All language subtitles for Egypt From Above 1of2 720p EN SUB_Subtitles01.ENG

Narrator: Egypt.

Birthplace of one of the
oldest, most powerful and

Longest lasting
civilizations on earth.

This spectacular aerial
journey with privileged access

To incredible sites...

Will show how the
magnificent achievements
of the ancients...

Helped shape the
egypt of today.

Flying over this country's
vast and varied landscapes...

Our bird's eye
view reveals how
generations of egyptians...

Battled harsh terrain and
scorching temperatures...

To build a nation
like no other.

Egypt.

Covering nearly 400,000
square miles and home to
almost 100 million people.

It's the biggest
and most populous
country in the arab world.

Life here has always
been a challenge.

97% of the terrain
is harsh, arid desert.

So how did the ancient
egyptians build such a

Powerful civilization?

A bird's eye view of the
country reveals the answer...

The mighty river nile.

At over 4,000 miles it's the
longest river in the world.

Without it, the ancient
egyptians may never have

Founded an empire or built
magnificent monuments.

The most iconic of
these ancient wonders,

Lies 8 miles
from the center of
egypt's capital, cairo.

From the air the scale of the
engineering is incredible.

Made of an estimated 10
million tons of stone, these

Are some of the largest
pyramids ever built.

The oldest and biggest is
the great pyramid of giza.

Completed over four and
a half thousand years ago,

It's formed from more than
2 million sandstone blocks.

Each block weighs
more than a car.

Created as a tomb for the
pharaoh khufu, it's the only

One of the 7 wonders
of the ancient world to
survive to the present day.

At 480 feet high, it
remained the tallest
structure on earth for

Three and a
half thousand years.

The pyramids of
giza fascinate
american archaeologist

Mark lehner so much,

He's dedicated four
decades of his career to
unlocking their secrets.

Mark: Well from that
very first sight of the
great pyramid of khufu,

The giza pyramids have
basically been my life.

I spent 46 years actually
studying the pyramids.

Who are the people
who built them?

What do we know about them?

What do we know about
how they did it?

Narrator: People
from all over the
world come to marvel at

The pyramids majesty.

Yet it's the remains of more
modest structures nearby that

Unlock how the ancients
built these mighty tombs.

Mark: In order to
create pyramids on
such a gigantic scale,

They had to create
a whole infrastructure.

We have found the footprint
of that infrastructure.

Narrator: An aerial view
reveals a huge labor force was

Once brought here
for construction.

Mark: So what we have
found is the so-called
"lost city of the pyramids,"

Sometimes
called the worker's village,

It's about 13 hectares.

We have found their
bakeries and their
workshops, their houses,

Their grain silos
for feeding the people.

But it's only part of a much
vaster city that existed at

The foot of the
pyramids' plateau.

Narrator:
Mark thinks 20,000
workers once lived here.

They quarried the 5.7 million
tons of sandstone needed to

Build the great pyramid alone.

From the air, the view of the
neighboring pyramid of khafre

Reveals there is
another enigma to solve.

Its summit is capped with
smooth stones that once

Encased the entire structure.

It's evidence that
the great pyramid once
looked very different.

Mark: The great pyramid of
khufu stood complete covered,

With polished white limestone,
that must have been blinding

When it reflected the sun.

Narrator: The nearest
source for the brilliant
limestone was in tura,

8 miles away on the
other side of the nile.

So how did the ancients
transport tons of this stone

Across miles of desert
and a mighty river?

Mark believes the sloping
ground in front of this temple

Unlocks the mystery.

It's a basin...

The remains of a huge harbor
and canal complex filled by

Floodwater that the
ancients used to ferry stone

To the construction site.

Mark: We have evidence that
the pyramid builders used the

Seven meter rise annually
of the nile flood as a huge

Hydraulic lift to bring blocks
as high as they could and as

Close as they could to
the pyramid plateau.

It's almost what
you don't see here that
is even more impressive

Than the
pyramids themselves.

Narrator: The nile
made ancient egyptian
civilization possible.

It wasn't just essential for
transport, but for food too.

And many egyptians still
depend on it today to survive.

It's early
morning on the
island of elephantine

In southern egypt.

Father and son
youssef and karim mohamed
are preparing to go fishing,

As they do every day.

Youseff: My family has
been here on the nile
for more than 100 years.

My father was a fisherman,

And my father's father
was a fisherman.

He taught him and then
my father taught me.

Now I'm teaching
my son karim like my
father taught me.

Narrator: Youssef
and karim are part of
the nubian community.

They're descendants of
some of the first people
to settle in this area of

The nile valley
over 7,000 years ago.

Youseff: For nubians, the
nile is their life, they've
always lived around the nile.

Narrator: Flooding caused by
the building of a dam further

South at aswan displaced
many nubians from their land.

So, for youssef it's
important to pass the
old traditions onto his son.

Like how to catch
fish the nubian way.

Youseff knows the big
fish are in deep water on

The other side of the river.

To get there, father and son
must cross a mile of choppy

And congested waters
in their tiny row boat.

All the while dodging
ferries and fast,

White-sailed felucca.

A collision here
would spell disaster.

Useff and
his 6-year-old son, karim,

Must cross one of the
most congested
points on the nile...

Their livelihood depends
on catching the bigger fish

In the deeper water.

With perfect timing,
youseff drives the boat

Through gaps in the traffic.

Safely on the other side,

6-year-old karim must
keep the rowboat steady
against the strong current.

His father uses
an ancient technique
to maximize his catch.

(splash)

Youseff: When you hit
the water once or twice,

The fish swim deeper
and flee into the net.

Fish don't like sound.

Narrator: These
fish are tilapia,

A staple of the
egyptian diet since
the time of the pharaohs.

After an hour, youseff
and karim have caught all

The fish they need
for tonight's supper.

They row the mile
back to their village
on elephantine island.

Cooks dust the fish
with flour and fry them
as part of a traditional

Nubian recipe.

Youseff: The nile
means everything because
it's where I fish.

It makes here possible.
The nile is my whole life.

Narrator: For
thousands of years,
egyptian civilizations

Have relied on the
river nile for survival.

As well as providing food,

The rich silt from its
waters allowed farmers to
grow crops in the desert.

German archaeologist
johanna sigl is also heading

To elephantine island.

Her work as excavation field
director here is revealing

The nile's importance
to the ancient egyptians.

A bird's eye view of the
island's southern tip shows

The layout of a
5,000-year-old town

This was one of the
first settlements on
this part of the nile.

Johanna: The nile
represented a life
source for ancient egyptians

It was one of
the most important
things in their life they

Got food and water,
fertile soil,
trade connections;

They got everything
from the nile.

Narrator: Before dams
controlled the river's height,

Monsoon rains over
ethiopia to the south of
egypt caused annual floods.

As the rising waters
burst their banks,
fertile silt was deposited

Across the flood plains.

The further the
waters' spread,

The more farmland
could be cultivated.

The ancient egyptians
developed a system to

Forecast the perfect flood.

The instrument they invented
became known as a nileometer.

The chiseled markings
on this passageway gauged

The height of the
flood and foretold if
crops would flourish or fail.

Johanna: Here at elephantine
the flood arrived first,

So to measure here would
be a prediction for measuring

The height all along the nile,

At least the ancient
egyptians hoped so.

Narrator: When the
nileometer recorded
the optimal water level,

The fields would
be covered with
enough silt to produce

A bountiful harvest.

Thousands of years
later and the nile remains
the lifeblood of egypt.

Johanna: The nile provides
still drinking water,

It provides energy, it
still provides fertile soil,

And so supports agriculture.

Without the nile there
would be no living here.

Narrator: Today 96%
of the population lives
on the 3% of cultivated

Land irrigated
by the nile...

Away from these areas,

The landscape
is very different.

Almost 375,000
square miles of egypt
is inhospitable desert.

Some of the
harshest terrain lies in
the sinai peninsula in the

East of the country...

Rainfall in this
part of egypt can be as
little as 1 inch a year.

From the air, it's clear the
region's dry rocky soil makes

Intensive agriculture
almost impossible.

Yet there's group
of people who have
made the sinai their

Home for millennia.

Khadraa eid mourzid
has lived in this remote
village her entire life.

Khadraa: It's very
difficult to find food.

There's little rain
and little vegetation
for the animals to eat.

Narrator: Khadraa is bedouin.

The majority of this ancient
people migrated here from
the arabian peninsula

Almost 2,000 years ago.

In recent decades,
government policies
aimed to increase security

And promote
tourism in sinai have
denied some bedouin

Access to services
and eroded their
nomadic traditions.

Many have left to find
work in egypt's cities.

Khadraa embraces life
here in the desert, as
her ancestors did before her.

Khadraa: This desert
teaches you to exercise.

Coming, going,
collecting wood,

Fetching water, keeping moving.

If you stay inside,
your body ages.

You must walk, be
active and stay healthy.

Narrator: Khadraa is a widow.

To keep herself
and her goats alive,

She must find vegetation
in one of the most arid
places on earth.

Narrator: High up on
egypt's arid sinai peninsula,

Bedouin shepherdess
khadraa eid mourzid
is taking her goats deep

Into the desert
on a quest for grass.

Khadraa relies on wisdom
passed down through

Generations of bedouin
nomads to read the landscape.

A bird's eye view reveals
gullies snaking across the

Mountainous terrain.

Khadraa knows scarce
rainwater channeled
just beneath the surface

Is enough to
sustain plant life.

Khadraa: There's a
lot of grazing here.

If they're happy, I'm happy.

Narrator: While the goats eat,

Khadraa exploits
another of the
desert's scant resources.

Khadraa: This desert
plant is called ajram.

You pick it, crush it
and add water to it.

You can wash your
hands and clothes with it.

It's soap.
A nice, smelling soap.

Narrator: It's enough
grazing for today.

Tomorrow khadraa will
have to find other plants.

Khadraa: I do all
this work every day.

I've been here since
the day I got married.

I've never lived
anywhere else.

The desert is my life.

Narrator: The bedouin have
made the desert their home.

Yet, the ancients used
these wastelands for a
very different purpose.

The western desert
was where the pharaohs
were buried in preparation

For the afterlife.

Royal tombs like the
step pyramid of djoser
built up to 4,700 years ago,

Would be filled with
priceless treasures.

Despite the pharaohs
believing their pyramids
were impregnable,

These structures
became a magnet for
ancient grave robbers.

So three and a half
thousand years ago,

The pharaohs created
a giant secret tomb
within a remote desert valley.

From the 16th century bce,
at least 63 royal tombs were

Built here over a
period of 500 years.

The valley of the kings is
located beneath a symbolic

Pyramid shaped mountain.

The pharaoh's hoped this
inconspicuous site would be

Safe from grave robbers.

Originally, the entrances
to the tombs were sealed and

Hidden under sand and rocks.

Now a network of paths
leads the way in.

Conservator lori wong
is responsible for the

Preservation of the site's
most famous attraction.

The tomb of tutankhamen.

Lori: Tutankhamun,
it's fame is due to the
fact that it was a tomb

That was discovered
with its grave goods,

Almost completely intact,

And that's rare
because almost every other
tomb had been looted.

Narrator: Tutankhamun
was just 9 years old when
he became ruler of egypt.

The boy king's tomb
was discovered in 1922
by british egyptologist,

Howard carter.

Inside he found
treasures including

Tutankhamun's
gold death mask...

His gold and silver throne,

Encrusted with precious stones.

And more than 5,000 other
priceless artefacts.

One and a half million
people a year come to
the valley of the kings.

Now the huge volume of
visitors is taking its toll.

Lori: Visitors have dust on
their clothing, on their shoes

And if they come into the tomb
and that dust can actually

Cement itself onto the
painting making it very

Difficult to remove
in a safe manner.

Narrator: Lori's team has
installed a ventilation system

To help reduce dust
levels inside the tomb.

The cleaner air will ensure
the preservation of the boy
king's resting place

For generations to come.

Lori: We want other
people to be able to
be to appreciate the tomb

As much
as much as we have.

To have worked in a tomb
like tutankhamun has been
just a wonderful experience.

Narrator: Egypt's mighty
pharaohs left their mark

Throughout the country.

Yet not all monuments
visible from the air are
shrines to past rulers.

These are towers for
domesticated pigeons.

The birds have been farmed in
egypt for thousands of years.

Ancient sources
suggest they were consumed
on important feast days.

Today, pigeons are
not only bred to eat,
they're bred to compete.

In cairo's neighborhood
of gamaleya,

Dozens of passionate
pigeon breeders are
in constant competition

With one another.

Visible from the air,
precarious wooden structures

Like this rise high
above the rooftops.

These are called gheyas
and they're the inner city's

Answer to pigeon towers.

Some are large enough
to house over 300 birds.

Hassan mohamed hussein
calls himself the

'pigeon ruler of gamaliya'.

Hussein: I built my
first gheya 23 years ago.

I built a small one,
9x9 foot,

Out of straw on the roof.

It was a long process.

Then I made the gheya
higher and bigger until
I built the one I have now.

Narrator: Hassan
is one of 2 million
pigeon fanciers in egypt.

In competitions, breeders
take their best birds to
a central location

And release them together.

The goal is to both guide
their own birds home and lure

As many of their rival's
pigeons as they can.

The breeder with the
most birds at the end of

The event is the winner.

Hassan: Every
competition is different
like a football match,

Catching pigeons is the
equivalent of scoring goals.

Narrator: Hassan
meets his opponent here
in the middle of old cairo.

He must win today if he
wants to retain his title,

'pigeon ruler of gamiliya'.

Hassan mohamed hussein
is taking on rival,
kuto adam, in a pigeon race

Across the capital.

Both competitors are ready
to release their birds.

40 pigeons climb
high above cairo...

In just a few minutes, they'll
be within range their coops.

Both competitors must try and
guide home all their pigeons,

And as many of their
rival's, as possible.

Whoever captures
the most birds wins.

Soon after arriving
back at his tower,
hassan spots the pigeons.

Hassan: I'm going to
call them in and raise a

Flag to see which are
the competitor's pigeons.

(whistling)

Narrator: Hassan waves
and whistles to
entice them to his coop.

(whistling)

As the pigeons land,
he reads their tags to
check who they belong to.

All hassan's pigeons
have returned home.

His competitor kuto adam
hasn't lured any away...

Hassan: I think that black
one is one of kuto's birds.

Narrator: But hassan has.

With another
victory to his name,
hassan retains his title...

Until the next contest.

Hassan: I'm so happy.

I'm so pleased that I won.

Narrator: The egyptians'
relationship with pigeons is

Just one legacy from the
time of the pharaohs.

The ancient rulers' vast
monuments stand testament to

Their immense power.

These were no ordinary kings.

They proclaimed
themselves gods.

And they expected their
subjects to worship them...

Even after they died.

Nowhere is this
more visible than on
the west bank of the nile,

Across the
river from luxor.

Over 2,000 years, pharaohs
built mortuary temples here to

Commemorate their
reigns and as center's
for their eternal veneration.

Their true scale only
becomes evident from the air.

It's dawn and setting a course
for the mortuary temples is

Bahaa ahmed an experienced
hot air balloon pilot.

Bahaa flies at first light
when the air is cool and wind

Currents are most predictable.

Knowing wind patterns
here is critical,

Because the temples
are located directly
beneath jagged mountains.

Bahaa: The bggest challenge
flying balloons here,

Is the wind shear
and turbulence close
to the mountains.

So we take that into
consideration and try to keep

Far away so there is no danger
to the balloon or passengers.

Narrator: As
bahaa tracks a course
away from the mountains,

He guides his
balloon towards egypt's most

Famous mortuary structure.

The temple of hatshepsut
is carved into the side
of a mountain.

It was built by
one of egypt's very
few female pharaohs.

To gain acceptance as ruler,

She ordered her
temple to be bigger and
grander than those of all

The male pharaohs before her.

Bahaa: This temple is
one of the most beautiful
things to see from the balloon,

Looking at the
design of this temple it is

More than
I can describe.

From the balloon it
looks very beautiful.

Narrator: As the
air warms up, bahaa
must now negotiate the

Potentially
treacherous winds...

To visit a
shrine to the greatest
pharaoh ever to rule egypt.

Narrator: Above the
west bank of luxor,

Bahaa ahmed's
balloon approaches a 50,000
square foot temple complex

Dedicated to egypt's
greatest pharaoh.

This is the ramesseum,

The mortuary temple
of egypt's most
prolific monument builder,

Ramses the second.

Constructed in the 13th
century bce and covering the

Area of 47 tennis courts...

In its day it was
one of the largest
mortuary temples in egypt.

It took 20 years to complete.

Bahaa: Beautiful!
This is amazing!

Look at this,
ramses the second!

Narrator: Within the
ramesseum lie the fallen
remains of a giant statue

Of ramses himself.

Originally it would
have risen to the
height of a 6-story building

And weighed
around 1,000 tons.

It reminded everyone
he was more than a man.

He was a god.

As the desert monuments give
way to lush farmland below,

It's time for bahaa to
find a field to touch down.

Bahaa: When the balloon
goes up you don't know where

You are going to land,
and it's a challenge to land

Somewhere safe
for the passengers.

Flying balloons,
every day is a new day.

Narrator: The
pharaohs may have
declared themselves gods,

But their powers
were not eternal.

After ruling
egypt for 3,000 years,

They were conquered
by the romans.

In time, belief in
their many pagan gods
gave way to one christian god.

Almost 10 million
christians live in egypt today.

One of their most important
sites is mount sinai.

According to the bible,

This mountain was where god
appeared as a burning bush.

And where moses received
the ten commandments.

In the 6th century ce, roman
emperor justinian the first

Ordered a place of worship
to be built marking this
most sacred of sites.

The result was
st. Catherine's monastery.

The oldest continuously
inhabited monastery

In the world.

Resident monk father makarios
left his home in

Denver, colorado to
live and work here.

Father macarius: Historically,
there are very few places in

The world today that reflect
the life of the empire which

Created this monastery.

Nowhere else in the world
can anybody find or see an

Institution like this.

Narrator: The centerpiece of
st catherine's monastery is

The great basilica.

This is where
daily prayers have
been held for 1,500 years.

Today, father makarios
must make sure that
everything is ready

For the morning service.

Father macarius:
There has been an
uninterrupted succession

Of prayers here
since the mid 6th century.

Nowhere in the
world can claim that
anywhere except here.

Narrator: Life here
means following strict
rules and turning your back

On modern comforts to
live in the wilderness.

With the chapel now ready,

The monks can commence
8 hours of daily
prayers in a monastery

That is uniquely
connected to their faith.

Father macarius:
Moses came here
and god himself came.

To be able to be here
and look at one face of
this mountain from here

And say to yourself,
this is really important I need

To be here for this.

Narrator: Preserving
thousands of years of
history has made egypt the

Country it is today.

Beside the giza pyramids,

It's a race against time to
fill a new $1 billion-dollar
museum with

The country's
greatest treasures.

That means transporting
fragile and priceless

Artefacts across one of the
world's most congested cities.

Narrator: In egypt' s capital,

Cairo, plans are underway
to bring thousands

Of years
of history under one roof.

For more than a century,
the world's largest collection

Of ancient egyptian treasures
has been housed in cairo,

Here at the egyptian museum.

It's the home of the
world-famous relics from the

Tomb of tutankhamun.

Today the neo-classical
building is outdated...

And too small to display
many of its items.

So engineers are building
a brand new museum to

Accommodate 5 million
tourists who visit each year.

Its scale is epic.

When it's finished,
the grand egyptian museum
will cover an area

Of over 5.2 million
square feet.

This will be the
largest museum
devoted to one civilization

On the planet.

Before it opens,

Thousands of artefacts
must be transported by road

On an 11-mile journey
to their new home on the
outskirts of cairo.

And that's a problem.

Cairo is one of the world's
most congested cities.

Tens of thousands of road
traffic accidents are reported

Every year and
congestion costs the country

An estimated $50 billion.

Hitting the road today is
this 3,000-year-old statue of

Ramses the second
and the goddess anat.

Ramses is known as
'the great' due partly to

His huge building projects.

Director of restoration and
transporting antiquities,

Eissa zidan, must
ensure safe passage.

Eissa: It's impossible to
put a value on this statue,

For egyptians it
means civilization,
culture, heritage and honor,

Ancient egyptian
civilization is priceless.

Narrator: Eissa's
team painstakingly wraps the

Monument in a protective
material before its journey.

Ramses will be transported
across cairo to his new
home by driver,

Zakriya mohamed.

Zakriya: I feel
proud to be transporting
such important pieces.

I also feel afraid, because if
anything were to happen to any

Of these artefacts,
I would be devastated.

Narrator: To ensure
ramses' safe delivery,

Zakriya has called in help.

Four police cars, and
a special forces unit,

Will escort the mighty pharaoh.

To prevent the statue
toppling off his truck,

Zakriya must try
and maintain a constant
speed of 12 miles per hour

Towards the grand
egyptian museum.

After a tense
60-minute journey...

Zakriya and ramses
arrive unscathed.

Zakriya: I always feel
nervous while driving.

I feel especially stressed
carrying something of such

Value to egyptians.

When I arrive at
the grand egyptian
museum I feel relieved

That it has
got here safely.

Narrator: The statue
will soon be unpacked...

And installed on the new
museum's grand staircase.

Eissa: I will feel extremely
proud to see the grand egyptian

Museum finally open,
and visitors coming to see all

The antiquities that we
have transported so carefully.

I hope we have done something
that will be remembered.

Narrator: Flying over egypt,

Our birds eye view
reveals how this proud
nation continues to embrace

Its unique past.

From the air, it's clear how
the ancients stamped their

Mark across this harsh and
inhospitable landscape.

And how some lifestyles
here have barely changed for

Thousands of years.

In this land of the pharaohs
the ancient and modern

Continue to live side by side.

Captioned by cotter
captioning services.