Ancient Egypt: Chronicles of an Empire

The Nile is Egypt’s lifeline. Its water transforms parched soils into productive farmland. The first houses and settlements emerge from its mud. From 5000 BC, desert nomads begin to settle in the Nile Valley. Instead of wandering around as hunter-gatherers, they now practice agriculture and animal husbandry. The foundations for Egyptian civilization.

Gods and Kings rule over ancient Egypt. They are omnipresent, leading the country into deep crises and to unimagined greatness. Episode 2 of the documentary series tells their story. It shows that Ancient Egypt left behind much more than magnificent temples and impressive pyramids. Some inventions are cornerstones of state and society even today.

In the realm of the pharaohs, some of mankind's oldest and largest cities are emerging. An urban revolution that has long been overlooked. For unlike the impressive stone temples, most traces of settlement have disappeared today. But research is gaining ever deeper insights into the urban life and residential culture of the Ancient Egyptians.

Ancient Egypt is famous for its cult of the dead. Tomb complexes, mummies and fabulous treasures fire people's imagination to this day. Back then, it played a central role for the Egyptians. This episode chronicles of an Empire tells the story behind this cult. What insights can scientists gain from the dead about the lives of the Egyptians?

Nothing represents the advanced civilization of ancient Egypt more than the pyramids. Much about them is still a mystery to researchers. This episode chronicles of an Empire traces the history of Egyptian tomb construction. With their pyramids, the Egyptians created monuments for eternity - and in the end, they actually became immortal.

Women in ancient Egypt held a special fascination, even for their contemporaries. This episode tells their story. There were royal mothers who take over the regency for their sons. Queens like Cleopatra, who ruled alone over the empire on the Nile. The fascination ancient Egypt continues to hold, is not only due to its great men. But also, to its cast of extraordinary women.

In ancient Egypt, wars were seen as a legitimate means of preserving the divine order by protecting the borders of the empire and expanding it. This episode chronicles of an Empire shows how Egypt, in times of military weakness, became the target of foreign invaders. In times of peace, however, the pharaohs relied on diplomacy. War and peace balanced each other out.

How did Egypt climb to a final period of splendor under the Ptolemies? And why did the empire nevertheless fall under their rule? Downfall tells the story of how Alexander the Great's General Ptolemy founded a new Hellenistic-Egyptian dynasty. Yet, in the second half of the dynasty's reign, a crisis arose that even Cleopatra could not overcome.