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The Shadow King, by Jo Marchant – book review The Shadow King, by Jo Marchant – book review
(25 days later)
This is a story of haughty autocrats, enigmatic readings, mysterious deaths, defiant clashes, alien invasions, political intrigue, religious cults, abandoned hopes and cruel twists of fate … and that's just the science of Egyptology in the past 90 years.This is a story of haughty autocrats, enigmatic readings, mysterious deaths, defiant clashes, alien invasions, political intrigue, religious cults, abandoned hopes and cruel twists of fate … and that's just the science of Egyptology in the past 90 years.
Almost everything about King Tutankhamun is uncertain and disputed, except that he was once a king in Egypt and is now dead. Paradoxically, we know far more about King Arthur, who was never king and probably never existed at all, or about King Agamemnon, whose existence is testified by a Bronze Age author whose own identity is disputed.Almost everything about King Tutankhamun is uncertain and disputed, except that he was once a king in Egypt and is now dead. Paradoxically, we know far more about King Arthur, who was never king and probably never existed at all, or about King Agamemnon, whose existence is testified by a Bronze Age author whose own identity is disputed.
Was Tutankhamun a sickly, inbred youth with an effeminate body, cleft palate and a club foot? Or was he a lusty lad with a taste for battle? Did he die of an infection? Did he have malaria? Was he epileptic? Was he clubbed and left to meet a lingering end? Or was he fatally mauled by a hippopotamus while out hunting? Everything about Tutankhamun seems fabulous, but unlike Arthur or Agamemnon, the boy king is still with us: we can interrogate him, and have done ever since that breathtaking moment of discovery in 1922 in the Valley of the Kings.Was Tutankhamun a sickly, inbred youth with an effeminate body, cleft palate and a club foot? Or was he a lusty lad with a taste for battle? Did he die of an infection? Did he have malaria? Was he epileptic? Was he clubbed and left to meet a lingering end? Or was he fatally mauled by a hippopotamus while out hunting? Everything about Tutankhamun seems fabulous, but unlike Arthur or Agamemnon, the boy king is still with us: we can interrogate him, and have done ever since that breathtaking moment of discovery in 1922 in the Valley of the Kings.
The confusion begins not with the questions, but with the answers people believed they had derived, and then with stories the rest of the world began to compose about someone who – in that mid-20th century recipe for enduring glamour – lived fast, died young and left a good-looking corpse.The confusion begins not with the questions, but with the answers people believed they had derived, and then with stories the rest of the world began to compose about someone who – in that mid-20th century recipe for enduring glamour – lived fast, died young and left a good-looking corpse.
Even that instruction wasn't followed to the letter. There is not much evidence of how Tutankhamun lived, fast or otherwise. He certainly died young, however, and his golden mask, coffin and sarcophagus could hardly have looked more glamorous. But his corpse probably wasn't that beautiful before the funereal priesthood began the embalming process, and its subsequent treatment has been none too pretty either.Even that instruction wasn't followed to the letter. There is not much evidence of how Tutankhamun lived, fast or otherwise. He certainly died young, however, and his golden mask, coffin and sarcophagus could hardly have looked more glamorous. But his corpse probably wasn't that beautiful before the funereal priesthood began the embalming process, and its subsequent treatment has been none too pretty either.
The ancient Egyptians were obsessed with death and left themselves lying around, bricked up in darkness as an enduring testimony to their brief sunlit lives. Alas, daylight isn't good for exhumed mummies, and limelight is even more destructive.The ancient Egyptians were obsessed with death and left themselves lying around, bricked up in darkness as an enduring testimony to their brief sunlit lives. Alas, daylight isn't good for exhumed mummies, and limelight is even more destructive.
Tutankhamun's lurid 20th century afterlife is a wonderful story and Jo Marchant has written a hugely enjoyable book, one that is both luminous and illuminating. The Shadow King is rich in bright perception and clear explanation. It is headlong too, with a narrative that evokes a cavalcade of grave robbers, explorers, crooks, charlatans, showmen, seekers after glory, greedy collectors, people with stars in their eyes and bees in their bonnets, aristocrats, autocrats, politicians, television producers and, of course, determined scientists who are all too convinced that they are right – who are immediately followed by other researchers with the same level of determination who are equally certain that everybody else is wrong.Tutankhamun's lurid 20th century afterlife is a wonderful story and Jo Marchant has written a hugely enjoyable book, one that is both luminous and illuminating. The Shadow King is rich in bright perception and clear explanation. It is headlong too, with a narrative that evokes a cavalcade of grave robbers, explorers, crooks, charlatans, showmen, seekers after glory, greedy collectors, people with stars in their eyes and bees in their bonnets, aristocrats, autocrats, politicians, television producers and, of course, determined scientists who are all too convinced that they are right – who are immediately followed by other researchers with the same level of determination who are equally certain that everybody else is wrong.
Marchant brings to this story a reporter's skills. She listens carefully and sympathetically, she visits everything she can, she reads widely and she tries to question everybody. But she keeps a reporter's perspective, one that rests on awareness that no story is ever complete, and that very few facts are ever undisputed. "When something moves from dusty academia into popular culture, it's rare that you'll hear someone make the one true statement: 'Actually, we just don't know,'" she says at the close of one chapter, with a hint of a sigh.Marchant brings to this story a reporter's skills. She listens carefully and sympathetically, she visits everything she can, she reads widely and she tries to question everybody. But she keeps a reporter's perspective, one that rests on awareness that no story is ever complete, and that very few facts are ever undisputed. "When something moves from dusty academia into popular culture, it's rare that you'll hear someone make the one true statement: 'Actually, we just don't know,'" she says at the close of one chapter, with a hint of a sigh.
The puzzle of Tutankhamun may have arisen because there is simply too much information. Most burial sites had been disturbed or even ransacked long before the first Egyptologists turned up. Tutankhamun's grave was an unusual prize, and more than 5,000 items were removed from it (most of them to Oxford). The discovery was a media event in 1922, and almost every stage of the subsequent examination of the mummified boy king and the objects that accompanied him into the afterlife happened in the public gaze. More than once, delicate exploration of the young monarch's remains was hampered by the presence of a television crew.The puzzle of Tutankhamun may have arisen because there is simply too much information. Most burial sites had been disturbed or even ransacked long before the first Egyptologists turned up. Tutankhamun's grave was an unusual prize, and more than 5,000 items were removed from it (most of them to Oxford). The discovery was a media event in 1922, and almost every stage of the subsequent examination of the mummified boy king and the objects that accompanied him into the afterlife happened in the public gaze. More than once, delicate exploration of the young monarch's remains was hampered by the presence of a television crew.
Along with the main event (as if the first exhumation of a complete and properly buried pharaoh was not enough) came the sideshows: the ghoulish, in the form of the so-called curse of the mummy's tomb; the slightly more substantial fears of resurrecting mysterious infections; and then the parade of claimants who wanted – in the metaphorical sense and sometimes the literal – a piece of the poor lad.Along with the main event (as if the first exhumation of a complete and properly buried pharaoh was not enough) came the sideshows: the ghoulish, in the form of the so-called curse of the mummy's tomb; the slightly more substantial fears of resurrecting mysterious infections; and then the parade of claimants who wanted – in the metaphorical sense and sometimes the literal – a piece of the poor lad.
A King Tut exhibition in the US was picketed by protesters because his facial reconstruction was not significantly black, and was therefore disrespectful to Egypt's African roots. Meanwhile in the same country the far right claimed that the pyramid builders must have been "white Nordic". Mormon scientists were suspected of trying to claim an Israelite connection with Egyptian kings; others have tried to write Moses, Jesus and Joseph – he of the multi-coloured cloak – into the story of King Tut and his predecessor Akhenaten. And who could forget the million-selling author Erich von Daniken, who claimed that the pyramids were erected by intelligent extraterrestrials?A King Tut exhibition in the US was picketed by protesters because his facial reconstruction was not significantly black, and was therefore disrespectful to Egypt's African roots. Meanwhile in the same country the far right claimed that the pyramid builders must have been "white Nordic". Mormon scientists were suspected of trying to claim an Israelite connection with Egyptian kings; others have tried to write Moses, Jesus and Joseph – he of the multi-coloured cloak – into the story of King Tut and his predecessor Akhenaten. And who could forget the million-selling author Erich von Daniken, who claimed that the pyramids were erected by intelligent extraterrestrials?
In the course of this adventure, Egypt is a British protectorate, then a kingdom, then a republic. A president is assassinated by his own soldiers, and mass demonstrations force another president out. Through the decades, poor young King Tut's body is subjected to a procession of forensic indignities – even the FBI get into the act – none of which seems to settle any of the questions about how he lived and how he died. King Tut becomes a nice little earner for Egypt, he becomes Egyptology's poster child, and 90 years after his first exhumation, he remains as good a story as he was the day he was first discovered.In the course of this adventure, Egypt is a British protectorate, then a kingdom, then a republic. A president is assassinated by his own soldiers, and mass demonstrations force another president out. Through the decades, poor young King Tut's body is subjected to a procession of forensic indignities – even the FBI get into the act – none of which seems to settle any of the questions about how he lived and how he died. King Tut becomes a nice little earner for Egypt, he becomes Egyptology's poster child, and 90 years after his first exhumation, he remains as good a story as he was the day he was first discovered.
This book examines a lot of very interesting science – investigating ancient DNA, for example, doesn't seem to be the easiest career move – but in a story as action-packed as this one, the science seems to provoke more disputes than it resolves. Who would have thought there could be so much life in one 3,000-year-old corpse?This book examines a lot of very interesting science – investigating ancient DNA, for example, doesn't seem to be the easiest career move – but in a story as action-packed as this one, the science seems to provoke more disputes than it resolves. Who would have thought there could be so much life in one 3,000-year-old corpse?
Tim Radford is the author of The Address Book: Our Place in the Scheme of ThingsTim Radford is the author of The Address Book: Our Place in the Scheme of Things
We are now reading The Last Alchemist in Paris by Lars Öhrström, which Tim will review on Thursday 6 March
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