The Tomb of Tutankhamun Vol. I: The Discovery

 "Let me try and tell the story of it all. It will not be easy, for the dramatic suddenness of the initial discovery left me in a dazed condition, and the months that have followed have been so crowded with incident that I have hardly had time to think."

Among the hundreds of books written about ancient Egypt and Tutankhamen, you won't find an equal to Howard Carter's powerful book about his discovery. His great work in many ways remained unfinished. 

He left us, however, this remarkable document of discovery. The book is Carter's personal story of the greatest adventure of his life--one that has not been surpassed in nearly a century of archaeology. 

In 1904, retired American lawyer, Theodore Davis, famously declared that The Valley of the Kings in Thebes had given up all of its secrets, leaving nothing more to be discovered. He relinquished his exclusive rights to dig in The Valley. 

But as Howard Carter states in this volume, "The history of The Valley has never lacked the dramatic element." Some 18 years later, Carter made the richest archaeological discovery in history within yards of where Davis had dug. 

The world immediately became obsessed with everything Tutankhamen. From architecture, to household goods, to fashion, a early 20th-century surge in fascination with ancient Egypt took hold across the globe. 

Howard Carter, too, had been obsessed with finding Tut. The discovery would consume the rest of Carter's life. After becoming known to the world, Howard Carter died in relative obscurity in 1939. 

This is not a dry scientific treatment of the excavation or the artifacts. What he imparts with this book is a sense of excitement, wonder, and mystery set expertly into a concise context of history and Egyptology, captivating layperson and specialist alike, young or old. 

Intertwining notes on Egyptian gods, religion, mythology, and magic, Carter spins an alluring real-life tale, setting the context for Egyptian history and Tutankamun.