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The Mysterious Death of Tutankhamun: Re-Opening the Case of Egypt's Boy-King
Egypt's most famous king died at the age of eighteen, and in the three thousand years since his death, the fabulous treasure buried with the young ruler has become as famous as his name. It has long been assumed that Tutankhamun died of natural causes, yet his hurried burial, first in a virtually unmarked grave, suggests there may have been an attempt, or plot, to conceal the evidence of fatal head wounds. Behind King Tut's calm death mask, Doherty uncovers a turbulent tale of bloody intrigues at the Egyptian court, most of them pointing to the possibility of murder. The powerful cabal that ran the court and governed the country might have had young Tutankhamun assassinated; or he might have been killed at the instruction of the imperious first minister, Ay, who sought to seize the pharaonic crown for himself. And what role did the beautiful Ankhesenamun, Ay's granddaughter and Tutankhamun's queen, play in the labyrinthine courtly scheming? Coupling modern research with the original testimony of Howard Carter, the archaeologist who discovered Tutankhamun's tomb, Doherty reconstructs a scenario of the king's short reign as illuminating as the revelations regarding his sudden, mysterious death are fascinating. Color photographs are included.
272 pages, Paperback
First published October 7, 2002
About the author
Paul Doherty
263 books611 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
He has been published under several pseudonyms: P.C. Doherty, Celia L. Grace, Paul Harding, Ann Dukthas, Vanessa Alexander, Michael Clynes and Anna Apostolou but now writes only under his own name.
Paul Doherty was born in Middlesbrough (North-Eastern England) in 1946. He had the usual education before studying at Durham for three years for the Catholic priesthood but decided not to proceed. He went to Liverpool University where he gained a First Class Honours Degree in History and won a state scholarship to Exeter College, Oxford, whilst there he met his wife Carla Lynn Corbitt. He continued his studies but decided that the academic world was not for him and became a secondary school teacher.
Paul worked in Ascot, Nottingham and Crawley West Sussex before being appointed as Headmaster to Trinity Catholic School in September 1981. Trinity is a large comprehensive [1700 on roll] which teaches the full ability range, ages 11-18. The school has been described as one of the leading comprehensives in the U.K. In April, 2000 H. M. Inspectorate describe it as an 'Outstanding School', and it was given Beacon status as a Centre of Excellence whilst, in the Chief Inspector’s Report to the Secretary of State for January 2001, Trinity Catholic High School was singled out for praise and received a public accolade.
Paul’s other incarnation is as a novelist. He finished his doctorate on the reign of Edward II of England and, in 1987, began to publish a series of outstanding historical mysteries set in the Middle Age, Classical, Greek, Ancient Egypt and elsewhere. These have been published in the United States by St. Martin’s Press of New York, Edhasa in Spain, and Eichborn, Heyne, Knaur and others in Germany. They have also been published in Holland, Belgium, France, Italy, Romania, Estonia, Czechoslovakia, Russia, Bulgaria, Portugal and China, as well as Argentina and Mexico.
He has been published under several pseudonyms (see the bibliography): C. L. Grace, Paul Harding, Ann Dukthas and Anna Apostolou but now writes only under his own name. He recently launched a very successful series based around the life of Alexander the Great, published by Constable & Robinson in the U.K., and Carroll and Graf in the U.S.A., whilst his novels set in Ancient Egypt have won critical acclaim. Paul has also written several non-fiction titles; A Life of Isabella the She-wolf of France, Wife of Edward II of England, as well as study of the possible murder of Tutankhamun, the boy Pharaoh of Egypt’s 18th Dynasty, and a study on the true fate of Alexander the Great.
Paul and Carla live on the borders of London and Essex, not far from Epping Forest and six of their children have been through his own school. His wife Carla currently owns two horses and is training, for showing and dressage, a beautiful Arab filly named Polly.
Paul lectures for a number of organisations, particularly on historical mysteries, many of which later feature in his writings. A born speaker and trained lecturer Paul Doherty can hold and entertain audiences.
His one great ambition is to petition the Privy Council of England to open the Purbeck marble tomb of Edward II in Gloucester Cathedral. Paul believes the tomb does not house the body
He has been published under several pseudonyms: P.C. Doherty, Celia L. Grace, Paul Harding, Ann Dukthas, Vanessa Alexander, Michael Clynes and Anna Apostolou but now writes only under his own name.
Paul Doherty was born in Middlesbrough (North-Eastern England) in 1946. He had the usual education before studying at Durham for three years for the Catholic priesthood but decided not to proceed. He went to Liverpool University where he gained a First Class Honours Degree in History and won a state scholarship to Exeter College, Oxford, whilst there he met his wife Carla Lynn Corbitt. He continued his studies but decided that the academic world was not for him and became a secondary school teacher.
Paul worked in Ascot, Nottingham and Crawley West Sussex before being appointed as Headmaster to Trinity Catholic School in September 1981. Trinity is a large comprehensive [1700 on roll] which teaches the full ability range, ages 11-18. The school has been described as one of the leading comprehensives in the U.K. In April, 2000 H. M. Inspectorate describe it as an 'Outstanding School', and it was given Beacon status as a Centre of Excellence whilst, in the Chief Inspector’s Report to the Secretary of State for January 2001, Trinity Catholic High School was singled out for praise and received a public accolade.
Paul’s other incarnation is as a novelist. He finished his doctorate on the reign of Edward II of England and, in 1987, began to publish a series of outstanding historical mysteries set in the Middle Age, Classical, Greek, Ancient Egypt and elsewhere. These have been published in the United States by St. Martin’s Press of New York, Edhasa in Spain, and Eichborn, Heyne, Knaur and others in Germany. They have also been published in Holland, Belgium, France, Italy, Romania, Estonia, Czechoslovakia, Russia, Bulgaria, Portugal and China, as well as Argentina and Mexico.
He has been published under several pseudonyms (see the bibliography): C. L. Grace, Paul Harding, Ann Dukthas and Anna Apostolou but now writes only under his own name. He recently launched a very successful series based around the life of Alexander the Great, published by Constable & Robinson in the U.K., and Carroll and Graf in the U.S.A., whilst his novels set in Ancient Egypt have won critical acclaim. Paul has also written several non-fiction titles; A Life of Isabella the She-wolf of France, Wife of Edward II of England, as well as study of the possible murder of Tutankhamun, the boy Pharaoh of Egypt’s 18th Dynasty, and a study on the true fate of Alexander the Great.
Paul and Carla live on the borders of London and Essex, not far from Epping Forest and six of their children have been through his own school. His wife Carla currently owns two horses and is training, for showing and dressage, a beautiful Arab filly named Polly.
Paul lectures for a number of organisations, particularly on historical mysteries, many of which later feature in his writings. A born speaker and trained lecturer Paul Doherty can hold and entertain audiences.
His one great ambition is to petition the Privy Council of England to open the Purbeck marble tomb of Edward II in Gloucester Cathedral. Paul believes the tomb does not house the body
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 20, 2017
Learned a lot about Anicent Egypt, but nothing about Tutankhamun. The book was repeating itself all the time - one idea at the beginning and then again same thing in the middle and some times I found myself like reading the same idea the third time. As if there was nothing to write about, so let's repeat everything to get the needed amount of pages.
February 13, 2022
I can see why people have written about the repetitive nature, though I found it slow to get going, to the point and story of the death. Once there it was more interesting but I found the start and end irrelevant and sometimes the subject of some conjecture. I don’t expect anyone to know what happened so long ago and it seems most historians disagree anyway but all the same this wasn’t bad and overall interesting.
January 3, 2021
Tutanhamonist oli suhteliselt vähe juttu.
April 10, 2024
Interessante theorie over de dood en opvolging van Tutankhum die afwijken van de gangbare theorieën. Jammer dat het boek aan elkaar hangt van herhalingen. Dezelfde info wordt meerdere malen vermeld.
June 27, 2008
Fascinating look at the (short) life and reign of 'Tut' and what may have happened to him.
Want to Read
July 13, 2009it's so good and detailed. i learned so many things about ancient egypt that i had not known before. It has to be one of the best ancient egypt books i've read so far.
May 7, 2012
A non fiction discussion on the how and why of tutankhamun's death. Also discusses the politics that affected his birth, life, rule and death. Interesting read. Bit vague in places.
March 15, 2013
It didn't seem entirely objective tho it was definitely an interesting reading.
January 22, 2018
I demoted one star because I'm a little skeptical about some of his ideas and theories.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews