This was a society in which ideas were often taken to extremes … The Pyramid Age: over a hundred and thirty pyramids would be built across Egypt, and they represent the zenith in royal tomb building. Immortal Egypt with Joann Fletcher I, BBC 2016
Over a thousand years ago an ancient people built a thriving metropolis that dominated an entire continent. It was bigger than either medieval London or Paris … North America – and it was built five hundred years before Columbus arrived … An ancient city that vanished as soon as it arrived. Ancient Mysteries: America’s Hidden Pyramid City, Channel 5 2016
A series of mysterious mounds rise up [sic] from the Mississippi flood-plain … How long had they been here? ibid.
1150 A.D. … a besieged fortress, and was potentially dealing with a violent internal conflict … People began abandoning the city. ibid.
Climate: terrible droughts, ‘the tree rings get much narrower.’ ibid.
The Egyptians built more than a hundred pyramids across their kingdom. Ancient Impossible s1e2: Monster Monuments, History 2014
The Mayan dynasties of ancient Mexico built pyramids aligned to the stars. Just like the ancient Egyptians the Mayans also mummified their dead. The Mayans claim their vast knowledge of astronomy was given to them by a reptilian star-god. Many Mayan artefacts feature reptilian motifs and tongues of lizards. Many Mayan figurines hold buckets known as Situlas. They hold the DNA in the ‘Water of Life’. Some carvings show humanoids with elongated skulls like aliens. Just like ancient Egyptians, the Mayans buried their elite in Sarcophagus enclosures. Chris Everard, Secret Space II
Monk’s Mound is up there with the greatest pyramids on Earth. America’s Hidden Pyramid City: Ancient Mysteries, Channel 5 2017
Egypt’s great pyramid – the only survivor of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Nothing on this scale had ever been built before. Exactly how a bronze-age society managed to haul and fit together two and a half million stone blocks is one of the world’s greatest enigmas. Today, archaeologists may finally be able to solve this mystery. Egypt’s Great Pyramid: The New Evidence, Channel 4 2017
Sourcing the 170,000 tons of high quality limestone to encase the Pyramid was Khufu’s biggest challenge. This could only be mined in far-away quarries. ibid.
Without the Nile the Great Pyramid would have been impossible to build. ibid.
The project was a truly international affair. ibid.
In Bosnia a lone archaeologist claims to unearth five giant pyramids. The Unexplained Files s2e6: Siberian Lake Serpent & Mystery of the Bosnian Pyramids, Science 2014
Some geologists question whether he’s found pyramids at all. ibid.
The Maya settled in these jungles around 3,000 years ago and reached their height around the 7th century A.D. … They created stunning works of art and without metal tools built some of the greatest pyramids the new world have ever seen. Secret History: Lost Cities of the Maya: Revealed, Channel 4 2018
Pyramids are found all over the world. But could these separations be only an illusion? Did humans build the pyramids by themselves or did they have help? Some experts believe the pyramids across the world are part of a grand alien design that connects to a mysterious global energy grid. Alien Files Unsealed s2e14: The World Grid, History 2014
Buried deep within its giant pyramids mysterious towers and ancient fortresses. These monuments today are surrounded by the city of Cairo. Michael Scott, Ancient Invisible Cities, BBC 2018
The people who built the pyramids were free men. ibid.
‘About 120 [pyramids] all around Egypt.’ Tony Robinson, Egyptian Tomb Hunting I II, expert, Channel 5 2018
In this wasteland stands a wondrous enigma – the great pyramids of ancient Egypt. Some call them tombs, others say they were beacons to ancient spacemen. Still others believe they are generators of energy. The secret of the pyramids has eluded men for thousands of years. If they were merely tombs to the pharaohs, why has no mummy ever been found in one? In Search of s2e9 … Pyramid Secrets, 1978
A thousand years ago Indian empires flourished in what is now Mexico and Guatemala. People build incredible cities and awesome pyramids. They often use these same pyramids however for a grim ritual: the sacrifice of human beings. What sort of men were these? What dark secrets are entombed inside their massive pyramids? In Search of s4e8 … Mexican Pyramids
All over Mexico and Guatemala pyramids lie in ruins … The oldest dates back some 1,800 years. ibid.
The silent enigma of the pyramids can be like a blank canvas ready to accept the latest outlandish theory about its builders … The Pharaoh Khufu ordered the construction of this engineering marvel as a monument and tomb for all eternity, and yet we know very little about the man himself. Egypt’s Great Pyramid Uncovered, Channel 4 2020
So really it was in the interests of Khufu to have a happy well-fed well-organised and healthy workforce. ibid. Salima Ikram
Even by modern standards it’s an engineering phenomenon … It weighs some six-million tons. ibid.
Why put so much effort into aligning the pyramids so accurately? … It mirrored the pharaoh’s only supernatural alignment with the sun-god Ra. ibid.
At the heart of the pyramid is a granite tomb where the dead king’s mummified body would lie for an eternity. ibid.
In ancient Egypt a revolution is brewing. The most ambitious building project ever conceived sets off a chain of events that will transform the nation. Buried in the sands of Egypt is the tale of a powerful pharaoh who would become a god and revolutionise his country. This is the legend of the world’s first pyramid. The story of Egypt’s pyramids is one of innovation and mysterious rituals, backbreaking work and palace intrigue. Legends of the Pharaohs s1e1: Egypt’s First Pyramid, History 2021
Egypt’s pyramid-building age: 500 years during which some of the world’s most remarkable monuments were constructed, including the Great Pyramid of Giza. ibid.
When the underground burial chamber was complete, Imhotep turned his attention to the stone monument above … Imhotep would use stone masonry on an industrial scale. ibid.
After toiling for 19 years, Imhotep’s masterpiece was finished. He had succeeded in his mission, creating a magnificent and original tomb from stone … A pyramid that towered over 60 metres high, with sides over 100 metres long, set to contain 850,000 tons of limestone blocks. This engineering marvel still inspires awe today. ibid.
In the scorching heat of the Egyptian desert a stone mountain rises 100 metres from the sand. This is the Red Pyramid of Dahshur. Over 1.7 million cubic metres of stone. It’s the first flat-sided true pyramid in Egypt: the work of a powerful pharaoh called Snefru … Snefru built not one but three record-breaking pyramids. Legends of the Pharaohs s2e2: Curse of the Pyramids
All over the country Snefru recruited civil servants to enforce palace orders. Snefru would need to recruit manpower from the lower ranks, paving the way for a new social class to emerge. ibid.
Egypt’s great pyramid: the world’s most famous tomb built by a pharaoh with a reputation for cruelty. A reputed megalomaniac ready to sacrifice his people in pursuit of perfection. Now archaeologists are hunting for the truth about this king and his pyramid. Legends of the Pharaohs s1e3: The Tyrant King
It took over 25 years to build. How Khufu persuaded his subjects to do it has long remained a mystery. ibid.
The quarry was just over 300 metres from the Great Pyramid. ibid.
The Great Pyramid: to achieve his dream Khufu had formed a professional workforce bolstered by conscripted citizens and building a vast city to support them. Legends of the Pharaohs s1e4: Mystery of the Great Pyramid
The blocks of white limestone polished by the builders have all but vanished. Just a small section remains. ibid.
Khufu had created a city for his workforce. Diverted the Nile and developed an immense industrial and commercial network. Never again would a pharaoh be able to match the scale of the Great Pyramid. But the era of the pyramid-builders wasn’t over, and the Giza Plateau would see more monumental constructions. ibid.
In ancient Egypt the legendary pharaoh Khufu is dead. Who will succeed the builder of the greatest pyramid in history? Legends of the Pharaohs s1e5: Secrets of the Sphinx
The Riddle of the Sphinx: this is a tale of lies, betrayal and history’s most enigmatic statue. ibid.
Around 2,470 BCE Khafre descended to the throne. He assembled a vast workforce to construct his pyramid … Khafre should never have become pharaoh. ibid.
The first puzzle to solve is why the ancient builders carved the Sphinx in the first place. What did it represent? Historians still don’t know what the ancient Egyptians called this creature. ibid.
Djedefre’s pyramid was destroyed some 2,000 years after it was built. A misfortune that would erase the king from history. ibid.