Tutankhamens förbannelse

The opening of Tutankhamen's tomb ninety years ago this year is one of the most exciting moments in the history of archaeology. It has everything: gold, treasures, a sudden death, a mummified king and a curse -- all the elements which make ancient Egypt perennially fascinating. Here Joyce Tyldesley uses the tomb and its story as a window to look at key aspects of New Kingdom Egypt, and to examine how we approach the ancient past.

Tutankhamen lay in a golden coffin, surrounded by an extraordinary array of grave goods everything from religious symbols and near life-sized statues to loincloths. The only thing missing was a library. The tomb was remarkably devoid of written information, and this led several Egyptologists to announce that its contents had little value beyond showcasing the artistic and technological achievements of the New Kingdom Egyptians. They could not have been more wrong. Today it is recognised that the individual artefacts stored in the tomb have their own tales to tell, and modern science is allowing experts to reconstruct these stories using the grave goods, the tomb itself, and the king's mummified body.

In her latest book, Joyce Tyldesley approaches Tutankhamen's tomb afresh, reconstructing Tutankhamen's family, his reign and his anticipated afterlife, exploring the West's long-lasting fascination with mummies and their 'curses'.