The Millionaire and the Mummies

The Millionaire and the Mummies
By:John M. Adams
Published on 2013-06-25 by St. Martin's Press

Egypt, The Valley of the Kings, 1905: An American robber baron peers through the hole he has cut in an ancient tomb wall and discovers the richest trove of golden treasure ever seen in Egypt. At the start of the twentieth century, Theodore Davis was the most famous archaeologist in the world; his career turned tomb-robbing and treasure-hunting into a science. Using six of Davis's most important discoveries—from the female Pharaoh Hatshepsut's sarcophagus to the exquisite shabti statuettes looted from the Egyptian Museum not too long ago—as a lens around which to focus his quintessentially American rags-to-riches tale, Adams chronicles the dizzying rise of a poor country preacher's son who, through corruption and fraud, amassed tremendous wealth in Gilded Age New York and then atoned for his ruthless career by inventing new standards for systematic excavation in the field of archaeology. Davis found a record eighteen tombs in the Valley and, breaking with custom, gave all the spoils of his discoveries to museums. A confederate of Boss Tweed, friend of Teddy Roosevelt, and rival of J. P. Morgan, the colorful |American Lord Carnarvon| shared his Newport mansion with his Rembrandts, his wife, and his mistress. The only reason Davis has been forgotten by history to a large extent is probably the fact that he stopped just short of King Tutankhamen's tomb, the discovery of which propelled Howard Carter (Davis's erstwhile employee) to worldwide fame just a few short years later. Drawing on rare and never-before-published archival material, The Millionaire and the Mummies, the first biography of Theodore Davis ever written rehabilitates a tarnished image through a thrilling tale of crime and adventure, filled with larger-than-life characters, unimaginable treasures, and exotic settings.

This Book was ranked at 10 by Google Books for keyword the keys of egypt the race to read the hieroglyphs.

Book ID of The Millionaire and the Mummies's Books is AjU7-4wylpIC, Book which was written byJohn M. Adamshave ETAG "R6cRwjWO4nw"

Book which was published by St. Martin's Press since 2013-06-25 have ISBNs, ISBN 13 Code is 9781250026705 and ISBN 10 Code is 1250026709

Reading Mode in Text Status is true and Reading Mode in Image Status is false

Book which have "384 Pages" is Printed at BOOK under CategorySocial Science

This Book was rated by 2 Raters and have average rate at "4.0"

This eBook Maturity (Adult Book) status is NOT_MATURE

Book was written in en

eBook Version Availability Status at PDF is falseand in ePub is true

Book Preview