Tutankhamen: life and death of a pharaoh

by Christiane Desroches-Noblecourt

Paper Book, 1963

Status

Available

Call number

932.01

Collections

Publication

Boston, Mass. : New York Graphic Society, 1976, c1963.

Description

This volume will occupy a place of honour in the future amongst the revelatory moments which history vouchsafes from time to time when it lifts for a moment the mysterious curtain which has hidden from our eyes a representative individual or a significant episode in man's experience. Could anything be more stirring to the imagination than the burial treasure of the romantic young king Tutankhamen who died prematurely after a short but sumptuous reign?

User reviews

LibraryThing member elliepotten
A thorough and fascinating insight into the life and death of one of the most famous and historically beloved Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt, the last child of the XVIIIth Dynasty.

The book opens with the 1922 discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb by Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon, and some background detail
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on the Valley of the Kings, the rulers of the dynasty, and other archaeological finds both previous and contemporary. The reader is then guided through Tutankhamen's tomb, just as the team uncovered it, through each room and the resplendant treasures within, in a detailed and shining inventory. It does grow a little tiresome in its excessiveness, but there were enough illustrations to keep me on track and make it exciting nonetheless. The author also uses this section to mention some of the mysteries and descrepancies surrounding certain objects and their positions inside the tomb, adding depth and intrigue to what could have become a monotonous catalogue.

From here we are taken back to the start of the heretic period, to the lives and reigns of Amenophis III and Akhenaten, the Heretic King of Amarna, then into the life and reign of Tutankhamen himself. This is perhaps the most dynamic and easily-read part of the book, and also provides a valuable background to the subsequent extensive sections on his death and mummification, and explanations of the funerary objects and rites which would immortalise the dead king and ease his passage into eternal life.

This is fairly exhaustive and occasionally repetitive, but it is ultimately a worthwhile and absorbing, even moving account of the child pharaoh's brave reign and tragically youthful demise, and the determination of his faithful followers to protect him into eternity.
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LibraryThing member mmpvppl
Fascinating story about an egyptian pharaoh and a bit of history also. It's amazing what has been learned by studying the tombs. The photos are very cool and this book left me wanting to learn more about the history of Egypt and the pharaohs. Grades 4 and up.

Language

Original publication date

1963

ISBN

0821206958 / 9780821206959

Local notes

FB

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