Podcast Episodes

200: How to Make Your Own Tomb

Livestream recording. The tombs of Deir el-Medina are some of the most vibrant and beautiful in Waset (Thebes). How did they build them, which artists decorated them, and how did folk like Sennedjem …

Published on 11 months, 2 weeks ago

New Year, New Home (Moving Countries)

New Year, New Home. My wife and I are moving to the UK in February 2025. How will this improve / affect the podcast? Details inside.

Next livestream: “How to Make Your Own Tomb,” based on the artists’…

Published on 11 months, 3 weeks ago

199: The Winter War

Sety’s final campaign. In winter of year 8 (approx. December 1296 BCE), the King of Egypt Sety I received news: rebellion in the south. In a land called Irem, now in modern Sudan, locals were resisti…

Published on 1 year ago

198b: The Tomb Builders in the Age of Sety I

Livestream recording. The village of Deir el-Medina first arose in the 18th Dynasty (c.1550—1310 BCE), but the historical records really multiply in the 19th and 20th Dynasties (c.1310—1070 BCE). In …

Published on 1 year ago

198: Servants in the Place of Truth (The Tomb-Builders)

Deir el-Medina’s Golden Age (Part 1). In the age of Sety I, the village of the tomb-builders expanded significantly. Likewise, our evidence for daily life, families, households, and business begins t…

Published on 1 year ago

197: How to Make a Pharaoh's Tomb

Sety I in the Valley of the Kings (Part 1). Archaeological remains and ancient texts reveal a great deal about tomb-building in the 19th and 20th Dynasties (c.1303—1070 BCE). Records, artefacts, and …

Published on 1 year ago

Sety, Thutmose, and Royal Coffins (with Prof. Kara Cooney)

In 1881, a remarkable discovery took place in Luxor, Egypt. In the hills of Deir el-Bahari, a secret tomb held the reburied mummies of Egypt’s famous pharaohs. Figures like Sety I, Ramesses II, Thutm…

Published on 1 year, 1 month ago

196: The Golden Path

The plan of an honest ruler. Around 1300 BCE, as today, gold was big business. King Sety I personally led an expedition into the eastern desert, to establish a new mining operation. Back in the Nile …

Published on 1 year, 1 month ago

195: A Quest for Gold

Sety in the Desert. Around 1300 BCE, King Sety led an expedition into the Red Sea hills. His purpose? Gold. The King brought soldiers and charioteers out to mine precious metals for his treasuries. T…

Published on 1 year, 1 month ago

194: A Prince of Egypt (feat. Prof. Peter Brand)

Ramesses Rising. Traditionally, Egyptian princes are almost invisible. The pharaohs downplayed the presence of their sons, to reduce political competition and maintain religious order. Sety I (c.1300…

Published on 1 year, 1 month ago