The Tomb of Tutankhamun: Volume III—Treasury & Annex

Your journey through the discovery of Tutankhamun cannot be complete without Volume III. In this third and final volume of Howard Carter's classic work on his historic discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun, he gets down to the details of the objects contained in the Treasury and the Annexe. Neither of these chambers had escaped the attentions of the tomb-robbers who had entered the tomb in antiquity. As Carter describes, both rooms had objects that suffered at the hands of the robbers (and probably the officials charged with resealing the tomb). Nevertheless, with his usual style, Carter treats the objects and the science of the discovery with sensitivity and detail. One is a little tempted to wonder in places (such as the description of desert plants) whether he was trying to fill a contractual length for the book. But even here, Carter shows an extraordinary breadth of knowledge that makes the reading interesting. A specific example is Carter's very good detective work on determining the likely source of moisture that permeated the tomb infrequently during the more than 3,000 years during which it was sealed. Carter's understanding of the geology of the Valley of the Kings and his very intimate knowledge of the state of the tombs that intersect the same stony hillock as the tomb of Tutankhamun gave him particular advantage in this analysis. Thus he tells a very interesting tale about an otherwise dull subject, i.e. rainfall and ground seepage. Howard Carter's book is as relevant today as when it was first published. His long and remarkable career in Egypt added much to our understanding of Egyptian history and burial culture. For the first time, this entire series is available for Kindle. These rare and fascinating books are now affordable and you can take them with you anywhere. For the first time, this long out-of-print volume is available as an affordable, well-formatted book for e-readers and smartphones. Be sure to LOOK INSIDE by clicking the cover above or download a sample.