Sir Grafton Elliot Smith - Tutankhamen: and the Discovery of His Tomb by the Late Earl of Carnarvon and Mr. Howard Carter

(From the Introduction) “Never before in the history of archaeological inquiry has any event excited such immediate and world-wide interest as Mr. Howard Carter's discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb in November 1922. It gives us a new revelation of the wealth and luxury of Egyptian civilization during its most magnificent period. In beauty and design and perfection of craftsmanship, Tutankhamen's funerary equipment is indeed a new revelation of the ancient Egyptians' artistic feeling and technical skill.”

“At the time of Tutankhamen the great peoples that had built up civilization were losing their dominant position. If Egyptian rule had not been weakened at this particular time...the Old Testament would not have been composed in the atmosphere of strife that gives it its distinctive tone and seems to us today to exalt the importance of warfare and the value of military courage.”

“The period which is so brilliantly illuminated by the discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb is thus perhaps the most critical period in the whole history of civilization. A new era was dawning and every scrap of information that sheds any light upon the circumstances of this fateful time is of tremendous interest to us in understanding the civilization under which we ourselves are living.” (Steven Seitel)