Out of Egypt

- Season 1

(2009)

Whether it's the finger of a Catholic saint or a mummified baboon in Egypt, humans have long treasured the physical remains of their hallowed dead. Kara Cooney examines relics all over the world to find out why we give such power to sacred flesh and bone.

Pyramids are found throughout the world. They tell the story of ancient builders in search of a sacred shape. What did the pyramid mean to ancient peoples? Why did they try so long to perfect it? Why today do we still build such massive buldings?

Kara Cooney finds that life in cities isn't part of an inevitable march towards progress. Living in cities may actually cause more problems than it solves. But 12,000 years ago, a change in human behavior determined the very nature of modern civilization.

The devil - a symbol of all that we fear. But for the ancient Egyptians, and other early civilizations, the devil simply didn't exist. Somewhere in the course of human history, a force of pure evil began to emerge - and the devil was born.

Kara Cooney examines mummies, tombs, graves, and burials all over the world to find out how different cultures prepared their loved ones for the afterlife. What do their different practices say about our relationship with the dead - and the living?

Violent images carved on Egyptian temples. Human sacrifice at an Aztec Pyramid. Witches burned alive in Salem. The torture chambers of the Spanish Inquistion. Kara Cooney traces the dark link between religion and violence running throughout human history.