PBS - Pyramid - David Macaulay 

This is so well done . Even for its time . NO BS . No ancient alien stuff . No interference from the Egyptian government. Just as much truth as they could provide. Thank you PBS .

To the dude who uploaded this, and Castle, and Cathedral...thank you so much.

I had this on VHS when I was a little girl back in the 90’s. THANK YOU for uploading this

I'm glad I'm not the only one who saw this in school as a child on vhs, and it seemed like this was a lost video. I tried youtubing this for years and I thought it was just too old and underappreciated to have been preserved. Glad I was wrong!

The animation is a nice touch. I've never seen such a serious treatment of ancient Egypt done in a cartoon.

I always liked Macaulay and these videos. His voice and style is engaging, gentle and non-condescending.

The animation style makes me want to watch the Heavy Metal movie again.

This is absolute & pure nostalgia for me. I watched this many times as a child and when I was finally able to go and see an actual Egyptian exhibit in a museum I shed tears.

Wow. This show is like an I, Claudius reunion, what with Brian Blessed, Derek Jacobi, John Hurt and Sian Phillips rounding out the cast. They truly have royal voices!

Macaulay is a genius in both mastery of the knowledge of his field and the amazingly well paced, engaging, and informative way he presents it.

This is the 2nd David Macaulay documentary I've seen and its fantastic. Great attention to detail and packed full of information..they don't make em like this anymore

Thank you for uploading! This was my absolute favorite PBS special as a kid! I would watch this on VHS at least once a day!

Thank you, this was incredible to watch. Informative & enjoyable so unlike the sensationalized productions in recent times.

Even if this is aimed to a young audience its still better than some newer overly dramatic pop documentaries.

How refreshing to hear a documentary come right out and call ancient aliens bullshit.

I too have this, still, on vhs, and watched it a million times since the 90s but havnt watched in years. happened upon this and saved it to my favs. I remember every line and musical note. thats why I love it so much I think....the music. but also love how this story was told.

Omg!! This wasn’t a fever dream from when I was 7 years old!!!!😮 I’ve been searching for this for decades!!

What a Great story. I loved the magical ending. The music was great. I really loved how they added it in all throughout the story. Really added some spice to ancient Egypt👌🔥👍

As a kid I didn't know much about the history behind this story. I've looked it up now, and I'm amazed at how closely the animated story here builds off of history. Djedefra probably did murder one of his brothers to get the throne, and his little brother Khafre really is believed to be the pharaoh who built the sphinx.

I remember this being in three parts. I loved this when I saw it in fifth grade, but I was sick on the last day so never finished. Thank you though for allowing me to see it.

This was a great documentary. Glad it's on here, thanks for posting it!

Love this. I need to hear something from long ago, and non stressful enough for kids.

Derek Jacobi has such a distinctive voice. I recognize that voice anywhere! Derek Jacobi as some of you might know played Senator Gracchus in the movie Gladiator (2000).

Wish they'd made more of these..

Oh my god! I have been looking for this film for many years. And now i've found it. :) Thanks for uploading.

this is interesting! never knew egypt was so advanced!

I love the cel animation used :)

Been ages since I seen this. Great memories. The cast of I Claudius as voice over was great. Plus one of the first shows that portrayed the sphinx as ancient authors and travelers said it looked liked. A North African civilizations.

Dear David Thanks for the videos and your books. I hope you do a series on New York,Boston,Washington D.C,Chicago

My father's tomb? NOOOOOOOOoooooooooo.

What a lovely documentary! 👏👏👏

Thank you for putting this up.Its been years.What year did it come out?I'll never forget it.:)

John Hurt, Brian Blessed. Is Derek Jacobi in this one too?

I remember watching this in history class

I first watched this back in Middle School. I recently watched this video just before and after going to Egypt.

Interesting how Brian Blessed always voices the builder/planner of these things.

I'll never forget when they showed this to my class in 7th Grade. Mostly because 10:02 made my hormone-addled jaw drop; school was the last place I expected to see something like that, and needless to say, I (and I'm sure a lot of the other boys) were paying VERY close attention after that.

Gracias por estos dibujos tan didácticos. Me encanta el antiguo Egipto. Saludos desde España.

This is one of the things that got me so interested in Egypt

What an amazing voice cast ! In addition to the I, Claudius group, you also have Tim Piggot-Smith (Creedy from V for Vendetta) and Timothy Spall (Wormtail from Harry Potter) !!!

Wow that was the very best voice acting for an animated Pharaoh Khufu I've ever seen! NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Omg. I love David so much. He is such a cutie and even cuter when he talks Ancient Egypt to me. Btw, hey Mr. Walsh!!!!!

Hurt, Blessed and Jacobi also were part of the Cast of I Claudius

A perfectly lovely video. Perfectly horrible comment section. Never fails.

Egypt. What a beautiful culture. A kingdom of royalty, gold, beauty and fashion. Plus they make very good stories, too, not just the story of the pharaohs but also the commoners, the slaves and the pharaoh's high class of people. I wonder, did Khufu actually mate with his queens to have as many children as he had or did he mate with some of the slaves? How exactly did pharaohs have so many children? I mean, I understand why they had to, but HOW did they manage to?

The Ancient Egyptian Unit of Measure is the Cubit. The length is derived from tools/rules found in tombs in which there is an evidential variance of about 2% (1 cent. in 50). Using parameters found within the Great Pyramid, a Cubit of .5235 m. has been derived. A circle of 6 Cubits has a 1 meter Diameter (meter 1/10,000,000th distance from Equator to North Pole) The Pyramid Height = the radius of a circle with a length of its base parameter.Yet nowhere can you find Pi in Ancient Egypt. Nowhere.

I’ve been looking for this for a long time!!! Thank you!!!

I really like the animation in these videos. Thanks!

Great stuff. Thanks for posting this.

*When you walked in class and saw the TV rolled to the front, THIS WAS WHAT YOU WATCHED.*

Baufre looks like he came straight out of a 1970s cop show.

Probably the last documentary that will portray the Egyptians the way they actually looked.

Golden age of documentaries

23:50

Brian Blessed again! And Derek Jacobi! And John Hurt as Khufu! All three-Blessed, Jacobi, and and Hurt-appeared together in "I, Claudius"

"I watch this for the plot" 10:50

thanks for posting

I loved this, so beautifully done

I literally just found a recorded copy of this from when I was a kid.

I remember seeing this part 41:29 as a kid in school and wondering “how the hell did he get up there?” 😂

I have to watch this for an assessment I have in class. Looks like I'll be here for a bit.

"I, Claudius" reunion!! Claudius (Derek Jacobi,) Augustus (Brian Blessed,) Caligula (John Hurt) and Livia (Sian Philips)!

Rip John hurt

does anyone know the music used in the documentary ??

23:55 so epic

So that's why my teacher paused and fast forwarded at 9:55

I remember watching this in high school

the "humph" after the 3rd queen shut down the main one haha

I need your help, where can i find this video but traslated into spanish ?

"Local limestone blocks, some as heavy as 15 tons!" What about all the granite blocks from Aswan, 500 miles away, some as heavy as 70 tons? It's nostalgic and entertaining, but there's not much in the way of historical accuracy. Interesting that in the scene where they put Khufu to rest the chamber is as empty and the walls inscription free as they are today. I mean considering that the reason none of that was ever found was because of grave robbers. Don't get me started on how steep and narrow the shaft up to the kings chamber is, and how difficult it would have been to get a body up it (or out) much less any treasure.

Nostalgic history show.

the two main voice actors are derek jacobi and john hurt.

Expository infodump: yr doin it right

It starts out Scary already. Cool.

We have to do a 11 slide slideshow project

The fellow narrating this looks like SNLs Will Forte!

AMEN!!!

something I've always wondered is why weren't the pyramids of giza decorated? the step pyramid of djoser at saqqara was so why would they have all of a sudden stop?

23:56 mY fATHERS TOMB? *nAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHAHAAAHHHHHH*

It's like an I, Claudius reunion

Brian Blessed and John Hurt. Recognize their voices. Awesome.

I use to watch this stuff as a kid . 🎉

I have to watch this for school and I have procrastinated so long and it’s due tomorrow morning!

We had no access to PBS, and am sorry I missed this as a child. But, I certainly had pyramid mania from watching reruns of 2 Hollywood classics: Land of the Pharoahs plays into every child's fantasy of treasure rooms, secret passages and amazing feats of construction. Also, a bit in The Ten Commandments, especially when Prince Moses shows how an obelisk was set up. I think of how much was known at the time of this documentary. But how much more is continually coming to light thanks to scanning technology. Not long ago, a scientist from France solved one of the great mysteries of pyramid construction: how the huge stone blocks were dragged higher and higher. Instead of building a ramp several miles long, they used the pyramid itself as the ramp. Does anyone out there have the link?

Wow !

Cool video

Dis is very very good video my teacher made me watch i like it a lot

No sockets no machines, bulbs blenders but so nice to be made an animë suggesting those!

The Ka is an interesting concept .

I like it the cartoons get my grandkids attention and the truth is given to inner consciousness of truth

Thank you

My mom dated a guy named Pepi. He wanted to be a soy bean farmer. A guy tried to kick him in the groin but he turned and was kicked in the upper leg instead. I don't know if he was an umbrella but there is always a place to wear a clay helmet in buttered green beans.

Wow, mr. Mahavishnu Orchestra, is that you?

38:12 who voiced this? This sounds like Master Oogway.

this is cool.

Love 70s dollar store Dan Aykroyd haha, David and PBS did greatly

I have continually wondered when (like in this video) the 'height' of the pyramid is stated, as here some 484 feet, does that height include the 'missing' section at the top? There has to be at least 30' more of height if that missing section where included. So, are they including the missing section in the 484 feet or does it need to be added?

Don't you just love how they threw away the brain?

My fathers tomb?.....NOOOOOOOOOOOO lmao gets me every time lol

Almost brings me to tears seeing they actually went with making the animations with accurate skin tones. Too many people now believe they were only pure white skinned people in rule during this time. D