His mattock clinks on something and he calls to his colleague,
who joins him in the pit, brushing away the sand to reveal a small statue. It’s
an astonishing discovery.
Except that you have to wonder how contrived the
setup is, given that the camera crew is already down in the pit with the two
men, zooming in on their expressions of wonderment as the dust, which has
remained undisturbed for centuries, lifts into the air.
There are a lot of moments like this in
Netflix’s “Secrets of the Saqqara Tomb” documentary, as a small team of
Egyptian archaeologists uncover a tomb that has been untouched for 4,400 years,
leading to a glut of further discoveries and some staggering breakthroughs with
regards to ancient Egyptian culture.
the team racing against the end of the
season – appear cultivated to sprinkle extra drama on this remarkable film,
they are easily forgotten when the filmmakers, led by director James Tovell,
focus on the team, and their connection to Egypt’s ancient history.
Despite being blessed with no shortage of
incredible moments of discovery, “Secrets of the Saqqara Tomb” is at its most
remarkably moving when the local workforce and experts are given the
opportunity to explain just how and why this history resonates so intently.
Whether it’s digger Ghareeb sharing a rest break with his son, Dr. Amira Shaheen
being moved to tears as she tries to empathize with long-dead Egyptians, or
foreman Mustafa finding kinship with his ancestors in their use of the same
tools, it is these human interactions, and the palpable excitement of the
exhausted workers as treasure after treasure is pulled from the sand, that
linger longest in the memory.
And those special examples of human connection
that make it easy to forgive the more contrived moments.
Source:arabnews
