Mummies and the Wonders of Ancient Egypt (1996)

Synopsis: From the A&E television network comes this box set of four documentaries, all of which deal with various aspects of Egypt's historical past. Part one examines the "Great Pyramids." This volume... From the A&E television network comes this box set of four documentaries, all of which deal with various aspects of Egypt's historical past. Part one examines the "Great Pyramids." This volume includes new data and theories that describe how the two-ton stones of these "stairways to heaven" were moved. "Hieroglyphs" reveals the semiotic mysteries behind these "sacred carvings." According to the filmmakers, these symbolic scrawlings gave guidance and wisdom to generation after generation. A 4,500-year-old statue is the subject of Part Three: "The Sphinx." Filmmakers explore the sculpture's origins to its first restoration -- in 1,300 B.C. -- to its desecrated memory as the target of Napoleon's trigger-happy troops. "King Tut," located in the 1920s by a team of archaeologists, rounds out the Egyptian series. Explorers discovered gold and jewelry in the boy king's burial vault. Now many debate whether the tomb's excavation unleashed a curse. In all four of these programs, filmmakers rely on commentary from Egypt scholars as well as on up-to-date computer technology to decipher these and other ancient mysteries. [More]