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"A thrilling history of the West's scramble for the riches of ancient Egypt by the foremost Egyptologist of our time. From the decipherment of hieroglyphics in 1822 to the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb by Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon a hundred years later, the uncovering of Egypt's ancient past took place in an atmosphere of grand adventure and international rivalry. In A World Beneath the Sands, the acclaimed Egyptologist Toby Wilkinson chronicles the ruthless race between the British, French, Germans and Americans to lay claim to its mysteries and treasures. He tells the riveting stories of the men and women whose obsession with Egypt's ancient civilization helped to enrich and transform our understanding of the Nile Valley and its people, and left a lasting impression on Egypt, too. Travelers and treasure-hunters, ethnographers and archaeologists: whatever their motives, whatever their methods, a century of adventure and scholarship revealed a lost world, buried for centuries beneath the sands"--… (more)
User reviews
A substantial amount of research went into this book. It would have been a lot less dry and more interesting had the author decided to talk more about the antiquities themselves and not the finders.
In 1822 the Frenchman Champollion deciphered the three identical inscriptions on the Rosetta Stone, one each in Greek, demotic and hieroglyphs. This allowed us to read and understand the enormous number of inscriptions on monuments all across Egypt. The deep age of ancient Egyptian history, stretching back thousands of years, and our ability to build both a detailed chronology and make connections between the different locations and monuments across Egypt galvanised the scientific community and created an enduring scientific and popular interest in the subject.
Five countries vied for dominance in opening up and understanding Egypt’s history. Initially, the British and French battled for cultural hegemony. In the mid-19th century Germany entered the field. At the end of the century America wanted to show their cultural and scientific chops. Belatedly, in the early part of the 20th century, Egypt wanted to establish its own national identity by controlling Egyptology for the Egyptians.
Against all of this, Wilkinson introduces the key players at each stage, making clear what their individual contribution to the furtherance of understanding of ancient Egypt was. Many of these people were obsessive and, like all obsessives, were given to strange ways. Wilkinson’s examination of these peoples lives adds enormously to the colour of the overall story.
An excellent book about Egyptology rather than Egypt, ancient or modern.