On this day in 1923, King Tut’s tomb was opened (it had been discovered in 1922). Howard Carter’s find led to a craze for all things Egypt, and throughout the ’20s, fashion and decoration reflected this mania.

My eldest son has had his own “Egypt” phase, thanks in great part to the book Egyptology, one of the “Ology” series that have grown popular over the past few years. It is a very hands-on, interactive book, purporting to be the papers of the fictional Emily Sands, who vanished with her archaeological party while searching for the Tomb of Osiris. There is plenty for young readers to do here: envelopes to be opened, and drawings to be studied. As a book to whet the interest in Egypt, this can be highly recommended, though it would best be accompanied by a good collection of Egyptian mythology and a more factual book on the time of the pharoahs.

For even more fantastic fun, the Dragonology and Wizardology books are written in a similar style, with lots to discover and enjoy. There is also an Egyptology Handbook by the same authors.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 16th, 2006 at 12:27 pm and is filed under Books. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.