Dr Zahi Hawass

For almost 500 years – from the 16th to 11th century BC – tombs, many of the elaborate and ornate, were constructed in the Valley of the Kings for the rulers and powerful nobles of the Egyptian New Kingdom. Needless to say, the civilization’s top dogs didn’t roll up their sleeves and do the work themselves. So who did?

About The Author

Malcolm Jack

Last three pieces by this author:

University of Sussex Cutbacks: Protests, Riot Police and Strike Action | Anglo-Saxon CSI: Archaeologists Stumped by Mystery Saxon Find | Latin Lovers: Bettany Hughes Helps Boris Johnson Launch 'Classics for Schools'

Malcolm Jack is a freelance arts and entertainment journalist based in Glasgow, Scotland. He graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 2004 with an MA Honours Degree in History.

Quarries, often ignored, were a crucial part of Egypt. It was from these sites that the precious raw materials and minerals used in the construction of decorative monuments such as sculptures and obelisks was hewn thousands of years ago. Among the most prolific were the Quarries of Aswan, which yielded the red granite of Cleopatra’s Needles and many of the quality stones used in the construction of burial chambers, sarcophagi and columns in the pyramids of Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure at Giza.

About The Author

Malcolm Jack

Last three pieces by this author:

University of Sussex Cutbacks: Protests, Riot Police and Strike Action | Anglo-Saxon CSI: Archaeologists Stumped by Mystery Saxon Find | Latin Lovers: Bettany Hughes Helps Boris Johnson Launch 'Classics for Schools'

Malcolm Jack is a freelance arts and entertainment journalist based in Glasgow, Scotland. He graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 2004 with an MA Honours Degree in History.

Cement is quite literally the foundation on which modern civilization is built. It’s mankind’s most common building material, and has been a key component in most of the world’s construction projects for over a century.

Its origins are certainly ancient, and stretch back at least far as the Romans, and probably older still. The Romans may have learned cement-making from the Greeks.

The ancient Egyptians before them may have even mastered the technique for making geopolymers – an advanced type of super-cement.

About The Author

Malcolm Jack

Last three pieces by this author:

University of Sussex Cutbacks: Protests, Riot Police and Strike Action | Anglo-Saxon CSI: Archaeologists Stumped by Mystery Saxon Find | Latin Lovers: Bettany Hughes Helps Boris Johnson Launch 'Classics for Schools'

Malcolm Jack is a freelance arts and entertainment journalist based in Glasgow, Scotland. He graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 2004 with an MA Honours Degree in History.