Valley of the Golden Mummies: The Greatest Egyptian Discovery Since Tutankhamun
First Edition
Coffee Table Book Fabulous Eye Catching
Hardcover
Zahi Hawass was director general of Giza, Saqqara, Imbaba, and Bahariya Oasis who was concentrating his excavations at the Giza Pyramids, particularly the Tombs of the Pyramid Builders, when the Golden Mummies were discovered in the Bahariya Oasis in 1996. Then on, his efforts shifted to this new discovery. So far, over 100 complete Greco-Roman period mummies have been uncovered at Bahariya ranging in status from wealthy gold-encased merchants to the carelessly prepared poor. Hawass believes up to ten thousand mummies will eventually be discovered in a fifty year excavation (pg. 16). Many questions may be answered from these discoveries concerning the influence of Greek and Roman rule on Egyptian life (pg. 18).
Hawass gives the reader some insight on what it is like to be part of the excavation. Digging up black sand, for example, is an indication that one is getting close to a mummy (pg. 33). He describes the overpowering smells one experiences when uncovering a mummy that has been under the sand for thousands of years and what it is like to be brushing away and then to suddenly be greeted by the stare of an obsidian eye (pg. 53).
I love history and this jam-packed historical book was overloaded with pictures.The book shows and detail items that were buried inside the tomb. An exploration, highlighted by hundreds of colorful photographs, of an incredible archaeological find in Egypt, from the excavation's director, discusses the hundreds of mummies, many wearing gold masks, that have been found and explains the find's historical significance.
