The Mysterious Death of Tutankhamun - Hardcover

Doherty, Paul

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0786710756 ISBN 13: 9780786710751

Publisher: Carroll & Graf, 2002

Synopsis

What—or who—really caused the death of Egypt’s splendid young king? More than 3,000 years after his death, the entire civilized world is familiar with the face and burial site of one very special young Egyptian ruler, whose fabulous burial treasure represents one of the Ancient World’s most glorious and successful civilizations. It is assumed he died of natural causes. But how did he really die? In this exciting and thought-provoking account of the life and death of Tutankhamun, the basis for a new two-part Discovery Channel documentary airing in fall 2002, Paul Doherty reveals how King Tut’s famous calm and beautiful death mask conceals a story of bloody intrigue at the Egyptian court. The boy-king came to the throne when religious dissent threatened the vast empire and died mysteriously at the age of only eighteen. Was he secretly assassinated by the powerful cabal that ran the court and the country? Could the powerful first minister, Ay, have murdered him to seize the pharonic crown for himself? What part did Ankhesenamun, Ay’s granddaughter, and Tutankhamun’s beautiful queen, play in the court’s intrigues? And what about the hurried burial in a virtually unmarked grave—was it to conceal the evidence of fatal head wounds? Doherty believes that modern research, coupled with the original testimony of Howard Carter, the archaeologist who discovered the tomb, can answer all these questions and present an even more fascinating scenario. He offers important new theories about Tutankhamun, both as a man and a Pharaoh, and an illuminating explanation of the intrigue that surrounded his sudden and untimely end. Color photographs add to this intriguing investigation into the death of Egypt's most famous Pharoah.

About this title

About the Author

Paul Doherty is the internationally renowned author of many histories and historical novels. He studied history at Liverpool and Oxford universities, and gained a Doctorate at Oxford. He is now headmaster of a London school and lives near Epping Forest.

From Publishers Weekly

Although the glorious riches of the young King Tutankhamun's tomb have been displayed in museums around the world, his death at age 18 remains shrouded in secrecy. Why was his burial so hasty? Why was he buried initially in a storeroom rather than in a splendid pharaonic tomb? Why did he die at such a young age? British historical novelist Doherty (The Mask of Ra) answers these and other questions in a splendid historical thriller. He skillfully re-creates the political intrigue, the religious controversy and the military exploits of Egypt's 18th Dynasty as he searches for clues to Tut's mysterious death and burial. Some scholars have theorized that Ay, Tut's vice-regent, murdered Tut in order to gain the throne for himself. Others have implicated Tut's wife in a murder plot. Combing through a mountain of archeological evidence, Doherty concludes that Tut likely suffered from Marfan's syndrome, a disease that causes tissues and vital organs to deteriorate, leading to blindness and physical as well as mental weakness. According to Doherty, such a condition would explain why Tut's tomb contains 413 walking sticks and why many of the tomb's drawings portray him as frail and lethargic. Doherty points out that Tut's death gave rise to a hasty and not altogether proper burial because Ay wanted to keep the king's death a secret from Horemheb, the military commander, so that Ay could assume the throne unimpeded. Zestfully told, Doherty's historical reconstruction of Tut's death is a first-rate page-turner. Color photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Carroll & Graf
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0786710756
• ISBN 13: 9780786710751
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256