The Complete Tutankhamun

Description

A fully updated and revised edition of a classic bestseller: the definitive guide to Tutankhamun and his tomb - what it contained, why, and what it means today. On 4 November 1922, Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter's long search in Egypt's Valley of the Kings drew to a triumphant close: Tutankhamun's tomb had been found. As news of the discovery spread, and as images of the breathtaking treasures began to circulate, this once-obscure pharaoh would capture the imagination of the entire world. A hundred years on, and both the fascination and the drama continue. Scientific research has pushed forward, and the results have been impressive: the tomb's ground-plan and setting are now fully remapped; CT-scanning and aDNA have begun to shed their unique light on Tutankhamun in life and in death; super-accurate recordings have been secured of the Burial Chamber's decorated walls; and we possess at last high-quality photography of Pharaoh's possessions. Our access to Carnarvon and Carter's extraordinary find is greater today than it has ever been, and from this fuller evidence comes one new realization among many - that both the tomb and its treasures had been intended for someone else. In this new edition of his landmark book Egyptologist Nicholas Reeves revisits Tutankhamun in the context of his time, the excavators in the context of theirs, and every aspect, old and new, of the tomb's discovery, archaeology, architecture and art. If what was discovered in 1922 had the ability to amaze, then what has been discovered since will simply astonish.

Nicholas Reeves is an Egyptologist specializing in the history and material culture of the Amarna period and its immediate aftermath. He has held curatorial positions at the British Museum in London and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and worked extensively as an archaeologist both in and around the tomb of Tutankhamun. He is the author of several books, including Akhenaten: Egypt's False Prophet and The Complete Valley of the Kings, both published by Thames & Hudson.

'This new, revamped edition is magnificent ... Represents the closest thing available to a comprehensive archaeological report, including details of the search for and discovery of the tomb, the tomb structure itself, and the artefacts found ... and illustrated in full colour throughout' - Minerva 'A beautifully illustrated look at Tutankhamun's rule and a comprehensive study of all the treasures found' - Mail on Sunday 'Visually stunning ... this is the perfect book for the general reader. [Reeves] has an engaging style, the presentation is accessible, the vintage photographs intriguing and the artefacts from the Pharaoh's treasure trove just make the head spin' - Saga