...allowing an ancient stele
to be reformed

after thousands of years
in the dirt.

THEY CHANT IN OWN LANGUAGE

Great to see that. I love it.

I love the fact that they are loving
the rescuing of this thing

from the earth.

But what we don't know is what our
ancient stone stele

may be about to reveal.

Just a stone's throw from the Nile
at the crocodile Temple of Kom Ombo,

I'm watching as a team of
archaeologists

excavate a giant stone stele.

These were public message boards,
the press releases of ancient Egypt.

And I'm about to be one of the first
people in over 2,000 years

to see what's written on it.

So slowly, slowly the hieroglyphs
are coming out.

Look at the detail on that.

Is it painted? Yes.

The remains of colours.

This is amazing. The paint is still
on it.

All of the colours, they come
from nature.

Plants, the trees, thorns
mixed in with water...

...covered by honey
to be very bright.

I'm blown away by the paint.

I've never seen it come out of the
earth like that before.

It's unusual to find them still
in a good condition

with the nice original colours
like this.

Amazing. So you can just imagine
it in its heyday

kind of blaring out with these jewel
like colours.

And then...we spot a familiar
face in the dust.

This is Sobek.

So this is just too exciting.

So what's just been cleaned is
Sobek's face, the crocodile god.

Amazing. And it's just all appearing
right in front of our eyes.

Sobek's image is proof
that this discarded stele

was originally made for this sacred
site.

So, how old is it?

The Egyptologists have noticed
the all important clue.

A Pharaoh's name.

You can see his name is here.

Seti. So, which Seti?

The father of Ramesses ll.

So this is the father of
Ramesses ll,

arguably one of the most
powerful men on Earth.

Seti I ruled 3,300 years ago.

He expanded the Egyptian Empire
and built beautiful temples.

It will be months before experts
can fully decipher the stele,

but it's new evidence that his
influence reached all the way

to this sacred spot on the Nile.

This is like a kind of CV, sort of,

kind of boasty biography
of what Seti achieved.

So it means the press release, it's
not just started now,

it dates back to 1300 BC.
Of course it did.

We're all big show offs as a
species,

we want the world to know
how great we are.

And we now know that the crocodile
God was worshipped here

over a thousand years
before the current temple.

We'll have to start writing
all our press releases in stone,

so they survive 3,300 years as well.

Honestly, gentlemen, thank you so
much for letting me see this,

it's just the most incredible thing.

And a real privilege to witness it.

I'm still completely reeling
from today.

What an incredible experience.

And I'm covered in sand and Nile
mud,

but watching those men, there was a
lot of camaraderie and support

and laughter and that must have been
the case in ancient Egypt too.

And those stone stele,
they are beautiful things.

They are historical gold.

They're going to tell us so much
about the land here

thousands of years ago.

And they've been hidden in the
foundations

of this incredible temple of the
crocodile God.

I'm genuinely sad to be leaving
Kom Ombo,

but now I've got to head further
south.

I'm entering one of the Nile's
busiest stretches.

Hi!

I do love this river,

because you never know quite who's
going to come down it.

It feels very peaceful,

and then suddenly there's a massive
barge carrying stones or sand

or cement or one of these modern day
luxury liners

taking tourists on their voyage of a
lifetime.

Many of us are heading
to the same place.

30 miles south of Kom Ombo
is the great southern city of Aswan.

It once marked the border
between ancient Egypt

and the rest of Africa...

...and remains the final stop
for many great Nile journeys.

So I can just see the Aswan
Bridge,

which means that soon I'm going to
have to say goodbye

to this beautiful boat, goodbye to
the dahabiya.

Just a few miles upstream,
the famous Aswan Dam

means that this is as far as large
boats like mine can go.

I got to go, I've got to go.
Captain, thank you so much.

I enjoyed every moment. Hope to see
you again. Yeah.

Boys, thank you so much.

It's been so lovely. Bye-bye.
Thank you.

Thank you, guys. You've been
amazing. Thank you.

Should we do a quick photo, do you
think? Yeah. OK. OK.

I don't think you've got Saeed in.

That's it, that's it. What do you
say in Arabic? Not cheese,

it's something else.

SPEAKS ARABIC

OK, let's try one, two, three.

THEY SPEAK ARABIC

BETTANY LAUGHS

Yeah, thank you.

That was really great. Thank you.
Bye. Bye. See you.

Bye! Thank you. It was amazing.

With its multitude of islands,

Aswan is considered by many to be
the Nile's ultimate beauty spot...

...a reputation that helped
create one Aswan icon.

The Old Cataract Hotel.

This place was built when Egypt
was the winter playground

of the British Empire...

...and it's remained the place
to stay for over 100 years.

Oh, my goodness.

Hello. Hi.

Hi, I'm Bettany. Hi.

Your key. Thank you. Hope you enjoy.
Great.

1101. OK.

Now I've got to try and find it.

I've been allowed to borrow the key

to one of the hotel's most famous
suites,

dedicated to none other than
Winston Churchill.

I've just hit a dead-end up that
way.

Churchill, on the other hand

would have known this hotel
like the back of his hand.

He first stayed here in 1902
when he was just 28 years old,

and he returned many times.

I've found this one.

A few things have been updated
since, though.

I'm always hopeless with these
things,

but it's definitely not letting me
in.

Yeah. OK.

So... Yes. Push. Push, right. Thank
you very much.

That is ridiculously posh, isn't it?

So this is called the Winston
Churchill Suite

and this is where he came back when
he was Prime Minister,

with his family.

It's a nice bathroom.

Oh, very nice touch.

There's a little bag with a
hairdryer and it says,

"Wonderful hair begins with a little
wind."

I'll remember that...

...next time I'm getting ready to go
out.

Oh, it is lovely, though.

Now, that is how I like my views.

That really is something.
I've been very lucky in my life,

and I spend my time travelling
around to ancient sites...

...and fascinating places. But this
is something else.

So you've got a little bit of
history

just beyond your balcony, rimmed
by the waters of the night.

That is quite something.

It's scenes like this that have made
Aswan famous.

But early British guests
weren't just here for the view.

The 19th century saw a huge boom
in health tourism

with doctors prescribing their
wealthier clients a stay in Egypt

as a cure for bronchitis
tuberculosis

and the ills of
industrial Britain.

Visiting here became so popular

that in 1894 a book was produced
called Wintering In Egypt

and it gave the English visitor
all kinds of tips

about how to have a marvellous time.

The climate here was described
as dry and tonic

and it was perfect as a
counterbalance to the gloom

and rigours of an English winter.

It was particularly recommended
that men between the ages of 50

and 60 come here if they had
a gout-y tendency.

In the book, there's all sorts of
recommendations

as to what women and men need to
bring with them.

So a woman had to bring a deck chair
and cushions, parasol,

a dressing gown and sketching
materials, of course.

And for men, they had to bring
all kinds of different suits

for the evening and for the daytime.

Sorry to say, two flannel
shirts for shooting

and, of course, tennis whites.

Well aware of this advice

was Britain's most famous
travel agent Thomas Cook.

He'd already pioneered the modern
Nile cruise...

...and with his fleet of steam ships
ready to bring in guests,

his company opened the Old Cataract
as the ultimate health resort.

With all of this, it meant that this
place became a real trigger

for that golden age of Egypt-o-mania

where people loved everything and
anything to do with Egypt.

I may have had to leave my dahabiya
behind,

but that hasn't stopped my river
journey through Aswan.

The city overlooks a unique stretch
of the Nile.

With many islands and narrow
channels,

it's known as the Cataract.

A small boat is needed to explore
these rocky outcrops

and shallow waters.

For the ancient Egyptians,

the cataract formed a physical
barrier,

a natural southern border to their
land.

And it was here each year that they
experienced the first signs

of the annual Nile flood.

The flood meant fertile land,
crops, food and prosperity...

...so monitoring the flood was vital.

The islands of Aswan were perfectly
placed to do this

and the ancient Egyptians developed
a nifty tool.

A nilometer.

Oh, thank you.

This is how the waters would have
flooded into the nilometer.

Thank you.

So the river waters would come
flooding up here,

and, as they raised, the levels
were marked

by all these grooves in the wall.

So that meant that the powers
that be could work out

exactly what the level of the floods
were,

which meant they could estimate
what the sediments would be

on the soil, so they could work out
how many crops could be grown.

And, from that, it meant
that they could predict

exactly how much they could tax the
people.

But despite their clever nilometers,

the ancient Egyptians never
worked out

where the energy of the floodwaters
actually came from.

They rarely saw rainfall.

To them, water from the sky was a
gift of the gods.

We now know that the monsoons
of central Africa

cause the floods each year.

But the ancient Egyptians believed
the flood waters

emerged from beneath the rocks of
the cataract.

Down here there was a system
of caves.

The crazy thing was that you could
actually hear the flood waters

before you could see them.

So, for the ancient Egyptians, this
was a kind of magic moment.

They believed that the gods
and goddesses of the Nile

and the Nile floods lived
down here

and that this was the source of the
life giving powers of the Nile.

Along with the ancient Egyptians,

the true cause of the floods baffled
Greeks and Romans

and remained a mystery for
centuries.

But just over 100 years
ago,

the Nile flood was brought under
control.

Ahead of me stands the great
Aswan Dam...

...whose construction would
threaten

one of the Nile's most
beautiful treasures.

I've reached the final city
on my journey up the Nile.

The rocks and islands of Aswan

make it quite unlike any other
stretch of the river.

It's always been a natural
stop-off for travellers.

If you know where to look
on these rocks,

you can find inscriptions that date
right the way back

to the Pharaonic Period, and they
were left by traders

who travelled this stretch of the
Nile.

It was a kind of "I was here" stamp.

And we know that festival goers
would come

in order to mark the fact they'd
come to this sacred spot.

They're really amazing and they
carry on for around 3,000 years.

But you have to have quite
keen eyes to find them.

Aswan once marked the edge
of the Egyptian world,

the gateway to the rest of Africa.

HORN BEEPS

Small, I have.

THEY LAUGH

Gemstones, ebony, incense and ivory
flowed through the city,

along with Egypt's most revered
and precious item - gold.

Tutankhamun's funeral mask is one
of the few golden treasures

to have escaped the robbers
and Raiders.

But here in this part of ancient
Egypt

gold was once said to be as common
as dirt.

So these lovely ladies have just
come in and, I think,

because she's got this black henna
on her hand,

she must be choosing a wedding
or an engagement ring.

Are you getting married?

SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE

It's like engagement. Engagement.

Gold jewellery has been found in
Egypt

that predates Tut's treasure
by more than 2,000 years.

Super special for the ancient
Egyptians,

because they also thought it was
sacred,

and they believe that gold came from
flesh of the sun god Ra.

And that because it didn't
tarnish in the ground,

it had magical properties.

So it was a status symbol,
but it was also something spiritual.

For many of us, Aswan isn't known
for its gold,

but for a famous engineering
project, the Aswan Dam.

Just over a century ago, the British
were in control here

and changed the Nile forever.

In 1902, a dam opened here
just south of the city.

But 60 years later, the Egyptians
added another. The high dam.

Sandwiched precariously between
them, though,

was a small island with a big
treasure.

The temple of Philae.

Reflected in the waters of the Nile,
this temple is truly romantic.

I think there's something a bit
magical

about all ancient Egyptian temples.

But this one is particularly
special,

because when I was a teenager,
it was 15 feet submerged under water

and it's been moved block-by -block,
over 37,000 blocks,

and jigsaw puzzled together to be in
its new place here.

As the second dam was completed
in 1970

and the reservoir between the two
dams rose,

all but the uppermost parts
of the temple disappeared

beneath the water.

The only way to save it was to move
it to a higher island.

The ancient Egyptians dedicated
Philae to Isis,

a goddess of resurrection.

And the temple now has a new life
at a new location,

allowing visitors to appreciate one
of Egypt's most famed beauties.

This place felt so perfect.

It was described as the pearl
or the jewel of the Nile,

and it attracted travellers
across the centuries.

One of the English visitors who came
here was Florence Nightingale

She spent three months
travelling the Nile,

and she thought that Egypt
was a place full of life

and light and beauty.

But her heart was really taken
by Philae.

She described it as having a kind of
super sacred sense.

And it was actually here in Egypt
that she followed what she thought

was a calling from God to become
a nurse.

And she went straight from here
to train for five years

on the shores of Alexandria.

This place hasn't just enchanted
with its beauty,

it has a fascinating tale
to tell

about the last clays of ancient
Egypt-

Just over 2,000 years ago

with the death of the last
great Pharaoh - Cleopatra,

the Romans seized control of Egypt.

But they weren't here just
to conquer and suppress.

They were massive fans of ancient
Egyptian culture

and even made their own additions
to this temple.

Archaeologist Fatma Magdi Anwar
has invited me to see the evidence.

Thank you so much. I've read a lot
about this but I've never seen it.

This will be a pleasure
for me to show you.

Thank you. Come after me.

Watch your step. I will.

Thank you very much.

As you can see here, this is
Augustus, the Emperor. Uh-huh.

How do you know that is definitely
Augustus?

You can see, that's his name.

He's written it in hieroglyphic
letters.

Augustus was the first emperor
of the new power Rome...

...but he chose to mark his presence
here

using the ancient language of Egypt.

He couldn't be looking
more Egyptian.

He's standing in that really typical
Egyptian pose

and he's making offerings to the
gods as a good Pharaoh would do.

And, I mean, the Romans are kind
of more

than half in love with Egypt.

They love the fact it's very
wealthy,

but they love everything
about it. Yes.

When they came to Egypt, they wanted
to win the hearts of Egyptians.

So they worshipped the same
gods of the Egyptians.

So it's a kind of hearts
and minds campaign,

cos they're already in power.

Yes. But just power.
He needed to be loved.

And are there any other emperors

represented anywhere else
in the temple?

Yes. We have Nero there. Nero? Yeah.

I would love to see Nero as an
Egyptian Pharaoh.

OK. Let's go and see it.

Nero was notorious...

...known for his lavish lifestyle
and tumultuous reign.

He's got a particularly splendid
headdress on, hasn't he?

Yes, it is lovely, to be sure.

Yeah. Well, I love the fact
that he's not even just represented

as a Pharaoh here, he's trying to
show himself to be an Egyptian god.

Yes. As you can see he's wearing
the crown of god Amun.

Everybody wants
to be like an Egyptian.

Yes. And it must make you proud,

I'd imagine, as an Egyptian woman,

the fact that people come here, not
just today as tourists,

but through history.

Yes. From every ages and from every
country

there is a lot of people who want
to be Egyptians

and want to involve
with Egyptian culture.

You look very proud, you're actually
filling up. Yes.

Yeah, but it is, it's a great thing,

and we're very lucky to be able to
share it today.

So thank you. Thank you. Thank you
for looking after us.

Awh. Oh, well, thank you for
looking after us.

It was great, really beautiful.
Thank you. Thank you, fantastic.

On my Nile journey, I've met so many
people like Fatma

who are incredibly proud of their
country's history.

And it's understandable,

since this amazing civilisation
endured over 5,000 years

and has been celebrated ever since

by everyone from the Romans, right
through to us.

There's one final treat here at
Philae,

a tiny detail that bears witness

to the dying breath of ancient
Egyptian culture.

The whole of this temple is covered
with historical clues

and information, so it might seem
slightly perverse to pick this one

which isn't particularly pretty,

but what I'm looking at here is
really significant.

These are the last Egyptian
hieroglyphs

ever carved on a wall in Egypt.

They date from 394 AD
and they were put here by somebody

who was a member of a dynasty of
priests who served the goddess Isis.

Now, it's really poignant because
what it says here

is that this is a cult that is going
to carry on for ever and ever.

But that's not the case, because
increasingly the Roman Empire,

and Rome dominated Egypt
at this time, is becoming Christian

and within just a few generations
paganism was outlawed

and this temple was turned
into a Christian church.

Philae marks an end point for
ancient Egypt

and for many Nile
journeys.

But, for me, there's one last stop
on the river I want to show you.

It reveals just how captivated
we still are by Egypt.

Many travellers end their Nile
journeys here in Aswan...

...but I've got one more treat
in store.

And getting there takes me
away from the river.

I'm heading to a special place
for a very special date.

This drive allows me to get around
Aswan's might dams

and press on, 180 miles in fact,

where the ancient Nile Valley is now
engulfed by Lake Nasser.

This is one of the largest
man-made lakes in the world,

created by the second of those dams
downstream.

From the time of the ancients
onwards,

Egypt always seems to have attracted

these massive ambitious construction
projects,

and that tradition continues.

Lake Nasser, or Lake Nubia as
some call it, is 340 miles long

and it took six years to fill.

But I've come this far south

to see one of ancient Egypt's most
impressive engineering feats.

There's a temple coming
up just here

which symbolises Egypt's glory
days.

Abu Simbel.

Without a doubt one of the most
striking of Egypt's ancient temples.

Unusually, it was built
in one reign by one Pharaoh.

Abu Simbel encapsulates
the glory clays of Egyptian rule.

Now, we're used to the leaders
of nations

making shouting statements of power.

But, even today, you cannot argue
with this.

This is Egypt telling the world
that she is in charge

and the incarnation of her power
is this man.

It's Ramesses ll, the Pharaoh
also known as Ramesses The Great.

And Ramesses is so certain
of his potency,

there isn't just one of him here,
there's one, two, three, four,

all set in stone.

3,300 years ago,

Ramesses enjoyed one of the longest
reigns in history.

Over 67 years, he proved a great
leader on the battlefield...

...and a famous builder of enormous
temples.

Ramesses left Egypt with more
statues of himself

than any other Pharaoh, and it was
said that he fathered 100 children.

But what's really interesting
is that, despite all of his power,

Ramesses still needs to keep
the Nile onside.

So, at the entrance to the temple
here, you've got an inscription

showing Hapi, the god of the Nile
and the Nile's flood,

and he's binding together the
country,

uniting it with the power
of the river.

Inside, the temple stretches 185
feet into the mountain.

And, as you might expect, eight
more massive images of Ramesses

flank the entrance hall.

There's also a wealth of
historical clues.

Like many in power, Ramesses was no
stranger to propaganda.

Now, there's absolutely no mistaking
the message that is being sent out

by these, frankly,
quite disturbing images.

This is the almighty Pharaoh
smiting his enemies.

But you've actually got to read
these pictures really carefully.

So, if you look at this wall, the
whole of this space is being used

to commemorate a very famous
battle, The Battle Of Kadesh

between the Egyptians and their
arch-enemies the Hittites.

Now, what's really interesting
is that this is portrayed

as a glorious victory.

But the truth is, the Egyptians
probably didn't win.

I mean, if anything this was a kind
of a messy draw.

So this isn't quite fake news,

but it's Ramesses ll being very
economical with the truth.

One rather amazing thing did come
out of the Battle Of Kadesh.

Years later, the two sides
signed the Eternal Treaty,

which has been described
as the world's first peace treaty.

And, actually, there's a copy
of it

that sits inside the UN
building in New York.

It's full of very beautiful
words and ideas.

There's talk of the need
for the lands

and the people within it to
flourish.

Mind you, it makes for devastating
reading now,

because Kadesh is in what is modern
day Syria.

So 3,300 years on, that promise
of peace has been shattered.

One thing that hasn't changed in all
that time though

is the aura that Ramesses worked so
hard to create.

And, here, there's a unique bit
of ancient Egyptian magic.

So I've got to go back to my hotel
room now to get some rest

because I have to be back
here really, really, really, early

tomorrow morning, because
I've actually timed my visit

because something rather
unique is going to happen.

Twice a year, this remote spot in
southern Egypt

fills with thousands of people.

They come from all over the world
to witness an event

that's been going on for over three
millennia.

In a few minutes, a shaft of direct
sunlight will pierce the temple,

shine right through the hypostyle
hall

and hit the far wall of the inner
sanctuary.

There, it will illuminate
the face of Ramesses The Great

as he sits in line with Egypt's
most powerful gods.

There'd have been great excitement
in Ramesses time

because the moment when the sun hit
his face

was thought to be the moment that it
was proved that he was divine.

The moment of alignment is said
to happen on Ramesses's birthday

and on his coronation day.

But it doesn't last for long.

As the sun crosses the doorframe,

the light strikes the back
of the temple...

...and Ramesses glows in the sun.

Once again, he displays his godlike
power...

...just as he did to the ancient
Egyptians over 3,000 years ago.

And then as quickly as it started,
the moment is gone.

Outside, the festivities continue
on the shore of Lake Nasser.

And in the past,

this event would have been the cause
for huge celebration, too.

It's really great to see this kind
of party festival atmosphere

carrying on outside, because the
ancient Egyptians loved a party,

they loved a festival, but we know,

cos it's inscribed in some
of the temples

that what they called "the common
people"

were only allowed into certain
spaces

and never into the inner
sanctuary itself.

But with Ramesses desperate
to be considered immortal,

I think he'd have loved this modern
crowd turning up to honour him.

At the end of my epic journey
along the Nile,

here's more proof that we're still
fascinated by the great civilisation

that this river gave birth to.

Coming here and making this journey
has taught me a huge amount.

I've always known from the history
books

that Egypt is described as the gift
of the Nile.

But now I really get it,

I understand what that actually
means.

The Nile didn't just shape Egypt,

it nourished the lives and life
expefience

of millions of rich and poor alike.

The Nile really is the gift
that keeps on giving,

because its treasures are shared
across the millennia,

not just by the ancients,
but by all of us.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media