Treasures of Ancient Egypt

2014
Treasures of Ancient Egypt

Seasons & Episodes

  • 1

EP1 The Birth of Art Jan 09, 2014

In a visual treat taking in Egypt's greatest historical sites, Alastair Sooke tells the story of Ancient Egyptian art through 30 extraordinary masterpieces. Tracing the origins of Egypt's unique visual style, he treks across the Sahara and travels the Nile to find the rarely-seen art of its earliest peoples. Exploring how this civilisation's art reflected its religion, he looks anew at the Great Pyramid, and the statuary and painting of the Old Kingdom. Sooke is amazed by the technical prowess of ancient artists whose skills confound contemporary craftsmen.

EP2 The Golden Age Jan 16, 2014

On a journey through Ancient Egyptian art, Alastair Sooke picks treasures from its most opulent and glittering moment. Starting with troubling psychological portraits of tyrant king Senwosret III and ending with the golden mask of boy king Tutankhamun, Sooke also explores architectural wonders, exquisite tombs and a lost city - site of the greatest artistic revolution in Egypt's history where a new sinuous style was born under King Akhenaten and Queen Nefertiti. Along the way Egyptologists and artists reveal that the golden veneer conceals a touching humanity.

EP3 A New Dawn Jan 23, 2014

Alastair Sooke concludes the epic story of Egyptian art by looking at how, despite political decline, the final era of the Egyptian Empire saw its art enjoy revival and rebirth. From the colossal statues of Rameses II that proclaimed the pharaoh's power to the final flourishes under Queen Cleopatra, Sooke discovers that the subsequent invasions by foreign rulers from the Nubians to Alexander the Great and the Romans produced a new hybrid art full of surprise. He also unearths a seam of astonishing satirical work, produced by ordinary men, that continues to inspire Egypt's graffiti artists today.
7.4| 0h30m| TV-PG| en| More Info
Released: 09 January 2014 Ended
Producted By: BBC Arts
Country: United Kingdom
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01mtw8m
Synopsis

Alastair Sooke tells the story of Ancient Egyptian art through 30 extraordinary masterpieces.

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Reviews

Alessandro Vincinni The idea of these series - to show development of art in ancient Egypt is quite good but the implementation by Alastair Sooke was too shallow. We see Alastair traveling around to very beautiful places both in Egypt all along the Nile, the desert and in museums of Cairo, London and Berlin. This part is quite good, and scenery is picked well. However the commentary is too basic and the opinions expressed are sort of flat and simplistic. So the series benefit from Alastair's energy for climbing and entering dark tunnels but it would have been better to add expert in Egyptian history and art who would have provided more interesting and more thought provoking commentary. There are plenty of historical BBC series which have done it in the past without being boring or too academic (ex. those by Michael Wood or John Romer).The second film from the series was probably the most watchable one, the golden age of Egypt is hard to spoil.