What they know is a rich myth, a construct compounded of school, Hollywood, and tourism, and sealed in its own bubble. Virtually nothing is known about modern Egypt or times since the pharaohs, and there is no desire to know. There are no ordinary humans in people s perceptions of ancient Egypt, and no understanding of the intimacies of daily life. It is a shock to consider that the Egyptians might have been black. This is alienating to white audiences.
Black audiences are keen to see their cultural capital restored.
The Egyptians are too remote to pose moral difficulties for archaeologists. There is no colonial guilt, except perhaps for expatriating artefacts. Modern Egyptians are largely perceived as a regrettably interfering with the view of the ancient landscape. Children s responses to ancient Egypt Children are bubbling over with thoughts about Egypt, tumbling over themselves to talk about what they know. Everything Egyptian is bursting with life.