A World Beneath the Sands

The Golden Age of Egyptology

By: Toby Wilkinson

Narrated by: Graeme Malcolm

Length: 14 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

A thrilling history of the West’s scramble for the riches of ancient Egypt by the foremost Egyptologist of our time.

From the decipherment of hieroglyphics in 1822 to the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb by Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon a hundred years later, the uncovering of Egypt’s ancient past took place in an atmosphere of grand adventure and international rivalry.

In A World Beneath the Sands, acclaimed Egyptologist Toby Wilkinson chronicles the ruthless race between the British, French, Germans, and Americans to lay claim to its mysteries and treasures. He tells riveting stories of the men and women whose obsession with Egypt’s ancient civilization helped to enrich and transform our understanding of the Nile Valley and its people and left a lasting impression on Egypt, too. Travelers and treasure-hunters, ethnographers and archaeologists: whatever their motives, whatever their methods, a century of adventure and scholarship revealed a lost world, buried for centuries beneath the sands.

©2020 Toby Wilkinson (P)2020 Audible, Inc.

If You Cannot Go To Egypt This Year

There is magic to recapitulation of the history of archaeology; a history which is about the drive, weirdness and peculiarities of those who forged the field. These were men driven by the force of non-convention and the out-of-the-box thinking that catapulted the discipline and their esteem. Wilkinson is best where there are sources as letters, diaries and remembrances. Champollion's story is one of discovery, attention to the details of language and fortuitous finds. Howard Carter and Lord Carnavon are right out of Tom Stoppard - angles and time sequences flush up against the expanse of The Valley of The Kings. The book would be great for children who need catalysts, challenges. There is a flow to the story which never bogs down.

Outstanding

insightful and thorough. Well written and narrated. A revalation of the interplay of empire building and fascination with the exotic. A look at how the relics of one of the worlds earliest civilizations was plundered by subsequent empires from Greece and then Rome through France and England.

A Phenomenal Account of the History of Egyptology

It doesn’t get better than this! Wilkinson’s account of the birth of Egyptology is riveting. As one participant observed, Egyptology isn’t a science; it’s a vendetta. Wilkinson limns the personal and nationalist rivalries that animated the plumbing of Pharonic treasures. I’m just back from a trip to Egypt and wish only that I had listened to this in advance of that journey.

Egypt and Archaeology

Toby Wilkinson walks through the beginnings of archaeology in Egypt, the struggles, and the men and women who were instrumental in its creation.
Throughout different countries, there were some who came to travel through the sands, and during those journeys, there were some great discoveries that were made. The struggles for control over the dig sites, the artifacts, and stopping the flow of stolen artifacts out of the country plagued the leaders from the start - and it would only get worse as Egyptomania grew.

I loved this read! It was well done, and full of fabulous information! I look forward to more from this author.

EGYPT AWAKENING

Toby Wilkinson writes an enlightening introduction to ancient Egypt and its meaning for today’s Egyptians. The pre-modern age of Egypt reaches back to 3,200 or 3150 BCE with only southern Africa, China, and Mesopotamia appearing to have older artifacts discovered by archeologists. Long before Greek and Roman civilizations spread their beliefs around the Mediterranean and Africa, Egypt created dynasties that ruled large portions of the middle east.

Egypt’s ancient stories had been in plain sight for over 4000 years. Wilkinson notes it is not until the 19th century that Egyptian hieroglyphics are recognized as a written language. That language comes from a combination of pictures, symbols, and signs that represent words and sounds that tell the story of an estimated 170 pharaohs.

The legacy of Egypt’s ancient civilization awakened a nationalist fervor among Egyptians that expelled French, English, German, and American Egyptologists that contributed knowledge of Egypt’s ancient history but confiscated many ancient Egypt’s artifacts. Wilkinson argues the trigger for the change in Egyptian nationalism is a result of Carter’s surprising 1922 discovery of Tutankhamen’s burial site in the Valley of the Kings. Whether it was the trigger for Egyptian pride in their heritage or not is somewhat irrelevant. The truth of Wilkinson’s history is that ancient Egypt was one of the great nations of the world that may once again rise to prominence.

Fascinating and Enjoyable

This is a fascinating account of the British, German, and French attempts to gain Egyptian artifacts, beginning with Napoleon's Egyptian campaign through to Carter's discovery of King Tut's tomb in 1922. Wilkinson writes well and presents his information in an accessible fashion and, in addition, makes the characters and situations come alive. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Mr. Malcolm gave an above average performance.

An entrancing listen, fascinating History

From the review in the NYTimes, I knew this would be a fascinating listen and saved it until I got an exercise cycle - nothing liking a fascinating history, well read to speed along the post-holiday exercise and weight loss. Kept marking places and looking at images on line - so helpful.

Western-centric content. Narration is dull.

My biggest issue with this book was the Western-centric way of looking at this history. The author made some effort to note how unfair the field and Western powers have been to Egyptians, but the content really leans on what all these French and British scholars said about themselves, and glosses over the blatant exploitation of Egypt, the marginalization of its people in this colonial period, and how Egyptians were largely shut out of meaningful participation in Egyptology for decades. The contributions Egyptians did make were unacknowledged by the excavators and therefore by the author of this book as a result.

As an audiobook, the narration was a bit dull, so I couldn't listen for long stretches of time.