Tutankhamen: Life and Death of a Pharaoh

by Desroches Noblecourt

In this brilliant book, now a classic, the renowned French archaeologist Madame Desroches-Noblecourt recounts the story of the tomb's discovery, examines the treasures found in the burial chamber & demonstrates the ways in which they throw new light on our view of Egyptian history & culture generally. Accompanied by 75 magnificent colour photographs & over a hundred monochrome illustrations, this definitive text gives meaning & context to the most astonishing archaeological find of all time.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Egypt, Biography, Ancient History, Egyptology, Archaeology

312 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1963

Reviews

[Herneith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this years ago. Of the books I have read about Tutankhamun, this one was one of the best.

[Nicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this when I was a kid — I think I got my copy from my mother, who was about as fascinated by Tutankhamen as I was. Christiane Desroches-Noblecourt’s book is a serious, albeit now somewhat outdated, analysis of the objects found in Tutankhamen’s tomb and their significance, along with how Howard Carter found the site and the context of Tutankhamen’s reign. It can be pretty dry and serious, describing some of the artefacts in detail; I was surprised to realise that I read it with as much attention as a child as I did now as an adult. Clearly, Tutankhamen’s treasure cast a spell on me!

If you’re looking for the very latest information, of course this isn’t going to help. But if you’re looking for a solid introduction to the tomb and the early interpretations of the objects found within, I suspect this is one of the best. More so where the objects are concerned than where the mummy itself is concerned, though.

Despite the fact that some of it is dry, it’s worth remembering that this book kept me spellbound as a nine or ten year old, and again as a twenty-eight year old. It’s fascinating stuff.

Reviewed for The Bibliophibian.

[Lady-R · Rating 4 out of 5]

Por un lado, como el título hace suponer, el libro te habla de la historia de Tutankhamon y del descubrimiento de su tumba.
Pero para que lo puedas entender todo mejor, también te habla de la historia del período de Egipto en el que vivió Tutankhamon, es decir, del reinado anterior Akhenathon e incluso del de antes de éste.

Lo único malo de esta edición es que las fotos son en blanco y negro, y en la original de la época había fotos en color.

[Gateway_to_Wonderland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kirja on todellakin laaja ja yksityiskohtainen. Se kertoo, kuinka Tutanhamonin hauta löydettiin sekä hänen elämästään ja kuolemasta. Kirjassa valotettiin paljon sen ajan valta-asetelmista, uskonnosta, politiikasta ja elämästä yleensä. Ajoittain tiedot olivat jopa liian yksityiskohtaisia, jolloin lukeminen hieman puudutti, mutta kirja todella kannatti lukea loppuun asti. Se on nimittäin mielenkiintoinen, vaikkakin ajoittain melko raskasta luettavaa.

Kirjasta jää mielenkiintoinen näkemys yhdestä Egyptin aikakaudesta ja siitä, kuinka erilainen maailma tuolloin oli. Varsinkin kuninkaallisten perhesuhteet olivat hämmentäviä, sillä tuolloin oli ihan toivottavaa mennä esim. naimisiin omien lähisukulaisten kanssa ja tällä tavalla vahvistaa valtaansa 😳

[María (NefertitiQueen) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hoy me toca hablar de este libro sobre el faraón Tutankhamón, escrito por una de las más importantes egiptólogas, autora de varios libros sobre personajes, historia y arte del Antiguo Egipto.

Y como añadido de lujo, es que este ensayo está traducido por José Miguel Parra, uno de los egiptólogos españoles más destacados, autor de varias monografías sobre el mundo faraónico, profesor universitario y que forma parte del equipo del "Proyecto Djehuty", excavación española en Dra Abu el-Naga.

Las obras de la egiptóloga Desroches Noblecourt están redactadas como si fueran novelas, lo que hace que la lectura sea fácil, entretenida y muy didáctica. No solo nos cuenta en esta ocasión la corta vida del faraón más famoso de la historia de Egipto, sino que también nos pone en antecedentes con el contexto histórico, social y familiar en esa época de la XVIII dinastía, con el faraón Akenatón, el llamado "hereje" como antecesor y personaje clave en este momento de la vida de Tutankhamón.
Se describe también el descubrimiento de la tumba por Howard Carter y los tesoros encontrados, a pesar de haber sido una tumba expoliada ya en la antigüedad.
Un ensayo, en definitiva, muy entretenido, con notas del traductor que añaden datos nuevos sobre los descubrimientos hechos a partir del año 1963, fecha en la que la autora escribió esta obra. Os la recomiendo, y más si os gusta la historia del Antiguo Egipto, como me ocurre a mí. 😉

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was quite exciting for me because I had seen the traveling exhibit of the boy pharaoh’s treasure twice in Chicago. It was stunning to see the quality of the craftsmanship from over 3000 years ago. They worked in gold, silver, carved woods, leather, precious and semi-precious gems, and an alloy of gold, silver and copper. Even cloisenne and glass paste.
While Tut became ruler at age 9 he only served until 19 or 20.

[Bettie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Time for another look at this book; I remember liking this back in the day.

Dedicated to Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter.

Preface by His Excellency Sarwat Okasha of UNESCO

Opening: Exactly one century elapsed between the founding of Egyptology and the extraordinary discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb.
Like many of the objects in Tutankhamun's tomb, this wooden life-size head covered with gesso (plaster) and then painted reflects elements of the orthodox religion reinstituted by the king. Here, however, the king is represented as a child, according to the small size of the head and the appearance of the features. All of the elements of the composition relate to a myth involving the young sun god.

Read more: http://www.touregypt.net/museum/tuthe...



Summer 2013 Egyptian Encounters:


Cleopatra (1963) Film Only
CR The Mummy Curse
2* Alexandria: The Last Nights of Cleopatra
4* The Complete Valley of the Kings
1* Revisit: Ancient Egypt by George Rawlinson
4* Re-visit Tutankhamen: Life and death of a Pharoah
2* The Luxor Museum

[Marita Gayoso]

After reading Howard Carter’s Tutankhamen, it seemed like no other book on the subject would make such a strong impression on me. What a nice surprise, Christiane Desroches Noblecourt, she took me on a journey to 1300 BC with descriptions of the life, intrigues, ceremonies and celebrations of the ancient Egyptian court. Fascinating! Of course, not all the facts exposed in the book are accurate nowadays, the reader must be aware of the new archaeological information.

[Teemu Öhman · Rating 3 out of 5]

En ihan tajua, miksi tämä on ollut vuosikymmenten varrella niin suosittu ja kehuttu, sillä olihan tämä aikamoisen tylsä. Pahimmillaan kirjassa oli muistaakseni noin 25 sivua lähes pelkkää haudasta löydettyjen esineiden luetteloa. Lyhyempiäkien luettelopätkiä löytyi.

Pisimmät kappaleet olivat toista sivua. Ihan tyypillistä oli, että varsin pientä pränttiä olevalle sivulle ei mahtunut kuin kaksi kappaletta. Järin luettavaa teksti ei siis tässäkään mielessä ollut.

Kirjan lopussa on henkilöluettelo ja sivuilla 100-101 oli myös sukupuu, mutta niistä huolimatta homma jäi kohtalaisen sekavaksi, osin jo siksikin, että eri henkilöistä käytettiin vaihtelevia nimiä. Vähän tarkempi kronologisessa järjestyksessä pysyminen olisi myös ainakin minua jeesannut. Sanastonkin kirja olisi ehdottomasti näin maallikon näkökulmasta kaivannut.

Pettymyshän tämä oli, mutta toki tässä hyvätkin hetkensä oli, ja kyllä tästä paljon oppikin. Ei tämä kuitenkaan missään nimessä mikään kevytlukuinen johdatus aiheeseen ollut.

[Neil Crowle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent and well researched piece of scholarship. Like the title says, it was about the boy king's life and death, not about the opening of his tomb and all the work that involved. Nevertheless, most of the illustrations feature the objects found in the tomb and discusses their meaning. Well worth the time.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very detailed account of the history surrounding King Tut. Nice photos.

[Steve R · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quite insightful and marvelously detailed recounting of the historical epoch surrounding Tutankhamen, his brief reign as pharaoh, the contents of his tomb and, most importantly, the elaborate ceremonies attendant upon his funeral. It is in this last respect that the author truly excels herself, describing in minute detail each step of the funeral procession and its implication for the afterbirth that they so sincerely believed they were preparing for their departed pharaoh. The tone is almost like that of a roadside commentator at a television extravaganza of an elaborate festival.

In addition, there is really solid history here as well, including the following aspects I found surprising:
- Tutankhamen became pharaoh at the age of nine and died before he reached the age of twenty, having been ruler for less than ten years.
- He had to rule at a most precarious time, following as he did the ‘heretic’ Akhenaten, who had single-handedly disrupted the entire religion of the empire, and established a new capital from which to worship Aten, not Amun, anymore
- While allowing for worship of the old gods to resume, Tutankhamen did not totally dispense with the worship of Aten
- It took a minimum of seventy days after his death to prepare his mummy and the tomb, complete with its four chambers, within which he was buried.
- Each room had a different orientation (north, south, east, west) to facilitate the dead king’s transition to the rebirth which was expected and prepared for very elaborately.
- Shortly after his burial, Tutankhamen’s tomb was robbed. I’d always thought that it was so significant since it was almost the only tomb of a pharaoh which had not been robbed. However, the thieves left most of the funerary furniture, the sarcophagus and most of the other treasures discovered by Carter in the early 1920s, concentrating only on some jewels and unguents (liquids designed to help Tutankhamen’s transition to his rebirth). Carter estimated (how?) that about sixty percent of the jewels had been stolen
- There is virtually nothing personal in the four rooms of the tombs: no indication of any peculiar likes and habits of the king
- Like his parentage, of which nothing certain is known, there is no knowledge whatsoever of what caused Tutankhamen’s death – assassination, illness, accident?
- Tutankhamen’s mummy was placed within four gold shrines, a linen veil, a stone sarcophagus and three gold confines; thus, several death masks were put over the remains of his face
- The four rooms of the tomb were a mess: with objects thrown here and there in no apparent order; this is to be contrasted with the amazing magnificence of many of the pieces.
- Of the over 2000 objects found in the tomb, 143 objects were attached to Tut’s body within the bandages with which it was wrapped, including fifteen heavy bracelets on his arms
- When Carter discovered the tomb in 1922, he had been excavating off and on in Egypt for thirty years, and almost everyone had given up on finding any more treasures in the Valley of the Kings
- After the discovery, it took a further seven years to painstakingly extricate and catalogue all the objects in the four rooms of the tomb and eleven years to publish these findings

The author’s enthusiasm for her subject perhaps got the better of he when at the very end, she explains that Horenheb, the pharaoh who followed Ay, Tut's immediate successor and tried to efface almost all memory of the young king, had his curse overpowered by Carter’s discovery, since 'like a new sun rising between the mountains of the horizon, Tutankhamen had reappeared.’

A riveting story of a teenager who happened to die 3,363 years ago (as of 2020) but whose life, through the work of archaeologists and historians, is at least partially known to us today.

[Nicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know how I got a copy of this book, when I was a kid. I suspect it belonged to my mother first, and that she gave it to me. I suspect it wasn't so battered when she did. I remember how fascinated I was with Tutankhamen and the treasures of his tomb, the story of his life. The descriptions of the treasure in this book are rich and in detail, and the history and explanations kept me fascinated. There are lots of photographs, some in full colour.

Flicking through it, now I'm home for a couple of weeks, I'm afraid it's going to fall apart. From what I reread just now, it's dry, and I don't understand how eight or nine year old Nikki got on with it -- I only learned to read when I was seven! But the subject was fascinating to me, and a lot of that magic comes back to me, looking at this.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I originally read this book by French Egyptologist Christiane Desroches Noblecourt many years ago, during my first introduction to Ancient Egypt and the 18th Dynasty. In fact, I checked the copyright page of my copy and found it dated 1976, which would have been about the time I bought the book.

It is extremely readable and filled with much information about the discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb, the many treasures it contained. There are some sections that are dated, however. For example, recent DNA tests have helped clear up some of the familial relationships, and have shown that the two mummified fetuses are those of still-born daughters of Tutankhamen and Ankhesenamun, and not part of some unknown rebirth/fertility rite as once speculated.

Overall, a great introduction to Tutankhamen, the man and his tomb.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very readable and yet comprehensive account of the story of Tutankhamen, from his life and death to the discovery of his tomb in 1922 by Howard Carter and his team. The book also sheds light on some of the treasures, mysteries and inconsistencies found within his tomb resulting from the combination of his father's religious experimentations to and the return to the traditional worship of Amun. A great read that is accessible to all.

[Victoria Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Includes original photographs of the opening of the tomb and many colour plates of the contents, individually described and explained with very easy and fascinating text. Detailed discussion of possible parentage of Tutankhamen, which is not conclusive. Gives comprehensive account in a logical and structured way. If you only read one book on Egypt, read this one.

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read a recent obituary of the author, and thought her book might be interesting. Although I thought I was fairly well aware of the history behind finding Tutankhamen's tomb, this book reveals many facts I didn't know. The photographs and their descriptions alone are worth the read. Love it.

[Mona · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating story about an egyptian pharaoh and a bit of history also. It's amazing what has been learned by studying the tombs. The photos are very cool and this book left me wanting to learn more about the history of Egypt and the pharaohs. Grades 4 and up.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the first books I ever read on King Tut, and it's still one of my favorites.

[Denis Joplin · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a tedious book!. I love reading about ancient Egypt, but this book was extremely boring and I just couldn't finish it.

[Lessly Martinez]

cool