All language subtitles for Civilisations.2of4.Egypt.the.Way.of.Eternit.www.mvgroup.org

lf you look at a satellite photo
of Northeast Africa

and see the million
square kilometres of Egypt.

you see that the green ribbon
of the valley and the Delta

are only there
because of the river.

lt's obvious that in this desert.
the easternmost Sahara.

there would be nothing
without water.

The Nile is therefore
life itself to Egypt.

The Egyptians
recorded that very well

because when you see
purification scenes

where Pharaoh is purified
by gods on each side

who pour streaming water
across the king's body

in the form of life-signs
falling one after the other...

Water is life.

As the Nile was Egypt's waterway

and as this mighty mass of water
turned into a sea during the flood.

the importance of the Nile
was felt everywhere.

lt took on a huge religious role.

The gods travelled on barges.

During the day
the sun moved on a barge.

then moved to an underground island
on a night barge.

The Nile generated
an incredible number of images.

including the cosmogonies.
the theories of Creation.

Every year.
before their very eyes.

they had this vast stretch of water
covering everything.

which inspired the idea
of the primordial ocean.

The image of the pyramid
as the acme of what was...

perhaps the golden age
of Egyptian civilisation.

at least on its Pharaonic side...

Because by then.
Pharaoh had become a god.

He had a divine essence.

Of course we long ago
discarded the image

of an enslaved. whip-driven people
that we see in the movies.

Some show very fine wheels

when the wheel only appeared
centuries later.

The king was sacred.
Touching him. even inadvertently.

was punishable by death.

The cult of Pharaoh was
probably more intense then

than any time in the 3000 years
of the Egyptian civilisation.

lt could have been
a surgical intervention

by the doctors
of the time.

They could have
tried to intervene

to relieve the pressure
inside the skull

or something like that.
to treat the condition.

We initially expected to find
a group just of men.

who would be doing the work.

But the first skeleton discovered
was a woman's.

That made us change
our approach completely

and start looking
at the ratio of women to men

and at whether they were
a settled community

or had only come for the work.

When we discovered their skeletons

we found skeletons for women.
men and children.

We did not find only men.

With slaves.
they'd have brought a few males

to do the work and go back home.

But these men
settled in the area.

They were living a settled life
with their women and children.

They were surely not slaves.

ln ancient Egypt
we find the paradox

that what appears to be
an obsession with death

is in fact the desire
to live on in the afterlife.

Likewise. nothing speaks
more strongly of daily life

than the decoration
and furnishing of the tombs.

The point of it was not storytelling

but to give the people
buried in the tombs

everything that could recreate.

through the creative power
of images and writing.

the life they'd led. which they
wanted to continue in the afterlife.

The obsession with life.

leading to
the obsession with eternity.

this notion of eternity
that seems to be

the most Egyptian component
of all this imaginary life.

is truly obsessional.

When you look at
even the smallest figurine

showing a deceased couple.
for instance.

one their son has dedicated
with a tiny inscription.

perhaps with only three signs.

it will say "From their son.
that their name may live."

What matters is to continue living
in the afterworld.

As a corollary.
there's also the harpist's song

that entices you to enjoy life

because no one's
ever come back

to tell us that life goes on
in the afterlife.

ln other words. it says

"Enjoy life.
spend a wonderful day

"with the woman you love
sitting by your side

" until the day
you have to go aboard..."

There's this wonderful image
of going on a barge

to be taken to the other side.

lt's a great metaphor for death.

Until that day comes.
life has to be enjoyed.

They'll do everything they can.

they'll represent the life they led.

make all the necessary offerings...

in the simplest form.
1 000 beer jugs. 1 000 loaves.

1 000 pieces of fabric. etc...
1 000 head of cattle.

That's fine.
everything will be put in the tomb

but "Make the most of it.
because no one's ever come back."

l've often felt that today's Egypt
is rather cut off from its past.

that the past is
just another great resource.

that the monuments
obviously attract people.

making tourism
one of Egypt's main resources.

This was something that Champollion.
a pioneer. understood

because when he left Egypt
at the end of his journey in 1 829.

he left Mohamed Ali a note
on the protection of monuments.

He listed the monuments
to be protected.

Before the word even existed.

he understood
what tourism would be

with its economic dimension.
the spending of money.

He said
"lt will attract educated people

"who will benefit the country
with the money they'll spend."

This mass of stones is probably
the most obvious symbol.

the most obvious image
that we have

when we talk about ancient Egypt

with obelisks. sphinxes
and such-like words

that fill us with fantasies
and dreams.

Subtitles SBS Australia 2007