New Book: Tutankhamen’s Curse

The Bolton News ()

ANCIENT Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamen holds as much fascination for us as Madonna or Angelina Jolie, according to egyptologist Joyce Tyldesley.

The Bolton-based academic, who is regarded as a leading authority in the field, has just published her latest book on the famous pharaoh, Tutankhamen’s Curse, and is now starting work on a text about Nefertiti.

She said: “I’m interested in what makes people celebrities and why we are interested in them — people like Tutankhamen and Nefertiti were the celebrities of the ancient world.”

Dozens of conspiracy theories surround the death of the pharaoh, but Dr Tyldesley says she doubted that Tutankhamen was assassinated, as some believe. “It would have been an odd thing to do,” she said. “He had been on the throne for nearly 10 years when he died, and seemed to be doing a good job.