Out of Egypt (2009–…): Season 1, Episode 2 - The Shape of the Gods - full transcript
Pyramids are found throughout the world. They tell the story of ancient builders in search of a sacred shape. What did the pyramid mean to ancient peoples? Why did they try so long to perfect it? Why today do we still build such massive buldings?
Cooney: THEY ARE SOME
OF THE MOST AWE-INSPIRING
STRUCTURES IN THE WORLD...
...BUILT TO CONNECT THE EARTH
WITH THE HEAVENS,
TO CELEBRATE LIFE
OR TO EXTINGUISH IT...
...PYRAMIDS...
THE SHAPE OF THE GODS.
I'M KARA COONEY, AN EGYPTOLOGIST
ON A WORLDWIDE QUEST.
I LOOK AT HUMAN BEHAVIOR,
BOTH PAST AND PRESENT,
THROUGH THE LENS
OF ANCIENT EGYPT.
AND THE MORE I TRAVEL THE WORLD,
THE MORE SIMILARITIES I SEE.
EXPLORING WHY WE ARE WHO WE ARE
OFTEN LEADS ME OUT OF EGYPT.
CAPTIONS PAID FOR BY
DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS
THESE ARE THE GREAT PYRAMIDS
OF EGYPT,
LITERALLY MAN-MADE
MOUNTAINS OF STONE.
THEY WERE INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT
TO BUILD
AND COSTLY FOR AN ANCIENT
CIVILIZATION LIKE EGYPT.
AND THIS RAISES THE QUESTION
WHY BUILD STRUCTURES OF THIS
SIZE AND OF THIS SHAPE?
SOME OF THE ANSWERS MAY LIE
IN RELIGION OR POLITICS,
BUT THE EXTRAORDINARY THING
IS THAT PYRAMIDS AREN'T UNIQUE
TO EGYPT.
ALL OVER THE GLOBE,
PEOPLE HAVE CONSTRUCTED THESE
TOWERING TRIANGULAR MONUMENTS.
THERE MUST BE POWERFUL REASONS
WHY THIS FORM APPEARS AGAIN
AND AGAIN THROUGHOUT HISTORY.
WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE
OF THE PYRAMIDS' SHAPE?
AND DOES THEIR SIMILAR DESIGN
MEAN PYRAMIDS WERE ALL BUILT
FOR THE SAME PURPOSE?
TO UNDERSTAND WHY THE EGYPTIANS
BUILT THEIR PYRAMIDS,
WE CAN START AT THE ANCIENT
BURIAL GROUND OF DAHSHUR,
ABOUT 25 MILES SOUTH OF CAIRO,
THE SITE OF ONE OF THE
BEST-PRESERVED CLASSIC PYRAMIDS.
THIS STRUCTURE, THE RED PYRAMID,
IS THE FIRST
STRAIGHT-SIDED PYRAMID
TO SURVIVE TO THE PRESENT DAY.
AT THE TIME OF ITS COMPLETION,
IT WAS THE TALLEST MAN-MADE
BUILDING IN THE WORLD,
STANDING OVER 30 STORIES HIGH.
LIKE EVERY EGYPTIAN PYRAMID,
IT PERFORMED A CLEARLY DEFINED
SACRED FUNCTION.
IT WAS THE BURIAL PLACE
FOR A KING.
THE ROYAL BURIAL CHAMBERS
WERE CONSTRUCTED
DEEP INSIDE THE PYRAMIDS.
THEN THE PASSAGEWAYS
TO THE TOMBS
WERE SKILLFULLY CONCEALED.
IT'S HARD TO IMAGINE
HOW ANCIENT WORKMEN
MANEUVERED THE KING'S COFFIN
AND ALL HIS TREASURES
THROUGH THESE NARROW,
CLAUSTROPHOBIC TUNNELS.
RIGHT NOW,
I'M IN THE BURIAL CHAMBER SUITE
OF THE RED PYRAMID,
BUILT BY SNEFRU,
AROUND 2600 BCE.
AND YOU CAN SEE IT'S ALL LINED
WITH LIMESTONE BLOCKS
IN A BEAUTIFUL CORBEL VAULTING
POINTING RIGHT UP AT THE SKY.
NOW, A PYRAMID IS MEANT
TO CONTAIN THE KING,
PROTECT THE KING,
PUT HIM INTO A DEVICE,
A TRANSFORMATIONAL DEVICE
THAT WILL TURN HIM INTO A GOD
AND THAT WILL MOVE HIM
UP INTO THE HEAVENS.
THE PURPOSE OF EGYPTIAN PYRAMIDS
WAS RELIGIOUS,
AND IT WAS IMPORTANT,
SO NO EFFORT OR EXPENSE
WAS SPARED
TO BUILD THESE STRUCTURES.
JUST CONSIDER THE EXTRAORDINARY
EXPENDITURE OF MANPOWER...
THE MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF STONE
QUARRIED AND BROUGHT
ON SLEDGES TO THIS SITE.
TENS OF THOUSANDS OF LABORERS
WERE DRAFTED FROM ALL OVER EGYPT
TO BUILD THESE ROYAL TOMBS.
BUT DID OTHER CULTURES
BUILD PYRAMIDS
FOR THE SAME REASON...
TO BURY THEIR KINGS?
TO ANSWER THAT, WE NEED TO GO
TO THE NEW WORLD,
WHERE THERE ARE ACTUALLY
MORE PYRAMIDS THAN IN EGYPT.
IN THE JUNGLES
OF SOUTHERN MEXICO
LIES THE ANCIENT MAYAN CITY
OF PALENQUE.
YOU COULDN'T FIND A PLACE
IN SHARPER CONTRAST
TO THE DRY EGYPTIAN DESERT.
PALENQUE WAS
A THRIVING URBAN CENTER,
RULED BY A SUCCESSION
OF POWERFUL KINGS
BETWEEN THE YEARS 400 AND 800.
THIS TEMPLE COMPLEX
WOULD HAVE BEEN PLASTERED
A BRILLIANT WHITE.
IT WOULD HAVE BEEN PAINTED
RED, BLUE, AND YELLOW,
SO IT WOULD HAVE LOOKED
COMPLETELY DIFFERENT
FROM WHAT WE SEE TODAY.
THIS MAYAN CITY'S LUCRATIVE
MARKETS AND RICH FARMLANDS
PROVIDED RULERS WITH THE WEALTH
TO BUILD DOZENS OF PYRAMIDS.
BUT ONLY ONE OF THEM, KNOWN AS
THE TEMPLE OF THE INSCRIPTIONS,
WAS BUILT TO HOLD
THE TOMB OF A KING.
THIS TOMB IS OFF LIMITS
TO THE PUBLIC,
BUT BENITO VENEGAS,
AN ARCHAEOLOGIST
WITH THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT,
HAS KINDLY AGREED TO ESCORT ME
INTO THE RARELY VIEWED
BURIAL CHAMBER.
SO, I WALK ACROSS HERE?
YEAH.
THIS TOMB WAS UNDISCOVERED
UNTIL 1952,
WHEN ARCHAEOLOGISTS
FOUND A STAIRCASE
HIDDEN BENEATH THE FLOOR.
WOW, THIS IS GREAT.
LOOK AT THIS.
IT MAKES THE EGYPTIAN
STAIRCASES IN PYRAMIDS
LOOK REALLY SMALL AND CAVE-Y.
THAT'S ALMOST 100 FEET...
10 STORIES.
WHOA! LOOK AT THIS!
SO, THAT'S
THE SARCOPHAGUS THERE.
IT'S BEAUTIFUL.
PAKAL ASCENDED TO THE THRONE
WHEN HE WAS ONLY 12 YEARS OLD
AND RULED UNTIL HIS DEATH
AT AGE 80,
AN ASTOUNDING LIFE-SPAN
IN THE ANCIENT WORLD.
HE WAS ONE OF THE MOST VENERATED
KINGS IN PALENQUE'S HISTORY,
LEADING THE CITY
TO REPEATED VICTORIES
THROUGH DECADES OF WAR.
IS PAKAL ACTUALLY STILL BURIED
IN HERE?
SO ALL OF THIS
IS COMPLETELY UNIQUE...
TO HAVE A BURIAL OF A KING
INSIDE OF ONE OF THESE PYRAMIDS.
THE SARCOPHAGUS ITSELF...
DOES THAT REPRESENT ANYTHING?
IN THE MAYAN RELIGION,
THE AFTERLIFE BEGINS
WITH THE SOUL'S JOURNEY
THROUGH THE UNDERWORLD.
HERE, PAKAL DESCENDS
INTO THE MOUTH
OF THE GOD OF THE UNDERWORLD.
ABOVE HIM IS
THE TREE OF THE WORLD
WITH THE CELESTIAL BIRD
AT THE VERY TOP,
REPRESENTING
THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN,
HIS ULTIMATE DESTINATION.
THIS IS THE MOST ORNATE MAYAN
SARCOPHAGUS LID EVER FOUND.
IT CLEARLY DEMONSTRATES
PAKAL'S ELEVATED STATUS
IN PALENQUE'S HISTORY.
SO, WHY WOULD PAKAL WANT TO BE
BURIED IN A PYRAMID?
SO, THIS IS A TEMPLE TO KINGSHIP
ALMOST AS A DIVINE KINGSHIP...
A KINGSHIP THAT WILL ALWAYS
RETURN, ALWAYS BE RENEWED.
IF THAT'S NOT
LIKE THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS,
I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS.
ALTHOUGH THE FUNCTION
OF THIS PYRAMID
IS SIMILAR TO THE ONES IN EGYPT,
NO OTHER PYRAMIDS IN PALENQUE
ARE KNOWN
TO CONTAIN A KING'S TOMB.
SO THERE MUST HAVE BEEN
A DIFFERENT PURPOSE
FOR THESE STRUCTURES.
AN EGYPTIAN PYRAMID IS ACTUALLY
A PRETTY SIMPLE THING...
STRAIGHT-SIDED, AND THERE'S
A BURIAL INSIDE OF IT.
IF YOU LOOK
AT A MESOAMERICAN PYRAMID,
IT'S MUCH MORE COMPLICATED.
STEPS GO UP THE SIDES
AND LEAD TO A FLAT PLATFORM
ON THE TOP.
SO IT SEEMS TO BE
THAT THERE'S ACTIVITY,
PERHAPS RITUAL ACTIVITY,
HAPPENING ON TOP
OF THIS PYRAMID.
AND I CAN SEE A PLAZA
OUT IN FRONT,
SO THAT THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN
PEOPLE VIEWING UP THE PYRAMID,
LOOKING AT THE RITUAL UP ON TOP.
THESE RITUALS WERE PERFORMED
TO APPEASE THE GODS...
BY MAKING OFFERINGS OF FOOD
AND EVEN HUMAN BLOOD.
THIS IS CALLED
AUTOSACRIFICE, RIGHT?
YEAH. YEAH. EXACTLY.
THIS IMAGE DEPICTS A NOBLEWOMAN
PULLING A ROPE OF THORNS THROUGH
A PIERCING IN HER TONGUE.
THE BLOOD FROM THIS
AGONIZING PROCEDURE
WAS COLLECTED IN BOWLS
FILLED WITH BARK PAPER.
THE BLOOD-SOAKED BARK
WAS THEN BURNED,
A RITUAL GESTURE ALLOWING
THE BLOOD TO REACH THE GODS,
CONNECTING THE EARTH
WITH THE HEAVENS.
THE CEREMONIES PERFORMED
ON THESE PYRAMIDS
WERE THOUGHT TO BE CRITICAL
TO THE SUCCESS AND CONTINUATION
OF THE MAYAN UNIVERSE.
COMING UP, PYRAMIDS AS THE SITES
OF DEADLY RITUALS.
Cooney: OUTSIDE MEXICO CITY
ARE SOME OF THE OLDEST PYRAMIDS
IN THE NEW WORLD.
THEY'RE NEARLY 2,000 YEARS OLD.
THEY'RE THE CORNERSTONES
OF AN ANCIENT URBAN CENTER
KNOWN AS TEOTIHUACáN.
RIGHT NOW,
I'M IN THE LARGEST
ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
IN MESOAMERICA.
THIS PLACE IS HUGE.
IT STRETCHES
OVER 11 SQUARE MILES.
AND IT'S FILLED WITH PYRAMIDS
AND ANCIENT
RESIDENTIAL COMPLEXES.
AT ONE TIME,
THE CITY'S POPULATION MAY HAVE
NUMBERED OVER 200,000.
BUT WE KNOW SO LITTLE
ABOUT THE PEOPLE WHO LIVED HERE.
WE DON'T KNOW
WHAT LANGUAGE THEY SPOKE.
WE DON'T EVEN KNOW
WHAT THEY CALLED IT.
THE PEOPLE WHO CAME LATER...
THEY CALLED IT TEOTIHUACáN,
WHICH MEANS "THE PLACE
WHERE THE GODS WERE BORN."
WE KNOW FEW DETAILS
ABOUT THE PEOPLE OF THIS CITY,
BUT THERE'S ONE FACT
WE'RE SURE OF...
THEY PRACTICED VIOLENT RITUALS.
NOW, ARCHAEOLOGISTS
HAVE FOUND SKELETONS
THAT HAVE ARMS BOUND
BEHIND THEIR BACKS
BURIED
IN THE TEMPLE FOUNDATIONS,
SO IT'S POSSIBLE THAT THEY WERE
ACTUALLY EXECUTING PEOPLE
TO SANCTIFY THESE PYRAMIDS.
NOW, THE PROBLEM WITH THIS PLACE
IS THAT THE HIEROGLYPHS
ARE REALLY STRANGE.
THEY'RE UNREADABLE.
BUT THE AZTECS,
WHO CONQUERED THIS AREA
AROUND THE YEAR 1300,
PERFORMED SIMILAR SACRIFICES
AT THEIR PYRAMIDS,
AND THEY LEFT BEHIND
CLEAR DOCUMENTATION
OF THE DETAILS AND PURPOSE
OF THESE RITUALS.
IN THE MIDDLE OF MEXICO CITY
LIE THE RUINS OF TLATELOLCO,
A HUGE ANCIENT CITY AT THE HEART
OF THE AZTEC EMPIRE.
DURING THE 14th
AND 15th CENTURIES,
THE CITY SAT ON AN ISLAND
IN A LAKE CALLED TEXCOCO.
IT WAS CONNECTED TO THE MAINLAND
BY A COMPLEX SERIES OF BRIDGES
AND CAUSEWAYS.
TLATELOLCO HAD
A BUSTLING MARKETPLACE,
SERVING THE ENTIRE REGION,
WHERE VENDORS TRADED
IN JADE, ANIMAL HIDES,
POTTERY, AND EVEN SLAVES.
AT THE CITY CENTER
WAS A MASSIVE PYRAMID,
A VITAL COMPONENT OF AZTEC LIFE
AND RELIGION.
ARCHAEOLOGIST DR. MICHAEL SMITH
AND DR. SALVADOR GUIL'LIEM
ARE EXPERTS ON THE AZTECS.
UNLIKE EGYPTIAN KINGS, WHO EACH
WANTED THEIR OWN PYRAMID,
AZTEC RULERS ADDED NEW LAYERS
TO EXISTING BUILDINGS.
THESE PYRAMIDS STARTED OUT
AS SMALL STRUCTURES.
BUT, OVER GENERATIONS,
THEY GREW TALLER
AS NEW LEADERS
LEFT THEIR PERSONAL MARKS
ON THE SACRED GEOGRAPHY.
IN TLATELOLCO, THE RESULT
WAS A PYRAMID 14 STORIES TALL.
EACH LEVEL
OF THE PYRAMID HERE...
THERE'S SEVEN DIFFERENT STAGES
THEY'VE IDENTIFIED,
AND EACH STAGE WAS INAUGURATED.
IT WAS INAUGURATED
WITH A BIG DEDICATION CEREMONY
THAT INCLUDED SPEECHES
AND PROCESSIONS AND MUSIC
AND BIG GATHERINGS AND FEASTS
AND HOLY MEALS
AND INVOLVED SACRIFICE,
SO THAT WAS PART
OF THE DEDICATION
FOR EACH STAGE OF THE PYRAMID.
AND EVERYBODY CAME
AND WATCHED THAT MOMENT?
OH, YEAH.
THE AZTECS
DEPICTED THESE RITUALS
IN ANCIENT PAINTED BOOKS
CALLED CODICES.
THE RITUAL CODICES
SHOW OFFERINGS.
THEY SHOW PRIESTS DOING
VARIOUS KINDS OF RITUALS.
AND THEY SHOW
CASES OF SACRIFICE.
SO THEY ACTUALLY SHOW
THE HEART GETTING CUT OUT
OR THE MOMENT OF INCISION.
YES. OH, YEAH.
AT THE TOP OF THE TEMPLE
WOULD BE AN ALTAR.
THE PERSON WOULD BE STRETCHED
OUT ON THEIR BACK.
THE ASSISTANTS WOULD HOLD
THE ARMS AND THE LEGS,
CUT OPEN THE CHEST
AND SEVER THE ARTERIES
AND PULL OUT THE HEART.
AND THEY TOOK THE HEART
AND HELD IT UP
TO DEDICATE IT TO THE GODS,
AND THEN THE BODY
WAS THROWN DOWN.
DO THEY GIVE A REASON
IN THE CODICES?
ANY WRITTEN ACCOUNT
OF A SACRIFICE
SAYS THE REASON
WAS TO PLEASE THE GODS,
BUT THERE WAS ALSO A SOCIAL
AND POLITICAL CONTEXT.
IT WAS SHOWING THE POWER
OF THE RULER.
YOU'D HAVE HUGE CROWDS
GATHERED IN A PLAZA,
AND THEY COULD SEE,
AT THE TOP OF THE PYRAMID,
THE SACRIFICE GOING ON.
IT WOULD HAVE SENT A MESSAGE
OF TERROR AND FEAR,
AND IT WAS A MEANS
OF SOCIAL CONTROL.
SO THERE'S
A POLITICAL ELEMENT HERE.
A DEFINITE POLITICAL ELEMENT
TO IT.
THE PYRAMIDS OF EGYPT
AND MESOAMERICA
WERE BUILT TO MAKE CLEAR
WHO HELD POLITICAL POWER
AND ALSO AS MONUMENTS TO DEATH.
BUT OTHER CULTURES BUILT
PYRAMIDS DEDICATED TO LIFE.
SRI LANKA IS AN ISLAND NATION
OFF THE COAST OF INDIA.
IT'S HOME TO TALL, DECORATED
PYRAMIDS CALLED GOPURAMS.
BUILT AT ENTRANCES
TO HINDU TEMPLES,
THESE MONUMENTAL TOWERS
DOT THE SRI LANKAN SKYLINE.
THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF DEITIES
IN THE HINDU FAITH,
AND EACH GOPURAM IS COVERED
WITH SCULPTURES
OF THE PARTICULAR GODS WORSHIPED
WITHIN THAT TEMPLE.
IN THE CAPITAL CITY OF COLOMBO,
D.M. SWANINATHAN IS A PATRON
OF THE SRI PONNAMBALAWANESWARAR
TEMPLE,
DEDICATED TO THE HINDU GOD
OF CREATION.
SO IT'S A REPETITION OF THE GOD
WHOSE TEMPLE IT IS.
Swaninathan: THAT'S RIGHT.
AND IT'S REPEATED AGAIN
AND AGAIN AND AGAIN,
SMALLER AS IT GOES UP.
EXACTLY. EXACTLY.
ALL OVER THE COUNTRY,
THESE TOWERS CAN BE SEEN
FROM MILES AWAY,
BECKONING HINDU WORSHIPERS
INTO THE TEMPLES.
[ BELL RINGING ]
[ CHANTING IN NATIVE LANGUAGE ]
THIS IS SOMETHING
I HAVEN'T SEEN BEFORE...
A PYRAMID USED AS A GATEWAY,
A GATEWAY INTO A SACRED SPACE.
ONCE YOU WALK THROUGH IT
AND UNDERNEATH IT,
YOU'RE HERE.
YOU'RE IN A SACRED REALM
WHERE YOU GIVE OFFERINGS
AND PRAYERS TO MANY GODS.
AT THE END OF A CEREMONY,
OR PUJA,
WORSHIPERS HOLD THEIR HANDS
OVER A RITUAL FLAME
AND BRING ITS WARMTH
TO THEIR FOREHEADS
IN HOPES OF GAINING
THE GODS' BLESSINGS.
DID I DO IT RIGHT?
YES.
WHAT IS THIS?
THIS IS CALLED VIBHUTI.
VIBHUTI IS ASH USED TO MAKE
A TILAK, A RITUAL MARK.
HINDUS BELIEVE THAT THIS ASH,
MADE FROM COW DUNG,
SIGNIFIES THE IMPERMANENCE
OF THE HUMAN BODY.
THIS DOT REPRESENTS
THE EYE OF WISDOM
THROUGH WHICH PEOPLE
CAN CONNECT WITH THE DIVINE
AND FIND NIRVANA.
THE GOPURAMS OF SRI LANKA
AND THE PYRAMIDS OF MESOAMERICA
AND EGYPT
WERE BUILT
THOUSANDS OF MILES APART
BY PEOPLE UNCONNECTED
HISTORICALLY OR CULTURALLY.
AND ALTHOUGH THEY DIDN'T SERVE
THE SAME FUNCTION,
THEY WERE ALL ROUGHLY
THE SAME SHAPE.
WHAT IS IT ABOUT THIS SHAPE
THAT HOLDS SO MUCH MEANING?
NEXT, THE MOTIVES AND OBSESSIONS
OF THE WORLD'S
FIRST PYRAMID BUILDERS...
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
Cooney: FOR CENTURIES,
PEOPLE HAVE WONDERED
IF THERE'S
A MYSTERIOUS CONNECTION
BETWEEN THE PYRAMIDS
OF DIFFERENT CULTURES
ALL AROUND THE WORLD.
AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED,
THERE AREN'T MYSTICAL
OR SUPERNATURAL LINKS,
BUT THERE ARE COMMON FEATURES.
THE RULERS WHO BUILT THEM
WANTED TALL MONUMENTS
THAT WOULD LAST
AND WERE HAMPERED
BY THE LIMITATIONS
OF ANCIENT ENGINEERING.
WITHOUT MODERN TECHNOLOGY,
SIMPLE PHYSICS DICTATED
A STRUCTURE
WIDE AT THE BASE
AND NARROW AT THE TOP.
BUT THIS SHAPE ALSO REFLECTED
THE SPIRITUAL BELIEFS
OF THE BUILDERS.
TO EXPLORE THESE BELIEFS,
WE NEED TO GO BACK
TO THE VERY FIRST PYRAMIDS.
ABOUT 20 MILES SOUTH OF CAIRO
LIES THE ANCIENT BURIAL GROUND
OF SAQQâRA.
IT'S HERE THAT THE PYRAMID SHAPE
WAS FIRST CONCEIVED
AND CONSTRUCTED
NEARLY 5,000 YEARS AGO.
BEFORE THE EGYPTIANS STARTED
BUILDING PYRAMIDS,
KINGS WERE BURIED
IN SMALLER, SQUAT BUILDINGS
CALLED MASTABAS.
THEY'RE LOW, RECTANGULAR
STRUCTURES WITH ANGLED SIDES.
BUT AN EARLY EGYPTIAN KING
NAMED DJOSER
WANTED HIS TOMB TO BE GRANDER,
HIGHER, CLOSER TO THE GODS.
AFTER BUILDING A HUGE MASTABA,
DJOSER DECIDED TO KEEP ON GOING,
STACKING ONE MASTABA
ON TOP OF ANOTHER,
SIX IN ALL,
UNTIL THIS STRUCTURE EMERGED.
DJOSER'S HISTORIC EFFORT
IS CALLED THE STEPPED PYRAMID.
THIS INNOVATION WAS CONSIDERED
SO SPECTACULAR BY THE EGYPTIANS
THAT DJOSER'S ARCHITECT,
IMHOTEP,
WAS LATER REVERED AS A GOD.
DATING BACK TO EGYPT'S
OLD KINGDOM, AROUND 2650 BCE,
IT STANDS AS THE FIRST
MONUMENTAL STONE BUILDING
IN HUMAN HISTORY.
THE PROCESS CREATED A SHAPE
THAT RESONATED WITH DJOSER,
A MONUMENTAL STRUCTURE
RISING INTO THE SKY.
BASED ON ANCIENT
RELIGIOUS TEXTS,
IT SEEMS CLEAR
THAT THESE MASSIVE BUILDINGS
WERE SEEN AS STAIRWAYS
TO THE HEAVENS
FOR THE KINGS TO ASCEND.
DJOSER MIGHT HAVE BEEN CONFIDENT
THAT THE STEPPED PYRAMID
WOULD SECURE HIS PLACE
IN THE AFTERLIFE.
BUT DJOSER'S DESCENDANT SNEFRU
DEMANDED A MORE ADVANCED DESIGN,
A PYRAMID
WITH PERFECTLY STRAIGHT SIDES.
HIS MONUMENT BEGAN
AS A TALL STEPPED PYRAMID.
THEN THE STEPS WERE FILLED
IN WITH LIMESTONE CASING STONES
TO CREATE SMOOTH SIDES.
BUT AT SOME POINT,
THE OUTER STONES
MUST HAVE COME CRASHING DOWN.
ALL THAT REMAINS IS
THE INNER CORE WE SEE TODAY.
WE DON'T KNOW WHEN IT COLLAPSED.
IT COULD HAVE BEEN
DURING HIS REIGN
OR MAYBE CENTURIES AFTER.
IT'S POSSIBLE THAT THE DESIGN
WAS SO FLAWED
THAT THE ENTIRE PROJECT
WAS ABANDONED.
BUT IT'S MORE LIKELY
THAT CONSTRUCTION WAS COMPLETED
AND THAT THIS WAS THE FIRST
TRUE STRAIGHT-SIDED PYRAMID.
WHILE EGYPTOLOGISTS AREN'T SURE
IF IT FELL DURING HIS LIFETIME,
WE DO SUSPECT THAT SOMETHING
ABOUT THIS PYRAMID
DIDN'T PLEASE SNEFRU,
BECAUSE HE BEGAN A SECOND ONE
A FEW MILES SOUTH AT DAHSHUR.
THIS NEW PYRAMID
STARTED OUT AT AN ANGLE
OF ABOUT 54 DEGREES.
BUT CRACKS IN THE BURIAL CHAMBER
CAUSED ENGINEERS
TO ADJUST THE ANGLE
TO 43 DEGREES
FOR THE REMAINDER
OF THE PROJECT,
GIVING THE PYRAMID
THIS ODD SHAPE
AND A FITTING NAME...
THE BENT PYRAMID.
EVEN THOUGH THIS PYRAMID
HAS A CHANGE IN ANGLE,
THE SURVIVING STRUCTURE
MAKES IT CLEAR
THAT SNEFRU WAS AGAIN
ATTEMPTING TO CONSTRUCT
A SMOOTH,
STRAIGHT-SIDED PYRAMID.
I'M AT THE BASE OF SNEFRU'S
BENT PYRAMID,
AND YOU CAN SEE HERE
THE LOCAL LIMESTONE
THAT'S THE CORE
OF THIS STRUCTURE.
NOW, THIS PYRAMID IS UNUSUAL
BECAUSE YOU HAVE
A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT
OF CASING STONE STILL ATTACHED.
BECAUSE IT'S LEANING
IN A LITTLE BIT,
IT'S ALMOST LOCKED
INTO THE STRUCTURE.
YOU CAN IMAGINE WHEN ALL
OF THIS WAS FIRST PUT ON.
WHEN LIMESTONE IS FIRST CUT,
IT'S BRIGHT WHITE,
SO WHEN THIS WAS FIRST BUILT,
THIS THING WOULD HAVE BEEN
GLEAMING WHITE IN THE SUN.
SNEFRU HAD BUILT
TWO GIANT PYRAMIDS,
BUT THE EVIDENCE SUGGESTS
HE WASN'T SATISFIED WITH EITHER.
SNEFRU, PERHAPS ONE
OF THE MOST DRIVEN BUILDERS
EGYPT HAS EVER SEEN,
BUILT A THIRD PYRAMID
JUST OVER THERE.
THIS TIME, SNEFRU CONSTRUCTED
THE ENTIRE PYRAMID
AT 43 DEGREES,
THE SAME ANGLE
AS THE CORRECTED TOP SECTION
OF THE BENT PYRAMID.
THE RESULT
WAS THE MAGNIFICENT RED PYRAMID.
SNEFRU HAD FINALLY DONE IT...
A FLAWLESS
STRAIGHT-SIDED PYRAMID.
BUT WHY WAS HE OBSESSED
WITH PERFECTING
THE PYRAMID'S SHAPE
WE NOW ASSOCIATE
WITH ANCIENT EGYPT?
WAS THERE A MOTIVATION
BEYOND ARCHITECTURAL EXCELLENCE?
THE ANSWER LIES
IN THE EGYPTIAN RELIGION.
NEAR THE ANCIENT CITY OF THEBES,
THERE'S A TOMB BUILT
MORE THAN A THOUSAND YEARS
AFTER THE RED PYRAMID
FOR A GOVERNOR NAMED RAMOSE.
CARVED ON THE WALLS ARE IMAGES
THAT SHOW THE IMPORTANCE
OF THE SUN
IN THE EGYPTIAN RELIGION.
SO, JUST LOOK AT THIS SHAPE.
AT THE VERY TOP,
YOU HAVE THE SOLAR DISK.
AND COMING OUT FROM THAT
IS LIGHT,
THE LIGHT OF THE SUN.
AND IT'S COMING OUT IN RAYS...
RAYS THAT COME OUT AT AN ANGLE.
EACH ONE ENDS IN A HUMAN HAND,
AND THOSE HANDS HOLD THE SIGN
OF LIFE AND THE SIGN OF POWER...
SUN EQUALS LIFE.
IF YOU LOOK AT THIS
IN TWO DIMENSIONS,
IT'S ANGLED OUT LIKE A TRIANGLE.
BUT IN THREE DIMENSIONS,
IT COULD BE VERY EASILY
UNDERSTOOD AS A PYRAMID.
IN ANCIENT EGYPT,
THE SUN GOD WAS BELIEVED TO DIE
AND BE REBORN EVERY DAY.
THE KING WAS CONSIDERED TO BE
THE OFFSPRING OF THE SUN GOD,
AND HIS DEAD BODY WAS ALSO
THOUGHT TO BE REBORN EVERY DAY.
PYRAMIDS, STONE REPRESENTATIONS
OF THE SUN AND ITS POWER,
WERE THE MECHANISM
FOR HIS REBIRTH.
SO, FOR THE EGYPTIAN KINGS,
THE STAKES WERE EXTREMELY HIGH.
THEY WANTED A PERFECT PYRAMID
TO GUARANTEE THAT THIS SACRED
DAILY CYCLE WOULD CONTINUE.
NEXT, SNEFRU'S DESCENDANTS
REACH EVEN HIGHER
IN THEIR QUEST FOR ETERNAL LIFE.
Cooney:
THESE ARE THE PYRAMIDS AT GIZA,
BUILT BY SNEFRU'S DESCENDANTS
IN THE ONGOING ROYAL QUEST
FOR THE PERFECT PYRAMID.
OF ALL THE ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS
THAT BUILT PYRAMIDS,
ONLY THE EGYPTIANS WERE DRIVEN
TO CONSTRUCT THEM
WITH STRAIGHT SIDES...
SMOOTH STONES THAT SYMBOLIZED
THE SUN'S RAYS.
THEY ALSO POSITIONED
THESE PYRAMIDS
IN A PRECISE
NORTH-SOUTH-EAST-WEST ALIGNMENT,
ORIENTING THE DEAD KING INSIDE
TOWARDS THE EAST
SO THAT HE COULD BE REBORN EACH
MORNING WITH THE RISING SUN.
THE TALLEST PYRAMID HERE AT GIZA
IS THE TALLEST ON EARTH...
50 STORIES HIGH.
IT WAS BUILT
BY SNEFRU'S SON KHUFU
AND IS KNOWN
AS THE GREAT PYRAMID.
KHUFU'S PYRAMID AT GIZA
IS PERHAPS THE MOST ICONIC
BUILDING IN THE WORLD.
IT'S THE LAST OF THE ANCIENT
WONDERS STILL STANDING,
AND IT'S BEEN THE LARGEST
MAN-MADE STRUCTURE
FOR MOST OF HISTORY SINCE ITS
COMPLETION 4,500 YEARS AGO.
THE BEST-PRESERVED PYRAMID
AT GIZA
WAS BUILT BY KHUFU'S SON KHAFRA.
THE REMNANTS
OF THE CASING STONES
STILL GIVE A SENSE OF THE
ORIGINAL BRILLIANT WHITE COLOR
OF THESE MONUMENTS.
AS THE ANCIENT EGYPTIAN
CIVILIZATION DECLINED,
THIS CASING STONE
WAS QUARRIED AWAY
TO BUILD PYRAMIDS OF LATER KINGS
AND MUCH OF MEDIEVAL CAIRO.
ALL THAT'S LEFT
ARE THE LAST FEW BLOCKS
AT THE TOP OF KHAFRA'S PYRAMID.
THE LAST BUILT OF THE THREE
PYRAMIDS IS ALSO THE SMALLEST.
IT HOLDS THE TOMB OF MENKAURA,
SNEFRU'S GREAT-GRANDSON.
TOGETHER, THESE PYRAMIDS STAND
AS THE ULTIMATE EXPRESSION
OF THE RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL
DESIRE OF THE EGYPTIAN KINGS
TO BE CONNECTED TO THE SUN GOD
IN LIFE AND AFTER DEATH.
A DIFFERENT CULTURE
SEES THE PYRAMIDS
AS A MEANS TO THE ULTIMATE GOAL
OF THEIR RELIGION...
TO REACH NIRVANA.
AT BUDDHIST TEMPLES
THROUGHOUT ASIA,
WE ALSO FIND
MONUMENTAL STRUCTURES...
WIDE AT THE BOTTOM AND NARROW
AT THE TOP...
PYRAMIDLIKE SHAPES
BUT WITH ROUNDED SIDES.
THESE MONUMENTS ARE
USUALLY KNOWN AS STUPAS.
BUT HERE IN SRI LANKA,
THEY'RE CALLED DAGOBAS.
THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT
UNDERSTANDINGS OF THIS SHAPE.
SOME PEOPLE SEE THIS SHAPE
AS THE BODY OF THE BUDDHA,
SITTING CROSS-LEGGED,
MEDITATING,
WITH THE SPIRE AT THE TOP BEING
THE FIRE OF HIS ENLIGHTENMENT.
OTHERS SEE IT REPRESENTING
THE ENTIRE COSMOS
OF THE FIVE BUDDHIST ELEMENTS,
WITH EARTH AT THE BOTTOM
AND THEN WATER, FIRE, AIR,
AND NOTHINGNESS AT THE TOP.
THE DAGOBAS HERE IN THE
SRI LANKAN CITY OF ANURADHAPURA
DATE BACK TO AROUND 200 BCE.
LIKE MANY
OF THE WORLD'S PYRAMIDS,
THESE DAGOBAS WERE ALSO MEANT
TO DISPLAY THE POWER
OF THE KINGS WHO BUILT THEM,
BUT THEY'RE NOT TOMBS.
THESE ARE SOLID BRICK MONUMENTS,
BUT THERE ARE ALSO
SMALL TREASURE ROOMS INSIDE,
BUILT TO HOLD THE RELICS OF
A HOLY PERSON OR OF THE BUDDHA.
THOUSANDS OF PILGRIMS FLOCK
TO THESE DAGOBAS EVERY YEAR,
BUT THE HIDDEN ROOMS
HOLDING THE SACRED RELICS
ARE NOT OPEN TO THEM,
SO PEOPLE PRAY AT SHRINES
AROUND THE STUPA'S EDGES.
THE LARGEST DAGOBA HERE
IS THE JETAVANA DAGOBA,
CURRENTLY UNDERGOING
RESTORATION.
WHEN IT WAS FIRST BUILT
IN THE 3rd CENTURY,
THIS DAGOBA WAS THE THIRD
TALLEST STRUCTURE ON EARTH,
SURPASSED ONLY BY THE
TWO LARGEST PYRAMIDS AT GIZA.
IT'S BELIEVED THAT THERE'S
A CHAMBER DEEP INSIDE
THAT HOLDS THE BELT
OF THE BUDDHA,
BUT SO FAR
ARCHAEOLOGISTS HAVE BEEN UNABLE
TO LOCATE THIS SACRED TREASURE.
PROFESSOR P.B. MANDAWALA
IS THE CHIEF CONSERVATOR
OF THIS DAGOBA.
SO WE KNOW THAT THERE'S
A RELIQUARY CHAMBER IN HERE.
YES, YES.
BUT NO ONE'S FOUND IT.
NO ONE KNOWS WHERE IT IS.
NO. NO, NO ONE KNOWS.
JUST LIKE THE EGYPTIANS,
THE BUILDERS OF THESE MONUMENTS
PROBABLY WENT THROUGH PERIODS
OF TRIAL AND ERROR,
TRYING TO CREATE
A PERFECT SHAPE.
THE BUILDING TECHNIQUES
WERE SO SOPHISTICATED
THAT, WHEN THE RESTORATION TEAM
ATTEMPTED TO RECONSTRUCT
THE DAGOBA,
IT TOOK THEM YEARS
OF EXPERIMENTATION
TO MATCH THE STRENGTH
OF THE ORIGINAL BRICKS.
NOW, WHEN YOUR WORK
IS FINISHED HERE,
THE PILGRIMS WILL COME BACK
AND PEOPLE WILL AGAIN
DO THE PUJA
AND GIVE OFFERINGS
TO THE BUDDHA.
SOON, THE JETAVANA DAGOBA WILL
AGAIN BE AN ACTIVE HOLY SITE,
A PYRAMID INSPIRING WORSHIPERS
TO EXPRESS THEIR DEVOTION
TO THE BUDDHA.
COMING UP NEXT,
PYRAMIDS BUILT TO CONTROL NATURE
AND APPEASE ANGRY GODS.
Cooney: NEAR THE MEXICAN TOWN
OF CHOLULA,
A SMALL MOUNTAIN
DOMINATES THE LANDSCAPE.
IT APPEARS TO BE A GRASSY HILL
WITH A CHURCH ON TOP.
BUT ON CLOSER INSPECTION,
YOU REALIZE THIS IS NOT AT ALL
WHAT IT SEEMS.
THIS HILL IS
ACTUALLY THE CHOLULA PYRAMID.
BY MASS, IT'S THE LARGEST
PYRAMID EVER BUILT.
CONSTRUCTION BEGAN
NEARLY 2,000 YEARS AGO
AND WAS CONTINUED BY A LONG LINE
OF DIFFERENT
MESOAMERICAN CULTURES.
THE PYRAMID WAS ABANDONED
IN THE 1200s
AND BECAME OVERGROWN
WITH GRASS AND SHRUBS.
IN THE 16th CENTURY,
SPANISH MISSIONARIES
BUILT A CATHOLIC CHURCH
ON THE SUMMIT
TO CLAIM THE SACRED SPACE.
BUT WHY DID THE GROUPS
WHO LIVED HERE
BUILD SUCH A MASSIVE STRUCTURE?
ARCHAEOLOGIST GABRIELA URUÑUELA
BELIEVES THE PYRAMID
WAS INTENDED TO HONOR
A NEARBY ACTIVE VOLCANO
CALLED POPOCATéPETL.
Cooney: THIS PYRAMID IS
VERY CLOSE TO THE VOLCANO,
AND YOU HAVE PYRAMID AND VOLCANO
SOMEHOW IN CONNECTION?
YEAH, WELL, PYRAMIDS WERE
REPLICAS OF SACRED MOUNTAINS,
AND THE OBVIOUS
SACRED MOUNTAIN HERE
IS THE POPOCATéPETL
ON THE HORIZON.
I MEAN,
IT'S VERY EASY TO IDENTIFY.
SO WE THINK
THAT THE PYRAMID WAS BUILT
AFTER THE VOLCANO MADE A BIG
ERUPTION IN THE 1st CENTURY.
AND POPOCATéPETL IS A MOUNTAIN
THAT THE ANCIENT PEOPLES THOUGHT
WAS ASSOCIATED
WITH THE RAIN GOD?
WE ARE TALKING
ABOUT OTHER CULTURAL SOCIETIES
THAT NEEDED THAT RAIN
FOR THEIR SURVIVAL.
THE MOUNTAINS WERE IMPORTANT
BECAUSE OF THEIR CONNECTION
WITH RAIN AND WATERS,
BUT ALSO BECAUSE OF THEIR
CONNECTION TO THE UNDERWORLD
WHERE THE ANCESTORS RESIDE,
SO PYRAMIDS INVOLVED
SEVERAL DIFFERENT MEANINGS
IN JUST ONE BUILDING.
LIKE THE AZTEC PYRAMID
OF TLATELOLCO,
THIS STRUCTURE
WAS BUILT IN LAYERS.
TO GET A BETTER SENSE OF ITS
SIZE AND CONSTRUCTION,
GABRIELA LEADS ME INTO
THE PYRAMID'S COMPLEX INTERIOR.
Cooney: ALL OF THESE TUNNELS
WERE BUILT
BY ARCHAEOLOGISTS, RIGHT?
THESE ARE NOT ANCIENT TUNNELS.
YEAH, IT'S WHAT WAS NEEDED
TO TRY TO UNDERSTAND
THE SUBSTRUCTURES
OF THE PYRAMID.
HOW MANY LAYERS ARE THERE?
THERE WERE AT LEAST
EIGHT DIFFERENT PYRAMIDS,
ONE ON TOP OF THE OTHER,
THAT WERE BUILT
FROM THE 1st CENTURY
UNTIL PROBABLY 700 OR 800 A.D.
A SUCCESSION OF RULERS
ENLARGED THE CHOLULA PYRAMID
TO PROCLAIM OR JUSTIFY
THEIR POWER
AND TO LINK THEIR REIGN
TO SOMETHING LARGER
THAN THEMSELVES.
WE THINK THAT IT'S TRYING TO
REPRESENT GENERAL ANCESTORS...
NOT THE ANCESTORS OF ONE KING
OR ONE LEADER IN PARTICULAR,
BUT AN IDEA THAT COULD BE SHARED
FOR ALL THE POPULATION.
WHILE THE PEOPLE OF CHOLULA
BELIEVED A PYRAMID
IN THE SHAPE OF A VOLCANO
HONORED THEIR MOUNTAIN GOD...
3,000 MILES TO THE SOUTH,
OTHER PYRAMID BUILDERS
HONOR A MOUNTAIN GOD
IN A DIFFERENT WAY.
FOR OVER 500 YEARS,
RULERS OF THE MOCHE PEOPLE
BUILT PYRAMIDS
ALONG THE PERUVIAN COAST.
AT A SITE KNOWN AS EL BRUJO,
AN 1,800-YEAR-OLD MOCHE PYRAMID
IS UNDERGOING EXCAVATION.
AT THE TOP OF THE MONUMENT,
THERE'S A RELIEF
THAT TELLS US A LOT ABOUT THE
MOTIVATION OF THESE BUILDERS.
THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN OPEN
TO THE AIR.
IT WOULD HAVE BEEN A PATIO
ON THE VERY TOP OF THIS PYRAMID.
AND THIS IMAGE HERE IS A GOD
WHO'S KNOWN AS THE DECAPITATOR.
OTHER ANDEAN ARCHAEOLOGISTS
CALL THIS
THE GOD OF THE MOUNTAIN.
HE'S GOT A FRIGHTENING FACE,
WHICH, UNFORTUNATELY,
IS MOSTLY MISSING HERE,
BUT IT WOULD HAVE
BARED ITS TEETH
AND BEEN A FELINE SORT OF FACE
WITH GREAT BIG EYES,
FABULOUS HEADDRESS.
AND THE REALLY COOL THING
ABOUT THIS
IS THAT HE'S GOT SPIDER'S LEGS.
SO WE HAVE THREE HERE,
THREE HERE,
THREE HERE, AND THREE HERE.
AND EACH OF HIS HANDS...
VERY STYLIZED HANDS,
NOT VERY NATURALISTIC...
ARE COMING OUT TO THE SIDES.
OVER HERE, HE'S HOLDING A CLUB,
SO HE'S SHOWING HIS POWER
AND HIS STRENGTH.
OVER HERE... THIS IS WHERE IT
GETS REALLY GRUESOME...
HE'S HOLDING THE HEAD
OF A DECAPITATED ENEMY.
NOW, THE FACT THAT THIS IS ON
A PYRAMID IS REALLY SIGNIFICANT.
IF YOU WERE ONE OF THE FARMERS
WHO LIVED IN THIS ALLUVIAL PLAIN
AND YOU LOOKED UP
FROM YOUR FARMING WORK,
FIRST THING
THAT YOU WOULD SEE...
THAT PYRAMID,
THAT SYMBOL OF MIGHT,
AND THIS GOD...
WOULD HAVE BEEN
A POWER OF POLITICAL MIGHT,
A POWER OF RELIGIOUS MIGHT
THAT WAS REALLY STAMPING
HIS IMAGE ON THESE PYRAMIDS.
LIKE MANY RULERS
AROUND THE WORLD,
MOCHE LEADERS BUILT PYRAMIDS
TO LINK THEIR REIGN
TO THE POWER OF THE GODS.
NEXT, A CITY FULL OF PYRAMIDS...
...AND MODERN TECHNOLOGY
REVISITS AN ANCIENT IDEAL.
Cooney: THIS IS THE ANCIENT CITY
OF ANGKOR IN CAMBODIA.
IT'S ONE OF THE MOST ASTONISHING
ARCHITECTURAL SITES
I'VE EVER EXPLORED.
ANGKOR WAS THE CAPITAL
OF THE KHMER EMPIRE,
THE LARGEST EMPIRE
IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
BETWEEN THE 9th
AND 15th CENTURIES.
THE CITY COVERS
OVER A THOUSAND SQUARE MILES,
ALMOST AS BIG
AS MODERN-DAY LOS ANGELES.
AND IT'S THE LARGEST
PREINDUSTRIAL CITY
KNOWN TO ARCHAEOLOGISTS.
ANGKOR IS FILLED WITH PYRAMIDS,
AND THESE PYRAMIDS WEREN'T BUILT
FOR JUST ONE PURPOSE.
THEY COMBINED SEVERAL
THAT MAY SOUND FAMILIAR.
THEY REPLICATE MOUNTAINS...
INVITE WORSHIP...
AND FURTHER
THE DIVINE ASPIRATIONS
OF THE KINGS WHO BUILT THEM.
ALL OF THESE PYRAMIDS INVOLVE
AN ELEMENT OF CONNECTION
BETWEEN THE EARTH AND SKY,
BETWEEN HUMANS AND THE GODS.
THE PYRAMID-SHAPED TEMPLES
AT ANGKOR
WERE BUILT BY HINDU KINGS
TO LINK THEMSELVES WITH SHIVA,
THE CREATOR GOD.
IN THE HINDU
AND BUDDHIST RELIGIONS,
A MYTHICAL MOUNTAIN CALLED MERU
IS BELIEVED TO BE THE CENTER
OF BOTH THE PHYSICAL
AND SPIRITUAL UNIVERSE.
MOUNT MERU IS ALSO THOUGHT
TO BE THE HOME OF THE GODS.
THE PYRAMIDS IN ANGKOR
REPRESENT THIS SACRED MOUNTAIN
AND PROVIDE A WAY FOR THE RULERS
TO REACH UP TO THE HEAVENS
AND ATTAIN THE STATUS
OF GOD-KINGS.
MORE THAN ANY OTHER PLACE
IN ANGKOR,
THIS BUILDING HAS
A CLEAR PYRAMIDAL SHAPE.
DEDICATED TO THE GOD SHIVA,
IT'S CALLED BAKSEI CHAMKRONG,
AND IT'S ONE OF THE OLDEST
STONE PYRAMIDS AT ANGKOR,
BUILT IN THE YEAR 948.
THIS DESIGN IS VERY FAMILIAR.
THE BROAD, SQUARE LOWER LEVEL
WITH SMALLER STEPS STACKED
SUCCESSIVELY ATOP ONE ANOTHER...
IT LOOKS JUST LIKE THE EARLIEST
EGYPTIAN PYRAMIDS.
AND JUST LIKE IN EGYPT,
SUCCESSIVE KINGS EACH BUILT
THEIR OWN PYRAMID AT ANGKOR,
HOPING TO ENHANCE THE CONNECTION
BETWEEN THEIR POLITICAL POWER
AND THE REALM OF THE GODS.
THEY PLAYED WITH THE SHAPES,
ADDING SPIRES, CREATING TOWERS,
EVEN CONSTRUCTING PYRAMIDS
ON TOP OF ONE ANOTHER.
THE CULMINATION OF THESE EFFORTS
IS THE TEMPLE COMPLEX WITHIN
THE CITY KNOWN AS ANGKOR WAT...
WAT MEANING "TEMPLE"
IN THE KHMER LANGUAGE.
BUILT IN THE 12th CENTURY
AS THE KING'S
OFFICIAL STATE TEMPLE,
ANGKOR WAT WAS DESIGNED
TO REPRESENT
THE ENTIRE HINDU COSMOS...
WITH THE TOWERS BEING
THE PEAKS OF MOUNT MERU
AND THE SURROUNDING MOATS
SIGNIFYING
THE WATERS OF CREATION.
THE MAGNIFICENT PYRAMIDS
IN THE CITY OF ANGKOR
NOT ONLY OFFERED SPIRITUAL
CONNECTION FOR THE PEOPLE.
THEY ALSO DISPLAYED THE GODLIKE
STATUS OF THE KING,
AS PYRAMIDS HAVE
AROUND THE WORLD
AND THROUGHOUT HISTORY.
EVEN TODAY, A NEW GENERATION
OF PYRAMID BUILDERS
CONTINUES THE JOURNEY
STARTED CENTURIES AGO.
PIERCING THE SKYLINE
OF DOWNTOWN DUBAI,
A NEW MONUMENTAL BUILDING
IS NEARLY COMPLETE.
BURJ DUBAI
IS OVER 170 STORIES HIGH,
BUILT WITH THE FAMILIAR
TRIANGULAR SHAPE...
WIDE AT THE BASE WITH TAPERED
SIDES AND NARROW AT THE TOP.
IT'S A MODERN-DAY PYRAMID
OF EPIC PROPORTIONS.
IT'S THE TALLEST STRUCTURE
ON EARTH,
CLAIMING THE TITLE HELD
BY THE GREAT PYRAMID OF GIZA
FOR ALMOST 4,000 YEARS.
ARCHITECTS TODAY AREN'T LIMITED
BY THE BUILDING TECHNOLOGY
OF THE PAST,
AND THE PYRAMID SHAPE
IS NO LONGER ESSENTIAL
FOR STABILITY.
BUT THE MEANING OF BUILDING
TO THE SKY IS JUST AS POTENT.
NO ONE CAN DOUBT THE SOCIAL
OR POLITICAL POSITION
OF MEN WHO COMMISSION TOWERS
LIKE BURJ DUBAI.
PYRAMIDS HAVE ALWAYS REPRESENTED
AN ELITE PLACE IN SOCIETY.
AND NOW, EVEN WITHOUT THE DIRECT
RELIGIOUS CONNECTIONS,
BUILDINGS LIKE BURJ DUBAI
ARE STILL A VISCERAL SYMBOL
IN TERMS OF POLITICS, POWER,
AND IDEOLOGY.
PYRAMIDS ARE TANGIBLE EVIDENCE
OF UNWAVERING POLITICAL POWER...
...AND ITS ATTEMPT
TO STRETCH THE LIMITS
OF HUMAN ACHIEVEMENT...
...EVEN DARING
TO CONNECT THE EARTH...
TO THE HEAVENS.
OF THE MOST AWE-INSPIRING
STRUCTURES IN THE WORLD...
...BUILT TO CONNECT THE EARTH
WITH THE HEAVENS,
TO CELEBRATE LIFE
OR TO EXTINGUISH IT...
...PYRAMIDS...
THE SHAPE OF THE GODS.
I'M KARA COONEY, AN EGYPTOLOGIST
ON A WORLDWIDE QUEST.
I LOOK AT HUMAN BEHAVIOR,
BOTH PAST AND PRESENT,
THROUGH THE LENS
OF ANCIENT EGYPT.
AND THE MORE I TRAVEL THE WORLD,
THE MORE SIMILARITIES I SEE.
EXPLORING WHY WE ARE WHO WE ARE
OFTEN LEADS ME OUT OF EGYPT.
CAPTIONS PAID FOR BY
DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS
THESE ARE THE GREAT PYRAMIDS
OF EGYPT,
LITERALLY MAN-MADE
MOUNTAINS OF STONE.
THEY WERE INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT
TO BUILD
AND COSTLY FOR AN ANCIENT
CIVILIZATION LIKE EGYPT.
AND THIS RAISES THE QUESTION
WHY BUILD STRUCTURES OF THIS
SIZE AND OF THIS SHAPE?
SOME OF THE ANSWERS MAY LIE
IN RELIGION OR POLITICS,
BUT THE EXTRAORDINARY THING
IS THAT PYRAMIDS AREN'T UNIQUE
TO EGYPT.
ALL OVER THE GLOBE,
PEOPLE HAVE CONSTRUCTED THESE
TOWERING TRIANGULAR MONUMENTS.
THERE MUST BE POWERFUL REASONS
WHY THIS FORM APPEARS AGAIN
AND AGAIN THROUGHOUT HISTORY.
WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE
OF THE PYRAMIDS' SHAPE?
AND DOES THEIR SIMILAR DESIGN
MEAN PYRAMIDS WERE ALL BUILT
FOR THE SAME PURPOSE?
TO UNDERSTAND WHY THE EGYPTIANS
BUILT THEIR PYRAMIDS,
WE CAN START AT THE ANCIENT
BURIAL GROUND OF DAHSHUR,
ABOUT 25 MILES SOUTH OF CAIRO,
THE SITE OF ONE OF THE
BEST-PRESERVED CLASSIC PYRAMIDS.
THIS STRUCTURE, THE RED PYRAMID,
IS THE FIRST
STRAIGHT-SIDED PYRAMID
TO SURVIVE TO THE PRESENT DAY.
AT THE TIME OF ITS COMPLETION,
IT WAS THE TALLEST MAN-MADE
BUILDING IN THE WORLD,
STANDING OVER 30 STORIES HIGH.
LIKE EVERY EGYPTIAN PYRAMID,
IT PERFORMED A CLEARLY DEFINED
SACRED FUNCTION.
IT WAS THE BURIAL PLACE
FOR A KING.
THE ROYAL BURIAL CHAMBERS
WERE CONSTRUCTED
DEEP INSIDE THE PYRAMIDS.
THEN THE PASSAGEWAYS
TO THE TOMBS
WERE SKILLFULLY CONCEALED.
IT'S HARD TO IMAGINE
HOW ANCIENT WORKMEN
MANEUVERED THE KING'S COFFIN
AND ALL HIS TREASURES
THROUGH THESE NARROW,
CLAUSTROPHOBIC TUNNELS.
RIGHT NOW,
I'M IN THE BURIAL CHAMBER SUITE
OF THE RED PYRAMID,
BUILT BY SNEFRU,
AROUND 2600 BCE.
AND YOU CAN SEE IT'S ALL LINED
WITH LIMESTONE BLOCKS
IN A BEAUTIFUL CORBEL VAULTING
POINTING RIGHT UP AT THE SKY.
NOW, A PYRAMID IS MEANT
TO CONTAIN THE KING,
PROTECT THE KING,
PUT HIM INTO A DEVICE,
A TRANSFORMATIONAL DEVICE
THAT WILL TURN HIM INTO A GOD
AND THAT WILL MOVE HIM
UP INTO THE HEAVENS.
THE PURPOSE OF EGYPTIAN PYRAMIDS
WAS RELIGIOUS,
AND IT WAS IMPORTANT,
SO NO EFFORT OR EXPENSE
WAS SPARED
TO BUILD THESE STRUCTURES.
JUST CONSIDER THE EXTRAORDINARY
EXPENDITURE OF MANPOWER...
THE MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF STONE
QUARRIED AND BROUGHT
ON SLEDGES TO THIS SITE.
TENS OF THOUSANDS OF LABORERS
WERE DRAFTED FROM ALL OVER EGYPT
TO BUILD THESE ROYAL TOMBS.
BUT DID OTHER CULTURES
BUILD PYRAMIDS
FOR THE SAME REASON...
TO BURY THEIR KINGS?
TO ANSWER THAT, WE NEED TO GO
TO THE NEW WORLD,
WHERE THERE ARE ACTUALLY
MORE PYRAMIDS THAN IN EGYPT.
IN THE JUNGLES
OF SOUTHERN MEXICO
LIES THE ANCIENT MAYAN CITY
OF PALENQUE.
YOU COULDN'T FIND A PLACE
IN SHARPER CONTRAST
TO THE DRY EGYPTIAN DESERT.
PALENQUE WAS
A THRIVING URBAN CENTER,
RULED BY A SUCCESSION
OF POWERFUL KINGS
BETWEEN THE YEARS 400 AND 800.
THIS TEMPLE COMPLEX
WOULD HAVE BEEN PLASTERED
A BRILLIANT WHITE.
IT WOULD HAVE BEEN PAINTED
RED, BLUE, AND YELLOW,
SO IT WOULD HAVE LOOKED
COMPLETELY DIFFERENT
FROM WHAT WE SEE TODAY.
THIS MAYAN CITY'S LUCRATIVE
MARKETS AND RICH FARMLANDS
PROVIDED RULERS WITH THE WEALTH
TO BUILD DOZENS OF PYRAMIDS.
BUT ONLY ONE OF THEM, KNOWN AS
THE TEMPLE OF THE INSCRIPTIONS,
WAS BUILT TO HOLD
THE TOMB OF A KING.
THIS TOMB IS OFF LIMITS
TO THE PUBLIC,
BUT BENITO VENEGAS,
AN ARCHAEOLOGIST
WITH THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT,
HAS KINDLY AGREED TO ESCORT ME
INTO THE RARELY VIEWED
BURIAL CHAMBER.
SO, I WALK ACROSS HERE?
YEAH.
THIS TOMB WAS UNDISCOVERED
UNTIL 1952,
WHEN ARCHAEOLOGISTS
FOUND A STAIRCASE
HIDDEN BENEATH THE FLOOR.
WOW, THIS IS GREAT.
LOOK AT THIS.
IT MAKES THE EGYPTIAN
STAIRCASES IN PYRAMIDS
LOOK REALLY SMALL AND CAVE-Y.
THAT'S ALMOST 100 FEET...
10 STORIES.
WHOA! LOOK AT THIS!
SO, THAT'S
THE SARCOPHAGUS THERE.
IT'S BEAUTIFUL.
PAKAL ASCENDED TO THE THRONE
WHEN HE WAS ONLY 12 YEARS OLD
AND RULED UNTIL HIS DEATH
AT AGE 80,
AN ASTOUNDING LIFE-SPAN
IN THE ANCIENT WORLD.
HE WAS ONE OF THE MOST VENERATED
KINGS IN PALENQUE'S HISTORY,
LEADING THE CITY
TO REPEATED VICTORIES
THROUGH DECADES OF WAR.
IS PAKAL ACTUALLY STILL BURIED
IN HERE?
SO ALL OF THIS
IS COMPLETELY UNIQUE...
TO HAVE A BURIAL OF A KING
INSIDE OF ONE OF THESE PYRAMIDS.
THE SARCOPHAGUS ITSELF...
DOES THAT REPRESENT ANYTHING?
IN THE MAYAN RELIGION,
THE AFTERLIFE BEGINS
WITH THE SOUL'S JOURNEY
THROUGH THE UNDERWORLD.
HERE, PAKAL DESCENDS
INTO THE MOUTH
OF THE GOD OF THE UNDERWORLD.
ABOVE HIM IS
THE TREE OF THE WORLD
WITH THE CELESTIAL BIRD
AT THE VERY TOP,
REPRESENTING
THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN,
HIS ULTIMATE DESTINATION.
THIS IS THE MOST ORNATE MAYAN
SARCOPHAGUS LID EVER FOUND.
IT CLEARLY DEMONSTRATES
PAKAL'S ELEVATED STATUS
IN PALENQUE'S HISTORY.
SO, WHY WOULD PAKAL WANT TO BE
BURIED IN A PYRAMID?
SO, THIS IS A TEMPLE TO KINGSHIP
ALMOST AS A DIVINE KINGSHIP...
A KINGSHIP THAT WILL ALWAYS
RETURN, ALWAYS BE RENEWED.
IF THAT'S NOT
LIKE THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS,
I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS.
ALTHOUGH THE FUNCTION
OF THIS PYRAMID
IS SIMILAR TO THE ONES IN EGYPT,
NO OTHER PYRAMIDS IN PALENQUE
ARE KNOWN
TO CONTAIN A KING'S TOMB.
SO THERE MUST HAVE BEEN
A DIFFERENT PURPOSE
FOR THESE STRUCTURES.
AN EGYPTIAN PYRAMID IS ACTUALLY
A PRETTY SIMPLE THING...
STRAIGHT-SIDED, AND THERE'S
A BURIAL INSIDE OF IT.
IF YOU LOOK
AT A MESOAMERICAN PYRAMID,
IT'S MUCH MORE COMPLICATED.
STEPS GO UP THE SIDES
AND LEAD TO A FLAT PLATFORM
ON THE TOP.
SO IT SEEMS TO BE
THAT THERE'S ACTIVITY,
PERHAPS RITUAL ACTIVITY,
HAPPENING ON TOP
OF THIS PYRAMID.
AND I CAN SEE A PLAZA
OUT IN FRONT,
SO THAT THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN
PEOPLE VIEWING UP THE PYRAMID,
LOOKING AT THE RITUAL UP ON TOP.
THESE RITUALS WERE PERFORMED
TO APPEASE THE GODS...
BY MAKING OFFERINGS OF FOOD
AND EVEN HUMAN BLOOD.
THIS IS CALLED
AUTOSACRIFICE, RIGHT?
YEAH. YEAH. EXACTLY.
THIS IMAGE DEPICTS A NOBLEWOMAN
PULLING A ROPE OF THORNS THROUGH
A PIERCING IN HER TONGUE.
THE BLOOD FROM THIS
AGONIZING PROCEDURE
WAS COLLECTED IN BOWLS
FILLED WITH BARK PAPER.
THE BLOOD-SOAKED BARK
WAS THEN BURNED,
A RITUAL GESTURE ALLOWING
THE BLOOD TO REACH THE GODS,
CONNECTING THE EARTH
WITH THE HEAVENS.
THE CEREMONIES PERFORMED
ON THESE PYRAMIDS
WERE THOUGHT TO BE CRITICAL
TO THE SUCCESS AND CONTINUATION
OF THE MAYAN UNIVERSE.
COMING UP, PYRAMIDS AS THE SITES
OF DEADLY RITUALS.
Cooney: OUTSIDE MEXICO CITY
ARE SOME OF THE OLDEST PYRAMIDS
IN THE NEW WORLD.
THEY'RE NEARLY 2,000 YEARS OLD.
THEY'RE THE CORNERSTONES
OF AN ANCIENT URBAN CENTER
KNOWN AS TEOTIHUACáN.
RIGHT NOW,
I'M IN THE LARGEST
ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
IN MESOAMERICA.
THIS PLACE IS HUGE.
IT STRETCHES
OVER 11 SQUARE MILES.
AND IT'S FILLED WITH PYRAMIDS
AND ANCIENT
RESIDENTIAL COMPLEXES.
AT ONE TIME,
THE CITY'S POPULATION MAY HAVE
NUMBERED OVER 200,000.
BUT WE KNOW SO LITTLE
ABOUT THE PEOPLE WHO LIVED HERE.
WE DON'T KNOW
WHAT LANGUAGE THEY SPOKE.
WE DON'T EVEN KNOW
WHAT THEY CALLED IT.
THE PEOPLE WHO CAME LATER...
THEY CALLED IT TEOTIHUACáN,
WHICH MEANS "THE PLACE
WHERE THE GODS WERE BORN."
WE KNOW FEW DETAILS
ABOUT THE PEOPLE OF THIS CITY,
BUT THERE'S ONE FACT
WE'RE SURE OF...
THEY PRACTICED VIOLENT RITUALS.
NOW, ARCHAEOLOGISTS
HAVE FOUND SKELETONS
THAT HAVE ARMS BOUND
BEHIND THEIR BACKS
BURIED
IN THE TEMPLE FOUNDATIONS,
SO IT'S POSSIBLE THAT THEY WERE
ACTUALLY EXECUTING PEOPLE
TO SANCTIFY THESE PYRAMIDS.
NOW, THE PROBLEM WITH THIS PLACE
IS THAT THE HIEROGLYPHS
ARE REALLY STRANGE.
THEY'RE UNREADABLE.
BUT THE AZTECS,
WHO CONQUERED THIS AREA
AROUND THE YEAR 1300,
PERFORMED SIMILAR SACRIFICES
AT THEIR PYRAMIDS,
AND THEY LEFT BEHIND
CLEAR DOCUMENTATION
OF THE DETAILS AND PURPOSE
OF THESE RITUALS.
IN THE MIDDLE OF MEXICO CITY
LIE THE RUINS OF TLATELOLCO,
A HUGE ANCIENT CITY AT THE HEART
OF THE AZTEC EMPIRE.
DURING THE 14th
AND 15th CENTURIES,
THE CITY SAT ON AN ISLAND
IN A LAKE CALLED TEXCOCO.
IT WAS CONNECTED TO THE MAINLAND
BY A COMPLEX SERIES OF BRIDGES
AND CAUSEWAYS.
TLATELOLCO HAD
A BUSTLING MARKETPLACE,
SERVING THE ENTIRE REGION,
WHERE VENDORS TRADED
IN JADE, ANIMAL HIDES,
POTTERY, AND EVEN SLAVES.
AT THE CITY CENTER
WAS A MASSIVE PYRAMID,
A VITAL COMPONENT OF AZTEC LIFE
AND RELIGION.
ARCHAEOLOGIST DR. MICHAEL SMITH
AND DR. SALVADOR GUIL'LIEM
ARE EXPERTS ON THE AZTECS.
UNLIKE EGYPTIAN KINGS, WHO EACH
WANTED THEIR OWN PYRAMID,
AZTEC RULERS ADDED NEW LAYERS
TO EXISTING BUILDINGS.
THESE PYRAMIDS STARTED OUT
AS SMALL STRUCTURES.
BUT, OVER GENERATIONS,
THEY GREW TALLER
AS NEW LEADERS
LEFT THEIR PERSONAL MARKS
ON THE SACRED GEOGRAPHY.
IN TLATELOLCO, THE RESULT
WAS A PYRAMID 14 STORIES TALL.
EACH LEVEL
OF THE PYRAMID HERE...
THERE'S SEVEN DIFFERENT STAGES
THEY'VE IDENTIFIED,
AND EACH STAGE WAS INAUGURATED.
IT WAS INAUGURATED
WITH A BIG DEDICATION CEREMONY
THAT INCLUDED SPEECHES
AND PROCESSIONS AND MUSIC
AND BIG GATHERINGS AND FEASTS
AND HOLY MEALS
AND INVOLVED SACRIFICE,
SO THAT WAS PART
OF THE DEDICATION
FOR EACH STAGE OF THE PYRAMID.
AND EVERYBODY CAME
AND WATCHED THAT MOMENT?
OH, YEAH.
THE AZTECS
DEPICTED THESE RITUALS
IN ANCIENT PAINTED BOOKS
CALLED CODICES.
THE RITUAL CODICES
SHOW OFFERINGS.
THEY SHOW PRIESTS DOING
VARIOUS KINDS OF RITUALS.
AND THEY SHOW
CASES OF SACRIFICE.
SO THEY ACTUALLY SHOW
THE HEART GETTING CUT OUT
OR THE MOMENT OF INCISION.
YES. OH, YEAH.
AT THE TOP OF THE TEMPLE
WOULD BE AN ALTAR.
THE PERSON WOULD BE STRETCHED
OUT ON THEIR BACK.
THE ASSISTANTS WOULD HOLD
THE ARMS AND THE LEGS,
CUT OPEN THE CHEST
AND SEVER THE ARTERIES
AND PULL OUT THE HEART.
AND THEY TOOK THE HEART
AND HELD IT UP
TO DEDICATE IT TO THE GODS,
AND THEN THE BODY
WAS THROWN DOWN.
DO THEY GIVE A REASON
IN THE CODICES?
ANY WRITTEN ACCOUNT
OF A SACRIFICE
SAYS THE REASON
WAS TO PLEASE THE GODS,
BUT THERE WAS ALSO A SOCIAL
AND POLITICAL CONTEXT.
IT WAS SHOWING THE POWER
OF THE RULER.
YOU'D HAVE HUGE CROWDS
GATHERED IN A PLAZA,
AND THEY COULD SEE,
AT THE TOP OF THE PYRAMID,
THE SACRIFICE GOING ON.
IT WOULD HAVE SENT A MESSAGE
OF TERROR AND FEAR,
AND IT WAS A MEANS
OF SOCIAL CONTROL.
SO THERE'S
A POLITICAL ELEMENT HERE.
A DEFINITE POLITICAL ELEMENT
TO IT.
THE PYRAMIDS OF EGYPT
AND MESOAMERICA
WERE BUILT TO MAKE CLEAR
WHO HELD POLITICAL POWER
AND ALSO AS MONUMENTS TO DEATH.
BUT OTHER CULTURES BUILT
PYRAMIDS DEDICATED TO LIFE.
SRI LANKA IS AN ISLAND NATION
OFF THE COAST OF INDIA.
IT'S HOME TO TALL, DECORATED
PYRAMIDS CALLED GOPURAMS.
BUILT AT ENTRANCES
TO HINDU TEMPLES,
THESE MONUMENTAL TOWERS
DOT THE SRI LANKAN SKYLINE.
THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF DEITIES
IN THE HINDU FAITH,
AND EACH GOPURAM IS COVERED
WITH SCULPTURES
OF THE PARTICULAR GODS WORSHIPED
WITHIN THAT TEMPLE.
IN THE CAPITAL CITY OF COLOMBO,
D.M. SWANINATHAN IS A PATRON
OF THE SRI PONNAMBALAWANESWARAR
TEMPLE,
DEDICATED TO THE HINDU GOD
OF CREATION.
SO IT'S A REPETITION OF THE GOD
WHOSE TEMPLE IT IS.
Swaninathan: THAT'S RIGHT.
AND IT'S REPEATED AGAIN
AND AGAIN AND AGAIN,
SMALLER AS IT GOES UP.
EXACTLY. EXACTLY.
ALL OVER THE COUNTRY,
THESE TOWERS CAN BE SEEN
FROM MILES AWAY,
BECKONING HINDU WORSHIPERS
INTO THE TEMPLES.
[ BELL RINGING ]
[ CHANTING IN NATIVE LANGUAGE ]
THIS IS SOMETHING
I HAVEN'T SEEN BEFORE...
A PYRAMID USED AS A GATEWAY,
A GATEWAY INTO A SACRED SPACE.
ONCE YOU WALK THROUGH IT
AND UNDERNEATH IT,
YOU'RE HERE.
YOU'RE IN A SACRED REALM
WHERE YOU GIVE OFFERINGS
AND PRAYERS TO MANY GODS.
AT THE END OF A CEREMONY,
OR PUJA,
WORSHIPERS HOLD THEIR HANDS
OVER A RITUAL FLAME
AND BRING ITS WARMTH
TO THEIR FOREHEADS
IN HOPES OF GAINING
THE GODS' BLESSINGS.
DID I DO IT RIGHT?
YES.
WHAT IS THIS?
THIS IS CALLED VIBHUTI.
VIBHUTI IS ASH USED TO MAKE
A TILAK, A RITUAL MARK.
HINDUS BELIEVE THAT THIS ASH,
MADE FROM COW DUNG,
SIGNIFIES THE IMPERMANENCE
OF THE HUMAN BODY.
THIS DOT REPRESENTS
THE EYE OF WISDOM
THROUGH WHICH PEOPLE
CAN CONNECT WITH THE DIVINE
AND FIND NIRVANA.
THE GOPURAMS OF SRI LANKA
AND THE PYRAMIDS OF MESOAMERICA
AND EGYPT
WERE BUILT
THOUSANDS OF MILES APART
BY PEOPLE UNCONNECTED
HISTORICALLY OR CULTURALLY.
AND ALTHOUGH THEY DIDN'T SERVE
THE SAME FUNCTION,
THEY WERE ALL ROUGHLY
THE SAME SHAPE.
WHAT IS IT ABOUT THIS SHAPE
THAT HOLDS SO MUCH MEANING?
NEXT, THE MOTIVES AND OBSESSIONS
OF THE WORLD'S
FIRST PYRAMID BUILDERS...
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
Cooney: FOR CENTURIES,
PEOPLE HAVE WONDERED
IF THERE'S
A MYSTERIOUS CONNECTION
BETWEEN THE PYRAMIDS
OF DIFFERENT CULTURES
ALL AROUND THE WORLD.
AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED,
THERE AREN'T MYSTICAL
OR SUPERNATURAL LINKS,
BUT THERE ARE COMMON FEATURES.
THE RULERS WHO BUILT THEM
WANTED TALL MONUMENTS
THAT WOULD LAST
AND WERE HAMPERED
BY THE LIMITATIONS
OF ANCIENT ENGINEERING.
WITHOUT MODERN TECHNOLOGY,
SIMPLE PHYSICS DICTATED
A STRUCTURE
WIDE AT THE BASE
AND NARROW AT THE TOP.
BUT THIS SHAPE ALSO REFLECTED
THE SPIRITUAL BELIEFS
OF THE BUILDERS.
TO EXPLORE THESE BELIEFS,
WE NEED TO GO BACK
TO THE VERY FIRST PYRAMIDS.
ABOUT 20 MILES SOUTH OF CAIRO
LIES THE ANCIENT BURIAL GROUND
OF SAQQâRA.
IT'S HERE THAT THE PYRAMID SHAPE
WAS FIRST CONCEIVED
AND CONSTRUCTED
NEARLY 5,000 YEARS AGO.
BEFORE THE EGYPTIANS STARTED
BUILDING PYRAMIDS,
KINGS WERE BURIED
IN SMALLER, SQUAT BUILDINGS
CALLED MASTABAS.
THEY'RE LOW, RECTANGULAR
STRUCTURES WITH ANGLED SIDES.
BUT AN EARLY EGYPTIAN KING
NAMED DJOSER
WANTED HIS TOMB TO BE GRANDER,
HIGHER, CLOSER TO THE GODS.
AFTER BUILDING A HUGE MASTABA,
DJOSER DECIDED TO KEEP ON GOING,
STACKING ONE MASTABA
ON TOP OF ANOTHER,
SIX IN ALL,
UNTIL THIS STRUCTURE EMERGED.
DJOSER'S HISTORIC EFFORT
IS CALLED THE STEPPED PYRAMID.
THIS INNOVATION WAS CONSIDERED
SO SPECTACULAR BY THE EGYPTIANS
THAT DJOSER'S ARCHITECT,
IMHOTEP,
WAS LATER REVERED AS A GOD.
DATING BACK TO EGYPT'S
OLD KINGDOM, AROUND 2650 BCE,
IT STANDS AS THE FIRST
MONUMENTAL STONE BUILDING
IN HUMAN HISTORY.
THE PROCESS CREATED A SHAPE
THAT RESONATED WITH DJOSER,
A MONUMENTAL STRUCTURE
RISING INTO THE SKY.
BASED ON ANCIENT
RELIGIOUS TEXTS,
IT SEEMS CLEAR
THAT THESE MASSIVE BUILDINGS
WERE SEEN AS STAIRWAYS
TO THE HEAVENS
FOR THE KINGS TO ASCEND.
DJOSER MIGHT HAVE BEEN CONFIDENT
THAT THE STEPPED PYRAMID
WOULD SECURE HIS PLACE
IN THE AFTERLIFE.
BUT DJOSER'S DESCENDANT SNEFRU
DEMANDED A MORE ADVANCED DESIGN,
A PYRAMID
WITH PERFECTLY STRAIGHT SIDES.
HIS MONUMENT BEGAN
AS A TALL STEPPED PYRAMID.
THEN THE STEPS WERE FILLED
IN WITH LIMESTONE CASING STONES
TO CREATE SMOOTH SIDES.
BUT AT SOME POINT,
THE OUTER STONES
MUST HAVE COME CRASHING DOWN.
ALL THAT REMAINS IS
THE INNER CORE WE SEE TODAY.
WE DON'T KNOW WHEN IT COLLAPSED.
IT COULD HAVE BEEN
DURING HIS REIGN
OR MAYBE CENTURIES AFTER.
IT'S POSSIBLE THAT THE DESIGN
WAS SO FLAWED
THAT THE ENTIRE PROJECT
WAS ABANDONED.
BUT IT'S MORE LIKELY
THAT CONSTRUCTION WAS COMPLETED
AND THAT THIS WAS THE FIRST
TRUE STRAIGHT-SIDED PYRAMID.
WHILE EGYPTOLOGISTS AREN'T SURE
IF IT FELL DURING HIS LIFETIME,
WE DO SUSPECT THAT SOMETHING
ABOUT THIS PYRAMID
DIDN'T PLEASE SNEFRU,
BECAUSE HE BEGAN A SECOND ONE
A FEW MILES SOUTH AT DAHSHUR.
THIS NEW PYRAMID
STARTED OUT AT AN ANGLE
OF ABOUT 54 DEGREES.
BUT CRACKS IN THE BURIAL CHAMBER
CAUSED ENGINEERS
TO ADJUST THE ANGLE
TO 43 DEGREES
FOR THE REMAINDER
OF THE PROJECT,
GIVING THE PYRAMID
THIS ODD SHAPE
AND A FITTING NAME...
THE BENT PYRAMID.
EVEN THOUGH THIS PYRAMID
HAS A CHANGE IN ANGLE,
THE SURVIVING STRUCTURE
MAKES IT CLEAR
THAT SNEFRU WAS AGAIN
ATTEMPTING TO CONSTRUCT
A SMOOTH,
STRAIGHT-SIDED PYRAMID.
I'M AT THE BASE OF SNEFRU'S
BENT PYRAMID,
AND YOU CAN SEE HERE
THE LOCAL LIMESTONE
THAT'S THE CORE
OF THIS STRUCTURE.
NOW, THIS PYRAMID IS UNUSUAL
BECAUSE YOU HAVE
A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT
OF CASING STONE STILL ATTACHED.
BECAUSE IT'S LEANING
IN A LITTLE BIT,
IT'S ALMOST LOCKED
INTO THE STRUCTURE.
YOU CAN IMAGINE WHEN ALL
OF THIS WAS FIRST PUT ON.
WHEN LIMESTONE IS FIRST CUT,
IT'S BRIGHT WHITE,
SO WHEN THIS WAS FIRST BUILT,
THIS THING WOULD HAVE BEEN
GLEAMING WHITE IN THE SUN.
SNEFRU HAD BUILT
TWO GIANT PYRAMIDS,
BUT THE EVIDENCE SUGGESTS
HE WASN'T SATISFIED WITH EITHER.
SNEFRU, PERHAPS ONE
OF THE MOST DRIVEN BUILDERS
EGYPT HAS EVER SEEN,
BUILT A THIRD PYRAMID
JUST OVER THERE.
THIS TIME, SNEFRU CONSTRUCTED
THE ENTIRE PYRAMID
AT 43 DEGREES,
THE SAME ANGLE
AS THE CORRECTED TOP SECTION
OF THE BENT PYRAMID.
THE RESULT
WAS THE MAGNIFICENT RED PYRAMID.
SNEFRU HAD FINALLY DONE IT...
A FLAWLESS
STRAIGHT-SIDED PYRAMID.
BUT WHY WAS HE OBSESSED
WITH PERFECTING
THE PYRAMID'S SHAPE
WE NOW ASSOCIATE
WITH ANCIENT EGYPT?
WAS THERE A MOTIVATION
BEYOND ARCHITECTURAL EXCELLENCE?
THE ANSWER LIES
IN THE EGYPTIAN RELIGION.
NEAR THE ANCIENT CITY OF THEBES,
THERE'S A TOMB BUILT
MORE THAN A THOUSAND YEARS
AFTER THE RED PYRAMID
FOR A GOVERNOR NAMED RAMOSE.
CARVED ON THE WALLS ARE IMAGES
THAT SHOW THE IMPORTANCE
OF THE SUN
IN THE EGYPTIAN RELIGION.
SO, JUST LOOK AT THIS SHAPE.
AT THE VERY TOP,
YOU HAVE THE SOLAR DISK.
AND COMING OUT FROM THAT
IS LIGHT,
THE LIGHT OF THE SUN.
AND IT'S COMING OUT IN RAYS...
RAYS THAT COME OUT AT AN ANGLE.
EACH ONE ENDS IN A HUMAN HAND,
AND THOSE HANDS HOLD THE SIGN
OF LIFE AND THE SIGN OF POWER...
SUN EQUALS LIFE.
IF YOU LOOK AT THIS
IN TWO DIMENSIONS,
IT'S ANGLED OUT LIKE A TRIANGLE.
BUT IN THREE DIMENSIONS,
IT COULD BE VERY EASILY
UNDERSTOOD AS A PYRAMID.
IN ANCIENT EGYPT,
THE SUN GOD WAS BELIEVED TO DIE
AND BE REBORN EVERY DAY.
THE KING WAS CONSIDERED TO BE
THE OFFSPRING OF THE SUN GOD,
AND HIS DEAD BODY WAS ALSO
THOUGHT TO BE REBORN EVERY DAY.
PYRAMIDS, STONE REPRESENTATIONS
OF THE SUN AND ITS POWER,
WERE THE MECHANISM
FOR HIS REBIRTH.
SO, FOR THE EGYPTIAN KINGS,
THE STAKES WERE EXTREMELY HIGH.
THEY WANTED A PERFECT PYRAMID
TO GUARANTEE THAT THIS SACRED
DAILY CYCLE WOULD CONTINUE.
NEXT, SNEFRU'S DESCENDANTS
REACH EVEN HIGHER
IN THEIR QUEST FOR ETERNAL LIFE.
Cooney:
THESE ARE THE PYRAMIDS AT GIZA,
BUILT BY SNEFRU'S DESCENDANTS
IN THE ONGOING ROYAL QUEST
FOR THE PERFECT PYRAMID.
OF ALL THE ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS
THAT BUILT PYRAMIDS,
ONLY THE EGYPTIANS WERE DRIVEN
TO CONSTRUCT THEM
WITH STRAIGHT SIDES...
SMOOTH STONES THAT SYMBOLIZED
THE SUN'S RAYS.
THEY ALSO POSITIONED
THESE PYRAMIDS
IN A PRECISE
NORTH-SOUTH-EAST-WEST ALIGNMENT,
ORIENTING THE DEAD KING INSIDE
TOWARDS THE EAST
SO THAT HE COULD BE REBORN EACH
MORNING WITH THE RISING SUN.
THE TALLEST PYRAMID HERE AT GIZA
IS THE TALLEST ON EARTH...
50 STORIES HIGH.
IT WAS BUILT
BY SNEFRU'S SON KHUFU
AND IS KNOWN
AS THE GREAT PYRAMID.
KHUFU'S PYRAMID AT GIZA
IS PERHAPS THE MOST ICONIC
BUILDING IN THE WORLD.
IT'S THE LAST OF THE ANCIENT
WONDERS STILL STANDING,
AND IT'S BEEN THE LARGEST
MAN-MADE STRUCTURE
FOR MOST OF HISTORY SINCE ITS
COMPLETION 4,500 YEARS AGO.
THE BEST-PRESERVED PYRAMID
AT GIZA
WAS BUILT BY KHUFU'S SON KHAFRA.
THE REMNANTS
OF THE CASING STONES
STILL GIVE A SENSE OF THE
ORIGINAL BRILLIANT WHITE COLOR
OF THESE MONUMENTS.
AS THE ANCIENT EGYPTIAN
CIVILIZATION DECLINED,
THIS CASING STONE
WAS QUARRIED AWAY
TO BUILD PYRAMIDS OF LATER KINGS
AND MUCH OF MEDIEVAL CAIRO.
ALL THAT'S LEFT
ARE THE LAST FEW BLOCKS
AT THE TOP OF KHAFRA'S PYRAMID.
THE LAST BUILT OF THE THREE
PYRAMIDS IS ALSO THE SMALLEST.
IT HOLDS THE TOMB OF MENKAURA,
SNEFRU'S GREAT-GRANDSON.
TOGETHER, THESE PYRAMIDS STAND
AS THE ULTIMATE EXPRESSION
OF THE RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL
DESIRE OF THE EGYPTIAN KINGS
TO BE CONNECTED TO THE SUN GOD
IN LIFE AND AFTER DEATH.
A DIFFERENT CULTURE
SEES THE PYRAMIDS
AS A MEANS TO THE ULTIMATE GOAL
OF THEIR RELIGION...
TO REACH NIRVANA.
AT BUDDHIST TEMPLES
THROUGHOUT ASIA,
WE ALSO FIND
MONUMENTAL STRUCTURES...
WIDE AT THE BOTTOM AND NARROW
AT THE TOP...
PYRAMIDLIKE SHAPES
BUT WITH ROUNDED SIDES.
THESE MONUMENTS ARE
USUALLY KNOWN AS STUPAS.
BUT HERE IN SRI LANKA,
THEY'RE CALLED DAGOBAS.
THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT
UNDERSTANDINGS OF THIS SHAPE.
SOME PEOPLE SEE THIS SHAPE
AS THE BODY OF THE BUDDHA,
SITTING CROSS-LEGGED,
MEDITATING,
WITH THE SPIRE AT THE TOP BEING
THE FIRE OF HIS ENLIGHTENMENT.
OTHERS SEE IT REPRESENTING
THE ENTIRE COSMOS
OF THE FIVE BUDDHIST ELEMENTS,
WITH EARTH AT THE BOTTOM
AND THEN WATER, FIRE, AIR,
AND NOTHINGNESS AT THE TOP.
THE DAGOBAS HERE IN THE
SRI LANKAN CITY OF ANURADHAPURA
DATE BACK TO AROUND 200 BCE.
LIKE MANY
OF THE WORLD'S PYRAMIDS,
THESE DAGOBAS WERE ALSO MEANT
TO DISPLAY THE POWER
OF THE KINGS WHO BUILT THEM,
BUT THEY'RE NOT TOMBS.
THESE ARE SOLID BRICK MONUMENTS,
BUT THERE ARE ALSO
SMALL TREASURE ROOMS INSIDE,
BUILT TO HOLD THE RELICS OF
A HOLY PERSON OR OF THE BUDDHA.
THOUSANDS OF PILGRIMS FLOCK
TO THESE DAGOBAS EVERY YEAR,
BUT THE HIDDEN ROOMS
HOLDING THE SACRED RELICS
ARE NOT OPEN TO THEM,
SO PEOPLE PRAY AT SHRINES
AROUND THE STUPA'S EDGES.
THE LARGEST DAGOBA HERE
IS THE JETAVANA DAGOBA,
CURRENTLY UNDERGOING
RESTORATION.
WHEN IT WAS FIRST BUILT
IN THE 3rd CENTURY,
THIS DAGOBA WAS THE THIRD
TALLEST STRUCTURE ON EARTH,
SURPASSED ONLY BY THE
TWO LARGEST PYRAMIDS AT GIZA.
IT'S BELIEVED THAT THERE'S
A CHAMBER DEEP INSIDE
THAT HOLDS THE BELT
OF THE BUDDHA,
BUT SO FAR
ARCHAEOLOGISTS HAVE BEEN UNABLE
TO LOCATE THIS SACRED TREASURE.
PROFESSOR P.B. MANDAWALA
IS THE CHIEF CONSERVATOR
OF THIS DAGOBA.
SO WE KNOW THAT THERE'S
A RELIQUARY CHAMBER IN HERE.
YES, YES.
BUT NO ONE'S FOUND IT.
NO ONE KNOWS WHERE IT IS.
NO. NO, NO ONE KNOWS.
JUST LIKE THE EGYPTIANS,
THE BUILDERS OF THESE MONUMENTS
PROBABLY WENT THROUGH PERIODS
OF TRIAL AND ERROR,
TRYING TO CREATE
A PERFECT SHAPE.
THE BUILDING TECHNIQUES
WERE SO SOPHISTICATED
THAT, WHEN THE RESTORATION TEAM
ATTEMPTED TO RECONSTRUCT
THE DAGOBA,
IT TOOK THEM YEARS
OF EXPERIMENTATION
TO MATCH THE STRENGTH
OF THE ORIGINAL BRICKS.
NOW, WHEN YOUR WORK
IS FINISHED HERE,
THE PILGRIMS WILL COME BACK
AND PEOPLE WILL AGAIN
DO THE PUJA
AND GIVE OFFERINGS
TO THE BUDDHA.
SOON, THE JETAVANA DAGOBA WILL
AGAIN BE AN ACTIVE HOLY SITE,
A PYRAMID INSPIRING WORSHIPERS
TO EXPRESS THEIR DEVOTION
TO THE BUDDHA.
COMING UP NEXT,
PYRAMIDS BUILT TO CONTROL NATURE
AND APPEASE ANGRY GODS.
Cooney: NEAR THE MEXICAN TOWN
OF CHOLULA,
A SMALL MOUNTAIN
DOMINATES THE LANDSCAPE.
IT APPEARS TO BE A GRASSY HILL
WITH A CHURCH ON TOP.
BUT ON CLOSER INSPECTION,
YOU REALIZE THIS IS NOT AT ALL
WHAT IT SEEMS.
THIS HILL IS
ACTUALLY THE CHOLULA PYRAMID.
BY MASS, IT'S THE LARGEST
PYRAMID EVER BUILT.
CONSTRUCTION BEGAN
NEARLY 2,000 YEARS AGO
AND WAS CONTINUED BY A LONG LINE
OF DIFFERENT
MESOAMERICAN CULTURES.
THE PYRAMID WAS ABANDONED
IN THE 1200s
AND BECAME OVERGROWN
WITH GRASS AND SHRUBS.
IN THE 16th CENTURY,
SPANISH MISSIONARIES
BUILT A CATHOLIC CHURCH
ON THE SUMMIT
TO CLAIM THE SACRED SPACE.
BUT WHY DID THE GROUPS
WHO LIVED HERE
BUILD SUCH A MASSIVE STRUCTURE?
ARCHAEOLOGIST GABRIELA URUÑUELA
BELIEVES THE PYRAMID
WAS INTENDED TO HONOR
A NEARBY ACTIVE VOLCANO
CALLED POPOCATéPETL.
Cooney: THIS PYRAMID IS
VERY CLOSE TO THE VOLCANO,
AND YOU HAVE PYRAMID AND VOLCANO
SOMEHOW IN CONNECTION?
YEAH, WELL, PYRAMIDS WERE
REPLICAS OF SACRED MOUNTAINS,
AND THE OBVIOUS
SACRED MOUNTAIN HERE
IS THE POPOCATéPETL
ON THE HORIZON.
I MEAN,
IT'S VERY EASY TO IDENTIFY.
SO WE THINK
THAT THE PYRAMID WAS BUILT
AFTER THE VOLCANO MADE A BIG
ERUPTION IN THE 1st CENTURY.
AND POPOCATéPETL IS A MOUNTAIN
THAT THE ANCIENT PEOPLES THOUGHT
WAS ASSOCIATED
WITH THE RAIN GOD?
WE ARE TALKING
ABOUT OTHER CULTURAL SOCIETIES
THAT NEEDED THAT RAIN
FOR THEIR SURVIVAL.
THE MOUNTAINS WERE IMPORTANT
BECAUSE OF THEIR CONNECTION
WITH RAIN AND WATERS,
BUT ALSO BECAUSE OF THEIR
CONNECTION TO THE UNDERWORLD
WHERE THE ANCESTORS RESIDE,
SO PYRAMIDS INVOLVED
SEVERAL DIFFERENT MEANINGS
IN JUST ONE BUILDING.
LIKE THE AZTEC PYRAMID
OF TLATELOLCO,
THIS STRUCTURE
WAS BUILT IN LAYERS.
TO GET A BETTER SENSE OF ITS
SIZE AND CONSTRUCTION,
GABRIELA LEADS ME INTO
THE PYRAMID'S COMPLEX INTERIOR.
Cooney: ALL OF THESE TUNNELS
WERE BUILT
BY ARCHAEOLOGISTS, RIGHT?
THESE ARE NOT ANCIENT TUNNELS.
YEAH, IT'S WHAT WAS NEEDED
TO TRY TO UNDERSTAND
THE SUBSTRUCTURES
OF THE PYRAMID.
HOW MANY LAYERS ARE THERE?
THERE WERE AT LEAST
EIGHT DIFFERENT PYRAMIDS,
ONE ON TOP OF THE OTHER,
THAT WERE BUILT
FROM THE 1st CENTURY
UNTIL PROBABLY 700 OR 800 A.D.
A SUCCESSION OF RULERS
ENLARGED THE CHOLULA PYRAMID
TO PROCLAIM OR JUSTIFY
THEIR POWER
AND TO LINK THEIR REIGN
TO SOMETHING LARGER
THAN THEMSELVES.
WE THINK THAT IT'S TRYING TO
REPRESENT GENERAL ANCESTORS...
NOT THE ANCESTORS OF ONE KING
OR ONE LEADER IN PARTICULAR,
BUT AN IDEA THAT COULD BE SHARED
FOR ALL THE POPULATION.
WHILE THE PEOPLE OF CHOLULA
BELIEVED A PYRAMID
IN THE SHAPE OF A VOLCANO
HONORED THEIR MOUNTAIN GOD...
3,000 MILES TO THE SOUTH,
OTHER PYRAMID BUILDERS
HONOR A MOUNTAIN GOD
IN A DIFFERENT WAY.
FOR OVER 500 YEARS,
RULERS OF THE MOCHE PEOPLE
BUILT PYRAMIDS
ALONG THE PERUVIAN COAST.
AT A SITE KNOWN AS EL BRUJO,
AN 1,800-YEAR-OLD MOCHE PYRAMID
IS UNDERGOING EXCAVATION.
AT THE TOP OF THE MONUMENT,
THERE'S A RELIEF
THAT TELLS US A LOT ABOUT THE
MOTIVATION OF THESE BUILDERS.
THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN OPEN
TO THE AIR.
IT WOULD HAVE BEEN A PATIO
ON THE VERY TOP OF THIS PYRAMID.
AND THIS IMAGE HERE IS A GOD
WHO'S KNOWN AS THE DECAPITATOR.
OTHER ANDEAN ARCHAEOLOGISTS
CALL THIS
THE GOD OF THE MOUNTAIN.
HE'S GOT A FRIGHTENING FACE,
WHICH, UNFORTUNATELY,
IS MOSTLY MISSING HERE,
BUT IT WOULD HAVE
BARED ITS TEETH
AND BEEN A FELINE SORT OF FACE
WITH GREAT BIG EYES,
FABULOUS HEADDRESS.
AND THE REALLY COOL THING
ABOUT THIS
IS THAT HE'S GOT SPIDER'S LEGS.
SO WE HAVE THREE HERE,
THREE HERE,
THREE HERE, AND THREE HERE.
AND EACH OF HIS HANDS...
VERY STYLIZED HANDS,
NOT VERY NATURALISTIC...
ARE COMING OUT TO THE SIDES.
OVER HERE, HE'S HOLDING A CLUB,
SO HE'S SHOWING HIS POWER
AND HIS STRENGTH.
OVER HERE... THIS IS WHERE IT
GETS REALLY GRUESOME...
HE'S HOLDING THE HEAD
OF A DECAPITATED ENEMY.
NOW, THE FACT THAT THIS IS ON
A PYRAMID IS REALLY SIGNIFICANT.
IF YOU WERE ONE OF THE FARMERS
WHO LIVED IN THIS ALLUVIAL PLAIN
AND YOU LOOKED UP
FROM YOUR FARMING WORK,
FIRST THING
THAT YOU WOULD SEE...
THAT PYRAMID,
THAT SYMBOL OF MIGHT,
AND THIS GOD...
WOULD HAVE BEEN
A POWER OF POLITICAL MIGHT,
A POWER OF RELIGIOUS MIGHT
THAT WAS REALLY STAMPING
HIS IMAGE ON THESE PYRAMIDS.
LIKE MANY RULERS
AROUND THE WORLD,
MOCHE LEADERS BUILT PYRAMIDS
TO LINK THEIR REIGN
TO THE POWER OF THE GODS.
NEXT, A CITY FULL OF PYRAMIDS...
...AND MODERN TECHNOLOGY
REVISITS AN ANCIENT IDEAL.
Cooney: THIS IS THE ANCIENT CITY
OF ANGKOR IN CAMBODIA.
IT'S ONE OF THE MOST ASTONISHING
ARCHITECTURAL SITES
I'VE EVER EXPLORED.
ANGKOR WAS THE CAPITAL
OF THE KHMER EMPIRE,
THE LARGEST EMPIRE
IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
BETWEEN THE 9th
AND 15th CENTURIES.
THE CITY COVERS
OVER A THOUSAND SQUARE MILES,
ALMOST AS BIG
AS MODERN-DAY LOS ANGELES.
AND IT'S THE LARGEST
PREINDUSTRIAL CITY
KNOWN TO ARCHAEOLOGISTS.
ANGKOR IS FILLED WITH PYRAMIDS,
AND THESE PYRAMIDS WEREN'T BUILT
FOR JUST ONE PURPOSE.
THEY COMBINED SEVERAL
THAT MAY SOUND FAMILIAR.
THEY REPLICATE MOUNTAINS...
INVITE WORSHIP...
AND FURTHER
THE DIVINE ASPIRATIONS
OF THE KINGS WHO BUILT THEM.
ALL OF THESE PYRAMIDS INVOLVE
AN ELEMENT OF CONNECTION
BETWEEN THE EARTH AND SKY,
BETWEEN HUMANS AND THE GODS.
THE PYRAMID-SHAPED TEMPLES
AT ANGKOR
WERE BUILT BY HINDU KINGS
TO LINK THEMSELVES WITH SHIVA,
THE CREATOR GOD.
IN THE HINDU
AND BUDDHIST RELIGIONS,
A MYTHICAL MOUNTAIN CALLED MERU
IS BELIEVED TO BE THE CENTER
OF BOTH THE PHYSICAL
AND SPIRITUAL UNIVERSE.
MOUNT MERU IS ALSO THOUGHT
TO BE THE HOME OF THE GODS.
THE PYRAMIDS IN ANGKOR
REPRESENT THIS SACRED MOUNTAIN
AND PROVIDE A WAY FOR THE RULERS
TO REACH UP TO THE HEAVENS
AND ATTAIN THE STATUS
OF GOD-KINGS.
MORE THAN ANY OTHER PLACE
IN ANGKOR,
THIS BUILDING HAS
A CLEAR PYRAMIDAL SHAPE.
DEDICATED TO THE GOD SHIVA,
IT'S CALLED BAKSEI CHAMKRONG,
AND IT'S ONE OF THE OLDEST
STONE PYRAMIDS AT ANGKOR,
BUILT IN THE YEAR 948.
THIS DESIGN IS VERY FAMILIAR.
THE BROAD, SQUARE LOWER LEVEL
WITH SMALLER STEPS STACKED
SUCCESSIVELY ATOP ONE ANOTHER...
IT LOOKS JUST LIKE THE EARLIEST
EGYPTIAN PYRAMIDS.
AND JUST LIKE IN EGYPT,
SUCCESSIVE KINGS EACH BUILT
THEIR OWN PYRAMID AT ANGKOR,
HOPING TO ENHANCE THE CONNECTION
BETWEEN THEIR POLITICAL POWER
AND THE REALM OF THE GODS.
THEY PLAYED WITH THE SHAPES,
ADDING SPIRES, CREATING TOWERS,
EVEN CONSTRUCTING PYRAMIDS
ON TOP OF ONE ANOTHER.
THE CULMINATION OF THESE EFFORTS
IS THE TEMPLE COMPLEX WITHIN
THE CITY KNOWN AS ANGKOR WAT...
WAT MEANING "TEMPLE"
IN THE KHMER LANGUAGE.
BUILT IN THE 12th CENTURY
AS THE KING'S
OFFICIAL STATE TEMPLE,
ANGKOR WAT WAS DESIGNED
TO REPRESENT
THE ENTIRE HINDU COSMOS...
WITH THE TOWERS BEING
THE PEAKS OF MOUNT MERU
AND THE SURROUNDING MOATS
SIGNIFYING
THE WATERS OF CREATION.
THE MAGNIFICENT PYRAMIDS
IN THE CITY OF ANGKOR
NOT ONLY OFFERED SPIRITUAL
CONNECTION FOR THE PEOPLE.
THEY ALSO DISPLAYED THE GODLIKE
STATUS OF THE KING,
AS PYRAMIDS HAVE
AROUND THE WORLD
AND THROUGHOUT HISTORY.
EVEN TODAY, A NEW GENERATION
OF PYRAMID BUILDERS
CONTINUES THE JOURNEY
STARTED CENTURIES AGO.
PIERCING THE SKYLINE
OF DOWNTOWN DUBAI,
A NEW MONUMENTAL BUILDING
IS NEARLY COMPLETE.
BURJ DUBAI
IS OVER 170 STORIES HIGH,
BUILT WITH THE FAMILIAR
TRIANGULAR SHAPE...
WIDE AT THE BASE WITH TAPERED
SIDES AND NARROW AT THE TOP.
IT'S A MODERN-DAY PYRAMID
OF EPIC PROPORTIONS.
IT'S THE TALLEST STRUCTURE
ON EARTH,
CLAIMING THE TITLE HELD
BY THE GREAT PYRAMID OF GIZA
FOR ALMOST 4,000 YEARS.
ARCHITECTS TODAY AREN'T LIMITED
BY THE BUILDING TECHNOLOGY
OF THE PAST,
AND THE PYRAMID SHAPE
IS NO LONGER ESSENTIAL
FOR STABILITY.
BUT THE MEANING OF BUILDING
TO THE SKY IS JUST AS POTENT.
NO ONE CAN DOUBT THE SOCIAL
OR POLITICAL POSITION
OF MEN WHO COMMISSION TOWERS
LIKE BURJ DUBAI.
PYRAMIDS HAVE ALWAYS REPRESENTED
AN ELITE PLACE IN SOCIETY.
AND NOW, EVEN WITHOUT THE DIRECT
RELIGIOUS CONNECTIONS,
BUILDINGS LIKE BURJ DUBAI
ARE STILL A VISCERAL SYMBOL
IN TERMS OF POLITICS, POWER,
AND IDEOLOGY.
PYRAMIDS ARE TANGIBLE EVIDENCE
OF UNWAVERING POLITICAL POWER...
...AND ITS ATTEMPT
TO STRETCH THE LIMITS
OF HUMAN ACHIEVEMENT...
...EVEN DARING
TO CONNECT THE EARTH...
TO THE HEAVENS.