The "Ancient Egyptians" miniseries is definitely one of the most enjoyable documentaries of its type. Beyond that, it's one of the best Egypt-related programs I've ever seen, far superior to the Discovery Channel's recent "Rameses: The Wrath of God or Man?." I generally don't like dramatized documentaries since they're usually quite poorly shot and acted (the aforementioned "Rameses," for example) and the actual information somehow gets lost in the shuffle. The usual reason for this is that many documentaries -- especially ones about Ancient Egypt -- attempt to cover too much ground in too small a space of time. Fortunately, this documentary avoids that trap by confining each of its four installments to one specific person or situation. Each section is expertly shot and, as has been mentioned before, the accuracy and attention to detail are stunning. The source material from which these details are derived all offer a fascinating glimpse into the social climate of Ancient Egypt at four distinct times in its history. However, the series is not perfect and the title of my review offers a hint as to why. While excellently done, there is a very annoying Chomskyite political slant to this miniseries that colors the interpretation of these historical events.
The first installment is "The Battle of Megiddo," based on eye-witness accounts written by Tjaneni, a scribe for the then-new Pharaoh Tuthmosis III. The events described in this section took place in or around 1457 BC, and the battle itself served as a proving ground for the young Pharaoh who faced a much larger army of Syrian rebels led by the Prince of Kadesh at the city of Megiddo. Tjaneni's accuracy is rarely disputed by contemporary sources and the show is true to it. However, the writers saw fit to introduce a story about a generic Egyptian peasant named Akhemose who was said to have been conscripted by the army to make war against Kadesh. In a miniseries that prides itself on being based on original historical documents from antiquity, there is a very conspicuous lack of documentation about Akhemose or his sad tale of being stolen away from his family, thrown into a war he doesn't care about, overcoming adversity in the army, and being killed in battle. While obviously these sorts of things happened in virtually every single war ever fought, Akhemose was not a historical figure, he was a literary device. In the following segment, "Tomb Robbers," (1128 BC) we learn that the rich steal because they are greedy and corrupt but that the poor (specifically the worker Amenpenafur, the closest thing to a "protagonist" in this section) steal because they are socially oppressed by the aforementioned rich and must do so to feed their families. The other two segments, "The Priests of Amun" (663-633 BC) and "The Cult of the Apis BUll" (120s BC), are less slanted in this manner and seem to draw more heavily on actual documentation rather than conjecture and social commentary (although much of the same commentary appears in these parts, its sparse use strikes me as more appropriate and gets the point across better).
Despite the misgivings I have about the subtle agenda(s) of this miniseries, it's still a great piece of work whose contributions to the genre and to programming based on Ancient Egypt in general outweigh the annoyances I described. If this is released on DVD, I'd get it in a heartbeat and I recommend that anyone interested in this great, intriguing civilization do the same.
The first installment is "The Battle of Megiddo," based on eye-witness accounts written by Tjaneni, a scribe for the then-new Pharaoh Tuthmosis III. The events described in this section took place in or around 1457 BC, and the battle itself served as a proving ground for the young Pharaoh who faced a much larger army of Syrian rebels led by the Prince of Kadesh at the city of Megiddo. Tjaneni's accuracy is rarely disputed by contemporary sources and the show is true to it. However, the writers saw fit to introduce a story about a generic Egyptian peasant named Akhemose who was said to have been conscripted by the army to make war against Kadesh. In a miniseries that prides itself on being based on original historical documents from antiquity, there is a very conspicuous lack of documentation about Akhemose or his sad tale of being stolen away from his family, thrown into a war he doesn't care about, overcoming adversity in the army, and being killed in battle. While obviously these sorts of things happened in virtually every single war ever fought, Akhemose was not a historical figure, he was a literary device. In the following segment, "Tomb Robbers," (1128 BC) we learn that the rich steal because they are greedy and corrupt but that the poor (specifically the worker Amenpenafur, the closest thing to a "protagonist" in this section) steal because they are socially oppressed by the aforementioned rich and must do so to feed their families. The other two segments, "The Priests of Amun" (663-633 BC) and "The Cult of the Apis BUll" (120s BC), are less slanted in this manner and seem to draw more heavily on actual documentation rather than conjecture and social commentary (although much of the same commentary appears in these parts, its sparse use strikes me as more appropriate and gets the point across better).
Despite the misgivings I have about the subtle agenda(s) of this miniseries, it's still a great piece of work whose contributions to the genre and to programming based on Ancient Egypt in general outweigh the annoyances I described. If this is released on DVD, I'd get it in a heartbeat and I recommend that anyone interested in this great, intriguing civilization do the same.
