Friends of Montclair Library

Howard Carter inspecting King Tut’s mummy.

90 years ago today, on February 16, 1923, archaeologist Howard Carter opened the sealed burial chamber of the ancient Egyptian ruler King Tutankhamen, who died around 1346 B.C. Carter had discovered the long-lost tomb the previous November at Thebes in the Valley of the Kings.

If you’re itching to know more about the history of King Tut and ancient Egypt, here are some books (some in the Montclair collection and some elsewhere in the OPL system) to get you started:

For kids:

Tutankhamun by Robert Green (Montclair)
How the Sphinx Got to the Museum by Jessie Hartland
Tutankhamun: The Life and Death of a Pharaoh by David Murdoch
Inside the Tomb of Tutankhamun by Jacqueline Morley
Mummies Made in Egypt by Aliki (Montclair)
Mummy (Eyewitness Book) by James Putnam (Montclair)

For grown-ups:

Howard Carter and the Discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamun by H. V. F. Winstone
The Golden King: The World of Tutankhamun by Zahi Hawass
The Murder of King Tut: A Nonfiction Thriller by James Patterson and Martin Dugard (Montclair)
Tutankhamun: The Book of Shadows, a fictional mystery by Nick Drake

Or if you’re feeling like doing some exploring of your own, try looking in the non-fiction 393 and 930s sections for more books on Tutankhamun, Carter, mummies and ancient Egypt.

Today’s random internet fact: The grand home that stands in for Downton Abbey (available on DVD at the Montclair branch) in the eponymous TV series is Highclere Castle, the family seat of the Carnarvons — and it was the fifth Earl of Carnarvon who sponsored the search for the tomb of Tutankhamun. Source: Oxford University Press