Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Beneath the Sands of Egypt: Adventures of an Unconventional Archaeologist

Beneath the Sands of Egypt: Adventures of an Unconventional Archaeologist
By Donald P. Ryan
William Morrow, 2010. 286 pgs. Nonfiction

A very enjoyable memoir of a modern-day archaeologist. As the sub-title indicates, he is an "unconventional" archaeologist and the author does detail his unusual career path from rock-climbing in Washington into tomb-exploration in Egypt. Most interesting were the chapters covering his explorations in Egypt, especially the discovery of a mummified female woman in KV60. Some believe this to have been Queen Hatshepsut--the female Pharaoh. Ryan's association with Thor Heyerdahl was quite interesting as well. This gave me a renewed appetite for archaeology (armchair archaeology) causing me to seek out more books about the Valley of the Kings and the history of its exploration. The book is a varied narrative, avoids the technical and should therefore appeal to a wide range of readers.

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