William de Rimpel

Really, really wonderful.

It's short, but absolutely brilliant.

is all about one of the most beautiful and easily recognisable women of all ancient history, Nefertiti.

If you want early access to that, then join the Empire Club at empirepoduk.com and you'll get exclusive access to our fantastic bonus on The Curse of Tutankhamen's Tomb.

And goodbye from me, William Gielgud Drimple.

3,400 years ago, an Egyptian pharaoh detonated the most radical religious revolution in human history.

His name was Akhenaten.

His queen is the most famous face in all of ancient Egypt.

Her name was Nefertiti.

And his son, a boy of eight or nine who inherited his father's kingdom, was called Tutankhamen.

And we begin today with the world that Akhenaten was about to shatter.

Because one of the things that makes this revolution so extraordinary and so violent in its cultural implications is how magnificent and how stable the world before it seemed to be.

Egypt's treasury overflowed with Nubian gold.

Its armies were undefeated.

Its pharaoh corresponded as a brother with the other mighty rulers of the age.

And we know all of this in intimate, extraordinary detail because of one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of the 19th century, which we will be discussing today.

And I'm William de Rimpel.

And our guest today needs no introduction, although we will, of course, now introduce him, because he is one of our very, very favourite historians and archaeologists whose previous appearance produced an audience that we've never had for an ancient series ever before.

The great Eric Klein.

Welcome back.