Egypt

This is a wonderful insight into the lives and discoveries of some of the greatest explorers of Egypt and founders of Egyptology. From Cater, the artist cum archaeologist who was to discover the legendary tomb of Tutankhamun, to Belzoni - the man who brushed away the sand to reveal the monumental temple of Abu Simbel, among many others, and Champollion, decipherer of the hieroglyphs, who really brought ancient Egypt back to life.The series documents the lives of the explorers and what they discovered in the Egyptian sands. I feel, however, that the series' focus is too great on the lives of these three people (almost entirely in fact) and is lacking in actual historic fact about the true heroes of Egypt - the pharaohs and gods themselves.

This is a very well done and exciting series. I watched all six episodes consecutively.

This is yet another really interesting BBC series which brings history to life. The personal stories of the early explorers are as fascinating as the ancient Egyptian world which they uncover.

well done very good documentary hope to see the rest of this collection SOON

A little cheesy but very informative. I have been to Egypt so it helped bring this alive even more.

As a family we watched these DVDs as a prelude to going to the King Tut exhibition (which we combined with a visit to the Egypt galleries at the British museum, which are free to visit and have far more 'stuff'!!)

The 'story' focuses on three of the main characters who either found lots of artifacts that you can go to see, or, in the case of the last 2 episodes, cracked the Hieroglyphic 'code'.There is not much focus on the lives of the Egyptians (a fairly light touch, for example, on the life of Tutankhamun, covering the stuff that most 10 year olds would know already) or on the artifacts themselves. However, it does give a real flavour of how difficult it was to find, transport and gain legal access to the pieces (eg the head of Ramesses II or the Rosetta stone in the British museum) so that when you see them in the exhibitions the 'wow' factor is hugely increased.

If you are an adult who likes to be better informed, the book that goes with the series contains much more information and much grittier accounts of the dysentry, libations and true-grit determination of Belzoni and Carter. Some of the quotes in the book are priceless e.g. the tale of Belzoni literally wading through rooms of mummies buried together which just turned to dust with his passage, or the origin of the large hole in the head of Ramesses (a French team, determined to 'nick' the head - before Belzoni could move it - drilled the hole to dynamite the face off it!).

The DVDs are also really interesting from a historic perspective because the treatment that these guys give the artifacts is shocking to us today. Get 'em out quick and sell 'em! Finds that would need years of scientific enquiry if they were found today were grabbed and moved in 10 minutes.

Definitely worth the 6 hours spent watching, but only 3 stars because in my humble opinion, concentrating on the lives of the three men excluded too much other relevant, interesting perspectives and made watching a bit slow in some places.