Garry Shaw

The subtitle to this work, "An Archaeological Study..." conjures up the image of an exhaustive and tedious examination of pottery fragments and arrowheads. Nothing could be further from the truth. "War and Trade with the Pharaohs" is an entertaining, often witty, overview of Egyptian history with the focus on foreign trade, diplomacy, and war. Dr. Shaw shows us how Egypt interacted with its neighbors, enemies, and trading partners, but through these interactions gives us insight into the show more nature of Egyptian civilization and the personalities of its rulers. "War and Trade with the Pharaohs" is perfectly suitable for the general reader and would serve admirably as an introduction to Egyptian history in general, especially for readers interested in military affairs. show less

A hundred years ago, the discovery of ‘King Tut’s Tomb’ set the world on fire. All things Egyptian became the rage, impacting architecture, fashion, design, and even the movies.

Just over 200 pages long, with forty illustrations, The Story of King Tutankhamun was an enjoyable introduction. The story begins with Tutankhamun’s parents, Akhenaten and Nefertiti. They had changed Egypt completely, building a new capital and religious center and commanding worship of the sun disk god, show more sidelining other traditional gods. After their deaths, a daughter briefly ruled before Tutankhamun became pharaoh at age 10. There was a backlash against his father’s rule; the capital was returned to its previous city and the old gods rose to prominence again. Akhenaten and Nefertiti were literally erased from history, their images defaced.

The pharaoh was the chief priest. He led the religious ceremonies for the country. Born Tutankhaten, he even changed his name to Tutankhamun to show he was the son of Amun, the creator god who created all the other gods, not Aten the sun disk who his father worshipped as the source of all life.

I can’t help but wonder how Tutankhamun felt. Did he have a lack of real power? Was he an inexperienced youth who couldn’t stand up to the demands of those who had been dispossessed and were now eager to regain what they had lost? Or, did he truly believe that the abandoned gods had forsaken Egypt and left it weaker? What we do know is that his face was now the face of the Amun.

The child king married a half-sister. The lack of viable pregnancies left them without an heir. Not until Ramses was a pharaonic line reestablished. After his death, Tutankhamun was sidelined as his parents were, buried in a borrowed tomb, with a repurposed gold mask, his images defaced.

The story of how Howard Carter, funded by Lord Carnarvon, searched for Tut’s tomb, and discovered it, and the treasures therein, is legendary. Shaw addresses the legendary curse and the appropriation of Egyptian artifacts. The biography traces the legacy of Tut into contemporary times, such as the exhibit of reproductions of Tutankhamen’s tomb treasures and the “Immersive King Tut” exhibit that came to Detroit.

Shaw includes imagined scenes from the pharaohs life, and describes in detail his education and other activities. I loved the description of the woven clothing he wore, the descriptions of the ceremonies and processions, the banquets and hunting trips, learning how his tomb was robbed and hastily restored.

The book is a nice introduction to this most well known pharaoh, and is appropriate for YA readers as well as adults.

I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased. show less

The Story of Tutankhamun
An Intimate Life of the Boy who Became King
by Garry J. Shaw

This is an amazing and very informative book bringing the young king alive again for a short time so we can visually picture his life and death as if we were there. It's been 100 years since the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb and this book tells us his life before death, why he was buried there, how it was hidden, and the many things we have learned in the last 100 years.

Some things we may have had wrong at show more times then new discoveries helped explain things further. New medical devices have helped greatly too! No, he was not murdered! But he was chronically ill. He was also born with a club foot causing him to use a cane all his life.

He and the Aye, the man who took over after Tut died, had their names and faces obliterated by the ruler after Aye. So King Tutankhamun was never to be known or see again. He was erased from history. But after Carter found his tomb, King Tut is the most famous king from Egypt! Even little kids know about him! Boy did that backfire on that ruler!

This book is exceptionally laid out and middle grade kids will enjoy and learn from this book but adults will love it too! It's presented wonderfully! I love this history period of Egypt and this book is well researched and very informative! Loved it!

I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for letting me read this awesome book! show less

British Egyptologist Garry J. Shaw provides a commendable overview of ancient Egyptian history, with an emphasis on relations with the surrounding regions. As an introduction, this is really okay, maybe even a little too detailed. But this has not become a truly global history, in the sense that has been popular since the 1990s.
Shaw mainly focuses on the relations of Ancient Egypt with Nubia in the south, and with the Levant in the northwest. That’s a bit of a limitation. And his story show more gets bogged down in a long list of archaeological finds, expeditions and campaigns. All fascinating, certainly, but I still look forward to a synthetic study that exposes the connections, interactions and intertwinings for the entire Ancient Near East. More about that in my History account on goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5602575902. show less