Customer Reviews

The Murder of Tutankhamen

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Granted the evidence presented by this book is by no means conclusive, I've got to say that if more history books were written with this much verve, fewer kids would graduate school convinced that "history is boring." Brier loves what he does, and he's very well-read in it, and it shows. You get a real feel for the political intrigue of the time right after the heresies of Amarna, and he presents the information in such a way that you never forget that there are actually human personalities associated with these events. The book does a great job getting across the flavor of life in that time, and certainly it does convince me at least that something fishy was going on at the end of Tut's reign.

However, that said, I didn't find any of the medical/forensic evidence presented even slightly convincing (and the opening chapter with its dramatic film noir reenactment of the "murder" was a bit much). Tutankhamen's death itself at a young age isn't even suspicious given that there is a good chance he inherited Marfan Syndrome from his father, a disability which has an excellent track record of killing young. And given that the skull and body were grossly damaged by the funerary practices of the time, I don't feel that any solid conclusions can be drawn from the state of either. The political evidence that something fishy was happening is a lot more compelling than the physical evidence -- and Brier knows his Egyptian politics.

Brier clearly knows Egypt well, and loves it, and that intellect and enthusiasm shines through every word, making this book a more than worthwhile read as long as you have your critical filters in place. I look forward to more work from Brier. Even if you don't agree with his conclusions, you've got to admit -- if more historians were this engaging and presented history with this much texture and life, history'd be a whole lot more fun in school, wouldn't it?

I highly recommend this book if you enjoy reading historical interpretations of limited facts with an open mind. Bob Brier is one of my favorite authors, because his obvious love of Egypt comes through in all the books that he writes. In this instance, he explores the known facts regarding King Tutankamun's death and comes to the conclusion that it was his grandfather, Aye, who arranged for the King's death so that Aye could assume the throne. Aye apparently killed off the widow, Annkesenamun, to boot after he married her to legitamize the claim. Do I think this is what happened? No, but I enjoyed the approach and the summary of information currently available on the subject. The book is enjoyable, easy to follow, and I felt that the new viewpoint was worth to consider.

In this work, the author claims that Tutankhamen was murdered, in fact the subtitle of the book is "a true story". Well, emphasis on the "Story". Using a single piece of evidence, allegedly a swelling on the base of the mummy's skull, he spins a tale of palace intrigue and political assasination. This is certainly a good read, and a good introduction for someone to Egyptology, but it's not history. There are some details that the author has left out or altered to make his point: first, he uses the funeral portraiture on Tutankhamen's tomb to hypothesize that Ay was setting himself up as successor. Actually, in many tombs the "opening of the mouth" ceremony has the son of the deceased present. If anything, Ay is showing his dedication to the king, portraying himself as the loyal subject-the arranger of the funeral. By putting his face on the wall, he reminds Tutankhamen who performed the burial. This may well be a way to ensure that "Tut" will remember Ay when he is dead. Secondly the author uses the term "true of voice" in describing on of Tutankhamen's names. Not true, well not true while the king was alive. "True of voice" is used when meeting Anubis, Thoth, and the heart is weighed against Ma'at; it's strictly funereal. Speaking of Ay, there's simply no way to know what his motivations were, if any. He left no record, and no other record has yet been found. Finally, the comments of another reviewer concerning efforts to review the xrays and analysis raise suspicion. Any scientist who refuses to release his data for scrutiny by colleagues must make one skeptical about any conclusions drawn. I think the best analysis that could have been made would have been to take samples from the mummy for forensic exam. If testing showed that Tutankhamen did not die from disease, then the author could have moved from that premise to the one he espouses here. The strengths of the book are in the fusing of several different disciplines to attempt a solution of an ancient question. The description of day-to-day life plus the details of Akhenaten alone make the book worth reading.

This is a convincing and thorough hypothesis that is not fully proven. Yet Brier presents a case stronger than any other yet presented. I would be remiss to say this should be one's only book on Egyptian history (it is far from detailed), but I do not think one could study Egypt without reading The Murder of Tutankhamen.

I am aware of the rumblings inside the Egyptology community on the lack of precision in Brier's evidence. I am not endorsing all of Brier's reasoning, especially his extraneous investigation of the psychology of Aye and the supposed evidence presented in the Opening Of The Mouth ceremony drawing on Tutankhamen's tomb wall. However, I do find Brier's theoretical reasoning plausible and well-argued. I do not think this is a scientific book, rather it is an investigative inquiry. It may not be the truth, but Brier's analysis has more proof than theories that Tut died of plagues or diseases. (Michael R. Allen in SpinTech Magazine, July 1998)

"The Murder Of Tutankhamen" is a very well-written book that never bores you and keeps you reading. Brier presents not only the facts and evidence about Tut's murder, but also gives an interesting lesson on Egypt's history and he makes clear how the factors that killed Tut came to be. This is a book that is incredibly packed with information, fatcs, and evidence. It feels more like an exotic detective novel. I was totally thrilled! Never has a book based on fact interested me so much. Books like these should be read in schools and studied by all interested in great, epic history. Brier is a fantastic investigator who puts together a puzzle full of betrayal, intrigue, romance, murder and conspiracy. I was also surprised to find out thing I never imagined, like the murder of the Haitit prince. "The Murder Of Tutankhamen" is a lush, informative work that deserves wonderous praise. I highly recommend it.

I read it in hopes for an accurate, and unbiased yet entertaining narrative of the aftermath of the Amarna period and the political intrigue it entailed. I was sorely dissappointed. Much that is only theory or speculation is treated as hard fact in this book. Briar insists that Ankhesenamen wrote the letters to the Hittite king, and that the desperation in these letters is hard proof of the murder of Tuthankamun. That she was the author of these letters is mere specuation. In fact, many prominent Egyptologists firmly beleive that it was either Nefertiti or Merytaten who wrote these pleas. Nowhere are these alternative theories even mentioned...or refuted in this text. Citations are rarely present for many things that Briar presents as firm fact, and when they are present, facts are twisted so that they support Briar's theory. When this text is not bombarding the reader with skewed facts, it is trying to manipulate with sentimentalism. The many melodramatic narratives of Tutankhamn dying pitifully in the arms of a sobbing Ankhesenamen bring the book close to the realms of fiction, and further cloud the fact.
In conclusion, Tut may have been murdered. However, the cloudy, vague, sentimentalized, and sometimes skewed evidence in this book provides absolutely no proof, and worst of all, is guaranteed to be misleaing to the reader.
Instead, I recommend Christine El Mahdy's Tutankhamun. She seems to do a much better job of arguing alternative theories and addressing evidence, without manipulating the emotions of the reader.

I read this book shortly before seeing the Pharoahs of the Sun exhibit that toured the country last year, featuring the artwork that appeared around the reign of Akhenaten and Tutankhamen.

The background in Brier's book allowed me to fully understand the importance of the artwork, and even have an interesting conversation with one of the curators about the debate over Tut's parentage. (Brier says Tut was Akhenaten's son by a secondary wife and the curator agreed.)

I found almost nothing left out of this book and the scholarship was impressive. Whether it was murder that killed Tut will probably never be known, but Brier presents a good case.

I absolutely loved this book! Bob Brier really has a feel for ancient Egypt. It hardly matters whether his driving thesis is 110% spot on; his love of the subject matter and the characters in his story comes shining through. It is a gripping read, 'unputdownable' in the true sense, highly recommended not only to those who feel a strange attraction for those ancient times in Egypt, but also for the casual student of religious history. He casts a fascinating light on this most extraordinary period and carries us buoyantly along with him.

Don't wait for the softcover; if you like ancient Egypt this book is too important, and you will want to read it again and again to savour the vital flavour of the epoch, it's characters, religion and royal culture. 5 stars and more!

Mr. Brier, a noted Egyptologist, has always struck me as a maverick in this field. Be that as it may, his books are always well written and understandable even to the novice. This book is no exception. By means of evidence collected thirty three centuries after the fact, this paleopathologist presents a strong circumstantial argument that not only Tutankhamen, but possibly his widow Ankhesenamun and probably a foreign prince were also the victims of murder. There is no smoking gun here, as the X-rays of Tut's skull are forensically ambiguous. However, the circumstantial evidence chronicled and articulated by Mr. Brier is logically and deductively overpowering. Realistically, there is enough evidence for a modern grand jury to indict Ay for murder, and Horemheb as a co-conspirator. I have studied this historical period for many years, and arrived at these same conclusions long ago. Bravo Mr. Brier, you have eloquently stated what others would call "alternate history". I would call it the dirty truth.

As a complete amateur, I was thrilled to discover that this book was not only written in such a way that even I could understand it, it also gave me a picture of the history of Egypt before Tutankhamen's time which I wasn't expecting. On the book jacket, I read that I would 'risk coming to care a good deal about the young Pharaoh's fate' and I scoffed. After all, it's history. It's a difficult task to make characters from three thousand years ago live and breathe in the minds of modern youth, but I found myself almost in tears over King Tut and poor Ankhesenamen. All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable story. I always find with a really good book, that I rush through the first three quarters because I can't put it down, then slow down to a snails pace for the rest of it because I never want it to end and that's exactly what happened here.