Summary: Welcome to episode 11 of the Wonder Junkie Podcast featuring the host of the History Of Egypt Podcast Dominic Perry! The history of Egypt is something that continues to fascinate me. From their early beginnings to the construction of the pyramids and their eventual decline, it’s a subject matter I never seem to be able to step away from. Whilst I spend a lot of time working on Wonder Junkie, I also love to listen to other podcasts… Notable mentions to StarTalk Radio, Distraction Pieces with Scroobius Pip, Stuff You Should Know and of course The History Of Egypt with Dominic Perry. I was absolutely delighted when I found Dominic’s podcast as I had binged my way through the BBC’s output on Egypt (which is fantastic) but I still felt like I needed more. The way Dominic has broken down the history of Egypt is brilliant, breaking it down episode-by-episode and making it consumable to people like myself who have an interest in Egypt but don’t have time to study it properly. In the podcast we spoke about how Dominic began his journey into studying the history of Egypt, what he thinks will be discovered in relation to Tutankhamun / Queen Nefertiti’s tomb, why the Nubians have been under-studied and how the ancient Egyptian civilisation started to decline. I was lucky enough to visit Egypt last year as part of a tour group with the company, TopDeck. Whilst I would always recommend that you take every safety precaution needed when visiting Egypt, I would highly recommend visiting in this way, as my experience put simply was incredible. This was because not only did you feel safe, but you also had great local Egyptian guides on hand to point out the things you would otherwise overlook. You also don’t have to worry about food or transport as that’s all taken care of and you get to make some great friends along the journey. So it might sound cliché but Egypt truly is a magical place and you really can’t appreciate something like the Great Pyramid Of Giza or The Valley Of The Kings or sailing The Nile until you actually see and experience it. As Dominic says in the podcast “Slightly more than 50% of human history has involved the Egyptians” and there’s something I find so profound about that. The more and more I learn about the Egyptians, the more I feel I learn about human nature and ourselves. War, Economies, Cities, Monarchy… all of these things are still present today and by looking back to the Egyptians who have had the rule of the roost for most of human history thus far, there is a tremendous amount we can learn. I remember when I was in school there was a quote on the door of the history classroom that said, “History isn't just the past, it's our guide to the present and the future”. Whilst I certainly didn’t appreciate it at the time, as I look at the world around me today I think there is a great deal we can learn from history, not just in the mistakes we’ve made but the successes as well. The story of the ancient Egyptians is one that will be told for as long as we exist; obviously, with a history stretching over thousands of years that story could never be fully told in one podcast episode. But I hope you enjoy this podcast and discover some things along the way (I certainly did), thank you again to Dominic for being a guest on Wonder Junkie and if you enjoy this episode, a review on iTunes or Stitcher as always is greatly appreciated. To find out more and listen to the History Of Egypt Podcast, head to - http://www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com
