A World Beneath the Sands: The Golden Age of Egyptology

by Toby Wilkinson

A World Beneath the Sands by Cambridge Egyptologist Toby Wilkinson tells the story of our encounter with ancient Egypt, from the Greeks and the first time a celebrity tourist—Julius Caesar—went down the Nile to the 20th century. He focuses on a “heyday of Egyptology” bookmarked by two epoch-making events: the decipherment of hieroglyphics, thanks to the Rosetta Stone, in 1822 and the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb a century later.

Our interview with Toby on Ancient Egypt is one of our most-read interviews on Five Books.