All language subtitles for The.Nile.Egypts.Great.River.with.Bettany.Hughes.Series.1.2of4.1080p.HDTV.x264.AAC.MVGroup.org.eng

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 historicaljourney
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
Egyptians 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.

The pyramids and crowds of Cairo
are behind me, and I've reached

a stretch of the Nile that
hides some of the river's

best-kept secrets.

Hey, hello, how are you?
Are you good?

Do you think I could
get a cup of tea?

We are now 100 miles
into our journey upstream.

Lovely, thank you, shukraan.
Fantastic.

Thank you so much, see you later.

The lives of the ancient Egyptians
are always intriguing.

But I was first drawn here by
one of Egypt's superstars.

There's one character who
constantly fascinates me.

It's Cleopatra, the Queen of Egypt,
whose beauty and charisma was said

to have brought the most powerful
men on Earth to their knees.

And she used this river to captivate
and control the ancient world.

For the next 200 miles,
I will be exploring the Nile

that Cleopatra herself loved...

I'll enter the hidden chambers
that inspired history's

most celebrated archaeologist...

Brave the longest tomb in Egypt...

And at Dendera, come face-to-face
with Cleopatra herself.

My Dahabiya boat is pretty gorgeous,

but it doesn't come close
to the luxury and excess

of Cleopatra's own Nile
processions 2,000 years ago.

This is an artist's impression of
one of the royal barges that sailed

down the Nile.

The barge was equipped with
gold and ivory furnishings,

with embroidered sails,

even with gardens.

What a sight it would have been.

So you can just imagine Cleopatra
standing on the bow of her deck,

her auburn hair, probably dyed
with local henna,

blowing in the wind,

oiled with perfumed oils,

queen of all she surveyed.

Cleopatra came to the
throne aged just 18.

She was the last great
pharaoh of Ancient Egypt.

By her reign, from 51 BC, Egypt
had enjoyed a 2,000-year reputation

as the land of ideas,
inventions and mystery.

And my first stop would've
been a hotbed of activity

when Cleopatra was in power.

We've decided not to take the
easy tarmac road, but to go

off onto the local road,
which is great.

I've left the comfort of my boat,
and I'm heading over the flood

plains of the Nile Valley
and out across the desert.

My God, it's hot. Very hot in
there.

This is Tuna el-Gebel,

one of Egypt's most
intriguing ancient sites.

I've enlisted the help of Sa'id,
who's faithfully guarded this place

since he was a boy.

It looks, obviously, deserted now.

I mean, we've driven two hours
across the desert to get here.

But in its heyday, this place
would've been absolutely humming

with activity, that's
right, isn't it, Sa'id?

This was a big town? Big town, yes.

A huge town with
two-storey buildings,

and a real destination place.

And actually, at the time of
Cleopatra, it was at its height.

The old town has virtually
vanished today.

But the curious treasures of
Tuna el-Gebel are locked away,

and found deep below ground.

So how far down does this go?

About 15 metres. 15 metres?

15 metres. My gosh.

So we are going deep
into the bedrock here.

Yes.

We are entering a vast catacomb.

Archaeologists haven't
fully explored it yet,

but these passageways are thought
to extend for four and a half miles.

What an extraordinary place.

So this is, it's like,
sort of textbook necropolis,

it's like a city of the dead...
Yes. ..down here..

But this wasn't built as a
resting place for humans.

It was for animals.

Oh, my goodness.

So there are bones all
over the floor.

So we've got to tread very,
very, very carefully.

Oh, my God, and bats. Bats. Yeah.

You could've warned
me about the bats.

Sorry, I just saw something moving,

and I wasn't sure what it was.

Originally, each of the animals here
would've been carefully mummified.

But precious few remain today.

So what I'm about to see
is quite amazing.

If I can just get the gate open.

That door hasn't been
opened for a while.

I'm about to come face-to-face
with one extraordinary creature

that's rested here
for around 2,300 years.

This is a slightly strange thing
to see, because there are so many

fragments of mummies here,
but what you've got

is a mummified baboon.

You can see the wrappings,
and it's really unusual

to have the skull open.

It slightly freaking me out
the way its eyesockets

are staring at me
across 2,000 years.

There were centres like this
across Egypt, producing mummies

of every animal imaginable.

From dogs and cats to crocodiles.

And Tuna el-Gebel's speciality,
the beautiful ibis.

This ancient Nile bird,
like the baboon, was regarded

as highly intelligent
by the Egyptians.

The perfect offering for Thoth,
their god of wisdom and invention.

It does feel like a real privilege
to be here, because originally,

only priests and the cult
servants of ibis were allowed

down in the corridors
of these catacombs.

So you just have to try to
imagine them in their heyday,

lit with tallow light, soot on the
walls and over the ceilings,

and in every single one
of these niches,

a perfectly preserved mummy.

We think around 15,000 new mummies
were dedicated every year,

so that means there would've
been a total of two million here.

The reason it was so popular
is that people really believed

that this was a way they could
communicate with the gods.

Some brand-new research
suggests there's a twist

in this macabre tale.

There've actually been some X-rays
done of some of the animals

that were mummified.

I don't know if you can see it,
it's often quite hard to read this,

but by looking inside, we know
exactly what kind of animal

was being wrapped up.

Here's a dog.

And this is an ibis, you can see
that amazing curved beak coming

down the bird, it's wrapped
very tightly up.

But then there was a surprise
with quite a few of the mummies

that when they did the X-ray,
there you can make that out,

you see actually, there isn't
an animal inside.

What there is is padding and stones
and mummification, so it's almost

like a kind of, I can't really
say fake, but a pretend mummy.

Pretend or not though, the fate
of most animal mummies has sadly

been the same.

And responsibility for that
stretches back home to Britain.

When lots were discovered
in the 18th and 19th centuries,

because they are made of organic
material, they were actually shipped

out of Egypt to Europe and the UK,

and ground down and
used as fertiliser.

And we've got one account of 20
tonnes worth of cat mummies

being used as fertiliser when
it was brought in to Liverpool

in the UK.

The ancient Egyptians
would've been horrified

at this act of destruction.

The scale of animal mummification
shows how much this strange ritual

matter to them.

So my next step is to better
understand the mechanics

of how mummies were made.

And a warning, it's not
for the faint-hearted.

On this stretch of my Nile journey,
I've caught just a glimpse

of the ancient Egyptian custom
of mummifying animals.

In November 2018, a remarkable
discovery was made -

Dozens of perfectly mummified
cats all laid to rest close

to the pyramids of Saqqara.

It's now thought 17 million animals
may have been mummified in

Ancient EgYPt-

But how did the process
actually work?

It's something Professor Salima
lkram is actively investigating.

OK, Bettany, roll.
I will, certainly.

Thank you so much.

I should perhaps explain
what we are doing here.

Salima is an incredibly eminent
Egyptologist, and this is her lab,

and what she does here, I'm right
in saying, is one of the things

that you do is investigate
the mummification of

animals in particular.

Is that a kind of fair summary?
Absolutely.

Salima and Egyptology student
Haley are finishing

off a rather unusual experiment.

When Haley's pet cat very
sadly passed away,

she was keen that Salima

and herself try to preserve her as
the ancient Egyptians would've done.

She was called Hatshepsut.

She's adorable.

Look, she's absolutely lovely.

A real Egyptian cat, that.
There's no mistaking that.

So if we were putting our
heads into the kind of minds

of the ancient Egyptians, you are
doing this because the soul

of the creature is in its body,
so this is a way of kind

of preserving the life spirit.

Absolutely.

OK, so now I'm going to give
you this, and you are going to...

Mummification was totally mainstream
for the ancient Egyptians.

But it involves skills and
techniques that have now

been lost.

So this experiment, I should point
out, is not for the faint-hearted.

I'm a great cat lover,
also a vegetarian,

so a tiny bit squeamish around
this kind of thing. Oh, dear.

Eight weeks ago, Hatshepsut's
organs were removed,

just as they would've
been thousands of years ago,

before the drying out process began.

This looks like a pile
of sand, and it's not.

It's a very specialist
material called natron?

Natron. Natron.

Which is what the ancient Egyptians
used in mummification.

It's the main thing that they used
to mummified, because it desecrates,

and it defats - it sucks it all out.

Well, parts of it are very dry,

and other parts aren't that dry.

\ Now we put in... l

\ Ooh, yeah. I

Oh, golly.

I just got this waft of dead cat.

For the first time in my life,
I'm preferring the smell

of plastic laboratory gloves.

What's... What...
What's that in there?

That's the natron bag.

You put it inside to suck
out the wetness.

Yeah.

Any remaining moisture could
lead to rotting overtime.

It's fair to say our skills
and techniques have a way to go

to match those of
the ancient Egyptians.

Now this is some resins,
just like this stuff here,

and it's frankincense.

Yes! It smells lovely.

And that's been boiling
up gently with some oil,

so we are going to put some
into the body cavity.

Right.

Resins like this had antibacterial
properties, which could help

preserve a body for
thousands of years.

So it smells amazing, because
there's frankincense in there.

It smells like we are in a
church at Christmas-time. Yeah.

Isn't it?

OK, now what we are going to do is,
I think we can start to wrap.

Lovely.

Each limb of the body was
individually bound in linen.

This is an awkward angle. Yeah.

And I'm not entirely sure
how I'm going to deal with it.

And we use the resins
also to hold it down.

Doing this must give you huge
respect for those embalmers

and mummifiers of antiquity.

They must have been astonishing
people, and really very clever

chemists to understand
what they were doing,

and how it affected the body,
and how amazingly effective,

really, it was.

It's a lovely, if slightly
curious, thing.

But as a fitting end
to the day, Haley writes

an epitaph and hieroglyphs.

It simply reads,
"Beautiful cat, Hatshepsut".

Here in Egypt, the heat
can be so intense,

the cooling waters of the Nile
often look pretty tempting.

So, today, the crew and I
threw caution to the winds...

Woohoo! Next!

...and decided to go for it.

Thank you.

Hello, Captain!

Should I dive in?

We are now 180 miles south of Cairo,
and heading towards another part

of the Nile Valley that
very few people reach.

It's a spot that first
inspired the world's

most famous archaeologist.

You probably all know
that Howard Carter discovered

the tomb of Tutankhamen in 1922,
and kick started a whole new wave

of Egyptomania.

But Carter actually
first came here to Egypt

when he was just a teenager.

He was invited here to do drawings
of an archaeological dig

that was taking place on the hills
overlooking these banks of the Nile.

Carter may be known as the great
tomb finder, but as a young lad

growing up in rural Norfolk,
he'd earn pocket money painting

portraits of animals.

And it was this skill
that brought him here.

30 years before Carter captured
the world's attention

with Tutankhamen, his love affair
with Egypt began at the cemetery

of Beni Hasan.

You might not have heard of
Beni Hasan, and, actually,

hardly anybody comes here,
but that is completely crazy,

because this place deserves
to be a household name.

In many ways, this is
Egypt's best-kept secret.

200 feet above the east bank
of the Nile, there are dozens

of tombs here, cut into the cliff
face, so that those buried

within could spend eternity
overlooking the sacred river.

It's really thrilling
coming here today.

You can only imagine what it must
have felt like for Howard Carter.

He was only 17, and he had been
brought up in damp, rainy England.

So all of this must have felt
like a kind of desert wonderland.

Salam, hi, morning.

Hello.

This is a tomb complex
that belongs to...

Thank you very much.

To a kind of high-class
local official.

He'd be sort of equivalent
to the mayor.

Inside is some of the most
awe-inspiring wall art

found anywhere in Egypt.

And when you come in,
you can understand why

the archaeologists needed
an artist's help.

So just look at these paintings.

These are close on 4,000 years
old, and those colours

are completely true.

The vivid paintings give us
an invaluable insight

into what everyday life was like.

And of course, the Nile
is at the heart of it all.

So you might just be able to see
here, there's a poor guy who's

fallen into the Nile,
and he is being rescued

by his friends.

This lovely chap here
on his beautiful papyrus boat,

he's a fisherman and he is
spearing massive fish.

Here is a hippo.

There were loads of hippos
in the Nile 4,000 years ago,

so that's quite right, that there
should be a hippo here.

Everywhere you look, you can see
there images of the Nile, and fish,

and water, and people interacting
with the life on the Nile.

As a teenager in 1891,
Howard Carter's job was to make

perfect copies of these very images,
to show people back home

the wonderful discoveries
that were being made.

I've got one of the
watercolours he did here.

Let's see if I can find it.

So this is an African spoonbill,
somewhere.

Up here, there's birds, I think.

Yeah, I think that's it.

Isn't it?

So this is the watercolour
that Howard Carter did,

and just imagine how exciting
it would've been for him.

He's 17 years old, and he's come
here, we know he's sleeping

in here overnight,
and at dawn, he gets up

and gets his paintbrushes out.

Amazing.

Carter spent one winter season
here before travelling upstream

to join a new team of
archaeologists, where he was given

his first real chance to dig.

I really do love this place.

Not only does it give us the most

amazingly vivid details for ancient
Egyptian life, but it inspired

a young Howard Carter to become
an archaeologist, who would go

on to make one of the greatest
discoveries in the story

of Egyptology.

Which means we can all share his
passion and his discoveries today.

One of the thrills of Egypt
for me is that new discoveries

are constantly being made,
and there's a really special one

waiting just along
the Nile from here.

I'm travelling the Nile
to understand how this river

shaped Ancient Egypt.

But a slow Dahabiya cruise
isn't a bad way to discover

modern Egypt, too.

Well done, guys. Well done.

That's good.

So, this happens a lot.

You get kids and fishermen
who try to hook onto the boat,

so that they can get a lift.

And they are getting told off a
bit by the sailors up on top.

Aww. They've been told to go.

Just over 2,000 years ago, this
river was Egypt's main highway.

Travelling along it, you might
have seen, or even smelt

the sensational ruler
who made this river her own.

One of the stories that we hear
about Cleopatra is that she used

to soak the sails of her barges
in perfume, so that people

would smell her arriving
before they saw her.

One of the sources of Cleopatra's
fabled scent was an icon

of the ancient Nile Valley -
the beautiful blue lotus flower.

Ancient accounts tell us
that the waters of the Nile

were once thick with these flowers,
whose potent properties

were legendary across
the known world.

But sadly, this symbol of ancient
Egypt is now almost extinct.

Ten miles into the desert, though...

There are rumours of a revival.

Locals are always keen to help,
and I've hitched a lift with Achmed

and his motorbike
to meet a living legend.

Thank you so much for the lift.

Excuse me.

Thank you. Shukraan.

Thanks for the lift,
thank you, take care.

There are ancient cities
up and down the Nile

that specialised in perfume
production, and I've just been told

that there's one very brave
independent woman who is trying

to revive that ancient tradition
by herself, here, out in the middle

of the desert.

Hello.

This wonderful oasis is the passion
project of Dr Mervat Nasser.

Hello, hello. You made it.

I did make it! My gosh.

Properly across the desert.

I didn't realise you were quite
so remote, but what a little bit

of paradise you have here.
Thank you.

For six years now, Dr Mervat has
been trying to bring the magic

of the blue lotus back to Egypt.

I managed, in the end,
to find the bulbs.

And I grew the bulbs,
and here we are.

Why were they thought
of as special flowers?

One of the creation myths in
Ancient Egypt is that life came

out of a lotus flower.

It opens up by sunrise, and then it
closes down and disappears

into the water by sunset.

So the following day, there is
another flower coming out,

so this kind of continuous
cycle of renewal, of rebirth,

of resurrection, I think
that was what is symbolic.

1,300 years before Cleopatra,
thousands of these petals were even

found in Tutankhamen's tomb.

But today, you've got to come
along way just to find a few.

If you don't cut it,
it will actually disappear

into the water, and it will
not come back again.

The blue lotus was said to smell
like the God Ra's sweat -

an interesting claim I can
now test for myself.

\ Shukraan. I

How amazing to be given
a freshly-picked blue lotus.

Oh, that is truly beautiful.
It's very subtle.

Very subtle, but you feel
like you want to kind of draw

it into your whole body.

I wasn't expecting that.

That's amazing, and the colour,
I can see now why they say

it's like having the sun
in the centre of a flower.

But is there more to the
blue lotus than just beauty

and a wonderful smell?

I think it also had
an effect on the mood.

So, it made people feel happier.

Recent studies have claimed
that the flower has

hallucinogenic properties.

The ancient Egyptians also
observed this and used the lotus

as the original party drug.

But I can tell you, it also makes
a rather good cup of tea.

Mmm. It's so lovely.

And we know the ancient
Egyptians turned the petals

into a highly fragranced oil.

It's tragic that this enchanting
flower has almost entirely gone

from Egypt, but if Dr Mervat
has anything to do with it,

it might just flourish here again.

When you study the ancient
Egyptian world, you always hear

about the popularity of perfumes,
and there was one that was actually

called The Egyptian.

And I have to say, as a historian,
I've always

been really cynical,
but do you know what?

Coming here and being on the
boat for weeks, it is very drying

to the hair, so this beautiful
little gift of lotus oil,

I've been putting on my hair,
so I now understand

what those ancient Egyptian women
went through, and lotus oil

is definitely the solution.

We are now 300 miles upstream from
Cairo and on our way to one

of the most sacred sites
in the whole of Egypt.

I'm leaving the crew to a
hearty Egyptian breakfast.

While I make the short journey
inland to the ancient

city of Abydos.

This has been a place of
pilgrimage since the very dawn

of this civilisation.

5,000 years ago, when the kingdoms
of Upper and Lower Egypt were first

united the length of the
Nile under one pharaoh,

Abydos was the centre of
this new superpower.

I've come to this temple to see
a wonder that gives incredible

insight to the Egyptian world.

A chronological list of 76 pharaohs.

Apart from being exquisitely
beautiful, parts of the temple

are like a giant history book laid
out, and that's what you've got

here on the wall.

This thing is called the Kings List,
and what it's supposed

to be is a list of all
the rulers of Egypt right

from the very beginning.

So the very first king that we
have listed here is a kind

of mythical pharaoh called Narmer,

and that's his cartouche at the top.

The Kings List is the ancient
Egyptians telling their own story.

In fact, it's the sole source
we have for many of the pharaoh's

and their families.

Actually, it's interesting,
because not all the kings

are listed here.

It's really a history
that's been censored.

So there are some whole dynasties
who are left out - Tutankhamen,

for instance, appears
nowhere on this wall.

But there's one particular
guy that I'm interested in.

Where is he? He's here.

It's obviously not the most
beautiful one on the wall,

there's a gigantic gash in the
middle of its, but this is

Pharaoh Senusret Ill, and there's a
particular reason why I want to get

to know Senusret better,

because I've just been
invited to go into his tomb.

Though he isn't a household name,

Senusret Ill ruled 3,900 years ago.

His tomb is found on
the outskirts of Abydos.

The archaeologist who's agreed
to take me there has unearthed some

of the most majestic sites in Egypt.

Hi. How are you? Good.

Nice to see you. Welcome to Abydos.
Thank you so much.

His name is Yasser Razik.

Yeah, amazing.

It's very exciting.

Very exciting!

Oh, my God, is it Achmed?

Hello. Welcome.

Hello! Welcome back.

How lovely to see you!

You too, thank you. Welcome back.

We were together
here five years ago.

Really? Yes!

What a beautiful day.

A new tomb, an old friend.

Achmed, how are your family?

Has everybody been well and good?

15? Yes.

Is it true?

It's too early in the morning.

We have almost arrived to the tomb.

OK.

Senusret's tomb is hidden
under this 700-foot mountain.

And, until recently, was buried
beneath 50 feet of sand.

So it would be better if you
wear a boot or something.

Yes, yeah, I know,
I brought my boots.

What are the conditions like inside?
It's very hot.

Totally hot inside the tomb.

And it's slippery in some places,
and totally dangerous,

the tomb, yeah.

Totally dangerous.
Totally dangerous.

This tomb is closed to the public.

So this is a special visit for you.

Thank you, well, thank you.
As long as you stay close.

Thank you. Shukraan. A long time
since anybody's been in here.

Senusret's astonishing burial
place is entirely underground.

It stretches for 800 feet,
making it Egypt's longest tomb.

As long as it's easier
to get out than to get in.

Eh!

Thank you, man, well done.

I like the fact that these tombs
are built to defeat all robbers,

and they are still managing
to defeat us today.

Watch your step. I will.

So is it really,
really hot down there?

Yeah. OK.

I think I might leave my scarf.

And if we get lost, they will know
there's somebody down there.

That's right. Exactly.

It's our sign.

One modern staircase is all we
get before the bare stone

and the dark takes over.

I'm so glad we've got this torch.

Did I tell you, the only thing
I don't like is small dark spaces?

It's the only thing
that freaks me out.

Is that safe?

Yeah, it's safe, but don't
pull it too hard.

Oxygen levels start to plummet,
the temperature reaches unbearable

levels, and with 90% humidity,
we are quickly drenched in sweat.

This is where the
heat starts as well.

It's starting, yeah, but...

Take care of your head.

Oh, I will, thank you.

Look at this.

Before Senusret, pharaohs
had been laid to rest

beneath enormous pyramids.

And now we are under the mountain.

But this hidden tomb revolutionised
the way that rulers would be buried

for centuries to come.

It's amazing, isn't it?

It's so hot for us just walking
down, imagine what it would

have been like for those
workers digging it.

And they are using just
stone tools, presumably.

Watch your head. I will.

After the tomb builders
came the tomb raiders,

searching for the treasures
buried here with the pharaoh.

How many workers do you think
there would have been here?

Just hold on. OK.

OK, because there's a shaft here.

But Senusret had some
tricks up his sleeve.

That's a sheer drop
down there, isn't it?

We are above a shaft, built
specially to trick the robbers.

Oh, my God.

So once the robbers arrived
to this place, they found

that this part is closed
by a block of stone.

Right. Telling that there
is nothing behind.

But the robbers continued
their desperate search,

hacking their own passageways
down through the solid rock.

They've put these steps into
the rocks, the robbers?

And more steps here. Yeah?

And after years with many
dying in the attempt,

they finally found Senusret.

600 feet from the entrance,
at last, we reach the heart

of the hidden tomb.

This is the sarcophagus
of Senusret himself.

So this is the actual
sarcophagus, is it?

This is the actual sarcophagus
of the King, yeah.

And it is made of two pieces
of granite - one is the lid,

and this one is the body
of the sarcophagus.

It's been robbed, this, hasn't it?

Yeah, been robbed, and it's
not in its place. No.

Originally, it was in a bigger
chamber, and the robbers,

they drag it into here.

The robbers had to shift aside
massive granite blocks weighing

up to 60 tonnes each to reach
the treasures down here.

Gold, perfumes, even a boat
was buried with the

Almighty Pharaoh.

But all that remains now
is his empty sarcophagus.

So where's his body?

Robbed. Just gone?

Robbed. Robbed.

Like so many of Egypt's rulers,
we no longer have his mummified body

or any of his treasures.

But we do now know that Senusret
was the first pharaoh to take

these extraordinary measures
to hide his final resting place.

Listen.

I owe you such a debt of gratitude
for bringing me down here,

even though we've nearly died...

You are most welcome.
..In the attempt.

But do we know the way back?

Yes. Yes. Let's go.
After you, after you.

Thank you.

It's time for me to continue south.

I'm leaving Senusret 1,500 years
behind to go in search of Egypt's

last great pharaoh -

The mighty Cleopatra.

People have sailed this river
for thousands of years.

But none with more pomp and
ceremony than the pharaohs.

Hello, Captain, are
we OK with this boat?

We are good, very good,
Madam Bettany.

Well, good, I trust you.

And of all the pharaohs who
sailed the Nile, the most

famous was Cleopatra.

Just four years into her reign,
Cleopatra led a massive military

manoeuvre on this river.

A fleet of 400 ships
with her new lover,

the Roman general,
Julius Caesar, in tow.

In fact, she was probably pregnant
with Caesar's child at the time.

When we think of Cleopatra,
we make a real mistake

just to imagine her
as a beautiful face.

This was a woman who was a
philosopher, and a mathematician,

she spoke a huge
number of languages.

Cleopatra was, in every way,
a force to be reckoned with.

But in this land she once ruled,
the evidence of this all-powerful

woman has been overshadowed
by the myths that have grown

up around her.

The Romans, Shakespeare,
and of course Hollywood,

have all styled her a
manipulative femme fatale.

And that's why my last destination
on this leg of my journey matters

so much to me.

Dendera is a chance to
discover the real Cleopatra.

This temple complex was built
by Cleopatra's family,

and it was actually started
by her great-grandfather.

It's dedicated to Hathor,
the goddess of love,

and beauty and motherhood.

Built 2,500 years after the Great
Pyramid of Giza, it's a place

that boasts of Cleopatra's
power and the brilliance

of Egyptian ideas.

The entire complex stretched
over 40,000 square metres.

And it's here on the temple's wall
that you get a unique glimpse

of Ancient Egypt's last
truly great Pharaoh.

We know that this is Cleopatra,
because she's got her name written

in hieroglyphs in that cartouche.

This is the only named
portrait that we have of her.

This wall is singing
out a message of power.

Cleopatra is a natural mother,
that's her son, Caesarion,

in front of her.

She's a mother goddess.

She's got the horns of Hathor
on her head, and she is THE mother

of the nation of Egypt.

Once you go inside the
temple she helped to build,

you really begin to get a feel
for the woman behind the legend.

A queen more obsessed with
mathematics and philosophy

than seduction.

On the ceiling is
a scientific wonder.

The story of time itself.

And its legacy is still felt

every single day.

So here you have the journey
of the moon through the night.

And then across the central
corridor, over there, there's

the sun making the sun's journey
through the day, and of course

this being Egypt, the sun is
travelling in one of those

flat-bottomed Nile barges.

Up there, there are the stars
that have been carefully mapped

to prove that there are 12 hours
in every night, and at the end,

you've got the
12 months of the year.

Represented by astrological signs
very similar to the ones

that we have.

So there's what we would
call Taurus, the bull.

And Pisces.

What the ancient Egyptians did
was to jigsaw puzzle together

all this information,
so the movement of the sun,

and the moon and the life cycle
of the year with the annual flooding

of the Nile, and their
mapping of the stars.

And they came up with
a new system of time.

It was the ancient Egyptians who
decided that the year should run

at 365 days.

When Caesar heard about
this revolutionary reading

of the cosmos in Egypt,
he was blown away.

He adopted these Egyptian insights,
and rolled out the Julian calendar

across the Roman world.

That notion stuck, so the rhythm
of all of our lives in the modern

world is dictated by an idea
that was dreamt up here.

With the rising superpower Rome
as her ally, and Caesar, the father

of her newborn son, Cleopatra must
have felt unstoppable.

It's said that here at Dendera,
she climbed up to the roof

of the temple when the moon was
full to give thanks to the gods.

So you have to imagine Cleopatra
coming up here, her skin rich

with frankincense and
myrrh and lotus oil,

crowned with those sacred horns of
Hathor, celebrating her success,

and the successful birth of
her son, Caesarion.

A woman physically
on top of the world.

And it's such a privilege
to think that I'm standing

here where Cleopatra once stood.

But within just three years,
Julius Caesar would be assassinated,

and Cleopatra would be mired
in the politics of Rome.

She died here, eventually
by her own hand, in the land

that she loved.

The last great pharaoh of Egypt.

Wait, wait! No, no, no!

Oh, my God!

Next time...

Now I've... I think
I've got to buy it.

...my Nile journey brings me
to the wonders of Luxor...

I'll come face-to-face
with Tutankhamen in the

Valley of the Kings...

This is what a royal tomb
really should look like.

And I'll board the steamship that
inspired Agatha Christie's

Death on the Nile.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media