The Screaming Man: Nat Geo Expedition Week
Friday November 21, 2008
The "screaming man" is an awful or I suppose, awe-inspiring, Egyptian mummy dated to the New Kingdom in Egypt. Called much more blandly "Unknown Man E", this mummy is about as extreme a puzzle as you get in Egyptology: an improperly embalmed mummy.
The Screaming Man: Unknown Man E at Deir el Bahri Photo by National Geographic
I remember the first time I ran into him, when I was reading Grafton Eliot Smith's 1912 book on the Royal Mummies from Deir el Bahri (fabulous night-time reading if you have trouble falling asleeep by the way; so dull you drop right off). I read the description of Unknown Man E and wondered if the mummy's condition inspired the fictional Imhotep mummy that terrorizes Peter Cushing and Brendan Fraser and Charlton Heston, et cetera, et cetera. I was wrong, as usual.
Still,Unknown Man E is a fascinating mummy, if a bit ickier than most mummies.
Mystery of the Screaming Man will premiere tonight, Friday, November 21, 2008, on the National Geographic Channel. Check local listings.
Nat Geo: Alexander the Great's Lost Tomb
Friday November 21, 2008
Alexander the Great has, oddly enough, never been one of my passions. However, I think maybe I just found a reason to be interested.
Ruins of Kom el Dikka in Alexandria, Egypt, Photo (c)2008 National Geographic
One of the things that strikes me, speaking as an unapologetic generalist, is that, if you want to succeed in the academic archaeology world you have to specialize. It's true--for one thing, there's a finite quantity of literature you can stay on top of, and to stay ahead of the game you must stay on top of your specialty. But I get bored, so I need variation in the kinds of cultural stuff that I can look at and think about. (Obviously, I wasn't much of a success as an academic archaeologist). The eastern Mediterranean, though, is an area that includes a vast amount of cultures in a relatively small area, leading to a huge interconnectedness between myriad societies that draws me in. Sort of a non-specialists area of specialization, if you see what I mean.
Alexander the Great is an example of that. In 332 BC, Alexander the Macedonian spent six months in Egypt. Six months. During that time, he conquered the society (albeit a bit moribund at the time), had himself named pharaoh and began (in a loose manner of speaking) the Ptolemaic dynasty. Wow.
Anyway, because he was such a powerful, interconnected man, or so the theory goes, after he was dead, his body was carted around and buried in different places. NatGeo's premiere today looks at three of those temporary burials.
Good stuff!
Alexander the Great's Lost Tomb will premiere tonight, Friday, November 21, 2008, on the National Geographic Channel. Check local listings.
The Lost Cities of the Amazon
Thursday November 20, 2008
This new documentary from National Geographic's Expedition Week is the most archaeological of any of them.
Long House and Xingu People at the Parque Indígena do Xingu.
Photo (c)2008 National Geographic
The Lost Cities of the Amazon reports on the archaeological investigations of Michael Heckenberger and Eduardo Goas Neves in the Amazon River basin of South America. These two archaeologists have spent the greater part of the last decade studying the surprisingly complex communities which thrived there between about 0-1550 AD. Still do, for that matter--about 4,000 of their descendants live at the Parque Indígena do Xingu, in the center of one of the old capital cities. Well, maybe not what you think of when you say 'city', in terms of stone structures--but cities none the less.
It seems shocking to us 21st century types that there could be sophisticated farming cultures supported by the famously thin, acidic soils of the Amazon jungle, doesn't it? But in the mid-sixteenth century, Spanish conquistadors lost on the Amazon reported that they met huge parties of people and obtained abundant amounts of food. They were disbelieved, too.
This is a really fascinating story, and so meticulously researched and published that I had to build a separate bibliography page.
Lost Cities of the Amazon airs tonight, November 20, 2008, 9pm ET/PT, but be sure to check local listings.
The Real George Washington: Nat Geo Expedition Week
Wednesday November 19, 2008
The variety of the subjects in the new documentaries from National Geographic is breathtaking, don't ya think?
Reenactment of a Scene from George Washington's Life.
(c)2008 National Geographic
Tonight's video probes into the early life of the first president of the United States, George Washington. Re-enactments and some too short visits to the archaeological excavations at Ferry Farm (Washingon's boyhood home) and his plantation at Mt. Vernon make up the visuals. Washington's ambition, thwarted romantic life, forays into espionage, attitudes towards slavery and (gulp) teeth are addressed in the hour-long documentary.
Airing on November 19, 2008 at 9 pm ET/PT on the National Geographic Channel. Check local listings.
