The hour-long documentary on every Tuesday night is a programme I will not miss it for the world. Last week it travelled to Egypt, a land of death and eternal life.

Egypt is a land of stunning contrast: ocean of burning sand and lush riverbanks; the modern city and primitive villages; the present at the crossroad with the past. Whereas the histories of other civilizations are measured in centuries, the history of Egypt is measured in millenniums. On the scorching land, the pyramids, the sphinxes, the river Nile are the constant witnesses to cycle of death and eternal life.

As the exhaust fumes clogs the modern roads of Cairo, the dusty desert sands swirls around the barren land of the pyramids. From the desolated Arabic desert to the boisterous city bazaar, Egypt is a colossus of contrasting sights and sounds. Despite that, the deep spirituality and firm belief in the Islamic God Allah unite the majority of Egyptians. Five times a day, they pray dutifully to reaffirm their Islamic faith. But centuries before, another faith dominated these people and these land. Today, what remain are the decaying monuments and tomb from the defunct faith.

Occupying the north-west corner of the African continent, Egypt is no more than an arid desert. Without the river Nile flowing through it, Egypt will still remain a desert. River Nile, the soul of Egypt, created fertile land out of the barren sand, food under the scorching sun and Egyptians out of Egypt. No wonder, Greek historian Herodotus, once said: "Egypt is the gift of the Nile." Today, along these lush banks, we can still witness Egyptian farmers ploughing along, under the relentless Egyptian sun very much the same way as their ancestors centuries ago. As we move away from the banks, and into the harsh desert land, rises the magnificent pyramids. They stood there for fifty centuries, so old these monuments that the Greeks and Romans considered them ancient some two thousand years ago.

These splendid mammoths stood as testimonial to a great civilization once existed and their inexorable faith towards their Gods. Within the pyramids, mysterious marking were meticulously chiseled into the wall of these tombs. So cryptic are these marking that scholars only managed to unravel some of them two hundred years ago, but after 20-50 centuries when they were first craved. These elaborate drawings were the ancient writings which is called hieroglyphics. They are believed to be magic formulas which allow the successful transition of their Pharaohs (Egyptian Kings) from mortality to immortality. The Pharaoh is a medium between the spiritual world of the Gods and the earthly world of the Egyptians. The construction of the pyramids meant a lot to the Egyptian as the unbroken channel between their Gods and them guarantee the ever flowing of the Nile and the brilliant of the might sun.

For 50 centuries, these magnificent pyramids stood steadfastly, weathering through uncountable earthquakes, wars and decays. Although dilapidated today, they are still to us awe-inspiring as we marvel how they did it with such precision, harmony and proportion millenniums ago. Working the simplest of tools, these ingenious Egyptian perfected the art of tomb making. Quarrying millions of stone block, each weighs more than two and a half ton, they were polished to glass-smooth finishes that stood glittering under the brilliant sun like precious sparking gems. No wonder, the Greeks hailed the pyramids as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. As scientists and archaeologists unlock how exactly these pyramids were erected -- a feat might be eternally impossible -- there lies a greater mystery which is the Sphinx. These half-man, half-beast structures were as old as the pyramids. But till now no one really know for whom they were built for, and for what purpose might they serve, and from where did these Egyptian drew their inspiration from. They could be structures eternally shrouded in mystery and magic. The sudden collapse of this civilization meant a desertion of this flourished area. Within, treasures, valuables and the once sacred bodies of pharaohs were plundered off; without, time and nature took their toils. Moreover, the collapse also left a spiritual void among the Egyptians. For a century later, this spirit was reborn again as Islam swept through the Egyptian land. Where they once built gorgeous temple of stone, the descendants of these ancient people reaffirm their everlasting faith in God, forever renewing the cycle of life.

Leo Kee Chye

Friday, September 12, 2003