Much to my parents’ chagrin, I became convinced in 3rd grade that ancient treasures lay beneath the surface of our backyard. Like a pint-sized Indiana Jones, I surveyed the terrain and began searching for artifacts that would shake up the archaeological world.
I think you can guess how that turned out.
For any would-be excavators out there, a word of advice: don’t try to explain your quest *after* turning the lawn into a lunar landscape. Your comments will fall on deaf ears. Trust me.
Yet despite this painful lesson, I still find myself enthralled by stories of ancient treasures and the intrepid souls who discover them. So when I first learned of Daniel Meyerson’s In the Valley of the Kings, I had an inkling that it would end up as my Best of the Month pick.
Hewn from his discovery of the treasure-laden tomb of Tutankhamun, the legacy of famed archeologist Howard Carter invokes notions of adventure, dark curses, and untold riches. Yet as cinematic as such stories may be, they are incongruous with a man who carved out an isolated existence sifting through the unforgiving desert sands.
Author Daniel Meyerson maintains that the real story of Howard Carter is about struggle and pride, not gold and silver. At a time when archeology was dominated by the upper classes of society, Carter’s lack of a genteel upbringing created a rather large chip on his shoulder. A desire to silence critics consumed him, and nearly lead to his own undoing. “The same driven quality that enabled him to find Tut’s tomb,” explains Meyerson, “also brought about his downfall.”
Had a series of timely events not provided Carter a second chance at glory, one of the greatest archaeological finds of the 20th century could very well still lie buried in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings.
– Dave
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