The Egyptians

The ancient Egyptians were obsessed with divinity, death and the afterlife, and reincarnation. In this opening episode, host Christy Kenneally visits Saqqara, south of Cairo, where the Egyptians learned the technique of mummification and built the first pyramid – an early prototype for the grand monuments of the Giza pyramid complex. He journeys on to explore the ruins at Abydos, Karnak and Luxor, arriving finally at the island of Philae – the site of the last hieroglyphics and a little-known shrine to Egypt's lost gods.