pt. 1. Introduction -- Prehistoric Egypt -- Ancient Egyptian thought -- Napoleon and the beginnings of Egyptology -- The Rosetta Stone, and much more -- The first nation in history -- The rise of the Old Kingdom -- Sneferu, the pyramid builder -- The Great Pyramid of Giza -- The end of the Old Kingdom -- The First Intermediate Period -- The Middle Kingdom, Dynasty XI -- pt. 2. The Middle Kingdom, Dynasty XII -- The Second Intermediate Period -- Joseph in Egypt -- The beginning of the New Kingdom: the fabulous XVIIIth Dynasty -- Queen Hatshepsut -- Obelisks -- Tuthmosis III, King at last -- The fabulous XVIIIth Dynasty rolls on -- Akhenaten, the heretic pharaoh -- The discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb -- The murder of Tutankhamen, a theory -- Medicine, the necessary art -- pt. 3. The end of Dynasty XVIII -- Mummification, how we know what we know -- What mummies tell us -- Making a modern mummy -- Dynasty XIX begins -- Ramses the Great, the early years -- Ramses the Great, the later years -- The exodus, did it happen -- The decline of Dynasty XIX -- Dynasty XX, the decline continues -- Ancient Egyptian magic -- Dynasty XXI, Egypt divided -- pt. 4. Dynasty XXII, Egypt united -- Dynasty XXV, the Nubians have their day -- Dynasty XXVI, the Saite period -- Dynasty XXVII, the Persians -- Dynasties XXVIII to XXXI, the beginning of the end -- Alexander the Great -- The first Ptolemies -- The middle Ptolemies, the decline -- Animal mummies -- Cleopatra's family -- Cleopatra, the last Ptolemy -- The grand finale.

Lecturer: Bob Brier, City College of New York.

A survey of the 3,000 years of Egyptian history from prehistoric times to the death of Cleopatra.

DVD, region 1.