The Murder of Tutankhamen by Bob Brier
[image error]Summary:
Tutankhamen conjurs all the fascination that people have with Egypt. Ironically very little is known about the boy king.He was born in one of the most traumatictimes in Egypts 3000 year history. The nations religion was changed to montheism, as was the nations capital city. Leading egypotologist Bob Brier brings to life the dramatic story of Tutankhamen , the ” boy king ” who died mysteriously at the very young age of twenty.
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Phoenix (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd ) (April 1, 1999)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0753806754
ISBN-13: 978-0753806753
Review:
Bob Brier’s The Murder of Tutankhamen reads more like a mystery than a history book. Though, to be fair, a good 80% of it is a giant history lesson. Given that I’m a closet history fanatic and take supreme delight in what most would consider boring names and dates, I didn’t mind that one bit.
He begins with an autopsy of the 3,000 year old mummy, and notes that the body is still in the sarcophagus today, so when visitors tour King Tut’s tomb at the Valley of the Kings in Egypt, most don’t know that the actual body is still inside. Although Brier is an Egyptologist (and one which specializes in mummies), he relies heavily on other doctors examining X-Rays of the body.
As I stated, a majority of this book is history, as Brier says that we must investigate the circumstances of ancient Egypt surrounding Tutankhamen’s ascension to the position of Pharaoh at nine years old. Much of which focuses on Tutankhamen’s ancestors and the eighteenth dynasty of Egypt.
Egypt’s 18th Dynasty was filled with intrigue, and had led Egypt to ruin and back to grandeur. Tut’s father displaced their religion, nearly disbanded their army, and let Egypt’s finances and prestige dwindle so when he mysteriously died, the young nine year old Tutankhamen had to rely on viziers (Ancient Egypt’s version of politicians) to help him run the country. Namely, General Horemheb for the army and Vizier Aye for the priesthood.
Together, Brier targets these two for the alleged murder of King Tut (as well as a host of others in the royal family), so that they could control Egypt. Indeed, Brier paints a vivid picture and cites a combination of sources such as wall paintings, ancient communications between Tutankhamen’s widowed wife and the Hittites, and ancient jewelry unearthed to make his case.
However, 3,000 years is a long time to wait to discover a killer, and the only real evidence Brier has is the X-Ray, which everyone agrees concludes that King Tut was hit in the back of the head. Brier acknowledges that the X-Ray doesn’t mean someone struck him in the back of the head, Tut could have fallen and therefore, most of this work is circumstantial and must be taken with a grain of salt. The “evidence” Brier uses could be just confirmation bias, as even he admits towards the end that many Egyptology scholars of some renown do not agree with his conclusions (whether about the murder itself or the whodunit aspect).
On the whole, for those who enjoy history, it is a solid read and well written in a prose that isn’t too dense for the non academic. Plus, murder in a royal family is always a crowd-pleaser.
