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Tutankhamun knew that death did not have to be the end. But in order to achieve an afterlife, he had to be remembered. If he were to be forgotten - if all trace of him was erased from the living world - he would die the second death from which there could be no return. This was a fate too horrible to leave to chance. Throughout his reign Tutankhamun worked to impose his presence on his land so that his story might be remembered by generations to come...
About the author
Joyce Tyldesley OBE holds a first class honours degree in archaeology from Liverpool University, and a doctorate from Oxford University. She is currently Professor of Egyptology at the University of Manchester, and Honorary Fellow at the Manchester Museum. She has acted as consultant on several television projects and has excavated extensively in Egypt and Europe. Her books include a sequence of popular biographies of Egyptian pharaohs, with particular emphasis on the lives of prominent Egyptian women.
Summary
Pharaoh.
Icon.
Enigma.
Lost for three thousand years, misunderstood for a century.
A hundred years ago, a team of archaeologists in the Valley of the Kings made a remarkable discovery: a near-complete royal burial, an ancient mummy, and golden riches beyond imagination. The lost tomb of Tutankhamun ignited a media frenzy, propelled into overdrive by rumours of a deadly ancient curse. But amid the hysteria, many stories - including that of Tutankhamun himself - were distorted or forgotten.
Tutankhamun: Pharaoh, Icon, Enigma takes a familiar tale and turns on its head. Leading Egyptologist Joyce Tyldesley has gathered ten unique perspectives together for the first time, including that of the teenage pharaoh and his family, ancient embalmers and tomb robbers, famous Western explorers and forgotten Egyptian archaeologists. It's a journey that spans from ancient Thebes in 1336 BCE, when a young king on a mission to restore his land met an unexpected and violent end, to modern Luxor in 1922 CE when the tomb's discovery led to a fight over ownership that continues to this day.
Above all, this is the story of Tutankhamun, as he would have wanted to be remembered. Piecing together three thousand years of evidence and unpicking the misunderstandings that surround Egypt's most famous king, this book offers a vital reappraisal on his life, death and enduring legacy.
Foreword
A hundred years after Tutankhamun's tomb was rediscovered, leading Egyptologist Joyce Tyldesley shares ten unique perspectives on the pharaoh's life, death and enduring legacy.
