WILD, THE WEIRD, AND THE WONDERFUL, THE: THE SPLENDORS AND MYSTERIES OF ANCIENT EGYPT (TV)
Summary
One in this educational travel series hosted by Hal and Halla Linker. In this episode, the Linkers visit the city of Thebes, Egypt, home to the Luxor temple, which features many statues and carvings dedicated to the god Amon, as well as hundreds of representations of the pharaoh Rameses II, all commissioned by the ruler himself. One of the elaborate obelisks with hieroglyphics telling of his reign has a twin which resides in Paris on the Place de la Concorde. Other column in Luxor feature the styles of both upper and lower Egypt, and the nearby Karnak temple, reachable by carriage, also features many works representing Amon as well as a "forest of columns" on which much of the original coloration is still visible after thousands of years. The Linkers describe the construction style of the walls and temple inside the complex, some of which are still unfinished. Many items were stolen over time from the temples and taken to other lands, and the architectural style has been copied in many different places, most notably in the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. The largest column at Karnak would have been ninety-two feet tall, had it been completed, but a crack halted its production and it still lies in the granite quarry. The temples on the east side of the Nile River represent the life of various rulers, but the west side represents death and the afterlife, and four statutes of Rameses stand at the front of his mortuary temple. The temple of Queen Hatshepsut, who seized power and ruled without a male companion, resides nearby as well. Other items are housed at the West Berlin museum, including an ornate bust of Queen Nefertiti, mother-in-law of the famous Tutankhamen. The Linker observe more elaborate artwork in the Valley of the Kings, home to sixty-two tombs, and they note the paintings on the inside and ceilings of the vaults, completed with the use of mirrors rather than torches. They also visit "King Tut's" tomb, explaining that a careful inventory shows that there has been much theft over time, despite the "curse" on all those who enter the place. His bright gold mummy case is found at a museum in Cairo and despite his relative unimportance as a ruler, a vast number of items were buried along with him to be taken into the afterlife.
Unaltered sculptures of Prince Rahotep and his wife Nofret can be viewed at the museum as well, as can many surprisingly intact mummified bodies. The most famous tombs, however, are the pyramids, the largest of which is known as the Great Pyramid and was built for the pharaoh known as Cheops (not by aliens, as is occasionally suggested). Evidence of the pyramid style has been found across the ocean in South America and other places, as seen in some Mayan and Aztec architecture, and Hal reveals that a wooden boat was recently unearthed amongst the pyramids, strongly suggesting that the Egyptian traveled across the sea and influenced other cultures. A group of Japanese builders attempts to reconstruct a pyramid to prove that it can be done through manpower, and many visitors ride camels to see the great works and surrounding cities. The Sphinx is another notable landmark: constructed for the pharaoh Khafra, the figure has a part-human, part-lion appearance and still shows evidence of its original rich colors. A smaller sphinx, made for Queen Hatshepsut, resides nearby, as do two other statues of Rameses. The very first pyramid was made for the pharaoh Djoser and was designed by the innovative engineer Imhotep, the "Einstein of 5,000 years ago."
The Linkers then explore the lands and note how much has stayed the same since the time of the pharaohs, including the worship of longhorn cattle, which are raised and revered by the nearby Watusi tribe. They continue to use effective ancient agricultural methods to take advantage of the Nile's resources, and Egyptian cotton remains an important export. Temples boast mixed Roman and Egyptian designs and artwork; the elongated skulls seen in many works of art implied high birth, and the tradition of lengthening one's head with wrappings is still practiced in some areas of the continent. The Linkers travel by boat and donkey to visit some Nubian tombs and discover some curiously flat obelisks with doorway-like designs, and compare them to similar works found in Ethiopia. They attend a midnight wedding with much dancing, and then discuss a dam constructed across the Nile that helps to control the frequent floods and droughts caused by the river. However, the dam's presence threatens some ancient temples, so efforts are made to move and reassemble certain works, including towering statues of Rameses and other gods, and even the mountains into which the temples are set. The carefully reconstructed statues still face the sun as they have done for thousands of years, seeming to achieve their creators' goals of eternal life. The Linkers close the program by mentioning the Rosetta Stone, the famous carved "dictionary" that translates long-lost hieroglyphics into understandable Egyptian and Greek, noting the enduring nature of the elaborate ancient Egyptian culture. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: Syndicated
- DATE: November 30, 1999
- RUNNING TIME: 0:47:47
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:58254
- GENRE: History
- SUBJECT HEADING: History; Travel; Egypt
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Jeffrey Glasser … Director
- Halla Linker … Host
- Hal Linker … Host
- Albert Einstein
- Cheops
- Djoser
- Hatshepsut
- Imhotep
- Khafra
- Rahotep
- Rameses II
- Nefertiti
- Nofret
- Tutankhamen