A Short History of Tomb-Raiding

Reviews / Votes

A lively and fascinating tour through the underbelly of Egyptian antiquities . . . Golia's book, although it does not condone the activity, tries to understand the urge for tomb raiding . . . A Short History of Tomb-Raiding tells a story that began millennia ago, but the best moments relate to more recent times. Golia, a long-term resident of Cairo, has done extensive research into contemporary treasure hunters in Egypt, even interviewing people who have spent time behind bars for the crime. The majority of them do not come across as devious villains. They are largely poor Egyptians intoxicated by the possibility of finding a massive fortune - more Del Boy than Ronnie Kray. * Literary Review * At the heart of Maria Golia's compulsively readable book about the history of treasure-seeking and tomb-raiding in Egypt is the idea that, despite all our technology and progress, people don't change . . . Egyptian civilisation is unimaginably old. Long-term Cairo resident Maria Golia illustrates this vividly: when the Romans first gazed at the sphinx, they were looking further back into history than we are when we visit the Roman Colosseum today . . . you'll find all this and more in this marvellous and colourful history of treasure-seekers old and new, in those haunted and haunting tombs of ancient Egypt. * Daily Mail * A fascinating and at times poignant look at illegal treasure-hunting in Egypt today. Golia, relying on her own reporting, is in her element here, not passing moral judgement on the raiders, but making the connection between tomb-raiding and political and economic conditions clear . . . Provocatively, she compares nineteenth-and early-twentieth-century 'archaeologists' to tomb raiders. Both were hunting treasures, after all. * Times Literary Supplement * In A Short History of Tomb-Raiding, [Golia] has created a treasure house that teems with wonderful stories, both extraordinary and plaintive, of banditos, bathos, feats of daring. She chronicles graft, exploitation, bittersweet laughter, the will to survive, power and its ultimate powerlessness. Beneath and beyond it all she sees - creates - a salvific wonder. * Sukhdev Sandhu, 4Columns * Maria Golia presents a comprehensive view of the path these treasures have taken from the death of the ancient Egyptian owners to the present day, including the builders' concealing of the treasure chambers, the tombs' rites and curses, and the cultural effect of looting on the local populations. * The New Criterion * From Indiana Jones to Lara Croft and Assassin's Creed, modern popular culture is full of adventure heroes digging up the past to benefit their present. But treasure hunting has captured the imagination and fuelled dreams of wealth and fame for centuries, if not millennia, as Maria Golia's fascinating guide reveals. * New Internationalist * Intriguing, informed and entertaining . . . Golia explores a vast and complex subject with clarity and insight, managing to understand the historical specificity of treasure hunting without becoming sentimental about the subject in a book that is a great entry point to this fascinating topic. -- Steve Toase * Fortean Times * A Short History of Tomb Raiding tackles a broad sweep of Egypt's history . . . engagingly written . . . the exploitation of ancient burials has a long history - not a short one, and it seems we are still living it. * Apollo Magazine * The beauty of this book is that it is Egypt from the other side: it is tomb-raiding as a social and cultural phenomenon, leaving a deep impact on those living there. A Short History of Tomb-Raiding is, therefore, also a short history of Egyptians. It is a much better-rounded narrative than those books, focused solely on treasure, that have gone before . . . a grown-up, holistic account of tomb-raiding, with a relevance and immediacy that is as unusual as finding that fabled cache of gold. * GetHistory.co.uk * In a wide-ranging and eloquent account of tomb robbery in Egypt across the millennia and right up to the present day we are presented with a parade of pharaohs, priests, embalmers, builders of pyramids, death-dealing robots, tomb robbers, sorcerers, jinn, geomancers, confidence tricksters, rubes and archaeologists. Maria Golia has written an exhilarating masterpiece of social and intellectual history. * Robert Irwin, author and Arabist * Maria Golia skilfully combines secret passages, blind alleys, priests, plunderers, magicians and mummies to explore the venerable tradition of tomb raiding in Egypt. Vividly written and filled with unusual illustrations, this book is a must for anyone interested in Egypt, the secret books of treasure hunters and the antiquities trade. * Salima Ikram, Distinguished University Professor of Egyptology, The American University in Cairo, and author of Ancient Egypt: An Introduction * The history of tomb-raiding ranges across the boundaries between fact and fantasy, archaeology and magic, scholarship and crime. It extends from Greek and Roman treasure hunters to Arab sorcerers, necropolis-dwelling clans to European adventurers, and forms a continuous narrative that connects the age of the pharaohs to the academic experts and museum collections of today. Maria Golia is a deeply informed chronicler of Egypt ancient and modern, and this is a panoramic and gloriously illustrated survey of its fabled secrets, treasures and wonders. * Mike Jay, author and cultural historian * This book is a must read. Maria Golia creatively and accurately connects the ancient with the modern to narrate an engaging history of Egypt through the greed of pilferers and treasure hunters, the collusion of rulers and the swell of popular revolts. * Alaa Al Aswany, author of The Yacoubian Building *