0:00:02 > 0:00:05'The great civilisation of ancient Egypt,
0:00:05 > 0:00:08'with its dramatic spectacle and mystery,
0:00:08 > 0:00:10'has always fascinated me.'
0:00:11 > 0:00:14'I've been exploring some of the intriguing stories
0:00:14 > 0:00:18'that have emerged from this historic land.
0:00:18 > 0:00:22'In this programme I'm off to find out about the mysterious people
0:00:22 > 0:00:25'who built the spectacular underground tombs of the Pharaohs.'
0:00:41 > 0:00:46I'm about to fly over the Valley of the Kings -
0:00:46 > 0:00:49where, for 500 years -
0:00:49 > 0:00:52the Pharaohs and the nobles of Egypt were interred,
0:00:52 > 0:00:55along with their most precious things -
0:00:55 > 0:00:59things precious in this world and essential, they believed,
0:00:59 > 0:01:02for the journey through the underworld to rebirth.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05Right, shall we? Up we go!
0:01:11 > 0:01:15'The Valley of the Kings has long haunted my imagination,
0:01:15 > 0:01:20'and on this journey, I'm going to discover more about the secret lives
0:01:20 > 0:01:24'of the tomb builders who actually built this sacred place.
0:01:26 > 0:01:32'The magnificent tombs of the later Pharaohs lie in the desert hills on the west bank of the Nile.
0:01:32 > 0:01:38'There, I've discovered a hidden story even more intriguing than the tombs themselves.
0:01:39 > 0:01:43'It's a story that, for me, unlocks the past,
0:01:43 > 0:01:47'bringing me closer than ever to the real people of ancient Egypt.'
0:01:51 > 0:01:54The valley is, of course, very arid,
0:01:54 > 0:01:55but for the Egyptians,
0:01:55 > 0:01:57it was a place of life, of re-birth -
0:01:57 > 0:02:02a great womb, framed by these sacred mountains.
0:02:02 > 0:02:06A place where the dead would continue on their journey
0:02:06 > 0:02:10to another world, to re-birth.
0:02:12 > 0:02:15'Around 3,500 years ago,
0:02:15 > 0:02:19'the Pharaohs decided to hide their tombs down there,
0:02:19 > 0:02:21'in the desert rocks below.
0:02:21 > 0:02:25'It was a more secret place to bury themselves and their treasures
0:02:25 > 0:02:27'than the ostentatious pyramids
0:02:27 > 0:02:30'that were the tombs of the earlier Pharaohs.'
0:02:33 > 0:02:38The treasure now, for us, is the information locked into the tombs.
0:02:38 > 0:02:45Information that allows us to understand and reconstruct that fascinating world of the Pharaohs.
0:02:54 > 0:02:57'There are over 60 tombs packed into this valley.
0:02:57 > 0:02:59'Tunnelled into these limestone cliffs
0:02:59 > 0:03:03'is a labyrinth of underground vaults and passageways,
0:03:03 > 0:03:05'branching in every direction.'
0:03:09 > 0:03:11Down here on the ground
0:03:11 > 0:03:16we can understand more easily why this valley was chosen.
0:03:16 > 0:03:18It's all to do with security.
0:03:18 > 0:03:22The exits and entrances can be guarded,
0:03:22 > 0:03:25tomb robbers kept at bay.
0:03:28 > 0:03:32'It wasn't just treasure that had to be guarded from tomb robbers,
0:03:32 > 0:03:34'but the body of the Pharaoh itself.
0:03:34 > 0:03:38'Ancient Egyptians believed the soul could survive death,
0:03:38 > 0:03:41'and that the dead could influence the living.
0:03:41 > 0:03:44'But this depended on keeping the body safe,
0:03:44 > 0:03:47'and that's what made tomb building so important,
0:03:47 > 0:03:49'particularly for Pharaohs.
0:03:49 > 0:03:52'It was believed that their well-being after death
0:03:52 > 0:03:55'was essential for the prosperity of the nation.
0:03:57 > 0:04:01'Most of the treasures that once packed the underground chambers
0:04:01 > 0:04:03'have long since been plundered by tomb robbers,
0:04:03 > 0:04:07'but we've been left with the spectacular monuments themselves,
0:04:07 > 0:04:11'and the stunning work of the master craftsmen who built them.
0:04:13 > 0:04:15'But it's only when you look at a map of the valley
0:04:15 > 0:04:19'that you really appreciate the great feat of engineering
0:04:19 > 0:04:21'that went into creating this place.'
0:04:21 > 0:04:26Incredible - looking at it - the complexity of the tombs.
0:04:26 > 0:04:31Some run under and over other tombs, some almost bash into each other.
0:04:31 > 0:04:36Incredible, really, this strange, sacred world.
0:04:36 > 0:04:40Apparently, in a state of disorder and disarray.
0:04:40 > 0:04:46But, of course, the overwhelming impression is one of respect.
0:04:46 > 0:04:51Incredible engineering skills of these ancient workmen,
0:04:51 > 0:04:56cutting these tombs, these straight passageways, underground chambers,
0:04:56 > 0:05:01multi-columned halls - very difficult to achieve.
0:05:01 > 0:05:03An amazing piece of work.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09'To get a sense of the remarkable engineering skills
0:05:09 > 0:05:10'of the tomb builders,
0:05:10 > 0:05:13'you have to go to a tomb called KV5,
0:05:13 > 0:05:16'the biggest and most complex tomb in the valley.
0:05:21 > 0:05:25'Only recently re-discovered, it's still closed to the public,
0:05:25 > 0:05:29'but I've been offered a rare and privileged glimpse inside.
0:05:30 > 0:05:34'This vast mausoleum was built by Ramesses II,
0:05:34 > 0:05:36'for some of his 50 sons.'
0:05:39 > 0:05:41This is a main hall,
0:05:41 > 0:05:47roughly worked ceiling supported by these great columns...
0:05:47 > 0:05:49Square piers, really.
0:05:49 > 0:05:53Around here are arranged the 120 or so corridors
0:05:53 > 0:05:56and smaller chambers...
0:05:56 > 0:05:58in all directions.
0:05:58 > 0:06:02Astonishing...piece of work, the massive scale.
0:06:05 > 0:06:11'Sadly, this tomb complex was severely damaged by floods in ancient times,
0:06:11 > 0:06:15'but you can still see the remarkable design and construction
0:06:15 > 0:06:17'in this maze of chambers and passageways.
0:06:20 > 0:06:23'The tomb makers were engineering geniuses.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26'They exploited the strengths and weaknesses of the rock,
0:06:26 > 0:06:28'cutting through the weak areas,
0:06:28 > 0:06:31'while leaving the strong to act as supports.
0:06:31 > 0:06:35'Not a single chamber or column has collapsed in thousands of years.
0:06:38 > 0:06:41'Vast quantities of rock had to be chiselled out
0:06:41 > 0:06:43'with simple copper and bronze tools,
0:06:43 > 0:06:45'and yet this intricate, geometric design
0:06:45 > 0:06:48'was achieved with remarkable precision.
0:06:50 > 0:06:53'There could be 150 chambers or more,
0:06:53 > 0:06:56'and excavation is still going on.'
0:06:56 > 0:07:02Down there I can see yet another room with a ceiling and a wall,
0:07:02 > 0:07:06and beyond that could be other rooms, other chambers.
0:07:06 > 0:07:11Amazing. Perhaps great discoveries yet to be made.
0:07:19 > 0:07:22Recently - tantalisingly - I'm told,
0:07:22 > 0:07:27one ancient skeleton and three heads were discovered in this pit.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29I'll have a look.
0:07:34 > 0:07:36I'll be very careful.
0:07:41 > 0:07:43Ah, some newspaper.
0:07:46 > 0:07:50And er...my goodness me!
0:07:50 > 0:07:52The skeleton is still here.
0:07:52 > 0:07:55The legs...
0:07:55 > 0:07:57the thigh...
0:07:59 > 0:08:01..the backbone.
0:08:01 > 0:08:02Amazing!
0:08:12 > 0:08:16It's wonderful being here, this rough, tooled surface,
0:08:16 > 0:08:22left really as the workmen would have seen it 3,200 years ago.
0:08:22 > 0:08:25Incredible, so direct. It would have been covered with plaster,
0:08:25 > 0:08:26which has now gone,
0:08:26 > 0:08:29so we see it through the eyes of the men that made it.
0:08:29 > 0:08:34You can almost hear their chisels echoing in this space.
0:08:35 > 0:08:39'So, who were the people who created these remarkable tombs?
0:08:39 > 0:08:43'The anonymous men who spent their entire lives toiling away
0:08:43 > 0:08:46'so that the Pharaohs could pass safely into the underworld.
0:08:46 > 0:08:49'These are my unsung heroes.
0:08:49 > 0:08:51'These are the people I want to know more about.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56'It's not just the builders and engineers I'm interested in,
0:08:56 > 0:09:00'but the great artists who decorated the tombs so beautifully.
0:09:00 > 0:09:02'And in the tomb of the Pharaoh Horemheb,
0:09:02 > 0:09:06'you can actually see these master painters and sculptors at work.'
0:09:09 > 0:09:13The amazing thing about this tomb is that it gives us a snapshot
0:09:13 > 0:09:17into the construction and decoration of tombs.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20The body of a Pharaoh took 70 days to mummify.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23and after that, the body had to be interred in a tomb,
0:09:23 > 0:09:25whether the tomb was ready or not.
0:09:25 > 0:09:27That's what's amazing here.
0:09:27 > 0:09:31Horemheb's tomb was not ready for him, but he had to come in anyway.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34The place was sealed up so we get this amazing world -
0:09:34 > 0:09:37a tomb in progress of construction.
0:09:43 > 0:09:48Gosh, what an explosion of colour after the bare walls up there!
0:09:48 > 0:09:50This chamber has been finished
0:09:50 > 0:09:53and gives an idea of what the tomb would have looked like.
0:09:53 > 0:09:55The colours are so intense, so fresh,
0:09:55 > 0:09:59but the thing that's beautiful about this decorative scheme,
0:09:59 > 0:10:03is that the figures are raised, giving a very three-dimensional,
0:10:03 > 0:10:05very dramatic, very beautiful quality.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08Now, if you go down deeper into the tomb,
0:10:08 > 0:10:12you can see how this amazing, sacred art was made.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16'Beautiful as these finished reliefs are,
0:10:16 > 0:10:20'the unfinished work has even more power.'
0:10:20 > 0:10:24Even in the burial chamber, with this great sarcophagus,
0:10:24 > 0:10:27the scheme of decoration is incomplete.
0:10:27 > 0:10:29Just a few red traces
0:10:29 > 0:10:35and some of the red figures coloured in with black, no colour.
0:10:35 > 0:10:38There's something that's wonderful here, actually.
0:10:38 > 0:10:43In the very incompleteness of the tomb, there's incredible power.
0:10:52 > 0:10:54'Through these simple outlines,
0:10:54 > 0:10:58'we have a rare insight into how this sensational art was created.
0:11:00 > 0:11:03'It's like peeling back the layers of a masterpiece
0:11:03 > 0:11:05'to find out how it was made.'
0:11:06 > 0:11:11There is immediacy in the sketches, a directness, a freshness.
0:11:11 > 0:11:15One can connect with the workmen in a wonderful way.
0:11:16 > 0:11:21'These walls are an instruction manual left by these ancient craftsmen.
0:11:21 > 0:11:24'They reveal the secrets of age old techniques,
0:11:24 > 0:11:27'passed down through the generations.'
0:11:27 > 0:11:30Now, this is fascinating.
0:11:30 > 0:11:33Clearly, the work teams were divided up
0:11:33 > 0:11:36into more skilled and less skilled men.
0:11:36 > 0:11:40I suppose the young chaps, the sort of apprentices, did the basic work.
0:11:40 > 0:11:44The first thing was to dip some string in red paint,
0:11:44 > 0:11:47and using that string to make these straight lines
0:11:47 > 0:11:50which divide the wall up into various registers,
0:11:50 > 0:11:52various zones to be decorated.
0:11:52 > 0:11:57And again using the red paint, the first team did a rough sketch
0:11:57 > 0:11:59of the figures on the wall,
0:11:59 > 0:12:01and here you see the red figures.
0:12:01 > 0:12:06Then, slightly more skilled chaps come along and correct -
0:12:06 > 0:12:10or sometimes trace over the red - in black paint.
0:12:10 > 0:12:14There are corrections quite clear, so this second team is more skilled.
0:12:14 > 0:12:16They get it all set out properly,
0:12:16 > 0:12:18but you know, mistakes can be corrected.
0:12:18 > 0:12:20The third team, the highly skilled chaps,
0:12:20 > 0:12:23would come along, and their job
0:12:23 > 0:12:25is to cut the decoration
0:12:25 > 0:12:29into the plaster surface that's over the limestone.
0:12:29 > 0:12:31For me, I've seen nothing like this.
0:12:31 > 0:12:35Here is a figure just emerging from the plaster,
0:12:35 > 0:12:37and you can imagine the team of chaps here.
0:12:37 > 0:12:41Think of the atmosphere - stone dust everywhere - not nice.
0:12:41 > 0:12:44Just being in here now hurts the throat.
0:12:44 > 0:12:47There's limestone dust and no light.
0:12:47 > 0:12:50They had little, simple torches, I suppose,
0:12:50 > 0:12:54or little lamps burning vegetable oil with linen wicks.
0:12:54 > 0:12:55Incredible conditions.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58And in these difficult conditions,
0:12:58 > 0:13:01these men are doing this really precise work.
0:13:01 > 0:13:04Look, here is the moment the work stops.
0:13:04 > 0:13:06The chaps down tools.
0:13:06 > 0:13:10I suppose the Pharaohs body has been sliding down the ramp
0:13:10 > 0:13:13into the burial tomb over there, and that's it.
0:13:13 > 0:13:17The tomb has to be sealed, and these chaps are out.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22'So, what about these chaps, these tomb makers?
0:13:22 > 0:13:25'I've heard of many myths and legends about them.
0:13:25 > 0:13:28'Most famously that they were slaves,
0:13:28 > 0:13:31'forced to use their skills in honour of the Pharaoh
0:13:31 > 0:13:32'against their will.
0:13:32 > 0:13:36'I'm off to find out the truth about these remarkable people.'
0:13:36 > 0:13:39Leg over. Whoa!
0:13:39 > 0:13:41Oh, yes. Lovely.
0:13:41 > 0:13:44'And I can find the answer on the other side of the valley.'
0:13:44 > 0:13:47Maybe just lead him on? How does he get going? Come on, old boy!
0:13:47 > 0:13:50Thank you.
0:13:50 > 0:13:52It's lovely. Thank you very much.
0:14:00 > 0:14:03'For me, the place I'm heading for is a treasure trove,
0:14:03 > 0:14:05'packed with information
0:14:05 > 0:14:10'that has transformed our understanding of Egypt 3,500 years ago.'
0:14:23 > 0:14:28We know much about the Pharaohs buried in the Valley of the Kings,
0:14:28 > 0:14:33but what about the humble workmen who would - over 3,000 years ago -
0:14:33 > 0:14:37have walked and ridden along the path I'm riding along now?
0:14:37 > 0:14:39It's incredible.
0:14:39 > 0:14:41Those are the people that I want to know -
0:14:41 > 0:14:44they're the people that haunt my imagination.
0:14:44 > 0:14:49I want to get into their minds and see the ancient world through their eyes. ..Come on!
0:14:57 > 0:14:59'This place is a hidden gem,
0:14:59 > 0:15:02'where all the extraordinary and intimate details
0:15:02 > 0:15:07'of the lives of the ordinary people of ancient Egypt can be uncovered.'
0:15:10 > 0:15:14When first discovered, this site raised lots of questions.
0:15:14 > 0:15:16It really was a bit of a mystery.
0:15:16 > 0:15:19People couldn't work out who on earth lived here.
0:15:19 > 0:15:25The site's so arid, sun-baked hills around it, the Nile a long way off.
0:15:25 > 0:15:26There's no water here.
0:15:26 > 0:15:28So, what was going on?
0:15:28 > 0:15:31Recent excavations have revealed
0:15:31 > 0:15:35that this was the centre of a very fascinating world.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41'This was clearly the home of a special community,
0:15:41 > 0:15:44'kept separate from the rest of the world.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48'As more and more evidence emerged from the rubble,
0:15:48 > 0:15:52'it became apparent what this place was.'
0:15:52 > 0:15:56This is the permanent home of the tomb makers,
0:15:56 > 0:16:00their village founded around 3,500 years ago,
0:16:00 > 0:16:03now known as Deir el-Medina.
0:16:05 > 0:16:10'It's where generations of builders, painters, sculptors, and engineers -
0:16:10 > 0:16:15'as well as all their families - lived for 500 years.
0:16:15 > 0:16:20'They lived within these walls, guarding the secrets of the tombs,
0:16:20 > 0:16:23'passing on their skills from father to son.
0:16:26 > 0:16:29'From the wealth of archaeological evidence -
0:16:29 > 0:16:32'scraps of cloth, fragments of wood, even traces of paint,
0:16:32 > 0:16:35'archaeologists have built up a detailed picture
0:16:35 > 0:16:37'of the tomb builders' lives -
0:16:37 > 0:16:38'what their homes were like,
0:16:38 > 0:16:42'and they even know the names of some of the people that lived in them.'
0:16:44 > 0:16:49I'm in one of the streets in the town, houses on each side.
0:16:49 > 0:16:51They would have been whitewashed.
0:16:51 > 0:16:56There would have been a lovely, charming, mellow light flooding through the town.
0:16:56 > 0:16:59The front doors were painted red.
0:16:59 > 0:17:02Here, I've come to a front door just here,
0:17:02 > 0:17:05a door belonging to a rather important fellow -
0:17:05 > 0:17:07a workman called Senejem.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10The house itself is ahead of me,
0:17:10 > 0:17:14so I'll go inside and see Senejem's world.
0:17:16 > 0:17:20This is the main reception room,
0:17:20 > 0:17:22and what a room it is -
0:17:22 > 0:17:26square, probably a cube actually.
0:17:26 > 0:17:30Ceiling up there - a flat ceiling with ventilators, air intakes.
0:17:30 > 0:17:34And here, a store room with a cellar.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37That's where the family treasures were kept.
0:17:37 > 0:17:41Oh, this is good. The stairs up to the flat roof.
0:17:41 > 0:17:45You can imagine the family going up these stairs in the evening
0:17:45 > 0:17:49to sit on the roof, looking at the sunset or the stars.
0:17:49 > 0:17:51Very lovely.
0:17:51 > 0:17:56And in this corner, a piece of built-in furniture.
0:17:56 > 0:18:00A sort of bed or a couch, I suppose. Little recesses here.
0:18:00 > 0:18:05I suppose these would have contained sacred writings,
0:18:05 > 0:18:06or images of the gods.
0:18:08 > 0:18:10Good Lord!
0:18:10 > 0:18:13Sitting here is an amazing experience.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16Sitting on this couch,
0:18:16 > 0:18:23inhabiting the world inhabited by this family of workmen,
0:18:23 > 0:18:25tomb builders...
0:18:25 > 0:18:27over 3,000 years ago.
0:18:27 > 0:18:29This is the world they'd have known.
0:18:31 > 0:18:34'And in the hills surrounding the town,
0:18:34 > 0:18:38'there are places that give us an actual picture of these people
0:18:38 > 0:18:41'as they worked in the Valley of the Kings.'
0:18:41 > 0:18:43'Being tomb builders,
0:18:43 > 0:18:46'they were of course able to build tombs for themselves.'
0:18:47 > 0:18:54This is high quality work. And here is something very marvellous indeed.
0:18:54 > 0:19:00Here we see workmen constructing a shrine within a tomb.
0:19:00 > 0:19:01Wonderful details.
0:19:01 > 0:19:04Look at this - a chap with a saw.
0:19:04 > 0:19:06A bronze saw.
0:19:06 > 0:19:10Here, a man painting a sarcophagus.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13And down below is a shrine scene.
0:19:13 > 0:19:19And here's a man with a bronze chisel and a mallet.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22And here, there's humour in this - it's incredible -
0:19:22 > 0:19:25a chap sort of clambering up a wall, hammering away.
0:19:25 > 0:19:30This fellow has dropped his mallet and his friend, looking alarmed,
0:19:30 > 0:19:33has moved his foot away in time.
0:19:33 > 0:19:36Saying, "What on earth are you doing?!"
0:19:36 > 0:19:40Incredible, this world of the workmen.
0:19:40 > 0:19:43And here it is...forever.
0:19:43 > 0:19:47They're going about their earthly tasks,
0:19:47 > 0:19:50but in the underworld.
0:19:50 > 0:19:54'These paintings give us a vivid picture of the tomb builders,
0:19:54 > 0:19:59'but something else about these people has been discovered here,
0:19:59 > 0:20:01'and it's extraordinary.
0:20:01 > 0:20:05'The people of Deir el Medina could read and write,
0:20:05 > 0:20:09'unlike almost all the other workers in ancient Egypt.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12'And thousands of examples of their writing
0:20:12 > 0:20:14'have been uncovered by archaeologists.
0:20:18 > 0:20:21'These are the most detailed, intimate writings and drawings
0:20:21 > 0:20:25'of everyday life ever discovered in ancient Egypt.
0:20:25 > 0:20:29'They're like pages from a notebook, ancient text messages.
0:20:29 > 0:20:34'Reading them is like eavesdropping on conversations 3,000 years ago.'
0:20:34 > 0:20:36"What is it with you?
0:20:36 > 0:20:40"Write and send me the thoughts of your heart so I can enter into them.
0:20:40 > 0:20:43"I've been with you since I was a child, but I can't understand you."
0:20:43 > 0:20:47"He bought me a donkey, but it's no good so I returned it.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50"Let him bring me a good donkey, or give me my money back."
0:20:50 > 0:20:52"Peneb the foreman, my father,
0:20:52 > 0:20:56"slept with Kene's wife Ti, and with Pendua's wife, Hunro.
0:20:56 > 0:20:58"He even slept with Hunro's daughter."
0:20:58 > 0:21:01"For the carpenter with his chisel, life is utterly vile.
0:21:01 > 0:21:05"Covering the roof 10 cubits by six to cover the roof in a month..."
0:21:06 > 0:21:08'Because papyrus was so expensive,
0:21:08 > 0:21:13'the people of Deir el Medina wrote on bits of limestone and pottery,
0:21:13 > 0:21:16'which they could literally just pick up off the ground.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19'It meant they wrote, and wrote and wrote.
0:21:19 > 0:21:21'The originals - known as ostraca -
0:21:21 > 0:21:24'are kept in museums around the world,
0:21:24 > 0:21:27'but I've got some exact replicas here.'
0:21:27 > 0:21:32There's lots of things here. Some are simply lists of goods,
0:21:32 > 0:21:34some legal documents, private letters,
0:21:34 > 0:21:35but there's a lot of humour.
0:21:35 > 0:21:38You get the idea that people come here,
0:21:38 > 0:21:41come home after a hard day toiling in the tombs
0:21:41 > 0:21:43and let off a bit of steam.
0:21:43 > 0:21:44They obviously get fed up
0:21:44 > 0:21:47making images all day glorifying the Pharaohs.
0:21:47 > 0:21:51Here's a wonderful little bit of satire.
0:21:51 > 0:21:53In the tombs we see Pharaohs in their chariots
0:21:53 > 0:21:55smiting their enemies.
0:21:55 > 0:22:00Here we see, not a Pharaoh, but a mouse in his chariot driving a dog.
0:22:00 > 0:22:03The chap who drew this was probably the same chap
0:22:03 > 0:22:07who had to paint the glorious Pharaoh, and he'd had enough of it.
0:22:07 > 0:22:09When he gets home he really sort of takes the Mickey!
0:22:09 > 0:22:12This one's really interesting.
0:22:12 > 0:22:15This one's to do with love.
0:22:15 > 0:22:20It's a spell - trying to make a woman fall in love with a man.
0:22:20 > 0:22:23The chap says that if the woman of his heart doesn't desire him,
0:22:23 > 0:22:29as a cow desires fodder, he'll go off and burn images of the gods.
0:22:29 > 0:22:32That seems a bit daring to me, but there we are.
0:22:32 > 0:22:34This one's almost my favourite actually.
0:22:34 > 0:22:38It looks a bit abstract, but what it is is a laundry list.
0:22:38 > 0:22:40Here we see drawings of items,
0:22:40 > 0:22:43so I suppose this was someone who couldn't read,
0:22:43 > 0:22:46and it's sort of things going off to the laundry.
0:22:46 > 0:22:48A loin cloth here, I suppose.
0:22:48 > 0:22:53A shirt without sleeves, and these are the number of items gone off.
0:22:53 > 0:22:55One pair of pants off to the cleaners.
0:22:55 > 0:22:57Isn't it absolutely amazing?
0:23:00 > 0:23:03'The ostraca give us revealing details about life here
0:23:03 > 0:23:06'that otherwise would have been lost to us.
0:23:06 > 0:23:10'For instance, they tell us these workers had rights.
0:23:10 > 0:23:13'They had two days off for every eight days work.
0:23:13 > 0:23:18'They were prepared to go on strike if their rights were ignored.
0:23:18 > 0:23:21'We know that the women could own property.
0:23:21 > 0:23:27'They could sue for divorce and even prosecute their husbands for domestic violence.
0:23:27 > 0:23:29'We even have their school curriculum,
0:23:29 > 0:23:33'and know the myths and legends they read to their children.
0:23:35 > 0:23:37'The ostraca also helped to solve the puzzle
0:23:37 > 0:23:39'of how this community was able to survive,
0:23:39 > 0:23:43'miles from the life-giving waters of Nile.
0:23:45 > 0:23:49'The laundry from that list would have been taken down to the Nile
0:23:49 > 0:23:52'to be washed by launderers paid for by the state.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55'And all their water was delivered by water-boys,
0:23:55 > 0:23:57'also paid for by the state.
0:23:59 > 0:24:01'What's clear from the ostraca
0:24:01 > 0:24:04'is that the state provided the tomb builders
0:24:04 > 0:24:06'with everything they could possibly want.
0:24:07 > 0:24:11'These workers - these tomb builders - weren't slaves.
0:24:11 > 0:24:15'They were highly regarded state employees.
0:24:15 > 0:24:18'They may have been kept in isolation in the arid mountains,
0:24:18 > 0:24:22'but the Pharaoh made sure they led a comfortable life.'
0:24:22 > 0:24:25As the builders of Royal tombs,
0:24:25 > 0:24:31the people of Deir el-Medina were in a sense privy to state secrets.
0:24:31 > 0:24:33The fate of the nation was linked
0:24:33 > 0:24:37to the preservation of the Pharaoh's body after death.
0:24:37 > 0:24:42And the people of Deir el-Medina knew the secrets of the royal tombs,
0:24:42 > 0:24:47and in that sense, the fate of the nation was in their hands.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56'Through the people of Deir el-Medina,
0:24:56 > 0:24:58'I've seen a different side of ancient Egypt.
0:24:58 > 0:25:01'Ordinary people are so often forgotten by history,
0:25:01 > 0:25:04'but this journey has given me an insight
0:25:04 > 0:25:07'into what everyday life must have been like in this land
0:25:07 > 0:25:10'thousands of years ago.
0:25:10 > 0:25:12'It's history from the bottom up,
0:25:12 > 0:25:16'so different from that written by the Pharaohs.
0:25:16 > 0:25:20'The Pharaohs were so concerned with their place in history
0:25:20 > 0:25:24'that much of what they've left us is merely propaganda.
0:25:24 > 0:25:29'But the humble people from Deir el-Medina,
0:25:29 > 0:25:31'with their humour, scepticism and satire,
0:25:31 > 0:25:35'give us a refreshingly truthful view of the past.
0:25:37 > 0:25:41'But there is one final twist to the story of the tomb builders,
0:25:41 > 0:25:44'which links the craftsmen of Deir el-Medina
0:25:44 > 0:25:47'to the legendary tomb robberies in the Valley of the Kings.'
0:25:48 > 0:25:54Many - indeed perhaps most - tombs were robbed in antiquity.
0:25:54 > 0:25:56There's evidence to suggest
0:25:56 > 0:26:00that the tomb makers were also often the tomb robbers.
0:26:00 > 0:26:02Even priests were involved.
0:26:02 > 0:26:08There are also some contemporary legal documents that show that tomb makers from Deir el-Medina
0:26:08 > 0:26:14were caught in the act - found with bags of booty containing plunder from tombs.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17Amazing, really. It does sort of suggest that ordinary people
0:26:17 > 0:26:20weren't too worried about the great Egyptian gods,
0:26:20 > 0:26:22weren't worried about curses on the tombs,
0:26:22 > 0:26:24and indeed weren't worried
0:26:24 > 0:26:27that the vengeance of the Pharaoh - divine in death -
0:26:27 > 0:26:29would be visited upon them.
0:26:32 > 0:26:36'How ironic that some of the people who dedicated their lives
0:26:36 > 0:26:38'to building the spectacular tombs here
0:26:38 > 0:26:41'should have returned to rob them.
0:26:41 > 0:26:43'A shocking revelation perhaps,
0:26:43 > 0:26:46'but just one of the many hidden stories
0:26:46 > 0:26:50'that I've discovered about this valley.'
0:26:50 > 0:26:54This journey has completely transformed my understanding
0:26:54 > 0:26:55of the Valley of the Kings.
0:26:55 > 0:26:59Before, I thought of it as a place of death,
0:26:59 > 0:27:03of afterlife, of ritual and religion.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06It is that, but much, much more.
0:27:06 > 0:27:13Now I see it contains stories about daily life in Egypt 3,500 years ago.
0:27:13 > 0:27:16There's evidence here of ordinary working people -
0:27:16 > 0:27:20the stories of the people who created these great tombs
0:27:20 > 0:27:23are all there, waiting to be explored and unravelled.
0:27:23 > 0:27:29The connections are amazing between the humble people and the great people -
0:27:29 > 0:27:30the humble people, of course,
0:27:30 > 0:27:34are the ones who created the monuments to the high and mighty.
0:27:34 > 0:27:35And that, I suppose,
0:27:35 > 0:27:38is what one now sees when one contemplates this view.
0:27:38 > 0:27:42Not just the story of the kings and their families,
0:27:42 > 0:27:45but the stories of the ordinary people of Egypt -
0:27:45 > 0:27:48that's what echoes in the valley for me now.
0:27:57 > 0:28:01'Next time, I follow in the footsteps of the great archaeologist Howard Carter,
0:28:01 > 0:28:05'the man who discovered the tomb of Tutankhamen.'
0:28:05 > 0:28:07E-mail us at subtitling@bbc.co.uk