There was a great BBC program on earlier in the week, that examined the building of Khufu's pyramid.
It used a (fictional?) first person narrative of someone involved in the building to tell the story of the pyramid: you watched their life, and tht told of how it the pyramid was made, and what it meant. Plenty of CGI scenes and contentious building issues raised.
However, there was quite a surprising ending.
It had stated at the beginning the world spoken notion of the Egyptian's being obsessed with stars - here, particuarly, the circumpolar stars (Ursa Minor - the Plough - the Little Bear?). It followed the shaft from the burial chamber to the sky, showing how it aligned.
It interesting part is this: the worker reflected on how the Great King Khufu was going to be resurrected in death into life - fine, that's not at stake. What was very interesting, however, was the claim made through the worker's narrative that the Great King being resurrected was therefore a resurrection for all His people - essentially, that in attaining eternal life, the Pharaoh was also granting eternal life to the people of Egypt.
I have never encountered that idea before from my reading of Egyptology - that of a shared resurrection experience.
Anyone familiar with this idea within the Egyptian Old Kingdom (or later?). Or was this a speculative fantasy on the part of the program makers??
Either way, I believe that it was called "Pyramid", and is likely also being screened on Discovery - in case you get the chance to see it. Very good program, actually - a decent exploration of the history through a somewhat unique perspective. Unfortunately, the program doesn;t have a specific page covering its content on the BBC website.
So...opening up on Egyptian resurrection beliefs...
It used a (fictional?) first person narrative of someone involved in the building to tell the story of the pyramid: you watched their life, and tht told of how it the pyramid was made, and what it meant. Plenty of CGI scenes and contentious building issues raised.
However, there was quite a surprising ending.
It had stated at the beginning the world spoken notion of the Egyptian's being obsessed with stars - here, particuarly, the circumpolar stars (Ursa Minor - the Plough - the Little Bear?). It followed the shaft from the burial chamber to the sky, showing how it aligned.
It interesting part is this: the worker reflected on how the Great King Khufu was going to be resurrected in death into life - fine, that's not at stake. What was very interesting, however, was the claim made through the worker's narrative that the Great King being resurrected was therefore a resurrection for all His people - essentially, that in attaining eternal life, the Pharaoh was also granting eternal life to the people of Egypt.
I have never encountered that idea before from my reading of Egyptology - that of a shared resurrection experience.
Anyone familiar with this idea within the Egyptian Old Kingdom (or later?). Or was this a speculative fantasy on the part of the program makers??
Either way, I believe that it was called "Pyramid", and is likely also being screened on Discovery - in case you get the chance to see it. Very good program, actually - a decent exploration of the history through a somewhat unique perspective. Unfortunately, the program doesn;t have a specific page covering its content on the BBC website.
So...opening up on Egyptian resurrection beliefs...
