Tutankhamun, the Untold Story by Thomas Hoving (1978, Hardcover)

Tutankhamun
The Untold Story
by Thomas Hoving
Publisher:  Simon and Schuster
Copyright 1978

The uncovering of the tomb of the mysterious boy King of Egypt, Tutankhamun, on November 26, 1922, was the most important  and splendid discovery in the history of modern archaeology.  The find revealed four burial chambers so filled with priceless objects of gold and alabaster and Iapis Iazuli and onyx that it took years to remove the nearly 5,000 dazzling works of art from the underground tomb.

Until now, however, there have been countless stories and accounts, including Howard Carter's -- the discoverer's -- own, no one has revealed the entire truth:  the bitter intrigues, the power struggles, the myriad scandals and mysterious deaths surrounding the discovery and its aftermath.  What happened there changed forever the course of archaeological expeditions -- no longer were foreigners and adventurers able to simply walk in and appropriate whatever they could find of ancient civilizations.

Thomas Hoving, former head of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, by a prodigious search for the facts of the discovery in previously untapped sources -- old records, diaries and correspondence -- has recounted not only the known but the untold story and the strange and colorful characters who played the major parts in it:

* Howard Carter -- English adventurer-archaeologist, who persisted for six years, nearly defeated by the unbearable heat, the insects, the laborious digging and the ridicule of those who assured him there was nothing more to be found in the Valley of the Kings.  Impetuous and volatile, and lacking the guidance of his mentor, he enraged everyone:  the Egyptian authorities, other archaeologists and the newspapers.

* Lord Carnarvon -- his benefactor, who encouraged Carter for six years, but died soon after the night he and Carter illicitly entered Tutankhamun's tomb for the first time and afterward concealed their entry.

* The French Jesuit Lacau -- head of the Antiquities Service in Cairo, rival for the treasure and determined to ruin Carter and to deny him his claim to the contents of the tomb.

* The Egyptian authorities and the new nationalist government -- anxious to protect a glorious part of their nation's ancient heritage, whatever the cost.

* The directors of the Metropolitan Museum in New York -- and growing rumors of collusion and foul play as Carter and Carnarvon acted as the secret middlemen for the museum.

A brutal press war continued for many years because Carter had granted exclusive rights to the story to the London Times and excluded all other reporters from the tomb site.  The result:  an animosity which would never be forgotten and which was to hasten Carter's downfall.

Condition:  Used.  Hardcover.  Dust cover.  Pages are tanned and darkening from age.  Previous owner's "Library Of" stamp is on the front inside endpaper.  Dust cover shows edge wear and tear, and creases.  Dust cover flaps may be tanning from age.  The binding is starting to split throughout the picture pages, but pages are still in tact.

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