All language subtitles for Ancient.Impossible.S01E03.Monster.Monuments.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD+2.0.H.264-playWEB_track4_[eng]

[music playing]

NARRATOR: How did the Egyptians
carve the world's largest

monument thousands of years
before Mount Rushmore?

That is absolutely
extraordinary.

NARRATOR: How did the
Romans build a dome bigger

than the dome on the
US Capitol building?

This is just under
2,000 years old.

It is incredible that
it is still standing.

NARRATOR: And how were the
massive stones of Stonehenge

moved hundreds of miles
across rugged terrain?

[music playing]

Monument's more colossal than
our own, ancient super weapons

as mighty as today's,
technology so

precise it defies reinvention.

The ancient world
was not primitive.

Their marvels were so
advanced, we still use them.

Travel to a world
closer than we imagine--

an ancient age where
nothing was impossible.

[music playing]

Over 3,000 years ago, one
of Egypt's greatest pharaohs

created this impossibly
vast monument to himself

at Abu Simbel, an imposing
location on the Nile River.

To this day, it is still the
largest temple ever carved out

of solid rock.

This colossal, monster
monument was built in an age

before modern machinery, before
there were even iron tools.

But how did they do it?

[music playing]

To understand what
they were up against,

we look at a monster monument
being built right now--

Crazy Horse Monument,
South Dakota.

[music playing]

This project is so vast that Dr.
Derek Muller needs a helicopter

to appreciate it.

This is absolutely amazing.

I am coming up
close and personal

with one of America's Native
American leaders, Crazy Horse,

who led the Native Americans to
victory at the Battle of Little

Bighorn.

This sculpture is just
mind-blowingly big.

It is the whole mountain.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: The statue of this
great Native American hero

on horseback will be 563
feet high when completed.

Just the horse's nostril
alone will be big enough

to hold 10 full-sized cars.

[music playing]

This impossible monument is
so massive and time-consuming

that the task has been handed
down from father to son.

My dad got a letter
from Henry Standing Bear,

asking him to carve a mountain
to the Native American Indian.

In 1948, he started it.

Crazy Horse will be
the largest carving

of any kind in the world, as
far as mountain carvings go.

And I think it's the tallest
memorial built by man.

NARRATOR: But until Crazy
Horse Monument is complete,

the title for the
world's largest monument

remains with Abu
Simbel in Egypt.

In a boundless
and barren desert,

this monument stands carved
out of a single mountain

just like Crazy Horse.

But it took the Egyptians
just 20 years to build.

How was this
possible so long ago?

Look at that.

That is absolutely
extraordinary.

Oh, wow.

[music playing]

CHRIS NAUNTON: In terms of
the scale of the achievement,

the size of the building,
and the fact that this is cut

directly into a mountain, the
great temple at Abu Simbel

is as close as there is to an
ancient impossible mega-build.

DEREK MULLER: Well standing in
front of Abu Simbel right now,

I am incredibly impressed
by this structure.

You really only get
a sense of scale

when you're right up against it.

It is just so amazing.

I don't even come
up to his feet.

NARRATOR: Monuments
like these were built

on the orders of the Pharaohs--

absolute rulers of Egypt, who
ruthlessly used every resource

they could muster to
celebrate their rule.

But one pharaoh out-built
all the other pharaohs.

In a massive fit of pride,
Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II

decorated the
outside of the temple

with four massive
statues of himself.

KARL UDE-MARTINEZ: Ramesses
II was an egomaniac.

He was the greatest, powerful,
celebrated pharaoh of all time.

He probably reigned from the
age of 24 to 90 years old,

and he built huge monuments
to celebrate himself.

He even changed inscriptions
on existing monuments

to celebrate himself.

He was the ancient monument
builder of the ancient world,

if you like.

CHRIS NAUNTON: It's
a grand statement

of power and capability.

You didn't need to
be able to read.

You didn't need to be
able to meet the man

to know what he was capable of.

This was a visual statement that
I am as powerful as any man,

almost as powerful as a God.

KARL UDE-MARTINEZ:
Ramesses II was buried

in the Valley of the Kings, and
is now on display in a museum.

And even though he died
over 3,000 years ago,

everyone still
remembers him, which I'm

sure pleases him enormously.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: The vast
interior of Abu Simbel

is a great testament to
the phenomenal ability

and craftsmanship of
the ancient builders.

DEREK MULLER: Wow.

Can you believe that?

Look at how amazing
this temple is.

You know, as a
modern engineer, I

wouldn't believe that
this was possible.

If someone had told me they
could build a structure

this big and detailed and
just beautifully constructed,

I wouldn't think it's possible.

NARRATOR: Despite its tremendous
size, the temple of Abu Simbel

was built with
pinpoint precision--

an example of not only
advanced engineering,

but that the Egyptians also
had an extraordinary knowledge

of astronomy.

KARL UDE-MARTINEZ: On
exactly two days of the year,

February the 21st and
October the 21st--

possibly the king's birthday
and the king's coronation--

the light falls inside
the temple and shines

on the back wall and
lights up the holy statues.

NARRATOR: The question remains--

how did the ancient Egyptians
build this impossible temple?

DEREK MULLER: Now we're
still trying to work out

what sort of
techniques they could

have used to construct it.

It's from another time, and
that doesn't make sense.

NARRATOR: Some clues might
lie in another modern

mega-monument--

Mount Rushmore, South Dakota.

It's been called the
eighth wonder of the world.

Many believe Mount Rushmore
would not exist if it were not

for the work of the ancient
builders at Abu Simbel.

We are going to see
the modern Abu Simbel--

Mount Rushmore.

But the best way to see
it is from a chopper.

I can't wait.

Let's do this.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: These faces of
Presidents Washington,

Jefferson, Roosevelt, and
Lincoln are 60 feet high--

taller than a
five-story building.

DEREK MULLER: Wow.

That is truly something special.

You look at the size of
that thing, the scale.

You know, 60-foot high faces.

If those were made into men,
they would stand 465-foot tall.

When you think about
Abu Simbel and what

they were able to achieve
there, the statues of Ramesses

were actually larger
than each of those faces.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: Can the
construction of Mount Rushmore

help us to understand what
it took to create Abu Simbel?

Rushmore was carved
with explosives.

[explosions]

DEREK MULLER: The people
who built Mount Rushmore had

dynamite.

They had pneumatic drills.

They had all of this very
impressive modern technology.

NARRATOR: The result is
truly an engineering marvel.

But consider this--

3,000 years ago at Abu Simbel,
there was no dynamite or power

drills.

All the workers had was this--

a small hand chisel.

As a modern engineer, I would
not believe that something like

that was capable of being built
thousands of years ago with

a technology as simple as
this-- a simple, copper chisel.

It gives me a whole new respect
for the ancient Egyptians

and what they were capable of.

NARRATOR: The statues
of Ramesses alone

are 7 feet higher than the
faces on Mount Rushmore.

Could the Egyptians really
have built this massive temple

with little more
than copper chisels?

This is a block of sandstone,
the very same material

that the temple at Abu
Simbel was carved out of.

And here, I have a
reconstructed tool--

the same type of copper
chisel that they would

have used to build the temple.

What I want to find out
is just how difficult

it is to work with
this tool on this rock.

It seems impossible to believe
that Abu Simbel was carved

with copper chisels,
but it's the only metal

that the Egyptians could
get large quantities of.

Now today, our tools are
made of hardened steel.

And copper isn't
even half as hard

as that, which makes Abu Simbel
one of the most amazing feats

of engineering ever.

[music playing]

You're talking about
hundreds, possibly thousands,

of men hacking away skilfully
over a long period of time.

It's the only way you
could have covered

this amount of sheer rock.

NARRATOR: After just
a few minutes work,

there's a problem.

Looking at my tool,
after a few hits,

I can see that it's already
started to wear away.

NARRATOR: It is estimated
that 3 or more chisels a day

could have been used by each man
as they pounded the rock face.

Far less effective than a
pneumatic drill, let alone

explosives.

How could the
Egyptians have done it?

If you're going through
three copper chisels in a day,

and you've got 1,000
stone carvers working

for about 20 years,
you arrive at something

like 20 million chisels.

The scale is just
hard to believe.

NARRATOR: But they did it,
and Abu Simbel is still

standing, a constant reminder
of the power of Pharaoh Ramesses

II.

But what's even more impossible
is that thousands of years

after it was built,
the entire temple

had to be cut into thousands
of pieces and moved.

It seems impossible that
this temple was carved out

of a mountainside in southern
Egypt 3,000 years ago.

This monster monument is
larger than Mount Rushmore

and was created with
nothing more than simple,

copper chisels.

DEREK MULLER: Imagine what it
would have been like to be here

around 3,000 years ago
and watch thousands of men

as they worked on this
rock in 110-degree heat.

NARRATOR: To create a
monument like this demanded

a highly motivated and
organized labor force.

Most experts agree that this
could not be built using mostly

slaves.

KARL UDE-MARTINEZ: Well,
the workers at Abu Simbel

were not actually slaves.

They were skilled craftsmen.

And to be working
for the pharaoh

would have been a
privilege and an honor.

And how they got paid-- well,
in bread and about eight pints

of beer a day.

NARRATOR: While
the builders were

able to harness enough manpower
to accomplish this seemingly

impossible task, how
were they able to work

at such great heights?

Today, we take
scaffolding for granted,

but Abu Simbel might have
been one of the first times

that scaffolding was ever
used on a large scale.

There are some
theories that show

they did have some scaffolding
that would lift them

up the rock.

So you'd have hundreds
of workers working

on different levels
at the same time.

NARRATOR: Another theory
is even more remarkable.

Could they have used
the mountain itself

as a building platform?

DARIUS ARYA: Imagine that you're
carving from top to bottom,

and you're filling up
the whole area with sand.

So as you produce, as
you carve the statue,

you're taking away amounts
of sand-- your platform

from which you're working.

NARRATOR: But there
are many questions

that need to be answered.

How would they figure out the
exact size and proportions

if the mountain was
covered in sand?

The answer might be
found at Mount Rushmore.

[music playing]

The builders of Mount Rushmore
first made a clay model.

They scaled up the dimensions
using giant protractors

with a boom and a
dangling plumb bob.

Using these measurements,
they carved out

each presidential face.

DEREK MULLER: What's
interesting to me

is that some of the techniques
they used to map out where

they're going to carve may have
been the very same that they

used at Abu Simbel.

There's a technique called
pointing, where essentially you

measure out from the top and
then drop a plumb bob down

to indicate where on the
rock you need to cut back.

I mean, it's very difficult to
carve everything just by hand.

You need to also
know the mathematics

and the appropriate
engineering to make that work.

NARRATOR: It's incredible
that techniques used today

may have been the same used
on Abu Simbel 3,000 years ago.

DEREK MULLER: When I think about
the techniques that must have

been invented in
order to produce such

an incredible temple, I
think about the vast advances

that humans made here--

to such a point that if
people hadn't figured out

how to make this, they
may never have figured out

how to make Mount Rushmore.

NARRATOR: But there is
an important difference

between the two monuments.

Ramesses II ordered his monument
to be painted in bright colors.

DEREK MULLER: We see them
only as they exist now,

where earthquakes have
shaken off some of the face.

And they're left a dusty,
sort of brown color.

In their original
state, they would

have been brightly-colored,
painted whites and blues

and reds, gilded with gold.

That is truly how these
sculptures should be viewed.

NARRATOR: The
pharaoh wanted to be

sure everyone traveling the
Nile River saw his monument.

He wanted them to know who he
was and be in awe of his power.

[music playing]

But Abu Simbel's
prominent position

on the banks of the River
Nile put it under threat.

Over 3,000 years
after it was built,

Abu Simbel was
nearly lost forever.

[music playing]

DEREK MULLER: What I
find truly extraordinary

is that the Abu
Simbel temple actually

used to be 200 feet below
the surface of the Nile here.

In 1964, they built
a dam at Aswan, which

flooded this whole region.

So they had to move the
whole temple up 200 feet,

and they set it back 700
feet in its current position.

To me, that is amazing--

that centuries after
this mega-build,

they made a mega-move.

[music playing]

KARL UDE-MARTINEZ: So a
team of expert engineers

and contractors took Abu
Simbel block-by-block--

20- to 30-ton blocks--

and moved it onto
a higher position.

They created a concrete dome
to help support its structure,

and then piece by piece,
like a giant jigsaw,

put it all back together again.

And what really amazes me
is that they still realigned

the temple so that twice a
year, on the king's birthday

and the king's coronation,
the sunlight still

hits the back of that
temple wall and lights

up the holy statues of Ramesses.

Today, the great
temple of Abu Simbel

looks like it's
always been here.

It is a great testament to
the ancient builders that

constructed it and to the
modern engineers that moved it.

NARRATOR: The ancient Egyptians
used a massive workforce for 20

years to create Abu Simbel.

Their tools were simple,
but multiplying simple tools

and techniques with
thousands of workers

achieved the impossible.

DEREK MULLER: To think
about the techniques

that they invented, to
think about their ingenuity

and their manpower,
their organization--

I just think it's extraordinary.

If I hadn't seen
it for my own eyes,

I wouldn't believe
that it's possible.

NARRATOR: But is it possible
that ancients working thousands

of years before Abu Simbel
may have employed even more

advanced techniques?

Thousands of miles
and a continent

away from the great
structures of Egypt

lie the remains of an ancient
impossible monument, built

by a people long ago.

To this day, there are many
theories as to why they built

it, but one thing is sure.

It is a structure years
ahead of its time.

KARL UDE-MARTINEZ: Stonehenge is
a massive and mysterious stone

circle built 4,500 years ago.

Visiting Stonehenge literally
takes your breath away.

You stand there in absolute awe.

It's a very iconic,
very spiritual place.

And it's a real testament to
what people can achieve when

they work together.

NARRATOR: Stonehenge
in Southern England--

like the pyramids, it is one of
the most famous ancient sites

in the world.

KARL UDE-MARTINEZ: Now
irrigation and sunshine

in Egypt created a real rich,
powerful, agricultural economy,

which then in turn
gave power and wealth

to create monster monuments.

At the same time in
Southern England,

agriculture was on a
fairly basic scale.

So how small farming communities
got together and moved

and built something like this
is absolutely incredible.

[music playing]

Sometimes when you stand
inside Stonehenge with these

massive stones
towering above you,

it's almost impossible to work
out how our ancient ancestors

might have built
something like this--

just the sheer scale of it.

NARRATOR: These massive stone
archways weigh nearly 100 tons.

Can these ruins give us a clue
as to how this monument was

built?

JULIAN RICHARDS: Originally,
it looked quite different.

Because today it's
a ruin, because it's

4 and 1/2 thousand years old.

Quite a lot of
stones are missing,

but if we look at that
part of the outer circle,

that gives you an idea of what
carried all the way around

here.

NARRATOR: With no quarries
on site or nearby,

it seems impossible to think
this enormous mega-structure

was built in ancient
times, but it was.

Stonehenge was built by
the Stone Age and Bronze Age

inhabitants of Britain.

And what they
brought here to build

it were two different
sorts of stones.

These huge ones are sarsens,
which is a hard sandstone.

And that comes from about
20 miles away to the North.

These things weigh up to 40
tons, and the smaller ones--

they only weigh up
to about five tons--

they come all the way from
Wales, about 150 miles

in that direction.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: This is the site in
Wales, where the inner circle

bluestones from
Stonehenge come from.

Stonemason Selwyn Jones believes
the answers lie in this quarry.

It's incredible to think that
these stones from this quarry

were transported well over 100
miles by people who would never

do anything like this before
and probably would never

do anything like it again.

Even today, the scale of
choosing one of these stones,

moving it down the valley
by sled, out to the coast

onto the water,
across the channel.

It's amazing,
absolutely amazing.

NARRATOR: Today, it takes a
few hours to travel 150 miles.

5,000 years ago, it
took over a week.

And that's without
a four-ton stone.

There were no roads, no bridges,
and no boats big enough.

How did they get
the bluestones here?

James Dean uses advanced
holographic technology

to help solve the
ancient mystery.

One theory as to how they
might have done it is they

could have wrapped
the stones in wicker

and then rolled them
to their destination.

Now this seems like it's going
to be very hard work when

you're going uphill
and potentially lethal

when you're going downhill.

Some of the route to
Stonehenge is over water,

but no one has any
idea about this

because there's no evidence that
there were suitable boats that

could have moved these stones.

So this one remains impossible.

Unless, could they
have used a wicker

to float a three-ton stone?

It's possible, but you're
going to need a lot of wood

to displace this much weight.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: But the bluestones
are the smallest at Stonehenge.

It seems impossible to have
moved them here, but how

could the ancients possibly
transport the heavier stones?

SELWYN JONES: The
sarsens are very

different from the bluestones.

They're much, much bigger.

These massive stones
weigh about 40 tons,

and they've got a 10-ton
stone perched on top of them.

And they also came from 20
miles away to the North.

So quite how prehistoric people
dragged these enormous stones

across the Downs, We
honestly don't know.

NARRATOR: How did they
achieve the impossible

and move giant stones
weighing over 40 tons?

For thousands of years, the
sophisticated society of Egypt

built impossible,
massive monuments.

But a mysterious culture
in Southern England

was not to be outdone.

The secrets behind the
mega-build at Stonehenge

have remained a mystery
for 5,000 years.

How could these 40-ton
stones have been moved over

20 miles without modern
machinery or roads?

We've got 20 to 50 tons of
granite-hard sandstone here,

and it's a 25-mile
journey to Stonehenge.

We can't drag it.

And in fact, even trying
to drag it on sleds

seems like hard work.

We could try stone-rolling.

So we have two teams of people
on either side of the rock

with big levers, and
as they lift the rock,

they shuffle it a
tiny amount forwards.

But it's incredibly
slow, and the whole idea

of moving a 40-odd-ton stone
25 miles without transport

or roads seems
totally impossible,

but we're not out of ideas yet.

NARRATOR: We've seen that the
ancient Egyptians could move

massive stones,
but what technology

was available to a
Stone Age culture?

These rollers could work,
but ground in Southern England

can get very muddy,
and they'll get stuck.

This is a better option.

Build a Stone Age railroad.

We either do it as a
continuous length of track,

or we relay it as we go.

Either way, it's going to
take a huge number of people.

NARRATOR: Is it
possible that Stonehenge

was built with technology
thousands of years ahead

of its time?

Loads of these balls have been
found in Neolithic monuments

in Scotland, and they're all
three inches in diameter.

They could be Stone
Age ball bearings.

These ball bearings could be
laid between two U sections cut

from hard oak to make
a roller platform.

This is amazing,
but we have no proof

that this is what they did.

With a mobile
trackway like this,

you could move the sarsen
stones with far fewer people.

NARRATOR: Despite the theories,
how the stones got here

is still a mystery.

But look at their
perfectly smooth sides.

It's not difficult to do this
today, but how was it done

4 and 1/2 thousand years ago?

JULIAN RICHARDS: The only
thing that they had to do

that with were stone tools--

hammers of stone, everything
from the size of footballs

that you'd have to pound
away at the stones with.

And then when you got
to a finer surface,

you'd need a smaller,
hand-held stone like this.

But can you imagine just
sitting here and pounding away

for hours and days
and weeks and months

to create these smooth
surfaces and the joints that

fit the stones together?

NARRATOR: Even with the stones
on hand and ready to go,

the problems for these
ancient mega-builders

were only just beginning.

JULIAN RICHARDS: So they've
got the stones here.

They've shaped them.

Then they've got to
get them upright.

That, in itself, is not easy
with the stone of this size.

We think that they
must have known

how to use levers to actually
lever the end of the stone up.

NARRATOR: Stone Age
societies had no metal tools.

They had to improvise.

To get this stone vertical,
you dig a hole with a vertical

side and a diagonal side
using [inaudible] picks.

First, the stone goes
in off this ramp.

And then it's holding whilst
the hole is backfilled.

It would work, but take an
incredible number of people

to achieve it.

NARRATOR: The people who built
Stonehenge might have been

able to mobilize enough
workers, but there is still

the question of how they got
the final stones in place.

So you've got the
upright stones up.

Then you've got to get
the mantle on the top,

and that really--

we don't know, in all
honesty, how they actually

got these stones up.

It's one of the great
mysteries of Stonehenge.

NARRATOR: There are
plenty of theories,

but still no solid answers.

You can pull the
lintel of an Earth ramp

to get it into position, but
it's very costly in terms

of time and manpower.

There's another possibility.

You can lever up alternate sides
and build supporting timber

underneath until you lever
it sideways onto the stones.

NARRATOR: Another idea is
that the lintel was lifted

on a sturdy, wooden wheel.

Stonehenge comes from a
time before written records.

There's no evidence as to
how or why it was built,

but it remains today a
testament to the impossible.

I think one of the things
that we need to understand

is that these people were
incredibly ingenious,

incredibly skilled.

They were mathematicians.

They were engineers.

They were astronomers.

They had a lot of skills.

We mustn't think of them as
being primitive in any way.

They were unbelievably
skilled people

because they built Stonehenge,
and it's still here

for us to see 4 and 1/2
thousand years later.

NARRATOR: Stonehenge remains
one of the greatest mysteries

of the ancient
world, but the Romans

weren't to be outdone in monster
monumental impossibilities.

Our world is full of
amazing buildings,

but 2000 years ago, the Romans
built advanced structures that

still have not
been outdone today.

One of these is a
2000-year-old concrete dome

found in the center of Rome.

It's called the Pantheon,
built as a temple

to all the gods of ancient Rome.

The Pantheon is usually
ascribed to Emperor Hadrian,

but it's actually said to have
been begun by his predecessor,

Emperor Trajan.

These towering, gray, granite
columns came from Egypt

3,000 miles from Rome.

They were acquired in Aswan.

These were first transported
up the River Nile, then

across the Mediterranean, and
then by barge up the River

Tiber, and then finally
dragged through the streets

to the Pantheon.

The sight must have
been incredible.

The stone floor was made
up of granite and marble

from Egypt, North
Africa, and Turkey--

the edges of Rome's vast empire.

NARRATOR: But the truly
impossible feature

of the Pantheon is its dome
of un-reinforced concrete.

After 2000 years, its sheer
scale has never been matched.

The dome's diameter-- that's
what's not superseded ever.

So picture, you don't just
have this amazing dome,

but the width--

the diameter-- is the
same as the height.

So you could fit in that
cylinder a perfect sphere.

NARRATOR: Incredibly, the
space inside the pantheon

could hold 9 million
gallons of water.

It is an amazing structure.

KARL UDE-MARTINEZ: If we compare
the pantheon dome to, say,

a modern dome, such as the
Capitol building in Washington

D.C. Now the pantheon dome
has a diameter of 142 feet.

Now the Capitol building
has a diameter of 96 feet.

The last time the
Pantheon dome was repaired

was in 202 AD after
an earthquake.

The Capitol dome
was finished in 1866

and has already undergone
two extensive restorations.

NARRATOR: How was
the pantheon built?

The secret lies hidden
in the concrete.

[music playing]

Modern concrete buildings
rarely last 50 years,

let alone 2000 years.

To uncover this secret, we're
going to one of the world's

most dangerous places.

[music playing]

Oh, my god.

It's like being on the moon.

Amazing.

NARRATOR: Dr. Darius Arya
has come to Solfatara Volcano

in Italy.

[music playing]

This hellish inferno is the key
to the mystery of the Pantheon

dome.

DARIUS ARYA: We think of
concrete as a modern invention.

We think about it building
our modern, mega-cities.

But it was invented
here in Roman times.

NARRATOR: Encased in
this bubbling cauldron

is the secret ingredient--

this volcanic material,
called pozzolana ash or sand.

DARIUS ARYA: The magic
ingredient in cement

is the pozzolana sand.

And what it has is volcanic
material, including [inaudible]

and silicates, and this creates
a really important chemical

bond with the lime
and with the water.

KARL UDE-MARTINEZ: The bond
created by volcanic ash,

when combined with
other ingredients,

makes a solid material,
unlike modern concrete

which lets water in.

The volcanic ash makes
the concrete weatherproof

and resistant to decay.

NARRATOR: This simple
ingredient makes Roman concrete

a mega-build
super-material more durable

than any concrete made today.

KARL UDE-MARTINEZ:
A modern equivalent

of the Roman concrete recipe
was amazingly used in the Hoover

Dam.

Fly ash, a byproduct of
the coal fire process,

was used in the
Hoover Dam concrete,

and it works in a
similar kind of way

to the volcanic ash
of the Roman age.

NARRATOR: We found the
secret of Roman concrete,

and we've come to Texas
to put it to the test.

[music playing]

Concrete expert Mark Whaley
has always been fascinated

by Roman concrete.

He's even visited the Pantheon
in Rome to study its design.

Mark has made one-ton blocks
of Roman and modern concrete

to test their strengths.

How will they face up
to a true Texas test--

a Winchester 73?

MARK WHALEY: We have a showdown
between Roman concrete,

a 2000-year-old technology,
and modern concrete.

And we're going to see
which one is stronger.

NARRATOR: Can sharpshooter
Kirsten Weiss make a big impact

on modern concrete?

[gunshots]

Some light damage,
penetrated about half an inch,

not much more than that.

Held up pretty well.

NARRATOR: Will the Roman
concrete be equal to the test?

[gunshots]

MARK WHALEY: It's fared
every bit as well as

the modern concrete did.

The thing with
the Roman concrete

is that it gets stronger
and stronger as it ages.

And that is one of the reasons
why the Pantheon is still

standing today.

KARL UDE-MARTINEZ: If you take
something like the Pantheon

dome, it's actually
stronger now than when

it was built 2,000 years ago.

I'm in complete awe
of the engineering

and the skill of the monument
builders of the ancient world.

NARRATOR: The Romans formulated
the ultimate building material

and built the impossible.

In 2,000 years, it's
never been matched.

But another ancient
monument stood 2,500 years

before the Pantheon was built,
and is still standing today.

This is the Great
Pyramid of Giza.

We like to think that
humans have never

been more advanced than they
are today, but we're wrong.

As far back as 5,000
years, ancient engineers

erected buildings that
have stood the test of time

and might outlast
anything we build today.

The temple of Abu
Simbel in Egypt

is still the world's
biggest monument carved out

of a mountainside.

But one Egyptian
monster monument

even dwarfs Abu Simbel--

the Great Pyramid.

Built in the 26th century, BC
at a height of over 480 feet,

it rained as the tallest
man-made structure in the world

for over 4,000 years.

The building of
the Great Pyramid

is a staggering feat when
you consider the sheer size.

This is an almost
impossible achievement.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: The Egyptians
built more than 100 pyramids

across their kingdom.

It is believed that all
were constructed as tombs.

In terms of size, precision,
and construction time,

no mega-build in the world
beats the Great Pyramid of Giza.

It is the only wonder
of the Seven Wonders

of the Ancient World
still standing.

It was constructed
as a tomb for Khufu,

second pharaoh of the Fourth
Dynasty, 4,500 years ago.

How did the Egyptians build on
such a scale thousands of years

ahead of their time?

I think, undisputedly,
the ancient Egyptians were

the mega-builders of
the ancient world.

The mind boggles to
think how they did it.

NARRATOR: When we
think of big, we

think of buildings
like the Pentagon.

And while it does have
greater ground coverage,

the Pentagon is
just a lightweight

when it comes to the sheer
volume of the Great Pyramid.

These are man-made mountains,
structures of a size that we

failed to replicate up
until, say, the 20th century.

That just gives you some
idea of the scope, the scale,

the monumental achievement
that this represents.

NARRATOR: The Great Pyramid
weighs over six million tons.

That's more than seven
Pentagon buildings.

The number of stone blocks it
contains is simply staggering.

You know, each one
of these pyramids

contains about two
million huge stones.

And you think about how far
they had to bring those stones.

It just-- it boggles the mind.

How was that even possible?

NARRATOR: The blocks used at
the base of the Great Pyramid

weigh 2 and 1/2 tons.

The largest single
blocks in the pyramid

weigh as much as 20 tons each.

You think about how
long Khufu's reign was,

and we think it was
between 23 and 25 years.

You divide that time by
the number of blocks.

You're looking at putting
one of those humongous blocks

into place every
couple of minutes.

That, in itself, is a
staggering achievement.

And if you think, with enough
rope, enough men, enough force,

you can move anything,
and the Great Pyramid

is the proof of that.

NARRATOR: Even more incredible
is the precision with which

the Great Pyramid was
built, long before computers

and modern surveying
equipment were invented.

In addition to its phenomenal
size, and the pyramid

is an incredible feat of
precision building as well.

So the base onto which it's
built is absolutely level,

and there's less than a
single inch worth of deviation

from that-- absolutely
perfect level.

And all of the four sides
of the pyramid at the base

are of identical length.

The difference between the
shortest and the longest

is less than 2 inches.

This is an absolutely
incredible feat.

NARRATOR: Originally,
the pyramids

were covered with
highly-polished white limestone

and possibly capped with gold.

Only the Pyramid of
Khafre, the second pyramid,

still have some of its
limestone cladding left.

[music playing]

CHRIS NAUNTON: The
casing stones that

were used to face
the pyramids are

cut with incredible accuracy.

So the corners of the pyramid--

they are cut to a
90-degree angle that

is so close to perfect.

It's within
one-hundredth of an inch.

NARRATOR: Modern builders
would find it a challenge

to match such precision
on a monster scale.

The Egyptians proved
that you can achieve

the impossible with little
more than string, a plumb line,

and a set square.

It is a testament to their
mega-monument building.

For me, as an engineer, this
is the most impressive man-made

feat on the planet.

I mean, it represents
impossible ancient engineering.

NARRATOR: The world's
greatest mega-build is yet

to be surpassed
after 4,500 years,

and many believe
it will remain long

after anything we build today.

CHRIS NAUNTON: The construction
of the pyramid as a whole is so

well-done that we expect the
pyramid will still be standing

in 100,000 years time.

NARRATOR: Mega-builders
of the ancient world

made unbelievable structures
impossible to match even today.

From history's most immense
monument to the largest

concrete dome and the world's
most massive building,

proving that the ancients
were able to achieve

the impossible, creating
monster monuments

that still remain unmatched
after thousands of years.