Out of Egypt - 6-DVD Box Set ( Out of Egypt - Season 1 - 6 Episodes )

Out of Egypt - 6-DVD Box Set (DVD) (*)

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Alternate Title: Out of Egypt - Season 1 - 6 Episodes
Language Selections:
English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )

Product Origin/Format:
United Kingdom ( PAL/Region 2 )

Running Time:
264 min

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen

Special Features:
Box Set
Interactive Menu
Multi-DVD Set
Scene Access

Movie filmed in 2009 and produced in:
United States ( USA, Canada )

Directed By:
Chaz Gray

Written By:
Neil Crawford
Kara Cooney

Actors:
Kara Cooney ..... Herself

Synopsis:

Secret societies, ritual sacrifice, brutal religious edicts, macabre burials - how are ancient civilizations linked together and what does it say about human instinct? Join Dr Kara Cooney, UCLA Professor of Egyptian Art and Architecture, as she visits tombs and temples around the world bringing an exciting new perspective to the most fascinating riddles in history. Season 1 Flesh and Bone S1, Ep1 Aug. 24, 2009 The Shape of the Gods S1, Ep2 Aug. 24, 2009 Sins of the City S1, Ep3 Aug. 24, 2009 The Birth of the Devil S1, Ep4 Aug. 31, 2009 Disposal of the Dead S1, Ep5 Aug. 24, 2009 Sacred Violence S1, Ep6 Sep. 7, 2009

Sins of the City
Today's city dwellers may think of urban living as an improvement over the existence of our hunting and gathering ancestors. But Egyptologist Kara explains that our modern tendency to live in cities isn't the result of an inevitable march towards progress. Beginning roughly 12,000 years ago, a sudden change in human behaviour determined the very nature of modern civilization. And archaeological evidence from some of the world's first cities - like Jericho in the West Bank of Palestine, Catal Huyuk in Turkey, and even early prehistoric settlements in Egypt - suggests that living in cities may bring just as many problems as it solves.

The Shape of the Gods
The great pyramids at Giza - awe inspiring icons of Ancient Egypt. But these monuments are not unique. Thousands of pyramids have been built all across the globe. Dr Kara Cooney travels from the very first pyramids in Egypt to the temples of Mexico, and even to round pyramids in Sri Lanka, demonstrating that the history of these buildings hides a long and twisted evolution of architecture and form. Ancient pyramid builders everywhere attempted to master an ideal sacred shape, but what did the pyramid really mean to the ancient people? And why did they work so hard to perfect it?

The Birth of the Devil
The Ancient Egyptians practiced a complex religion of many gods, and yet they had no devil in their mythology. In fact, most ancient cultures had no conception of the devil. It's only with later, monotheistic beliefs that the notion of pure evil emerges, along with its embodiment, the devil. By examining a historic period of dramatic transition in religious beliefs, Kara pinpoints a moment that brought profound change to cultures all around the Mediterranean - a shift in politics and society that molded the very nature of divinity and beliefs still followed by many today.

Disposal of the Dead
For ancient Egyptians, the dead body was a precious thing meant to be preserved. Egyptian mummies, as well as mummies from cultures as diverse as the Moche of Peru or the first city dwellers of the Middle East, all represent an intense and expensive preparation of the dead. Kara examines tombs, graves, and burials all over the world, explaining that many cultures' methods of treating the dead embody a coping mechanism for dealing with death itself, one unavoidable element that links people around the world and throughout history.

Sacred Violence
At the front of nearly every ancient Egyptian temple stands a stone wall, decorated with a massive depiction of the king crushing his enemies with a stone mace. This brutal imagery played a central role in the ancient Egyptian religion, believed to magically protect the temple from the forces of chaos. But Kara explains that this isn't unique. Be it human sacrifice at an Aztec pyramid, burning witches in Salem or the torture chambers of the Spanish Inquisition, she demonstrates that acts of violence have continued to be a fundamental part of religious belief for millennia.

Flesh and Bone
The bodies of our hallowed dead - preserved and worshiped for generations. These objects are often called 'relics,' and their existence represents a near universal behaviour in human culture. A relic could be the finger of a Catholic saint or a mummified ibis bird buried in an ancient Egyptian catacomb. For millennia, people have ascribed meaning and power to the remnants of their hallowed dead. Kara visits sites of pilgrimage, both ancient and modern to explain the reasons and motives behind the value we place on treasured Flesh and Bone.

Discovery Channel's Out of Egypt spans the globe unraveling common threads of ancient civilizations.

This product was added to our catalog on Wednesday 02 October, 2013.