Movie Review: Engineering an Empire: Egypt

Engineering an Empire: Egypt 

History Channel, KPI Productions, USA, 2006. 

In 3000 B.C. the yearly flooding of the Nile caused devastation and and famine. Still the flood also made farming possible as it brought nutritious soil. Capital city Memphis remained dry because of protecting walls built by engineers of Pharaoh Menes. His armies united Upper and Lower Egypt into great kingdom. Early Egyptians were expert dam builders although sometimes the dams would burst. The success of Memphis encouraged Pharaohs to build even bigger structures. 

Peter Weller in Egypt

In 2667 B.C. Pharaoh Djoser started construction of the first stone pyramid. Chief architect was Imhotep and he was also high-priest and physician. (In popular culture he is known as "The Mummy.") As there was not experience about building huge stone constructs, much of the complex was built using trial and error. Later Pharaohs built bigger and better pyramids with smooth sides. Pharaoh Khufu perfected the art of pyramid building with the Great Pyramid at Giza. 

Pyramid construction site

The Bent Pyramid of Pharaoh Snefru

Sesostris III went on conquering Nubia to exploit its gold mines. To secure the borders he built military fortresses comparable to medieval castles. However the fortresses were lost 200 years later and the empire weakened. Later Pharaohs would go on conquering neighbouring areas but the areas would change the owner many times.

Egyptian palace

One curious building project was the city of Amarna. In 1352 B.C. Amenhotep IV wanted to diminish the power of Amun's priests. He elevated god Aton's importance and renamed himself Akhenaten. He moved the capital from Thebe to Luxor. City of Amarna was one of the first planned cities in the world. However the Pharaoh was unpopular and after his death the city was quickly abandoned. 

Akhenaten

Finally the Egyptian empire collapsed because of economic recession, weak leaders and foreign conquerors but the big stone buildings endured.

Although there must be hundreds of documentaries about Egypt, this has a slightly different point of view. The main focus of this documentary is in the huge engineering projects of the ancient Egypt. It is quite informative about the building techniques summing up also the evolution of pyramids. It also sums up the crucial moments in history of Egypt.  "Engineering an Empire" seems to be an interesting series but I have only this one part.

Actor Peter Weller, who has also master's degree in Roman and Renaissance Art, is the host of the show. He visits the historical places in Egypt and also enters Djoser's and Snefru's tomb crawling in the narrow corridors. In addition to experts telling the facts there are also some well produced dramatisations and computer animations. 

Part of The 2016 Movie Watching Challenge (#9. Documentary)

Rating: Very good

Starring: Michael Carroll, Zahi Hawass, Charles Van Siclen, Peter Weller, Lawrence Berman, Salima Ikram, Ann Macy Roth, Michael Jones, Stephen P.Harvey, John Darnell, Colleen Manassa

Director: Christopher Cassel