An History of Ancient Egypt

An History of Ancient Egypt
A Teaching Company Production
Eight DVD set
48 lectures, 30 minutes each

This is an excellent introduction to the early history of Egypt.  It begins about 700,000 years ago with the discovery of a hand axe and ends with the death of Cleopatra, the last independent ruler of Egypt, on August 12, 30 BC.

Along the way we see the development of the pyramids and temples, how they developed from relatively simply structures to the magnificent structures that are slowly crumbling over the centuries.  The first graves were pits in the ground and covered with rocks to protect the bodies from predators, mainly jackals.  The next step was the placing of a large rectangular, flat-roofed structure, a mastaba, with rooms and a burial chamber.  Eventually one king had several of these mastabas of deceasing size placed over his burial chamber.  Eventually these developed into the familiar pyramid shapes.  

The lecturer varies at times from a strict chronological historical presentation by introducing related topics.  Some of these are

--some information about Egyptologists and their methods, including an extensive discussion of the effect that Napoleon's invasion of Egypt had on the science of Egyptology:  according to the lecturer, Napoleon brought, along with his army, hundreds of scientists, historians, artists, and anybody else who might be helpful in the study of ancient Egypt.  In effect, Napoleon created the scientific study of ancient Egypt.


--mummies, three lectures on mummies (the lecturer's specialty), including one on his attempt to create a mummy using what he could learn about the Egyptian method.


--one lecture each on the Biblical stories of Joseph in Egypt and the Exodus which included a discussion of the so-far existing evidence, both external archeological findings and internal evidence within the Biblical accounts,  and a guess as to when they might have  taken place.

 The last lecture included a brief overview of the course and then he discussed the effects of Egyptian history and culture on contemporary films and books.  He, of course, mentioned the various mummy films and  the Elizabeth Taylor film of Cleopatra.   In addition, he mentioned the mystery series written by Elizabeth Peters (who is a specialist on ancient Egypt) and that the hero, Amelia Peabody, is really a caricature of Sir Flinders Petrie, a highly respected Egyptologist.

Overall, I would say that the lectures provide an excellent introduction to the early history of Egypt.   He also includes a bibliography for those wishing to go further in the study of Egypt or on some .specific topics that the viewers may wish to follow up on.