:11:00
And so the Egyptians accorded
:11:02
their rulers absolute power
:11:04
which they used to build
an extraordinary empire
:11:20
an empire of buildings
so enormous
:11:23
and art so exquisite
we are still trying to understand
:11:27
how such wonders were created
:11:31
how stones from the
desert were turned
:11:34
into timeless monuments.
:11:58
Some of the oldest buildings
on earth are here
:12:02
preserved by the desert air
:12:04
and the skill of their creators.
:12:06
Some are so old that
they had already stood
:12:10
a thousand years
when Tutankhamon was born.
:12:25
The enormous obelisks of Karnak
:12:27
were carved from single blocks
of granite,
:12:30
moved hundreds of miles by boat
rolled on logs
:12:33
and perhaps levered up
with huge timbers.
:12:47
Giant statues of Ramses the Great
carved at Abu Simbel
:12:51
are still some of the largest figures
:12:53
ever sculpted from solid stone.
:12:59
We don't know how they did it,