Ancient Egypt’s Legacy - Pyramids, Sphinx, and Modern Wonders Uncovered

Added: 2026-05-31

[00:00:05]Three centuries after the first discoveries, [music] Egypt continues to fascinate us. Every month that goes by reveals new treasures buried under the desert sand.

[00:00:17]>> The fragment of nose was found in the area during an archaeological dig, so it was stuck back on. It hadn't gone far.

[00:00:23]Temples, pyramids, necropolises, and ancient cities are just some of the wonders that bear witness to the splendor of past pharaohs [music] and their heirs.

[00:00:35]The Greeks used to make cakes called pyramids. When they came to Egypt, they found colossal stone structures in the shape of their cakes. [music] So, they gave them the same name. This ancient civilization which was thought to have been lost [music] is constantly reinventing itself in the Egypt of the 21st century.

[00:00:54]We are going to travel through time and space to rediscover it.

[00:01:19]Ancient Egypt gave the world its most extraordinary monuments.

[00:01:27]Its 3,500year long history was brought to a brutal end [music] with a triumph of Christianity in the 4th century. But this extraordinary civilization did not disappear for all that. In the 19th century when Jean Francois Jean Polyon solved the mystery of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, architecture, necropolises, ship building, and the Coptic language of Egyptian Christians all have their roots in this ancient history.

[00:02:01]Modern Egypt is the daughter of ancient Egypt.

[00:02:22]The city of Cairo with its 16 million inhabitants stretches as far as the eye can see.

[00:02:30]In this month of June, despite the sweltering heat, the fog [music] of pollution hanging over it seems less thick than usual. It is the middle of Ramadan, and the city is operating at a slower pace.

[00:02:45]There are just a few people out shopping for provisions, getting what they need for when they can break their fast at dusk. Around 95% of Egyptians are Muslim. Islam is everywhere. It is part of everyday life. Witness the crowd assembled at the foot of the Al Hussein mosque in the city center. Thousands of worshippers are gathered there waiting for evening prayers. The meals have already been dished out. Everyone is waiting for the call from the muazine.

[00:03:16]Once he has said alawakbar for the third time, fasting ends and ifar begins.

[00:03:35]These scenes may seem timeless, but the Muslim religion didn't arrive in Egypt until 640 AD. In the grand scheme of this ancient civilization, that's relatively recent. Its cultural roots lie far more ancient fertile [music] ground.

[00:03:53]It is a very visible heritage in Giza. On the outskirts of Cairo, the ancient Egyptians built what the rest of the world still considers to be the emblem of the city, the pyramids.

[00:04:08]These vast [music] tombs were built during the Old Kingdom over 4,500 years ago. They are real architectural feats. The pyramid of Kops is 147 m high. [music] It is the highest in Egypt and the only one of the seven wonders of the ancient world to have withtood the test of time. The pyramid of Café is almost as high. The site of the pyramids has been visited by millions of tourists since ancient times, but also numerous heads of state. [music] DOA is a French-speaking tour guide. She got the chance to give Franceon as Jacqu Sharak a guided tour.

[00:04:54]Whether you are a president, a head of state, or a simple worker, the pyramids never cease to fascinate.

[00:05:04]>> The first foreigner to visit the pyramids and to describe them was Greek.

[00:05:09]He is known as the father of history.

[00:05:12]That was Heroditus in 430 BC.

[00:05:17]The word pyramid now used to describe these monuments comes from the Greek word pyramis. The Greeks used to make cakes called pyramis.

[00:05:27]When they came to Egypt, they found colossal stone structures in the shape of their cakes.

[00:05:36]So they gave [music] them the same name.

[00:05:38]And the pyramid shape is itself sacred because it mimics the sun's rays which cover the earth in the form of a pyramid.

[00:05:45]>> [music] >> That's why the king who is considered to be the incarnation of the sun on earth wanted to be buried inside this sacred shape. The right to be buried in a pyramid was reserved for pharaohs and their wives.

[00:06:03]Even princes and princesses didn't have that right. However wealthy they were, they were still buried in what we now call Mastas.

[00:06:19]In Giza, the guardian [music] of the pyramids is just as famous as its proteges.

[00:06:26]The Sphinx has watched over these royal graves for over 2,500 [music] years.

[00:06:32]This lion with a human head [music] is 74 m long and 20 m high. It's a pretty dissuasive protector.

[00:06:44][music] We are standing between the paws of this famous sphinx whose facial features are those of Cafrey who built the second pyramid.

[00:07:04]This pink granite steelely between the sphinx's paws commemorates [music] a dream Fut Mosa 4 had in the 16th century BC.

[00:07:14][music] The sphinx is embedded in the sand and Fut Mosa was chasing desert animals. He fell asleep in the shade of the sphinx's head and dreamed that the sun god had appeared to him and spoken to him saying, "If you get me out of the sand, I promise you the throne.

[00:07:30]He woke up and told the story to the priest who believed him and started digging the sphinx out of the sand.

[00:07:36]That's proof that the sphinx was continually being embedded in [music] sand and then dug out again. It was also dug out in the time of the Greeks and the time of the Romans. And when Christianity became the official religion of Egypt, this site like any other site became a pagan site and was completely neglected. So the sphinx was buried in the sand again and that's what protected it.

[00:08:03]The cops were the first to start mutilating the sphinx's face and then the Arabs followed suit.

[00:08:10]There is a legend or a story which says [music] that during the Mluk dynasty, Sim Alar thought the Sphinx was a pagan statue.

[00:08:19]He came and mutilated the Sphinx's face and broke its nose.

[00:08:24]It wasn't Obelix who broke it.

[00:08:31]Today, the Sphinx is still the world's biggest sculpture to be carved [music] from a single block of stone. But building the pyramids required millions of blocks of stone.

[00:08:42]Some came directly from the Giza plateau, whereas others came from a quarry that is still visible today.

[00:08:51]About 10 km from the pyramids on the outskirts of Cairo, the McCartum Hills still bear the scars of being used as quaries by the pharaohs.

[00:09:10]Some stones came from much further away thanks to a [music] natural transport link, the Nile.

[00:09:19]700 km south [music] of Cairo, the city of Luxor, formerly known as thieves in the days of the pharaohs, is also home to a gigantic monument.

[00:09:34]Carac temple, like the pyramids, took an impressive number of stones [music] to build. It is the largest religious complex from antiquity and covers a surface area of two [music] square km.

[00:09:49]They're fun.

[00:10:11]working alongside their Egyptian counterparts, a team of French archaeologists are reconstructing parts of the temple under the direction of stone cutter and restorer Antoine Garrick.

[00:10:32]The statue of Tutin Car has been here for about 3,500 years and has seen better days. It is cracked. We don't know why. And it is missing certain elements, no doubt, after being toppled or looted. But what remains is [music] incredibly good condition.

[00:10:49]The missing piece of nose was found nearby 10 years ago during a dig and was stuck back on again. Soon we're going to take the statue down to replace the missing parts that have been patched up with cement. That was done in 1912. I think they used what they had at their disposal at the time.

[00:11:12]It's a prominent statue of a famous king in the middle of Karnak Temple. So, it's an interesting project and it's important for the history of the site and for Egyptians that this statue is exhibited in the best condition possible.

[00:11:31]We're going to take the whole thing apart to replace these two missing parts with beautiful carved blocks of new stone, recreating the original form of the statue.

[00:11:44]The restoration of this statue is designed to be completely reversible should the missing part [music] of Tenant Carmoon happen to be found one day.

[00:11:54]Work has already begun on the restoration [music] of the pharaoh's torso and his left leg. Antoine Garrick is working on a block of sandstone that is very similar to the sort used in antiquity.

[00:12:12]It's a soft stone that could be carved in ancient times without the use of iron tools. Iron only arrived in about 600 BC.

[00:12:21]Before that, the sandstone could easily be carved using wooden mallets and bronze tools. The work I'm doing obviously uses modernday tools. We could have had fun doing it with ancient tools, but it would have taken 10 times as long. That's known as experimental archaeology and it's done with a specific goal in mind.

[00:12:42]That isn't the goal of this operation.

[00:12:44]To get the finish on the sandstone, you can simply use another piece of sandstone. When it's dry, it works very well. The two stones araid one another and you get this fine dust, a very smooth finish. As you can see, it's very effective.

[00:13:01]I might carve the stone with modern tools, but I finish it off with this to give it the exact same finish as on an ancient statue.

[00:13:13]>> Antoan's team is working on the statues, but it is also responsible for restoring the walls in the secret courtyard in the middle [music] of Carak Temple, whose decorations date from the times of Futosa III. The team has already reconstructed the east wall and now they're tackling the north wall. It's like a giant jigsaw puzzle with blocks of stone weighing several tons.

[00:13:41]>> Antoine is assisted by Muhammad, an Egyptian stone cutter who was trained by him.

[00:13:56]I've been doing this job for 10 years now and I still have a lot to learn.

[00:14:02]>> I don't think I'll finish my apprenticeship before I die even. There is nothing nobler than working with stone.

[00:14:10]There is so much to learn. It's humbling.

[00:14:15]I know I'm still a beginner in this profession.

[00:14:24]In Egypt, there have been so many archaeological [music] discoveries that stone cutters have several generations worth of work ahead of them. But some of the buildings that seem to be complete at first sight are actually very incomplete.

[00:14:42]The three big pyramids are a good example.

[00:14:46]None of them has retained their peak.

[00:14:54]This is the pyramidian which is meant to go on top of the pyramid. This block of stone is original. It was found buried in the sand during a dig and it is the tip of the pyramid.

[00:15:07]On the pyramid of Cafrey, you can see a substantial part of the cladding. It has lost its tip, but you can still imagine what these pyramids look like when they were complete. [laughter] They must have been beautiful [music] and impressive.

[00:15:24]>> Nowadays, it's hard to imagine the initial impact of the Great Pyramids.

[00:15:29]They must have been majestic, clad in sparkling white and perfectly smooth.

[00:15:35]But for the past 4,500 years, they have lost some of their splendor. Like [music] most monuments from the feronic era, Jean Francois Jean Paulon, the great French Egyptologist [music] came to Egypt in around 1830. It is estimated that 70% of what he saw and described at the time has now completely disappeared.

[00:15:57]The reasons are [music] multiple erosion, earthquakes, the Nile floods, and especially human intervention.

[00:16:09]For years, the pyramid was used as a quarry, and that's unfortunately how it lost its cladding. The cladding disappeared along with a large part of the base.

[00:16:19][music] Muhammad Ali, king of Egypt in the 19th century, was very proud of himself for having built a dam north of Cairo using the cladding from these pyramids.

[00:16:36]Successive generations have come and helped themselves [music] to these feronic monuments. Even in ancient times, some pharaohs reuse the monuments of their predecessors. Then the Greeks, Romans, and Christians also got their stone supplies from these ancient relics, Egyptians.

[00:16:55]The Majesty of Muslim Egypt was also built using debris from the Feronic reign.

[00:17:02]In Cairo, the founder of the Mammluk dynasty in the 14th century had a huge tomb built.

[00:17:09]This morselum might never have seen the light of day without the involuntary help of the ancient Egyptians.

[00:17:36]This is a blatant example of ancient stones being reused in the Mammlook era.

[00:17:41]You can see the sun god at the top of the cartou. It's not incidental that the cart is on the ground. Coming from the pagan era, it was put there deliberately to be trampled over. The ancient Egyptians were in the habit of trampling over anything they didn't like, placing it underfoot. Modern Egyptian people say, "I'm going to walk all over you."

[00:18:03]Meaning, I'm going to flatten you. And they flattened everything that came from the Feronic era.

[00:18:28]Bark had this morselium built at the height of his reign. The Mammluks arrived here in the 9th century AD.

[00:18:34]Often originating from the Caucuses, these emancipated slaves were trained in the military arts to serve Muslim sovereigns.

[00:18:42]Under Baruk, they came to power for the second time in the history of Egypt in 1382 and gave the country 49 sultans until their downfall in the 19th century.

[00:18:57]This is the moraleum of Sultan Baruk.

[00:19:00]The mole is a rather impressive prayer room. It was built for the Sultan and lies above a cave in which he was later buried.

[00:19:11]Islam forbids the use of sarcophaguses and coffins. So the body was wrapped in a shroud and placed in an underground chamber. The monuments we see here are just simple gravestones.

[00:19:24]In the Feronic era, ancient Egyptians had a series of underground burial chambers built in their master.

[00:19:32]The Mluks did the same with their morale.

[00:19:38]The Morselm of Sultan Barak is the biggest tomb in Cairo, covering a surface area of over 4,500 square m.

[00:19:49]Rather than just a simple grave, it is a complex design to house a school with living quarters and a place for worship.

[00:19:57]The mosque still hosts anonymous burials for those seeking some of the renown of the great Mammluck Sultan.

[00:20:09]When you climb to the top of the minouetses, you get an idea of the influence Bakug had on this part of Cairo.

[00:20:24]>> We are in the cemetery in Cairo. He was among the first to build his morale here.

[00:20:31]At first, this cemetery was used to house just the Sultan's morale.

[00:20:36]Then Sultan Baruk moved the donkey station from the foot of the citadel to get people to come here to pray for him.

[00:20:43]Donkeys were the only means of transport for people at the time.

[00:20:50]If the main station was too far away, people wouldn't come here.

[00:20:58]Today, five centuries later, because we are in the middle of the cemetery, we can see people and tombs left, right, and center. And these are not just the Sultan's tombs, but the tombs of all the inhabitants of Cairo. And as you can see, the dead and the living together in harmony.

[00:21:25]>> The cemetery surrounding the morselum of Sultan Bakuk is vast. It occupies a large part of eastern Cairo. The authorities estimate that half a million people live in the city of the dead. The living have adapted to this very original neighborhood. They have no choice. Overpopulation and a hike in rents has pushed many people out to the cemeteries of Cairo. This resettlement is made easier by the fact that the city of the dead is laid out like a proper town with streets, avenues, and squares.

[00:22:06]These modern necropolises, literally cities of the dead in Greek, are reminiscent of those seen at the foot of the pyramids of Giza, dating from around 3,500 BC.

[00:22:22]Here we [music] are in the necropolis behind the pyramid of Kops built for the dignitaries who lived during his reign.

[00:22:34]They wanted to live their second life under his reign too. So they asked to be buried behind their master's pyramid.

[00:22:44]It was a town with crisscrossing streets that were a hive of activity. There were people coming to present their offerings [music] to the dead. Then there were the stone cutters, the builders of mustabas, the painters, the tomb sculptors and the imbalmer.

[00:23:03]>> A whole population lived and worked here, rubbing shoulders with the dead who were already buried underground.

[00:23:12]>> As well as being formidable architects, the ancient Egyptians passed on other important legacies to modern Egypt.

[00:23:22]In 1950, archaeologists discovered a 150 m long cavity at the foot of the Great Pyramid.

[00:23:30]It housed a 4,500y [music] old ship, carefully dismantled into [music] 1,224 pieces by the ancient Egyptians. It took 10 years to put it back together again.

[00:23:46]Today visitors can [music] admire Kop's solar ship close to where it was discovered.

[00:23:52]This ship is linked to the burial rights of Feronic Egypt. It informs us of the sophisticated technological prowess of Egyptians at the time of the early pharaohs. The solar ship is 43 m long, weighs 45 tons, and was built without the use of [music] nails or screws. The planks were lashed together using rope.

[00:24:15]The water tightness of the hull was assured by the fact that wood expands in water and rope retracts, drawing the planks of wood tighter together.

[00:24:29]This simple and ingenious system of ship building is what made Egypt great, uniting this vast country along its main transport axis, the Nile.

[00:24:48]Traces of this shipb building tradition are still evident today in Rosetta on the Nile Delta on the Mediterranean.

[00:24:57]This legacy lives on. Not a day goes by without a boat being launched.

[00:25:08]I'm telling you in Rosetta there are about 35 boatyards.

[00:25:29]It is an ancient local tradition.

[00:25:32]We've always done it.

[00:25:34]We don't learn how to build boats from books, but we've all seen our parents do it.

[00:25:44]In their day, they made small fishing boats and cargo ships.

[00:25:50]Nowadays, the ship building industry here is more about big yachts or tourist boats.

[00:25:59]>> The ship builders in Rosetta have adapted to the demand. Most of the boats they build are made of steel, but whenever they can, they work with the same material as their ancient ancestors, wood.

[00:26:14]This is my wooden boat.

[00:26:17][music] I'm having it built for myself because I want to keep up the traditions. I want people to continue using wood. It's a material that has a soul. I grew up with wood. I watched [music] my parents and grandparents use it. I really missed it. So, I decided to have a wooden boat made.

[00:26:41]>> I dream of setting sail in this boat, going fishing, going on trips, going on holiday. God willing, it will soon be ready and then I'm off.

[00:27:03]In the daytime during Ramadan, the ship building activity slows down. At [music] night, once people have broken their fast, Rosetta resumes its intense activity to the rhythm of welders and ship builders.

[00:27:34]But Rosetta's world renown has nothing to do with its sailors and fishing boats. It owes its fame to a single steely, the Rosetta Stone, which helped solve one of archaeologyy's greatest mysteries, deciphering hieroglyphs.

[00:27:51]It was found in the citadel of Kite Bay in 1799.

[00:28:07]Kamis [music] has been guarding the entrance for over 25 years. He knows every nook and cranny and every stone of this fort.

[00:28:26]The stronghold was where the soldiers lived and where ammunition was stored.

[00:28:31]But you see these feronic columns and that block of stone over there. There are ancient relics like that all over the fort.

[00:28:41][music] During his campaign [music] in Egypt, Napoleon made this Mamlook fortress a vital strategic point. It allowed him to control access to the Nile and to stop the English from attacking.

[00:29:06]In 1799, the French began to restore it.

[00:29:10]They didn't expect to uncover the key to ancient Egyptian thinking.

[00:29:27]Production of the Rosetta Stone. The original is in the British Museum in London. It was discovered by Buchar, a French officer stationed in the fort during the campaign of Egypt. Champolon later studied it. The stone is in three languages in hieroglyphics, in deotic Egyptian, and in ancient Greek. It was the same decree from the pharaohs written in three different languages.

[00:30:00]Jean Franis Jean deciphered the hieroglyphs 20 years after the Rosetta Stone was discovered. To achieve this, this talented Egyptologist relied on his knowledge of several languages. He had no difficulty translating the ancient Greek on the stone. But another script had caught his attention. Deotic Egyptian, a simplified written version of the hieroglyphs for everyday use, and that gave Shaolon the key he was missing. He noticed the similarity between demotic Egyptian and another language he could speak fluently.

[00:30:38]Coptic, the language of Egyptian Christians.

[00:30:50]The cops have always been present in Egypt. There are about 7 million practicing cops. One of their [music] spiritual centers is in Wadi El Natun, a semi- desert region about 100 kilometers south of Rosetta.

[00:31:16]>> Like every Sunday, worshippers flock to the monastery of St. Pashoy. They come from all over Egypt to attend the mass held by the monks.

[00:31:29]The women wear makeup and their Sunday best.

[00:31:34]>> The monastery is a place of freedom for this religious minority. Descended from the pharaoh's subjects in this mainly [music] Muslim country. [singing] in the [singing] meant to >> [singing] >> Sam is a cop. He is also a tour guide specializing in Egyptology.

[00:32:31]According to him, the ancient Egyptian civilization is not dead. It lives on in his community.

[00:32:43]Goptic is the lurggical language of the Egyptian church and it is the most recent evolution of the language spoken by ancient Egyptians several thousand years ago.

[00:32:54]For practical reasons, they used the Greek alphabet to write down this language.

[00:33:01]But since the Greek alphabet doesn't cover all of the sounds of ancient Egyptian, they added seven deotic characters to form the Coptic alphabet.

[00:33:19]during mass. Ancient Egyptian doesn't just live on through the language. It also lives on in the songs and the rhythm and the use of incense. It gives us an idea of what the temples of the ancient Egyptians were like.

[00:33:42]In the land of the Moesins, the bells ring out a different tune.

[00:33:47]The history of Christianity is linked to the history of Egypt. Monks have been putting down roots in the desert of Settis for over 16 centuries.

[00:33:59]At their peak, there were over 60 monasteries in the region of Wadi Al-Natum.

[00:34:05]Today only four are still active. The largest being the monastery of St. Pashoy, founded in the 4th century AD by the saint of the same name.

[00:34:19]The architecture of the monasteries blends in with the landscape.

[00:34:23]Everything here reflects the ruggedness of the desert. Domes to keep the air cool and thick walls to keep out the heat.

[00:34:33]The climate wasn't the only enemy the monks had to contend with. Judging from the monastery's high walls and these incredible fortified dungeons that predated fortified castles, >> we are [music] coming to the dungeon. To reach it, you must cross a draw bridge.

[00:35:07]There are dungeons like this in all the monasteries dating from this era designed to protect the monks from being attacked by the Berbers who live in a desert around this monastery.

[00:35:19]The fortress is several stories high. On the ground floor, there is a well with a source of water and the store room. On the second floor, there is a church dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Then there are cells. And here on the terrace, there is another church dedicated to the Archangel [music] Michael who protected the monks from enemy attack.

[00:35:48]a divine protection which did not prevent some monks from being martyed.

[00:35:54]But despite the attacks, raids and even the repression they were subjected to, the Coptic monks of Wadi al-Natrum never lost their faith. That unshakable devotion is still written on the walls of the chapel in the monastery of Elsoran, close to the monastery of St. Pashoy.

[00:36:37]We are in the fifth [music] century church which sadly caught fire in 1990.

[00:36:42]The carpet went up in flames and everything burned. There was a fresco there which was completely blackened. So a [music] team from the French Institute for Oriental Archaeology came to clean it.

[00:36:57]While they were cleaning the fresco, [music] they discovered that there was a second fresco underneath it.

[00:37:06]They managed to lift off the 11th century fresco, keeping it intact, and found themselves in front of this fresco dating from the 7th century, which depicts Jerusalem with the Virgin Mary sitting on the front, the angel Gabriel next to her, and four other characters, Moses and Isaiah on one side, and Ezekiel and Daniel on the other.

[00:37:31]>> [music] >> Each of the prophets is holding the prophecy about the arrival of the Messiah.

[00:37:41][music] Here there are other frescos with two layers.

[00:37:59]One dating from the 7th century and the other from the 11th century. On the semi-dome above me is the 11th century layer [music] showing a scene from the enunciation and a scene from the nativity.

[00:38:13][music] And here are some holy horsemen whose names we do not know and some holy doctors. This is a seventh century layer.

[00:38:27]Here you can see the various layers in the church.

[00:38:32]There are the first, second, third [music] and fourth layers.

[00:38:42]These fresco, [music] which have not been ravaged by time, offer visitors a rare opportunity to admire 1,300year-old murals in their original colors.

[00:38:57][music] [music] Through here is St. Pishoy's cave.

[00:39:16]That's where he lived [music] in the 4th century.

[00:39:20]It was common for monks to live in small enclosed spaces, barely large enough to move around it.

[00:39:32]And above this cave lies the church, which was built in the fifth century. As you can see, that's not big either. It's about 2.5 m by 2 m, no more than that.

[00:39:46]And it's where St. Pisho came to pray.

[00:39:53]In keeping with tradition, he tied his hair to a rope to prevent him falling asleep so that he could pray for as long as possible.

[00:40:03]So this is where St. Poy lived and received the monks that he taught.

[00:40:09][music] Before it became prevalent throughout Christianity, the notion of a monastic way of life came from this part of the world.

[00:40:21]The most fervent early Christians wanted to withdraw from worldly temptations.

[00:40:29]In Egypt, they chose to settle in the deserts where they could pray undisturbed.

[00:40:35]Some lived in caves.

[00:40:38]Others use the ancient tombs of the pharaohs. In Luxor in the hills in the temple of Hatheror, monks built a small chapel and basic cells.

[00:40:52]On the wall of the temple, they engrave crosses as a sign of their faith.

[00:41:04]But on the borders of the cataracts of [music] the Nile, on the island of Filet, the presence of cops is sadly far [music] more visible. In this bastion of the religion of the pharaohs, Christians attacked what they considered to be pagan idols. Every Egyptian god has been methodically pounded to symbolize the victory of monotheism over the ancient religions.

[00:41:37]Today, the monks are no longer isolated in caves like the early hermits.

[00:41:42]Instead, they live in communities with very strict rules.

[00:41:57]When you become a monk, you break all your ties with the outside world, your friends, your family, and your former profession.

[00:42:11]We try to form an exclusive and special relationship with God. This is the key to monarchism.

[00:42:18]parting from everyone and forming an association with a single being. For that there are three conditions. You must live in poverty, chastity, and obedience. Those are the three essential elements to becoming a monk.

[00:42:52]The monastic life is not only contemplative. Work is just as important as prayer.

[00:43:00]The monastery of St. Pashoy [music] houses 120 monks and over 400 lay workers.

[00:43:08]The monastery is an enterprise with just one goal, self-sufficiency.

[00:43:20]Almost everything is grown or made on the spot. The meals, the bread, the candles, and especially the wine.

[00:43:30]Because in a predominantly Muslim country where alcohol is forbidden, it is very difficult to buy wine.

[00:43:42]We stick a label on the bottles with the name of the monastery and a picture of St. Poy.

[00:43:49]This one says Wadi El Natum Valley.

[00:43:54]Then we just need to add the cap.

[00:43:59]This wine is Abaka wine. It is not for sale. We use it here at the monastery and we also give some to churches that don't have the means to procure any.

[00:44:19]In the days of the pharaohs, wine was kept in Anfera.

[00:44:24]Even then, it was labeled to indicate the vintage, its provenence, and the names of the wine [music] grower and seller master.

[00:44:33]Grapes have been grown on the banks of the Nile for 5,000 [music] years. In ancient times, wine was the preserve of an elite, but little by little, it became more democratic.

[00:44:47]It remains an important element of the ancient Egyptian religion. It was associated with Osiris, the god of victory over death because wine [music] is a symbol of renewal and its red color evokes blood and eternal life.

[00:45:03]The Christians also used it to symbolize the blood of Jesus Christ.

[00:45:18]The great strength of the monks here today and in the past is that they have managed to tame a hostile environment and grow crops [music] on the edge of the desert.

[00:45:37]I used to be an accountant.

[00:45:40]I learned how to work in the fields and manage workers at the monastery.

[00:45:50]>> This is okra.

[00:45:54]>> You can eat our vegetables safe in the knowledge. We don't use any chemical fertilizers or pesticides. It's what you might call organic.

[00:46:04]I have been in the monastery for 30 odd years.

[00:46:12]I came here in 1990 and I didn't know anything.

[00:46:18]I've learned all I know here and it suits me.

[00:46:26]I love this life.

[00:46:30][laughter] >> Living here at the monastery of the good lord keeps me young.

[00:46:40]>> Ancient Egypt is [music] still relevant today. It lives on in the Coptic language, the architecture, and certain religious [music] monuments.

[00:46:51]The Giza pyramids are simply the standout legacy of that time. Modern Egypt also [music] sees itself as the daughter of the pharaohs.

[00:47:09]In Cairo, the unknown soldier memorial is another direct descendant of those times. Under this pyramid lies one of the most important leaders of modern Egypt, President Anoir Elsadat, who was assassinated in 1981.

[00:47:26]It is a tomb fit for a man nicknamed the pharaoh by his opponents.

[00:47:46]This ancient past is re-emerging all over [music] Egypt and nowhere more so than in Alexandria. The city was founded by Alexander the Great on the Mediterranean coast in the 3rd century BC.

[00:48:00]In 2002, the people of Alexandria decided to raise from the ashes a monument which made this city famous over 2,000 years ago.

[00:48:19]Here we are in front of the library of Alexandria.

[00:48:23]This library building contains several million books and is shaped like the sun rising above the earth.

[00:48:32]The sun shape evokes Turra, king and father of the gods, who lit up the world with his rays and continues to light up the world with his knowledge.

[00:48:46]This is a colossal project, every bit as big as the temples of ancient times. An ancient Egyptian would feel right at home with the sun, the moon, and the pyramid shape. All the symbols from the past are here today.

[00:49:03]>> The new library in Alexandria can only house 8 million books. That's far fewer than the biggest library in the world in the American Congress, which houses 32 million books. But its predecessor was one of the biggest and most [music] famous libraries in the ancient world.

[00:49:22]It was a collection of the most important scriptures of the time.

[00:49:33]The library was finished around the same time as the lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It was built during the 3rd century BC during the reign of Tommy III. It wasn't just a library for preserving manuscripts. It was also a place for study and research. Archimedes Uklid and the man who calculated the earth's circumference all studied here >> before the invention of printing in the 15th century AD. Papyrus was rare and expensive. To fill the shelves of the old library in [music] Alexandria, the powers that be had an infallible method.

[00:50:15]They took contributions from passing travelers. Any boat docking in Alexandria was searched and any manuscript found was confiscated from the passenger and copied in the library adjoining the cerapium or temple so that the original could continue to enrich the library in Alexandria.

[00:50:38]Then the passenger took a copy.

[00:50:42]The old library in Alexandria has gone.

[00:50:44]Between 48 BC and 642 AD, it was the victim of various fires, looting, earthquakes, and even a tidal wave. For 13 centuries, it was little more than a myth, but it has been revived today in modernday Egypt.

[00:51:03]>> Ancient Egypt, if we look hard enough, is all around us in our daily lives.

[00:51:10]this level of the library which mirrors the sun and these well-appointed columns which are reminiscent of Carak Temple.

[00:51:36]Ancient Egypt has not disappeared. It lives on in the spirits and minds of today's Egyptians. The gods of the pharaohs still seem to be watching over the inhabitants of the Nile.

[00:52:19]Oh, I love you.

[00:52:24]Heat. Heat.