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It was the world's first great civilization, springing to life on the banks of the Nile.

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Egypt, in all its monumental glory.

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Glimpses of those ancient times still abound today.

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Sometimes large, built to be seen.

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But more often smaller, and hidden away.

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and all of it might have vanished without a trace

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if the Egyptians hadn't been obsessed with death

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and preserving what was once alive.

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To the Egyptians, the afterlife was as real as this life.

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A soul on its journey needed food, shelter, companionship.

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So the Egyptians filled their tombs with gifts

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and with decorations that reflected the soul's earthly journey.

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Those tombs still have a story to tell.

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If they can be found, south of the delta, near the banks of the Nile, is a place called Saqqara.

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Here, nearly 5,000 years ago, the Egyptians built their first pyramid to house the body of a pharaoh,

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in the shape of a stairway to heaven.

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In the centuries that followed, Egyptians by the thousands were entombed at Saqqara.

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And one of the prime locations was a cliffside, with a commanding view of the Nile Valley.

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During the new kingdom, when the Egyptian empire was at its height, people with

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connections to the Pharaoh wanted to be buried here. And they were.