Discovering King Tut

November 2022 marks the 100th anniversary of British archaeologist Howard Carter’s discovery of the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun. In celebration, here are books in our collection that deal with both the life of the enigmatic pharaoh and the discovery of his intact tomb over three thousand years after his untimely death.

Adult Nonfiction

MURDER OF KING TUT: THE PLOT TO KILL THE CHILD KING; A NONFICTION THRILLER by James Patterson (DB 69595)

Research into the life and death of eighteen-year-old Egyptian ruler King Tutankhamen, the stepson of Queen Nefertiti. Discusses Tut’s marriage to his half-sister and suggests reasons for his demise. Details the activities of British Egyptologist Howard Carter, who discovered Tut’s tomb in 1922. Bestseller.  2009.

MURDER OF TUTANKHAMEN: A TRUE STORY by Bob Brier (DB 47024)

Combining modern forensic technological evidence with historical facts, Brier proposes that the eighteen-year-old pharaoh was murdered. He supports his theory by detailing circumstantial evidence gleaned from reviewing Tutankhamen’s remains and Brier’s studies of the interaction of society and religion with the role of rulers in Ancient Egypt. 1998.

TUTANKAMON by Olga Alvarez Herrero (DB 61040)

Traces what is known about the short-lived Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamen, information principally derived from the 1922 archaeological discovery of his undisturbed tomb. Describes efforts to preserve the burial site’s priceless treasures and artifacts, which reveal a penetrating portrait of life in ancient Egypt. Spanish language. 2004.

TUTANKHAMEN: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF THE BOY-KING by Christine El Mahdy (DB 52444)

Egyptologist examines archaeological and historical evidence to reconstruct the life of the Eighteenth Dynasty pharaoh. El Mahdy separates fact from legend as she describes Egyptian civilization based on evidence from Luxor in the fourteenth century B.C. Also provides details of British archaeologist Howard Carter’s 1922 discovery of Tutankhamen’s tomb. 1999.

Adult Fiction

MURDER IN THE PLACE OF ANUBIS by Lynda Suzanne Robinson (DBC 24921, BR 10186)

This story is set in ancient Egypt during the reign of fourteen-year-old Pharaoh Tutankhamun. Meren, young, but mature enough to serve as counselor to the king, finds it his duty to learn the truth about a scribe whose body is found in the sacred Place of Anubis with an embalming knife protruding from his neck. Meren is torn by loyalty to the king, respect for the embalming priests, and suspicion of those who would take advantage of the youthful pharaoh. First book in the Lord Meren Series. 1995.

Juvenile Nonfiction

CURSE OF THE MUMMY: UNCOVERING TUTANKHAMUN’S TOMB by Candace Fleming (DB 105841, BR 23998)

During the reign of the New Kingdom of Egypt, the boy pharaoh Tutankhamun ruled and died tragically young. An award-winning author recounts the true story of the search for Tutankhamun’s tomb, the Western public’s belief that the dig was cursed, and the battle for ownership of the treasures within. For grades 4-7. 2021.

KING TUTANKHAMUN TELLS ALL! by Chris Naunton (DB 107870)

An Egyptologist chronicles the life of King Tutankhamun, and how he became the ruler of ancient Egypt at the tender age of nine. Naunton speculates what it was like for King Tutankhamun to be rudely awakened from the afterlife by British Egyptologist Howard Carter in 1922. For grades 2-4. 2021.

TUTANKHAMUN: THE MYSTERY OF THE BOY KING by Daphne Benedis-Grab (DB 63537)

Presents the background to archaeologist Howard Carter’s discovery of King Tut’s tomb. Discusses what Tutankhamun’s mummy and the numerous objects found in his tomb have revealed about the young pharaoh’s life and mysterious death. For grades 4-7. 2005.

WHO WAS KING TUT? by Roberta Edwards (BT 03549)

Explains the life and times of this ancient Egyptian ruler, covering the story of the tomb’s discovery, as well as myths and stories of mummy curses. For grades 4-7. 2006.