Egypt: Cradle Of Civilization (1962)

[music] >> The Middle East. Burning miles of wind-swept [music] desert. Bedouin who trek silently across the sands as they have for centuries. A hot, arid, [music] inhospitable land. Except where there is water. On an occasional oasis. In the fertile river valleys. Along the valleys of the [music] Tigris and Euphrates. Down the mountains of Lebanon and along the river Nile. Runs a crescent of fertile soil. It was in this area some 5,000 years [music] ago that the first great civilizations were born. One of the earliest [music] was that which grew up along the banks of the Nile in Egypt. >> [music] [music] >> Thousands of years ago, Egypt [music] was a land of swamps and marshes. A wild region inhabited by crocodiles, hippopotami, [music] and other species of game. >> [music] >> Today, the people of the Upper Nile still live much in the same way as did those of prehistoric Egypt. Like the Dinka people of today who live along the Nile in the Sudan, the early Egyptians hunted and fished. Traveled the river in canoes made from marsh reeds. In their fields they cultivated crops. They herded cattle living in widely scattered tribal units. The lives of these people were completely dependent upon the waters of the Nile. But each year swelled by the rains, the waters rose flooding their [music] fields, destroying their homes, and threatened the highly productive. But conditions [music] were hard. If this fertile region was to be perma- the destructive power of the Nile had first [music] to be mastered. In time, even as they do today, the early Egyptians [music] learned to dig dykes and canals to protect their homes. Spurred by the need for cooperation in [music] the great task of mastering the Nile, the primitive tribes of Egypt began to unite. This unification was highly significant. For now, with their combined energy organized by a single powerful ruler, many things impossible [music] before could be achieved. With a food supply virtually assured, the united people [music] of Egypt were ready to develop in many directions. The pyramids were the first great landmarks [music] in the story of civilization. Built nearly 5,000 years ago, the first buildings in the world made entirely of stone, [music] the pyramids symbolized the turning point between primitive tribal existence and the organized social [music] life that we call civilization. Writing, it been said, marked the beginning [music] of civilization. Hieroglyphic or picture [music] writing was the earliest form of Egyptian script developed. Written on stone or plaster. [music] Soon, from the stem of the papyrus [music] reed, the Egyptians learned to make paper. >> [music] >> With the invention of paper and a new form of writing, the spread of knowledge became [music] easier. Paper was used for medical and religious texts, for keeping [music] records, for artwork, or for mathematical studies, perhaps in connection with pyramid building. One of the great centers of learning was the city of Thebes, for centuries the [music] capital of ancient Egypt and noted for its fine architecture. Almost all the massive stone buildings [music] of Egypt were either temples or tombs. One of the largest >> [music] >> was the Temple of Karnak. >> [music] >> Religion was the driving force behind the growth of civilization [music] in Egypt, a fact that is strongly reflected in Egyptian art. Statues of [music] god kings and other religious sculptures adorn the temple courtyards. >> [music] >> The pillars and the walls of all the buildings are carved with scenes that glorify many different [music] deities, testifying to the reverence in which the Egyptian gods were held. >> [music] >> A Greek philosopher once of the Egyptians, "They are beyond measure religious more than any other nation." Their greatest [music] preoccupation was with the notion of life after death. In a valley [music] near the city of Thebes, called the Valley of Kings, lie buried many of Egypt's most famous [music] monarchs or pharaohs with names like Ramses, Seti, and Tutankhamun. In these tombs, many fine works of art [music] have been found. To keep them [music] contented in the afterworld, the pharaohs were buried with objects familiar during life on Earth. >> [music] >> Caskets from their palaces, models of their boats, of plowmen, of their soldiers, [music] their carpenters, and the herdsmen with their cattle. There are statues [music] of servants and the gods they worshipped, which sometimes [music] took the form of birds, fish, or animals. The pharaohs themselves were looked upon as gods and their lives were lived accordingly. In a model of a pharaoh's [music] palace, the grandeur of royal life is recaptured. Huge columns support a painted [music] wooden roof. The walls were profusely [music] decorated with scenes relating to the life of the god king. The artwork has a religious [music] style which over a period of nearly 3,000 years was little altered. Though only the pharaohs lived in luxury, [music] other homes were solid and comfortable, made of mud [music] as are many in Egypt even today. Around the house were special yards for the animals and the granaries. And there were gardens [music] with trees, pools, and a summer house. In the ruins of such a house have been found paintings [music] that tell of daily activities. Herdsmen driving [music] their cattle to water, a hunter in the marshes [music] using a cat to retrieve his birds, the charioteers of the rich with their fiery stallions, [music] and evidence of gay parties [music] at which elegant ladies were served by slave girls as they listened to the [music] music of the lyre and harp. >> [music] >> Paintings such as these and the thousand and one other objects that together tell us what life was like in ancient Egypt would never have come to light but for the work of archaeologists. Throughout [music] Egypt, digging goes on constantly in the search for new evidence that will broaden [music] our knowledge of the past for many secrets still lie hidden beneath [music] the earth. The culture of the pharaohs has strongly influenced all of the civilizations [music] that have followed it. In art, medicine, astronomy, mathematics, and architecture, [music] the Egyptians contributed much to the culture of [music] ancient Greece, which in turn was responsible for the spread of civilization to Rome, and finally [music] to modern Europe and America. The civilization [music] that we know today then began 5,000 years ago along the [music] banks of the Nile in the ancient land of Egypt. Indeed, the very cradle of civilization. >> [music]