This is a History Extra production.

From the secrets of the pyramids to the mysteries of mummification, ancient Egypt has captivated the popular imagination for centuries.

In this History Extra podcast series, we're looking back at this remarkable culture,

which has left such a significant mark on history. I'm your host, Emily Griffith, and I'm joined by

Dr Campbell Price, curator of Egypt and Sudan at Manchester Museum. In this second episode, we're

turning our attention to the day-to-day experiences of ordinary ancient Egyptians,

painting a vivid picture of life along the Nile. Hi, Canval. Welcome back. Thank you for joining us again.

Hi, hello again. No, it's a pleasure to be back. So, as I've said, we're going to be talking about

the average, ordinary, ancient Egyptian. Now, we need to start. Who is that? Well, in terms of numbers,

Emily, I think that person would be a farmer or someone in a farmer's family because Egypt is

still largely and certainly then an agricultural economy. So there's lots of farmland,

very rich, very fertile land on which to do your farming.

And I think so much of ancient Egypt is geared in the popular mind towards rich people.

And they were not out in the fields farming.

But at a guess, maybe, gosh, 80, 90% of people would work on the land.

Now, we also need to probably set our boundaries

of what we know about the lives of the ordinary ancient Egyptian. How close can we get to them as a

person? Less close, probably, than we would like. Part of the reason for the focus on the rich

and the dead is because it's rich people's tombs that have survived. So Egypt is

a land of contrasts. You have the river, the river Nile, which is this life-giving artery that brings

life to that part of northeastern Africa. And next to the river, have the farmland and on the farmland you have

most peoples or would have had most people's houses made of mud bricks which when there was an

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