Treasured: How Tutankhamun Shaped a Century

In advance of the centennial of the November 1922 discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb, Riggs (history of visual culture, Durham Univ., UK) explores how this event dramatically impacted post-colonial Egypt’s foreign diplomacy and domestic politics, as well as global popular culture. It’s a natural follow-up to her previous book, Photographing Tutankhamun, which tells the story of Harry Burton’s work as official photographer for the excavation, clearance, and conservation of the tomb and its contents. Now, she is the first to finally acknowledge the importance of the native Egyptians who were essential participants in that unprecedented endeavor. Highlighted are the periodic traveling exhibitions of the gold mask and other treasures which were the inspiration of the great French Egyptologist Christiane Desroches Noblecourt and UNESCO, intended originally to raise funds to save the ancient monuments of Nubia from the Aswan High Dam’s flood waters and subsequently for the refurbishing of Egypt’s museums.