Ep 1. Egypt: The Warrior Pharaohs and Pharaohs of the Sun

Egypt was occupied by foreigners except for a narrow strip of land around a town called Thebes. The capital and its royal family had fallen on hard times. But one local family was determined to revive it--the king of Thebes and his two young sons Ahmose and Kamose, who became freedom fighters, liberators of Egypt. Through enormous struggle, hardships and personal tragedy, the enemy Hykos was expelled, and Egypt was finally reunited. But their successor, Hatshepsut, put Egypt in jeopardy because she was a woman and declared herself pharaoh, breaking 2,000 years of tradition. She had stolen the throne from her stepson, Tuthmosis III. He would have to wait 20 years before he ruled Egypt. When he came to the throne, Tuthmosis was determined to remove the record of his stepmother from history. In a massive battle at Megiddo--the site of biblical Armageddon--he revealed himself as one of the greatest war generals. His crushing victories over Nubia guaranteed Egypt seemingly endless supplies of gold. Tuthmosis did what no other pharaoh had ever dreamed of: he built an empire.