National Geographic: Mysteries of Egypt
- Year:
- 1998
- 143 Views
No land on Earth possess
more wonders than Egypt
wonders long hidden
but revealed occasionally
in a glint of gold
or a curious tale.
Worshipped as the son of Re,
the Sun god
he was a pharaoh of Egypt
We don't know how he died,
only that his death was
sudden and mysterious.
His body was preserved
in the manner of other pharaohs
coffin to prepare him
for his final journey
into the world of the dead.
The rituals had to be finished
before his father
the Sun,
descended into darkness.
So this young pharaoh
was secured in his tomb
surrounded by kingly treasures
and his seal was pressed
into its entrance.
From that time on
it was to be a place of peace
hidden and undisturbed
throughout eternity.
This young King's name
was Tutankhamen.
For 3,000 years,
King Tut and his tomb
in the Valley of the Kings
remained concealed
beneath shifting sands.
Other tombs were discovered
and completely pillaged
but not his.
Believing he could find it,
an Englishman named
Howard Carter mounted
five arduous expeditions
but they yielded nothing.
In 1922, he returned to
Egypt for a sixth attempt.
That year he brought a
beautiful canary
to brighten his spirits.
the Golden Bird and told Carter
it would bring them good luck.
But as work began success seemed
a remote prospect.
And time was running out.
Carter's benefactor,
Lord Canarvon
was an English earl
fascinated by Egypt
but even he was losing faith...
and had threatened
to cut off the money.
Yet Carter persisted
knowing that
if found intact
the tomb would be filled
with amazing artifacts
that would help us peer
through the shadows of time
splendor long lost
to glimpse our very beginnings.
but I want to know more.
You live here and
I know you can tell me
the real story.
About?
Well, my friends want me
to ask about the "curse"
how anyone who entered
King Tut's tomb...
...will have some terrible
things happen to them.
Yes, yes, I know.
I don't know if I believe it.
But will you tell me about it?
So the pharaohs, the tombs
the monuments
the great civilization
who built them
you are not interested in?
But the Mummy's curse you find...
Exciting!
Yes, I can see that.
All right then.
But first we must
take a trip together.
Where will we start then?
At the source, of course.
The source of the Nile.
It is the longest river on Earth,
crossing nearly half
the continent.
It is born of two rivers
the White Nile
which rises near Lake Victoria
and heads north
through Uganda-and
the Blue Nile
which descends from the
highlands of Ethiopia.
They meet in the
desert of Sudan,
forming the main trunk
of the Nile.
By the time it drains
into the Mediterranean Sea
its waters have journeyed
more than 4,000 miles.
To the outside world
was an enduring mystery.
But to the ancient Egyptians,
the source was clear:
the Nile flowed
from the realm of the gods.
But what has the Nile
to do with mummies and curses?
Everything.
There would be no mummies,
no ancient Egypt-in fact,
You see,
Egypt without the Nile
is a desert...
suitable for
camels and scorpions,
but not great civilizations.
It's only here along the
flood plain of the Nile
that the desert's heat
is softened...
and arid sand is turned
to rich farmland.
Nourished and irrigated
by the Nile,
Egypt became the longest
lived of all the
great early civilizations.
In ancient times,
from the lush valleys
of Central Africa
that the Nile overflowed
Mineral-rich silt was carried
toward the desert of Egypt
from lands upstream,
where wildlife flourished.
Rich land made possible
a vast farming culture
and a stable civilization able to
turn from daily survival
to works of the mind:
science, mathematics,
engineering and astronomy.
They studied the heavens
and the seasons
gave us the 24-hour day
and the 365-day calendar.
Egypt, an old saying goes,
was the gift of the Nile.
But the Egyptians believed
there was one thing
even mightier than the Nile:
the sun-the God they called Re,
the God who created everything.
Each morning with its rising
the Sun God would be born.
Each night in setting
he'd die.
But the next morning
he would rise again
never failing.
He was eternal.
When a king died,
it was believed that
he became one with Re:
His son
the falcon,
the living God on earth.
And so the Egyptians accorded
which they used to build
an extraordinary empire
an empire of buildings
so enormous
and art so exquisite
we are still trying to understand
how such wonders were created
how stones from the
desert were turned
into timeless monuments.
Some of the oldest buildings
on earth are here
preserved by the desert air
and the skill of their creators.
Some are so old that
they had already stood
a thousand years
when Tutankhamen was born.
The enormous obelisks of Karnak
were carved from single blocks
of granite,
moved hundreds of miles by boat
rolled on logs
with huge timbers.
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