Legends of the Pharaohs

The legend of the world's first pyramid involves a powerful pharaoh and a righthand man whose innovative idea to immortalize him would change the course of history. Discover the story of Djoser, who achieved god-like status after leading his country of one million citizens through a seven-year period of drought and famine. Then see how his adviser, Imhotep, set out to build a tomb worthy of his legacy—a construction project that would call for the mobilization of the entire country and influence the very fate of Egypt.

It's the 25th century BCE in ancient Egypt and a new pharaoh has ascended the throne: Snefru. To hold onto power, he will marry his half-sister, conquer new territories, reorganize his entire country, and build not one, but three record-breaking pyramids. Discover the story of one king's mission to create a tomb that would surpass anything ever built, and the son who brought together huge workforces and overcame the greatest logistical and engineering challenges in human history to build a pyramid worthy of his father.

The Great Pyramid of Giza is the world’s most famous tomb, standing more than 450 feet high and made up of 2,500,000 stone blocks. Exactly how Pharaoh Khufu pulled his country together to build this massive monument has long remained a mystery. Ancient documents paint the king as a brutal despot, but archaeologists are making incredible discoveries, finding evidence that Khufu built an entire city for the pyramid's workers and provided them with food, medical care, and even the opportunity to hitch a ride with him to the afterlife.

In ancient Egypt, workers are racing to finish the largest pyramid on the planet for their pharaoh, Khufu. But time is running out. The purpose of this giant tomb is to transport the king to the afterlife; if it's not completed when he dies, his dreams of immortality could be dashed. Witness the final construction phase of the Great Pyramid of Giza and what it looked like 4,500 years ago. Then see how the recent discovery of an ancient papyrus has rewritten history and changed our understanding of just how this massive monument was built.

On Egypt's Giza Plateau, the famous Great Pyramid has an equally imposing neighbor, standing more than 65 feet high. It’s the Sphinx, a mythical beast with a human head on top of the body of an enormous lion. For centuries, historians have struggled to crack the mystery of who built it, why it was built, and what exactly it represents. To answer those questions, we investigate the lives of Pharaoh Khufu's sons and the dramatic battles for power after their father's death that Egyptologists believe led to the building of this enigmatic statue.

Guided by legendary pharaohs, visionary engineers, and thousands upon thousands of skilled workers, the "Pyramid Age" helped transform ancient Egypt, its people, and the world forever. But cracks in the country's unity eventually began to show, and religious transformation, climate change, and a weak pharaoh signaled the end of an era. Witness the final years of a dynasty that created monuments that still astound today, and see how the incredible advances made during this period helped a new age of pharaohs reinvent and reunite the nation.