In 2013, a group of French and Egyptian archaeologists discovered of cache of papyri as old as the Great Pyramid of Giza. Some of the texts were written by people who had worked on the pyramids: a tally of their daily labour ferrying stones, for instance, between quarry and building site, and the payment they received in fabrics and beer. Robert Cioffi revie ... Show More
Today
What Next in Iran?
On 9 March, Donald Trump described the war against Iran as ‘very complete, pretty much’. Later that day, his secretary of war, Pete Hegseth, told ABC that the ongoing strikes were ‘just the beginning’. In this episode, Adam Shatz is joined by Robert Malley and Esfandyar Batmanghe ... Show More
58m 33s
Mar 4
Caravaggio’s Bodies
In the 1590s, Caravaggio was one of ‘the swaggering, violent young men who terrorised Romans’, Erin Maglaque wrote recently in the LRB, and he ‘made his name by painting this violent, chaotic world’. On this episode, Erin joins Thomas Jones to discuss the ways that Caravaggio rep ... Show More
43m 56s
Feb 25
On Politics: The Rearmament Consensus
‘We must build our hard power because that is the currency of the age,’ Keir Starmer declared to the Munich Security Conference earlier this month. It’s a sentiment shared across Europe, where leaders have cited Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the rise of Chinese power and US insta ... Show More
1h 5m
Feb 2013
06: Khufu's Great Pyramid
Khufu and the Great Pyramid. Around 2580 BCE, King Khnum-Khufu ("Khnum Protects Me") came to power. His reign lasted more than 25 years, and over this quarter century, Egyptians would build the largest pyramid in history...
Date c. 2580 - 2550 BCE, www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com ... Show More
31m 44s
Jul 2025
What’s Under the Pyramids of Giza?
Earlier this year, Dr. Corrado Malanga and Dr. Filippo Biondi claimed they’d made a massive discovery at the Giza Complex in Egypt. Using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data, combined with their own new technology, they said they’d located massive structures hidden below the Pyra ... Show More
33m 30s
Nov 2024
197: How to Make a Pharaoh's Tomb
Sety I in the Valley of the Kings (Part 1). Archaeological remains and ancient texts reveal a great deal about tomb-building in the 19th and 20th Dynasties (c.1303—1070 BCE). Records, artefacts, and art all combine to inform us of the workers and their practices. In this episode, ... Show More
31m 37s
Jan 2013
04: Djoser's Step Pyramid
As Egypt's "Third Dynasty" began, a new monument took shape. King Netjerykhet Djoser and his architect, Imhotep, created something unusual. The Step Pyramid rose on the western horizon, ushering in a new era of monument building...
Time Period: circa 2700 – 2650 BCE
Kings: ... Show More
41m 50s