Ankhesenamun

There will never be another archaeologist like Amice Mary Calverley. She was a plane-flying, war-filming, desert-living Egyptologist, who created stunning drawings of the Temple of Seti I at Abydos.

With the onset of World War II she found herself fighting in a propaganda war against the Axis. However, one of the people who edited her Seti work, Egyptologist Hermann Junker, was aiding the Nazis. He did this even as he was still editing Calverley's work! 

Born in Chelsea, London, UK in 1896, her drawings, financed by John Rockefeller Jr., were published in four oversized colour volumes. Her drawings were so good that her editors could find hieroglyphic errors made by the ancient Egyptians, but scarcely one made by her.

About The Author

Owen Jarus

Last three pieces by this author:

So You Want to go North? Ontario Archaeology Conference Will Look at the Canadian Shield | What was the Most Important Site in Ancient London? The Forum! | They’ve found an opening! Egyptologists reach end of tunnel in Seti I tomb

Owen Jarus is a freelance writer based in Toronto ,Canada. He has written articles on archaeology for a variety of media outlets including The Canadian Press newswire (CP), U of T Magazine, The Mississauga News and The Guelph Mercury. Education: BA from the University of Toronto in History, Geography and Near & Middle Eastern Civilizations.

The legendary 18th dynasty pharaoh Tutankhamun died tragically young – at around just 19 years of age. The period of Egyptian history in which he lived was brutal indeed, and life expectancy was woefully low. Yet he passed well before his time nonetheless, especially for a royal living in the relative lap of luxury.

Speculating as to the cause of his early demise has been a popular pursuit among scholars ever since Tut’s tomb – in which lay his perfectly undisturbed mummified corpse – was famously discovered by Howard Carter in the 1920s. Theories range from him becoming infected with a fatal pandemic said to be sweeping the region at the time, to a rare bone disorder to complications from a simple accident which primitive medical practices at the time were unable to deal with.

About The Author

Malcolm Jack

Last three pieces by this author:

University of Sussex Cutbacks: Protests, Riot Police and Strike Action | Anglo-Saxon CSI: Archaeologists Stumped by Mystery Saxon Find | Latin Lovers: Bettany Hughes Helps Boris Johnson Launch 'Classics for Schools'

Malcolm Jack is a freelance arts and entertainment journalist based in Glasgow, Scotland. He graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 2004 with an MA Honours Degree in History.

King Tutankhamun

One of the most abiding legacies of the 18th Dynasty, and particularly the Amarna renaissance, is the power of its art.  Despite suppression of references to Amarna by Horemheb, the last pharaoh of the dynasty, art of peerless quality has reached us in the treasures buried with a relatively minor pharaoh whose tomb largely escaped the robbers who raided the tombs of more illustrious pharaohs.  That pharaoh was, of course, King Tut whose largely-intact tomb was found by Howard Carter in 1922.

Tutankhamun came to the throne as a child of nine in around 1333 BCE, and died before he reached 19.  Ongoing DNA tests of royal mummies may soon establish who his father was. Informed guesses are that Amenhotep III or, more probably, his son Akhenaten, fathered the boy king. 

About The Author

Kate Phizackerley

Last three pieces by this author:

The Valley of the Kings | Carnarvon's Life of Adventure

Kate’s father was the Lancashire landscape artist PT Phiz whom she accompanied on sketching trips throughout her childhood.  He also introduced her to architecture through books like Banister Fletcher and visits to the great churches and houses of Britain.  Although Kate’s professional career has taken her into HR, IT and…

The Time Of Tut

King Tut’s tomb was discovered by British archaeologist Howard Carter in the Valley of the Kings in 1922, and the boy king has been the most famous and mysterious Egyptian pharaoh ever since. Although his tomb yielded unmatched gold and other riches, it didn’t reveal the full story of King Tut.  To this day, experts are still hotly debating who his father was.

Tut is thought to have been born in 1341 BC in Akhetaten (modern day el-Amarna) before dying at the age of 19 in 1323 BC.  His reign took place during a period of considerable upheaval in Egypt. His predecessor, Akhenaten, had enraged the population to the point of near revolt by supplanting the traditional priesthood and deities with the god Aten. According to Akhenaten, this previously minor but now all-powerful god could only be served by worshipping Akhenaten himself. Unsurprisingly, like some modern leaders, Akhenaten was considered a dangerous heretic and madman.