Presented as a work of fiction, but based on known critical events that have taken place in two distinct eras Egypt in the fourteenth century BC, and the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries this novel recounts new interpretations of the lives, characters and contrasting environments and beliefs of the young Pharaoh Tutankhamun and the adventurous and consummately stubborn archaeologist, Howard Carter. The two tales are told in parallel and, although beginning thousands of years apart, the stories gradually converge into one. Through the Egyptians' relentless quest for life after death, and the world of archaeology's quest to uncover and understand the mysteries of times past, these two worlds become strangely and irrevocably intertwined. Supernatural forces, both good and evil, appear to be at work and theories of 'the curse of the mummy' are brought into stark reality. Although the dialogues in the book are essentially fictional and some of the situations and characters are imagined, the accounting of events is as accurate as possible, much of it based on facts gleaned from over fifty works, mostly written by recognized scholars, several of whom are Carter's contemporaries. The interpretation of events offers credible solutions to questions that have whetted curious appetites for years, and the explicit descriptions and vividly animated characters draw the reader into a wonderfully tactile environment, guaranteed to spark the imagination.
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