Tomb of Tutankhamen

Introduction by Anthony Brandt. “Feverishly we cleared away...the passage before the doorway, until we had only the clean sealed doorway before us.... We made a tiny breach in the top left hand corner to see what was beyond. There was naturally short suspense for those present who could not see, when Lord Carnarvon said to me ‘Can you see anything,’ I replied to him ‘Yes, it is wonderful’.... Our sensations and astonishment are difficult to describe as the better light revealed to us the marvellous collection of treasures: two strange ebony-black effigies of a King, gold sandalled, bearing staff and mace, loomed out from the cloak of darkness; gilded couches in strange forms, lion-headed, Hathor-headed, and beast infernal...strange black shrines with a gilded monster snake appearing from within...a golden inlaid throne.... Our sensations were bewildering and full of strange emotion. Was it a tomb or merely a cache? A sealed doorway between the two sentinel statues proved there was more beyond and with the numerous cartouches bearing the name of Tutankhamen...there was little doubt that there behind was the grave of that Pharaoh.” Howard Carter did not live long enough to write further about his finds, and The Tomb of Tutankhamen stands as his only record of the extraordinary discovery. Abridged from the original three volumes, this National Geographic Adventure Classics edition features 25 black-and-white photos taken at the time of the excavation, as well as a map of the Valley of the Kings and the tomb. This classic adventure tells the story of a journey that may never be repeated—a trip back through 3,000 years to discover the life—and death—of a pharaoh.