0:00:05 > 0:00:11I'm in Dorset, seeking a little bit of Egypt in the English countryside.
0:00:11 > 0:00:13SHEEP BLEAT
0:00:14 > 0:00:17It seems unlikely, but this is where I had my
0:00:17 > 0:00:21first taste of the magical and exotic world of Ancient Egypt.
0:00:21 > 0:00:23I remember first coming here to Kingston Lacy with my family
0:00:23 > 0:00:26when I was a child, and I was fascinated
0:00:26 > 0:00:28- like millions of others - by what I found.
0:00:41 > 0:00:45This pink granite obelisk is well over 2,000 years old,
0:00:45 > 0:00:47and today it's spotted with lichen and moss
0:00:47 > 0:00:49as a result of the damp English climate.
0:00:49 > 0:00:53But it once stood in front of the sun-baked Temple of Isis
0:00:53 > 0:00:55on the island of Philae in southern Egypt,
0:00:55 > 0:00:57where in 1815 it caught the eye of
0:00:57 > 0:01:00the owner of Kingston Lacy, William Bankes.
0:01:00 > 0:01:04He was a traveller, he was an amateur archaeologist,
0:01:04 > 0:01:07an aesthete and a connoisseur, and he spent years endeavouring to
0:01:07 > 0:01:10bring this obelisk from Egypt to his Dorset lawn.
0:01:15 > 0:01:19As well as the obelisk, Bankes amassed the
0:01:19 > 0:01:22largest private collection of Egyptian art in Britain.
0:01:28 > 0:01:30Most of the Egyptian antiquities that Bankes collected
0:01:30 > 0:01:35are on display here in the billiards room, but I suspect that most people
0:01:35 > 0:01:39would consider these objects more as curious artefacts than works of art.
0:01:39 > 0:01:42And it's true that the ancient Egyptians didn't have
0:01:42 > 0:01:45a word for "art", but they didn't have a word for religion either,
0:01:45 > 0:01:48and they are among the most religious peoples in history.
0:01:55 > 0:01:57This enormous tome is the first volume of
0:01:57 > 0:02:01The Description of Egypt, which began to appear in 1809.
0:02:01 > 0:02:03And it is beautiful!
0:02:03 > 0:02:07It's filled with hand-coloured illustrations and maps,
0:02:07 > 0:02:10and these crisp, really immaculate engravings that record
0:02:10 > 0:02:12the monuments of Ancient Egypt.
0:02:13 > 0:02:17You can readily understand why William Bankes became so besotted
0:02:17 > 0:02:21as he sat in this very library and leafed through these pages.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30I want to follow in the footsteps of Bankes and his contemporaries
0:02:30 > 0:02:33and explore Ancient Egypt for myself.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40In this series, over three programmes
0:02:40 > 0:02:42I'll travel the length of the country...
0:02:44 > 0:02:46..in search of 30 treasures that
0:02:46 > 0:02:50tell the bewitching story of Egyptian art.
0:02:54 > 0:02:57But above all, I want to look at the treasures of Egypt,
0:02:57 > 0:02:59not through the eyes of an archaeologist,
0:02:59 > 0:03:01but through the eyes of an art lover.
0:03:34 > 0:03:38My adventure begins deep in the Sahara, where I'm
0:03:38 > 0:03:40searching for the very earliest Egyptian art.
0:03:43 > 0:03:46The origins of the indomitable style
0:03:46 > 0:03:49that would define this greatest of ancient civilisations.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02So I've driven right out into the Western Desert,
0:04:02 > 0:04:05which is this exhilarating landscape
0:04:05 > 0:04:08and it's part of the Sahara which basically stretches on
0:04:08 > 0:04:12unbroken to the Atlantic, thousands of miles away,
0:04:12 > 0:04:14and this must be easily the most remote place
0:04:14 > 0:04:16I have ever come to see a work of art.
0:04:19 > 0:04:21In fact, right here.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24We've made it. Excellent.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29'My guide is artist and archaeologist John O'Carroll.'
0:04:32 > 0:04:34Well, this is our first site, John,
0:04:34 > 0:04:38and you were saying in the car that this is known as the Gallery.
0:04:38 > 0:04:42The Gallery, it's a superb piece of Neolithic rock art.
0:04:48 > 0:04:53It's a procession of four women - three of them pregnant -
0:04:53 > 0:04:58leading about six giraffes. A wonderful piece of art.
0:05:01 > 0:05:05- And when does it date from?- It dates from, I would say 6-7000BC,
0:05:05 > 0:05:08it was a culture called the Bashendi Culture.
0:05:09 > 0:05:13So what can this tell us about the society that produced it?
0:05:13 > 0:05:16It's their stamp, and we're looking at a window
0:05:16 > 0:05:18to the mind of these Bashendi people,
0:05:18 > 0:05:23which is quite marvellous. And in this piece you get a wonderful sense
0:05:23 > 0:05:27of movement, a processional way, with the women, with the giraffes.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32The giraffe was a highly effective totem as a rain god.
0:05:32 > 0:05:36It was tall, it was touching the sky,
0:05:36 > 0:05:42so to harness that type of animal was to harness nature in a sense.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45I might try and scramble up to have a look at this giraffe,
0:05:45 > 0:05:47if you think I'm not going to kill myself.
0:05:53 > 0:05:55I guess the first thing that strikes me coming up here
0:05:55 > 0:06:00is the simplicity but effectiveness of just using
0:06:00 > 0:06:03incision in the rock to catch the sunlight. That creates the outline.
0:06:05 > 0:06:10The way it's been conveyed is in quite, almost geometric, abstract, rectilinear fashion
0:06:10 > 0:06:12- these are straight lines, right angles.
0:06:12 > 0:06:17- This is quite a Mondrian... - Yes!- ..a Mondrian prehistoric piece.
0:06:17 > 0:06:21And elsewhere this dotted, stippled effect,
0:06:21 > 0:06:25as though trying to imitate the skin or the hide of the giraffe.
0:06:25 > 0:06:28It's a very good device for that, simple but effective.
0:06:32 > 0:06:34'What's revealing is how the art and beliefs of the
0:06:34 > 0:06:38'early Egyptians were so entwined with animals and the natural world.'
0:06:44 > 0:06:47Now, John is taking me up a pyramid-shaped hill to show me
0:06:47 > 0:06:49his favourite petroglyphs.
0:06:52 > 0:06:54Phew!
0:06:54 > 0:06:55Aha!
0:06:57 > 0:06:59There we are.
0:06:59 > 0:07:01And here we are at what we call the Altar.
0:07:03 > 0:07:05What an extraordinary setting.
0:07:05 > 0:07:07So this is the altar stone.
0:07:07 > 0:07:13It's at an angle, and has four lovely Bashendi ladies on it,
0:07:13 > 0:07:16dancing for us. ALASTAIR LAUGHS
0:07:16 > 0:07:19With highly-decorated costume.
0:07:19 > 0:07:24So we've got several different women, so here's clearly one,
0:07:24 > 0:07:28and here are another two, facing each other, or next to each other.
0:07:28 > 0:07:34Facing each other with a head, breasts and torso.
0:07:34 > 0:07:36What about thinking of classic later Egyptian reliefs,
0:07:36 > 0:07:40tomb paintings, where you see people, they look very different,
0:07:40 > 0:07:41but in a sense the structure,
0:07:41 > 0:07:45the way of representing them, is similar.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48You have this - frontal, the torso,
0:07:48 > 0:07:51but then the lower half in profile,
0:07:51 > 0:07:53as though perhaps walking in one direction.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56I believe there is some connection, there is a connection.
0:07:56 > 0:08:02These early people brought their artistic...developments with them,
0:08:02 > 0:08:07and artistic sense, and sense of stylisation.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10So here, in a sense, we really have the origins of
0:08:10 > 0:08:14Ancient Egyptian art, in this quite windy, but sacred spot.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17Windy, sacred, but I do believe, I think you're correct.
0:08:25 > 0:08:29Before we embark on the story of Egyptian art,
0:08:29 > 0:08:32I'm going to map out the journey ahead of us in the sand.
0:08:34 > 0:08:37I'll begin...
0:08:37 > 0:08:40with prehistory - 7000BC.
0:08:40 > 0:08:42The era of the petroglyphs.
0:08:42 > 0:08:44Now I'm going to walk the history out
0:08:44 > 0:08:46so that every step will be 100 years.
0:08:48 > 0:08:505000BC.
0:08:53 > 0:08:59Then finally, 4000BC. This is known as the Naqada Period...
0:08:59 > 0:09:03'When painted pottery sowed the seeds for an artistic style.'
0:09:04 > 0:09:09Around about 1,000 years later, we have the beginnings of
0:09:09 > 0:09:13Ancient Egypt proper, as we know it. The First Dynasty comes to power.
0:09:13 > 0:09:17And 500 years after that, 2500 BC around about,
0:09:17 > 0:09:19we arrive at...
0:09:19 > 0:09:21the Old Kingdom.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24'The age of the great pharaohs who built the pyramids at Giza.'
0:09:27 > 0:09:31500 years that kingdom lasts, give or take,
0:09:31 > 0:09:34and then the emergence of the Middle Kingdom.
0:09:35 > 0:09:39'A period of tough-as-nails leaders and no-nonsense art.'
0:09:40 > 0:09:42Lasts for another 500 years or so.
0:09:44 > 0:09:48And then the New Kingdom emerges, around about 1500 BC.
0:09:48 > 0:09:50'The great golden age of Egyptian culture.'
0:09:54 > 0:09:56That lasts for another few hundred years...
0:09:58 > 0:10:02..until the final millennium, the so-called Late Period.
0:10:03 > 0:10:06'Egypt declines, but its art flourishes'
0:10:09 > 0:10:14And then in 332 BC, Alexander the Great invades.
0:10:15 > 0:10:22Known as the Ptolemaic Dynasties, they continue for about 300 years...
0:10:22 > 0:10:28until 30 BC, when Egypt is invaded by Rome.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33And that's the end of the Ancient Egyptian world.
0:10:35 > 0:10:37So when you look back down you get a sense
0:10:37 > 0:10:40- first of all of the great scope of what we are talking about -
0:10:40 > 0:10:44but secondly, that Ancient Egypt dominates for thousands of years.
0:10:51 > 0:10:54Ssh. Ssh.
0:10:54 > 0:10:58The first great turning point in this sprawling history came when
0:10:58 > 0:11:01the early Egyptians were confronted with a natural disaster.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06Around about 6000BC, back in the Neolithic Period,
0:11:06 > 0:11:09the Western Desert was a completely different place.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12- It was much more lush and verdant. - HE CLICKS HIS TONGUE
0:11:12 > 0:11:14It was more like an African savanna,
0:11:14 > 0:11:18sprinkled with a few donkeys, lots of rhinoceroses,
0:11:18 > 0:11:20buffaloes, gazelles, giraffes.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23And there were reliable summer rains that fed lakes
0:11:23 > 0:11:25that were more than seven metres deep.
0:11:25 > 0:11:28Over time, though, all of the rains disappeared and the climate
0:11:28 > 0:11:31changed catastrophically. The wet grasslands dried up.
0:11:31 > 0:11:33Eventually, the people who lived here
0:11:33 > 0:11:36- the semi-nomadic cattle herders - were forced by these
0:11:36 > 0:11:40tough and arid conditions to leave altogether and head off
0:11:40 > 0:11:42in search of much more fertile plains
0:11:42 > 0:11:44and a sustainable source of water.
0:11:47 > 0:11:50They found it hundreds of miles to the east.
0:11:57 > 0:11:58The River Nile.
0:12:13 > 0:12:15"Egypt is the gift of the Nile."
0:12:15 > 0:12:18That's what the Greek writer Herodotus said, and it was
0:12:18 > 0:12:22a really elegant way of expressing a simple but essential truth,
0:12:22 > 0:12:25which is that the civilisation of Ancient Egypt simply would never
0:12:25 > 0:12:28have flourished - or even existed - if it wasn't for this
0:12:28 > 0:12:31vast, broad body of water,
0:12:31 > 0:12:33which the Egyptians called Iteru, or "The River".
0:12:35 > 0:12:37But the Nile also had a special, quite magical,
0:12:37 > 0:12:40almost miraculous quality.
0:12:40 > 0:12:42Every year, in late summer,
0:12:42 > 0:12:47flood waters roared down from the First Cataract, here,
0:12:47 > 0:12:50and inundated the valley on either side, covering the land
0:12:50 > 0:12:56with this thick black silt, very fertile, which aided agriculture.
0:12:56 > 0:13:00So for the Ancient Egyptians, the Nile meant fertility,
0:13:00 > 0:13:03it meant prosperity, but also symbolically,
0:13:03 > 0:13:05it meant rebirth and it meant life.
0:13:06 > 0:13:10And the Nile came to dominate and really shape the way that they
0:13:10 > 0:13:12thought about and also saw the world around them.
0:13:15 > 0:13:18So fittingly, my second treasure is a celebration of the Nile.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33The Naqada Pots were discovered in graves near the river bank...
0:13:34 > 0:13:38..filled with food and drink to sustain the dead in the afterlife.
0:13:38 > 0:13:42They were decorated with images that would come to dominate Egyptian art.
0:13:46 > 0:13:48I've come to see a collection excavated by
0:13:48 > 0:13:53"The Father of Pots" - Egyptologist Sir Flinders Petrie.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59It's quite startling to think that these pots, some of them,
0:13:59 > 0:14:02are 6,000 years old.
0:14:02 > 0:14:05The majority of it is red, representing the barren soil
0:14:05 > 0:14:08of the desert, but the black stands in for the Nile,
0:14:08 > 0:14:13for the irrigated fertile earth after the flood waters have receded.
0:14:13 > 0:14:17And then as time goes by, you see - from an aesthetic point of view -
0:14:17 > 0:14:20artistic development, as people come in,
0:14:20 > 0:14:22change the forms of the pots,
0:14:22 > 0:14:25add these handles and include these designs.
0:14:25 > 0:14:29Some of them, like these spirals, geometric designs,
0:14:29 > 0:14:33but occasionally you found pots like these, decorated with animals.
0:14:33 > 0:14:35You can see flamingos, you can see gazelles,
0:14:35 > 0:14:38and these triangular shapes a bit like pyramids,
0:14:38 > 0:14:40like those natural forms that I found in the desert.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43But above all, the biggest motif you found
0:14:43 > 0:14:46on these Naqada Pots was the boat.
0:14:47 > 0:14:51The boat had symbolic importance because it helped take
0:14:51 > 0:14:54the deceased from this life into the realm of the afterlife.
0:14:55 > 0:14:59So what you find in these late Naqada Pots are the beginnings,
0:14:59 > 0:15:00if you like, of Egyptian art proper.
0:15:00 > 0:15:05You find a delight in the natural world, a recognition of the
0:15:05 > 0:15:09primal, central importance of the river for this culture,
0:15:09 > 0:15:13and also a complex system of religious belief
0:15:13 > 0:15:15in which the afterlife would predominate.
0:15:27 > 0:15:29The pots were handcrafted with clay
0:15:29 > 0:15:31harvested from the banks of the Nile.
0:15:34 > 0:15:38And the pigments used to paint them were collected from the landscape.
0:15:40 > 0:15:43John O'Carroll knows where to find these pigments.
0:15:43 > 0:15:47Some almost greys as well, which are quite lovely.
0:15:47 > 0:15:51- It's really vivid when you break it up...- It's quite vivid, yeah, it's quite beautiful.
0:15:51 > 0:15:56Ochres were the earliest pigment that mankind used,
0:15:56 > 0:15:59so it's in a way a sacred material.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03So is it just yellow we're looking for?
0:16:03 > 0:16:06Well, there are wonderful, sort of, red oxides.
0:16:06 > 0:16:09- We're spoilt for choice. - It's glorious, yeah.
0:16:09 > 0:16:12This is a lovely red.
0:16:14 > 0:16:16Oh, there we go. Look at that!
0:16:16 > 0:16:19Also known in Northern European culture as
0:16:19 > 0:16:21"The Sacred Blood of the Goddess".
0:16:27 > 0:16:29John prepares the pigment.
0:16:31 > 0:16:33Then you add gum arabic and you have
0:16:33 > 0:16:37a wonderful red, almost oxblood pigment,
0:16:37 > 0:16:40which you will use to paint the pot.
0:16:50 > 0:16:54We've got a typical Naqada scene here, it's a boat, a sickle boat.
0:16:58 > 0:17:00It's all beautifully decorative.
0:17:04 > 0:17:06And in all of the Naqada ware,
0:17:06 > 0:17:12this lovely, joyous fluidity of line and repetition
0:17:12 > 0:17:15occurs again and again, giving the pots life.
0:17:21 > 0:17:23We know that scale is important in Egyptian art
0:17:23 > 0:17:26- the bigger the person, the bigger deal they are,
0:17:26 > 0:17:30so clearly the woman has more status. Perhaps a goddess then.
0:17:32 > 0:17:34Often there's a man depicted next to her.
0:17:36 > 0:17:39The man is always shown in a smaller size.
0:17:39 > 0:17:41Sometimes he does have an erect penis, which I will put in here.
0:17:44 > 0:17:46There we are, just do a little one there.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50- Do you think I might have a go? - I think you should.
0:17:57 > 0:18:00- What about these creatures above? - Flamingos.- Ah.
0:18:02 > 0:18:04- That's not bad. - Very flamingo-like, yes.
0:18:06 > 0:18:10Where do you feel that the pots stand in that history?
0:18:10 > 0:18:11How important are they?
0:18:11 > 0:18:15I think they're very good, they're joyous, bringing together nature
0:18:15 > 0:18:20and man in a fluid, harmonious way before it becomes formalised.
0:18:21 > 0:18:25And very important and pivotal to the art of Ancient Egypt,
0:18:25 > 0:18:27and indeed the world.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44'My first foray into the world of Egyptian art has taught me how,
0:18:44 > 0:18:47'from the earliest times, artists developed
0:18:47 > 0:18:49'a simple but powerful visual style.'
0:18:53 > 0:18:57It's so clear to me now that the Ancient Egyptians before the
0:18:57 > 0:19:01Dynastic Era were in tune with the natural world,
0:19:01 > 0:19:05and their imagination was dominated by these opposites,
0:19:05 > 0:19:07if you like, between life and death,
0:19:07 > 0:19:11our world and the next, the world of mortals, the world of gods.
0:19:12 > 0:19:15In fact, when you look at this stuff, you see all these motifs
0:19:15 > 0:19:21and themes which I'm sure form the matrix for later Egyptian art.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25And in a sense, it set the scene for my next treasure,
0:19:25 > 0:19:29because we're on the way to the first nation state
0:19:29 > 0:19:35in the world - a unified Egypt, the famous Dynastic Era of the pharaohs.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47Thanks to the abundant gifts of the Nile,
0:19:47 > 0:19:51by 3000 BC clusters of villages had grown into thriving kingdoms.
0:19:54 > 0:19:58The annual flood brought trade and prosperity,
0:19:58 > 0:20:00and half-a-million people lived alongside the river.
0:20:03 > 0:20:06My third treasure was discovered in the Nile Valley,
0:20:06 > 0:20:11close to an ancient fort in Nekhen - "The City of the Falcon".
0:20:23 > 0:20:26Now, I think you'll find this quite surprising, but this
0:20:26 > 0:20:31rather uninspiring plot of scrubland yielded one of the most important
0:20:31 > 0:20:35artistic and historical discoveries ever in 1897,
0:20:35 > 0:20:39when a couple of British archaeologists - Messrs Quibbel and Green -
0:20:39 > 0:20:41were scrabbling around in the dirt here
0:20:41 > 0:20:43excavating the ruins of the local temple.
0:20:43 > 0:20:46Now, to the untrained eye it doesn't look like anything much,
0:20:46 > 0:20:51I mean, today there's an old bottle, there's a flip-flop...
0:20:51 > 0:20:53And back at the end of the 19th century, Quibbel and Green
0:20:53 > 0:20:57weren't having much luck either. They found a mud brick wall,
0:20:57 > 0:21:00an earth mound faced with stone...
0:21:00 > 0:21:03nothing, UNTIL they started digging over here...
0:21:04 > 0:21:08..and dug deep into a thick layer of clay.
0:21:08 > 0:21:11And as they dug, they started to discover
0:21:11 > 0:21:14what appeared to be treasures,
0:21:14 > 0:21:16things that looked like ritual objects,
0:21:16 > 0:21:19and one in particular caught their eye,
0:21:19 > 0:21:22and that piece - discovered in this very spot -
0:21:22 > 0:21:25proved to be nothing less than the foundation stone
0:21:25 > 0:21:28of Ancient Egyptian civilisation.
0:21:35 > 0:21:36CAR HORNS HONK
0:21:36 > 0:21:39To see it, I head north to the capital, Cairo.
0:21:41 > 0:21:44My treasure now resides in the Egyptian Museum.
0:21:46 > 0:21:51It's a potent memorial to the father of Egypt, King Narmer.
0:22:03 > 0:22:06People often talk about artists ripping up the rule book.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09Well, this is the rule book of Ancient Egyptian art.
0:22:09 > 0:22:14It's called the Narmer Palette, and it dates from around 3000BC.
0:22:14 > 0:22:15A palette was used for grinding paint,
0:22:15 > 0:22:19but this is a ceremonial, ritual version, and it commemorates
0:22:19 > 0:22:24probably a series of victories after which the state of Egypt
0:22:24 > 0:22:27- Upper and Lower Egypt - was unified into one.
0:22:27 > 0:22:30And it shows a king smiting his foe.
0:22:31 > 0:22:34But the reason I find this so interesting, the reason that
0:22:34 > 0:22:38Egyptologists get very excited about this, is because it contains
0:22:38 > 0:22:42in one piece a number of different elements and styles and approaches
0:22:42 > 0:22:45to representing the world that were essential to Egyptian art,
0:22:45 > 0:22:47and would be used time and time again
0:22:47 > 0:22:50for 3,000 years until the days of the Romans.
0:22:50 > 0:22:54The space has been organised into these different bands, or registers.
0:22:54 > 0:22:58There's the presentation of the human figure, which is typically,
0:22:58 > 0:23:00as we think of it, Ancient Egyptian.
0:23:00 > 0:23:04It's a composite view - you see a torso front-on,
0:23:04 > 0:23:07you see the legs to one side, the profile of the face
0:23:07 > 0:23:11and yet a single eye facing you frontal as well.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14There's the use of scale to indicate importance,
0:23:14 > 0:23:16so the king is far and away the biggest person on the palette,
0:23:16 > 0:23:19which means that he's the boss.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22And there's an interest in the natural world that you would
0:23:22 > 0:23:24see again and again in Egyptian art.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27There's the god, a falcon, Horus.
0:23:27 > 0:23:31Up above you've got a protective cow goddess called Bat,
0:23:31 > 0:23:34and on the other side you see the king again
0:23:34 > 0:23:37in the form of a bull attacking a fortified town.
0:23:38 > 0:23:42All of these things became essential components of Egyptian art.
0:23:42 > 0:23:47The system that was created here would last for thousands of years.
0:23:47 > 0:23:51It's like a tablet incised with the commandments of Egyptian art.
0:23:58 > 0:24:01In the centuries after King Narmer laid down the rules
0:24:01 > 0:24:04of Egyptian art, the country he unified
0:24:04 > 0:24:07went from strength to strength,
0:24:07 > 0:24:10and the Ancient Egypt we know today began to take shape.
0:24:14 > 0:24:19Perhaps no visual form says Ancient Egypt quite as memorably
0:24:19 > 0:24:22and immediately as the pyramid, and here at Saqqara
0:24:22 > 0:24:26there's a whole cluster of pyramids that still dominate the skyline
0:24:26 > 0:24:29and communicate the thrilling power of the kings that built them.
0:24:29 > 0:24:32But the earliest pyramid of all was this one here,
0:24:32 > 0:24:36the Step Pyramid at Saqqara, which was built to mark the tomb
0:24:36 > 0:24:40and funerary enclosure of Djoser, the first king of the Third Dynasty.
0:24:40 > 0:24:43And in doing so he ushered in the Pyramid Age,
0:24:43 > 0:24:44when three royal brothers
0:24:44 > 0:24:47produced my next three very distinctive treasures.
0:24:57 > 0:25:01These three treasures herald the coming of age of Egyptian art.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04The first was discovered to the south of Saqqara,
0:25:04 > 0:25:05at the ancient site of Meidum.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13The father of the three brothers is thought to be Sneferu,
0:25:13 > 0:25:15the first pharaoh of the Old Kingdom.
0:25:20 > 0:25:24Sneferu completed this imposing pyramid, but my next treasure
0:25:24 > 0:25:29was found in his son's more modest mud mastaba tomb nearby.
0:25:31 > 0:25:35In 1871, the great French archaeologist Auguste Mariette
0:25:35 > 0:25:39was excavating here, and when his team of Egyptian workers
0:25:39 > 0:25:41opened up this tomb beneath me
0:25:41 > 0:25:43and shone their lanterns into the darkness,
0:25:43 > 0:25:46they suddenly saw four eyes staring back at them,
0:25:46 > 0:25:48and they fled in terror because
0:25:48 > 0:25:51they had just come face-to-face with their Ancient Egyptian ancestors,
0:25:51 > 0:25:53who appeared to be alive more than 4,000 years
0:25:53 > 0:25:55after they were buried here.
0:26:00 > 0:26:04The extraordinary work of art they finally dared to dig out
0:26:04 > 0:26:06is now in the Egyptian Museum.
0:26:25 > 0:26:27Well, here he is, the king's son, Prince Rahotep,
0:26:27 > 0:26:31with his Freddie Mercury tache, alongside his beloved wife Nofret,
0:26:31 > 0:26:33whose name means "The Beautiful One".
0:26:33 > 0:26:37And I think both sculptures embody a number of attributes
0:26:37 > 0:26:40of Old Kingdom art. This is art that feels simple,
0:26:40 > 0:26:45it's self-possessed, and it's stable, it's fit for eternity.
0:26:45 > 0:26:46And I've seen both of these sculptures
0:26:46 > 0:26:48many times in reproduction,
0:26:48 > 0:26:51but I've never quite understood their power until seeing them
0:26:51 > 0:26:56for real, because the reproductions don't show you properly the eyes.
0:26:59 > 0:27:04Because the eyes are spectacular, they're made of rock crystal.
0:27:06 > 0:27:09And when you see them from the side, there's a translucence to them,
0:27:09 > 0:27:12they have a jelly-like quality, and a shimmering, sparkling feel.
0:27:15 > 0:27:18'The skill in recreating the lenses of the eye
0:27:18 > 0:27:20'so authentically is breathtaking.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24'It's said the eyes are windows to the soul,
0:27:24 > 0:27:27'and these ones certainly animate these statues.'
0:27:32 > 0:27:36And I quite like the way you have little flickers of individuation.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38So if you have a look at the brow of Rahotep,
0:27:38 > 0:27:41you can just make out the furrows.
0:27:41 > 0:27:44It looks like he's ever so slightly anxious,
0:27:44 > 0:27:47and I know this is just projecting onto them, but I like to think that
0:27:47 > 0:27:50he's not really the most important person in this relationship,
0:27:50 > 0:27:54he's a little bit anxious because his wife, she seems like the boss.
0:27:54 > 0:27:56She's the one who wears the trousers.
0:27:56 > 0:27:59I reckon Nofret was quite high-maintenance.
0:28:07 > 0:28:10'It's almost as if the souls of Rahotep and Nofret will live
0:28:10 > 0:28:14'for ever in their statues, just as the Egyptians intended.'
0:28:23 > 0:28:26Art from the Old Kingdom inspired one of Egypt's
0:28:26 > 0:28:27most celebrated artists,
0:28:27 > 0:28:30Adam Haneen, to become a sculptor.
0:28:32 > 0:28:35What do you think makes the art that was
0:28:35 > 0:28:37produced in the Old Kingdom so special?
0:28:38 > 0:28:42The Old Kingdom is very, very important
0:28:42 > 0:28:48and I feel it's the most important period, because it's the period
0:28:48 > 0:28:52when they discovered the Egyptian style.
0:28:53 > 0:28:59People prefer usually artists' first work, first years,
0:28:59 > 0:29:02because this is the years of discovery.
0:29:02 > 0:29:06After this, he gets the technique, he gets the style, and there is
0:29:06 > 0:29:10a kind of repetition, exactly as what happened in the Egyptian art.
0:29:11 > 0:29:14How much of an influence has Ancient Egyptian art
0:29:14 > 0:29:15been on your own work?
0:29:15 > 0:29:19Discovering. Discovering is something very important
0:29:19 > 0:29:20and very strong.
0:29:21 > 0:29:28The changing of form from natural form to stylised,
0:29:28 > 0:29:31and when you see this, is something very great,
0:29:31 > 0:29:34something alive, something active,
0:29:34 > 0:29:38so it is very impressive, more than other periods for me.
0:29:46 > 0:29:48BIRDSONG
0:29:51 > 0:29:54My fifth treasure is a painting, and it too was born of the
0:29:54 > 0:29:58Ancient Egyptians' quest for immortality via art.
0:30:02 > 0:30:05The artists set out to create a vision of an
0:30:05 > 0:30:09agricultural paradise, offering peace and plenty in the afterlife.
0:30:12 > 0:30:14My treasure was discovered at Meidum,
0:30:14 > 0:30:18in the tomb of the wife of Rahotep's brother, Nefermaat.
0:30:32 > 0:30:34It's startling to think that this was painted
0:30:34 > 0:30:384,500 years ago, because it's such a delightful scene
0:30:38 > 0:30:41that really appeals to a modern sensibility.
0:30:41 > 0:30:43In some ways it doesn't feel that Ancient Egyptian,
0:30:43 > 0:30:45because you sense that the artist who
0:30:45 > 0:30:50did it had a degree of freedom, they were licensed to really use their
0:30:50 > 0:30:55eyes and observe the natural world, and they have relished doing that.
0:30:55 > 0:30:58You have a sense of harmony and balance.
0:30:58 > 0:31:02Three are facing that way, then another three are facing the opposite way.
0:31:02 > 0:31:05But repetition's never absolute. For instance, here,
0:31:05 > 0:31:08the tail feathers are on different levels
0:31:08 > 0:31:10to ensure that there isn't monotony.
0:31:10 > 0:31:14The plumage has been picked out with such care and detail.
0:31:14 > 0:31:17There are all sorts of different types of marks
0:31:17 > 0:31:21- sometimes speckles, sometimes diagonal lines,
0:31:21 > 0:31:23curving lines for different types of feather.
0:31:23 > 0:31:27And the whole way through you sense that the artist is
0:31:27 > 0:31:28looking, looking, looking,
0:31:28 > 0:31:31and that's the secret of its success as a painting.
0:31:32 > 0:31:36And it's tempting to just think of this almost as a modern work,
0:31:36 > 0:31:39a genre piece, a scene from nature, but of course,
0:31:39 > 0:31:41for the ancient Egyptians,
0:31:41 > 0:31:45this was part of something much bigger, which actually
0:31:45 > 0:31:46- when you realise the context -
0:31:46 > 0:31:49transforms the meaning of what you are looking at.
0:31:55 > 0:31:58The geese were one part of a much larger painting
0:31:58 > 0:32:01which survives only in fragments.
0:32:01 > 0:32:04Artist Leo Stevenson is piecing them together
0:32:04 > 0:32:06to recreate this missing masterpiece.
0:32:06 > 0:32:09So what I've done is, I've got a lot of photographs of the bits
0:32:09 > 0:32:13that survive, and these are outlined in black on my drawing here.
0:32:13 > 0:32:15And they're scattered in museums around the world?
0:32:15 > 0:32:17Yeah, scattered to the four winds.
0:32:17 > 0:32:19There's bits of them all over the place.
0:32:19 > 0:32:22So here's a reproduction of the geese.
0:32:22 > 0:32:25They go right along the bottom of the picture,
0:32:25 > 0:32:29everything else above has been lost essentially.
0:32:29 > 0:32:32The bits in between done in red are my interpolation
0:32:32 > 0:32:36of what I think is missing. I mean, this piece is this.
0:32:36 > 0:32:39Oh, yes, so there's the arm, and you can see the flesh colour,
0:32:39 > 0:32:40the dark, sort of, tanned skin.
0:32:40 > 0:32:41Tantalising little fragments,
0:32:41 > 0:32:44and here we see one of the captured geese.
0:32:44 > 0:32:47So this is a great fragment, this.
0:32:47 > 0:32:49It's got a lot of clues as to what is going on.
0:32:49 > 0:32:51But of course, you can actually use this fragment as
0:32:51 > 0:32:54quite a clever way of reconstructing what this would've looked like,
0:32:54 > 0:32:58because Egyptian art often employs symmetry in that fashion, doesn't it?
0:32:58 > 0:33:01That's right, that's what I'm going to try and do in this painting.
0:33:01 > 0:33:03Great, OK.
0:33:03 > 0:33:07I can see that you've made a start at sort of doing the outlines.
0:33:07 > 0:33:10Yes, what they would have done here is outlined the
0:33:10 > 0:33:13- basic design in a very thin red paint.- So you're ready to
0:33:13 > 0:33:17- carry on with the outlining, are you, with that?- Yeah.
0:33:17 > 0:33:18I'll just continue this.
0:33:21 > 0:33:24What's it like to work with this?
0:33:24 > 0:33:28It's actually really nice. It's so simple, so direct.
0:33:36 > 0:33:41'Leo's recreation makes us reconsider old prejudices about the
0:33:41 > 0:33:43'supposedly primitive, two-dimensional style
0:33:43 > 0:33:45'of the Egyptians.'
0:33:48 > 0:33:52Do you feel that Egyptian art is as good as art from later periods?
0:33:54 > 0:33:56- Uh, yeah. - Do you really believe that?
0:33:56 > 0:33:58The quality is not to do with technique,
0:33:58 > 0:34:00quality is to do with intention.
0:34:00 > 0:34:04- The best...- I don't believe you think that.- I do!
0:34:04 > 0:34:06The best Egyptian art is very powerful,
0:34:06 > 0:34:09and it has a certainty to it - this is the way things had to be,
0:34:09 > 0:34:12this is the way things will always be.
0:34:12 > 0:34:15- Do you think that we slightly write it off?- Yes, we do.
0:34:15 > 0:34:18It becomes invisible because it's alien-looking,
0:34:18 > 0:34:23it's so repetitive, it's so stylised people have stopped looking at it.
0:34:23 > 0:34:26So it's easy, I think, for modern people to be slightly dismissive
0:34:26 > 0:34:30of this because it might seem repetitive, slightly stifling,
0:34:30 > 0:34:33not particularly free, but, in fact,
0:34:33 > 0:34:36it's something else, it's hugely strong.
0:34:36 > 0:34:39It's very powerful. It makes for some magical images.
0:34:51 > 0:34:55Now we return to the tale of our three Old Kingdom brothers,
0:34:55 > 0:34:57the sons of Sneferu.
0:34:57 > 0:35:00The third was determined not to be outdone by his siblings,
0:35:00 > 0:35:03and left an artistic legacy like none other.
0:35:07 > 0:35:10I'll give you a clue - his name was Khufu,
0:35:10 > 0:35:12and very close to here he created one of the
0:35:12 > 0:35:14most awe-inspiring works of art in history.
0:35:14 > 0:35:17It's something that's fascinated the world ever since,
0:35:17 > 0:35:20and it still throws up as many questions as it does answers.
0:35:28 > 0:35:31I'd hoped to approach this treasure riding across the desert
0:35:31 > 0:35:33like Lawrence of Arabia.
0:35:35 > 0:35:38If we're lucky, I think we're going to get quite a good glimpse
0:35:38 > 0:35:40of it down the end of this road,
0:35:40 > 0:35:42and no series about the treasures of Ancient Egypt
0:35:42 > 0:35:44would be complete without it, not least
0:35:44 > 0:35:47because it is the only surviving wonder of the Ancient World.
0:36:09 > 0:36:10CAMEL BRAYS
0:36:12 > 0:36:14'I knew a camel would come into it somewhere.'
0:36:15 > 0:36:22Whoa! Ugh! That is, erm, slightly scary.
0:36:24 > 0:36:25I'm glad I'm up.
0:36:27 > 0:36:30I am, of course, talking about the Great Pyramid,
0:36:30 > 0:36:33and I don't really want to bombard you with statistics,
0:36:33 > 0:36:36but in the case of the Pyramid, they are quite impressive.
0:36:36 > 0:36:39It was 481-feet high, it was built with
0:36:39 > 0:36:42up to 2.3 million blocks of stone,
0:36:42 > 0:36:46each one weighs an average of one tonne, and there are estimates
0:36:46 > 0:36:50that if it was built over two decades, a block of stone was
0:36:50 > 0:36:53placed down every two minutes throughout
0:36:53 > 0:36:55a ten-hour working day, every single day.
0:36:57 > 0:37:01And it was the tallest building in the world for 44 centuries,
0:37:01 > 0:37:05until the construction of the Eiffel Tower in 1889.
0:37:06 > 0:37:08BRAYING CONTINUES
0:37:15 > 0:37:19The Great Pyramid was built around the same time as Stonehenge
0:37:19 > 0:37:23- considered a prehistoric miracle back in Britain.
0:37:25 > 0:37:28But as soon as I explore the inner workings of the Pyramid,
0:37:28 > 0:37:31it becomes clear there's no contest.
0:37:35 > 0:37:38It's an eerie and also quite transformative experience
0:37:38 > 0:37:42coming into the Pyramid, because to begin with you go
0:37:42 > 0:37:44through this squeezed passage...
0:37:45 > 0:37:49..a bit like walking upwards through a giant birth canal
0:37:49 > 0:37:54or something, before being reborn in another realm altogether.
0:38:00 > 0:38:04You hit this space, which feels like a modernist cathedral.
0:38:04 > 0:38:07I could be on an escalator in some sci-fi city.
0:38:08 > 0:38:12Certainly I'm heading up towards the hereafter,
0:38:12 > 0:38:14up towards the King's Chamber.
0:38:44 > 0:38:47I find it impossible to think that minutes ago I was standing
0:38:47 > 0:38:51outside in the desert sun, and now, all of a sudden, I'm in this
0:38:51 > 0:38:56echoing space which is at the centre of the Great Pyramid,
0:38:56 > 0:39:00which is frankly quite exciting, but more than that
0:39:00 > 0:39:03this is the epicentre of the Old Kingdom.
0:39:04 > 0:39:07And we don't know all that much about Khufu,
0:39:07 > 0:39:09the man for whom this was built.
0:39:09 > 0:39:12But I think of this not just as a monument to one man.
0:39:12 > 0:39:15This is an expression of a civilisation that was
0:39:15 > 0:39:19so sophisticated, confident.
0:39:19 > 0:39:21What an emanation of power...
0:39:23 > 0:39:25..from thousands of years ago,
0:39:25 > 0:39:27and this space feels so contemporary.
0:39:43 > 0:39:46The pyramids feel as old as mountains.
0:39:46 > 0:39:48It's hard to fathom how they were ever built.
0:39:52 > 0:39:56The hackneyed answer is that Khufu was an evil tyrant who
0:39:56 > 0:40:00exploited thousands of slaves to construct his vainglorious tomb.
0:40:07 > 0:40:09But the recent discovery of the graves of the workers who
0:40:09 > 0:40:12built the pyramids debunks this myth.
0:40:16 > 0:40:19This discovery could be the most important discovery
0:40:19 > 0:40:22of the 20th century, because it's telling us
0:40:22 > 0:40:25for the first time about the builders of the pyramids.
0:40:25 > 0:40:29You know things about kings and queens, tombs of the officials,
0:40:29 > 0:40:34but you never discover anything about the workmen who built the pyramids.
0:40:34 > 0:40:37When you started digging, what did you discover here?
0:40:37 > 0:40:39It's really amazing.
0:40:39 > 0:40:42They built their tombs from what was left over
0:40:42 > 0:40:44from building the pyramids.
0:40:44 > 0:40:47Every workman will save a piece of granite or limestone
0:40:47 > 0:40:49to build his tomb.
0:40:49 > 0:40:52Underneath each tomb there is a skeleton,
0:40:52 > 0:40:55and in the hand of the skeleton you will have a
0:40:55 > 0:40:59pottery vessel for beer, because he has to drink beer in the afterlife.
0:40:59 > 0:41:03Then actually, here also you have areas for making bread.
0:41:03 > 0:41:07- So they were looked after? - They ate meat every day.
0:41:07 > 0:41:10They were not slaves then, as we might think?
0:41:10 > 0:41:14If they were slaves, they would never be buried beside the pyramids.
0:41:14 > 0:41:16This can't be a place for slaves,
0:41:16 > 0:41:23this is an organised community of people living, eating, drinking.
0:41:25 > 0:41:27'There's one question I really want to put to Zahi.'
0:41:29 > 0:41:32Is it possible to consider the pyramid not so much
0:41:32 > 0:41:35as a work of monumental architecture, but as a work of art?
0:41:35 > 0:41:37It is a work of art.
0:41:37 > 0:41:40Building the pyramid itself, the design of the interior
0:41:40 > 0:41:45of the pyramid, the statues in the tombs, the statues of the kings -
0:41:45 > 0:41:51it is a combination of arts to help the king to be a god,
0:41:51 > 0:41:54and that's really for the quest of immortality.
0:41:54 > 0:41:58Art in Ancient Egypt was not for the sake of art,
0:41:58 > 0:42:01but art in Ancient Egypt was for the sake of religion.
0:42:04 > 0:42:08Whether it's a work of art or of religious faith,
0:42:08 > 0:42:10the Great Pyramid is a pretty hard act to follow.
0:42:17 > 0:42:20But Khufu's son, Khafra, had a go.
0:42:26 > 0:42:30Khafra built this enormous causeway that connected his pyramid
0:42:30 > 0:42:34with his Valley Temple down here, and near it is this
0:42:34 > 0:42:37monumental guardian to the entire site at Giza.
0:42:37 > 0:42:38It's the Great Sphinx.
0:42:38 > 0:42:41It was probably carved with his own features,
0:42:41 > 0:42:42and the American writer Mark Twain said,
0:42:42 > 0:42:45"The Sphinx is grand in its loneliness,
0:42:45 > 0:42:47"it is imposing in its magnitude,
0:42:47 > 0:42:50"it is impressive in the mystery that hangs over its story",
0:42:50 > 0:42:52all of which is true.
0:42:52 > 0:42:55Beautifully written, a wonderful, evocative description
0:42:55 > 0:42:57of our obsession with Ancient Egypt, but I still think
0:42:57 > 0:43:01that the Great Sphinx is a little bit obvious to be my next treasure.
0:43:11 > 0:43:13In fact, my seventh treasure was found
0:43:13 > 0:43:16in Khafra's magnificent Valley Temple.
0:43:19 > 0:43:23These indentations on the alabaster floor provide a clue.
0:43:24 > 0:43:26There are 23 in all,
0:43:26 > 0:43:28and each one was designed to take a statue of the King...
0:43:32 > 0:43:36..which marked an astonishing leap forward in the art of sculpture.
0:43:50 > 0:43:54Well, this is one of those 23 seated statues of Khafra,
0:43:54 > 0:43:57and it's one of the masterpieces not only of the Old Kingdom,
0:43:57 > 0:44:00but also of Egyptian art as a whole.
0:44:00 > 0:44:04It is the quintessential expression of kingship.
0:44:04 > 0:44:08He looks like he has such innate authority and command.
0:44:09 > 0:44:12And it's sculpted out of a stone called diorite,
0:44:12 > 0:44:16a very hard, dark stone, and the sculptor has managed to
0:44:16 > 0:44:19polish it up so that you've got the grain of the stone,
0:44:19 > 0:44:24almost like mottled tiger stripes, very beautiful to look at,
0:44:24 > 0:44:29and in the case of his torso and his face, appears soft and smooth.
0:44:29 > 0:44:31With great care and deliberation
0:44:31 > 0:44:33they've created that sense of musculature.
0:44:37 > 0:44:40But my favourite detail of all is up here.
0:44:41 > 0:44:44The falcon, the god Horus.
0:44:44 > 0:44:47And he raises his wings in a protective gesture
0:44:47 > 0:44:49around the King's head.
0:44:49 > 0:44:53It's as if they're fused, one's merging into the other,
0:44:53 > 0:44:58and the message here is that the King, Khafra, is divine.
0:45:22 > 0:45:26Modern sculptor Nathan Doss is amazed that his ancestors
0:45:26 > 0:45:29were capable of carving some of the hardest stones known to man.
0:46:54 > 0:46:56The idea that Ancient Egyptian artists were
0:46:56 > 0:46:59driven by their religious beliefs explains a lot to me.
0:47:02 > 0:47:07We've seen how animals like Horus were thought to have divine powers.
0:47:07 > 0:47:10This meant that artists excelled at portraying animals
0:47:10 > 0:47:12in a range of different materials,
0:47:12 > 0:47:15including alabaster and faience pottery.
0:47:23 > 0:47:26When we think of Egyptian treasure, we tend to think of gold,
0:47:26 > 0:47:30it was the precious metal associated with the pharaohs and the gods,
0:47:30 > 0:47:34but no golden statues of the royals survive from the Old Kingdom,
0:47:34 > 0:47:38and only one deity, and this is it, it is Horus, the falcon.
0:47:38 > 0:47:41Horus being one of the oldest and most important of all the gods,
0:47:41 > 0:47:44and appropriately enough this was discovered in Nekhen,
0:47:44 > 0:47:46which means the City Of The Falcon.
0:47:59 > 0:48:04It is clearly an exquisite piece of metal work, beautifully made,
0:48:04 > 0:48:08but I particularly love the eyes, the obsidian eyes,
0:48:08 > 0:48:13which almost appear to be swivelling, scoping for prey,
0:48:13 > 0:48:18looking around, it gives the head of this bird a real alertness,
0:48:18 > 0:48:20but also has an imperious quality,
0:48:20 > 0:48:23so it's as if the artist who made it,
0:48:23 > 0:48:27who's up there with the finest gold workers of all time,
0:48:27 > 0:48:30has been closely observing nature,
0:48:30 > 0:48:34but also trying to create something numinous, godlike,
0:48:34 > 0:48:38something that you could worship, and to think that this is one really
0:48:38 > 0:48:41rare piece of gold that survived from the Old Kingdom,
0:48:41 > 0:48:45everything else was stolen, melted down, recycled,
0:48:45 > 0:48:46it's a sublime piece.
0:48:46 > 0:48:50Imagine everything else that there once was which has now been lost,
0:48:50 > 0:48:52it's enough to make you weep.
0:48:58 > 0:49:00It may seem bizarre to us
0:49:00 > 0:49:03that a bird could mean so much to the Egyptians,
0:49:03 > 0:49:07but from the earliest times animals played a starring role
0:49:07 > 0:49:08in art and religion.
0:49:11 > 0:49:14The Egyptians used animals to communicate with the gods
0:49:14 > 0:49:18because they felt that the animals were at an intermediate stage
0:49:18 > 0:49:21of evolution as it were.
0:49:21 > 0:49:24So you have humans slightly on a lower level perhaps,
0:49:24 > 0:49:28who are called Cattle Of The Gods and then you have actual animals
0:49:28 > 0:49:32who speak the secret language and know what the gods are going to do
0:49:32 > 0:49:36because the animals are very good at knowing what nature is going to do.
0:49:36 > 0:49:40So for example, when the baboon stands up in the morning
0:49:40 > 0:49:44and raises its arms and shrieks, it helps the sun to rise.
0:49:44 > 0:49:48Crocodiles know where to lay the eggs before the inundation,
0:49:48 > 0:49:50so if you want to predict the flood,
0:49:50 > 0:49:54look and see where the crocodiles are building their nests.
0:49:54 > 0:49:58Cats, dedicated to the goddess Bastet, and the cat was sort of
0:49:58 > 0:50:01self-indulgent and beautiful and Bastet is the goddess of
0:50:01 > 0:50:03self-indulgence, beauty and love.
0:50:03 > 0:50:06And if you look at these statues you can see that
0:50:06 > 0:50:09animals are carved with great diligence.
0:50:11 > 0:50:14These gorgeous pieces are well-observed,
0:50:14 > 0:50:18they are beautifully made and they are astonishingly lifelike.
0:50:25 > 0:50:28Egyptian artists were brilliant at animals,
0:50:28 > 0:50:33but when it came to humans, their work was more rigid and stylised.
0:50:33 > 0:50:36But Egyptian society was changing.
0:50:38 > 0:50:42During the Fifth Dynasty, around about 2450 BC,
0:50:42 > 0:50:46a full-time professional bureaucracy developed
0:50:46 > 0:50:48made up of hundreds of civil servants and priests.
0:50:48 > 0:50:50These men, who started out as commoners,
0:50:50 > 0:50:54were social climbers and they had a profound impact on
0:50:54 > 0:50:55the course of Egyptian art.
0:50:58 > 0:51:03One of the best examples of this was discovered at Sicara.
0:51:03 > 0:51:07For the first time we can meet one of the pharaoh's subjects -
0:51:07 > 0:51:10and it feels like coming face-to-face with a living,
0:51:10 > 0:51:12breathing person from the ancient world.
0:51:17 > 0:51:20This is a marvellous sculpture of a priest called Ka-aper,
0:51:20 > 0:51:23a rather self-important man.
0:51:23 > 0:51:25And there's a lovely story about its discovery
0:51:25 > 0:51:29because the Egyptian workmen who uncovered it felt that he was a
0:51:29 > 0:51:32dead-ringer for their local boss, their mayor,
0:51:32 > 0:51:36and as a result this sculpture has had a nickname ever since of
0:51:36 > 0:51:39Sheik Al Beled, meaning village headman.
0:51:39 > 0:51:42It's been sculpted from sycamore,
0:51:42 > 0:51:46the whole thing was covered in a thin layer of plaster and painted.
0:51:46 > 0:51:49What I find startling about this statue is that it's
0:51:49 > 0:51:52so full of vigour and animation, there's a real gesture here
0:51:52 > 0:51:57towards a realistic style in the promise of his man-boobs,
0:51:57 > 0:52:01in that great paunch, even in the podgy lower legs and ankles.
0:52:01 > 0:52:04He's quite pleased with himself.
0:52:04 > 0:52:07Here is a man who feels like he is striding towards us
0:52:07 > 0:52:09across 4,500 years of history,
0:52:09 > 0:52:13perhaps not in the prime of life, but in the pride of middle age.
0:52:23 > 0:52:25It wasn't just bureaucrats and priests
0:52:25 > 0:52:28who were scaling the social ladder.
0:52:28 > 0:52:33Men like Ka-aper had serious competition from hairdressers.
0:52:39 > 0:52:40The right hairdo was vital
0:52:40 > 0:52:46because it was a social signifier about status, age and gender.
0:52:46 > 0:52:48And of course, being Egypt...
0:52:48 > 0:52:50Oh, yeah, sorry, I've got to keep my head in one place.
0:52:50 > 0:52:55But being Egypt, there was a hierarchy of hairstyles,
0:52:55 > 0:52:57and good hairdressers were like artists,
0:52:57 > 0:53:03their skills were much sought after, a bit like couture designers today.
0:53:03 > 0:53:08Elite men, they kept their hair very short, or shaven,
0:53:08 > 0:53:11and relied on a decent wig to make the right impression.
0:53:11 > 0:53:14Pharaohs had shoulder length wigs
0:53:14 > 0:53:17which were arranged in curls and braids.
0:53:17 > 0:53:19The sons of the elite,
0:53:19 > 0:53:23they had round wigs or just opted for the shaven look.
0:53:23 > 0:53:27Servants and musicians were completely shaved as well.
0:53:27 > 0:53:29This obsession with hair in ancient Egypt meant that
0:53:29 > 0:53:31the hairdresser was quite a star.
0:53:39 > 0:53:43Suitably coiffured, I'm heading for my tenth and final treasure.
0:53:43 > 0:53:46It's one of the most beautiful tombs in all of Egypt.
0:53:49 > 0:53:51And, you may have guessed,
0:53:51 > 0:53:54it belonged to a very important hairdresser called Ty.
0:54:10 > 0:54:13We've witnessed the conventions of art being laid down,
0:54:13 > 0:54:16now we can see them being brought together in one place.
0:54:18 > 0:54:20The main event is through here.
0:54:28 > 0:54:30This is an offering hall.
0:54:33 > 0:54:36There's a sense here of a whole world,
0:54:36 > 0:54:38it's a real glimpse into the Old Kingdom.
0:54:41 > 0:54:44And it's really wonderful because Egyptians loved order,
0:54:44 > 0:54:48they loved repetition, but it was never absolute.
0:54:48 > 0:54:51So here's a little example, here are some agricultural workers,
0:54:51 > 0:54:53they're driving some donkeys,
0:54:53 > 0:54:58and the donkeys' heads seem to be exactly the same, again and again
0:54:58 > 0:55:02and again, but there's a little donkey head leaning down,
0:55:02 > 0:55:05just to break up what would otherwise potentially be
0:55:05 > 0:55:07a tedious line.
0:55:07 > 0:55:10There's a lot of vigour and energy and hubbub.
0:55:10 > 0:55:13There are all sorts of activity, people building boats,
0:55:13 > 0:55:17there are agricultural workers, there are sculptors,
0:55:17 > 0:55:21there are metalworkers, there's a melee of activity on behalf of Ty.
0:55:23 > 0:55:27And on the southern wall here you have these slits
0:55:27 > 0:55:31and if you look through... you meet Ty himself, the statue.
0:55:34 > 0:55:38And I think my favourite bit is over here.
0:55:49 > 0:55:53This wall is dominated by one brilliant scene
0:55:53 > 0:55:57in which Ty is on a boat with a number of attendants
0:55:57 > 0:56:01and they're out for a day's hunting, but they're not hunting fish,
0:56:01 > 0:56:04even though you can see loads of fish in the waters beneath,
0:56:04 > 0:56:06they are hunting hippos,
0:56:06 > 0:56:10and one poor hippo over here has been harpooned.
0:56:10 > 0:56:16Hunting hippos is quite a dangerous thing to do, so our hairdresser Ty
0:56:16 > 0:56:20is standing well back just overseeing things, it's a good view.
0:56:20 > 0:56:25I love that sense of almost abstract pattern,
0:56:25 > 0:56:29because you have these strong verticals of the background,
0:56:29 > 0:56:33you have these dramatic zigzags which represent the water beneath,
0:56:33 > 0:56:37and then within that, you have all sorts of variation.
0:56:37 > 0:56:39Here, there's a fish which is actually being pulled out of
0:56:39 > 0:56:43the water crossing one register into the next.
0:56:43 > 0:56:47There's room for a slight insouciance,
0:56:47 > 0:56:52there's room for variety, and it's very pleasing to the eye.
0:56:52 > 0:56:56And in here you can see the hippos almost floating,
0:56:56 > 0:56:59tumbling around in the water, there's a sense of motion,
0:56:59 > 0:57:02there's actually a real sense of energy,
0:57:02 > 0:57:06it's a totally delightful scene, this, completely absorbing.
0:57:22 > 0:57:25I've reached the end of the first leg of my journey through
0:57:25 > 0:57:29Egyptian art and for me it's been a revelation.
0:57:31 > 0:57:34I've been travelling around Egypt for several weeks now
0:57:34 > 0:57:39and over that time I've really had to confront a prejudice
0:57:39 > 0:57:43that I didn't know I even had about ancient Egyptian art,
0:57:43 > 0:57:49I assumed that it was a little bit monotonous and samey and unchanging,
0:57:49 > 0:57:53but what I've discovered is something very different.
0:57:53 > 0:57:57There is a lot of this kind of stuff, real life,
0:57:57 > 0:57:59you find daily scenes in the tombs,
0:57:59 > 0:58:03you find observation of the natural world, which is utterly charming.
0:58:04 > 0:58:08So I have found a great deal more experimentation,
0:58:08 > 0:58:13a great deal more innovation than I thought was there.
0:58:13 > 0:58:16So this idea that Egyptian art didn't change
0:58:16 > 0:58:18over thousands of years is just not true,
0:58:18 > 0:58:21it really couldn't be further from the truth.
0:58:30 > 0:58:33Next time, the Golden Age.
0:58:33 > 0:58:37Art reaches new heights of splendour and ambition
0:58:37 > 0:58:40as one man ushers in one of the most dramatic revolutions in
0:58:40 > 0:58:43the history of art.