Tutankhamun: The Mystery of the Boy King (Crossroads America) - Hardcover

Hawass, Zahi

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0792283546 ISBN 13: 9780792283546

Publisher: National Geographic Children's Books, 2005

Synopsis

Mysterious boy king Tutankhamun returns to the U.S. in 2008, bringing rare treasures never before seen outside Egypt. For the millions of fans wanting a keepsake and chronicle of this magnificent new exhibition, this book will delight. Created by world-renowned art historians under the guidance of Zahi Hawass—director of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities and a well-known media personality—it surveys 3,000 years of ancient Egyptian history by focusing on the lives and lifestyles of great pharaohs. Master photographer Sandro Vannini spotlights every dazzling artifact, using an innovative technique that makes the image jump off the page. The book’s design echoes the exhibition, grouping objects representing family life, religious practices, funerary rituals, and gold. In each artifact—a queen’s eye makeup container, a likeness of a princess eating duck, a sarcophagus made for a prince’s cat—we glimpse the life of ancient Egyptian royalty: exotic and fascinating, yet so human. Gold gleams in a leopard-mask of gilded wood, a brilliant pendant bearing tiny goddesses, even the golden finger and toe covers of Tutankhamun himself, meant to protect his extremities in the afterlife. Featuring more than 120 treasures, a dozen evocative landscape and archaeology photos, and illuminating text, this book makes palpable the excitement, riches, and mysteries of ancient Egypt. It will be prominently displayed in all exhibition venues, and its contents will interest visitors to the show as well as Tut enthusiasts across the country.

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About this title

About the Author

Zahi Hawass, one of the foremost Egyptian archaeologists, is known throughout the world for his contributions to the understanding and preservation of Egypt’s heritage. Among his most important discoveries are the Tombs of the Pyramid Builders at Giza and the Valley of the Golden Mummies in the Bahariya Oasis. Recently he led the team that identified the lost mummy of Queen Hatshepsut and, in 2005, he conducted a CT scan of Tut’s mummy. In 2006, he was chosen by Time magazine as one of the world’s 100 Most Influential People.

Reviews

Starred Review. Grade 3-7–Hawass, director of excavations at the Giza pyramids and head of Egypt's archaeological council, turns his attention to a perennial topic of curiosity. Combining scholarship and personality, he nimbly offers a solid summary, some of it necessarily conjectural, of the complex and controversial 18th dynasty in which Tut lived and avoids dry history by interjecting himself at times into the story. He recalls, for example, the beginnings of his own fascination with his country's history and surmises how Tut and his young wife might have felt at various times in their lives. Likewise, he examines the theory that Tut was murdered, including his own part in a CT scan of the king's mummy in early 2005 and concluding that the evidence points away from murder. The up-to-date nature of Hawass's text will not long matter, of course, but the accompanying photographs are timeless. Black-and-white shots from the past join rich color photographs that almost glow. Especially marvelous is a stunning re-creation, employing current reconstructive techniques, of what Tut might have looked like. If Hawass's style occasionally seems intrusive, this is a minor quibble in what is primarily a first-rate investigation enriched by beautiful artwork.–Coop Renner, Hillside Elementary, El Paso, TX
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Gr. 4-7. Just the name King Tut conjures up mystery and the excitement of discovery. Hawass, director of excavations at the Giza Pyramids and the Valley of the Golden Mummies, lends personal insight into the life, death, and burial of Tut and the unearthing of his tomb. Quite a bit is known about Tutankhamun (who was crowned when he was around age 9 and died under questionable circumstances some 10 years later): relatives, pastimes, religion, and children. The biggest question has been what killed him, and Hawass presents new information. A recent CAT scan on the boy-king's mummy revealed that Tut was not killed by a blow to the head, as many surmised. Hawass' personal commentary adds much and also detracts a little from the text (some of the writing is repetitious and awkwardly phrased), but his presence during many of the recent discoveries and excavations gives a you-are-there feel to the book. The photos are spectacular, so rich and vibrant that readers will want to reach out and touch. Pair this with Curse of the Pharaohs, also by Hawass (2004). Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: National Geographic Children's Books
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0792283546
• ISBN 13: 9780792283546
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 64