The Great Tours: A Guided Tour of Ancient Egypt

For the ancient Egyptians, the Nile is the source of all life; Egypt's ancient cities and monuments; the rich pantheon of Egyptian gods; the role of Egyptian kings as divine intermediaries; the symbolism of Egyptian architecture, art and ritual.

Using objects from Cairo's three great museums; tracing 5,000 years of Egyptian history; Narmer Palette sets the conventions for Egyptian art; what a statue of King Khafre and Tutankhamun's golden throne tell about Egypt from various periods.

The origins of the Egyptian pyramids; the symbolism of their architectural form; the methods of pyramid building; the pyramids' orientation to the cardinal points; the techniques of construction; the funerary rituals that accompany royal interments.

Khufu, builder of the Great Pyramid; the engineering and administrative feat of the construction; pyramid's network of internal passages and funerary chambers; how the burial chambers are sealed; the royal necropolis complex that adjoins the pyramid.

The stunning monuments of the Giza Plateau; the pyramid complex of Khafre and its remarkable necropolis; the legendary Sphinx; the Sphinx Temple and the tomb of Queen Meresankh; the pyramid complex of Menkaure; the Lost City of the pyramid builders.

King Djoser's Step Pyramid complex at Saqqara; how a traditional mastaba tomb is transformed into the famous Step Pyramid; the 37-acre complex; its courtyards and underground tombs and galleries; their extraordinary architectural features and decor.

Exploring Memphis, Ancient Egypt's great capital; the Temple of Ptah; its remarkable statuary and cult structures; the Necropolis of Saqqara; the artistic riches of the Pyramid of King Unas; the Tomb of the Two Brothers; the Tomb of Nefer and Kahay.

The New Kingdom cemetery, containing mastaba tombs with unparalleled relief carvings; the Pyramid of King Teti; the spectacular tombs of his officials, Mereruka and Kagemni, with their exquisitely carved decoration; a visit to the Serapeum.

The Old Kingdom's finest mastaba tombs; the 5th-Dynasty mastabas of Akhethotep and Ptahhotep II, father and son viziers; the elaborate mastaba of Ti, an important 5th-Dynasty official; the artistry, symbolism and detail of the painted reliefs.

How builders under the ambitious King Sneferu construct the first smooth-sided pyramids; at Meidum, viewing its masterpieces of decoration; the structural issues which lead to the pyramid's collapse; the Bent Pyramid and Sneferu's Red Pyramid.

The spiritual revolution of King Akhenaten; an earlier necropolis that influences Akhenaten, that of Beni Hasan, containing beautifully painted tombs in Egypt; the capital city of Amarna; a splendorous setting for Akhenaten's religious reformation.

The history of Amarna; the northern tombs; the Royal Tomb and its burial chambers; Amarna's Royal Road to the Central City; the buildings that serve as a stage for Akhenaten's political and religious agenda; the necropolis of Tuna el-Gebel.

Abydos, the ancient center for the worship of Osiris; the importance of Osiris in Egyptian cosmology; the Commemorative Temple of Seti I; its painted reliefs and interior rooms; the Funerary Temple of Ramesses II; the site of Um el Qu'ab.

Gods' temples in Ancient Egypt serve as a model of the cosmos and a home for the deities; the Temple of Hathor at Dendera; the temple's features, their symbolism and the temple rituals aimed at satisfying the gods; the relief of Cleopatra VII.

The Temple of Amun-Re at Karnak stands as one of the greatest religious monuments; successive kings build structures here to celebrate their relationship with the god; the Hypostyle Hall; the Festival Temple and other buildings within this complex.

The ancient Opet festival; the royal procession of bark shrines from Karnak to Luxor; the temple rituals, whereby the pharaoh and Amun are mystically joined and recharged; the rites of divine kingship; the artworks in the Luxor Museum.

The Egyptian conception of the afterlife; the Amduat illustrates the sun god's voyage through the 12 hours of the night; the stunning paintings of the Amduat within the tombs of the King's Valley; the 1922 discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamen.

The tomb of Nefertari, the beloved queen of Ramesses II; the exquisite artwork that adorns the antechamber and burial chamber walls; the workmen's village of Deir el-Medina; life as it is for those who decorate the royal tombs 3,000 years ago.

Ancient Egypt's memorial temples; the cult temple of Amenhotep III; its majestic statues of the king; Hatshepsut, the famous woman who declares herself the pharaoh; the temple whose decoration portrays her as male and legitimizes her right to rule.

The cultural functions of the tombs of the Nobles' Necropolis on the Nile's west bank; a noble's tomb is a ritual complex ensuring the owner's transfiguration; the intimate humanity of the decoration in the tombs of Menna, Rekhmire and Ramose.

The Greek Ptolemies build Egyptian temples to win the peoples' hearts and minds; the Temple of Horus at Edfu; the festivals that honor Egypt's traditional religious beliefs; the temple at Kom Ombo; a rare double temple to the gods Sobek and Haroeris.

The area surrounding Aswan; exploring Ancient Egypt's southern frontier; the island of Elephantine; its remarkable temples, shrines and mudbrick houses; the tombs of Aswan's ancient governors, cut into the hill of Qubbet el-Hawa; the Nubian Museum.

The magnificent complex of the goddess Isis on the island of Philae; the Temple of Isis; the Temple of Ramesses II at Abu Simbel; the spellbinding grandeur of the temple; the small temple to Queen Nefertari; the story of their rescue and relocation.

Alexandria, the intellectual and cultural capital of the Hellenistic world; the great city of antiquity; its lighthouse, library and Roman-era structures; exploring Tanis; how the tomb treasures found there rival those of the tomb of Tutankhamun.