I think discarding something as uninteresting or not useful means hindering yourself in terms of learning new things; I have my reservations about documentaries that try to engage the viewer by playing cards like human vanity and ego, disasters and grand statements, such as ‘the most impenetrable fortress’; but I still think that everywhere we look we can find useful knowledge.
As the name suggests, the documentary is about the civilization of ancient Egypt and their engineering accomplishments that became landmarks in ancient architecture and significantly contributed to ancient Egypt’s grandeur image as an empire. Historians featured in the film briefly comment on the structures, process and labor that went behind their completion. An interesting observation made by one of the historians is that architects in ancient Egypt did not have any reference for the structures they designed which meant that they had to come up with everything on their own; and this sometimes led to poor planning and instability which resulted in disasters, like the dam breaking under the pressure of the water it was supposed to hold.
Ancient Egyptians made great use of the nature around them; not only by using natural materials for construction but by using the Nile as their main transportation hub. This allowed builders to transport huge volumes of stone from one point to another; although this process still involved a tremendous amount of human labor it was much more efficient
compared to transporting the same amount of material by land. Another interesting thing about using stone for building is that no other civilization at that time did that; ancient Egyptians were pioneers not only in the structures they built but also in the materials they used for construction.
One of the things that I find particularly interesting and on which the documentary also briefly touches upon is the motivation behind the construction of pyramids. I find it overwhelming to think about what drove regular people to worship their pharaohs as gods and to sacrifice their lives in order to build immense tombs for their rulers. When I imagine what pharaohs might have thought I cannot help but think about their vanity and desire to outdo their predecessor; this drive has surely led to great engineering advances but the ultimate goal somehow seems futile for me personally.
This documentary would serve as a great introduction to ancient Egypt’s history; it is as informative as it is entertaining. At the same time, a person who wishes to obtain some solid knowledge is likely to find themselves disappointed in it because, after all, it is a piece of work that is supposed to educate through entertainment and not the other way around; so, while it does provide highlights on some of the most famous historical facts and engineering thought that went into building massive structures, such as ancient dams and pyramids, it does not explore the subject deep enough. But, after all, it is hardly fair to demand a profound study of ancient Egypt from a 1,5 hour long documentary. This film provides an insight deep enough though for one to become interested in learning more about the things depicted in it; this push towards learning, in my opinion, is its most valuable contribution towards learning how the civilization of ancient Egypt developed along its engineering miracles.
References:
Ancient Egypt: Engineering an Empire. (2014). YouTube. Retrieved 19 January 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHj21WsmYRw
