HistoryExtra
type: channel
link: https://www.historyextra.com
description: The official website for BBC History Magazine
date: 2024-11-01T22:27:38.000Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: Great Reputations: Cleopatra
items: Life in Ancient Egypt: what was it like?
items: The forgotten women in Tutankhamun’s tomb
items: Howard Carter's discovery of Tutankhamun: was the tomb really cursed?
items: Your guide to Tutankhamun, plus 8 fascinating facts
items: 15 minutes of fame | Joyce Tyldesley chooses Queen Tiye

Great Reputations: Cleopatra
type: item
date: 2023-09-07T16:28:00.000Z
creator: Joyce Tyldesley
subject: Ancient Egypt
subject: Period
subject: Great Reputations
description: In the latest in our series charting the contested reputations of key historical figures, Joyce Tyldesley and Catharine Edwards discuss the life and legacy of Egyptian queen Cleopatra
encoded: In the latest in our series charting the contested reputations of key historical figures, Joyce Tyldesley and Catharine Edwards discuss the life and cultural afterlife of Egyptian queen Cleopatra – from her association with feminine beauty to the focus on her romantic relationships. Want to hear more? Browse more episodes in our Great Reputations podcast series

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Life in Ancient Egypt: what was it like?
type: item
date: 2022-11-04T15:23:08.000Z
creator: Joyce Tyldesley
subject: Ancient Egypt
subject: Period
subject: Family and parenting
description: Egypt's pharaohs have left an impressive legacy of stone architecture, monumental inscriptions and religious art, allowing us to reconstruct their achievements with a fair degree of certainty. But what was daily life like for the ordinary Egyptian? Here, Egyptologist Joyce Tyldesley shares 10 lesser-known facts
encoded: Who were the ‘ordinary people’? Imagine the population of ancient Egypt arranged in a social pyramid: the pyramid base is supported by slaves, servants and the serfs; and tenant farmers work the estates owned by the king, the elite and the temples. Next come the skilled and semi-skilled artisans; the soldiers, sailors and those employed on the great state projects (the building sites, tombs and temples). Above them are the educated professional classes, including scribes, accountants and doctors. Finally come the nobility; the elite who control much of Egypt’s wealth. The royal family remain exclusive and aloof at the top of the pyramid, while the king, or pharaoh – the only mortal who is deemed able to communicate effectively with the state gods – is superior to everyone. The family Egypt had the highest birth rate in the ancient world. And yet, things were far from perfect. Illnesses and accidents could not be avoided, and there was no welfare programme to protect the unfortunate. The family provided the only reliable support mechanism and was therefore an institution of immense importance, with marriage a practical rather than a romantic bond, designed to create a viable economic unit. Everyone, even the gods and goddesses, married. An unmarried man was seen as incomplete, and schoolboys were advised to wed early and father as many children as possible. Destined to follow in their parents’ footsteps, boys were trained in the trades and professions by their fathers and uncles, while girls stayed at home to learn from their mothers. In their early teens girls would marry and the cycle would start again. Mistress of the house Husbands and wives had complementary but differing roles within the marriage. While the husband worked outside the home, earning the rations that would feed his family, the wife or ‘mistress of the house’ ran the household, providing food, drink, clothing and cleaning services as needed. To reflect this traditional allocation of duties, the Egy…

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The forgotten women in Tutankhamun’s tomb
type: item
date: 2022-11-02T14:56:49.000Z
creator: Joyce Tyldesley
subject: Ancient Egypt
subject: Period
description: What can the treasures uncovered in Tutankhamun’s tomb tell us about women in the young pharaoh’s life, including his young wife Ankhesenamun? As we approach the 100th anniversary of the tomb’s discovery, Joyce Tyldesley shares the evidence, including two tiny, baby mummies…
encoded: In November 1922, a team led by Egyptologist Howard Carter discovered the tomb of the 18th Dynasty pharaoh Tutankhamun (reigned 1336-1327 BCE). We can attend Tutankhamun’s funeral via the painted scenes in his burial chamber. On the east wall we see the mummified king lying in a coffin resting on a bier that stands on a boat that is itself standing on a wooden sled. Twelve of Egypt’s highest ranking dignitaries, all dressed in white linen, have assembled to drag the funerary sled across the desert to the Valley of the Kings. On the north wall the funeral procession has reached the tomb. Tutankhamun’s mummy has been propped upright and his successor, King Ay, has dressed in a priestly leopard skin to conduct the rituals that will allow the dead king to live again. Read more | The female 'kings' of ancient Egypt Nowhere in these scenes do we see Tutankhamun’s widow, Ankhesenamun (formerly also Ankhesenpaaten). If we want to learn more about the woman who supported her husband in life and death, we need to take a closer look at some of Tutankhamun’s 5,000 grave goods. Ankhesenamun, Tutankhamun’s wife The ‘Little Golden Shrine’, a doored box covered in thick gold foil, is one of Tutankhamun’s most enigmatic grave goods. A series of engraved panels on the golden exterior shows the king and queen together. Ankhesenamun fastens a collar round her husband’s neck, receives water that he pours into her cupped hand and supplies him with arrows as he shoots ducks in the marshes. Howard Carter believed that these scenes reflected the daily life of the king and queen, with Ankhesenamun playing a minor role: “The dominant note is that of friendly relationship between the husband and wife.” A century later, with a far better understanding of the complexities of Egyptian royal art, we interpret these scenes as a reflection of Ankhesenamun’s religious power as she assumes the role of a priest to prepare her husband for his coronation and the New Year ceremonies that will follow. <img…

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Howard Carter's discovery of Tutankhamun: was the tomb really cursed?
type: item
date: 2022-10-31T07:05:00.000Z
creator: Joyce Tyldesley
subject: 20th Century
subject: Ancient Egypt
subject: General Modern
subject: Period
description: Joyce Tyldesley examines Howard Carter's discovery of Tutankhamun – and gets to the bottom of those curse stories
encoded: On 26 November 1922 Howard Carter stood before a sealed door blocking a dark corridor. Behind him stood his patron Lord Carnarvon. Both men knew that they were standing in the tomb of the 18th-Dynasty boy king Tutankhamun – the sealing on the now dismantled outer door had made that clear. But the outer door had also shown the unmistakable signs of more than one forced entry. Was Tutankhamun still lying undisturbed in his tomb? Or had the ancient robbers once again thwarted the modern archaeologists? Nervously, his hands trembling, Carter forced a small hole in the left hand corner of the doorway, lit a candle, and peered inside. “Presently, as my eyes grew accustomed to the light, details of the room within emerged slowly from the mist, strange animals, statues and gold – everywhere the glint of gold. For the moment – an eternity it must have seemed to the others standing by – I was struck dumb with amazement, and when Lord Carnarvon, unable to stand the suspense any longer, inquired anxiously, ‘Can you see anything?’ it was all I could do to get out the words ‘Yes, wonderful things’.” The next day the doorway was unblocked and an electric light installed. Carter and Carnarvon found themselves standing in the antechamber, an untidy room packed with everything that an Egyptian king could possibly need for an enjoyable afterlife. But Carter’s attention was fixed on the northern wall. Here, blocked, plastered, sealed and guarded by two large statues of Tutankhamun, was the doorway to the burial chamber. Once again, the sealed doorway had been breached by a robber’s hole. Carter and Carnarvon knew that the anteroom must be emptied before the wall could be dismantled, but that would take many weeks of hard work. Desperate to know if the tomb was intact they returned that night and crawled through the robber’s hole. To their delight they found that the burial chamber was almost completely filled by a golden shrine, its seals still intact. Swearing each other to secrecy th…

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Your guide to Tutankhamun, plus 8 fascinating facts
type: item
date: 2022-10-26T13:30:00.000Z
creator: Joyce Tyldesley
subject: Ancient Egypt
subject: Period
subject: Evergreen
subject: Family and parenting
description: Tutankhamun's status as ancient Egypt’s most famous pharaoh was cemented when his intact tomb was discovered by archaeologist Howard Carter in November 1922. But how much do you know about the famous 'boy king'? Egyptologist Joyce Tyldesley brings you the facts about King Tut...
encoded: When was Tutankhamun born? We don’t have any record of Tutankhamun’s birth, and we don’t even know who his parents were (a subject that is hotly disputed by Egyptologists). This is therefore an opportunity for some archaeological detective work. His mummy shows us that Tutankhamun died when he was about 18 years old. Wine-jars stored in his tomb are labelled with the years of his reign. As the oldest of these jars is dated to “year 10”, we can deduce that Tutankhamun inherited his throne as an eight-year-old boy in c1336 BC. He was almost certainly born at Amarna, the new royal city built by his predecessor and probable father, the “Heretic Pharaoh” Akhenaten. Akhenaten had been a highly unusual king. He had turned his back on the traditional gods and goddesses, choosing instead to worship just one god: a sun-disk known as “the Aten”. Following Akhenaten’s death, Tutankhamun (and his advisors) reversed the religious experiment, restored the traditional pantheon, and repaired the state temples which had been allowed to fall into disrepair. Tutankhamun seemed set for a glorious reign: but then he suddenly died. Who was Tutankhamun? A brief biography Titles: Nebkheperure Tutankhamun was Pharaoh, or King, of Egypt. Born: c1344 BC Died: c1327 BC Parents: It seems likely that his father was Pharaoh Akhenaten: his mother is unknown, but could have been Queen Nefertiti Siblings: At least six full- or half-sisters: Meritaten, Meketaten, Ankhesenpaaten (who was also his wife), Neferneferuaten, Neferneferure, Setepenre: at least one full- or half-brother, Smenkhkare. Known for: The discovery of his near-intact tomb by Howard Carter, packed with grave goods. Tomb discovered: In November 1922. How did Tutankhamun die? It is not known exactly how Tutankhamun died. His body suffered damage at various stages – immediately before or immediately after death; during the curiously hasty mummification process; within the tomb (where a chemical reaction caused it to ignite in its coffin)…

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15 minutes of fame | Joyce Tyldesley chooses Queen Tiye
type: item
date: 2022-07-25T12:00:26.000Z
creator: Ellie Cawthorne
subject: Ancient Egypt
subject: General ancient history
subject: Period
subject: 15 minutes of fame
description: As part of our series exploring lost or lesser-known figures from history who deserve their 15 minutes of fame, Ellie Cawthorne interviews Joyce Tyldesley about the life of Queen Tiye
encoded: Who was Queen Tiye? Queen Tiye was queen consort to Amenhotep III, who ruled Egypt for almost 40 years from roughly 1390 BCE. Tiye was also the mother-in-law of Nefertiti, and the probable grandmother of Tutankhamen. Thanks to a royal proclamation from Amenhotep III himself, historians know that Queen Tiye was born to two ‘commoners’: her father Yuya and mother Thuya. Despite her humble birth, Tiye went on to be Amenhotep’s right-hand woman, ruling Egypt alongside him, and one of their children Akhenaten later succeeded the throne as Amenhotep IV. Queen Tiye’s life At the time of Tiye’s life, explains Tyldesley, kings had many wives, who were grouped into “secondary queens” and the queen consort. As queen consort, Tiye would have had a lot of power, because she was the queen who appeared in all official writings and art. Tiye’s importance can be seen in her appearance on important monuments and tombs, and the property that belonged to her. Tyldesley also highlights Tiye’s widespread significance in the religious and diplomatic spheres – in Egypt and beyond, Tiye was associated with a goddess, and after her husband’s death, she appears in diplomatic correspondence. It is difficult to know if Tiye’s power was atypical for the time, Tyldesley explains, because comparative power is hard to judge due to uneven levels of evidence for each life. For example, while Tiye’s daughter-in-law Nefertiti appears unusually powerful because of a wealth of representation based on her life in a city that worshipped the royal family, Tyldesley admits explains that for Tiye, it seems that she was simply unusual because she was powerful. Read more about the female 'kings' of ancient Egypt Though not to the same extent as Nefertiti, historians do have access to various depictions of Tiye – from statues, to tombs, to figurines. One is a figure of Tiye’s head that shows her as an older woman. This was unusual, Tyldesley explains, because queens were generally depicted as “eternally young an…

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