Video · 2024-04-30 · 3h 58m · 6 moments

18. Egypt - Fall of the Pharaohs

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Fact

The Nile is the sole reason for all life in Egypt's Nile Valley — every blade of grass, every tree, every animal and every person owes their existence to this river.

The narrator explains that Egypt's extreme aridity means the Nile is the only water source, making it the foundation of all life in the region for at least five thousand years.

transcript

Paul Cooper: Egypt itself has an extremely arid climate, and its inland territories experience virtually no rainfall. If geography had been only a little different and Lake Victoria had not begun to drain westwards, we can only imagine how differently history might have gone. For at least the last five thousand years, every blade of grass and every tree in the Nile Valley, every animal and every person to ever live, every priest and every king, owes their existence solely to this river.

Fact◆

The pyramids at Giza were built by professional artisans and seasonal peasant laborers, not slaves, who worked in teams, drank beer three times a day, ate meat regularly, and gave themselves playful team names.

The narrator debunks the widespread misconception that slaves built the pyramids, citing evidence that workers were respected, well-fed, and organized into teams with names like 'The Friends of Khufu' and 'The Drunkards of Menkaure.'

transcript

Paul Cooper: There's a widespread misconception that these monuments were built by armies of slaves, but most historians now believe this not to be true. ... In fact, evidence shows that the pyramid builders were a mixture of professional artisans and laboring peasants who worked seasonally in exchange for rations. ... While they labored for the king, these workers drank beer three times a day, and ate meat regularly. They toiled in three-month shifts, and were divided into teams of twenty men.

Claim◆

The pharaoh Akhenaten was the first recorded person in history to start a new religion by himself, establishing monotheistic worship of the sun disc Aten and suppressing the traditional Egyptian pantheon.

The narrator describes how Akhenaten abandoned the god Amun, changed his name, built a new capital called Akhetaten, and banned worship of all other gods — a radical religious revolution that ended with his death.

transcript

Paul Cooper: Akhenaten is the first recorded person in history to have started a new religion by himself. He was also the first monotheist. In Akhenaten's kingdom, only the Aten could be worshiped. Temples to Amun were eventually shut down, and all worship of the former god was banned. The king even sent out workmen and soldiers to all corners of Egypt, where they burst into temples with hammers and chisels, and chipped the name of Amun off the walls.

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Context

The Battle of Kadesh ended in a stalemate, with both sides declaring victory, but it led to the first written peace treaty in history.

The narrator recounts how Ramesses II's campaign to capture Kadesh fell into a Hittite trap, and despite his heroic self-account, the battle was a draw — ultimately producing the first recorded peace treaty between the two empires.

transcript

Paul Cooper: Despite the overflowing praise of Ramesses and his glorious victory in the Kadesh poem, the war actually ended with a stalemate, and the question of the city remained unresolved. ... The war was finally brought to an end with what has gone down in history as the first written peace treaty, the text of which has survived.

Data

The Sea Peoples invasion was repelled by Ramesses III in a decisive ambush at the mouth of the Nile, making Egypt the first civilization to turn back these invaders, but the victory left Egypt alone in a devastated region and its economy went into terminal decline.

The narrator describes how Ramesses III ambushed the Sea Peoples' fleet at the Nile delta with concealed archers and spearmen, achieving a victory that saved Egypt but could not prevent its long-term economic collapse in the aftermath of the Late Bronze Age collapse.

transcript

Ramesses III (inscription at Medinet Habu, quoted by Paul Cooper): Those who reached my boundary, their heart and their soul are finished forever and ever. As for those who had assembled before them on the sea, the full flame was in their front, before the harbor-mouths, and a wall of metal upon the shore surrounded them. They were dragged, overturned, and laid low upon the beach; slain, and made heaps from stern to bow of their galleys, while all their things were cast upon the water.

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Context

The last hieroglyphic inscription was carved in 394 AD at the Temple of Philae, and with it, the art of the hieroglyph died — the ancient Egyptian language and culture had finally been forgotten.

The narrator notes that the final known hieroglyphic inscription was a mournful wish by a scribe named Nesmeterakhem at the Temple of Philae, and that after this, the knowledge of how to read hieroglyphs was lost for over a thousand years.

transcript

Paul Cooper: The last known hieroglyphic inscription was written in the year 394 AD, at the Temple of Philae, built on an island near the cataract of the Nile at Aswan. ... The last hieroglyphic inscription records the mournful wish of one scribe named Nesmeterakhem, wishing that his inscription would endure forever, just like the carvings of his long-dead ancestors. ... As far as we know, the art of the hieroglyph died with him.

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Highlight slides

Who Built the Pyramids✦ from: The pyramids at Giza were built by professional artisans and seasonal peasant laborers, not slaves, who worked in teams, drank beer three times a day, ate meat regularly, and gave themselves playful team names.Team Identity & Culture✦ from: The pyramids at Giza were built by professional artisans and seasonal peasant laborers, not slaves, who worked in teams, drank beer three times a day, ate meat regularly, and gave themselves playful team names.Akhenaten: The First Recorded Solo Religion Founder✦ from: The pharaoh Akhenaten was the first recorded person in history to start a new religion by himself, establishing monotheistic worship of the sun disc Aten and suppressing the traditional Egyptian pantheon.Suppression of the Traditional Pantheon✦ from: The pharaoh Akhenaten was the first recorded person in history to start a new religion by himself, establishing monotheistic worship of the sun disc Aten and suppressing the traditional Egyptian pantheon.

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The Nile is the sole reason for all life in Egypt's Nile Valley — every blade of grass, every tree, every animal and every person owes their existence to this river.

The pyramids at Giza were built by professional artisans and seasonal peasant laborers, not slaves, who worked in teams, drank beer three times a day, ate meat regularly, and gave themselves playful team names.

The pharaoh Akhenaten was the first recorded person in history to start a new religion by himself, establishing monotheistic worship of the sun disc Aten and suppressing the traditional Egyptian pantheon.

The Battle of Kadesh ended in a stalemate, with both sides declaring victory, but it led to the first written peace treaty in history.

The Sea Peoples invasion was repelled by Ramesses III in a decisive ambush at the mouth of the Nile, making Egypt the first civilization to turn back these invaders, but the victory left Egypt alone in a devastated region and its economy went into terminal decline.

The last hieroglyphic inscription was carved in 394 AD at the Temple of Philae, and with it, the art of the hieroglyph died — the ancient Egyptian language and culture had finally been forgotten.

#487 – Irving Finkel: Deciphering Secrets of Ancient Civilizations &#038; Flood Myths

Import AI 464: Fables writes GPU kernels; AI automation; and analog computation

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#487 – Irving Finkel: Deciphering Secrets of Ancient Civilizations & Flood Myths