A Harvard Egyptologist Explains the Historical Accuracy of ‘Assassin’s Creed: Origins’

The Assassin’s Creed games are history porn. Players take control of a character during a historical period such as the French Revolution or London during the Industrial Revolution then murder their way through its famous figures.

Developer Ubisoft is so proud of the historical research that goes into each game it even added a non-assassination focused discovery tour mode to Assassin’s Creed: Origins. History nerds can use it to explore Ptolemaic Egypt and learn about its wonders and personalities without having to kill or sneak.

But these are still just video games. How accurate are they, really? According to Harvard Egyptologist Peter Der Manuelian, pretty damn accurate. Der Manuelian spoke with the History Respawned podcast, a show that asks historians to consider video games, and broke down the hidden history of Origins architecture, death cults, and political strife.