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The History of Ancient Egypt

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48.
The Grand Finale
2023-07-20
This last lecture crowns the course by briefly summarizing 3,000 years of Egyptian history; outlining Egypt's legacy to us; surveying images of Egypt in film and literature; and listing ways you can pursue your interest in this remarkable civilization. Your learning needn't stop here!

Watch The History of Ancient Egypt Season 1 Episode 48 Now

47.
Cleopatra - The Last Ptolemy
2023-07-20
Although Cleopatra is one of the most famous women who ever lived, she remains an enigma - we don't even know her mother's name. History is written by the victors, and Cleopatra lost.

Watch The History of Ancient Egypt Season 1 Episode 47 Now

46.
Cleopatra's Family
2023-07-20
For a Ptolemy, dodging assassination by one's own kin was often the hardest part of ruling. Learn how Cleopatra's father managed this task, and trace the course of Egypt's growing - and ultimately fatal - interaction with the rising power of Rome.

Watch The History of Ancient Egypt Season 1 Episode 46 Now

45.
Animal Mummies
2023-07-20
The Ptolemies had a fascination with mummies, especially animal mummies. We will take an in-depth look at the practice of animal mummification, which became a major industry during the Ptolemaic period.

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44.
The Middle Ptolemies - The Decline
2023-07-20
With few exceptions, the members of this dysfunctional dynasty were violent, debauched, and generally neglectful of the country they ruled. The Egyptians hated them and frequently rebelled, forcing some to flee for their lives.

Watch The History of Ancient Egypt Season 1 Episode 44 Now

43.
The First Ptolemies
2023-07-20
The Greek kings known as the Ptolemies ran Egypt like a business. Taxes were heavy; government was oppressive.

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42.
Alexander the Great
2023-07-20
Alexander the Great began 300 years of Greek control of Egypt. We will trace his extraordinary career as a young general, as pharaoh, and as legendary conqueror.

Watch The History of Ancient Egypt Season 1 Episode 42 Now

41.
Dynasties XXVIII to XXXI - The Beginning of the End
2023-07-20
Four very brief dynasties ruled in succession. When the last native-born ruler, Nectanebo II, was forced to flee into Nubia, Egypt's glory was over.

Watch The History of Ancient Egypt Season 1 Episode 41 Now

40.
Dynasty XXVII - The Persians
2023-07-20
The Greek traveler Herodotus gives three different reasons Persia invaded Egypt. How do his accounts compare with Egyptian records?

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39.
Dynasty XXVI - The Saite Period
2023-07-20
Egypt fell under and then escaped Assyrian control only to face a new menace in the form of Babylon. As if they knew it was the last gasp, the pharaohs of Dynasty XXVI looked back to the Old Kingdom for inspiration.

Watch The History of Ancient Egypt Season 1 Episode 39 Now

38.
Dynasty XXV - The Nubians Have Their Day
2023-07-20
Nubians had been permitted to grow independent, with their leaders taking the title of pharaoh. They were also devoted to Amun, so in a sense, Egypt was their spiritual home.

Watch The History of Ancient Egypt Season 1 Episode 38 Now

36.
Dynasty XXI - Egypt Divided
2023-07-20
Egypt's long slide continued as rival dynasties ruled from Thebes and the Delta. Egyptian history had become "a tale of two cities.

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34.
Dynasty XX - The Decline Continues
2023-07-20
After Ramses III's brief attempt to restore Egypt's stability, the downward slide continued. Who were the mysterious Sea Peoples?

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33.
The Decline of Dynasty XIX
2023-07-20
Short reigns and a lack of major building projects betray the beginnings of Egypt's long slide from greatness.

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32.
The Exodus - Did It Happen?
2023-07-20
The Book of Exodus, so fundamental to the history of the Jewish people, is the section of the Old Testament most closely tied to Egypt. What light can Egyptology shed on the biblical account?

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31.
Ramses the Great - The Later Years
2023-07-20
There is a bit of a mystery about Ramses's reign. Its last 40 years were rather sedentary. In considering what might have happened, you will see how a pharaoh with the resources of Ramses prepared himself and his family for the next world.

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29.
Dynasty XIX Begins
2023-07-20
After three childless pharaohs in a row, Egypt desperately needed stability. Thus, the first pharaoh of Dynasty XIX may have been selected not for his ability, but because of his heirs!

Watch The History of Ancient Egypt Season 1 Episode 29 Now

28.
Making a Modern Mummy
2023-07-20
Here you'll learn how Professor Brier mummified a human cadaver in the ancient Egyptian manner to determine how the Egyptian embalmers did it. The purpose of the project was not to make a mummy, but to gain knowledge of the instruments, substances, and surgical procedures used during the process.

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27.
What Mummies Tell Us
2023-07-20
The primary source for figuring out how the Egyptians mummified their dead is the mummies themselves. What distinguishes mummies from the Old Kingdom, the New Kingdom, and the Late Period, respectively?

Watch The History of Ancient Egypt Season 1 Episode 27 Now

26.
Mummification - How We Know What We Know
2023-07-20
Mummification was a trade secret. The Egyptians left no records of how they did it. Detective work is needed, and fortunately, there are four papyri that offer some clues.

Watch The History of Ancient Egypt Season 1 Episode 26 Now

24.
Medicine - The Necessary Art
2023-07-20
The physicians of Egypt were famous throughout the ancient world. Probe the justification for this fame by examining medical papyri.

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23.
The Murder of Tutankhamen - A Theory
2023-07-20
Was Tutankhamen the victim of foul play? Do his mummified remains hold clues? Who might have wanted him dead, and why? Sift the physical and circumstantial evidence for this intriguing hypothesis and form your own conclusion.

Watch The History of Ancient Egypt Season 1 Episode 23 Now

22.
The Discovery of Tutankhamen's Tomb
2023-07-20
Unearthed by Howard Carter in 1922, the burial place of this young son of Akhenaten is the only royal tomb to have been found substantially intact. Follow the careful research and planning that led up to Carter's discovery, and learn the significance of the thousands of artifacts found.

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21.
Akhenaten the Heretic Pharaoh
2023-07-20
The most enigmatic and controversial pharaoh in Egypt's history, Akhenaten rocked the pillars of Egyptian society. He may have been the first monotheist and the first "individual" in history.

Watch The History of Ancient Egypt Season 1 Episode 21 Now

20.
The Fabulous XVIIIth Dynasty Rolls On
2023-07-20
Witness this glorious dynasty continue through two superior pharaohs and then one great one, Amenhotep III, "The Sun King.

Watch The History of Ancient Egypt Season 1 Episode 20 Now

19.
Tuthmosis III - King At Last
2023-07-20
For 22 years, Tuthmosis III was second fiddle to his aunt Hatshepsut, who ruled as a king although she was a woman. When she died and he ruled by himself, he became one of the greatest military pharaohs Egypt had ever known.

Watch The History of Ancient Egypt Season 1 Episode 19 Now

18.
Obelisks
2023-07-20
Obelisks are a purely Egyptian invention. Quarrying, transporting, and erecting one is perhaps an even greater engineering feat than the building of a pyramid.

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17.
Queen Hatshepsut
2023-07-20
One of the greatest individuals in Egyptian history, Hatshepsut appears in no official Egyptian record. When she died, she was "King of Upper and Lower Egypt.

Watch The History of Ancient Egypt Season 1 Episode 17 Now

16.
The Beginning of the New Kingdom - The Fabulous XVIIIth Dynasty
2023-07-20
Practices we think of as defining ancient Egypt - including the use of a standing army to exact foreign tribute and the burial of the pharaohs in the Valley of the Kings - have their origins in this seminal period. We will also take a detailed look at what warfare was like in the ancient world.

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15.
Joseph in Egypt
2023-07-20
The Bible describes a lengthy sojourn of the Israelites in Egypt. We examine the Joseph story in the Book of Genesis to see what light Egyptology might shed on its authenticity.

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13.
The Middle Kingdom - Dynasty XII
2023-07-20
The seven kings of Dynasty XII built pyramids, fostered great literature (often for political purposes), and consolidated power once again in the center.

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11.
The First Intermediate Period
2023-07-20
After centuries of power, pyramids, and prosperity, Egypt totally collapsed. Why? A look at this period also shows the methods that Egyptologists use to reconstruct history where the resources are scant.

Watch The History of Ancient Egypt Season 1 Episode 11 Now

9.
The Great Pyramid of Giza
2023-07-20
From leveling the foundation to setting the capstone, here are - as best as we can make out - the "nuts and bolts" of the Egyptians' most literally "monumental" feat: pyramid building. This lecture also discusses the 144-foot solar boat that was found in 1954, buried near the Great Pyramid.

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8.
Sneferu, the Pyramid Builder
2023-07-20
This lecture will present a portrait of the founder of the "Fabulous Fourth" Dynasty, Sneferu. Using trial and error, he figured out how to build a true pyramid.

Watch The History of Ancient Egypt Season 1 Episode 8 Now

7.
The Rise of the Old Kingdom
2023-07-20
As Egypt becomes a great nation led by a single all-powerful ruler, traditions arise that will last for millennia: a capital city, separate burial places (and eventually mighty pyramids) for the kings, solar boats for the trip to the next world, and more.

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6.
The First Nation in History
2023-07-20
How did Egypt become history's first nation? Once King Narmer unified Upper and Lower Egypt, it took only a few hundred years to build a power that would dominate the Near East for millennia.

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5.
The Rosetta Stone, and Much More
2023-07-20
The Rosetta Stone is a large granite stela, carved under Ptolemy V and unearthed by French troops in 1799. With inscriptions of the same text in Greek and Egyptian, it provided the key to deciphering the ancient Egyptian language.

Watch The History of Ancient Egypt Season 1 Episode 5 Now

4.
Napoleon and the Beginnings of Egyptology
2023-07-20
Why does modern Egyptology begin with Napoleon? How was Egypt studied before he and his army arrived with 150 scientists in tow in 1798?

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3.
Ancient Egyptian Thought
2023-07-20
What distinguishes mythology, religion, and philosophy from one another? What role did each play in the lives of the ancient Egyptians?

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2.
Prehistoric Egypt
2023-07-20
In this lesson, we will see just how old "old" is. The basic divisions of prehistory will be discussed, and each category will be defined and its specific characteristics delineated.

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1.
Introduction
2023-07-20
What makes ancient Egypt so interesting? How do we know what we know about it? What can you, as a student, expect from these episodes?

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The History of Ancient Egypt is a series categorized as a new series. Spanning 1 seasons with a total of 41 episodes, the show debuted on 2023. The series has earned a no reviews from both critics and viewers. The IMDb score stands at undefined.

How to Watch The History of Ancient Egypt

How can I watch The History of Ancient Egypt online? The History of Ancient Egypt is available on The Great Courses with seasons and full episodes. You can also watch The History of Ancient Egypt on demand at Amazon Prime, Apple TV Channels, Amazon online.

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