The Treasures of Tutankhamun

by Jaromir Malek

Explaining Tutankhamun's background and the role of the Pharaoh, "The Treasures of Tutankhamun" shows how Egypt became a source of fascination for those in the West. Using photographs, drawings and diagrams from the original expedition, it brings to life the excitement and wonderment that Carter and Carnarvon must have felt upon opening the tomb. It also describes the painstaking efforts that were taken as they and their team slowly investigated the wealth of objects that had lain hidden for centuries. It also addresses its impact on the study of Egyptology and the more far-reaching effects it has had.

Genres: History, Ancient History, Nonfiction, Archaeology

64 pages, Hardcover

First published September 30, 2006

About the author

Jaromir Málek is an Egyptologist, formerly archivist of the Griffith Institute of Sackler Library in the Faculty of Oriental Studies at the University of Oxford, and editor of Topographical Bibliography, 1968–2011.

Reviews

[Linh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most beautiful books I own. I loved learning about the discovery of King Tutankhamen’a tomb with a treasure trove of pictures, facsimile of journal entries, and item cards to discover within the pages. It feels like I have a personal guide with me while visiting the artifacts in a museum. Jaromir Malek is incredibly knowledgeable about this topic and presents in a way that is easy to absorb and is truly fascinating for Egyptology newbs like me.

I’d highly recommend this book to any Egyptologist fans, or just anyone who wants to learn about King Tut.

[Edmund · Rating 4 out of 5]

This beautifully produced book on the discovery and contents of the tomb of Tutankhamen is a recent addition to my own library.

[Sam Bakos · Rating 3 out of 5]

✨Review time✨-The Treasures of Tutankhamun
Is it my own fault that I had big expectations for this ? Well it's fine it's just not exactly what I've expected and it's riddled with mistakes. The book itself is about the archaeological expedition into Egypt by Carter and his rediscovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun. The book is however more concerned with the archaeologists themselves more then Egyptian culture or history, so be aware of that going into it, because I wasn't.

This fact is sometimes kind of maddening as there is more information in this book about some English sponsor who barely even figured in the findings then there is about Tutankhamun. Carter and the archaeologists in the book deserve the respect they're given, but it's like we forgot about everyone else, namely the guy on the cover. Even when it comes to individual artifacts, the book doesn't try to explain what relevance they usually have, and just settles on the date and place they were found.

It is also written very weirdly. It was written by a Czech guy and honestly it kinda shows, with antiquated use of language, and sentences that flow about as well as dried concrete. I've started numerous sentences not understanding what he is trying to say, and there were a lot of spelling mistakes. Another issue of the writing is that the author doesn't trust your memory, as everything is specified every time it occurs. The God Osiris is specified to be the God of the underworld EVERY time he is mentioned, sometimes on the same page, sometimes in the same stupid sentence. And this goes for everything in the book, Tutankhamun's' name is said to have changed like 5 times on the one page dedicated to him.

The book also includes pictures, drawings, diary entries and even newspapers from the time during and around the excavation. It was very interesting to go through these and they added a lot to the book. Some of them are unreadable though, at least to me, as they are either handwritten or use a stupid font. I've even shown them to another person and they couldn't read it either.

The book is beautiful and gives insight into the finding of the tomb as well as some rudimentary information about Egypt around the time of Tutankhamun. It is, however, plagued with mistakes and bad writing as well as a lack of information about the pharaoh himself. 2.5/5 stars

[Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll start by describing this unusual book. It is almost like a museum in a box. There is quite a bit of textual information as well as pictures, but the added dimension are the many added documents, photocopied just as if still in the notepad or scrapbook, and tucked in various pockets throughout the book. The author went to a great deal of work to get the reader right in the middle of the discovery of King Tutankhamun's tomb, and to give a great deal of factual information about the find and the people involved in it. This is not a book of conjecture or assumptions. In the back of the book, there is an index, translation notes, picture credits, bibliography, list of Egyptological collections around the world, and a listing of helpful web sites. When finished, the reader will have a better idea of how ancient Egyptians lived, how collections of their things came to be so well preserved, who some of the great Egyptologists were, about the actual discovery of Tut's tomb came about and how Howard Carter was involved in this project, some of the geography of Egypt, and what (and where it was found) was discovered in the tomb of King Tut.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

The last of the books inherited from Dad.
Egypt was so special to him. Anything from the pyramids to the magnificent royalty.
It was a place he wanted to visit.
This book is so detailed with so much amazing photographs and surprises.