Egyptian Journeys with Dan Cruickshank

Reception

Sam Wollaston in The Guardian called the series a more scholarly appendage to the BBC1 show, noting Cruickshank's charming, breathless and enthusiastic delivery. David Chater in The Times praised his inimitable style. David Liddiment in The Guardian commended the pairing of this series with the BBC One docudrama during the charter renewal review, urging the BBC to maintain standards afterward.

Episodes

Cruickshank investigates the people who built the underground tombs of the Pharaohs. Flying over the Valley of the Kings, he notes that over 60 tombs were dug into the valley walls over 3,500 years ago. Descending into KV5, built by Rameses II for his sons, he observes the precise engineering. In the unfinished Tomb of Horemheb he sees the work of tomb artists.

At Deir el-Medina he views where generations of builders lived apart from the rest of the world. Archaeological evidence from scraps of cloth, wood and paint has given a detailed picture of the tomb builders' lives. Cruickshank considers the life of an ancient family at the house of Senagem. The builders were highly literate, and thousands of ostraca reveal they were not slaves but well-cared-for state employees who also became tomb robbers.

Cruickshank says the journey changed his view of the valley from a place of death and ritual to one of ordinary daily life. He also follows Howard Carter's footsteps to trace the life of the man who discovered the Tomb of Tutankhamun.