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

The book was written by an archaeologist, ardent archaeology advocate and self-promoter, and head of Egypt's Supreme Council of the Antiquities. Written for children it has a conversational tone; the author sometimes refers to himself in the first person when he is discussing his own investigations. The illustrations are outstanding: photographs of artifacts, reproductions of the original photographs of the discovery, or images of Hawass himself or other people and places connected with Tutankhamun's tomb. There is one facial reconstruction of Tutankhamun, displaying full lips, a nearly shaven head, and eyepaint. There are seven brief chapters in the 64 page book, discussing the author's own life in archaeology, the discovery of the show more tomb by Howard Carter, the history of Egypt before Tutankhamun, his brief life as member of the royal house and then pharaoh, his death and burial and the aftermath of usurpation and oblivion, then finally the discovery, and Hawass's own investigations, aided by the modern technology of the day. The real archaeologist peeps through here and there, as the author shows how much of the story of Tutankhamun's life is conjecture and speculation. An all around excellent work. show less

There are many books that focus on the discovery of King Tut's tomb, but there do not seem to be as many about the life of the Boy King himself. This book begins with a chapter on Howard Carter's discovery of King Tut's tomb, but then backtracks to give context of what was going on in Egypt before Tutankhamun was born, followed by chapters on his life, death and burial, and what happened in Egypt afterwards. The author is an Egyptian archeologist and his enthusiasm for his topic practically leaps off of the page. Reasoning behind current and rejected theories of aspects of the Boy King's life (and death) are woven into the narration, but the author does not hesitate to point out that there is still much that we do not know and have yet show more to find out. This book not only serves as a resource about King Tutankhamun, but also an demonstration on how archaeologists think. show less

Tutankhamun, as cheesy as this may be, is one of my favorite pharaohs to talk about when discussing Ancient Egypt. This book was very insightful about the boy king and Howard Carter’s famous discovery. I had visited the Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh at the California Science Center twice, and I was enthralled each time by the magnificence of the artifacts. The book was very detailed and clear, and I highly recommend it if you can get your hands on it:

Written for children, the text is by Zahi Hawass, the retired director of the Giza Plateau in the Dept. of Antiquities, a person who has had access to sites and artifacts beyond most other archaeologists. Accompanied by many color photographs and some interesting X-rays, Hawass includes the latest knowledge of the boy king, Tutankhamen.