Unas the Skywalker.The Pyramid Texts are Egypt’s oldest surviving corpus of religious literature. Appearing c.2350 BCE, in the monument of King Unas, the texts describe the King’s journey to the…
Restoration, Recovery, Wreckage.Around 2520 BCE, King Men-kau-ra ruled Egypt. In his time, royal artists produced high quality sculpture and art; and builders constructed another magnificent pyramid at Giza. But while…
The Great Pyramid: New Information.For centuries, popular perceptions of the Great Pyramid’s construction have hinged on Herodotos reference to “twenty years.” While historians have debated that, hard evidence on the…
A crime scene with no crime.In 1925, archaeologists working at Giza uncovered a remarkable monument. The tomb chamber of Queen Hetep-Heres (c.2630-2580 BCE) contained a wealth of beautiful, high-quality items.…
An Inspector and the Great Pyramid. In the last years of Khufu’s reign, work on the Great Pyramid was nearing completion. From this period, the Diary of Merer provides unexpected…
Gardens and Girls.Previously unreleased. King Sneferu ("One Who Makes Beautiful Things") was a legendary ruler. His three pyramids at Meidum, Dahshur South, and Dahshur North, mark the transition from step…
Lost and Found.Following the death of Netjerykhet Djoser (episode 4), Egyptians had achieved something magnificent. The Step Pyramid at Saqqara loomed over the horizon, in a palatial complex that rivalled…
Metal, Monuments, and Makers. Dr. Martin Odler is a researcher at the Czech Institute of Egyptology, at Charles University in Prague. He studies the tools and objects that Egyptians used…
with Dr. Leslie Anne Warden. Beer, Bread and Pharaoh's Power. My guest today is Dr. Leslie Anne Warden, associate professor of art history and archaeology at Roanoke College in Virginia,…
First Intermediate Period (Part I): Collapse?We jump head slightly in time. By 2100 BCE Pepy II is gone, and with him the last securely-documented reign of the Old Kingdom. A…