Welcome to the first episode of our new series! Presented by historian, Professor Bettany Hughes, and maritime archaeologist, Dr Lucy Blue who journey across the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. In this episode we explore Wadi El Jarf, the site of the oldest known artificial sea harbour in the world. Located on the Red Sea of Egypt, it was built about 4500 years ago.  It reveals around 30 caves housing finds including amazingly preserved dismantled wooden boats, rigging material, and a papyrus archive, consisting of the oldest known papyrus in the world, that tells the story of the site. The site was built during the 4th Dynasty, around the time of the Pharaoh Khufu, who built the Great Pyramid of Giza. The papyri found on the site contain daily logbooks and for the first time ever, allow us to hear from individual workers. Bettany speaks to the site director to find out more about what they found and what this can tell us about the ancient Egyptians and Lucy chats with the lead underwater archaeologist to discover more about the ancient artificial harbour.

#WorldArchaeologyDay