5.060 minSeason 1 • Episode 2
LatestThis episode reveals a strange and mysterious world - the ancient Egyptian afterlife. To them life was just a dress rehearsal for the perfect afterlife they were trying to reach. Joann clambers into rarely visited tombs, explores a treasure trove of long-buried objects and examines spectacular mummies to discover just why the Egyptians spent a fortune preparing for death - and what they hoped to find when they got there.
Presented by Egyptologist Dr Joann Fletcher who goes on a fascinating journey in search of people like us, not the great Pharaohs, but the ordinary people who built and populated this incredible place, creating a remarkable way of life. Dr Joann explores their homes, workplaces and temples. The programme originally aired on BBC2 and we meet Kha and Meryt, an architect and his wife who lived just outside the Valley of the Kings. They left behind a treasure trove of information; their extraordinary tomb, full of objects from their lives and deaths - from make-up to death-masks, loaves of bread to life-like figurines, even the tools Kha used at work in the royal tombs. Joann Fletcher uses this to travel into the remarkable world of these Ancient Egyptians,.
Production
Stunning tomb reconstructions and object photography
Direction
Joann Fletcher's infectious obsession with Kha's tools
Writing
Turning burial goods into vivid life stories
Creator
Joann Fletcher
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Kha and Meryt's tomb was discovered completely intact in 1906 by Ernesto Schiaparelli—one of the few unlooted burial sites ever found in Egypt.
Fletcher's approach reflects a major shift in Egyptology: from glorifying rulers to excavating the lives of workers, women, and families through material culture.
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