Talk Like An Egyptian
A podcast about Ancient Egypt with Dr Chris Naunton and Iszi Lawrence
info_outline
S01E09 Bonus Livestream
11/11/2025
S01E09 Bonus Livestream
This is a mildly edited recording of the livestream we broadcast on youtube on 11.11.25. Thank you for all those who made it. You can watch the broadcast from our patreon page where you can also download loads of extra content. Please go to If you are looking for iszi's books find them here (or on your favourite shop) Find Chris's books here: Massive thanks for listening - remember to so you don't miss out on any future live streams, Life! Prosperity! Health!
/episode/index/show/1077fb83-b1b6-43a0-8be3-9247afdc9de0/id/38994210
info_outline
S01E08 Questions Episode
11/04/2025
S01E08 Questions Episode
Big thank you to Bill, Temika, Tini, Amy and Danny. All your support means the world to us! We hope to be back for another series as soon as possible, please subscribe and follow us on Patreon to make sure you do not miss an announcement. Meanwhile do please check out our books. For those interested in Medieval England, Iszi has a new novel, The Domesday Cows coming out in January. Life! Prosperity! Health! Chris & Iszi x
/episode/index/show/1077fb83-b1b6-43a0-8be3-9247afdc9de0/id/38857370
info_outline
S01E07 King Tut ON FIRE
10/28/2025
S01E07 King Tut ON FIRE
Tutankhamun is now very famous of course but ironically he was relatively insignificant right? We know that Tutankhamun was the ‘boy king’ and ruled as a child and so didn’t - couldn’t have - done much… In this episode we challenge this view, and show that in fact Tutankhamun ruled at the most interesting of times and may have been responsible for restoring the traditional religion after the brief period of heresy under Akhenaten. Links: Extra content: Reeves, Akhenaten: Egypt’s false prophet Dodson, Amarna Sunrise (for the early part of Akhenaten’s reign and the period immediately before it) and Amarna Sunset (for the later part f the reign and Akhenaten’s successors including Tutankhamun. For a fictional adventure into the Valley of Kings: The Cursed Tomb:
/episode/index/show/1077fb83-b1b6-43a0-8be3-9247afdc9de0/id/38770280
info_outline
S01E06 King Tut Part One
10/21/2025
S01E06 King Tut Part One
The greatest archaeological discovery of all time. Even now, it’s difficult to comprehend the full extent of what Howard Carter found in Valley of Kings tomb no. 62: the intact tomb of a pharaoh who turned out to have been a little boy when he came to throne, and possibly still in his teens when he died, containing more than 5,000 objects, almost all of them made of the finest materials and exquisitely fashioned. It was watershed moment for Egyptology, and it’s almost inconceivable that anything more sensational will ever be found in future. Links: Extra content: https://www.patreon.com/talklikeanegyptian The last word on the subject, is Reeves, The Complete Tutankhamun, a revised edition of which was produced in time for the centenary of the discovery in 2022. For an even more lavishly illustrated volume on the objects alone see Hawass, Tutankhamun: The Treasures of the Tomb The most thorough account of the life of the discoverer, Howard Carter, and the story of the discovery itself, is James, Howard Carter: The Path to Tutankhamun For a fictional adventure into the Valley of Kings: The Cursed Tomb:
/episode/index/show/1077fb83-b1b6-43a0-8be3-9247afdc9de0/id/38629105
info_outline
S01E05 Egyptomania
10/14/2025
S01E05 Egyptomania
Why are we so obsessed with Ancient Egypt? All children study it, museum galleries displaying Egyptian objects are always full, documentaries always do really well, and we’ve had a couple of waves of Egyptomania – in the 1800s and following the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun. We talked a lot in this episode about the historical background to the development of Egyptology, in particular colonialism and the rivalry between Britain and France. Also about how the aesthetic of Egyptian art and architecture is very distinctive and striking and so many other aspects of Egyptian culture are so intriguing including: mummies and mummification, animal-headed gods, the lure of the desert, and the idea that treasure is buried and awaiting discovery - ‘revealing’ things that are ‘hidden’… Links: Extra content: Thompson, Wonderful Things: A History of Egyptology (three vols.) And for a more concise, illustrated account we couldn’t not mention – sorry! – Chris’ book, Egyptologists’ Notebooks. On ‘Egyptomania’, see Brier, Egyptomania: Our Three Thousand Year Obsession with the Land of the Pharaohs Chris’s book for kids that gets mentioned this episode King Tutankhamun Tells All! Iszi’s book for kids which didn’t get mentioned this episode The Cursed Tomb:
/episode/index/show/1077fb83-b1b6-43a0-8be3-9247afdc9de0/id/38563345
info_outline
S01E04 The Pyramids
10/07/2025
S01E04 The Pyramids
The pyramids, particularly those at Giza, are pretty famous right? In this episode we ask: What were they? Where were they? When were they? Were the all the same? (No). How did they differ, how did they develop? What was inside? Are you sure they’re tombs? Not power stations or spacecraft? When weren’t they? Why did the Egyptians stop building them? What’s the significance of the shape? They had them in Mexico and elsewhere. They must have been connected right, come on… Links: Extra content: https://www.patreon.com/talklikeanegyptian The best concise overview of every aspect of the pyramids – in Egypt and Sudan, their design, meaning etc is Lehner, The Complete Pyramids. The author has spent an entire career working at Giza and he, along with the world’s other leading expert on the site, has now published the last word on the pyramids there, also the sphinx and thousands of other monuments at the site: Lehner and Hawass, Giza and the Pyramids. This is a bog book and it’s not cheap but it is indispensable for research on the site. It's not the only reason why Chris became an Egyptologist but as a young Dr Who nut he liked nothing more than watching old serials on VHS, and The Pyramids of Mars from 1975 might just have helped nudge him in the right direction: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p00vf241/doctor-who-19631996-season-13-pyramids-of-mars-part-1 Iszi’s book (she’s so needy) The Cursed Tomb where you go into The Pyramid of Unas: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/cursed-tomb-9781801996020/
/episode/index/show/1077fb83-b1b6-43a0-8be3-9247afdc9de0/id/38472220
info_outline
S01E03 The Nile
09/30/2025
S01E03 The Nile
The Nile In this episode we’re trying to explain how fundamentally important the river Nile was to the presence of human beings in what we now call Egypt, and how this allowed civilisation to flourish there at such an early moment in human history, and to endure for such a long time. We talked about people settling along the banks of the Nile where the water and silts allowed plants and animals to thrive, how irrigation and agriculture allowed for these natural resources to be harnessed, and how this in turn freed people from spending all their time trying to find food to survive to do other things. We also talked about how the Nile was so important that the Egyptians imagined it being embodied by a god, Hapy, and how important the emergence of the land from the flood waters, and life springing forth from it, was to the Egyptians’ myths about the creation of the world. Also, in more practical terms, how they were dependent on the annul flood (‘inundation;’), on it not being too high or too low, and they built basins, channels and dams to manage the water, and grain silos to guard against the food running out of the flood wasn’t right for a good harvest. The Nile was also the Egyptians primary means of transport and communication and this explains why boats are central to many Egyptian myths including how you get to the afterlife – by boat of course. Links: Extra content: For the geology and geography of Egypt and the Egyptians’ response to the river environment – the annual flood, irrigation channels, dams etc – try Reader, A Gift of Geology: Ancient Egyptian Landscapes and Monuments For the idea that before the creation of the world there was nothing but watery chaos, and that from this an island emerged on which life would grow, see the creation myths as covered in: Wilkinson, The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt Shaw, The Egyptian Myths: A Guide to the Ancient Gods and Legends Iszi’s book (she’s so needy) The Cursed Tomb where ythe hero gets dropped into the nile:
/episode/index/show/1077fb83-b1b6-43a0-8be3-9247afdc9de0/id/38377710
info_outline
S01E02 The Ancient Egyptian Afterlife
09/23/2025
S01E02 The Ancient Egyptian Afterlife
The ancient Egyptians’ beliefs in the afterlife were many and varying, weren’t the same for pharaohs and commoners, and changed over time but in this episode we did our best to cover the main bases including: the journey made the sun / the king through the netherworld (the ‘amduat’), the main groups of texts including the Pyramid Texts, Coffin Texts and ‘Book of the Dead’, the decoration of tombs, coffins, papyri and other funerary equipment including shabti figurines. Links: An excellent overview of Egyptian funerary practices beliefs in the afterlife is Taylor, Death and The Afterlife in Ancient Egypt. This includes discussions of all the major groups of texts but should any of you wish to look into those in more detail you might enjoy: The Pyramid Texts online: Faulkner, The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead (mentioned in the notes for the previous episode). Hornung, The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Afterlife (includes discussions of the Amduat and related texts/ideas) On Egyptian tombs you might like Dodson and Ikram, The Tomb in Ancient Egypt Or, ahem, Chris’s own book: Naunton, Searching for the Lost Tombs of Egypt. Oh, and I supposed, if you are after historical fiction for 9-12 year olds that touches on real ancient egyptian belief in the after life and heart scarabs you'll want iszi's book: Iszi Lawrence, The Cursed Tomb Do support us and grab some bonus content:
/episode/index/show/1077fb83-b1b6-43a0-8be3-9247afdc9de0/id/38312165
info_outline
S01E01 What's Right with The Mummy (1999)
09/23/2025
S01E01 What's Right with The Mummy (1999)
So, it’s easy – if you an Egyptology pedant – to pick holes The Mummy, which the two of us have done several times at the British Museum. But actually, being more generous about it, a lot of what’s in the film is clearly inspired by good evidence and in this episode we tried to cover what seemed to us to be the most important themes: including the way ancient Egypt appears – architecture, landscape, people, costumes, names – characters and places – the idea of the ‘Medjay’, the practice of mummification and whether anyone was ever mummified alive as in the movie (nope), and the way more modern Egypt and Egyptologists are portrayed (Egyptian Museum good, Bembridge Scholars… What?? No, what are they talking about?!) Links: To watch the movie online: For the original (1932) movie featuring Boris Karloff in the lead role which provides some of the inspiration including the names Imhotep and Anck-su-namun: Some excellent books on some of the themes we covered include: Gods and goddesses: Wilkinson, The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt Mummification: Dodson and Ikram, The Mummy in Ancient Egypt The Book of the Dead (the real one that isn’t really a ‘book’): Faulkner, The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead The novel Chris mentioned about a society of Egyptologists which is actually a cover for men to get away from their wives and have affairs etc is Kingsley Amis and Robert Conquest, The Egyptologists. Oh and iszi's book incase she feels left out:
/episode/index/show/1077fb83-b1b6-43a0-8be3-9247afdc9de0/id/38270830
info_outline
A New Egyptology Podcast Audio Trailer
09/19/2025
A New Egyptology Podcast Audio Trailer
LAUNCHING SEPT 2025! Talk Like An Egyptian with Dr Chris Naunton and Iszi Lawrence. To support the podcast join us on Patreon.com/talklikeanegyptian and unlock bonus content. Get in touch talklikeanegyptianpod@gmail.com or use #TLAE. We need your questions for the end of the series so please don’t hold back. Remember to leave us five stars (of Nut) and share this episode with your friends. Find out more at www.talklikeanegyptian.com. Life Prosperity Health!
/episode/index/show/1077fb83-b1b6-43a0-8be3-9247afdc9de0/id/38275625
info_outline
A New Egyptology Podcast
09/19/2025
A New Egyptology Podcast
LAUNCHING SEPT 2025! Talk Like An Egyptian with Dr Chris Naunton and Iszi Lawrence. To support the podcast join us on Patreon.com/talklikeanegyptian and unlock bonus content. Get in touch talklikeanegyptianpod@gmail.com or use #TLAE. We need your questions for the end of the series so please don’t hold back. Remember to leave us five stars (of Nut) and share this episode with your friends. Find out more at www.talklikeanegyptian.com. Life Prosperity Health!
/episode/index/show/1077fb83-b1b6-43a0-8be3-9247afdc9de0/id/38207050