Customer Reviews

Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs: Official Companion Book to the Exhibition sponsored by National Geographic

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Over the next two years, the artifacts found in the Egyptian tomb of King Tutankhamun will be on display at the musuems in Los Angeles, Fort Lauderdale, Chicago and Phildelphia. This expensive coffee-table book is the "Offical Companion" to the exhibition.

Every other page is an illustration, a photograph of an artifact or a map which is accompany by a descriptive text on the opposing page. Beautifully laid out, the first section of the book is the history and background of King Tut followed by a longer section on every single artifact on display. As it was in its first tour in the late 1970's (with new objects added), this exhibtion is a museum blockbuster -- the LA site will be open 24/7 hours during its final two months of its stay to compensate for the heavy demand for tickets.

For any reader interested in the history of ancient Egypt or plan on viewing this once-in-a-lifetime show, this book is a must buy, preferably before seeing the exhibition.

This magnificant book is the companion book to go with the Tutankhamun exhibition that is currently touring the United States. It features the magnificant photography for which National Geographic is famous complete with a narative written by Zahi Hawass, the secretary general of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities and director of the Giza and Saqqara Pyramids. In the descriptions, he talks about the life of the boy king, the state of Egypt at the time, the religion and much more. Each piece of the exhibit is discussed as to what it is, what significance it has, and where it was found.

Perhaps most striking is the reconstructed image of Tutankhamun. It was made by a special CT scanner that obtained images from inside the mummy's wrappings without damaging them. This created the first three-dimensional picture of Tutankhamun.

The exhibit will show in LA, June 16 to November 15, 2005, Ft. Lauderdale from December 15 to April 23, 2006, Chicago May 26 to January 1, 2007, and in Philadelphia February 3 to September 30, 2007.

I admit, King Tut has been done to death. So many books out there exist soley about him and the discovery of his tomb. Even me, being a passionate afficianado of Egyptology, have to admit that when I recieved this book, I though it would be just another book on King Tut.
But it isn't.
This book is a marvelous analysis of the life and times of Tutankhamun, the heretic Akhenaten, and the tumultous Amarna period, which has fascinated and astounded historians for centuries. This book is a beautiful exhibition guide to an unearthly exhibit. If you have seen the exhibit, it's a perfect way to relive the wonderful experience again and again. If you have not, the book, with its earthy, gorgeous, full color photograhps, captures the feel of the exhibit spectacularly. With hundreds of gorgeous and new photos by Kenneth Garret, and clear, concise, and fascinating text by the brilliant Zahi Hawass, this book is another triumph by National Geographic.

This book is an exquisitely done companion book to the exhibit. Every piece from the exhibit is highlighted in the book, with an appropriate discription and background. If you enjoy Ancient Egypt, get this book, whether you have the chance to see the exhibit or not. It's a great companion to the exhibit if you can see it, but a great substitute if you can't.

This book is beautifully presented (check out the binding under the dust cover) with glorious photographs throughout. The text is clear, extremely informative and easily understood. The book is packed with information about the items which are on Exhibition sponsored by National Geographic. I love Egyptian art and design and was not disappointed with this book. Young Tut's facial appearance has been recreated by modern technology and there are photographs of a now latex Golden Boy on the dust cover and also inside. It quite took me aback. He looks remarkably like Boy George of Culture Club fame, as was, and if you don't believe me, check it out!

This is a beautiful book and excellent catalog of the items in the King Tut exhibit. I recently saw the exhibit at the Ft. Lauderdale Museum of Art and the book was $49. If you are going to one of the later dates, be sure to buy the book online rather than in the gift shop.

I will see the Exhibit in Chicago and have visited the Cairo Museum, but this book is like revisiting the exhibit or the next best thing to seeing it!

Tutankhamen makes the Crown Jewels look like costume jewelry. I saw the exhibit in Fort Lauderdale, and it was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Everywhere you look there's another 3500-year-old masterpiece crusted with gold and jewels, and Tut was just one of many Pharaohs - they all received this kind of treatment.

This book is the official exhibition catalog, and a very nicely-done catalog at that. It is more like one of those slick coffee-table books with big color prints on every other page than most museum catalogs I have seen. Since they don't allow picture-taking in the exhibition, the only way to bring some memories home with you is to buy the catalog at the typical over-priced museum bookstore price.

My recommendation... I bought a copy right here on Amazon for less than the cost of a couple rolls of film and developing costs; plus the pictures in the book are way better than I could have hoped for if I tried to shoot through the display cases at the exhibit. So, I'm pretty happy w/ the book.

Overall, I give the exhibit and the people who made this possible my highest rating - a double-thumbs-up-gold-and-jewel-encrusted-five-stars!!!

Oh, and may thy Ka live forever!

This book is a wonderful preview of the exhibition that is touring the United States. I read it before I went to see the actual artifacts and found that my enjoyment of the exhibition was greatly enhanced. The picture are wonderful and the description very well done. The same book is available at the exhibition at a much greater price.

Information was pretty good and the photos were clear. I wanted the book to go with the museum tour of King Tut. The book filled in many blanks and it was nice to see the artifacts again. The book at the museum was $50 and it was much cheaper online. The only difference was the museum book included a dvd which I could do without, especially for the difference in price.