Mummies, Temples and Tombs

Published to accompany Wall-to-Wall's thrilling, live-action TV series Ancient Egyptians - due for screening in November 2003 - this entertaining book vividly brings to life the stories of five fascinating people who lived in Egypt over 2,000 years ago, as recorded on original papyrus documents or etched in stone. The individuals whose lives are so vividly recounted include the royal sculptor Thutmose, who even today is remembered as creator of one of the best known pieces of ancient Egyptian art - the plaster bust of Nefertiti, the heretic pharaoh Akhenaton's beautiful queen. Then there is Wenamun, the priest who set out on an heroic adventure down the Nile in search of materials to build a sacred barge to the god Amun. His life is graphically described in the autobiography inscribed on his tomb which outlines his thrilling voyage and the trading links and lands through which he travelled. The tale of the young weaver Nakht tells of a short and tragic life. By the time he died aged fifteen, Nakht had suffered both hunger and hard labour. He even had traces of a red powder deep in his lungs - granite - a sure sign of a cruel punishment meted out to him for some minor misdemeanor. Yet there were those that loved him, for his remains show that he had been carefully washed, his face shaved and his nails trimmed before being placed in his final resting place, a wooden coffin that would have cost more than a month's wages. Other tales include those of Weni the palace official, who uncovered a plot to kill the king, and Pharaoh Nectanebo II, last of the Egyptian pharaohs, who sought to protect his realm through magical ritual.