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REVIEW BY CAMPBELL PRICE
It is a frequent complaint that, despite the great fame of the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb (KV62) in 1922, the rate at which material from the tomb has been published in any depth has been very slow. This complaint is, thankfully, increasingly unwarranted, as detailed studies (re-)assess items from the burial, their connections with each other, and relevant external evidence. The present volume does not aim to publish individual objects or types in depth, but rather makes an assessment of various studies of object types, and offers new perspectives on the excavation, the original investigators, and some conclusions drawn about the tomb’s contents.
Significant use is made of the very rich archival resources for the find – notably Carter’s own (now deposited at the Griffith Institute) – giving rise to the title of the book. Archive exploitation forms the subject of the introductory chapter, by Andrej Veldmeijer and Salima Ikram, while Jenny Cashman draws specifically on the notes of chemist Alfred Lucas.
Chapters focus on the symbolism of Tutankhamun’s furniture, the changes in royal names on a range of objects, and the innovative use of anthropomorphised hieroglyphs under the boy king. A particularly interesting study by Rogério Sousa explores contemporary coffin iconography in light of the Tutankhamun assemblage.
The final three chapters investigate aspects of the impact of the Tutankhamun find on popular culture: book plates, Bohemian glass jewellery, and pop culture more broadly, providing new evidence for the various engagements Tutankhamun inspired, and provides more proof that even apparently well-known finds can have their interpretation changed. There is certainly much more to say about Tutankhamun and his tomb.
TUTANKHAMUN AND CARTER: ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF A MAJOR ARCHAEOLOGICAL FIND
ed. Rogério Sousa et al.
Script Books/Oxbow Books, 2024
ISBN 979-8-8885-7067-8
Paperback, £29.99
