The History Channel(R) Presents A Two-Hour Special Examining the World's First Superpower Through Its Astounding Architectural Achievements

The History Channel(R) Presents A Two-Hour Special Examining the World's First Superpower Through Its Astounding Architectural Achievements

EGYPT: ENGINEERING AN EMPIRE To premiere in October, 2006

Network also to Launch New Weekly Series ENGINEERING AN EMPIRE Focusing on Other Great Civilizations the following week

Peter Weller to Host Both Series and Special

PASADENA, Calif., July 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Five thousand years ago -- nearly two millennia before the Romans built their first mud huts -- ancient Egyptians began creating edifices so vast and architecturally sophisticated they remain to this day among the most impressive structures ever built. For thousands of years, without the benefit of computers, cranes, trucks or power tools, Egypt's mighty pharaohs commissioned the construction of monumental masterpieces -- pyramids, temples, fortresses, harbors and canals -- whose scale, beauty and craftsmanship still boggle the mind. But Egypt's road to architectural and imperial glory was paved with blood, betrayal and outright disaster.

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Hosted by actor and art historian Peter Weller, the two-hour special EGYPT: ENGINEERING AN EMPIRE explores these timeless engineering feats through the prism of each pharaoh's indomitable personality. EGYPT: ENGINEERING AN EMPIRE premieres in October 2006 on The History Channel(R). The new series, ENGINEERING AN EMPIRE, launches the following week.

Egypt's massive pyramids, lavish burial temples, impenetrable forts and towering obelisks were the result of unparalleled architectural genius, unrivaled technology and millions of man-hours of backbreaking labor. As Egypt's succession of pharaohs alternately conquered and ceded vast expanses of what is today the Middle East, they pushed their royal architects to stretch the boundaries of imagination and human potential, essentially inventing the science of structural engineering as they went along. Using cutting-edge computer graphics and interviews with noted Egyptologists, and shot in high-definition, EGYPT: ENGINEERING AN EMPIRE brings to life an astonishing ancient world. This fast-paced follow-up to the critically acclaimed ROME: ENGINEERING AN EMPIRE from The History Channel covers the extraordinary period from the First Dynasty in 3000 B.C. to the end of the reign of Ramesses the Great in 1212 B.C., chronicling the great pharaohs and the startling accomplishments that helped make Egypt the world's first empire.

Highlights include:

* Menes, the founding king of the First Dynasty and the first pharaoh to
unify Upper and Lower Egypt into one kingdom, oversaw the construction
of the world's first dam, a massive, 50-foot-high wall that protected
Egypt's capital Memphis from the Nile's ravaging flood waters.

* An enterprising young pharaoh named Djoser, in 2668 B.C. commissioned a
colossal burial tomb which would become the first stone building ever
erected on Earth, and the first of Egypt's 100 pyramids.

* Pharaoh Snefru, who married his half-sister in an effort to solidify his
claim to the throne, was a benevolent leader but a brutal warrior who
looted neighboring kingdoms to finance his architectural ambitions.
Through a series of trials and catastrophic errors, he elevated the art
of pyramid building to a new level.

* Snefru's son Khufu built on his father's engineering experience to
create the biggest and most perfect pyramid ever constructed: the Great
Pyramid at Giza. Each of the building's four 700-foot sides was almost
perfectly symmetrical, and each corner of the pyramid was level within
fractions of an inch.

* Essentially inventing military architecture, Pharaoh Sesostris III, the
great warrior, conquered gold-rich Nubia with the help of a network of
17 vast and sophisticated fortresses stretching hundreds of miles into
enemy territory.

* The rebel pharaoh Akhenaten (father of Tutankhamen) who, based on a
religious vision, moved Egypt's capital to a barren patch of desert
virtually overnight -- requiring his engineers to develop far faster
building techniques. Within two years, the bustling city housed 20,000
people.

* Ramesses II, who fathered more than 100 children, combined engineering
and ego on an unprecedented scale to build two temples at Abu Simbel,
one for himself and one for his beloved queen, Nefertari. Carved out of
the face of a virgin cliff, Ramesses' monument was adorned by 69-foot
solid rock statues and a lavishly decorated sanctuary built 200 feet
inside the mountain.

Executive Producer for The History Channel is Dolores Gavin. Host is Peter Weller. EGYPT: ENGINEERING AN EMPIRE was produced for The History Channel by KPI. Producer, Writer, Director is Christopher Cassel. Executive Producers are Vincent Kralyevich, William Hunt, and Kristine Sabat. Narrator is Michael Carroll.

ENGINEERING AN EMPIRE: THE SERIES

This October, The History Channel will launch a new weekly hour-long series, ENGINEERING AN EMPIRE, focusing on the architectural triumphs of other great civilizations. The series launches with episodes GREECE, GREECE: AGE OF ALEXANDER, THE AZTECS and episodes on the Maya, Chinese, Russians, Carthaginians, Persians, and Byzantines as well as on Great Britain, the Renaissance: Age of Architects and Napoleon's Empire. Similar in format and structure to the special, each of the programs will use the society's engineering accomplishments as a prism through which to view its history and culture.

The History Channel(R) is one of the leading cable television networks featuring compelling original, non-fiction specials and series that bring history to life in a powerful and entertaining manner across multiple platforms. The network provides an inviting place where people experience history in new and exciting ways enabling them to connect their lives today to the great lives and events of the past that provide a blueprint for the future. The History Channel has earned three Peabody Awards, six News and Documentary Emmy(R) Awards and received the prestigious Governor's Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for the network's Save Our History(R) campaign dedicated to historic preservation and history education. The History Channel reaches more than 89 million Nielsen subscribers. The website is located at http://www.history.com/.

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Source: The History Channel

CONTACT: Kathie Gordon of The History Channel, +1-212-210-1320,
kathie.gordon@aetn.com

Web site: http://www.history.com/

NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information and photography please visit us on the web at www.historychannelpress.com

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