Basic Books

He’s both the ultimate ancient world celebrity and a modern cultural icon. But who was the man known as the “boy king?”

How have the myths surrounding his tomb, including the infamous “curse of Tutankhamen,” obscured the truth about this fabled ruler? In her new book, “Tutankhamen: The Search for an Egyptian King,” Egyptologist Joyce Tyldesley peels back the layers of mystery that have enshrouded Tutankhamen ever since the discovery of his tomb, by archaeologist Howard Carter, in 1922.

And what a discovery it was. The first near-complete royal burial to be unearthed in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings yielded nearly intact rooms filled with golden possessions for Tutankhamen’s journey to the underworld with his mummified body nestled at the center. The news sparked a worldwide outbreak of Egyptomania that influenced design, architecture, film and literature for years to come.

Tyldesley writes about the discovery and its aftermath, researched through journal entries, reports and newspaper articles, then digs deeper to reveal the surprising truth of Tutankhamen’s life and legacy.

Guest:

Joyce Tyldesley, archaeologist, Egyptologist, author, “Tutankhamen: The Search for an Egyptian King”