Architecture of Ra (2021) - full transcript

(ALARM BLARES)

FILM CHARACTER:
Attention,
flight personnel.

Loading elevators
are now being
withdrawn.

Countdown continues at 20.

All stations prepare for zero red.

Countdown continues at 10.

FILM CHARACTER 2: All visitors
must leave the launching area.

(TRAFFIC BUZZES)

(MAN SPEAKS LOCAL LANGUAGE)

(TRAFFIC BUZZES)

(CHATTER IN LOCAL LANGUAGE)



MAN: Ask him nationality!

(SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY)

That's for Set.
KYLE: Mm-hm.

And get the scarab.
Also you know the scarab.

That's Horus...
(SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY) ..Anubis.

And I get
more different stuff inside,

because outside here,
similar inside.

('DISCOVERY' BY TOY INVENTION PLAYS)

('DISCOVERY' BY TOY INVENTION
CONTINUES)

2,000 years ago,

Antipater of Sidon
constructed a list.

It was of the greatest monuments
that humankind had ever built.

He called it
the Seven Wonders of the World.

He was a Greek poet,



and, so, inevitably his list
was dominated by Greek constructions.

There was the great Statue of Zeus,

a temple devoted to Artemis,

a colossal statue of the sun god,

which was so big that ships
could sail between its legs,

a lighthouse whose mirror
could be aimed at enemy ships

and burn them up,

the legendary
Hanging Gardens of Babylon,

the Tomb of Halicarnassus.

But none of these have survived.

There was a seventh, though,
and it has.

And that's despite it being
2,000 years older than the rest.

It's called the Great Pyramid.

(MAJESTIC MUSIC PLAYS)

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

Of all the incredible things that we
humans have built through the ages,

this has to go down as the greatest.

It was built 4,500 years ago
and it still stands,

which in itself is remarkable.

It has survived massive quakes.

It survived being used as a quarry
to build mosques in downtown Cairo.

And it's been attacked
with dynamite.

And still it looks magnificent.

This is the Great Pyramid,
so named because it's the best.

The Egyptians
built hundreds of pyramids,

but King Khufu's surpasses them all.

(WIND BLOWS)

Truth be told,
this project was madness -

two million bricks,
each weighing twice as much as a car,

shimmied into place
with pinpoint accuracy.

Just getting one of these
out of the ground confounds us,

let alone raising
them 400 feet in the air.

And then there's the delicacy
with which they handled these stones.

This structure
is a compass when they had none.

And it isn't just within a degree
of true North, South, East and West.

It's within one-20th of a degree.
Perfection.

And what we see is just the skeleton.

Originally, it was completely encased
in limestone blocks.

These formed a perfectly smooth skin.

And it wasn't this colour either.

There's only one pyramid in Egypt

which still
has its casing stones attached.

It's a pyramid
built by Khufu's father.

Every pyramid was originally encased
in another layer of stone.

They're called casing stones.

But the quality of these stones

make them a tempting target
for people wanting to build

but not wanting to go to the effort

of quarrying the stones
for themselves.

So they were systematically removed
from every single pyramid.

However, one pyramid,

a strange-looking one
in remote Dahshur,

survived this vandalism.

This is Pharaoh Sneferu's
Bent Pyramid.

It's the only one with
the casing stones still attached.

FILM CHARACTER: 24,000 feet.

(BLIPPING)

The Great Pyramid was originally
encased in stone like this,

so it wasn't the step thing
that we see today.

Instead, it was smooth,
completely smooth.

Unfortunately, it's been used
as a quarry for thousands of years,

and, so, the fine white
casing stones have been removed.

However, just a few remain
near the base.

And these tell us something.

The gaps between these stones
are imperceptible.

A razor blade
can barely fit between them.

They went to these lengths
for a good reason.

They were chasing an effect.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

When the finished pyramid
was seen from a distance,

the lines dividing
these casing stones dissolved,

leaving just a smooth, white,
blemish-free pyramid.

It didn't look like anything
that we'd bump into in nature.

Instead, it looked
like it was beyond nature.

There was one problem, though -

they needed a door.

This would ruin this perfect effect.

To avoid compromise, they invented
a new type of door, a pivoting door.

Even though this door
weighed many tonnes,

one strong person
could pivot it open.

But when it closed,
it became invisible.

It was so well hidden

that when the Arabs first broke
into the pyramid in 820 AD,

they gave up
trying to find this elusive door

and instead
they bored a 100-foot-long hole

into the side of the pyramid.

This would have been exhausting.
It was solid stone.

So, despite
working on the opening for months,

no-one in the crew noticed
that, just 10 metres above them,

one of the bricks
was different to the rest.

That's how well-disguised
this door was.

('USKUDARA GIDERIKEN' BY
TURKU NOMADS OF THE SILK ROAD PLAYS)

When the Great Pyramid was finished,

it was a perfect geometric shape,

which stood out like a sore thumb
in the Saharan sands.

It was so unusual, so unnatural,

that when Diodorus visited the
pyramids around the time of Christ

he was moved to say...

VOICEOVER:
"They do not have the appearance

"of being the slow handiwork of men,

"but look like a sudden creation,

"as though they had been made
by some god

"and set down bodily
in the surrounding sand."

This was the heavenly on Earth.

That's why they were built
with such love and exactitude.

The harsh Saharan sun would
bounce off the shiny white exteriors,

making them visible from outer space.

That's exactly what they wanted.

The gods would notice this

and they'd see that this
is beyond the scope of mere mortals,

that it had to be
their own handiwork.

That's the effect they were after.

It had to look like the gods made it

because it was the gods
who were supposed to use it.

(EERIE THEREMIN MUSIC PLAYS)

FILM CHARACTER:
There is the solar reflector.

They're signalling us.

(BLIPPING)

FILM CHARACTER 2:
Red alert. Alien spaceship...

When the Great Pyramid was finished,
it was a pure mathematical shape.

Four perfect triangles all rising
to a singular point - the summit.

And these sides
were completely smooth,

so there wasn't a blemish or gap
in the entire structure.

However - however -
there were two tiny little chinks

in this otherwise perfect skin.

They're to be found
halfway up the pyramid,

one on the north side,
the other on the south.

But they're impossible to detect

because they're just
nine inches square and 260 feet up.

But why would they go to such effort

to create such a perfect
mathematical pyramid

and then leave these two openings?

There had to be
a really good reason for them.

These openings are the mouths
of two very long shafts.

They lead all the way to the king's
chamber, deep within the pyramid.

At first, people assumed
they were for ventilation,

but this room was thought
to be a tomb room for King Khufu.

He's dead when he's in this room,
so why the need for good air flow?

Furthermore,
these shafts were very well-built.

They're not just a hole
bored through the sides.

They are a complex construction
of massive interlocking stones.

They were built
using three different masonry styles,

plus they were all built
at different angles.

They're an absolute nightmare
to create.

There must have been
a very good reason for these shafts.

And then, in 1888,

shafts were discovered in the other
chamber, the queen's chamber.

These ones
definitely weren't for ventilation

because they didn't reach
the exterior of the pyramid.

Recently, little robots
were sent up these shafts,

and what they discovered
was fascinating.

They both ran for 65 metres

till terminating
at two miniature doors.

Clearly, these shafts carry some
deeply symbolic religious function.

FILM CHARACTER:
I'm right behind you.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

When we moderns look at a structure
like the Great Pyramid,

we see it as we would
some grand monument

built for Queen Victoria's jubilee
or the coronation of Napoleon.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

We assume that the Great Pyramid

was a tribute to the greatness
of King Khufu and that's it.

But that's not the case.

It wasn't just a propaganda piece

to declare Khufu's greatness
to the world.

It was also designed
to function as a religious structure.

And it's the southern shaft
which holds the key to how it worked.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

The main event for this pyramid,
the very reason why it was designed,

involved this shaft.

At noon on November 2,

the midday sun is low enough
in the skies to align with it.

Right this minute,

the sun is aligning
with that small hole 260 feet up.

It's sending a beam of light
into the pyramid.

This beam of light is cutting through
175 feet of stone

until reaching the chamber within.

And in that chamber there's only
one thing - the sarcophagus.

The Egyptians
approached their architecture

like they did their hieroglyphics -

they spelled everything out.

And what's happening here
is pretty straightforward.

The light of the sun god
is entering a tomb.

We're watching
something truly sacred.

We're witnessing the sun god
being laid to rest.

(BOOMING)

(ALARM WAILS)

FILM CHARACTER: I'm all set.

CHARACTER 2: Be careful.

(INDISTINCT FILM DIALOGUE)

Remember...
Yes?

..you'll have only a matter
of minutes to effect the transfer.

I'll make it.

Just hold it steady.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

When the Great Pyramid was sealed,

it was in complete darkness
for the entire year,

except for two brief moments -

at the start of the winter
and at its end.

On these two dates, the sun
shone down the southern shaft,

and, when it did, the king's chamber
was briefly illuminated.

These two illuminations connected
the sun to this earthly structure

and the presence of a coffin within
shows what this connection meant.

The sun god had come here
to die for the winter.

It still rose each wintery morning,

but it was a shadow
of its normal self.

So, the Egyptians started to believe
that the sun was two separate parts.

One part was a golden boat

and the other was its captain,
the great god Ra.

The boat was eternal
but each winter, the captain died.

This explained why the winter sun
was weak and carried no heat.

It was just an empty boat

sailing through the heavens.

(BRAYS)

(CAR HORN BEEPS)

(MAN SPEAKS LOCAL LANGUAGE)

Video.
Mm-hm.

Having a good time?

Yes.
(BOTH LAUGH)

(SPRUIKER YELLS INDISTINCTLY)

Uh-huh. Uh-huh.

How are you doing? Welcome!

Hello.
Yes. Ali Loon.

Famous Ali Loon. Famous!

Yes. For what? What do you do?

Yeah, for three years, Botswana.

You look like a rock star,
like a singer.

You know?
Yes.

You sing?
Yes.

Shisha.
Right.

Have a look.

OK.
This movies.

This is American.

What country you are?
Oh!

You understand?
New Zealand.

New Zealand, welcome!
Thank you.

Yeah, I good you price for anything.

This... New Zealand. Big one.

OK?
(BOTH LAUGH)

This, 105.

Hand-paint, you know? For woman.

This...

..Canop...

Best.
Best?

Eziza.
Ah.

Canop.

What's inside the Canop?

Anything.

Money.
Money?

Little money.
Yeah. But money gold.

Gold?
Yes.

It's for name. What's your name?

Kyle.

Oh, no, no, don't write it.
No brought the present?

No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

For name here.

Yeah, yeah, that's cool, but...

You know...
No. No.

No problem. No, no, no.

Oh, look, my friend,
speak your name here.

Oh, la, shukran.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

No problem. Money.
(LAUGHS)

Yeah. How much? Tell me.

Yes or no?
I have to think, I have to think.

No, now...
Now.

Anything money.

This one...

Look - this one for the lamp.

Outside.
Oh, outside.

Very, very nice.

OK, this one 300, this one 400,

700 for both.

I would oblige 600.

What is it?
Alabaster.

Real alabaster?
Yes. It's handmade.

Yeah, this one about one minute.

('LE GRAND CHASE' BY KEVIN MACLEOD
PLAYS)

How much money?

Hey.

My friend, how much money for both?

Uh... I have to have a think.
I have to, like...

Yeah?
..have a think.

I have to go to the bank,
have a think.

Bank?
Yeah, bank.

OK, no money.
This is very expensive.

OK.
Basalt?

Alabaster, yes.
It's very nice for present.

(LAUGHS)
Yes.

Yes. These strong.
These very expensive.

(LAUGHS)
Very expensive.

As well...
What?

..my friend, give me 500 for both?

This is no problem, money.
I'm gonna have a think.

How much? Tell me. How much?

Oh, no, I need to...

I need to do my maths.

How... What's what? What?

Like, think of, like,
how much money I can spend.

You know, would I get
one or two or...

OK, this one for three. Come.

Alright, I'm going to have a think.
No, no, now.

One minute, low money.

Give me 500 for both.

This one...
(COUGHS, CLEARS THROAT)

Here, this one...

(LAUGHS)
..and this one.

How much money now? How much money?
I haven't even got money now.

Anything money.
But I'll come back.

No, now. No, no, no.
I'll come back. I'll come back.

Now. Please.

Ali Loon...
Now. Ali Loon. Yeah.

Anything money. How much now?

OK, my friend,

there, look, low money.

One minute! 350! No? Yes?

OK, 350 for both!

Special price.
Low money. Give me anything. OK.

(CALL TO PRAYER OVER LOUDSPEAKER)

Kyle, one minute.
I will come back.

No.
I will come back.

I'll go to the bank
and I'll come back.

(PRAYER CONTINUES)

SCOTT: Thank you very much.

(PRAYER CONTINUES,
INDISTINCT CHATTER)

It's opening pretty wide. Thank you.

I'm leaving.

OK, I give you 200 each...

SCOTT: It's definitely warm.

I don't know...
No money?

No, no money?!
I'm gonna go to my hotel.

Ali Loon.
Ali Loon.

Yeah. 300?
I'll come back.

300, not 350.
OK.

Yeah. OK. OK, 300.
Cool.

Alright.
OK? OK?

Ma salama.
Ma sa... I give you card?

I know where you are.
OK?

Yeah.
OK.

Bye!
Bye-bye. Thank you.

(LAUGHS) Is that a good price?

I can't tell.
(LAUGHS)

The stones they used
to build the Great Pyramid

weigh roughly two tonnes each,

which is about the weight
of a rhinoceros.

But the main chamber,
the one used to store the sun god,

that has stones in it
that weigh 50 tonnes.

That's about 20 rhinos.

And there's about 43 of these
granite beams in that chamber,

which is a total of 2,500 tonnes,

which they had
to raise up in the air 180 feet.

It... It's staggering
what they managed to achieve.

And the insanity doesn't stop there.

The stones they used
to build the bulk of the pyramid

came from local quarries.

But these heavy granite stones,
they came from a long way away.

They came from here, Aswan,

which is a thousand kilometres away.

It's... It's no wonder
that people think

that the Great Pyramid is humanity's
greatest technical achievement,

because it's absolutely mind-blowing
the lengths they went to

to build it.

In ancient times,
architecture was used to tell a story

and it was believed that the better
that the story was told

the better
the structure would function.

So, when they built the sun chamber,

they chose stones from a place where
the sun god was at his most powerful.

They chose Aswan.

At noon on the summer solstice
the sun is exactly overhead here.

It's one of the few
inhabited places on the planet

where this phenomenon occurs.

At this moment,
objects are casting a shadow...

..shadows of the darkness that follow
us humans around wherever we go.

But here, at the summer solstice,
there are none.

The sun is the god of light,

and at this one moment in the year

the light rules completely.

So, the Egyptians reasoned
that there was no better place

to source
the materials for his tomb from

than here.

They believed that the granite
from Aswan was special,

that these stones contained
some link to the sun god,

and this link would somehow
help to preserve him

through the long winter months.

(INAUDIBLE CHATTER)

('SAAT BAQOUL' BY WAEL JASSAR PLAYS)

(SAAT BAQOUL BY WAEL JASSAR
CONTINUES)

(SAAT BAQOUL BY WAEL JASSAR
CONTINUES)

So, they cut huge slabs of precious
red granite out of the Earth

and then shipped them
a thousand kilometres north.

These stones weighed as much
as those at Stonehenge,

but the ancient Britons only had
to raise theirs a few metres high.

These ones, though,
had to be lifted 60 metres up.

The main chamber was built
exclusively out of Aswan granite

while the rest of the pyramid was
constructed out of local limestone.

This marked this chamber as special.

It was the focus
of the entire structure,

and it was built
for their great sun god.

But how could Ra enter this chamber?

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

Naturally you would think
the door of the pyramid,

but that's located
on the northern side of the pyramid.

The sun sails past the southern side,
not the northern one.

The only way
for him to get to his chamber

is the tiny opening on the southern
side, that nine-inch gap,

which guides the sun's light
downwards

through 175 feet of masonry.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

The sun only aligns with the shaft
twice a year.

The first alignment is the drop-off
and the second is the pick-up.

And the amount of time between these
two events was precisely 100 days -

the length of their winter -

and the amount of time
that they believed

that the sun god was deceased

and the amount of time that the sun
was stored in this chamber.

The Egyptians
liked to encode their monuments,

kind of like pairing their
architecture with its function,

believing that this imbued them
with extra power,

making them more likely to work.

So, when they built this chamber,

they built it out of stone
they shipped all the way from Aswan,

which is completely unnecessary
in our books,

but, for them, essential.

They then cut the stone into bricks,

huge red granite bricks,

and they chose to make this room
out of exactly 100 of them.

And this encoded the length
of the sun god's stay in the room

in its architecture,

each brick counting off
one day of its stay in the room.

This was their magic.

And it can be read a little
like their hieroglyphics.

On November 2, the sun aligns
with the southern shaft.

The chamber within which had been
hidden in darkness is briefly lit up.

The sun is sending a ray,
its life force,

into a room
made out of sacred solar granite.

The sun would be safe here
for the winter.

The length of its days written in
the walls in the number of bricks -

100 days, 100 bricks.

And when this time was up,
the sun aligned once more,

illuminating
the pitch-black room again.

This signalled that the sun boat had
returned to collect its passenger.

This moment
marked the start of the spring

and explained to them why
the sun regained its heat

after the lengthy winter.

Ra was back aboard his boat.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYS)

The Egyptians loved their deities.

They had thousands
of gods and goddesses.

But one deity
was revered above all others -

the sun god.

They called him Ra.

He lived in the blue skies
of the day,

which they imagined
to be a great sea.

He sailed through this ocean
on his golden boat.

However, when the weather cooled
in the winter

and the sun lost its ferocity,

they began to believe
that their great god Ra had died.

This idea makes more sense
the further north we go.

During a Scottish winter,
for example,

the trees lose their leaves,
the ground freezes and nothing grows.

Further north still, in Norway,

the sun doesn't even rise above
the horizon in their harsh winters.

The sun god had to be dead.

And so the Vikings wrote tales

of the sun god being defeated
by the Frost giants.

Here in Egypt,
Ra's death is less pronounced,

but it's still evident the days
lose their heat, the nights get cold.

They, too, believed
that the sun god had died.

This didn't mean
that the sun ceased to exist, though.

His boat still sailed the blue skies
each day,

it's just
that Ra was no longer aboard.

This explained
why the sun had lost its ferocity.

It was still
sailing through the skies,

but it was just a shadow of itself.

The god which they worshipped
above all others had died.

It's the one thing we feared.

It was Khufu's dad
who built the Bent Pyramid.

He was the true innovator
of the family,

but no-one's heard of him.

Khufu and the Great Pyramid,
Khafre and his Sphynx -

everyone knows about them.

But the genius in this family
was Snefru.

It was Snefru who wrestled control
from a rival dynasty,

and, with his ascension
to the throne, things changed.

His tribe had its own set of beliefs,

and he set to forging the Egypt
that we know and love.

He turned them into the solar
worshippers that they're renown for

and he also built
the first pyramids.

In fact, he built for four.

Four.

And when you consider
it takes 20 years to build a pyramid

and he only ruled for 30-odd years,

that's...that's quite a feat.

When we think of pyramids,

we like to think
of smooth-sided structures.

Scholars believe that this was
their first attempt at one of these.

So, when we see that its angle
changes drastically midway up,

we think that it's a mistake,

assuming that this pyramid was
supposed to look like the others.

But this was the first
of these new style of pyramids.

There was no prototype
for them to follow.

Before this was built,
pyramids looked completely different.

This was the world's
first smooth-sided pyramid.

The story that's typically used
to explain this unusual state

is that structural issues
led to a change of plan.

They feared that it would collapse,

and so they reduced the angle
midway through the build.

We look at the pyramid next door
and then we look at this one.

Naturally, we think,
"Something went wrong, it's bent,

"so he had another go down the road,

"and that ended up
being his proper tomb.

"And as for this one? That's
a 20-year exercise in futility."

But there's no reason to think

that he was trying to put a style
of pyramid that did not yet exist.

Plus, if these structural anomalies
were that bad,

then why is this the best preserved
of all their pyramids?

We think the change in angle
midway up is a mistake, but it's not.

This pyramid
was designed to be this way

so it could function as a calendar,

an indestructible
and incorruptible calendar.

The Egyptians used a measure called
a cubit, which is about half a metre.

This pyramid is 360 cubits long.

Their calendar
was also 360 days long.

Later they added five more days,

but these were secret days,
days that were hidden from the gods.

So their calendar was 360 days
and this pyramid was 360 cubits.

Snefru had created
a giant calendar out of stone.

Each cubit of the pyramid's length
represented one day.

Snefru used architecture
to make his pyramid function.

The top is built
at a shallower angle than the base,

so, as you walk up to it,
it seems to reduce in size.

He used these two angles
to trick the eye.

The steeper base rears up
as you get closer to it,

while the top steadily shrinks.

At a certain point
the top completely disappears,

and this moment
reveals the viewing point.

MAN: Yeah, my friend!
I have the two spices shop!

Yeah.
Australia, I have the two...

Yeah, we got it all.

Sha' llah!
Sha' llah.

Show the spices
to Australian people.

Because Australia,
you can't take the spices back,

because of the Customs.

Ah, yeah.

I bring a shai bil-laban.

What's that?
I bring you one.

I drink only with milk.

Yeah, OK.
OK?

Only one.

A shai bi nyanya - shai mint -
or shai milk?

Uh...

SCOTT: Mint.
Mint.

Milk?
Mint.

Mint.
Mint.

Milk?
Mint.

I bring two shai bi nyanya.

Awesome.

Like tea mint.

Sounds good.

Now you open.

This film?
Yeah.

Australian?
Australian.

Action film?
No, no.

(LAUGHS)
No, it's a documentary.

But what were they viewing?

In summer,
the midday sun is overhead,

so it won't be affected
by the structure.

But as the sun wanes,
it drops in the skies.

Today is November 2,
the start of their winter.

The sun has got so low that it's
being obscured by the pyramid's base.

In the coming days
it'll sink into this pyramid.

And, as we all know,
pyramids are tombs.

This calendar functions
like their hieroglyphs -

it reveals their beliefs
step by step in pictures.

In summer, the sun is overhead,

but as the year progresses,
it drops lower and lower in the skies

until it eventually
slips into the pyramid.

It's then hidden
by the pyramid's base.

And, within that base,

there's a chamber
designed to store the sun god.

Only once it reappears
above the pyramid

does it emerge from its Earthly tomb.

And that took it exactly 100 days.

The Egyptians wholeheartedly
believed in magic and illusion,

so, if the sun APPEARED
to be within a tomb for 100 days,

then it WAS within it for 100 days.

And since tombs
are clearly for the deceased,

they believed
that it was the dead sun god

who was stored in this pyramid
for the winter.

FILM CHARACTER: He was buried alive.

Then, thanks to the magic
of their powerful priests,

somehow life was restored
to their great god in the spring.

FILM CHARACTER 2: He's alive!

It's no coincidence that these dates

match those when the sun aligned
with the shaft in the Great Pyramid.

Both father and son built pyramids
to receive and store the dead sun god

for the winter.

Behind this pyramid,

there's another one, a smaller one,

but it's not nearly as impressive.

These two pyramids
were walled in together,

meaning they were built
at the same time.

But the Bent Pyramid

was supposed to be their first
attempt at a true pyramid,

but it's got that kink halfway up.

This one, though, doesn't,

meaning this
is the world's first proper pyramid.

The length of the Bent Pyramid
matches the solar year,

meaning that each cubit of its base
stood for one day.

The smaller pyramid was built to form
a unified complex for the bent one,

meaning that they both
followed the same code.

This pyramid is 100 cubits long,

therefore, it represents 100 days.

The Egyptians of this remote area

believed that the sun god
died for 100 days each winter,

and, so, Snefru purposely designed
this pyramid

with the length of 100 cubits

so that it would function
for these 100 days.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Interesting.

SCOTT: (LAUGHS) "Not camel shit."

(SPRUIKS INDISTINCTLY) Shukran.

Do you call them tea?
Yeah. Hot tea.

Yes, it's tea.
You need water, you know?

In the pyramid age,

they believed that the sun god
died for 100 days each year,

and this explained why the Earth
was cold in the winter.

They built incredible pyramids

to store the sun god
for this part of the year

using innovative lighting phenomena
to capture the sun

and simple architectural devices

to show exactly how long
the sun was to be stored within.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

Khufu built air shafts to capture
the sun's light 100 days apart,

and then connected these
to the chamber within,

which was made out of 100 bricks.

These bricks
counted off the length of Ra's stay.

His father built a Bent Pyramid

so that it could illustrate
the same belief.

The sun sinks into his tomb
for the winter.

But Snefru didn't build
a sun chamber made out of 100 bricks

like his son did.

No, Pharaoh Snefru was so powerful

that he built a separate pyramid
to house the sun god for the winter,

this 100-cubit-long pyramid.

Cheap rice!

Cinnamon! Saffron!

Hibiscus tea!

Black tea!

Yellow tea! Green tea!

(SPRUIKS INDISTINCTLY)

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

Take my shop all for free.

Very good of you.

Yeah.

OK.

I'm gonna take these for free.
OK, why not?

Take all the table.

OK.

OK. Eh...
Can you hold the other end?

Yes. Where you go?
Uh... Nefertiti.

Police! Come!
(LAUGHS)

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

MAN: Police man.
What's that?

Police man.
Police man?

I take a photo. Come.

Oh, no, we're gonna, like...

Listen, listen,

if you have any troubles
with tourists, I'll help you.

Thank you very much.
No problem.

No, the bag was good.
Yeah, it's perfect.

What about something else?

No, that's cool. Thank you.
We make a photo together.

(CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS)

Hello, friend.

No, thank you.

No.
Not for you, for him, for mother.

He's gonna come back.
Is that your, uh...

Yeah, yeah, come back.

SCOTT: Hey, mate.

What is it?

Here, the shop.

(SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY)

I'll just, uh... I'll just do this.

(SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY)

Um... I might come back later.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

I'm not Australian.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

Well, I've gotta do this
and I'll come back.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

Sorry.

Why? What does he wanna do?

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

I have a shirt here.

This shirt, how much? 3,000 in one.

No, thanks.

White? White?
Thank you very much. It's very
cheap.

Thank you.

Excuse me.
Want a scarf for you?

Hello.
Hi.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

To protect me.
You don't know? Come here.

No, no, no. I wanna keep going.

Where are you from?
No, thank you.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

Carpets here.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

Photo for me, please?

Photo for me?

Oh. No, no, no.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

(CHUCKLES)

That's pretty good.

At the southern edge of Egypt,

Ramses ordered his people
to build their most ambitious temple

in the hottest part of Egypt.

Untold thousands would have died
building this insanity.

And that's the only word
that could be used to describe this.

It is... It is truly insane.

It's a mountain
that they transformed into a temple.

This is Abu Simbel,
the world's most spectacular temple.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

In the 1960s, President Nasser
decided to dam the Nile.

It was going to boost

Egypt's agricultural production
and energy supply,

but it was also
going to submerge this temple.

Luckily, UNESCO had recently been
formed for just such an emergency.

They gathered
Europe's finest engineers

and came up with a plan
to cut this temple into pieces

and move it brick by brick
to higher ground.

But they didn't want to move
the entire mountain,

so they created a fake one.

Ramses' temple has been rebuilt
over a giant, hollow hangar.

But they did such a good job
of reproducing the original

that you can hardly tell.

We like to think that this temple

was an ode to the massive ego
of King Ramses.

But of course that's our view,
because that's how we think.

Think of our great buildings,
like the Empire State -

that's office space
for an insurance company.

And the Burj Khalifa -
that's a hotel.

Our great buildings
don't hold any hidden depths.

But theirs did.

They designed this temple

so that twice a year the sun will
shine in and light up the back wall,

and we interpret this as if it was
built by someone like Donald Trump,

thinking that these two dates must
be his inauguration and his birthday.

But there are only
two days in the year

when the sun aligns with this temple,

and the odds
that one is his coronation

and the other is his birthday

seem really remote.

(CALL TO PRAYER OVER LOUDSPEAKER)

Ramses ruled over a thousand years
after Khufu and Snefru,

and by this stage
the Egyptian calendar had changed.

It had been simplified into three
seasons, each 120 days in length.

And they used this one temple
to mark each of these season changes.

The summer solstice
was the end of their harvest season

and the start of the flood season.

Ramses' architects
aligned this temple

to the rising point
of the belt stars of Orion

to work this one out.

They could use
the heliacal rising of these stars

to pinpoint
the turning of these seasons.

However, determining exactly

when the flood season finished
and the winter began

was tricky.

Likewise, finding
when the winter ended was tricky.

But on these two dates,
the start and the end of winter,

the sun rose
in the exact same spot in the skies,

11 degrees south of east.

(CALL TO PRAYER OVER LOUDSPEAKER)

So Ramses ordered his workers

to cut a 200-foot-long shaft
into the side of a mountain.

The angle, though,
had to be carefully orchestrated

so it'll only let the sun peer in
on these days.

However, since the sun rose in the
exact same spot on both these days,

only one hole was required.

But the angle had to be perfect,

it had to be exactly 11 degrees
south of east.

This temple is a simple calendar

but with the most incredible
alarm system built into it.

It marked the start and the end
of the winter season

with incredible illuminations

that still draw a crowd
3,500 years later.

(WOMAN VOCALISES HAUNTINGLY)

VOICEOVER:
"All the east was a deep rosy flush,

"then that paled and
a hard white light filled the sky.

"Clearer and whiter it grew

"till, with a sudden joyous rush,

"the sun swung
up over the lower ridge of the hill

"and in an instant, like an arrow
from the bow of Apollo,

"one level shaft of light
pierced the great hall

"and fell in living glory
upon the shrine itself."

MAN: I have been way King's Valley,
Hatshepsut, Karnak.

Ah, give good price.

After finish, after back,
give money.

You put driver his wages.

Huh?

I think, uh...it comes to 13.
See? It's a good price.

But I didn't have it for you. 5,000.

And I have...live here.

I have...live here.

Family here.

(TOOTS HORN) Ah.

(EERIE THEREMIN MUSIC PLAYS)

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

How much less price?

After finish...
For example, for example...

Huh?
..ferry to Hatshepsut Temple...

Yes.
..25.

Really good price.

So, why would it cost...

I have good price. No here taxi...
..45?

I have good price
after his business.

I think 80 total.
How much less price?

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

MAN: Take a picture.

Hey, excuse me.

Hey!

SCOTT: No, shukran.

(SPEAKS LOCAL LANGUAGE)

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

OK, final price, right? Final price.
All. Ah.

Miaya.
Uh?

Miaya.

I have no good price? 130.
That's... That's it.

Wallah, 130.
No, no, that's it. That's cool.

Wallah...
No, no, no. Don't worry.

It's cool. It's alright. Don't worry.
Wallah...

And I have ticket here.
No.

But I have ticket here!

You can buy your ticket
and you wait here.

(SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY)

Do you have change?
Ah!

(SPEAKS LOCAL LANGUAGE)

(CAR HORNS BEEP)

(TOOTS HORN)

(BARKS)

(WOLF HOWLS)

When Snefru and Khufu
built their pyramids,

the winter
lasted for 100 days each year.

King Ramses
ruled over a thousand years later,

and by this stage the winter had been
expanded to last for 120 days.

He followed in their footsteps
and created a temple

which used the sun to mark
the start and the end of the winter.

(SPEAKS LOCAL LANGUAGE)

These illuminations
are so impressive, though,

that three millennia later
they draw thousands of people

to this remote temple.

They think they're celebrating
Ramses' birthday, but they're not.

They're witnessing
something much more profound.

They're watching the death throes
of the Egyptian sun god.

He was dying,

and it was time for him
to be interred in his mountain tomb

for the winter.

SCOTT: I don't think he realises
it's not the road.

(LAUGHS) He's going the wrong way
up the street!

Yep.

Are supposed to be
on this side of the road?

See how that side of the road
goes that way?

Are you... Are you
on the right side of the road?

Wrong road?

No, right road...

Alright.
But just maybe that one.

Over there, like...
'cause that goes that way.

Because I think this one
just goes this way.

I think.

Oh, where? On other side?

Yeah, it goes that way, I think.

Ah, this, yes, yes.

Yeah, and this one goes this way.

Yeah.

I guess it's a bit late now.

I don't know.
(BOTH LAUGH)

But this wasn't all that happened
on this date.

The light effect also marked time
for the locals to inter something.

It was time for them to plant
their most important crop, the corn,

bright golden corn.

It's the perfect solar symbol.

So, as the golden sun was being laid
to rest in a massive mountain,

the locals paralleled this by burying
golden corn kernels in the ground.

This elevated the planting festival
to something much more profound.

It became a religious event.

When the locals
planted their corn crop,

they was symbolically
interring the sun god.

The Egyptians
needed a structure like this

because their calendar was faulty.

The Egyptians calculated the year
as 365 days long,

which is close but not exact.

The true year
is 365 and a quarter days.

We use the same-length year they did,

but we know to adjust it
with leap years.

But they didn't.

As a result, their calendar

wandered a quarter of a day off
the solar reality each year.

After a few years,
this wasn't a problem,

but after a century it really was.

By then it had wandered 25 days off.

After two centuries
it was almost two months off.

This was extremely dangerous,

especially in a country
which had a massive flood each year.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

When the weather warms,
it melts the snow in Central Africa.

The melting snow gathers in the
River Nile and it begins to flood.

By the summer solstice,

these flooding waters had made it
all the way from Tanzania to here.

The Egyptian Nile began to rise.

And not just by a bit.

It turned their lands
into a virtual sea.

If the farmers followed their
calendar with its set planting dates,

they'd soon run into
some serious issues with the flood.

And, so, to fix the problem
with the calendar,

Ramses built his incredible temple.

It illuminated when the planting
festival was supposed to take place

rather than when
their faulty calendar said it should.

And this ensured
that they only planted the corn crop

once the floodwaters had dissipated,

and consequently
they had the corn out of the ground

before the next flood came along
to wipe it out.

It had nothing
to do with Ramses' birthday.

Twice a year,
the sun streams into this temple,

illuminating a group of statues
carved into the back wall.

It features three popular sun gods,

and sitting in between them
is the one human, King Ramses.

The three sun gods
represent the three seasons.

Each season, the sun god
takes on a different complexion,

has different traits
and behaves differently.

So, Ramses
used three different deities

to capture the different state
of the sun god in each season.

For two of these seasons,
the sun was considered to be alive.

For one, though,
for the winter season,

the sun was understood to be dead.

So, one of these sun gods
is different to the rest - Ptah.

He was their death god in this era,

and he's usually depicted bandaged
and looking a deathly green.

When the sun peers
into this mountain temple,

it illuminates
the sun gods Amon and Ra

but it doesn't light up Ptah.

That's because Ptah represents
the deceased sun god.

The sun's light is life,

but Ptah represents the opposite -
death.

He can never feel the warm glow
of the sun's rays.

So, only two sun gods are lit up,

and Ramses sits between them.

He's the odd one out.
He's not a god.

But he clearly wants to be.

FILM CHARACTER: Keep going.

Keep on.

(EERIE THEREMIN MUSIC PLAYS)

The time for Ramses
to board the sun boat

was when the sun
shone into the temple.

This was when the sun and the Earth
were linked.

And in October the sun shone in

to drop off its passengers
for the winter.

This didn't present such a great time

for Ramses
to try and board the sun boat.

But in February the sun shone in
to collect its passengers.

And this presented him
with the perfect opportunity.

When the sun gods
departed the Earth for the sun boat,

theoretically, he could tag along.

And upon the entrance of this temple

there is an image of what
they understood was taking place

in this particular dawn.

It's an image of one of the sun gods

and he's shown
striding out of the mountain.

This is Ra.

It's the only statue in the entire
complex which is in motion.

He's walking out of the temple
upon...

..well, upon nothing,
there's just an empty doorway.

But, on 22 February, a beam of light
shines into the temple,

creating a bridge
between the Earth and the sun

so Ra could simply walk out of here
upon the sun beam

back to his celestial sun boat.

The central statue is Ra.

And by his left foot
is the goddess Maat.

And by his right foot is
a dog-headed sceptre called a User.

These three words
combine to form a hidden spell.

They form the throne name
of King Ramses -

User-Maat-Ra.

So, it isn't just Ra walking
out of this temple, it's also Ramses.

He has fused with the sun god,
and together they walk out as one.

This amazing statue

is the ascension of Ramses to the
heavenly sun boat caught in stone.

FILM CHARACTER:
Attention, flight personnel.

Moving elevators
are now being withdrawn.

Ramses built this temple
for his Heb-Sed,

which was a ceremony
celebrated by pharaohs

after they'd ruled for 30 days.

During his Heb-Sed,

Ramses will be converted from
a pharaoh into a fully fledged god.

To become this god, he had to do what
all pharaohs wished they could do -

depart this world and sail aboard
the sun boat with the sun gods.

He didn't literally depart the Earth
during the ceremony, though.

Ramses continued to rule Egypt for
another 37 years after his Heb-Sed.

However, they believed
that a part of him

did make it aboard the sun boat

and thereafter he shone down
on the Egyptian people every day.

It's amazing...
Actually, my shop is special.

Not like everyone else.
Yeah, it's very different.

And my collection is special.
Not like everyone.

You cannot see
this collection of keys...

OK, I tell you, in all Egypt
you cannot see this in one shop.

True.
Because no-one...

I'm surprised to find...
No-one have this interest, actually.

True.
But I have it because I love it.

I was very surprised.
I love it! I love it.

It's, uh...
(LAUGHS)

Me, I spend my money

in things I like.

I make a lot of money
out of carpet upstairs,

but all the money
I have out of carpet

I enjoy myself by things like this.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure.

You can go...

(SCOTT LAUGHS)

I have hard life, actually,
this man, with this man. (LAUGHS)

Come on!

Like...

(KEYS JANGLE)

(SIGHS)

If I'm gonna buy many of them,
I don't understand...

(CHUCKLES)
I think... I think 15's very good.

Again!

You're, like...
You're stuck on, like, 25, 23...

(SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY)
But you...making, 14, 15...

(SCOTT LAUGHS)
I come down ten and five,

and you go up, like, one pound.

Like cutting arm and leg
for one pound.

But it took you so long
to get from, like, crazy 40

to...to...to thalathin. Like...

I mean, they're nice keys, but...

But, you know...
I think 15 is really good for this.

We compromise...
I think this is a really good price.

We'll do our compromise. 23.

OK.

(SCOTT LAUGHS)

16?

(LAUGHS)

What?!

You make me laugh!
You went from 25 to 23.

At least you make me laugh.
I went form...

I never met one go one pound,
like... (SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY)

You know?!

No...
My son,

seven years old,

he not talking one pound.

He tell me,
"No. You give me 10 pound!"

Yeah, but, like, you know,
if I buy 50 keys,

that one pound becomes 50 pounds,
you know, like...

And you've gone down two pounds

in, like, half an hour.

I've gone up two pounds
in about half an hour.

From 13 to 15. You went 25 to 23.

You know, it's slowly
sort of getting...

You like, I say...
..compromise.

Do you like the way I come
40s and 30s... You like this way?

40 was crazy price!
Actually, you will get bored

If I deal in this way,
you will get... "What's one pound?!"

But I came from, like, Hamza,
as well...

Hamza? This is...
Yeah, but...

It was, like...

But Abu is, like, also crazy. Like...

Like to give me sh...uh...sh...uh...

You give me just...

You make it a...
A shock?

Shock, yes.
Yeah, but...

Then I come with the real price.

You do it.
But you started with 40.
It's good, it's a good way...

I started with a stupid price.
..of doing business at least.

We're doing very good film much.

(BOTH LAUGH)

It's like a comedy sketch.
You... Yes!

Yeah.
(LAUGHS)

(SCOTT CHUCKLES)
Uh... Hmm...

Say 22...

No, no, no, no!
..and it's good luck for you.

22?

Uh-huh.
Just say 16. All good.

Done. Complete. Halas.

That's not fair play.
16.

We're not doing fair play.

I come down from 40,

and you are up...pound.

(CALL TO PRAYER OVER LOUDSPEAKER)

You said to me one hour ago...

One hour ago? What are you... What?

..one hour ago,
if it one dollar it's OK,

one America dollar, it's OK.

But now...
No, I said...

..you come out and...

(LAUGHS)

Hmm...

(SIGHS)
(CHUCKLES)

(LAUGHS)

Very nice. Actually, he's very nice.

(LAUGHS)
More than nice, actually.

Uh... OK, OK.

One American dollar, which is 17...

18, actually.
17.

American dollar is 18. It's 18.

Everywhere I've been it's been 17.
No 17. 18, actually.

17...
Regardless. Regardless.

Regardless?! With you
there is no regardless at all!

With anyone else, yes.

(LAUGHS)
But not with you!

With you, penny is like...

Oh, my God.
..car!

He's always like this or what?

Give me... Give me a clue.

Maybe my bad luck he's in this mood.

Actually... He's always like this?
(SCOTT CHUCKLES)

No? I don't think.

Oh, my God.

Allah.
17.

Again... Again...

What, what, what, what?!
I shoot myself.

Actually. It's terrible.

He is terrible!

Ugh!

I think that's really, really good.

I think 17 is really good.

I think YOU think it's really good,

but I think you're pretending that
it's not so good because, you know?

What's pretending?

With you, nothing.
I'm not pretending. Nothing.

What...
What?!

Last - I do it 19 pounds

just to make it...

I don't know why
I try to do this business.

Actually, it's better not.
But I don't know why. 19.

Because, actually...

OK, OK...
..you have the same taste.

I don't know how many I'll get.

Probably like 40 or something.
I don't know. We'll see how many.

But split the difference. 18 pounds.

19.
No.

La.

Come on, after all this,
18, it's good.

La. 18.50 because your are...
Argh!

..a bad man.

Call him a bad man.

By camera. He is a bad man.

Come on!
You just said I was a good man.

No!
Ohh!

If you give me 20, I will think
to tell you are a good man.

OK. 18.50. We'll get some.

MAN: Go ahead!

WOMAN: Why don't people
wear sunglasses much?

Now everybody go home, the school
is finished, there's traffic.

Yeah, yeah, but, like,
I'm just saying, separate to that,

why don't many of the people
wear sunglasses, you know?

This lady in the back of the truck.

Oh, yes, yes.
She's not wearing any sunglasses.

How many people do here?

Wha! Many people!

I don't see it very much.

(HORN TOOTS)

('BARN BEAT' BY SOUNDJAY PLAYS)

The Egyptians had this odd habit.

When their beliefs changed,

they didn't just
get rid of the old ways,

they kept them
running alongside the new,

and a classic example of this
is Abu Simbel.

Ramses employed two modes of escape
from the Earth.

One was to fuse with Ra

and together they'd walk off
to the heavens on a beam of light.

That was the new belief system.

The old one
is only remembered by a plinth,

which stands
in front of the row of sun gods.

FILM CHARACTER:
Attention, please, Luna 3.

FILM CHARACTER 2:
This is Station Luna 3.

Station Luna 3 calling Earth.

No signs yet of beings.

For the duration of the winter,

the sun boat sailed through
the heavens without its passengers.

But when the winter finally ended,
it shone into this temple,

and the scene, which the sun saw,

revealed what the Egyptians
hoped would manifest.

The sun had returned
to retrieve its passengers,

the gods Amon and Ra,

and nestled between them
sits a hopeful Ramses.

In front of these statues
stands a plinth,

which originally
supported a golden boat.

From the sun's perspective,

it sees itself, the sun boat,

and aboard this golden boat
are three passengers.

This is their version of magic.

If the sun boat saw the scene,
it would help to make it happen.

They wanted the sun boat to retrieve
its passengers, the two sun gods,

but they also
wanted Ramses to be taken as well.

It's the temple of Abu Simbel

which reveals how the pyramids of old
were designed to function.

We think
these incredible monuments

were simply mausoleums
for their pharaohs,

but they weren't.

Instead, they were palaces
built on Earth

designed to connect with the heavens.

That's why the Great Pyramid
was built with such exact mathematics

encoded into its design

and shafts linking it
to various stars.

Khufu didn't need all this,
but Ra did.

If Ra was to lay himself to rest

in an Earthly structure
at the start of the winter,

then that structure had to be
a worthy palace for the gods.

This pyramid wasn't built for Khufu.

It was built for the sun god.
It was his winter tomb.

However, Khufu was inspired
to spend decades building it

because if he was lucky enough
to rule for 30 years

he'd be allowed to use it.

That's how long
he had to reign as pharaoh

before he could undergo his Heb-Sed.

This incredibly sacred ceremony
took place within his pyramid,

and during it, if all went to plan,

he'd convert from a human into a god.

He'd depart this Earth
for the heavens,

where he'd stand shoulder to shoulder
with Ra aboard his sun boat,

forever after illuminating
and warming the Earth below.

And, like Ramses,

he employed two different methods
to achieve this ascension.

When the Greeks
thought of their sun god,

they imagined him driving
through the heavens in a chariot.

They had roads, and so they figured
that the gods did too.

But the Egyptians,
they didn't have roads.

Instead, they had the Nile.

This natural highway meant they could
sail whatever they wanted to go.

And, so,
when they thought of the sun god,

they imagined him
sailing to the heavens.

When Khufu thought of transportation
to the heavens,

well, naturally, he thought 'boat'.

In the 1950s, excavations
at the foot of the Great Pyramid

revealed a row of granite slabs
neatly lined up next to each other.

And when they lifted these up,

it revealed a giant boat pit,

and within was a disassembled boat.

It was made up
of a staggering 1,200 pieces of wood,

and it took 10 painstaking years
to piece back together.

This was Khufu's mortuary boat.

It was 143 feet long.

Like many things Egyptian,

the design of this boat
can be read like hieroglyphics.

It's a giant sun dial.

Its prow points to the noonday sun
in summer,

while its stern
points to the noonday sun in winter.

This oriented the boat.

It only functioned as a sun dial
when it faced south,

therefore,
it was designed to sail south.

But not south along the Nile -

rowing this thing against the current
would be a tough ask.

Instead, this boat was designed

to ferry Khufu south
through the heavens.

This Earthly sun boat would carry
Khufu to the heavenly sun boat.

This is a very literal
and primitive belief.

This boat would physically
ferry Khufu to the heavenly sun boat.

The Egyptians, though, weren't afraid

to have several beliefs
running side by side

just in case one didn't work.

Khufu had a second exit mode.

It was the new, improved
belief system.

A part of Khufu would turn into light
and fly up into the heavens.

SCOTT: Hello.
MAN: Do a camel ride with me?

Uh...

Camel ride?
Yes!

Why did the Egyptians build the
world's greatest-ever construction?

It wasn't just a lavish tomb.
It also had to function.

It had to assist in the stated
afterlife ambition of every pharaoh,

namely to sail aboard the sun boat
for all eternity.

That's what Khufu truly wanted.

And, to these ends, he connected
the heavens and the Earth

in the one incredible structure.

So, imagine the pyramid how it was -

a white, seamless,
mathematical shape.

It doesn't seem to fit the Earthly
picture. It's too perfect.

Instead, this marked it
as something godly.

And the particular god
to whom it was dedicated

was their favourite god, Ra.

Every year the rays of the dying
sun god entered the pyramid.

It then stored the sun god
for the winter for 100 days.

And once this timer was up

the sun reached in once more
to collect its solar passenger.

This was its winter tomb, and
it functioned each and every year.

But if Khufu ruled for long enough

he earned himself the right
to include himself in proceedings,

much like Ramses had.

On the date of his Heb-Sed,

a part of Khufu's spirit
was taken up from out of the pyramid

and into the heavens,

hand in hand with the sun god Ra.

The Bent Pyramid, Abu Simbel
and the Great Pyramid

were all designed
to store the sun god for the winter

each and every year.

But the true reason why Khufu, Snefru
and Ramses built these monuments

was because after 30 years of rule

they earned themselves the right
to participate in proceedings.

These amazing structures
enabled them to depart the Earth

hand in hand with the sun god

so they could join Ra
aboard his sun boat

and sail in the heavens
for all eternity.

('ARABICA FREAKA' BY SULTAN MAKENDE
PLAYS)

('DISCOVERY' BY TOY INVENTION PLAYS)