Immortal Egypt - Episode 3

Joann Fletcher continues to the story of Ancient Egypt.  She introduces the audience to Amenhotep III.  She views him as the greatest Egyptian Pharoah.  The Egyptian civilization had survived its dark ages.  The Golden Age of Egypt began.  However, all good things come at a price, the priests became even more powerful than the pharaoh and corruption reigned.

Archaeologists are working on uncovering the funerary temple of Amenhotep III.  It was the largest funerary temple created by a Pharoah.  It was the Temple where the Pharoah could be worshiped for future generations.  This temple was to guarantee the immortality of the Pharoah’s soul.  Giant statues adorned the temple and the archeologist uncovered a three-meter statue head.

Amenhotep III had the empire firmly in his hand.  He had plenty of gold.  He used it to make marriages.  He used it to send messages.  Gold brought Egypt peace.  Gold could help the Pharoah in the afterlife as well.  Gold allowed the gods to recognize the dead.  The gods' skin was made out of gold and by using masks of gold, wealthy Egyptians could demonstrate that they too would be welcomed by the gods.

The Valley of the Kings was established during this time.  It was seen as a safe place where the Pharaohs could lie in peace.  After the desecration of the ancestors' tombs, the Pharaohs did not want that to happen again.  It was also a way for ordinary people to help their Pharoah’s have a peaceful afterlife.  The tomb builders carefully surveyed the area.

However, even with the strong religious influence on the Egyptian Civilization, the religious influence hid a threat.  Karnack was the largest religious complex in Egypt.  It was 250 acres at its height and was Egypt’s religious heart for 2,000 years.  This caused the priest’s influence to grow exponentially.  The Pharoah expanded Karnack and poured gold into the temple complex.  The temple and the priests grew rich as a result.  They were set apart from the rest of Egyptian society.  They shaved every day, bathed four times a day, wore white linen robes, and took care of their teeth.

Amon was the Egyptian state god and every Pharoah needed to keep him content.  The priests took care of the statue of Amon like was a human.  Only the Royal Family was aware of the secret rituals that took place in the temple.  However, this power of Amon was going to break.  Pharoah Akhenaten built a new temple complex for a single god, the Aten.  It was unlike the other temples in Karnack, it was a temple made of bricks which meant these buildings be constructed quickly.  Akhenaten stamped his control on the Karnack temple, turning Egyptian civilization on its head.  When the priest objected to the changes, Karnack was closed and the royal court moved to a different area of Egypt.

In Amarna, Akhenaten and Nefertiti could put their stamp on Egypt in peace.  They built the city with the newly seized wealth from the priests.  The sun was worshiped every day and to get the blessing from the Aten, the people had to go to the Pharoah.  They had to bow and scrape before Pharoah and his wife Nefertiti.  After Akhenaten died, religious order was restored.  The priests dumped the old burial goods of Akhenaten and Nefertiti were thrown into Tutankhamun's tomb.

Seti took over Egypt kicking off the 19th Dynasty.  He completely restored the old gods of Egypt.  The images he created in his burial looked back to the golden age.  Seti had brought back the days of glory and it was a relief to the ordinary people. 

To continue to learn more about Ancient Egypt, continue to watch the documentary

You can access that YouTube video here.