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1:00

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True Histories, out now wherever

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you listen to podcasts. Hey,

1:22

smarty pants, as you can hear, I'm

1:24

playing video games with my niece. Today's

1:27

game is Adventures in Ancient

1:29

Egypt. Ooh, look, we

1:32

found a pyramid. Sweet. Let's

1:34

go down these stairs and see if we can dig up some treasure. I

1:38

found an ox-driven plow. And

1:41

a clock. And

1:44

toothpaste? Huh? Today,

1:46

you'll find references to ancient Egypt

1:49

all over the place in video

1:51

games, movies, music, even dance moves.

1:54

I think ancient Egypt is fascinating. You're

1:56

not alone. Archaeologists, scientists who

1:58

study the past. Anthropologists,

2:00

scientists who study past

2:02

civilizations, and astronomers, scientists

2:05

who study the universe, have all

2:07

learned a ton from studying Egypt's

2:09

history. But have you

2:11

heard of Egyptologists? Huh?

2:13

Egyptologists devote their entire careers

2:16

exclusively to the study of

2:18

Egypt, exploring its

2:20

history, language, literature, religion,

2:23

architecture, arts, and sciences.

2:25

I've seen some cool Egyptian artifacts at the

2:28

museum. So why are you

2:30

and so many people fascinated by

2:32

ancient Egypt? Well, for an

2:34

ancient civilization, they sure figured out a lot

2:36

of stuff we used today. True.

2:38

But what exactly have we learned from

2:40

the ancient Egyptians? What mysteries

2:43

are still left to discover? Hey,

2:45

watch out for that money! It's

2:49

time for another whiff of science and

2:51

history on... Who's

2:54

smartest? Who's

2:57

smartest? Who's

2:59

smartest? Is it you? Is

3:02

it me? Is it science?

3:04

Or history? Listen up! Everyone!

3:09

We're making some smarty! Let's learn!

3:11

Who's smartest? No!

3:17

The mummy dragged me off to Duat! The land

3:19

of the dead! This pyramid

3:21

level is hard, trusty narrator. I

3:24

think I'll get a snack and try again later. Or

3:27

we could talk about the intrepid,

3:29

or brave, archaeologists who traveled across

3:31

the desert to discover the tombs

3:33

of ancient Egypt and unlock clues

3:35

about the past. Ooh,

3:37

I'd like that. Wait, mummies

3:40

don't come after you in real life, right? No,

3:45

mummies won't come after you. Unless you count the

3:47

curse a mummy puts on you for disturbing their

3:49

tomb. But

3:52

that's just superstition. So

3:55

what are mummies? A mummy

3:57

is a person or animal whose body...

4:00

has been dried out and preserved after

4:02

death. Whoa. In

4:04

ancient Egypt, this was mostly reserved for

4:07

royalty or the most wealthy. Ah.

4:10

One of the most famous mummies,

4:12

King Tutankhamen, was unearthed by British

4:14

Egyptologist Howard Carter in 1922. Oh,

4:18

we learned about King Tut. He

4:20

was only nine years old when he became Pharaoh

4:23

of Egypt. I'm 13,

4:25

and I can't even win this Egypt video

4:27

game. Sadly, Tut only lived to

4:29

age 19. Then

4:31

he was traditionally mummified, and because

4:33

he was Pharaoh, he was buried

4:35

with all kinds of artwork, jewelry,

4:37

and gold. Ooh, I hope

4:40

I find that in the game. While

4:42

there are lots of tomb raiders looking

4:44

for treasure, some of the most truly

4:46

treasured objects discovered by Egyptologists are ones

4:49

that give us an understanding of the

4:51

ancient Egyptians' culture and ingenuity. Oh, yeah?

4:53

Like what? For example, one of the

4:56

very first scientists to excavate

4:58

a tomb in Egypt was

5:00

Scottish archaeologist Alexander Henry Rhine

5:02

in the 1850s. Oh,

5:09

how exciting. This

5:12

tomb here in Thebes had been reused

5:14

for thousands of years before it was

5:16

silver. Oh, we can

5:18

learn so much. Wait,

5:21

who put this bowl here? Huh? What

5:24

about this statue? In which

5:26

precise location was this first noticed?

5:31

Everyone stop digging. Starting out, we

5:33

need to keep detailed records of

5:35

everything we find and where we

5:37

found it. This way

5:39

historians can piece together the clues and

5:42

learn about this ancient civilization. Huh?

5:45

Just be careful, touch and things.

5:50

Oops. Sorry. Thanks

5:53

to Rhine and other Egyptologists after

5:55

him, we have a good idea

5:58

how ancient Egyptians lived. The

6:00

timeline of ancient Egypt is widely thought to begin

6:02

around 4300 BCE, the pre-Dynastic period,

6:06

and end about 5000 years later, about 642

6:08

CE. The

6:13

death of Queen Cleopatra VII in

6:15

31 BCE marked the end of

6:18

Egypt's dynastic era, a united

6:20

Egypt ruled by Pharaoh. But

6:22

many Egyptian traditions still continue, as Egypt

6:25

was absorbed by who? Was it

6:27

A? The Greek emperor! B? The

6:30

Roman Empire! Or C? The Galactic Empire!

6:32

Shout your answer, Smarty Pants! I say, the Roman Empire!

6:35

Correct! And during those 5000 years, the ancient

6:37

Egyptians were able to establish lots of traditions

6:47

and invent a ton of things, many

6:50

of which we still use today! Really?

6:53

Like what? Well, I can tell you.

6:55

Or we could make a game out of it! Smarty

6:58

Pants, play along! I'm going to

7:00

name some inventions, and you call out

7:02

the ones you think were invented by

7:04

the ancient Egyptians! Ready?

7:07

Here we go! The Pyramids! Writing!

7:13

Papyrus paper! The

7:15

wheel! Black

7:17

ink! The

7:20

Australian clown! The

7:23

sickle! Irrigation!

7:27

The scheduled! The

7:30

calendar! Freeze

7:32

drive! Clocks!

7:37

The police! The surgical

7:40

instruments! Makeup!

7:44

The abacus! Wigs!

7:49

Toothpaste! Mummification!

7:54

Emojis! Of

7:57

the 20 cool inventions I just named, 60! are

8:00

attributed to the ancient Egyptians. Of

8:03

the ones that weren't, the wheel is thought

8:05

to have been invented in Lower Mesopotamia, which

8:07

is modern day Iraq, and later

8:09

introduced to Egypt. I call

8:12

it the wheel! The abacus is

8:14

a Chinese invention, and the technique of

8:16

freeze drying was created by the Incas

8:18

of South America. Emojis

8:20

are considered to have been created by a Japanese

8:22

artist in the 1990s. But

8:25

the Egyptians did have hieroglyphics. They're

8:27

kinda like early emojis. Oh, I

8:29

like how you think! But wait,

8:31

what about some of those weird ones? What's

8:34

a shaduf? A shaduf is

8:36

a counterbalanced bucket used for drawing water

8:38

from the ground. That,

8:41

along with a sickle, a blade for cutting

8:43

grass or wheat, the

8:45

ox-drawn plow, and

8:48

the irrigation system were

8:51

all created to make farming easier. It's

8:54

better to work smarter than harder. But

8:56

wait, isn't Egypt mostly desert?

8:59

How are they farming? Smart kid! The

9:02

mouth, or delta, of the Nile River,

9:04

the giant river cutting across Egypt, has

9:06

long been considered one of the best

9:08

places to grow a wide variety of

9:10

foods. It is often referred to

9:12

as part of the Fertile Crescent. Ahhhh!

9:16

And by inventing the calendar, the

9:18

Egyptians were able to keep track

9:20

of the agricultural cycles. For example,

9:22

they noticed that when the Nile

9:24

flooded every year, it coincided with

9:26

the appearance of the star Sirius.

9:30

By keeping track of changes in the

9:33

night sky, Egyptians created a pretty solid

9:35

365-day calendar to

9:37

keep track of seasonal cycles. Cool!

9:40

Ancient Egyptians were also very interested

9:42

in taking care of their physical

9:44

health and appearance. They

9:46

created a toothpaste recipe, a mix

9:48

of rock salt, dried iris flower,

9:51

black pepper grains, and mint to

9:53

maintain their pearly white grins. They

9:56

even wrote down how to brush

9:58

instructions! First

10:01

like in Egyptian! Did

10:03

you also say Egyptians invented wigs and makeup?

10:06

Yep! Egyptians created wigs out of

10:08

human and horse hair, wool and plant fibers,

10:10

and used beeswax to hold them in place.

10:14

This gave wealthy Egyptians many fashion options,

10:16

especially in the hot summer months, when

10:19

most Egyptians shave their heads to avoid

10:21

life and stay cool. Whoa!

10:24

Eye makeup worn by both men and women

10:27

as far back as 4000 BCE

10:29

was usually black or green, a

10:31

mixture of various minerals. It was

10:33

thought to prevent or cure eye

10:36

disease and protect people

10:38

from evil. How

10:41

does wearing eye makeup protect you from evil? Or

10:44

cure eye diseases? Explore

10:47

Alex, you got this? Well

10:51

from what we discovered, the ancient Egyptian

10:53

of a religion was tied into most

10:56

cultural practices. It is

10:58

a polytheistic religion, meaning it

11:00

has many different gods and

11:02

goddesses, collectively known as deities,

11:05

around 2000 we know about.

11:08

These deities represented all different

11:10

facets of life, nature,

11:12

different professions, even specific

11:15

villages. You mean like

11:17

Isis, the goddess of abundance, Ra,

11:19

the sun god, and Osiris, the

11:21

ruler of the underworld? Smart

11:23

kid! Egyptians

11:26

believed the symbol of the eye

11:28

reflected evil back upon the person

11:30

or people who wished to harm,

11:33

and they thought the minerals

11:36

in the eye makeup warded

11:38

off bacteria. Despite some unscientific

11:40

beliefs, ancient Egyptians did have

11:43

many highly scientific innovations. For

11:46

example, surgical instruments like scalpels,

11:48

scissors, forceps, and copper needles,

11:50

along with written instructions for

11:52

how to do various surgeries,

11:55

show that Egyptians have strong

11:57

medical practices, perform surgeries, and

11:59

suture or stitched up, wounds.

12:02

Building pyramids was also impressive for

12:04

early engineers. Absolutely! The first

12:06

known pyramid was built for King Zoser

12:09

around 2650 BCE. And

12:12

obelisks, tall stone pillars, were

12:15

used as giant sundials by

12:17

tracking the shadow cast by the sun as it

12:20

moved throughout the day. Centuries

12:23

later, Egyptians created water clocks by

12:26

putting a small hole in the

12:28

bottom of a stone vessel. The

12:30

water would drip at a constant rate, allowing

12:33

them to keep track of time. One

12:37

way we know so much about the

12:39

ancient Egyptians is that they kept excellent

12:41

records. They created paper from

12:43

the stoke of the Papyrus water plant

12:47

and ink from vegetable gum, soot

12:49

and beeswax by

12:52

developing a consistent hieroglyphic alphabet.

12:56

The writings of the Egyptians are

12:58

well preserved and able to be

13:00

deciphered today. And since

13:02

they were experts at mummifying their dead,

13:05

the well preserved bodies and tombs can

13:07

be examined to learn a person's age,

13:09

gender and social status. We

13:12

can also learn about their family,

13:14

profession, injuries, what they ate, and

13:16

even their pets! Those

13:19

burial traditions were so important.

13:23

Many Egyptian tombs contain art,

13:25

tools, instruments, and the remains

13:27

of food and drink. All

13:30

things they thought might be useful in

13:32

the afterlife. No way!

13:34

Since most tombs were built

13:36

underground, sometimes connected by a

13:39

series of tunnels, the shifting

13:41

desert sands quickly hid the

13:44

entrances, keeping them a mystery

13:46

for centuries. Most

13:48

remained unexplored and undamaged. So entering

13:50

them is like taking a time

13:52

machine back to the year 2000

13:54

BCE! Cool!

13:59

If there's still a- lot left to explore in

14:01

ancient Egypt? Great question! The answer

14:03

right after this quick break. Hi,

14:08

Trustee here with a special message for

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Now back to Who Smarted. Nice,

19:02

I just leveled up and became a member of

19:04

the Egyptian police force. I've got a

19:07

staff and a dog to protect myself. A

19:10

centralized police force helped ancient Egyptians

19:12

maintain order and enforce laws. Sometimes

19:15

the threat of death without proper burial was

19:18

enough to keep citizens in line. What?

19:21

The priests and priestesses performed rituals, maintained

19:23

the temples and acted as representatives of

19:26

the many deities. And

19:29

the pharaoh or leader was considered

19:31

godlike and the supreme ruler. Ooh,

19:36

I just found a scarab amulet. It

19:39

says scarabs are beetles that were popular symbols

19:41

of good fortune. Nice. I

19:43

wonder what else I might find. Well, I

19:45

don't know about the gays, but in

19:47

real life, an archaeologist team recently found

19:49

the lost golden city of Aten in

19:51

an area called the Valley of the

19:54

Kings. Amazing. The Egyptologist heading

19:56

the excavation says it's the largest

19:58

ancient city in the world. ever

20:00

uncovered in Egypt. Wow, there's

20:03

a lot left to discover? Yep,

20:05

there's even an underwater archaeological excavation

20:08

going on in the harbor of Alexandria, once

20:11

home to one of the greatest libraries and the

20:13

location of the lighthouse of Alexandria, which

20:15

is one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

20:18

I think I want to skip the game and travel to

20:20

Egypt and see it all myself. Great idea.

20:23

Of course, there's one thing you'll only find in the game.

20:25

What's that? A mummy!

20:28

Run! Run! Run! A

20:32

big, oversea shout-out to Kai in London, who wrote to

20:34

say, Who smarted makes

20:36

me smarter every day? I love it!

20:40

Well, we love having you smarting with

20:42

us, Kai. Here's to

20:44

lots more listening, laughing, and learning every

20:46

day. This episode, Ancient Egypt,

20:48

was written by Libby Warr and

20:51

voiced by Gia Davis, Taya Garland,

20:53

Adam Tex-David, and Jerry Colver. Technical

20:56

Direction and Sound Design by Josh Hahn. Who

20:59

Smarted is recorded and mixed at the Relic

21:01

Room Studios. Our associate producer is Max

21:03

Kamaski. The theme song is by

21:05

Brian Swart, with lyrics written and

21:07

performed by Adam Tex-David. Who

21:09

Smarted was created and produced by Adam

21:12

Tex-David and Jerry Colver. This has been

21:14

an Atomic Entertainment Production.