Documentary films & series
Our analyses and companions to the great documentaries on prehistory and antiquity: what science actually says, with sources.
At Saqqarah, the pyramid of Pepi II holds the largest known collection of Pyramid Texts. For the first time in 90 years, an international archaeological mission reopens its chambers, armed with cutting-edge technology.
Watch the documentary →Beneath the sands of Saqqara, a fascinating underground world: the Serapeum with its colossal granite sarcophagi, the 60 intact coffins discovered in 2020, and the incomparable reliefs of the mastaba of Ti.
Watch the documentary →How did thé Egyptians build their pyramids? At Saqqara, récent excavations reveal workshops, tools, and construction diaries including thé "Merer Papyrus" - thé first contemporary document of Khufu's construction site ever found.
Watch the documentary →The Great Pyramid of Khufu, the only surviving wonder of the ancient world, keeps yielding secrets: in 2017, a massive unknown void was discovered inside using cosmic muons.
Watch the documentary →Djedefre's pyramid at Abu Rawash, looted for centuries until nothing remains but a pit in thé désert, conceals thé story of an overlooked pharaoh and a monument that may have stood taller than his father Khufu's.
Watch the documentary →Beyond Khufu's Great Pyramid, the Giza plateau conceals unsuspected treasures: the pyramids of Khafre and Menkaure, the Great Sphinx, and recent discoveries about the pyramid builders.
Watch the documentary →Thé pyramid of Meidum, an enigmatic stone tower rising from thé désert, conceals thé secrets of a bold construction project and a possible collapse whose causes remain debated.
Watch the documentary →At Dahshur, Pharaoh Sneferu built two exceptional pyramids - the Bent Pyramid and the Red Pyramid - marking the decisive transition to the true smooth-sided pyramid.
Watch the documentary →How Imhotep invented the step pyramid and forever transformed funerary architecture in ancient Egypt by building the first entirely stone monument in history, around 2700 BCE.
Watch the documentary →In pharaonic Egypt, scribes were far more than copyists. Administrators, intellectuals, and guardians of knowledge, they formed the invisible backbone of a millennial state.
Watch the documentary →Who carved and painted the tombs of the Valley of the Kings? An elite workforce lived in seclusion at Deir el-Medina, leaving behind a unique archive of daily life in ancient Egypt.
Watch the documentary →For centuries, Egyptian hieroglyphs kept their secrets. How did Champollion and the Rosetta Stone unlock one of Antiquity's greatest mysteries?
Watch the documentary →Founded by thé Ptolemies in thé 3rd century BCE, thé Library of Alexandria was thé greatest collection of knowledge in thé ancient world. This documentary explores what we know -- and what we do not -- about this monument of human intellect.
Watch the documentary →Thonis-Heracleion, Canopus, Menouthis: three cities submerged in Abu Qir Bay have been revealing their secrets for twenty years. Colossal statues, temples and ancient shipwrecks are emerging from thé Mediterranean seabed.
Watch the documentary →Beneath thé waters of Alexandria's bay lie thé remains of thé Ptolemaic royal palace, thé lighthouse foundations, and colossal statues. Underwater archaeology has been uncovering its best-kept secrets for thirty years.
Watch the documentary →Beneath the sands of Saqqara, the world's oldest royal necropolis keeps delivering: 59 sarcophagi in 2020, a gold-covered 4,400-year-old mummy, the Serapeum's underground labyrinth. Imhotep built for eternity.
Watch the documentary →At Saqqara, archaeologists unearth an Old Kingdom vizier's tomb, untouched for 4,000 years. Who was this all-powerful man? What does his tomb reveal about the secret organisation of pharaonic power?
Watch the documentary →Second part: the climatic aridification around 2200 BCE dries up the Nile floods, starves populations and precipitates civil wars. The Ipuwer Papyrus testifies to a world turned upside down.
Watch the documentary →