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Tutankhamun and the Tomb that Changed the World is an engaging update

The story of Tutankhamun and his tomb still amazes us. Palaeopathologist Bob Brier’s new book is an accessible guide to the story, but doesn’t break new ground

By Jo Marchant

2 November 2022

Luxor, Egypt, July 12, 2022: Tomb of Tutankhamun, Luxor, Egypt

Tutankhamun’s tomb dazzled Howard Carter when he saw it for the first time

Nick Brundle Photography/Getty images

Bob Brier (Oxford University Press)

WE ARE so familiar with the story of the discovery of Tutankhamun’s 3300-year-old tomb that it has acquired an almost mythical status. On 26 November 1922, Howard Carter, a British archaeologist, broke through a sealed door under Egypt’s Valley of the Kings and poked his candle into the darkness beyond.

Luckily, it can bear repeating, and to coincide with the centenary of the find, Bob Brier retells the tale.…

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