Immortal Egypt

Professor and Presenter Joann Fletcher explains how Ancient Egypt’s extraordinary story fits together; from nomads to pyramid builders, from tomb robbers to the last of the pharaohs. The result is one of the world’s most fascinating and enduring civilization.

Episode 1: The Road To The Pyramids

In this first episode, Professor Joann Fletcher goes in search of the building blocks of Egyptian civilisation and finds out what made ancient Egypt the incredible civilisation that it was.

Episode 2: Chaos

In Episode 2: Chaos, Joann guides us through one of Saqqara’s last pyramid complexes to illustrate how Ancient Egypt’s `Pyramid Age’ came to an end. A worsening climate combined with political upheaval, famine and economic difficulties to plunge the state into a dark era of civil war, with the land dividing into smaller city-states headed by ambitious small-town leaders.

Episode 3: Zenith

In Immortal Egypt’s episode 3, we take a look at the peak of ancient Egyptian civilisation. We investigate the Colossi of Memnon, two massive stone statues depicting Pharaoh Amenhotep III, and examining the lives of the workers and artisans involved in the building of the Valley of the Kings.

Episode 4: Invasion

Episode 4: Invasions shows us how Egypt’s enemies exploited a country weakened by internal strife, travelling south to Sudan to examine the story of the forgotten Nubian kings, who ruled Egypt from their southern homeland for a century, even building their own pyramids to bury their monarchs.

We get an insight into how the next group of invaders, the Saites, took the tradition of mummification to new extremes by preserving millions of animals, before Alexander the Great came to Egypt’s rescue and founded the greatest city on Earth, Alexandria.