Egypt: Secrets of the Pharaohs

What's the big secret? I know what the Pharaohs of Egypt wanted&#133 they wanted their mummies. Okay, sorry. For thousands of years humankind has grappled with the question of immortality, the possibility of life after death, and whether to buy Amazon stock. This very competent, nicely filmed program looks at the pyramid builders, the discovery of a ancient royal ship made out of cedar, and a modern day mummification. First off, shattering the notion that aliens built the pyramids, archaeologists have -- as recently as 1990 -- uncovered a huge city (read: cemetery) within a stone's throw of the Giza pyramids. Very likely this urban compound supported a workforce of tens of thousands of craftspersons who apparently added a block of limestone to the pyramids every 2 1/2 minutes. (Now that's a kick butt measurable performance standard.) Also unearthed in the same neighborhood, a 4,600-year-old wooden puzzle with over 1,224 pieces which eventually took 13 years to reconstruct into a breathtakingly beautiful polished-cedar funeral barge. And finally, a little offshore of the Nile, scientists at the University of Maryland Medical School re-create the process of mummification on a permissive dead person. Preservation was the key to immortality in years gone by (and Twinkies today): the better you were wrapped, the better your chances of arriving in the afterlife with your nose intact. Viewers will watch a modern day mummification, including the ancient embalming technique and dehydration method used in preparing the dead for their final journey. And you know what? In a way, those bodies have reached a state of eternal life, immortality if you will, because after thousands of years they continue to teach, amaze and assist us in our search for the meaning of life and afterlife. Highly recommended. (N. Plympton)