A series of six Chronicle programmes about the application of scientific research to the problems of solving the secrets of prehistory.
4: Nefertiti and the Computer
Nefertiti was the most beautiful and famous of queens of ancient Egypt. Was she also one of the most powerful? A remarkable new research project strongly suggests this was so. At Karnak in Egypt, 3,300 years ago, the heretic pharaoh Akhenaten, husband of Nefertiti, built a vast and brightly painted temple for his new religion.
After bis death the priests of the old religion hastened to destroy it, leaving only some 45,000 carved stone blocks scattered in the core of the later monuments as witness to its short-lived glory.
In the 60s RAY WINFIELD SMITH , former us diplomat and general, directed the project, which by use of a computer, rediscovered for the first time the nature and shape of Akhenaten's temple complex. As well, it produced a quite new assessment of Nefertiti's status and importance. Introduced by Magnus Magnusson
Director PAUL JORDAN
Producer PAUL JOHN STONE