The Egyptian Museum in Cairo, the greatest repository of ancient Egyptian artifacts in the world, receives hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. But many of its treasures, long kept in basement storerooms or in magazines at archaeological sites around the country, or recently discovered at ongoing excavations, have never been seen by the general public. To celebrate the centenary of the Museum, many of these unknown pieces of exquisite beauty or great historical importance--and often both--have been brought out of the darkness to form a unique exhibition in a very appropriate setting: a converted section of the great basement storerooms of the Museum. With some 250 artifacts from the earliest beginnings of pharaonic culture to its latest flowerings, the exhibition spans the whole of ancient Egyptian history, and the one hundred masterpieces beautifully photographed for this volume represent the whole range of the exhibition: the Predynastic Period, the Old Kingdom, the First Intermediate Period, the Middle Kingdom, the Second Intermediate Period, the New Kingdom, the Third Intermediate Period, and the Late Period. This handsome book will serve as a prized memento for visitors to the exhibition and as a window onto it for Egyptophiles everywhere.

A fascinating and thorough account of the Egyptian process of mummification and efforts to safeguard places of burial against thieves.

The Egyptian Museum in Cairo is Home to some of the most exquisite artifacts in existence, yet many of these wonders have never been seen outside Egypt. Now, for the first time, world-famous Egyptologist Zahi Hawass takes readers on a tour of these long-lost antiquities and shares the adventures that led to their discoveries. Readers will marvel at the astonishing stories behind these dazzling treasures -- from the leg-endary unearthing of the tomb of boy king Tutankhamun, who ruled Egypt more than 3,000 years ago, to the modern-day photographer who discovered a royal burial shaft when he tripped over it while setting up his tripod. Many of the fabulous antiquities featured here were left to languish in storerooms all over the country and only recently were rediscovered. Hawass provides invaluable insights into what they meant to ancient Egyptians and what they now signify to us in the 21st century. Featuring exquisite photographs and enlightening commentary, Hidden Treasures of Ancient Egypt will delight Egyptophiles and history buffs and shed new light on some of the great mysteries of this ancient civilization. Book jacket.

As archaeologist Howard Carter cut his way into an underground chamber on November 26, 1922, he was overcome with excitement. When Carter finally peered through the tiny hole he had made, he could not believe his eyes. What incredible treasures would he find inside King Tutankhamen’s tomb? And how had the tomb remained undiscovered for more than 3,000 years?

Relates local legends from Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma about abandoned mines, hidden stashes of plunder, and lost fortunes

Beneath the waters of Abukir Bay, at the edge of the northwestern Nile Delta, lie the submerged remains of once-lost ancient Egyptian cities that sank over 1,200 years ago, but were dramatically rediscovered in the last years of the 20th century. Pioneering underwater excavations, begun in 1999 and still underway, are uncovering an array of ancient buildings and artefacts. Temple ruins and monumental statuary, harbour installations (and no fewer than 69 shipwrecks), exquisite jewellery and delicate ceramics are among the intriguing remains of these cities already lifted from the sea. Through these extraordinary finds, this book tells the story of how two iconic ancient civilizations, Egypt and Greece, interacted in the late first millennium BC, from the founding of Thonis-Heracleion, Naukratis and Canopus as trading and religious centres to the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great, through the ensuing centuries of Ptolemaic (Hellenistic) rule, to the suicide of Cleopatra and the ultimate dominance of Rome. Throughout, Greeks and Egyptians lived alongside one another in these lively cities, sharing their politics, religious beliefs, languages and customs. Greek kings adopted the regalia of the pharaoh; ordinary Greek citizens worshipped in Hellenic sanctuaries next to Egyptian temples; and their ancient gods and mythologies became ever more closely intertwined. Published to accompany the blockbuster British Museum exhibition showcasing a spectacular collection of objects, this book retells the history and rediscovery of this vibrant and multi-cultural ancient society.