Original subtitles

Narrator: meroe, sudan.

Strange pyramids rise out From the golden desert sands.

Creasman: meroe is evocative.

It's awe-inspiring.

Narrator: this forgotten Landscape is almost all

That remains Of a lost civilization:

The kingdom of kush.

Naunton: the kingdom of kush is One of the great success stories

Of ancient africa.

Narrator: who are the mysterious People of kush?

Why did they build these Strange pyramids

In the desert 2,000 miles From the heart of ancient egypt?

Naunton: oh, wow.

This is really amazing to see.

Narrator: now, archaeologists Use ancient technology

To reconstruct the kushites' Greatest monuments...

...And explore the tombs And temples of egypt

To investigate their rise To become pharaohs.

Creasman: they did something That no one else had.

The kushites take control Of egypt.

Narrator: To discover the secrets Of this lost civilization,

We'll deconstruct their Mysterious desert pyramids,

Explore hidden tombs, Unearth their buried treasure

And reveal how the lost kings of Kush conquer and rule all egypt.

--captions by vitac-- Www.Vitac.Com

Captions paid for by Discovery communications

Meroe, sudan.

The remains of a city Lie abandoned

For almost 2,000 years.

Naunton: seeing the magical Pyramids of meroe

Emerging out Of the desert nothingness

Is an absolutely Astonishing sight.

Narrator: the mysterious Pyramids seem to echo

The ancient landscapes of egypt,

But these steep-sided structures Are built over 2,000 years

After the great pyramids At giza.

They belong to the kings Of a people

Who lived Thousands of miles from egypt:

The kushites, an ancient Black african civilization.

Naunton: kush was a kingdom of Huge achievements in which

There were more pyramids Built than there were in egypt.

Narrator: Standing tall at meroe,

These elegant structures Have steep sides

Pitched up to 81 degrees.

Though in ruins today, In the 3rd century b.C.,

They are perfect pyramids,

Some towering 100 feet tall With decorated gateways

At the front Depicting kings and queens.

Painted with bold colors, over 200 spread across the landscape.

Why do the kushites build Pyramids 1,000 miles from egypt

And 1,000 years after the Egyptians stopped building them?

Egyptologist chris naunton has Studied meroe for over a decade.

He thinks there's a connection

Between These striking structures

And the birthplace Of the pyramids, ancient egypt.

Naunton: egypt is one of the Richest countries in the world

Archaeologically, And it tells us a huge amount

About the peoples Who lived around egypt,

How the egyptians Interacted with them.

Narrator: His investigation starts 1,000 miles north of meroe

At the ancient necropolis Of deir el-medina.

♪♪

Here, chris believes he can Trace links

Between egypt and meroe.

Naunton: oh, wow.

This is really amazing to see.

Narrator: small Pyramid-shaped constructions

Sit at the entrance To the tombs.

Though restored today,

Their foundations date to 1,300 Years before the meroe pyramids.

Naunton: what's really striking About it is how similar

It is to the pyramids of meroe With these much steeper sides

Than the ones that we see Somewhere like giza

And then this monumental doorway Here,

And we see those In meroe as well.

Narrator: chris thinks that These kushite structures

Share their function with The pyramids of deir el-medina.

They serve as gateways to tombs Cut into the mountain.

When meroe is first excavated, Hidden sections below ground

Are recorded In the archaeological plans.

Naunton: there's a descending Staircase cut into the ground,

And then underneath, A set of burial compartments,

So altogether the function Of the pyramid

And subterranean chamber Is as a tomb.

Narrator: The pyramids at deir el-medina

Are strikingly similar To the kushite monuments.

Could this just be A coincidence?

Clues could lie within these Strange structures.

Each pyramid at meroe starts With an infill of earth

And rubble

Piling up around a wooden pole Buried in the middle.

Two layers of sandstone blocks Make up the outer walls

That stand 30 degrees steeper Than any egyptian pyramid.

A carved capstone Finishes the top.

Two layers of plaster Give a smooth finish.

Many are painted bold colors,

And some decorated With striking star designs.

Can the techniques used To build them

Reveal a kushite connection With egypt?

Adel kelany is an expert In kushite construction.

He thinks the methods used to Achieve the pyramids' tall,

Thin design reveals a direct Link with ancient egypt.

At his sandstone-quarry Workshop,

He designs and builds a model To investigate.

To solve the problem, Adel thinks the kushites used

A piece Of ancient egyptian technology

That dates back thousands Of years before meroe is built.

If he's right, it could be proof That the kushite engineers

Have a direct connection With egypt.

A shaduf is a counterbalance Crane-like device

Used to haul water For irrigation.

The wooden shaft discovered At meroe could be a clue

That the kushites adapted To build pyramids,

But can this simple Wooden device

Lift huge blocks of sandstone?

To investigate, adel's team Loads his replica shaduf

With a 90-pound rock.

Using the counterbalance,

The men lift the first stone With ease...

...And set it in position.

But the capstones That complete the pyramids

Can weigh over 150 pounds.

Can the wooden shaduf lift A stone this heavy?

The men pull down On the counterbalance

And lift the huge stone Into the air.

Kelany: higher, higher, higher.

Yeah, yeah, perfect. It's okay.

A little bit -- A little bit -- perfect.

Narrator: the stone is safely Lowered into place.

In just 10 minutes, adel's team Lift three blocks

Of heavy sandstone into place At the top of the pyramid.

Their modification Of the shaduf design suggests

The kushite engineers have Direct links to ancient egypt.

The kushite workers pile up Rubble and sand

And cover it With sandstone blocks

To build the bottom Half of the pyramid.

Then they use a shaduf As a crane

To haul the heavy stones Up to the top

And finish each pyramid With ease.

To hide the shaduf, They cut off the tip

And cover it with an ornate Carved capstone.

With this ingenious technique,

The kushites build over 200 Steep-sided pyramids,

More than the egyptians In their entire history.

The pyramids of meroe have A striking design

That has its roots In ancient egypt,

Evidence of links between these Great african civilizations,

But why do the kushites build Pyramids at meroe 1,000 years

After the egyptians stop Building them?

Is there more to their Relationship than just

An imitation Of egyptian architecture?

Treasures from inside The meroe pyramids

Could reveal a shocking Period of violence

When the two civilizations Come face-to-face.

Narrator: the pyramids of meroe: Stunning remains of a lost

African civilization, The kushites.

Built using ancient technology

Pioneered 1,000 miles away In egypt,

They are evidence Of a connection

Between their builders And the mighty egyptians.

But where does This relationship begin?

Can its origins shed light

On why the kushites build Egyptian-style pyramids?

Clues could lie with An astonishing discovery

Beneath the ruins of meroe.

Hidden deep under the pyramid Are two chambers

Carved into the sandstone.

In the back room Is a burial chest.

Inside, the treasures of kushite Queen amanishakheto:

Priceless gold jewelry, Beautifully detailed bracelets

And over a dozen gold signet Rings with intricate images

Reflecting the queen's power.

Can the gold hoards of meroe

Reveal a connection Between kush and egypt?

♪♪

To hunt for clues,

Chris naunton investigates An ancient tomb in luxor.

Naunton: This incredibly beautiful scene Shows a series of people,

And they're identified By their appearance,

By the black color of the skin

That some of them have And also by the inscriptions,

And these people include, Here, chiefs of kush.

Narrator: painted 1,000 years Before meroe is built,

This is one of the earliest Images of kushites in egypt.

Naunton: All these people are bringing Various different commodities

Towards something Further down the scene,

So, for example, We have cattle here.

There's even a giraffe, And this group here

Is bringing something Very special on these trays.

These are rings of solid gold.

Narrator: Hundreds of gold bars and rings Are painted in the scene.

3,000 years ago, Gold is one of the most

Sought-after substances In ancient egypt.

Naunton: It's pretty clear that there was A huge quantity of gold

Coming from the south Into egypt.

Narrator: The gold trade helps fund

The growth of The kushite civilization.

Chris thinks egypt's greed For gold

Brings it closer to kush.

Naunton: control of gold, Control of trade in gold,

Was a key factor in The expanding relationship

Between egypt and kush.

Narrator: through the gold Trade, kush is introduced

To the wonders Of egyptian civilization

Like the royal pyramid burial Sites at giza and saqqara,

But gold alone can't have Inspired the kushites

To build pyramids.

Countless civilizations Trade with egypt,

But none copy Their iconic structures,

And there are signs That the relationship

Between kush and egypt Has a dark side.

Naunton: all this gold is being Brought to this figure,

Who stands inside this shrine

With a frieze of cobras At the top.

Narrator: the gold here is also An offering to a higher power.

The image is badly damaged, But this is one

Of the most important Figures of ancient egypt.

Naunton: we in fact know from Inscriptions

Elsewhere in the tomb That this is king tutankhamun.

Narrator: It's believed that tutankhamun's Burial treasure is made

From kushite gold Used to make

His sarcophagus And funerary mask.

Centuries before tutankhamun Rules egypt,

Kushites strike gold In the banks of the nile.

With its newfound wealth,

Kush builds a powerful army Of skilled archers.

Egypt builds 14 forts along The kushite border on the nile

To station troops And control the gold trade.

And in the 16th century b.C.,

Pharaoh thutmose I conquers the Kush and takes all their gold.

In the years after he invades,

Signs of an even more sinister Side to egypt appear.

Kushite expert Pearce paul creasman

Investigates the great temple Of abu simbel in aswan.

He thinks there's evidence here Of the true nature

Of kush's relationship With egypt.

Creasman: when you see this, You can't help but be awestruck.

It's incredible.

Ramesses the great choosing To build a temple here,

On the border with kush, Is a statement piece.

Narrator: Among the lavish decorations

Are images of kushites Bound together.

Inside the temple, the king Himself is depicted

Violently punishing His kushite captives.

Creasman: Here, we have ramesses the great Rearing back, holding a mace,

Ready to strike his captives, Holding them in his other hand.

It's showing The forthcoming action

If people don't get in line.

Narrator: but pearce paul thinks Behind this show of strength,

A very different message Can be deciphered.

Creasman: why does anybody Intimidate anyone else?

Maybe because there's A little bit of fear,

Concern about the rise Of their southern neighbor.

Narrator: Abu simbel is designed to remind Kush of egypt's dominance.

But if kush is reduced To an egyptian colony,

Why do its people imitate

The pyramids Of their tyrannical overlords?

Could mysterious artifacts Unearthed at meroe

Reveal how kushites go From prisoners to invaders?

Narrator: the ancient ruins of The meroe pyramids in sudan:

The spectacular architectural Legacy of the kushites.

To find out why they build them, Experts are investigating links

Between kush and the birthplace Of ancient pyramids, egypt.

But in the 13th century b.C.,

Kush is a colony ruled By the egyptian pharaoh.

What changes make kush adopt the Architecture of its overlords?

A clue could lie inside A pyramid at meroe.

Near the entrance, investigators Unearth a strange statue:

A bird with a human head

Believed to keep the spirit of The dead alive in the afterlife,

And deeper inside the chamber,

A stone offering table With mysterious symbols

Carved around the edge.

In the center, two gods of the Dead pouring liquid offerings

Into the earth...

...A powerful symbol Of kushite worship

Of the natural environment.

Creasman: Offering tables in tombs,

They're an essential aspect Of this deal

Between humanity And the gods to maintain order.

Narrator: Evidence is emerging that the Kushite prayers are answered.

Pearce paul creasman thinks That the natural world

Helps kush flip The power balance with egypt.

Creasman: The offerings were often About ensuring fertility,

Trying to ensure That the annual floods came.

The annual floods probably play An important role

In the rise of kush.

Narrator: the nile is crucial For kush and egypt.

Their power and wealth Depend on its annual flood.

To investigate this life-giving Resource,

Pearce paul disembarks At a riverbank

Where the trees record Fertility year after year.

He uses an increment borer To examine the growth of a tree.

Creasman: This is a core from the tree.

It's very faint, but you can Just see some darker

And lighter bands.

Narrator: pearce paul marks up The different bands.

Creasman: in the case of trees Right by the edge of the nile,

It's telling us about how much Water was available to them.

Narrator: A ticker growth band means the Tree has absorbed more water.

In ancient egypt,

The water supply is dictated By the annual floods.

Creasman: the annual floods Were the lifeblood

Of ancient egypt and kush.

Each year, the floods came down And redeposited

New silt and water.

They overflowed the banks Of the nile

And allowed people to plant A much broader area of the land.

Narrator: To monitor the progress of this Critical natural process,

The ancient egyptians invent An ingenious device

Called a nilometer.

At elephantine island In the aswan region,

Pearce paul investigates A nilometer that dates

Back over 3,000 years.

Built into the riverbank, It's a hidden staircase

That disappears Into the nile waters.

Creasman: So here, we're at the bottom Of the nilometer right now.

As the water is lapping Against the wall,

You can see exactly Where it changes.

Narrator: Marks cut into the walls

Are used to measure The height of the river.

Creasman: people could measure Whether or not

It was going to be A good harvest,

Hoping, praying For the waters to rise.

Narrator: when floodwaters in Egypt are critically low,

A bad harvest can hit The economy hard,

Giving kush a chance to strike Back at their oppressors.

Creasman: a series of lower Floods would create a situation

Like a chaos for the egyptians.

If there isn't enough food To feed everybody,

Power structures Start weakening,

And we see that in the years Leading up

To the rise of the kush.

Narrator: In the 12th century b.C.,

The waters of the nile Are extremely low.

Central egypt's power weakens.

1,000 miles south, Kush is unaffected by the chaos.

Creasman: in kush, the Floodplains are smaller,

And there are fewer people, So the level of the flood

Is perhaps less critical In any given year

Than it would have Been in egypt.

It would have been a really Golden opportunity for them

To have a resurgence And a rebirth.

Narrator: The forces of nature finally Give kush an opportunity

To break free of egyptian rule.

But egypt is still a more Powerful civilization than kush.

How can the kushites take on The imperial might of egypt?

Pearce paul visits The antiquities museum in cairo,

The world's greatest collection Of egyptian

Archaeological treasures.

He examines a stele carved In honor of piankhi,

A black african kushite

Who wants to end Egypt's rule over kush.

Creasman: This is an essential document.

For hundreds of years, Egypt had been fractured.

This is the kushite resurgence.

These were chieftains,

But they are bowing down At the feet of the king,

Demonstrating his power.

Narrator: The hieroglyphic code reveals A great kushite uprising

And how the kush eventually Conquer all of egypt.

Creasman: it tells us that they Were strong

Because they conquered Major cities and centers

In the ancient capitals Of egypt.

This is the moment That the kushite king

Overtook the egyptians.

Narrator: In the 8th century b.C., Piankhi's archers marched north,

Conquering much Of the nile valley.

Piankhi takes control of Lower egypt

Before leading his army North to the capital, memphis.

Victory here means rule Over all egypt.

Piankhi, a kushite king,

Conquers the land Of the pyramids,

But victory alone can't explain

Why kushites build similar Structures at meroe.

No other invaders Of egypt build pyramids.

Why do the kush do it?

More clues could lie In shocking events

That happen after The kushites invade.

Narrator: the pyramids of meroe

Have baffled archaeologists For centuries.

Why do the kushites build Over 200 structures

Modeled on some of the most Iconic buildings on the planet,

The pyramids of egypt?

Could the answer lie in egypt And kush's volatile

History of conquest And colonization?

Chris naunton looks for clues At the great temple of karnak.

Naunton: the decoration and the Inscriptions on these buildings

Allows us to read something Of egyptian history

Into what we're Looking at here.

Narrator: Chris thinks evidence of A shocking kushite impact here

Could provide clues to why they Build the pyramids of meroe.

Among the remains of a building At the heart of the complex,

He examines The hieroglyphic sign

Of one of egypt's Most surprising rulers.

Naunton: even in a small temple, We can see royal names,

And we can tell when We've got a royal name

Because the hieroglyphic signs Are enclosed in a name ring

Which we call a cartouche.

That's exactly What we've got here.

This is a very interesting Name though.

This is the name taharqa, And taharqa was a kushite.

Narrator: 40 years after Piankhi invades,

The kushites consolidate Their control of egypt,

But taharqa Is no ordinary kushite.

He changes egypt forever.

♪♪

Taharqa leaves his mark On karnak,

The most important Temple in egypt.

♪♪

He builds colossal pillars At the entrance

With his name Inscribed all over them.

Alongside a sacred lake, He builds a grand new temple

With carvings Depicting his divine status.

Inside, he erects a sculpture Of himself

Wearing two cobras On his headdress.

Could this be a clue to why

Kush build egyptian-style Pyramids at meroe?

♪♪

To find out, chris examines The intricate carvings

Of taharqa up close.

Naunton: This is taharqa, and he's Wearing a cobra at his brow,

But there's just the faint Traces of a second one here.

Narrator: the second cobra Is badly damaged,

But the headdress reveals Taharqa's position

Here in egypt.

Naunton: Only one person in the country

Had the privilege of wearing The cobra at the brow here.

This is clearly the image Of a pharaoh.

Narrator: taharqa, a kushite, Is a black pharaoh of egypt...

...And wearing two cobras Could be a clue

That he is more powerful than Any other pharaoh before him.

Naunton: It's possible each of these Represents the idea of their

Having ruled over two kingdoms, Both kush and egypt.

Narrator: Ruling over both peoples,

Taharqa combines The two territories,

Merging them Into one huge kingdom.

3,500 years ago,

Kush is a small Independent kingdom

That sits along The banks of the nile.

By the time of taharqa,

His two kingdoms stretch Almost 2,000 miles,

Ruling more of the great nile Valley than anyone before him.

Chris Explores the temple complex.

He finds evidence of other Kushite pharaohs

With the double cobra.

It's proof that taharqa is not The only kushite pharaoh.

Naunton: in fact, there were Five kushites

Who became kings of egypt,

So this was An entire dynasty of kushites

Ruling as pharaoh in egypt.

It's an extraordinary reversal Of fortunes for kush and egypt.

Narrator: piankhi's invasion Marks the beginning

Of over a century Of kushite rule.

They become known as the kings Of the 25th dynasty,

The black pharaohs of egypt.

Naunton: the kushites had A constant, ever-changing

And at times very dramatic Relationship with egypt.

By the time they became Pharaohs themselves,

They were already egyptianized.

Narrator: the kush rule the land Of the pyramids

But don't build their pyramids Then and there.

Why do they build them 500 years later

And 1,000 miles away in meroe?

Their fate in egypt could Finally reveal the answers.

Shocking discoveries at The heart of ancient luxor

Could be evidence Of a catastrophic change

In fortunes For the black pharaohs.

Narrator: In the 8th century b.C.,

Kushite pharaohs rule All of egypt.

So why do they leave To build pyramids

1,000 miles away at meroe?

Answers could lie In the ultimate fate

Of the kushite kings.

To investigate, Chris naunton has come

To the great temple Of karnak in egypt.

Here, traces of the black Pharaoh dynasty still remain.

In a temple at the edge Of the complex,

He examines the carved Image of shebitku,

The second kushite pharaoh To rule egypt.

Naunton: this is an image of Pharaoh, and again,

It's an image of a king looking Very distinctively kushite,

A double cobra at the brow,

And one of those cobras Is quite well-preserved.

The other one is not Much more of a shadow,

But what that tells us

Is that that's been Deliberately hacked away.

Narrator: Chris thinks this is evidence

Of a turn Against the kushite kings.

Naunton: They were not egyptians.

They were outsiders At this time.

They'd lost control of egypt.

They reverted to being egypt's Enemy again,

And that's perhaps why Later pharaohs wanted to remove

All memory of there ever having Been kushite kings in egypt

By removing this distinctive Feature, this second cobra,

And this is really a very, Very striking moment

In egyptian history.

Narrator: The destroyed cobra symbolizes

The end of kushite rule Over egypt,

But it's not the egyptians That strip them of the crown.

The kushite pharaohs fall At the hands of a powerful ruler

From the east: King esarhaddon of assyria.

The assyrian king conquers The kush with his huge army,

Bringing kushite rule in egypt To an end.

The assyrians rule For just 12 years,

But they force The kushites 800 miles south,

Back out of egypt Into kush territory,

But even their homeland Can't offer the kush safety.

Pearce paul creasman thinks A new force

Pushes them Further south to meroe.

At the great temple Of abu-simbel

On the ancient border With egypt,

He tracks down the identity Of kush's latest enemy.

Creasman: just under the left Knee of ramesses the great,

You can see a greek inscription.

It's actually a graffiti.

It tells us about the exploits Of mercenaries

Sent down by the king, Psamtik ii.

Narrator: Psamtik ii is a new pharaoh

Who rules egypt after his father Expels the assyrians.

Pearce paul thinks This graffiti

Is evidence of a new Egyptian invasion of kush.

The proof is in the ancient name The egyptians used to describe

Enemies from the south: The people of the nine bows.

Creasman: the nine bows are A representation,

A way of talking About the enemy.

This graffiti specifically Mentions the nine bows

As the enemy That needs to be tended.

There's no question That this talks

About a combined egyptian And mercenary army

Being sent by the pharaoh Into the land of the kush.

Narrator: on the island of Kalabsha near aswan,

A record of the battle Is preserved on a stone carving.

Pearce paul decodes The hieroglyphic story

Cut into the granite.

Creasman: In this section, it's saying the King is strong and successful,

Strong of arm and he who smites The people of the nine bows.

It tells us that he brought back 4,200 captives,

Not one of them escaping,

And waded in their blood As water.

Narrator: In the 6th century b.C.,

Pharaoh psamtik ii's army Descends on kush,

Forcing its people 200 miles south to meroe.

Here, the kush build a new Capital,

Complete with beautiful palaces, Temples and pyramids.

Kush's relationship with egypt Develops over 3,000 years.

They rise to rule egypt,

Adopting the pharaonic way Of life and way of death.

The kushite pyramids at meroe Can be seen as symbols

Of their adaption Of egyptian civilization.

After egypt eventually Collapses, meroe survives

As the last bastion Of this iconic ancient culture.

Kushite civilization Thrives at meroe for 650 years.

By 350 a.D., the kingdom of kush Disappears completely.

What wipes it out?

Mysterious artifacts unearthed From an ancient chapel

Could reveal How kush meets its end.

Narrator: At their peak, the kushites rise From the shadows of egypt

To rule the greatest empire In the ancient world.

But 100 years After their conquest,

The kush are forced Out of egypt.

They construct a new capital At meroe,

Building over 200 iconic Egypt-inspired pyramids,

But by 350 a.D., the kushites Vanish from history.

What destroys The once-powerful kushites?

A clue could lie in a strange Building nestling

Among the kushite pyramids.

Hidden in the ruins Of a christian church,

Archaeologists make A surprising find.

The stone slabs that line The central aisle

Have intriguing carvings.

They depict kushite rulers Making offerings to the gods

With lines and lines of A mysterious kushite language.

These are sacred steles once Belonging to a kushite pyramid.

So what are these kushite Artifacts

Doing on the floor Of a christian church?

♪♪

To investigate, Pearce paul creasman explores

A temple on the island Of kalabsha in aswan.

On a wall of the temple, He finds a carving that

Could explain The end of the kingdom of kush.

It depicts silko, A king of what was kush.

He wears roman armor And sits astride a horse.

Creasman: what we can see in The iconography here is change.

This is silko adopting something Like roman-type regalia,

And then looking up In the corner,

Anointing this king is something That looks very familiar to us.

Look at the wings on his back.

We'd call that an angel.

This is very early Christian iconography.

It's a major shift From the kushite world

To the christian world.

Narrator: rome invades kush In the 1st century a.D.

The kush become romanized.

When the roman empire Becomes christian

In the 4th century a.D.,

Its client kings, like silko, Become christian too.

Creasman: If silko represents the Introduction of christianity

After the fall of kush, It helps to explain why we see

At all of these kushite sites Reuse of the kushite monuments

And blocks being built Into new christian churches.

By the time that silko lived And ruled, kush was no more.

Narrator: as christianity sweeps Through africa,

The sacred pyramids of kush Are ransacked and abandoned.

Many of the iconic structures Stand for thousands of years,

Yet today, they lie in ruins.

What finally destroys these Once-proud monuments?

Over thousands of years,

Sandstorms erode The weaker pyramids,

But a hidden force Must be responsible

For the destruction Of the remaining structures.

At his quarry workshop, Adel kelany looks for clues

Among the photographic archives Of meroe.

Curious marks on sandstone Blocks found among the pyramids

Could be evidence Of malicious human activity.

The two rows of opposing Holes suggest

That this game Is played for centuries.

To investigate, adel chisels Out a sandstone block.

Mancala is a game known to be Played by soldiers

On expeditions to sudan In the 19th century.

Their presence could be proof

That the pyramids of meroe Are looted.

On an expedition in 1834,

Italian treasure hunter Giuseppe ferlini

Is known to have visited meroe With a unit of soldiers.

His excavation notes reveal A scandal that many believe

Leads to the obliteration Of the final pyramids at meroe.

In search of gold,

Ferlini destroys the top of Queen amanishakheto's pyramid

And finds nothing.

Then he discovers a tomb Beneath the pyramid and,

Inside it, the queen's body, Covered in gold.

After looting the treasure, Ferlini sets up a false trail,

Declaring that he found gold In the pyramid itself.

Treasure hunters rip down The remaining pyramids,

Destroying a 2,000-year-old Necropolis.

The pyramids of meroe Are a window on their creators,

A people who build A great civilization

And conquer all of egypt.

Naunton: the kingdom of kush Is a hugely powerful kingdom,

Important politically, Mighty militarily,

Great in building achievements.

It really deserves To be much better known.

Narrator: the people of kush Are master engineers

Who build a landscape Of mysterious pyramids

Funded by a pioneering Gold trade.

Through a dramatic relationship With ancient egypt,

They become rulers Of the greatest civilization

On the planet As the black pharaohs of egypt.

The kushites: africa's great Lost civilization.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪