Paperback. White title and Egyptian figures on the black cover.

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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 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 resplendent 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 discrepancies 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.