1 00:00:17,976 --> 00:00:21,287 For over 3,000 years Egypt was ruled by Pharaohs. 2 00:00:24,695 --> 00:00:28,872 But in that last sweep of time, one pharaoh stands out. 3 00:00:29,746 --> 00:00:31,668 He would reign for 67 years, 4 00:00:32,174 --> 00:00:37,136 command the largest empire on earth and capture the imagination of the world. 5 00:00:41,937 --> 00:00:44,245 His name was Ramesses. 6 00:00:51,624 --> 00:00:55,065 Ramesses built a reputation that has resounded through history. 7 00:00:56,502 --> 00:01:00,097 It was a reputation deliberately crafted by the pharaoh himself. 8 00:01:05,713 --> 00:01:08,443 Ramesses was in fact a master of propaganda, 9 00:01:08,849 --> 00:01:13,257 projecting his power beyond the battlefield across the ancient world. 10 00:01:27,218 --> 00:01:30,987 This is the story of how one man created his own legend. 11 00:01:32,421 --> 00:01:34,299 The legend of Ramesses the Great, 12 00:01:35,752 --> 00:01:38,755 and how in the end, not even a legendary pharaoh 13 00:01:39,114 --> 00:01:42,100 could save Egypt's Golden Empire from destruction. 14 00:02:16,730 --> 00:02:22,518 In 1327 BC, a tragic event brought Egypt to the verge of crisis. 15 00:02:25,093 --> 00:02:26,895 The Pharaoh Tutankhamen had died. 16 00:02:32,685 --> 00:02:36,092 His death marked the end of Egypt's most powerful dynasty 17 00:02:39,250 --> 00:02:42,025 and the beginning of a period of great uncertainty. 18 00:02:49,224 --> 00:02:50,963 A great deal was at stake. 19 00:02:51,463 --> 00:02:54,167 In just two centuries, Egypt's royal family 20 00:02:54,429 --> 00:02:57,492 had built a massive empire stretching far beyond the Nile: 21 00:02:58,406 --> 00:02:59,720 from Syria in the north, 22 00:03:00,199 --> 00:03:03,659 to the gold fields of Nubia (modern day Sudan) in the south. 23 00:03:08,191 --> 00:03:09,833 A succession of powerful pharaohs 24 00:03:10,053 --> 00:03:14,586 had made Egypt the richest and most powerful nation in the world. 25 00:03:16,743 --> 00:03:18,462 When Tutankhamen died, the big problem 26 00:03:18,748 --> 00:03:20,997 was that there was no heir to the throne. 27 00:03:21,310 --> 00:03:24,138 So obviously Egypt must have been in a bad state. 28 00:03:24,935 --> 00:03:29,566 There was nobody there to take over, and things were in a state of flux. 29 00:03:30,551 --> 00:03:33,158 But now with the end of the great dynasty, 30 00:03:33,565 --> 00:03:37,995 a new enemy had emerged to challenge Egypt's might: the Hittites. 31 00:03:39,371 --> 00:03:40,945 The Hittites, living in what is now Turkey, 32 00:03:41,660 --> 00:03:44,476 were a more technologically advanced power than Egypt. 33 00:03:44,914 --> 00:03:48,211 Already they were pushing against the northern border of Egypt's empire. 34 00:03:57,910 --> 00:04:01,359 In 1279 BC, the fate of the threatened empire 35 00:04:01,878 --> 00:04:06,394 became the responsibility of a young boy, the new pharaoh of Egypt. 36 00:04:09,457 --> 00:04:14,989 He was crowned Ramesses, meaning 'Offspring of the Re'. 37 00:04:23,370 --> 00:04:25,106 Ramesses comes to the throne fairly young, 38 00:04:25,575 --> 00:04:27,216 probably about the age of 15, 39 00:04:27,842 --> 00:04:30,059 and he has got an enormous task ahead of him. 40 00:04:30,468 --> 00:04:33,188 He looks back over the history of his country, 41 00:04:35,625 --> 00:04:38,521 a hundred years or so earlier, there were kings 42 00:04:38,722 --> 00:04:42,661 who would be the epitome of wealth, power and good taste. 43 00:04:43,647 --> 00:04:47,027 That's an enormous legacy to have to live up to. 44 00:04:49,934 --> 00:04:52,306 Ramesses had not come from a royal background. 45 00:04:52,977 --> 00:04:56,668 In fact, the boy king had been born a commoner. 46 00:05:02,315 --> 00:05:07,330 His family was a military family, who were fairly new on the throne. 47 00:05:07,956 --> 00:05:10,269 They were certainly not from the royal line. 48 00:05:12,445 --> 00:05:15,069 They lived and worked for the kings of Egypt 49 00:05:15,446 --> 00:05:17,997 but they did not belong to the royal family. 50 00:05:21,573 --> 00:05:25,846 It was military prowess that had won his family its place on the throne. 51 00:05:28,629 --> 00:05:31,422 And it would be through military action 52 00:05:32,194 --> 00:05:36,957 that the young Ramesses would have to prove himself. 53 00:05:38,773 --> 00:05:42,178 To the north of Egypt, the Hittites were preparing for war. 54 00:05:44,234 --> 00:05:47,513 They intended to take advantage of the young and inexperienced boy king. 55 00:05:49,341 --> 00:05:52,137 Ramesses was about to face the biggest challenge of his life. 56 00:05:58,092 --> 00:06:03,047 You have two super powers, each one trying to grab bits from the other. 57 00:06:03,314 --> 00:06:05,990 Eventually they are going to clash. 58 00:06:06,814 --> 00:06:11,652 By the fifth year of his reign, the massive Hittite army 59 00:06:11,926 --> 00:06:15,029 moved into Egypt's territory, advancing towards the town of Kadesh. 60 00:06:15,477 --> 00:06:18,710 The crossroads for trade with the near east Kadesh 61 00:06:18,967 --> 00:06:21,417 was of extreme strategic importance. 62 00:06:23,262 --> 00:06:27,605 Ramesses II realises that the battle for the eye of Kadesh 63 00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:33,755 is the battle that will eventually decide which of these two empires 64 00:06:33,755 --> 00:06:40,416 will be the leaders of the world in the entire 13th century. 65 00:06:42,832 --> 00:06:45,322 Here was the opportunity Ramesses had been waiting for. 66 00:06:46,709 --> 00:06:49,696 It was a chance to prove his power and might to the world. 67 00:06:56,467 --> 00:06:57,498 There was only one problem. 68 00:06:58,302 --> 00:06:59,966 Egypt was not ready for war. 69 00:07:00,639 --> 00:07:02,513 Ramesses needed an army quickly. 70 00:07:03,154 --> 00:07:05,096 He mobilised, not just Egyptian soldiers, 71 00:07:05,615 --> 00:07:09,409 but other subjects of his empire including Nubians and Libyans. 72 00:07:16,179 --> 00:07:18,319 The primitive bronze weapons of the Egyptian forces 73 00:07:18,679 --> 00:07:22,416 were soon to be pitted against the Hittites iron armoury. 74 00:07:22,779 --> 00:07:25,500 The odds didn't look good. 75 00:07:26,916 --> 00:07:30,106 I can't imagine what it must have been like to be a soldier in pharaoh's army. 76 00:07:30,605 --> 00:07:33,537 First, in all likelihood, you don't want to be there. 77 00:07:34,015 --> 00:07:35,235 You've been conscripted. 78 00:07:36,360 --> 00:07:40,854 Second, you're rather poorly fed, you're rather poorly clothed, 79 00:07:41,148 --> 00:07:45,363 you have a spear, or if you're lucky a bow and arrow, and that's it. 80 00:07:47,512 --> 00:07:49,335 You are expected to give your all. 81 00:07:52,305 --> 00:07:53,871 Soon the army was ready. 82 00:07:54,696 --> 00:07:56,555 The pharaoh's scribes also came along 83 00:07:57,167 --> 00:08:01,216 to record what the pharaoh was confident would be a glorious victory. 84 00:08:02,718 --> 00:08:06,140 He had the self-confidence that can go with being young. 85 00:08:06,877 --> 00:08:08,772 He thought that everything was doable. 86 00:08:09,124 --> 00:08:10,986 He thought that problems would not exist. 87 00:08:11,332 --> 00:08:14,066 He probably thought that compromises would not need to be made. 88 00:08:14,379 --> 00:08:16,723 You could just go out, do it and get it. 89 00:08:21,730 --> 00:08:24,945 Finally, the 20-year-old king set off with his army, 90 00:08:25,417 --> 00:08:28,254 leading an advanced guard out of the lush Nile Delta, 91 00:08:28,734 --> 00:08:31,264 into the scorching heat of the Sinai Desert. 92 00:08:33,910 --> 00:08:37,048 The figure he cut at the helm of his army was impressive. 93 00:08:40,046 --> 00:08:43,551 I can imagine that he had a great deal of power and authority. 94 00:08:45,168 --> 00:08:46,790 He was very strong and muscular. 95 00:08:47,491 --> 00:08:52,460 He was himself about 5 feet 8 or 9 inches tall. 96 00:08:52,771 --> 00:08:57,111 That is about four inches or so taller than the average Egyptian man. 97 00:08:57,433 --> 00:08:59,237 But he was taller nevertheless. 98 00:08:59,499 --> 00:09:00,433 He had red hair, 99 00:09:00,715 --> 00:09:03,363 which was a very unusual feature in ancient Egypt, 100 00:09:04,153 --> 00:09:05,438 and it set him apart. 101 00:09:18,255 --> 00:09:21,725 The Egyptian army surged across the desert through Israel and Lebanon. 102 00:09:25,164 --> 00:09:27,153 A few miles from Kadesh, Ramesses 103 00:09:27,574 --> 00:09:29,964 and his advance guard made camp 104 00:09:30,872 --> 00:09:33,644 and waited for the rest of the army to catch up. 105 00:09:39,125 --> 00:09:41,333 When Ramesses established this camp, 106 00:09:41,587 --> 00:09:45,130 he obviously was not thinking that there was going to be a battle any time soon. 107 00:09:45,526 --> 00:09:49,942 This was a time to stop, have a picnic, talk about life in general, and wait. 108 00:09:50,552 --> 00:09:52,467 Maybe a week, two weeks, three weeks later, 109 00:09:53,067 --> 00:09:54,820 some kind of a battle would take place, 110 00:09:55,519 --> 00:09:57,423 which of course the Egyptians knew they would win. 111 00:09:58,488 --> 00:10:00,314 But things weren't going to be so easy. 112 00:10:01,048 --> 00:10:07,005 We know from scribal accounts that the inexperienced pharaoh was about to be the victim of a dangerous trap. 113 00:10:12,106 --> 00:10:17,232 There were two Bedouin in the desert who were brought in by the pharaoh's soldiers, and interrogated. 114 00:10:19,062 --> 00:10:20,372 Ramesses, or whoever, said, 115 00:10:20,639 --> 00:10:22,813 "Where is the king of the Hittites?" They said, "Oh, 116 00:10:22,813 --> 00:10:25,346 he's way off there, don't worry about him, he's far away." 117 00:10:26,639 --> 00:10:29,620 What Ramesses didn't realise was that his informants 118 00:10:30,056 --> 00:10:32,234 were Hittite spies sent to mislead him. 119 00:10:33,297 --> 00:10:35,184 They released them, sent them off and said, 120 00:10:35,184 --> 00:10:37,467 "Oh great, let's set up camp and relax. 121 00:10:37,467 --> 00:10:39,811 We've got plenty of time before the battle begins." 122 00:10:43,802 --> 00:10:45,495 The pharaoh had fallen for a simple trick. 123 00:10:47,917 --> 00:10:50,609 Ramesses goofed seriously and badly 124 00:10:50,836 --> 00:10:53,683 to have taken those two Bedouins at their word. 125 00:10:53,963 --> 00:10:57,548 To have avoided sending out scouts to check the veracity 126 00:10:57,548 --> 00:10:58,810 of what they were saying, 127 00:10:59,248 --> 00:11:01,677 I think, was a terrible military mistake. 128 00:11:02,280 --> 00:11:04,500 Egyptian soldiers captured two more spies. 129 00:11:05,155 --> 00:11:07,296 This time, when Ramesses had them beaten and interrogated, 130 00:11:08,298 --> 00:11:09,754 he got a very different story. 131 00:11:10,659 --> 00:11:12,691 The Hittites were not hundreds of miles away. 132 00:11:13,135 --> 00:11:14,568 They were just across the river, 133 00:11:14,839 --> 00:11:16,349 ready to attack. 134 00:11:23,134 --> 00:11:25,812 In panic, the pharaoh sent word back for reinforcements. 135 00:11:30,974 --> 00:11:32,171 Suddenly the Hittites attacked. 136 00:11:37,892 --> 00:11:41,565 Ramesses' scribes left an eyewitness account of the battle. 137 00:11:43,166 --> 00:11:46,113 Reconstruction voiceover: "The Hittite wretch, 138 00:11:46,335 --> 00:11:48,210 with his army, forded the river south of Kadesh, 139 00:11:48,490 --> 00:11:52,507 smashing into his majesty's army when it least expected an attack." 140 00:11:59,949 --> 00:12:01,355 The dust, the choking dust, 141 00:12:01,747 --> 00:12:04,157 the blood pouring onto the desert sands, 142 00:12:04,404 --> 00:12:08,096 these soldiers who looked death in the face 143 00:12:08,313 --> 00:12:11,849 at every moment in one of these battles must have had absolute hell. 144 00:12:16,536 --> 00:12:19,027 Egyptian troops fell before the Hittites' iron weapons. 145 00:12:19,927 --> 00:12:22,071 The army stood on the brink of defeat. 146 00:12:26,792 --> 00:12:27,230 Then, 147 00:12:27,230 --> 00:12:28,231 at the last minute, 148 00:12:28,636 --> 00:12:30,200 Ramesses' reinforcements arrived, 149 00:12:32,125 --> 00:12:33,700 and took the Hittites by surprise. 150 00:12:44,361 --> 00:12:46,145 Ramesses has been unbelievably lucky. 151 00:12:47,491 --> 00:12:50,480 And he ends up at the end of the day holding the battlefield. 152 00:12:52,037 --> 00:12:54,168 Actually, it was something of a goalless draw, 153 00:12:54,525 --> 00:12:56,962 snatched from defeat at the last minute 154 00:12:57,337 --> 00:12:59,916 by the arrival of the Egyptian equivalent of the US Cavalry. 155 00:13:09,315 --> 00:13:10,773 Ramesses had failed in his mission. 156 00:13:11,595 --> 00:13:14,348 The Hittites would be back and Egypt's trade routes 157 00:13:14,720 --> 00:13:16,786 and empire were still vulnerable. 158 00:13:18,816 --> 00:13:20,929 The battle of Kadesh did not go according to plan. 159 00:13:21,194 --> 00:13:24,739 At the most, it was a way for the Egyptians 160 00:13:24,739 --> 00:13:27,196 to prevent the Hittites from moving further south. 161 00:13:27,695 --> 00:13:32,230 But it was certainly not the flamboyant victory that Ramesses wanted. 162 00:13:33,480 --> 00:13:36,234 Ramesses, however, was determined to have his victory. 163 00:13:37,858 --> 00:13:42,080 Back in Egypt he would tell a far different story of the battle of Kadesh. 164 00:13:48,815 --> 00:13:50,449 What Ramesses does is say, 165 00:13:50,449 --> 00:13:52,729 "Right I'm going to rewrite history, 166 00:13:53,427 --> 00:13:54,824 so it's going to be the big gesture, 167 00:13:55,089 --> 00:13:57,992 the vain glorious boast. 168 00:13:58,445 --> 00:14:00,736 It's going to be the huge publicity machine. 169 00:14:01,454 --> 00:14:05,278 It's going to be the hieroglyphic equivalent of spin doctoring." 170 00:14:07,811 --> 00:14:11,812 Ramesses now masterminded an extraordinary propaganda campaign. 171 00:14:15,495 --> 00:14:18,974 He sent out legions of artisans to carve epic depictions 172 00:14:19,213 --> 00:14:22,682 of the battle of Kadesh on temple walls around the empire. 173 00:14:27,355 --> 00:14:31,697 The story he told begins truthfully but then veers off into fantasy. 174 00:14:33,134 --> 00:14:36,044 The young king claimed he had won a clear victory at Kadesh 175 00:14:36,823 --> 00:14:39,327 and it was not the Egyptian reinforcements, but he himself, 176 00:14:40,108 --> 00:14:43,285 who all alone had saved the day. 177 00:14:47,063 --> 00:14:50,614 In his version, he transformed himself from a gullible 178 00:14:50,829 --> 00:14:54,209 inexperienced commander into a god-like warrior. 179 00:14:59,507 --> 00:15:01,711 Every temple wall carried the same story. 180 00:15:04,013 --> 00:15:06,182 Reconstruction voiceover: "His majesty leapt up, 181 00:15:06,182 --> 00:15:08,558 waging against them. He grabbed his weapons, 182 00:15:08,841 --> 00:15:10,809 and set off at a gallop, completely alone. 183 00:15:14,489 --> 00:15:17,470 His majesty was an unstoppable fighting force. 184 00:15:21,409 --> 00:15:23,507 Everything near him was ablaze with fire. 185 00:15:24,258 --> 00:15:27,913 All the foreign lands were blasted by his scorching breath. 186 00:15:39,292 --> 00:15:43,318 He claims that single-handedly after his troops had deserted him, 187 00:15:43,644 --> 00:15:47,079 he went into the field of battle slashing, 188 00:15:47,079 --> 00:15:49,675 swaying his sword back and forth, 189 00:15:49,675 --> 00:15:52,236 and decimating the enemies of Egypt. 190 00:15:56,387 --> 00:15:58,773 Reconstruction voiceover: "He charged straight into the Hittite troops. 191 00:15:59,085 --> 00:16:02,617 The infantry and charioteers fell on their faces. 192 00:16:04,089 --> 00:16:10,683 His majesty struck them down and killed them where they stood." 193 00:16:11,839 --> 00:16:15,969 The claims of Ramesses II that his army had totally abandoned him, 194 00:16:16,397 --> 00:16:18,672 that he was left alone on a field of battle 195 00:16:18,972 --> 00:16:21,995 and single-handedly defeated the Hittites, 196 00:16:22,673 --> 00:16:25,005 of course is an utter load of rubbish. 197 00:16:35,150 --> 00:16:39,885 Despite his boasting, Ramesses knew that his army could not defeat the Hittites. 198 00:16:40,481 --> 00:16:41,854 He had to cut a deal. 199 00:16:43,058 --> 00:16:46,703 Secretly, Ramesses began to negotiate with the Hittites. 200 00:16:47,531 --> 00:16:51,413 After lengthy debate, Ramesses signed a treaty with the Hittite king. 201 00:16:52,425 --> 00:16:56,550 Ramesses the spin doctor was now Ramesses the statesman. 202 00:17:00,693 --> 00:17:04,617 A copy of the treaty is still preserved in the most holy of temples at Karnak, 203 00:17:05,522 --> 00:17:07,321 chiselled onto a wall. 204 00:17:12,964 --> 00:17:18,950 Reconstruction voiceover: "I the great Hittite ruler am at peace 205 00:17:19,405 --> 00:17:21,971 with Ramesses the great King of Egypt, 206 00:17:22,367 --> 00:17:24,174 and enjoy his brotherhood. 207 00:17:24,846 --> 00:17:28,275 All the people of Egypt and all the Hittite people 208 00:17:28,275 --> 00:17:31,304 will be at peace like us forever." 209 00:17:37,623 --> 00:17:39,009 Covering issues of royal succession, 210 00:17:39,476 --> 00:17:41,480 extradition and amnesty for refugees, 211 00:17:42,138 --> 00:17:45,002 the treaty remains a model that is still followed today. 212 00:17:47,857 --> 00:17:50,098 Here you have the two super-powers of the day 213 00:17:50,391 --> 00:17:54,287 sitting down around a table and saying what we need to do 214 00:17:54,644 --> 00:17:56,864 is to build up a lasting peace 215 00:17:56,864 --> 00:18:00,771 - to build up an alliance that will mutually benefit both sides. 216 00:18:06,319 --> 00:18:07,853 To seal the treaty, 217 00:18:07,853 --> 00:18:10,527 Ramesses married one of the Hittite king's daughters. 218 00:18:26,158 --> 00:18:30,050 The Hittite princess was part of the terms of the peace treaty. 219 00:18:30,523 --> 00:18:31,535 She was, if you like, 220 00:18:31,800 --> 00:18:33,600 the cement in the treaty. 221 00:18:36,871 --> 00:18:39,135 She is brought into the presence of Ramesses 222 00:18:39,667 --> 00:18:43,261 and therefore by extension into the Egyptian empire. 223 00:18:50,387 --> 00:18:53,408 The Hittite princess was brought to Egypt's new capital, 224 00:18:53,760 --> 00:18:56,699 located in the Nile Delta in northern Egypt. 225 00:18:58,109 --> 00:19:00,676 It was called Per Ramesses, 226 00:19:01,108 --> 00:19:02,843 meaning the House of Ramesses. 227 00:19:08,487 --> 00:19:11,197 Far from the old aristocracy's centre of power in Thebes, 228 00:19:11,521 --> 00:19:16,569 Per Ramesses was carefully situated in the north to keep an eye on the Hittites. 229 00:19:17,183 --> 00:19:20,668 It was to be a new capital for a new regime. 230 00:19:21,493 --> 00:19:24,246 This is the Brasilia of ancient Egypt. 231 00:19:25,386 --> 00:19:26,807 This was the new capital. 232 00:19:27,187 --> 00:19:30,575 This was something that was going to be 233 00:19:30,575 --> 00:19:32,897 the beginning of a regeneration of the country. 234 00:19:33,828 --> 00:19:35,250 He is saying, "I am a new man, 235 00:19:35,492 --> 00:19:38,441 this is a new Egypt, and the traditional aristocracy 236 00:19:38,847 --> 00:19:41,087 had just better come to terms with this." 237 00:19:43,117 --> 00:19:44,255 On the banks of the Nile, 238 00:19:44,521 --> 00:19:48,888 Ramesses adorned his capital with all the treasures the empire had to offer. 239 00:19:52,124 --> 00:19:56,703 Eyewitnesses tell of the lushness and opulence unsurpassed in Egypt. 240 00:20:00,169 --> 00:20:03,410 Reconstruction voiceover: "I have reached Per Ramesses. 241 00:20:04,124 --> 00:20:08,642 It seems like an amazing place - a beautiful area unlike any other. 242 00:20:09,423 --> 00:20:12,237 Its pools are alive with fish, 243 00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:14,644 and its lakes are covered in ducks. 244 00:20:15,491 --> 00:20:17,984 Its gardens are lush with vegetation. 245 00:20:23,152 --> 00:20:24,088 From the riverbanks, 246 00:20:24,307 --> 00:20:26,298 comes fruit as sweet as honey. 247 00:20:27,371 --> 00:20:29,266 Everyone who lives there is happy, 248 00:20:29,797 --> 00:20:31,580 and no one has any regrets. 249 00:20:32,345 --> 00:20:35,250 Even the lowliest person there lives in style." 250 00:20:54,281 --> 00:20:56,482 Not content with glorifying himself in this world, 251 00:20:56,825 --> 00:20:59,635 Ramesses turned his attention to the afterlife. 252 00:21:02,372 --> 00:21:03,185 Far from Per Ramesses, 253 00:21:03,578 --> 00:21:09,162 deep in the south of Egypt was a place dedicated to securing his immortality. 254 00:21:10,890 --> 00:21:13,446 Hidden behind the mountain that looms over the Valley of the Kings, 255 00:21:13,852 --> 00:21:20,265 was the carefully guarded village of Deir el-Medineh. 256 00:21:54,716 --> 00:21:56,929 They lived in a self-contained community 257 00:21:57,230 --> 00:21:59,844 that was quite tightly policed because they had secrets, 258 00:22:00,244 --> 00:22:03,827 which were not meant to be divulged to the public at large. 259 00:22:05,190 --> 00:22:09,108 The workers can be watched on their journey from the village to their point of work, 260 00:22:09,326 --> 00:22:12,359 therefore they can't be accosted. 261 00:22:12,359 --> 00:22:14,158 They can't be asked for information. 262 00:22:17,174 --> 00:22:18,128 This security was vital, 263 00:22:18,490 --> 00:22:21,699 because these villagers were the pharaohs' tomb builders. 264 00:22:22,698 --> 00:22:25,677 They held the key to the greatest secrets of the empire 265 00:22:27,680 --> 00:22:30,215 - the locations of the royal tombs. 266 00:22:33,059 --> 00:22:34,872 Buried in the hills around them lay 267 00:22:35,141 --> 00:22:38,784 the treasures of the richest and most powerful kings in history. 268 00:22:42,283 --> 00:22:44,328 The mountain, which the tomb builders climbed over 269 00:22:44,328 --> 00:22:48,914 to work each day was literally a mountain of gold. 270 00:22:54,992 --> 00:22:59,052 At work, these men not only dug the pharaoh's tombs out of the mountain, 271 00:22:59,669 --> 00:23:03,040 they also were designers, artists and painters. 272 00:23:03,703 --> 00:23:07,185 They produced exquisite scenes and hieroglyphic texts 273 00:23:07,498 --> 00:23:11,028 on tomb walls - spells and rituals that were essential 274 00:23:11,247 --> 00:23:14,624 for guiding the pharaoh to the afterlife. 275 00:23:28,838 --> 00:23:31,445 What could be more important? After all, 276 00:23:31,842 --> 00:23:34,820 you were ensuring that the pharaohs would be able to travel 277 00:23:35,062 --> 00:23:36,197 from this life to the next. 278 00:23:36,493 --> 00:23:37,949 One mistake in those hieroglyphic texts, 279 00:23:37,949 --> 00:23:41,798 one error in those scenes and there might have to be a detour 280 00:23:41,798 --> 00:23:44,973 - and the king wouldn't make it from this life to the next. 281 00:23:49,969 --> 00:23:52,829 But Ramesses did not intend to spend the afterlife alone. 282 00:23:53,426 --> 00:23:57,553 The greatest grip of the villagers at Deir el-Medineh was not in Ramesses' own tomb, 283 00:23:57,895 --> 00:24:01,526 but in the tomb of the most important woman in his life. 284 00:24:02,923 --> 00:24:07,012 In 1312, Ramesses married an Egyptian noblewoman, 285 00:24:07,902 --> 00:24:11,559 Nefertari, and made her his chief wife. 286 00:24:12,938 --> 00:24:16,015 For Ramesses, the building of her tomb was to be 287 00:24:16,015 --> 00:24:20,172 the ultimate tribute to his greatest love. 288 00:24:20,564 --> 00:24:22,094 It is really the very best, 289 00:24:22,381 --> 00:24:27,245 possibly the last of the marvellous tombs of ancient Egypt. 290 00:24:29,935 --> 00:24:33,074 The reliefs, the finest of the drawings, 291 00:24:33,412 --> 00:24:35,290 the ways the colours were applied, 292 00:24:35,497 --> 00:24:39,683 almost indicates a love affair between the man who did it, 293 00:24:39,916 --> 00:24:42,939 and the figure of the queen. 294 00:24:44,518 --> 00:24:48,141 Reconstruction voiceover: "My love is unique; no one can rival her, 295 00:24:48,474 --> 00:24:50,846 for she is the most beautiful woman alive... 296 00:24:58,809 --> 00:25:01,217 Gold is nothing compared to her arms, 297 00:25:01,809 --> 00:25:04,322 and her fingers are like the lotus flowers. 298 00:25:05,220 --> 00:25:06,541 Her buttocks are full, 299 00:25:06,937 --> 00:25:08,472 but her waist is narrow. 300 00:25:09,218 --> 00:25:13,013 Just by passing, she has stolen away my heart". 301 00:25:25,169 --> 00:25:28,838 The tomb is decorated in the most exquisite taste of the time. 302 00:25:29,543 --> 00:25:33,496 Some snippets of life then have appeared now. 303 00:25:34,214 --> 00:25:38,958 They discovered a thumb imprint of one of the ancient workmen. 304 00:25:39,281 --> 00:25:42,586 He must have held his hand to the ceiling while he was painting, 305 00:25:42,969 --> 00:25:47,099 took his fingers away and forgot to repaint and retouch that part. 306 00:25:47,314 --> 00:25:51,191 So there is the fingerprint of one of the ancient workmen still there. 307 00:25:55,530 --> 00:25:57,228 The villagers who once walked these streets 308 00:25:57,510 --> 00:26:01,855 have left an incredibly detailed picture of daily life during the reign of Ramesses. 309 00:26:05,796 --> 00:26:09,641 Written on stone flakes and pottery chards that littered the remains of the village, 310 00:26:10,913 --> 00:26:14,019 archaeologists have found the tomb builders' notes and correspondence. 311 00:26:15,652 --> 00:26:21,519 Laundry lists, recipes, news, poems and love letters. 312 00:26:24,148 --> 00:26:27,249 It is an archaeological goldmine - a cultural goldmine. 313 00:26:28,272 --> 00:26:31,315 The people of Deir el-Medineh were inveterate record keepers. 314 00:26:31,611 --> 00:26:33,458 They kept tabs on everything, 315 00:26:33,777 --> 00:26:35,756 and they left it behind on ostraca, 316 00:26:35,990 --> 00:26:39,038 the ancient Egyptian equivalent of a 'post-it' note I suppose. 317 00:26:39,288 --> 00:26:42,915 These records are about who was ill on which day 318 00:26:43,198 --> 00:26:44,667 and who was going on holiday. 319 00:26:44,908 --> 00:26:46,782 They covered when the in-laws were coming to visit; 320 00:26:46,782 --> 00:26:48,512 whose son went out carousing, 321 00:26:48,512 --> 00:26:51,621 got drunk and did unspeakable things to the girl next door. 322 00:26:51,621 --> 00:26:53,878 All of this kind of thing is there, 323 00:26:54,326 --> 00:26:57,675 and in glorious, wonderful details. 324 00:27:01,018 --> 00:27:03,723 Reconstruction voiceover: "Why are you treating me so badly? 325 00:27:04,009 --> 00:27:05,864 I'm no better than a donkey in your eyes." 326 00:27:06,380 --> 00:27:08,239 Reconstruction voiceover: "If, God forbid, 327 00:27:08,460 --> 00:27:10,119 I was the type who couldn't hold their drink, 328 00:27:10,695 --> 00:27:12,010 then you'd be right not to invite me, 329 00:27:12,010 --> 00:27:14,963 but I'm just someone who's a bit short of beer in his own house." 330 00:27:15,385 --> 00:27:17,340 Reconstruction voiceover: "When it's feeding time you fetch an ox, 331 00:27:17,547 --> 00:27:19,307 but when there's beer you never invite me. 332 00:27:19,307 --> 00:27:22,404 You're only after me when there's work to be done." 333 00:27:25,093 --> 00:27:26,716 When they weren't working on the royal tombs, 334 00:27:27,078 --> 00:27:30,503 the villagers used their unique skills on their own tombs. 335 00:27:31,926 --> 00:27:34,441 Instead of the formal religious scenes of the royal tombs, 336 00:27:34,710 --> 00:27:39,136 their tombs portrayed pictures of the afterlife that the tomb builders hoped for. 337 00:27:40,214 --> 00:27:42,570 These were idealised versions of everyday life. 338 00:27:47,262 --> 00:27:47,868 In their spare time, 339 00:27:47,868 --> 00:27:50,855 the family would make their own tomb and add to the decoration. 340 00:27:50,855 --> 00:27:52,544 Probably at dinner parties, 341 00:27:52,825 --> 00:27:55,312 the question would be "How is the tomb getting on then?" 342 00:28:00,079 --> 00:28:03,079 From the paintings and writings left behind by Ramesses' villagers, 343 00:28:03,882 --> 00:28:05,323 we know who lived in each house 344 00:28:05,614 --> 00:28:08,427 and even the intimate details of their relationships. 345 00:28:10,868 --> 00:28:12,075 Nowhere else in the ancient 346 00:28:12,396 --> 00:28:14,400 world can we listen to ordinary people 347 00:28:14,617 --> 00:28:16,554 and eavesdrop on their scandals and gossip. 348 00:28:21,807 --> 00:28:23,279 There was a foreman called Paneb, 349 00:28:23,279 --> 00:28:25,561 whom we know a lot about because 350 00:28:26,218 --> 00:28:28,220 we have a whole series of complaints about him. 351 00:28:28,532 --> 00:28:29,562 He did various things. 352 00:28:29,562 --> 00:28:32,492 He stole equipment from the Valley of the Kings. 353 00:28:32,860 --> 00:28:35,848 He embezzled the salary of some of his colleagues. 354 00:28:36,351 --> 00:28:40,432 He went around seducing the wives of villagers - presumably, 355 00:28:40,432 --> 00:28:42,757 when the villagers were out at work. 356 00:28:45,632 --> 00:28:48,072 Even Paneb's own son denounced him for his behaviour. 357 00:28:51,011 --> 00:28:52,731 Reconstruction voiceover: "My father slept with Tiy 358 00:28:52,731 --> 00:28:55,358 while she was married to Kenna and with Hunro 359 00:28:55,845 --> 00:28:58,295 when she was with Paneb; after he had slept with Hunro, 360 00:28:58,639 --> 00:29:02,034 he even slept with her daughter." 361 00:29:05,662 --> 00:29:10,896 These people at Deir el-Medineh quite clearly are human beings. 362 00:29:11,333 --> 00:29:13,060 To read what they are writing, 363 00:29:13,292 --> 00:29:16,647 to see what they are doing - what they have in their homes, 364 00:29:16,933 --> 00:29:18,937 what kinds of drawings they have made, 365 00:29:18,937 --> 00:29:24,026 is to realise that we and they are truly kindred spirits. 366 00:29:26,340 --> 00:29:27,839 Reconstruction voiceover: "You've been arguing with my mother 367 00:29:27,839 --> 00:29:29,491 and threatening to throw her out. 368 00:29:29,906 --> 00:29:31,593 Your mother never does anything for you." 369 00:29:31,593 --> 00:29:34,438 Reconstruction voiceover: "I didn't tell you just what your wife has been up to, 370 00:29:34,722 --> 00:29:36,844 just for you to turn a blind eye to it. 371 00:29:37,095 --> 00:29:39,336 I'm going to make you face up to her whoring around." 372 00:29:39,723 --> 00:29:41,160 Reconstruction voiceover: "Well, 373 00:29:41,160 --> 00:29:42,630 you told me to give him a job. 374 00:29:42,851 --> 00:29:43,726 I did exactly that, 375 00:29:43,945 --> 00:29:45,475 but he takes ages to bring a jug of water." 376 00:29:45,810 --> 00:29:48,263 Reconstruction voiceover: "...You can't even get your wife pregnant. 377 00:29:48,852 --> 00:29:49,995 And another thing, 378 00:29:50,282 --> 00:29:51,376 you're the biggest miser around, 379 00:29:51,376 --> 00:29:53,012 you never give anyone anything." 380 00:29:57,722 --> 00:29:59,144 By the time Ramesses was in his forties, 381 00:29:59,359 --> 00:30:01,701 his tomb had been finished for several years. 382 00:30:02,204 --> 00:30:06,628 With the average Egyptian life expectancy at around 35 years, 383 00:30:07,143 --> 00:30:11,441 Ramesses must have known that he was already living on borrowed time. 384 00:30:14,917 --> 00:30:17,011 He focused his attention on securing his legacy, 385 00:30:17,011 --> 00:30:21,024 siring children to succeed him on the golden throne. 386 00:30:22,453 --> 00:30:23,886 As well as his chief wife, 387 00:30:24,090 --> 00:30:25,110 Nefertari, 388 00:30:25,369 --> 00:30:27,669 Ramesses had a number of minor wives in his harem. 389 00:30:28,593 --> 00:30:31,238 He even married three of his own daughters. 390 00:30:37,083 --> 00:30:37,704 In his inscriptions, 391 00:30:37,925 --> 00:30:40,674 he boasts of having something like 80 sons, 392 00:30:41,118 --> 00:30:44,494 and 60 daughters - although the number of daughters 393 00:30:44,494 --> 00:30:47,319 is vaguer than the number of sons. 394 00:30:47,616 --> 00:30:50,370 But he boasts of a huge offspring and he is rather like 395 00:30:50,370 --> 00:30:52,291 one of those modern dictators 396 00:30:52,291 --> 00:30:55,575 who are known as father of their country - in many cases literally. 397 00:30:59,002 --> 00:31:00,411 Confident that he had produced an heir, 398 00:31:00,763 --> 00:31:04,139 Ramesses turned with renewed vigour to his building programme. 399 00:31:23,742 --> 00:31:25,985 Soon the Nile Valley began to overflow with 400 00:31:25,985 --> 00:31:29,080 monuments dedicated to Egypt's greatest king. 401 00:31:32,592 --> 00:31:34,203 When Ramesses built, 402 00:31:34,630 --> 00:31:37,518 he built big. It is enormous. 403 00:31:38,176 --> 00:31:41,815 It is on a scale that has never really been seen in Egypt. 404 00:31:56,595 --> 00:32:00,388 Everywhere, Ramesses' title could be seen carved into rock. 405 00:32:01,042 --> 00:32:02,419 There were hieroglyphs that read, 406 00:32:02,795 --> 00:32:05,671 "Ruler of Rulers". 407 00:32:20,899 --> 00:32:24,835 Practically every town in Egypt gets its temple either rebuilt, 408 00:32:25,055 --> 00:32:27,556 or refounded or revamped. 409 00:32:28,431 --> 00:32:31,840 Ramesses isn't modest. If he sees a rather nice monument, 410 00:32:32,123 --> 00:32:34,741 let's say an obelisk put up by a previous king, 411 00:32:35,035 --> 00:32:38,361 he puts his own names all over the obelisk as well. 412 00:32:39,284 --> 00:32:41,189 Where great temples already existed, 413 00:32:41,409 --> 00:32:42,555 such as the one at Luxor, 414 00:32:43,062 --> 00:32:45,129 Ramesses simply erected a new entrance with 415 00:32:45,628 --> 00:32:49,363 four statues of himself to claim the temple as his own. 416 00:32:55,632 --> 00:32:57,916 At Karnak, Egypt's holiest temple, 417 00:32:58,196 --> 00:33:01,981 all the pharaohs of the New Kingdom had built monuments, 418 00:33:02,917 --> 00:33:05,325 but Ramesses soon outdid them all. 419 00:33:15,614 --> 00:33:18,302 In the great hypostyle hall begun by his grandfather, 420 00:33:19,225 --> 00:33:21,730 Ramesses ordered a work of awesome proportions. 421 00:33:29,961 --> 00:33:35,187 An army of artisans carved a field of 134 columns in the shape of papyrus. 422 00:33:36,591 --> 00:33:38,217 Each column stood 69 feet tall, 423 00:33:38,890 --> 00:33:42,860 6 feet wide, and weighed over a hundred tons. 424 00:33:48,408 --> 00:33:50,005 The Greeks, the Romans, 425 00:33:50,569 --> 00:33:54,239 even Napoleon would one day attempt to emulate its grandeur. 426 00:33:59,010 --> 00:34:02,419 It doesn't seem to be the work of human beings it is on such a scale. 427 00:34:03,999 --> 00:34:07,973 It looks as though it is very much part of the personality of the man 428 00:34:08,280 --> 00:34:10,078 who has to prove a point. 429 00:34:10,389 --> 00:34:13,192 He's always scoring points over everybody else. 430 00:34:15,392 --> 00:34:16,101 Through propaganda, 431 00:34:16,444 --> 00:34:19,894 diplomacy and a building programme that humbled his rivals, 432 00:34:20,333 --> 00:34:23,991 Ramesses had finally become the legend he had set out to create. 433 00:34:24,883 --> 00:34:26,698 The boy king, born a commoner, 434 00:34:27,118 --> 00:34:30,088 was truly Ramesses the great. 435 00:34:38,887 --> 00:34:40,029 But at the height of his reign, 436 00:34:40,404 --> 00:34:42,999 just when his empire seemed stronger than ever, 437 00:34:43,658 --> 00:34:52,377 tragedy struck. His chief wife, Nefertari died. 438 00:34:56,771 --> 00:34:59,243 Ramesses had her body sealed in her exquisite tomb. 439 00:35:12,974 --> 00:35:14,124 After Nefertari died, 440 00:35:14,503 --> 00:35:17,349 Ramesses completed the ultimate tribute to his wife. 441 00:35:20,302 --> 00:35:21,165 In an audacious act, 442 00:35:21,689 --> 00:35:24,816 Ramesses turned two entire mountains into temples. 443 00:35:26,599 --> 00:35:27,584 Side by side, 444 00:35:28,364 --> 00:35:32,763 one dedicated to himself and one to his wife Nefertari. 445 00:35:40,809 --> 00:35:44,547 Abu Simbel was not intended simply as a memorial to Nefertari. 446 00:35:45,639 --> 00:35:48,405 He had chosen the location of the temples carefully. 447 00:35:52,536 --> 00:35:54,475 The two temples at Abu Simbel 448 00:35:54,773 --> 00:35:58,773 are another piece of the propaganda exercise of Ramesses. 449 00:35:59,334 --> 00:36:02,415 They are situated at the southernmost border of Egypt, 450 00:36:02,915 --> 00:36:06,867 to indicate the power of Egypt to people living further south. 451 00:36:07,307 --> 00:36:12,982 It shows to everybody you can't really mess around with the Egyptian kings. 452 00:36:13,872 --> 00:36:16,703 Here, overlooking the Nile 3,000 years later, 453 00:36:17,096 --> 00:36:20,706 Ramesses still stands beside the woman he once called 454 00:36:21,113 --> 00:36:24,362 "The one for whom the sun shines". 455 00:36:29,023 --> 00:36:35,422 Nefertari left Ramesses an important legacy - sons to rule Egypt after his death. 456 00:36:38,154 --> 00:36:40,779 But the long life that had been the pharaoh's greatest blessing 457 00:36:41,278 --> 00:36:43,841 was now fast becoming his curse. 458 00:36:45,283 --> 00:36:48,232 While he lived on, his children began to die. 459 00:36:49,686 --> 00:36:53,502 One by one, he groomed 12 of his heirs for power. 460 00:36:54,348 --> 00:36:58,536 He named each as Crown Prince only to watch them die. 461 00:37:02,181 --> 00:37:04,278 While bereavements wore down the old king, 462 00:37:04,778 --> 00:37:08,885 Ramesses made sure that the world still only heard of his successes. 463 00:37:13,659 --> 00:37:16,982 Tales of his greatness were manufactured at a new temple 464 00:37:17,203 --> 00:37:21,285 the pharaoh had built for himself, the Ramessium. 465 00:37:27,646 --> 00:37:28,521 Behind the temple, 466 00:37:28,521 --> 00:37:31,521 sanctuary was the intellectual heart of the empire, 467 00:37:32,396 --> 00:37:33,772 the House of Life. 468 00:37:46,450 --> 00:37:47,581 The scribes who worked here 469 00:37:48,014 --> 00:37:53,302 were responsible for carefully crafting the image Ramesses projected to the world. 470 00:38:01,925 --> 00:38:04,538 They composed the texts glorifying the pharaoh. 471 00:38:05,788 --> 00:38:07,090 They managed his campaign funds, 472 00:38:07,625 --> 00:38:10,471 and they were the designers of his buildings and monuments. 473 00:38:23,047 --> 00:38:26,318 The House of Life was Ramesses ministry of propaganda. 474 00:38:27,423 --> 00:38:32,772 Its task was to create and exploit the larger than life image of their king. 475 00:38:33,725 --> 00:38:37,931 They were masterminding the royal presentation of pharaoh 476 00:38:38,265 --> 00:38:40,462 as this superhuman hero. 477 00:38:41,577 --> 00:38:44,500 They were image-makers, or spin doctors, 478 00:38:44,733 --> 00:38:47,736 as we would say in modern terminology. 479 00:38:48,333 --> 00:38:50,426 They would use traditional knowledge 480 00:38:50,927 --> 00:38:54,427 and apply it to the promotion of a particular individual, 481 00:38:54,771 --> 00:38:56,700 in this case of King Ramesses II. 482 00:38:58,541 --> 00:39:00,774 All of this knowledge was written on rolls of papyrus 483 00:39:01,741 --> 00:39:03,891 and stored in the House of Life. 484 00:39:05,359 --> 00:39:08,955 The temple library might have contained 10,000 papyrus works. 485 00:39:09,278 --> 00:39:16,430 Some of them were copied from books that were already 2,000 years old when Ramesses was on the throne of Egypt. 486 00:39:17,802 --> 00:39:20,851 It would have been a storehouse of intellectual wisdom. 487 00:39:24,551 --> 00:39:27,319 This library of knowledge would not have been possible 488 00:39:27,728 --> 00:39:29,382 without the invention of papyrus. 489 00:39:35,853 --> 00:39:38,420 The papyrus plant that grew along the Nile 490 00:39:38,670 --> 00:39:41,060 provided a medium to record Egypt's knowledge. 491 00:39:58,168 --> 00:40:03,484 The papyrus scrolls that filled the House of Life gave Egypt a recorded history. 492 00:40:10,434 --> 00:40:13,906 Ramesses' scribes continued to build the image of the pharaoh 493 00:40:14,301 --> 00:40:17,020 as a strong and vibrant warrior king. 494 00:40:22,711 --> 00:40:26,036 The reality however was, that by 1213 BC, 495 00:40:26,503 --> 00:40:29,572 the 93-year-old king was ailing. 496 00:40:31,209 --> 00:40:32,228 At the end of his life, 497 00:40:32,434 --> 00:40:33,853 he was in rather frail condition. 498 00:40:34,603 --> 00:40:35,899 He had lost his teeth. 499 00:40:35,899 --> 00:40:37,541 He had dental abscesses. 500 00:40:37,823 --> 00:40:41,266 He had curvature of the spine and scoliosis - numerous problems. 501 00:40:41,689 --> 00:40:43,605 He must have been in great pain. 502 00:40:43,833 --> 00:40:45,287 This is a terrible thing for a man, 503 00:40:45,590 --> 00:40:47,747 who, in his younger days was strong, 504 00:40:48,072 --> 00:40:51,749 virile, very muscular and very enthusiastic. 505 00:40:56,448 --> 00:40:58,326 At the end of that year preparations 506 00:40:58,764 --> 00:41:02,203 were under way to celebrate Ramesses' 67th year in power. 507 00:41:08,103 --> 00:41:10,879 The ordinary people of Egypt could have been forgiven 508 00:41:11,208 --> 00:41:12,727 for thinking that he would live forever. 509 00:41:14,144 --> 00:41:14,914 Yet they were wrong. 510 00:41:19,420 --> 00:41:21,203 Just before the celebrations began, 511 00:41:21,993 --> 00:41:26,625 news broke that Ramesses the Great was dead. 512 00:41:45,933 --> 00:41:48,059 The death of Ramesses must have been so traumatic. 513 00:41:48,570 --> 00:41:51,438 Most of the people of Egypt had never known another king. 514 00:41:52,498 --> 00:41:55,499 Probably not more than a few dozen people 515 00:41:55,792 --> 00:41:59,355 could remember what happened before Ramesses had ascended the throne. 516 00:42:00,943 --> 00:42:02,983 This could be the end of the universe. 517 00:42:04,006 --> 00:42:05,358 The sun may stop rising, 518 00:42:05,611 --> 00:42:06,754 the moon waxing and waning, 519 00:42:07,004 --> 00:42:08,337 the Nile won't rise. 520 00:42:08,631 --> 00:42:09,641 It must have been panic time. 521 00:42:12,964 --> 00:42:15,600 This is truly an important event, 522 00:42:16,026 --> 00:42:19,599 and nobody knows quite what to do. 523 00:42:36,942 --> 00:42:38,221 The frail body of Ramesses 524 00:42:38,221 --> 00:42:42,175 that rests in the Cairo museum today bears little resemblance 525 00:42:42,414 --> 00:42:46,332 to the heroic figure carved on nearly every temple facade along the Nile. 526 00:42:54,181 --> 00:42:57,393 The small, shrivelled corpse with tufts of red hair 527 00:42:58,901 --> 00:43:02,677 was the man who cast his shadow over Egyptian history. 528 00:43:06,501 --> 00:43:10,440 Every pharaoh who followed would strive to recreate his greatness. 529 00:43:15,100 --> 00:43:19,288 The legacy of Ramesses the Great is that everybody tried to be like him. 530 00:43:20,669 --> 00:43:23,747 It is the name of Ramesses that they take on. 531 00:43:24,072 --> 00:43:26,882 So from Ramesses II, the one we know, 532 00:43:27,197 --> 00:43:31,807 the great one, we go on a whole series of Ramesses until Ramesses XI. 533 00:43:33,094 --> 00:43:36,842 But they are all Ramesses of a minor scale. 534 00:43:37,327 --> 00:43:40,536 They are nothing that can be compared to Ramesses II. 535 00:43:43,361 --> 00:43:46,331 Through sheer determination and the power of his personality, 536 00:43:46,941 --> 00:43:50,210 Ramesses had maintained the empire for over half a century. 537 00:43:51,522 --> 00:43:54,774 He had assumed that his legacy would last forever. 538 00:43:59,358 --> 00:44:00,587 The world was changing, 539 00:44:01,391 --> 00:44:02,401 and within a generation, 540 00:44:02,611 --> 00:44:04,214 Ramesses' legacy was in peril. 541 00:44:06,049 --> 00:44:07,425 At the edges of the empire, 542 00:44:08,091 --> 00:44:12,191 city after city began to fall under pressure from the invading hoards. 543 00:44:13,505 --> 00:44:15,704 Well armed, aggressive and dangerous, 544 00:44:16,754 --> 00:44:20,694 these foreigners arrived by ship and decimated everyone in their sight. 545 00:44:22,413 --> 00:44:25,976 Ancient texts refer to them only as the Sea People. 546 00:44:27,259 --> 00:44:32,377 Eventually the Sea People even destroyed the powerful Hittite empire. 547 00:44:33,329 --> 00:44:34,575 With its greatest ally gone, 548 00:44:35,010 --> 00:44:37,658 Egypt itself was now vulnerable. 549 00:44:39,046 --> 00:44:41,171 Reconstruction voiceover: "No country could withstand their onslaught, 550 00:44:41,171 --> 00:44:43,674 the Hittite land was the first to fall, 551 00:44:44,018 --> 00:44:47,832 and then they came onwards armed towards Egypt itself." 552 00:44:49,721 --> 00:44:52,077 The fading reliefs on the walls of this Egyptian temple 553 00:44:52,666 --> 00:44:55,273 are the only record that remains of the Sea People. 554 00:44:56,586 --> 00:44:59,742 Yet they were changing the whole political structure of the ancient world. 555 00:45:02,026 --> 00:45:04,235 The Sea People were attacking the edges of the empire. 556 00:45:05,641 --> 00:45:08,497 Allies were lost and trade routes blocked. 557 00:45:16,664 --> 00:45:19,753 Egypt's once vibrant economy began to falter 558 00:45:20,463 --> 00:45:22,537 and now problems within Egypt began to mount. 559 00:45:23,630 --> 00:45:25,662 Ramesses' successors expected 560 00:45:25,662 --> 00:45:27,496 the same standards of craftsmanship 561 00:45:27,496 --> 00:45:30,321 from their builders as during the reign of the great king. 562 00:45:31,321 --> 00:45:34,010 But they no longer had the means to finance these great works. 563 00:45:35,973 --> 00:45:42,155 The Egyptian state was living as if it was still the time of Ramesses II. 564 00:45:42,467 --> 00:45:47,050 But what is important here is that it was not the time of Ramesses II. 565 00:45:47,050 --> 00:45:52,677 It was not the time of Ramesses II internationally and it was not the time internally. 566 00:45:52,925 --> 00:45:56,116 Egypt had begun to crumble. 567 00:45:58,711 --> 00:46:03,235 The government couldn't even pay its elite craftsmen at Deir el-Medineh. 568 00:46:05,549 --> 00:46:10,154 There came to be a frustration with the Egyptian administration. 569 00:46:10,626 --> 00:46:11,435 Promises are made, 570 00:46:11,645 --> 00:46:12,706 and then broken. 571 00:46:13,319 --> 00:46:14,567 Promises are made and then forgotten, 572 00:46:15,126 --> 00:46:15,765 and of course, 573 00:46:15,765 --> 00:46:16,534 as usual, 574 00:46:16,534 --> 00:46:18,206 it is the little man who suffers. 575 00:46:19,769 --> 00:46:21,428 The tomb workers faced starvation. 576 00:46:22,793 --> 00:46:23,755 Putting down their tools, 577 00:46:24,177 --> 00:46:29,557 the villagers went on strike - the first recorded industrial strike in history. 578 00:46:31,108 --> 00:46:32,088 Reconstruction voiceover: "We have no clothes, 579 00:46:32,088 --> 00:46:33,197 no oil, 580 00:46:33,197 --> 00:46:34,839 no fish and no vegetables. 581 00:46:35,243 --> 00:46:39,271 Send a message to our good lord the pharaoh asking for them, 582 00:46:39,500 --> 00:46:41,122 and send another message to our boss 583 00:46:41,122 --> 00:46:44,406 telling him to provide us with emergency rations." 584 00:46:45,596 --> 00:46:48,346 The little people wouldn't take it any more. 585 00:46:48,846 --> 00:46:49,909 They did go on strike, 586 00:46:50,338 --> 00:46:52,427 and they did protest at not being paid. 587 00:46:52,661 --> 00:46:53,881 It didn't do them much good. 588 00:46:53,881 --> 00:46:55,871 At least for a couple of months, 589 00:46:55,871 --> 00:46:57,506 they had to make several protests, 590 00:46:57,748 --> 00:47:04,149 but additionally they went off in search of treasure to try to pay their bills, 591 00:47:04,149 --> 00:47:05,008 if you will. 592 00:47:18,321 --> 00:47:22,533 In desperate circumstances the tomb builders did the unthinkable. 593 00:47:23,039 --> 00:47:27,136 They knew the secret location of the royal tombs, 594 00:47:28,146 --> 00:47:29,696 and now they betrayed the pharaohs 595 00:47:29,696 --> 00:47:33,476 of the New Kingdom and violated their sacred burial chambers. 596 00:47:48,162 --> 00:47:51,995 Even the tomb of Ramesses the great did not escape desecration. 597 00:47:56,667 --> 00:47:58,173 The confessions beaten out of the few 598 00:47:58,407 --> 00:48:03,105 that were caught allow us a glimpse of the magnificent treasure they found. 599 00:48:05,858 --> 00:48:08,035 Reconstruction voiceover: "We fetched our copper picks, 600 00:48:08,035 --> 00:48:09,797 and tunnelled into this royal tomb. 601 00:48:11,360 --> 00:48:15,073 We discovered the king's mummy lying at the back of the tomb. 602 00:48:17,070 --> 00:48:19,791 It was covered with gold from head to toe. 603 00:48:21,238 --> 00:48:25,022 The mummy cases were also lined with silver and gold, 604 00:48:25,022 --> 00:48:26,150 inside and out. 605 00:48:27,233 --> 00:48:29,665 And they were studded with all sorts of precious stones. 606 00:48:38,862 --> 00:48:39,562 We tore off the gold, 607 00:48:40,436 --> 00:48:42,002 took the amulets and jewellery. 608 00:48:47,943 --> 00:48:50,066 We split the gold we had found into equal shares, 609 00:48:50,677 --> 00:48:53,870 and then we sailed back across the river to Thebes. 610 00:48:57,396 --> 00:48:58,380 By 1080 BC, 611 00:48:58,975 --> 00:49:02,495 most of the treasures buried with the pharaohs had been plundered. 612 00:49:03,067 --> 00:49:06,697 The mountain of gold had been stripped bare. 613 00:49:08,422 --> 00:49:12,917 The same people who had built the royal tombs had desecrated them. 614 00:49:14,887 --> 00:49:16,699 The very men who had assisted the pharaohs 615 00:49:16,939 --> 00:49:20,507 in their quest for immortality had taken it away. 616 00:49:25,581 --> 00:49:27,362 As order broke down within Egypt, 617 00:49:28,112 --> 00:49:29,833 the empire finally collapsed. 618 00:49:31,816 --> 00:49:35,180 States in the Near East were no longer loyal to the Egyptian pharaoh. 619 00:49:36,522 --> 00:49:39,087 Even Nubia seized their chance for independence, 620 00:49:39,891 --> 00:49:43,361 cutting Egypt's last lifeline - its access to gold. 621 00:49:48,563 --> 00:49:51,155 The loss of Nubia meant the loss of gold 622 00:49:51,654 --> 00:49:55,173 and the loss of gold means that you do not have any clout on 623 00:49:55,814 --> 00:49:57,582 the international political scene. 624 00:49:57,927 --> 00:50:01,463 So other people are going to become the dominant ones 625 00:50:01,682 --> 00:50:04,824 and Egypt becomes a little bit of a backwater. 626 00:50:20,318 --> 00:50:21,630 In a final humiliating act, 627 00:50:22,861 --> 00:50:26,128 the priests of Karnak were forced to perform a sorry duty. 628 00:50:29,175 --> 00:50:31,612 They gathered together 40 royal mummies 629 00:50:31,822 --> 00:50:34,583 from the desecrated tombs and carried them 630 00:50:34,583 --> 00:50:38,553 to secret locations where they might finally find peace; 631 00:50:59,799 --> 00:51:02,786 Ahmose founder of the New Kingdom, 632 00:51:05,318 --> 00:51:09,350 Tuthmosis lll, warrior and empire builder 633 00:51:11,904 --> 00:51:15,259 - Even Ramesses the last great pharaoh. 634 00:51:17,481 --> 00:51:19,387 Once they had been treated like gods: 635 00:51:21,607 --> 00:51:24,016 now their bodies were piled up in caves 636 00:51:24,295 --> 00:51:29,705 in a mountainside where they would rest for 3,000 years. 637 00:51:46,744 --> 00:51:50,528 It seemed that Ramesses' struggle for immortality had been in vain. 638 00:51:53,985 --> 00:51:56,408 Less than 200 years after the end of his reign, 639 00:51:56,992 --> 00:51:58,925 the empire had fallen. 640 00:52:00,270 --> 00:52:02,052 And with the death of Ramesses XI, 641 00:52:02,993 --> 00:52:05,709 the Ramessite dynasty became extinct. 642 00:52:08,647 --> 00:52:10,339 The New Kingdom was over. 643 00:52:12,359 --> 00:52:13,387 During the New Kingdom, 644 00:52:13,641 --> 00:52:16,903 Egypt became this mixture of reality and fiction 645 00:52:17,309 --> 00:52:22,488 that has always represented the most fascinating aspect of their civilisation. 646 00:52:22,904 --> 00:52:27,149 It is the reality of a very powerful and successful empire, 647 00:52:27,596 --> 00:52:34,590 but also the fiction of a display of power that goes well beyond that reality. 648 00:52:41,665 --> 00:52:46,044 All the other empires of the ancient world tried to emulate Egypt. 649 00:52:48,480 --> 00:52:49,667 From the Assyrians, 650 00:52:50,192 --> 00:52:51,358 to the Persians, 651 00:52:51,906 --> 00:52:53,669 the Greeks and the Romans, 652 00:52:54,334 --> 00:52:56,861 you always look back to the greatest empire of all 653 00:52:57,195 --> 00:52:58,538 - which is the empire of Egypt. 654 00:52:58,895 --> 00:53:02,167 Everybody wants to be like the Egyptian pharaohs. 655 00:53:19,216 --> 00:53:22,903 Today millions still come to pay tribute to the pharaohs. 656 00:53:26,298 --> 00:53:27,281 Some 3,000 years later, 657 00:53:27,845 --> 00:53:34,412 Egypt's Golden Empire is still conquering the imagination of the world.