It’s often thought that the story of Tutankhamun ended when the thousands of dazzling items discovered by Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon were transported to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo and put on display. But there is far more to the boy-king's story. In an exciting new look at the life and tomb of King Tutankhamun, Bob Brier, a specialist in ancient Egypt, explores the 100 years of research on Tutankhamun that have taken place since the tomb's discovery in 1922.
Taking participants behind the scenes, Brier shares CT-scans of Tutankhamun's mummy that reveal more secrets of the young pharaoh, including that he may have been a warrior who went into battle. He also examines the vicissitudes suffered by the boy-king's mummy, the story of the curse, and the many marvelous and ordinary objects found in the only intact monarch’s tomb to be found in the Valley of the Kings.
Brier also illuminates how the discovery of the tomb influenced Egyptian politics and contributed to the downfall of colonialism in Egypt. Outside Egypt, the modern blockbuster exhibitions that raise great sums of monies for museums around the world all began with Tutankhamun, as did the idea of documenting every object discovered in place before it was moved. And to a great extent, the modern fascination with ancient “Egyptomania” was also greatly promoted by the “Tutmania” that surrounded the world's greatest archaeological discovery.
Brier is a senior research fellow at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University, whose books include The Murder of Tutankhamun, Egyptomania, Ancient Egypt, and with Jean-Pierre Houdin, The Secret of the Great Pyramid.
His book Tutankhamun and the Tomb that Changed the World (Oxford University Press) is available for purchase.
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