Episode 1 Mansions of the Spirit – First watch restoration on one of the greatest monuments to the dead ever created, Queen Hatshepsut’s exquisite Deir el Bahari, and her Red Chapel, a smaller temple near Karnak. Then host Peter Woodward leads viewers into the inner sanctuaries of the Great Temple of Karnak to explain the sacred duties of the temple priests, and epigrapher William Murnane shows how the art and decoration contributed to the temple’s holy power and political prestige.
Episode 2 The Great Pharaoh and His Lost Children – Archaeologist Dr Kent Weeks explores a tomb in the Valley of the Kings, where the bodies of Ramses II’s many sons were buried. Explore Ramses’ dedication to his family at his funerary temple, the magnificent Ramesseum, where he depicted his children on various temple walls and reliefs. Then, Dr. Kent Weeks takes us through the mysterious and long-forgotten KV5, the tomb of several of Ramesses’ sons, which proves to be ancient Egypt’s greatest family mausoleum.
Episode 3 The Daily Life of Ancient Egyptians -The daily lives of ordinary Egyptian citizens under the reign of the pharaohs. At the ancient port city Mendes, archaeologist Donald Redford has been uncovering the lives of farmers, priests, and merchants. This episode visits the ancient craftsman’s village Deir el Medina to learn more about the lives of workers who toiled in the Valley of the Kings. Wander through modern Cairo to discover the amazing number of similarities between ancient Egypt and the Egypt that we know today.
Episode 4 Death and the Journey to Immortality – An accidental discovery in 1996 leads to a clearer understanding of the burial rituals of the ancient world. Egyptian civilization was based on the hope of eternal life after death. This episode explores some of the ancient places that reveal the secrets of the religion and study the sacred tomb hieroglyphs in the Valley of the Kings. At the cemetery of the pyramid builders in Giza and the Valley of the Golden Mummies in the Bahariyya Oasis, viewers learn more about Egyptian burial practices and methods. Drs. Zahi Hawass and Salima Ikram seek to unravel the secrets of mummification.