by Nicholas Reeves.
Thames & Hudson, 2022
ISBN 978-0-5000-5216-7
Hardback, £40.
Who does not have a copy of the 1990 The Complete Tutankhamun on their bookshelves? This new, expanded, centenary edition follows the same format, but is updated to incorporate the “extraordinary advances” in research over the last thirty years, enhanced by stunning new photographs.
While other authors discuss the various possibilities for Tutankhamun’s family relationships, here there is space only for the author’s own particular views. His reworked family tree follows that proposed by the 2010 DNA analysis, and while in 1990 he declared “it is tempting to see [Smenkhkara] as… Nefertiti”, now he is certain. He also includes his controversial theory of ‘a tomb within a tomb’ – the idea that Tutankhamun’s burial is within the yet-to-be-discovered burial of Smenkhkara-Nefertiti.
Whether or not you agree with the author’s reconstruction of events, this revised volume is likely to remain a ‘go-to’ reference for Tutankhamun’s tomb and treasures.
