Illuminates the intriguing and mysterious landscape of Thebes and the lives of the nobles who lived there in Egypt's Golden Age. The foothills of the Theban massif, not far from Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, are filled with hundreds of impressive tombs from the New Kingdom belonging to the people who served the pharaohs. Just a handful are open to the public; many others are closed and can be visited only by scholars; still others have been hidden under villages built over the past centuries and have only recently been discovered.

Written by world-renowned Egyptologist Zahi Hawass and illustrated with spectacular new photographs by Sandro Vannini, this new book gives an unprecedented access to these largely inaccessible tombs. It reveals some of the most exquisite examples of Egyptian art to be found anywhere in the land of the Nile, reflecting the aristocratic status of the tombs’ owners.

At the heart of the book, three major chapters examine the glorious paintings and exquisitely sculpted reliefs that depict daily life on earth and life in paradise. Other chapters place the tomb owners in their historical context, explore the architecture and construction of the tombs, display the lavish burial equipment, and discuss the vital ongoing work of restoration and conservation. A reference section includes maps, plans, and a checklist of tombs. 300 color illustrations....

The ultimate book on King Tut and his tomb—the most exciting archaeological find the world has ever known.

The fabulous treasures of Tutankhamun have fascinated the public since their discovery by Howard Carter in 1922. Many books have been written about the boy king and his tomb, but this volume by world-renowned Egyptologist Zahi Hawass provides the reader with a unique perspective on this extraordinary archaeological find. Images by pioneering photographer Sandro Vannini offer distinctive views of almost 200 of the spectacular artifacts found at the burial site.

King Tutankhamun uses carefully selected objects to illustrate the entire ten years of painstaking excavation and documentation carried out by Carter and his team. Organized to follow the chambers of the tomb in the order in which they were excavated, it illuminates the site's most magnificent artifacts.

An experienced field archaeologist who has made many important discoveries himself, Dr. Hawass imbues the text with his own unique voice, imagining how exploration of the tomb must have felt for Carter and providing invaluable information about the objects. Sandro Vannini's photographs are extraordinary as well, allowing the objects to be seen in even more detail than is possible with the naked eye. 324 color illustrations, including 26 foldouts....

It has been almost three decades since the first traveling exhibition of Tutankhamun's treasures drew nearly 10 million viewers and sparked worldwide "Tut-mania." Now, celebrating this priceless collection's new tour of Europe and the United States, National Geographic presents a jewel-like little book featuring more than 30 of its finest pieces.


Based on the official catalog, captured in lavish detail and magnificent color, here are objects from Tutankhamun, whose tomb yielded the richest trove of all, and other 18th-Dynasty pharaohs. These superbly crafted artifacts offer vivid insight into the skill, artistry, and astonishing sophistication of Egyptian culture's golden age. Intricate jewelry glitters with precious gems, stylized statues summon ancient gods, lifelike busts bring long-dead kings and queens back to life, while vivid paintings and bas-relief panels depict not just great events but everyday scenes as well.


Zahi Hawass contributes a concise history of Tutankhamun's world. The book also examines new research that provides unprecedented information about the boy king's life, his exact age, and the mystery of his death, highlighted by a unique forensic reconstruction that uses state-of-the-art CT-scan data to recreate Tut's face.


A charming memento of a stunning exhibition, the Souvenir Book gazes back across the millennia to show us the astonishing splendor of a great civilization at its pinnacle....

Mysterious boy king Tutankhamun returns to the U.S. in 2008, bringing rare treasures never before seen outside Egypt. For the millions of fans wanting a keepsake and chronicle of this magnificent new exhibition, this book will delight. Created by world-renowned art historians under the guidance of Zahi Hawass—director of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities and a well-known media personality—it surveys 3,000 years of ancient Egyptian history by focusing on the lives and lifestyles of great pharaohs. Master photographer Sandro Vannini spotlights every dazzling artifact, using an innovative technique that makes the image jump off the page. The book’s design echoes the exhibition, grouping objects representing family life, religious practices, funerary rituals, and gold. In each artifact—a queen’s eye makeup container, a likeness of a princess eating duck, a sarcophagus made for a prince’s cat—we glimpse the life of ancient Egyptian royalty: exotic and fascinating, yet so human. Gold gleams in a leopard-mask of gilded wood, a brilliant pendant bearing tiny goddesses, even the golden finger and toe covers of Tutankhamun himself, meant to protect his extremities in the afterlife. Featuring more than 120 treasures, a dozen evocative landscape and archaeology photos, and illuminating text, this book makes palpable the excitement, riches, and mysteries of ancient Egypt. It will be prominently displayed in all exhibition venues, and its contents will interest visitors to the show as well as Tut enthusiasts across the country....

This publication discusses the pottery that was discovered by Zahi Hawass’s excavations at Giza, including the Cemetery of the Pyramid Builders, the Western Cemetery, and the settlement beneath the modern suburb of Nazlet el-Samman. It is a comprehensive study of Old Kingdom pottery that includes a typology for these recent finds, as well as discussing the interrelationship between pottery from cemetery and settlement contexts....

The discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun - the most spectacular royal tomb ever found - is one of the most famous events in the history of archaeology. The treasures of this tomb surpass all others and the 50 Tutankhamun artifacts featured in this book illustrate many uses of gold and other precious materials in ancient Egypt, providing us with a glimpse into the extraordinary richness of this ancient civilization. The book also includes cutting-edge forensic data that may provide tantalizing clues to Tutankhamun's mysterious life and death. In addition, artifacts from the period preceding the reign of Tutankhamun will be featured, illuminating this fascinating era of Egyptian history and setting the stage for the treasures of Tut. These pieces will illustrate the history of the 18th dynasty, daily life under the golden pharaohs and the journeys of both kings and commoners to the afterlife and will include pieces dating to the reigns of four 18th dynasty pharaohs, the direct ancestors of Tutankhamun: Amenhotep II, Tuthmosis IV, Amenhotep III and Akhenaten...

Full description pending manuscript from author. Will include what we know about his way of life, his sister/wife, his father, his physical stature, his religion, his empire, his tomb, and the mystery of his early death....

This beautifully produced new paperback edition of 'Silent Images' explores a puzzling contradiction: Despite the multitude of artifacts and texts that have come to us from ancient Egypt, much still remains obscure regarding the lives of women. Women were, from the historical perspective, silent - but how should this silence be interpreted? What was the reality of women's lives behind the standardized images? We know that their chief role in society as mothers and anchors of the family was honored and respected, although it meant a degree of segregation and, in most periods, excluded them from public office. Nevertheless, in law they were the equals of men and they could, and did, own property, which they administered and disposed of themselves. Zahi Hawass's book searches for a more realistic picture of women's lives in ancient Egypt. As well as reconsidering the evidence from tomb and temple, the author draws on unpublished material from his excavations at the workers' cemetery at Giza, which sheds light on the womenfolk of the workmen who built and maintained the pyramids. The text is complemented by lavish illustrations of places and objects, many made especially for this book....

The ancient Egyptians were the first to examine the afterlife in a book composed between 1567 and 1085 BCE. This collection of funerary texts has historically been referred to as the "Book of the Dead" or "Book of Going Forth by Day". For the Egyptians, the "Book of the Dead" was a vital part of the quest for immortality. Millennia later, the second "Book of the Dead", written in Tibet dating from the eighth century CE, tells a similar tale, but this journey has an entirely different end - rebirth here on earth, instead of in another world. "John Ransom Phillips: A Contemporary Book of the Dead" charts and affirms the Egyptian tradition of preparing for the afterlife by celebrating our earthly existence in all its fullness. Using watercolors on papyrus - an echo of the "Book of the Dead" incantations written on papyrus scrolls buried with mummies in ancient Egypt - this collection of colorful paintings creates a contemporary interpretation of how human beings contemplate their earthly and spiritual existence. Phillips' work is a vivid visual exploration into universal and timeless themes of life, love, fear, hope, and sublime happiness that combine into the human experience....