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The gasps of wonder – and accompanying water vapour – that Egyptian
tombs evoke are destroying the painted plaster that delights tourists. A
group called the Friends of the Valley of the Kings now proposes to recreate
the tombs, as was done with the caves at Lascaux. What draws the hordes
is clear from Nicholas Reeves’ The Complete Tutan-khamun: The King, The
Tomb, The Royal Treasure (Thames & Hudson, pp 224, 15.95 Pounds). Claiming
to give the fullest account so far of the tomb’s discovery, Reeves outlines
Tutankhamun’s brief reign, then descends with the archaeologists into the
tomb. Photographs of the untidy piles of equipment for the afterlife reveal
how the king was hurried huggermugger to his grave.