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Collected here is a series of articles Smith wrote for "The Daily Telegraph" during the period when the newspapers were publishing daily reports of the progress of the work in Tutankhamen's tomb which discuss the wider significance of the startling discoveries. He attempts to interpret deeper meaning of those Egyptian beliefs which found such brilliant expression in the luxuriously rich equipment of Tutankhamen's tomb brought to light (Nov. 1922) by the British archeologists, Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter while exploring the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings.

A thrilling history of the West’s scramble for the riches of ancient Egypt by the foremost Egyptologist of our time. From the decipherment of hieroglyphics in 1822 to the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb by Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon a hundred years later, the uncovering of Egypt’s ancient past took place in an atmosphere of grand adventure and international rivalry. In A World Beneath the Sands, acclaimed Egyptologist Toby Wilkinson chronicles the ruthless race between the British, French, Germans, and Americans to lay claim to its mysteries and treasures. He tells riveting stories of the men and women whose obsession with Egypt’s ancient civilization helped to enrich and transform our understanding of the Nile Valley and its people, and left a lasting impression on Egypt, too. Travelers and treasure-hunters, ethnographers and archaeologists: whatever their motives, whatever their methods, a century of adventure and scholarship revealed a lost world, buried for centuries beneath the sands.

In 1922, the British archaeologist Henry Carter opened King Tutankhamun’s tomb, illuminating the glories of an ancient civilization. And while the world celebrated the extraordinary revelation that gave Carter international renown and an indelible place in history, by the time of his death, the discovery had nearly destroyed him. Now, in a stunning feat of narrative nonfiction, Daniel Meyerson has written a thrilling and evocative account of this remarkable man and his times. Carter began his career inauspiciously. At the age of seventeen–unknown, untrained, untried–he was hired as a copyist of tomb art by the brash, brilliant, and boldly unkempt father of modern archaeology, W. F. Petrie. Carter struck out on his own a few years later, sensing that something amazing lay buried beneath his feet, waiting for him to uncover it. But others had the same idea: The ancient cities of Egypt were crawling with European adventurers and their wealthy sponsors, each hoping to outdo the others with glittering discoveries–even as growing nationalist resentment against foreigners plundering the country’s most treasured antiquities simmered dangerously in the background. Not until Carter met up with the risk-taking, adventure-loving occultist Lord Carnarvon did his fortunes change. There were stark differences in personality and temperament between the cantankerous Carter and his gregarious patron, but together they faced down endless ridicule from the most respected explorers of the day. Seven dusty and dispiriting years after their first meeting, their dream came to astonishing life. But there would be a price to pay for this partnership, their discovery, and the glory and fame it brought both men–and the chain of events that transpired in the wake of their success remains fascinating and shocking to this day. An enthralling story told with unprecedented verve, In the Valley of the Kings is a tale of mania and greed, of fame and lost fortune, of history and its damnations. As he did in The Linguist and the Emperor, Daniel Meyerson puts his exciting storytelling powers on full display, revealing an almost forgotten time when past and present came crashing together with the power to change–or curse–men’s lives. From the Hardcover edition.

Pharaoh Seti I ruled Egypt for only 11 years (1290-1279 BC), but his reign marked a revival of Egyptian military and economic power, as well as cultural and religious life. Seti was born the son of a military officer in northern Egypt, far from the halls of power in Memphis and Thebes. However, when the last king of the 18th Dynasty, Horemheb, died without an heir, Setis father was named king. He ruled for only two years before dying of old age, leaving Seti in charge of an ailing superpower. Seti set about rebuilding Egypt after a century of dynastic struggles and religious unrest. He reasserted Egypts might with a series of campaigns across the Levant, Libya and Nubia. He despatched expeditions to mine for copper, gold, and quarry for stone in the deserts, laying the foundations for one of the most ambitious building projects of any Egyptian Pharaoh and his actions allowed his son, Ramesses the Great to rule in relative peace and stability for 69 years, building on the legacy of his father.

First published in 1994. The term 'Canopic', as applied to the containers employed by the Egyptians to contain the embalmed internal organs of the deceased, derives from a case of mistaken identity. The aims of this monograph are primarily archaeological and historical, to document all canopic equipment attributable to the kings of Egypt, and to discuss each element in its spatial and temporal context. Translations of all available texts are provided, but no attempt is made to discuss them from a detailed religious or philological standpoint.