A Short History of Tomb-Raiding

Reviews / Votes

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 * 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 * 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 *