What do you think?
Rate this book
Private Lives of the Pharaohs: Unlocking the Secrets of Egyptian Royalty
The Private Lives of the Pharaohs
Hardcover
First published January 1, 2000
189 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 19, 2026
I don't recall watching the original TV series on which this book is based - UK Channel 4, 25+ years ago. It sounds like the sort of documentary I would have watched, yet there is nothing in my worn out memory now. I am assuming the book follows the format of the TV series: finding and analyzing the builders of the pyramids on the Giza Plateau and earlier; the discovery and further research into the tomb and mummy of Tutankhamen; and the research into the mummy of a lady known as Asru, possibly a singer and musician at the pharaonic court in the Third Intermediate Period of the accepted Egyptian chronology (1000-500BCE).
The whole of the book is interesting, Joyce Tyldesley is after all a skilled writer as well as a respected Egyptologist, but it is the final section which brings old Egypt to life. Building the pyramids and finding Tutankhamen are tales that have been told and retold, but getting down into the lower orders of the Egyptian hierarchy - not much further down as Asru would never have considered herself a part of the menial substratum of Pharaonic society - is where the interest lies. The lack of wear and callouses on the hands, fingers and feet of her preserved body indicate a life of some social ease. Even so, as the author points out, despite what appears to be a privileged position, Asru was prone in life to various parasitical infestations, painful tooth decay brought about by munching on bread made from imperfectly ground flour infused with grains of desert sand, and osteoarthritis - I know what that last part feels like.
I am sure the TV series was livelier than the book. However, I do not underestimate the work involved in producing the volume. It is a very interesting read, just don't read it in isolation from the original inspiration.
The whole of the book is interesting, Joyce Tyldesley is after all a skilled writer as well as a respected Egyptologist, but it is the final section which brings old Egypt to life. Building the pyramids and finding Tutankhamen are tales that have been told and retold, but getting down into the lower orders of the Egyptian hierarchy - not much further down as Asru would never have considered herself a part of the menial substratum of Pharaonic society - is where the interest lies. The lack of wear and callouses on the hands, fingers and feet of her preserved body indicate a life of some social ease. Even so, as the author points out, despite what appears to be a privileged position, Asru was prone in life to various parasitical infestations, painful tooth decay brought about by munching on bread made from imperfectly ground flour infused with grains of desert sand, and osteoarthritis - I know what that last part feels like.
I am sure the TV series was livelier than the book. However, I do not underestimate the work involved in producing the volume. It is a very interesting read, just don't read it in isolation from the original inspiration.
November 17, 2019
I expected the content to better match the title but maybe that’s what you get from a publishing outfit called “TV Books”
July 17, 2024
I have read since finishing this book, that is was the companion to a TV series - it feels like it is.
This is really a 3 subject book with the overall subject being Ancient Egypt. The first part covers the pyramids and ideas of how they were built and how the people building them lived.
The second part is about the age of Amarna and Tutankhamen. The final section is about a mummy going through a modern (at the time of writing which was in 2000) medical examination to see how an upper class, long lived woman lived and died.
This is a great way to get started on Egyptian history, beyond lists of famous pharaohs and what they built. It is light reading, a bit of detail without getting bogged down in jargo, but still informative. I have to try and find the series now to see how it compares for detail.
I would recommend this book to anyone after a bit more depth in their Egyptian research, but without reading an archeological textbook.
This is really a 3 subject book with the overall subject being Ancient Egypt. The first part covers the pyramids and ideas of how they were built and how the people building them lived.
The second part is about the age of Amarna and Tutankhamen. The final section is about a mummy going through a modern (at the time of writing which was in 2000) medical examination to see how an upper class, long lived woman lived and died.
This is a great way to get started on Egyptian history, beyond lists of famous pharaohs and what they built. It is light reading, a bit of detail without getting bogged down in jargo, but still informative. I have to try and find the series now to see how it compares for detail.
I would recommend this book to anyone after a bit more depth in their Egyptian research, but without reading an archeological textbook.
August 30, 2024
Solid. Nice pictures. Not watered down too much. Met expectations.
July 16, 2025
Very enjoyable, good introduction into some of Egypt's big topics about the pyramids, Tutankhamen and mumyfication
September 25, 2012
Joyce Tyldesley's Private Lives of the Pharaohs contains three case studies on Ancient Egypt. These deal with the most popular topics within Ancient Egypt: the mystery of the pyramids, the boy-king Tutankhamun, and mummies.
The book was published as a companion to a documentary series. I don't recall watching it, so I can't say whether the book is anyway more or less informative for those who did see it. Still, the fact I haven't watched it should be a point in the book's favour, yes?
I found the section on Arsu, the mummy that is "unwrapped" and studied using a variety of new technologies including CT scans and facial reconstruction, the most interesting and new to me. It's not often that we get to see an ordinary individual "up close" in this way.
The other case studies are a little less interesting. It's not because Tyldesley does a poor job representing them, or that the subject is totally boring. I just feel that I'm too familiar with their topics and there's not enough space for Tyldesley to really explore them. Sometimes, I felt that parts were just a reiteration of something I had already seen in a documentary or read in a book. Other times, Tyldesley would mention something that I wanted more detail on (e.g. the DNA tests on Thutmose III and the early DNA testing on the foetuses found in Tutankhamun's tomb), but it wasn't provided.
Still, if you don't know a lot about Ancient Egypt, you probably won't be bothered by that.
Tyldesley has produced another fascinating read and excellent resource on Ancient Egypt, but more knowledgeable readers might not find this as fulfilling as her other books.
The book was published as a companion to a documentary series. I don't recall watching it, so I can't say whether the book is anyway more or less informative for those who did see it. Still, the fact I haven't watched it should be a point in the book's favour, yes?
I found the section on Arsu, the mummy that is "unwrapped" and studied using a variety of new technologies including CT scans and facial reconstruction, the most interesting and new to me. It's not often that we get to see an ordinary individual "up close" in this way.
The other case studies are a little less interesting. It's not because Tyldesley does a poor job representing them, or that the subject is totally boring. I just feel that I'm too familiar with their topics and there's not enough space for Tyldesley to really explore them. Sometimes, I felt that parts were just a reiteration of something I had already seen in a documentary or read in a book. Other times, Tyldesley would mention something that I wanted more detail on (e.g. the DNA tests on Thutmose III and the early DNA testing on the foetuses found in Tutankhamun's tomb), but it wasn't provided.
Still, if you don't know a lot about Ancient Egypt, you probably won't be bothered by that.
Tyldesley has produced another fascinating read and excellent resource on Ancient Egypt, but more knowledgeable readers might not find this as fulfilling as her other books.
December 8, 2014
Eh, this was just okay. I think my biggest problem was that when I bought this book, I didn't realize it was published in 2000. The book is based on a television series about the lives of the pharaohs, and either I saw parts of it, or else I've seen more recent shows on the same subjects. There's a lot of good research being done right now at the intersection of archaeology with science and technology, and this book is just out of date. It focused on three "case studies": Case One looks at how they built the pyramids, which I'm sure I saw a special on the History Channel about. Case Two looks at mummies, especially 18th dynasty guys like Tut and Ahkhenaten, using DNA and new technology to see if they had genetic diseases (ie, evidence of inbreeding) and just to see how Tut was related to the preceding kings. I feel like a lot of this information was covered in the really good Nefertiti documentary that was on a few years ago. Case Three (the most interesting one for me) examines the mummy of a female temple singer to see what her life was like. There's no evidence that she used any hallucinogenic drugs, but she had parasites and arthritis and abcesses in her teeth and all kinds of stuff, which shows that it was hard to be healthy even for the upper classes. Conclusion: interesting, but I could have just watched the Discovery channel for a while instead.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews