TV - Egyptian Tomb Hunting

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TV - Egyptian Tomb Hunting

Post by HEPZIBAH »

I'm a little surprised that this programme hasn't been mentioned by anyone else, especially as it has been fairly well promoted in the UK.

As someone who is not particularly interested in Tomb Hunting or Egyptian archaeology, I did not make it a priority for my television viewing last night. However, I caught the last 40 minutes or so when it was on Ch5 +1 and found it interesting enough to think that I will watch tonight's episode. For those of you that are interested in the recent Tomb Raiding errmm oops Tomb Hunting you may like to try to catch the episodes on Ch5's catch up service.

http://www.channel5.com/show/egyptian-tomb-hunting/


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Re: TV - Egyptian Tomb Hunting

Post by newcastle »

I watched the first 10 minutes....and got bored with the inanities spouted by Baldrick (a.k.a. Tony Robinson). Gebel el Silsila is not the most exciting of tomb sites.

Found a more interesting prog on Victoria & Albert.

If you say the latter part was watchable, I may give it another look.
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Re: TV - Egyptian Tomb Hunting

Post by HEPZIBAH »

newcastle wrote:
If you say the latter part was watchable, I may give it another look.
It was watchable to me, but (that is not a huge recommendation in as much as that) I don't normally watch this type of programme so have little to compare it too. I did find the attempt to explore the flooded site interesting, although a very big part of me says don't drain it, leave it be.
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Re: TV - Egyptian Tomb Hunting

Post by A-Four »

I must admit I do not get enough time to look daily on this forum, but Like you Hepzibah I did watch that program and was rather impressed with our Mr Robinson, so checked here to see if any one did. I do know in the past, about ten years ago, he visited Luxor several times with small groups, who stayed at the Etap, so he is not a total ignoramus.

In this first program, he helped people to understand things, when he was told the word Vizer, I know for certain he knows what that word means, but unlike so many in the past who simply expect every viewer to know. He inquired, I am sure he was told prime minister, when actually chief minister, would have been better, and the fact that there were two, one for the North, and one for the South,.........sorry I am beginning to sound boring.

This guy is not a modern day John Romer, but I believe he could become the nearest thing. When I lived in Egypt I came across a number of these so called archeological TV personalities, who would not even dare go down the depths of a water filled tomb as Tony Robinson did in this program. It is this sort of production that keeps the ordinary person interested, rather than that pursuit by so many these days for the ever elusive 'glint of gold'.
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Re: TV - Egyptian Tomb Hunting

Post by Horus »

Thanks for the heads up Hepzi :up I watched the first part and found it really interesting, not the usual run of the mill stuff. Off now to watch part 2 :D
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Re: TV - Egyptian Tomb Hunting

Post by HEPZIBAH »

So... I missed most of last night's episode too. That being said, I appreciated what I saw. I'm not Tony Robinson's biggest fan - I'm not even really sure why - but I do appreciate that he is able to simplify things through his questions and enthusiasm, and bring the subject matter down to 'average Joe' level.
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Re: TV - Egyptian Tomb Hunting

Post by newcastle »

The second part wasn't too bad....although I'm not sure what the purpose of either prog was.

A peek at run-of -the mill egyptological activity? The day to day grind of most excavation sites?

If that's so.....it met its target although I doubt it would have been of much interest to those with a serious interest in the subject. I wondered whether Tony would have a heart attack at some point....his puffing and wheezing made me quite worried. :lol:

The idea of him following in the footsteps of John Romer is a bit of an insult to the great broadcaster/egyptologist. I'm sure John would never have waxed lyrical over "hieroglyphics" (sic).
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Re: TV - Egyptian Tomb Hunting

Post by HEPZIBAH »

Surely the fact that it was on Ch5 says a lot.

I doubt it was ever intended for those with a really serious interest in Egyptian archaeology, or at least not those who know much about the subject or follow closely what is happening. Surely it was aimed at those who still have some romantic notion of Egypt, pharaohs and pyramids, Carter and Tutankamoun, Indiana Jones, ... (but perhaps overall, people who have more interest than me ;) ).

John Romer is a name I have never heard before. No doubt by tomorrow I will have forgotten it again.

As for Tony's puffing and wheezing, I have to agree with you. I was particularly concerned when he was on the ladder. However, like Indiana Jones, he lives to fight, or join a dig, another day. :)
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Re: TV - Egyptian Tomb Hunting

Post by Horus »

Well I for one found the program quite interesting and you are being disingenuous to say it would not appeal to anyone with serious interest in Egyptology. Having been interested in Egyptology from a very young age, visited most historical sites in Egypt many multiple times and over many years, plus I read avidly about the subject therefore I would describe myself as being serious about the subject. It may not have been aimed at Egyptologists, but how many TV programs are? Granted it was an attempt to briefly cover as much ground as possible in true ‘Time Team’ style with our Tony being allowed the special access, but it was interesting to see how the more mundane digs were coming up with new finds and artefacts. For instance who could not be interested in the intact offering jar that had remained unbroken and insitu in the offering recess adjacent the newly discovered tomb. It was of a rare type, wheel thrown at the top half and hand moulded at the base and of a type that pre-dated the Pyramids, a rare find indeed.

Then there was the mummified heart found in amongst the discarded mummification bandages and Natron bags. Anyone with a serious interest would have pricked up their ears at this one due to them knowing that the heart would have been left within the mummy and not forming part of the Canopic jar contents. I found it interesting that with this particularly unusual find it was possible to see that even the aorta was bandaged separately prior to the external bandages being applied, certainly not common knowledge and the explanation that it was probable mistakenly discarded as being a Natron package by some sloppy workman added interest. There was also some drama from my perspective as Tony crawled in beneath a sandstone lintel that had a huge crack running vertically through it, I must say that Dr Who’s lintel over his dog kennel looked more secure, I had visions of him being entombed himself after he crawled in, but no doubt he had a “cunning plan” of escape for that eventuality.
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Re: TV - Egyptian Tomb Hunting

Post by HEPZIBAH »

Hmm ... I perhaps could have worded my post better.

My thoughts were more that, as a television production, it made Egyptology more accessible to those who do not necessarily have a great interest in the subject. The fact that it was on one of the 5 main UK channels, and was using very much the Time Team format, made it all the more easy viewing for we folk who aren't even lay folk.

Hopefully, I've cleared up my own thoughts on the programme, but it is only a personal opinion.

Now, I've spent for more time in this section of the forum than I would ever normally so it's probably time I left and closed the door behind me - for a while anyway.
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Re: TV - Egyptian Tomb Hunting

Post by A-Four »

The remarkable thing about this two part program, is that it was not about Luxor and not about the Valley of the Kings or for that matter the 'glint of gold' it was about a city in the South of modern Egypt that was very important during the Pyramid age, when the likes of Luxor was simply one of the over night stays for cargo travelling North, where such places as Komo Ombo, Edfu, and Essna first became popular for the said same reason.

We were introduced to a time that was around a thousand years before the likes of Tutankhamoun. Tony Robinson carefully explained simple things, for example the word situ, of course he and most of us on here understand that term, he wants to include everyone who watched that program, so asked what that meant. We are then introduced to a tomb who's original occupant was a man called Ark-ti, which means, 'I 'm alive', which showed that such humour was alive and kicking then, as it was in the 18th Dynasty,......as in fact is still so today.

A wonderful discovery was made during filming of a intact vase, Tony's hand almost trembled as he held the item, in the U.K. he has only ever come across shards, and even that in the late Roman era. During the second program the team came across the torso of a body from an ancient burial, on the West Bank Of Asswan, this I should add is not un-common there, in fact thirty years ago you could still come upon such finds on the WB Luxor, strange that may sound, but true.

Tony Robinson is no John Romer, but he is the first person on T.V. in modern tmes that gives the same interest to a very wide ordinace, as Hepzi has observed, and there again Romer on Channel 4, certainly did not become famous over night in the 1980's.

The only problem with digging out tombs in Asswan is the very fine desert sand, which I am sure many on here have seen, where in Luxor there are many miles of high hill ranges much further west for some 15 miles, that protect that town from the Sahara desert sand, but then again can be experienced during a storm, though mixed in with dust.

Simply for interest for folk on here, over the hill and into the western valley of the West Bank of Asswan, near to where this program was made is a very interesting granite quarry that is still in production today, yet you can still find a broken obelisk there from the 18th Dynasty era. There is so much in Asswan that has simply never been brought to the attention of the 'arm-chair' observer.
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Re: TV - Egyptian Tomb Hunting

Post by Who2 »

You'll be surprised as to what they are finding down in Gebil el Silsea,
Maria & John are doing pretty well, it's not easy getting permits ect, jumping through all the hoops
just to find old stuff to entice tourism and uncover a bit more history.
Iv'e not seen the program and doubt that I will bother, someone should come and did up my back garden.... 8)
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Re: TV - Egyptian Tomb Hunting

Post by newcastle »

Who2 wrote: Iv'e not seen the program and doubt that I will bother.......
Your loss.

If nothing else, it will explain to you the term "in situ".....which I'm sure has puzzled many a viewer ;)

You might even be surprised to learn that there's a broken obelisk in a granite quarry near Aswan! :a66: (You'll have to follow expert commentary to learn that snippet)

And if you haven't been overwhelmed by this deluge of discoveries, you can roll around laughing that the occupant of a tomb some 4000 years old was called Ankh-ti...."I'm alive". :)))
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Re: TV - Egyptian Tomb Hunting

Post by newcastle »

Horus wrote:Well I for one found the program quite interesting and you are being disingenuous to say it would not appeal to anyone with serious interest in Egyptology. Having been interested in Egyptology from a very young age, visited most historical sites in Egypt many multiple times and over many years, plus I read avidly about the subject therefore I would describe myself as being serious about the subject. It may not have been aimed at Egyptologists, but how many TV programs are? Granted it was an attempt to briefly cover as much ground as possible in true ‘Time Team’ style with our Tony being allowed the special access, but it was interesting to see how the more mundane digs were coming up with new finds and artefacts. For instance who could not be interested in the intact offering jar that had remained unbroken and insitu in the offering recess adjacent the newly discovered tomb. It was of a rare type, wheel thrown at the top half and hand moulded at the base and of a type that pre-dated the Pyramids, a rare find indeed.

Then there was the mummified heart found in amongst the discarded mummification bandages and Natron bags. Anyone with a serious interest would have pricked up their ears at this one due to them knowing that the heart would have been left within the mummy and not forming part of the Canopic jar contents. I found it interesting that with this particularly unusual find it was possible to see that even the aorta was bandaged separately prior to the external bandages being applied, certainly not common knowledge and the explanation that it was probable mistakenly discarded as being a Natron package by some sloppy workman added interest. There was also some drama from my perspective as Tony crawled in beneath a sandstone lintel that had a huge crack running vertically through it, I must say that Dr Who’s lintel over his dog kennel looked more secure, I had visions of him being entombed himself after he crawled in, but no doubt he had a “cunning plan” of escape for that eventuality.
Maybe I'm being a bit overcritical of a programme which was aimed at an audience with little or no knowledge of egyptology.

For me, being taught to suck eggs has never appealed much. Incidentally, the heart being removed from the body during mummification and not replaced is by no means unusual. Tutankhamun's body suffered a similar fate. I'd imagine in the early days of mummification technique it was quite common.

Maybe it's my cynical nature but Tony finding that intact pot looked rather "contrived". :lol: He did seen genuinely excited....but then he is an actor!

I agree that some of Tony's exploits looked a tad dangerous....perhaps unsurprising in a land devoid of basic health& safety requirements. However, can you imagine the furore....and more bad press for Egypt....if one of our national treasures had been drowned or buried alive :lol:
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Re: TV - Egyptian Tomb Hunting

Post by Horus »

Tutankhamun's body suffered so much other damage prior to mummification that some theorise that he may have been struck with a chariot wheel and his chest area crushed. To that end his heart was probably destroyed beyond recognition and as such never even mummified in the first place, so as there is no evidence of a missing heart for Tutankhamun then I do suggest it is a rare event to find the mummified heart amongst the discarded embalming waste. Obviously you did not watch the program as the pot in question was the small pot handed to him by the female excavator and it had already been lifted.
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Re: TV - Egyptian Tomb Hunting

Post by Who2 »

Here's a well written article by Tiffany Jenkins, who seems quite knowledgeable about keeping stuff
that's been nicked..
Her Notable works: Inc:Contesting Human Remains in Museum Collections: The Crisis of Cultural Authority;
Political Culture, Soft Interventions and Nation Building; and her classic..
Keeping Their Marbles!.... 8)

https://www.standard.co.uk/comment/comm ... 04791.html
Ps: 40 years ago I was after a job in The Museum of Mankind in Mayfair,
when I found out Benin Bronzes were worth a million quid each.
Mind you, this little baby was also on my shopping list, still outside Sotheby's Mayfair.
13407
Last edited by Who2 on Fri Nov 30, 2018 1:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: TV - Egyptian Tomb Hunting

Post by newcastle »

Horus wrote:Tutankhamun's body suffered so much other damage prior to mummification that some theorise that he may have been struck with a chariot wheel and his chest area crushed. To that end his heart was probably destroyed beyond recognition and as such never even mummified in the first place, so as there is no evidence of a missing heart for Tutankhamun then I do suggest it is a rare event to find the mummified heart amongst the discarded embalming waste. Obviously you did not watch the program as the pot in question was the small pot handed to him by the female excavator and it had already been lifted.
There are any number of theories as to how Tutankhamun died.

In spite of a high degree of heterogeneity in the Egyptian mummification tradition, researchers continue to focus on modern and classical stereotypes rather than on its rich variability as it evolved across Egypt over the course of more than three millennia. In particular, the dogmatic contention that the heart was nearly universally retained in situ, or replaced if accidentally removed, is greatly exaggerated.

https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... mification

If you bother to read the full paper mentioned above you will note that, of 150 mummies examined :

A sample of 150 dated mummies adequately
described in the literature:
● 21 intact hearts
● 59 absent hearts
● 70 indeterminate/missing data

I did indeed watch the second prog. Maybe I was confusing the shots of Tony admiring the pot with the sequence showing the pot in question being unearthed. How lucky was that? Mmmmm....

You'll have to excuse my lack of concentration.....watching a scientific excavation being invaded by someone totally lacking in egyptolgical knowledge. If, as has been suggested, he's been here several times before, then he doesn't seem to have picked up much.
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Re: TV - Egyptian Tomb Hunting

Post by Brian Yare »

I'm still trying to find sufficient bandwidth anywhere on the West Bank to watch these programs. Downloading them is proving equally difficult.
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Re: TV - Egyptian Tomb Hunting

Post by Who2 »

Try 1337x....... 8)
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